The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-04-08

BY request space is given Co the text
Of an outspoken sermon recently deliv-
cred by Rev. +. $. Ballentine, rector OF
the Church of the Good Shepherd, upon
the vice of unchastity. the text being
Exodus Xx:14: "Thou shalt not commit
adultery" The sermon follows:
From time immcmorial has this been
known as the Seventh commandments.
1t has more recently been called the
law of social purity.
OF all the specific laws of the decd-
logue this is the one that is least spe-
ciflcally preached upon and at the same
time most frequently broken. Teach-
ers of religion by common and most
ominous consent have banished the
subject from the midst of their public
counsels and have left 1t TO the insinu-
ating influences Of secular poets and
novelists. Is it a wonder we hear or
men attributng no small share OF the
follies and vices of their youth to the
fact that they never heard PLAIN, out
spoken sermon on this Seventh COM
mandment?
But if the ministers of Gods word
have acquiesced supinely to the gem
eral and growing dislike to deal with
such a subject the word of God itself
is not silent. nor speaks it out in an
uncertain sound.
Let us then first to the Word and to
Gods testimony: Thou shalt not
commit adultery. For this is a
heinous crime yea, ii is an iniquity 20
be punished by the judges For it Is a
fire that consumeth to destruction. and
would root out all mine increase. !"
Can man take fire into his bosom and
. his clothes not be burnt? Can one go
upon hot Goals, and his feet not he
80 hA that I'm tA al -
neighbors wife: whoever toucheth her
shall not be innocent. Whose
committeth adultery with woman
lacketh understanding: he that doeth
ii destroyeth his own soul ."
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the Kingdom of God? BE
not deceived: neither forniCators, nor
6dulterers, nor effeminateS. nor abusers
of themselves with mankind shall in
herit the Kingdom of God.
Marriage is honorable i'm ALL and the
bed undefled: but whoremungers and
adulterers God will judge. But
fornication, and all uncleanness, let it
not be named among you as beCOmeth
saints, neither filthiness. nor foolish
talking, nor jcstinG which are not con-
Nenient: but rather giving thanks. For
this ye know. that no whoremonger,
nor unclean person hath any Inherit
ance in the Kingdom of Christ and Of
God. Let no man deceive you with vain
words for because of these things
cometh the wrath of God upon the chill
dren of disobedienCe. BE not ye there
fore partakers with them"
Thou shalt not commit adultery"
COMMANDMENTS SCOPE.
We come back to the original com
mandment. You will notice that it is
not: Thou shalt not commit fornica-
tion. 1t is not: Thou shalt not be un-
clean Nor is it even: Thou shalt not
commit incest
| call your attention to these distinc-
tions, not to intimate that they form
no part of this seventh commandment,
but to emphasize their real relation to
1t. This commandment includes each
and all of them. but no one of them.
nor all of them together have such i'm
portance in the eye of Gods great law
as this fundamental and all inclusive
principle of divine law. Thou shalt
not commit adultery" means: Thou
shalt not be guilty of the heinuus sin
of incest. 1t means: Thou shalt not
commit fornicatiOn. 1t means: Thou
shalt not be guilty of any kind of SEX
ual uncleanness Whatsoever And it
means each of these, because it is the
sin out of which all these others flow.
1t means let the home become Vitiated
and there is no end to the possibilities
of sin and niquity that will necessarily
follow. For the home is before the
Church. The home is before the State.
The home is before any other moral or
spiritual or social condition whatso-
ever.
what | wish To emphasize first of all
then, and To emphasize as fOrcibly as
possible, is the fundamental fact that
TINS great commandment, Thou shalt
not commit adultery" is a law bearing
primarily upon husband and wife and
was meant to guard the sanctity of
home life and to uphold it's most sacred
rights. In other words. single men and
single women can commit greater
denominations of uncleanness and can
involve themselves in most woeful
hlthiness of the flesh. They can bring
upon themselves all the horrors Of
spiritual and physical disease and
death. which science as well as religion
shows are necessary ConcOmitants Of
fornication, but it is the married man
and the married woman alone who are
capable of that greatest of all such
denominations, adultery.
such, then, is that most heinous