This afternoon we open the Word of God in the Old Testament in the book of Proverbs chapter 5, page 628 in our Pew Bible, 628. Proverbs 5, which is the Word of God. My son, be attentive to my wisdom. Incline your ear to my understanding that you may keep discretion and your lips may guard knowledge. For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil. But in the end, she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps follow the path to Sheol. She does not ponder the path of life. Her ways wander, and she does not know it. And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house. lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless, lest strangers take their fill of your strength and your labors go to the house of a foreigner. And at the end of your life, you groan when your flesh and body are consumed and you say, how I hated discipline and my heart despised reproof. I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors. I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation. Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets, Let them be for yourself alone and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely dear, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight. Be intoxicated always in her love. Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman? and embrace the bosom of an adulteress. For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths. The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the courts of his sin. He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly, he is led astray." That's our scripture passage. We now turn to Lord's Day 41, where we echo the word of God regarding the seventh commandment. Page 892 in our Trinity Psalter hymnal, page 892. Lord's Day 41. There we echo the word of God as follows. What is God's will for us in the seventh commandment? That God condemns all unchastity and that we should therefore detest it wholeheartedly and live decent and chaste lives within or outside of the holy state of marriage. Does God in this commandment forbid only such scandalous sins as adultery? We are temples of the Holy Spirit, body and soul, and God wants both to be kept clean and holy. That is why God forbids all unchaste actions, looks, talk, thoughts, or desires, and whatever may incite someone to them. That's Lord's Day 41. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, how I hated discipline and my heart despised reproof. I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors. In order to prevent that you would ever have to speak such words or reproach yourself, beloved, the Lord has spoken openly and honestly in his words about sexuality. He did so to help parents teach their children regarding sexual matters. He gave his word to guide young people in their discovery of their own sexual feelings. He enlightens us all with respect to issues of a sexual nature. which also in our time and society has become so clouded and darkened due to sin. We may be very thankful for this enlightenment therefore. Especially in our days in which views and practices concerning human sexuality are adrift due to the sexual revolution and gender dysphoria, this revelation and instruction is of the greatest importance for each and every one of us in our own situation. Sexuality, brothers and sisters, has become an independent commodity, a common item for general human consumption almost. It's become detached from love, from marriage, and from its place of privacy and intimacy. It's being treated as something as common as eating out a night on the town or a party activity. Am I exaggerating? Is sex not an article though, which can be advertised or which can be used to enhance advertisements? Enjoy life and enjoy your freedom. You deserve to have a pleasant life in which sex is there to make you feel good. Marriage is no longer an honor. People just play around with it at will. New views and opinions about marriage and sexuality or gender are poured out on us through the various sources of the media. The fruits of them can readily be seen in a society which advocates and pursues alternative forms of relationships. The evidence of it does not pass by the church either. That's why we need to recognize these developments, beloved, and deal with them. We must speak about them with our children. Teach the Lord's will and his creation ordinances to our young people at home and at school. In order to stop the flood of influences and protect God's will for sexuality and marriage, we should be open and honest in our discussion. Indeed, that's not the same openness as the world practices, which is shameless. and normless. In accordance with God's divine word, however, we may speak about these matters in a tender and careful way. We're speaking of precious gifts and of wonderful works of creation. Let's hear the instruction of the scriptures, which I proclaim under this theme, honor marriage, instituted by the Father, redeemed by the Son, sanctified by the Spirit. So I summarize the message of this afternoon as follows, honor marriage, instituted by the Father, our first point, redeemed by the Son, our second point, sanctified by the Spirit, Our third point, so honor marriage for it is instituted by the father. When the seventh commandment is in order for our consideration, brothers and sisters, much comes to our attention. That's the case, especially when you look at this commandment in the context of the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 41. Then it's clear that not only adultery is in the picture, It speaks about chastity in general, that is sexual purity, virginity. That's the way this commandment applies to every one of us, to every member of the congregation, married or not married. In body and soul, we are temples of the Holy Spirit. We all are called to keep this temple pure and holy, for all unchastity is condemned by God. It's an abomination to him which provokes his wrath. That's why this commandment directs us to the scriptures to show us the way God looks upon matters such as adultery, divorce, masturbation, incest, prostitution, homosexuality, sexual intercourse before or outside of marriage, family planning, et cetera. In my previous sermons on this Lord's Day, and this is the fourth series already, brothers and sisters, I have focused on our sexuality in general very much. in order to include everyone in the congregation in our consideration of the seventh commandment. This time, I want to restrict myself this afternoon and focus on marriage in particular. That doesn't mean, however, that we exclude certain members from our focus. On the contrary, for every member, married or not, it is of foremost importance that the church heeds the scriptural exhortation, let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and the adulterous. Hebrews 13 verse four. For our parental task, our personal position, and for our mutual upbuilding, we need to have a clear and proper understanding on marriage and the specific role of sexuality in it. We need to be reminded of God's purpose with it and help each other meet this purpose and avoid deviation. So let's focus on marriage. But what is marriage, beloved? Marriage is something very special. There is nothing that can be compared with it. Even though there are people today who design alternative forms of cohabitation and common law, there is no alternative. Marriage cannot be replaced by a contract, a mutual agreement, or a verbal promise to be faithful to one another for as long as love lasts. It's a covenant relationship, which lasts till death us part. It's not a choice or matter of preference. It's a unique relationship. Why? Because marriage is an institution of God. He instituted marriage as a gift and a calling to husband and wife. He made it that right away in paradise already. That's why we could also call it a creation ordinance of God. Every time a marriage is solemnized in the church, we are reminded of that by the form for the solemnization of marriage. It's too bad, therefore, that we don't hear that form very often, only when one of our relatives gets married or so. Perhaps you should read this form tonight, page 84 and following pages in our Forms and Prayers book. We learn from the scriptures, beloved, that God in his wisdom created man male and female. As husband and wife, they can complement each other beautifully so that they form a unity, both spiritually and physically. Of this work of creation, the Bible says in Genesis 1, God saw all that he had made and it was very good. So man and woman created by God, male and female, that is as sexual people are creatures that could be called perfect. They can function the way God intended it. At the same time, God clearly indicated that they could function sexually within marriage only. The man has to cleave to his wife. Now in the triad, leave, cleave, and weave, cleaving denotes being joined together legally. or, as in Greek, yoked together, placed under one yoke, Ephesians 5, verse 31. In order that so, in that way, and after that, they become one flesh. Leave, cleave, and weave. In other words, only if and when they promise to be faithful to each other in love, live with each other in a marriage covenant, only then they may become physically one. That's how the Lord instituted it from the beginning. So we should not be wiser than God. then the question must be answered, beloved, why did the Lord want it that way? Then the answer, partly, is given in the mandate God gave man and woman, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. For the Lord combined the joyous physical union of husband and wife with something very beautiful. As the forum puts it, by this sexual union of husband and wife in marriage, the human race is to be continued and increased. God was pleased to use their celebration of the sexual union in order to give a married couple children. He does so to ensure that these children will be nourished and nurtured in the safety of a family. That's where they will find the security that is required to mature. That's where the love in which they were conceived and born will extend to the children for the well-being of the children. In today's world, however, marriage and family building have become disconnected and or discarded. Many people today don't even want children. Hence also the birth rate continues to decline. that I leave the consequences of such a decline out of the picture for now, even though we should all realize what threat that is to the Western world, as it was to China with its one-child policy. The effect of this decline will be shown some 30 or 40 years from now. We should all realize though, that also in the church, it is urgent to stress this calling and mandate of the Lord, namely to produce an offspring. Especially the young people and the young couples in the church should be aware of their responsibility in this regard. Receiving children isn't something that may be treated as a preference, a personal choice for those who are married. Some like it, others don't. It's a calling. It is part and parcel of a biblical Christian marriage, lest the world will move toward extinction and the church will disappear. At the same time, brothers and sisters, we learn from the scriptures that another part of the answer to the question why the Lord wants the protection and unity of holy marriage is to prevent immorality. That's also what he uses the institution of marriage for. Man's sexual desires are part of God's creation. Therefore, desires also that are good and pleasing to God and for man's pleasure. However, the way in which he wants man to enjoy them must be bound to certain rules. He wants these desires and pleasures to be enjoyed within the bounds of marriage only, with your own wife and with your own husband only. That's within the bounds of marriage only. That's clearly the way the Apostle Paul writes about it in 1 Corinthians 7, verse 2 to 5, I quote, but because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife doesn't have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourself to prayer, but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. In our scripture passage of Proverbs 5, beloved, the author of the book of Proverbs expresses himself very beautifully. Even though he addresses the husband, the wife also is part of his exhortation to live in love and joy together, enjoying one another and pleasing and pleasuring each other. Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice in the wife of your youth. "'A lovely dear, a graceful doe, "'let her breasts fill you at all times with delight, "'be intoxicated always in her love.' "'That's not just good advice, "'but God's divine will and purpose "'for a marriage he has instituted.'" And so we come to our second point, honor marriage, for it is redeemed by the Son. I'm sure, brothers and sisters, that just as I do, you may have some difficulty when hearing all these wonderful beginnings and intentions of the Lord. Things could have been so beautiful. In reality, however, it often is not this beautiful at all. Just think of those who would have loved to get married but remain single. And what about a couple that desire to have children, but did not receive them? Yes, and then there is that woman who doesn't enjoy the sexual union with her husband at all because of his rudeness and selfishness. There are so many spouses who take a lot of baggage into marriage, which becomes an obstacle in their relationship. There are experiences of abuse, inhibitions, physical defects, and mixed feelings about each other, which stand in the way of a normal enjoyment of each other. In short, there is so much that makes a marriage a lot less ideal than God intended it. These are realities, brothers and sisters, which cause a lot of sorrow. intense grief and much pain. The marriages that are under much pressure are many. Tensions increase and time goes on, so much so that at a certain point, husband and wife can't stand to stay together any longer. In many a situation, the children become the victims of these tensions and breakdowns. What impression do they get of marriage that way? Indeed, how destructive sin has worked, especially in the area of marriage and sexuality. Yes, that's the cause behind all this misery, sin. God did not create it this way. It's sin that spoils what's beautiful. It's sin that destroys what is good. That's the terrible reality today. Then soap series and movie shows may make it look normal or exciting, yet it's terribly sinful. Our modern media have no scruples, it seems, entertaining the general public with all those unchaste actions, looks, talk, thoughts, or desires that whatever may incite someone to them Yet we confess in Lord's Day 41 that God forbids them. It could well be, beloved, that in the midst of this reality, a feeling of shame could arise, which would make you feel bad even about having sexual desires at all. Indeed, so much of what was made beautiful in our sexual life has been portrayed in unchaste or perverse ways that we would almost forget God's wonderful intentions with the creation of man as male and female. However, then we would also be at risk of forgetting who the Lord Jesus Christ is. We confess that the Son of God became man as the Savior from sin, right? He came to share in our flesh and blood, in our emotions and affections, also to deliver us from sins against the seventh commandment. In fact, he began his work of public ministry manifesting himself at the wedding in Cana. That's where he ensured that what was a feast remained a feast. At the same time, beloved, it's noteworthy that in his ministry, he went after the harlots and publicans. Why? Of course, he did not do so to condone their lifestyle. On the contrary, but because he was merciful and gracious. He knew how badly sin can ruin lives and relationships. Then he did not point a finger, but he showed God's grace. He came to save sinners, the broken lives, and to heal them, restore their relationships. He is compassionate and says, sin no more and seek your newness of life in me. He came to set us free from sin, from the powers of sin and the evil one, delivering also our marriage and sexuality. He bore the curse and wrath of God against sin, including sin against the seventh commandments. How he did that specifically with a view to the seventh commandment may be difficult to imagine, however, A man of flesh and blood, he had his sexuality, his feelings and desires, yet he did not receive marriage, no sexual union and no relationship in which to enjoy these gifts from God. Rather, he died at the cross, suffering the death penalty, which the Lord had pronounced over many a sin against the seventh commandment. Just read Leviticus 18 or Deuteronomy 22. For us and in our place, he was exposed publicly in his shame at the cross, bearing the curse and shame we deserve because of our sins. He did so to deliver marriage and sexuality from the power of sin. He did so to restore the purpose and pleasures of them. And of course we realize, beloved, that in this life, in this world, the effects of sin will remain with us. Our sinful desires will continue to affect us and our relationships. Hence marriage difficulties persist. There will be childless couples still. Miscarriages too, and not every believer will come to a wedding day. However, for believers, the curse, the wrath of God has been removed from these situations. Christ bore that for them. Yes, thanks to Christ's work of redemption, these experiences and difficulties could even become a blessing. That's, for instance, the way Paul was taking the fact that he was not married, 1 Corinthians 7, so that he could dedicate himself full-time to the task for the Lord. He also shows that it can be a special gift to be single for the kingdom of God. Thus our eyes are opened for blessings in disguise, for God's work of turning brokenness into blessings. The way he does so is by faith, dealing with our life in faith and obedience to God. Then also God's gift of the seventh commandment is for our prophets. to help us observe the boundaries and limits in regards to sexuality and marriage for Christ's sake. And so we come to our third point, honor marriage for the Holy Spirit sanctifies it. Even though this reminder of the work of our Savior for the deliverance also of marriage and sexuality may be comforting, brothers and sisters, yet, Daily reality is far from easy for many. That's very true indeed. There are a lot of troubles and struggles still. We know that we have to fight against sin, also against the sins that God forbids in the seventh commandment. Then the gospel is proclaimed this afternoon, not only to comfort you, but also to encourage you in the struggle. Then you may be comforted with the promise of God's mercy, if ever through weakness you fall into sin. You will be encouraged as well by the reality that as believers, we are temples of the Holy Spirit. He dwells in us, God, the Holy Spirit. With his divine power, he wants to work in us, sanctify us. Yes, that he will help us to make our sexual life, our married life, more and more holy. He will help us in our struggles, renew us so that we begin to live more and more chaste and holy lives. He will help us stay away from sinful desires, keep our feet from going to sinful places, protect our eyes from watching sinful plays, direct our hands away from sinful gestures, yes, even purify our thoughts. Does that still sound too idealistic, too positive for this sinful reality? Well, it is not, beloved. This is reality, for the Holy Spirit is true God. who with his divine power is able to help us walk in holiness and fight and overcome sin, also sins against the seventh commandment. Sinful desires do not need to rule over us when Christ rules us by his word and Holy Spirit. He does so, not just from heaven above, but also in our heart inside. then he changes your heart so that your life is changed, your thoughts and words and deeds. That's how he brings peace to your life. Remember, that's what we confessed in Lord's day 38 too, that every day of my life, I rest from my evil ways. Let the Lord work in me through his spirit. And so begin in this life, the eternal Sabbath, the eternal rest. So when the Holy Spirit guides you in your use of sexuality and marriage, you will begin in this life the eternal Sabbath. Then you will be at rest. Your conscience will be at peace instead of accusing you. then you will enjoy in your life, married or not, a foretaste of the abundant blessings which will be ours on the day we live in God's presence. That's a foretaste we enjoy every time we celebrate the Holy Supper of our Lord in anticipation of the eternal marriage of the Lamb. Amen.