(pastor-Lincoln Vellacott - Parkland Bible Church - “the round church”, Kipling, Sk.)Often when a person purchases something, they look for the manual that comes with it or check out the internet to see if the manual is there. A manual is a message from the manufacturer to tell you how to get the most out of their product. They want you to enjoy it. They don’t write it to wreck our fun. They tell you how to treat the product that they have made so that it won’t get broken or misused.

Sometimes I will meet one of my children as they come out of the bathroom, or are unloading the dishwasher or putting away the clean dishes. I will ask them if they have washed their hands. Most times they have, but the odd time they turn around and wash up. I am not trying to be a kill joy or a grouchy father. I am interested in their best interest and in the interest of others. I am concerned that they won’t get sick or carry on disease or germs to others.

In a devotional book that I read, it tells about a joke, where God summons everyone to the final judgement. “Gabriel will read out the ten commandments one by one,” he announces; ” those who’ve broken them must depart into everlasting darkness.” The first is read and a number are led off. The same thing happens with each until, having read eight, only a grim-faced, self-righteous handful remains. God contemplates spending eternity with this joyless lot, then shouts, “Everybody come back; I’ve changed my mind.”

The writer goes on to say that, “The 10 Commandments are often viewed as a list of tough requirements that a demanding deity insisted be kept before he’d bless his people. But that’s all wrong. God had already demonstrated that he loved Israel unconditionally. They’d been brick-makers and no-hopers when God lifted them out of their lostness, granting them a fresh start.

The Ten Commandments were never intended as a list of qualifications for God’s favor. Rather they are God saying, ‘I love you and I’ve already proved it to you. So trust me. Keep these commandments because they make sense for you, and because keeping them demonstrates to the whole world who I am - the God of love and mercy, not of arbitrary power and revenge’.”

We can never keep the commands of God perfectly, and they are not what saves us, but they are from our manufacturer who knows what’s best for each one of us.

From the 7th commandment, adultery and sexual immorality hurt us according to our Manufacturer and Loving Heavenly Father. And it is more than physical disease control, but there are emotional, relational and spiritual costs and wounded sexuality to ignoring or flaunting His “guidelines.” God knows what is best, and He tells us things like the 7th Commandment, because He loves us and wants what’s best for us.

Recently I came across an article entitled, “What Are Three Things Church Leaders Need To Say Publicly About Sex?” I will wrap up with that as I believe it is important, biblical and what God would have us hear today. 1.) Sex is a wondrous gift from God; 2.) God has clear boundaries for sex; 3.) There is hope and healing for sexual sin. If you would like to talk further with anyone about this, find a pastor that you are comfortable with, and who will lead you from the manufacturer’s guidelines, the Bible.

Let me close by encouraging you to take in a church worship service of your choice this and every week-end.