Well, if I was to ask you to paint me some picture or illustration that scripture gives for the relationship between Christ and his people, what picture would you say? For some of you, you may compare that to the singular devotion that a slave has with his master. Jesus Christ has purchased us from our bondage to sin and has set us free in himself. Some of you may liken our relationship to that of a sheep, that of sheep and a shepherd, that Jesus Christ is our sheep shepherd. Others may liken it to God as our father and all of us as sons and daughters. Others may liken it of a relationship as servants who have been entrusted to some type of stewardship in which God expects something of return. Others to a body that Christ is the head and we are the what? Members. Or as a structure that Christ is the cornerstone. And on that cornerstone, he builds his church. Now, all of these illustrations are good and biblical and correct and amen. But for our time this morning, we are going to examine one of them that I haven't mentioned yet that carries a heavy weight in not only the Old Testament, but also the New Testament. And the picture is this, of a husband and of a wife. Last week we saw the first qualification of an elder or pastor or even leader of the church and it is blameless. It is above reproach. His life must be blameless and without any major blight. God commands all of us to be holy, to be sanctified, to be set apart, and if God is going to use sinners to advance his kingdom, they must be holy as he is holy. But being blameless or above reproach, as we saw last week as well, does not mean sinless. It is not that this man is without sin. It is that no one can point to any habitual, continual sin or blight in his life. There was only one who was sinless, He was Jesus Christ. His church is called to be united in union with Him. And as we saw last week with Job, that he feared the Lord and he hated evil. I want to camp here just for a second and reiterate the importance of the quality of a believer is that he or she fears the Lord. Now this fear does not have to do with heaven and hell. Because Jesus has paid it all and all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain and he washed me white as snow. But fearing the Lord is in light of reverence or all that is God is watching all of our lives for the believer in light of all that the Lord has done for him in his life. He has eternal gratitude towards Jesus Christ. His life is one of expression of thankfulness of being adopted into the family of God. The believer's life is a habitual offering of thanksgiving, not to earn God's merit because Christ has already done that, but as a token of appreciation and thankfulness. God is pleased with Christ alone. And so if we are to be accepted into the family of God, it is only gonna be in union with Christ. Blameless is what he is, but it would be very difficult to expand on that if the spirit did not give us any concrete measurable ways. Blameless is the overarching foundation of his life. But we need tangible examples, don't we? And God knows that. And as a result, he has revealed them in his words. So please turn to Titus chapter one. We're gonna be looking at verse six, part B. Titus chapter one, verse six, B. Verses six through nine, as I already mentioned last week, gives six positives and six negatives. We looked at the first negative, which is blameless. He must be without blame. And this week we're going to be looking at the second. The elder or pastor of the church, or really all of us are called to be faithful. And in the immediate text, we see that he must, in verse six, part B, be the husband of one wife, or literally, in the Greek, a one-woman man. Now, right off the bat, we see that a woman cannot be an elder. And just as a heads up, scripture never ever divorces gender from sex. That is a social construct that has zero bearing on the church. Not only can she not be an elder, but above reproach means that you cannot have a same-sex marriage. You will find that in every manner and instance of marriage in Scripture. It is always between a man and a woman. You cannot have a one-woman woman or a one-man man that self-destructs under God's moral law. It self-destructs because God has not prescribed marriage to anything other than man or woman. You'll notice in your outline I have given you five points. Five points. Point number one, five interpretations. Point number two, faithfulness. Point three, foundation. Point four, false promises. And point five, forgiveness. I like my F's. Point number one, five interpretations. Now we have to ask ourselves this question. And some of you are wondering this. Who is Paul trying to exclude from the pastorate? What does he mean by the husband of one wife? Clearly, there's a group that he's trying to keep out, correct? Five answers have been given, and I have to give credit. Credit to you. This is from John Stott. Option number one, some suggest that Paul is excluding from leadership those who have never been married. Now, Paul assumes that pastors will normally be married and that they will have children. Paul is not disqualifying those who are single or even those who are not married and have no children. Only the Eastern Orthodox Church has taught from this text that the parish clergy must remain celibate. Additionally, both Jesus and Paul has noted that some actually have the gift of singleness. Jesus notes that both celibacy and singleness is a gift. Do you want to text? This is it Matthew chapter 19 verses 1 through 11 and 1st corinthians chapter 7 verses 8 through 15. We're not going to turn to it But I wanted to give you these texts ahead of time some are called to marriage and some are called to singleness Now, it's not status of marriage that negates a man in leadership. It is the disposition of the heart of the man's character. And just as a side note as well, there is nowhere in scripture that mandates or commands the clergy to be single, which negates the Catholic church's compulsory celibacy. Additionally, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7, verse 9, that it is better to marry than to burn with passion. Maybe the reason why there is so much sexual sin in the Catholic Church is because they are not adhering to the word of God alone and substituting church councils and decrees from the Pope, which has no bearing on the church. The canon was closed at the turn of the first century. Many of these men think that they're somehow more godly or more holy or set apart because they choose to live a single life. We have seen the devastating consequences of that. I am not convinced or can we see in scripture that those who are not married and those who do not have children are not excluded from leadership. Point number two, some suggest that Paul is excluding from leadership those who practice Now, we have to ask this question, is this Paul's main point? I don't think so. Now, unfortunately, there are many Jews that did practice polygamy. In a dialogue of Trifo, in which Justin Martyr discusses Christianity with a Jew, he says, it is possible for a Jew, even now, to have four or five wives. Josephus writes, by ancestral custom, a man can live with more than one wife. Apart from these unusual cases, divorce was tragically seen in the Jewish world. Interestingly, the Jews had the highest ideal of marriage. They even said that a man must surrender his life rather than commit murder, idolatry, or adultery. Yet in the real practice and practical outworking of this, many Jews did practice polygamy. The rabbis taught that God sits in heaven arranging marriages. Another one says, 40 days before the child is formed, a heavenly voice proclaims its mate. And no, that is not scriptural. For all that, the Jewish law did allow divorce. Marriage was indeed ideal, but divorce was, listen, permitted. Divorce was never mandated. It was permitted. The Jews held that once the marriage ideal had been shattered by cruelty or infidelity or incompatibility, it was far better to allow a divorce than to permit the two to make a fresh start. The great tragedy was that the wife, unfortunately, had no rights at all. The case of divorce by consent in time of the New Testament, all that was required was two witnesses and no court case at all. A husband could send his wife away for any cause, and at the most, a wife could petition the court to urge her husband to write her a bill of divorcement, but it could not compel him even to do that. The even were even worse. Even among the pagans, polygamy was outlawed by Roman law. And according to Roman law, the wife had zero rights. Cato said, if you were to take your wife in adultery, you could kill her with impunity without any court judgment. But if you were involved in adultery, she would not dare to lift a finger against you, for it is unlawful. Things grew so bad and marriage grew so irksome that in 131 BC, a well-known Roman whose name was Metellus Macedonicus said, if we could do without wives, we would get rid of that nuisance. Now, just in case you got me out, I'm quoting someone. I am not saying this. If we could do without wives, we would be rid of that nuisance. But since nature has decreed that we can either live comfortably with them or live at all without them, we must look rather to our permanent interests to passing pleasure. All you need to know is that Christians and local churches did not practice polygamy. Now, to make this point, I want you to turn back a couple of pages to First Timothy, chapter five, verse nine. First Timothy, chapter five, verse nine. Let a woman be enrolled if she is not less than 60 years of age, having been the wife of one husband. Are we talking about polyandry here? Polyandry is when a woman has more than one husband. Is Paul here saying the widow on the list cannot have multiple husbands? That's not even an issue. You cannot even be a member of the local community or church if you practice polygamy. I don't find Paul's main audience of polygamy as as being a strong argument because it was already assumed in the gathering of the beloved of the believe that you cannot have multiple wives. And if you did, you'd be living in sin. You would not even be allowed to be a member or regularly participate. Polygamy is not the issue. Observation number three, some suggest that Paul is excluding from leadership those who have been divorced and remarried. This was very frequent in Greco-Roman culture. Unfortunately, in the West, with divorce and remarriage so prevalent, this divorce and remarriage disqualify him from the ministry. I remember About a week before I applied to Crossway, I remember looking on the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary website where churches post resumes and job descriptions, and I can't tell you how many of them that I've seen, both denominational and non-denominational, where they said, if you have been divorced, we will not accept your application. I saw that on both denominational and non-denominational job descriptions. So you're telling me that if you have been divorced, he's disqualified to be a pastor. I think we need to ask more questions, don't we? What if he's in his mid-30s? He was married really young in his early 20s. Both him and his wife were unbelievers at the time. What if, additionally, he divorced as unbelievers and the Lord saved him a year after his divorce? Is he bound now to his old wife or is he released from that bondage? This man can't be a pastor. Is he a one woman man? If a believer is married to an unbeliever, that is not grounds for divorce. The spiritual state of the partner is not grounds for divorce. There has to be concrete behavior and actions that warrant divorce. Biblical grounds for divorce is infidelity. If an unbelieving spouse divorces the believing spouse for grounds other than infidelity, he or she is freedom remarried because he or she is innocent. Both Jesus and Paul assert that there are grounds for remarriage after divorce. Unfortunately, we cannot spend time delineating every case and every scenario for divorce and remarriage. But both Jesus and Paul give room for remarriage after divorce, given marriage and fidelity. Observation number four, the fourth view is that some have argued Paul is excluding those who are widowed and remarried since Old Testament priests were not permitted to marry widows. Tertullian, one of the church fathers, had told his wife that if he was to die, she was not permitted to marry again and to be done with sex forever. Tertullian said the same thing about the widowed men. Men who have been married twice should not preside over the church. He wrote several other treatises and argued that marriage is only to be contracted once. And that those who remarry are setting themselves against God's will by demanding what he has already decided to take away. And that to have two wives successfully is no better than to have two simultaneously. This is the wrong view. Why? Because the remarriage of widows and widowers is especially permitted in the New Testament. We're not gonna turn to it, but Romans chapter seven, verses one to two is a text for you to look at. Now, Paul did mention that he wished that there were many like himself as being single, but this is not a moral command. It is clear that scripture permits a widow or widower to remarry, but it cannot be reasoned for reasons other than infidelity or death. Additionally, there were false teachers who would forbid marriage altogether. If your spouse dies, you are released from that marriage covenant, and you are free to be married again. And point number five is this. Paul is excluding all of those who are guilty of marital unfaithfulness. Essentially, Paul is saying this. You have to be faithful to your one wife. You must be faithful to your wife. he must have an unblemished reputation in the area of sex and marriage. This is what it means. It means that the wife that he has, he is totally committed to. What does faithful mean? do not have the time today to discuss the avenues of divorce, but we will say that if a man is divorced, other than marital unfaithfulness and remarries, it is a sin. Now, the asterisk I will place is whether or not they were believers at the time. And I know that this is a broad statement, and I know that many of you may even have questions, and I am ready for that during ABF, but this is not the time to deal with it. There are dozens of scenarios where we can look at particular and specific events. But the point is this, the man has to be committed to his wife, period. So just in case you missed it, the pastor does not have to be married, and he is not mandated to have children. There are pastors who God has called to singleness. There are losses of spouses. There are fertility issues within married couples where the womb is shut, and God is even able to resurrect the womb. But there are, for many pastors who are single right now, who have been married, who have not been married, who have lost spouses, who have had children, who have lost children, who have no children. Now, Paul assumes that, and he is inspired by the Holy Spirit, that men will be married and will have children, and that is not a wrong assumption. There are scenarios that exist for the elder or pastor, and God has given us a foundation to come to conclusions. Point number two, fidelity or faithfulness. Fidelity or faithfulness. Men in leadership must be a one-woman man. Again, not just for leadership, but for everybody in this room. If you are married, you are commanded by the word of God, by the spirit of God, you are commanded to be faithful to your wife, period. Do not divorce the qualifications of leadership from your own life. Do not say, well, they hold a particular office, right? I mean, they should be up here and we should be there. No, this is the word of God. God holds all of us to the standard. All of us are the church. Fidelity is a word, unfortunately, doesn't mean much in our age, and I think even less people even know what it means. Research indicates close to half of all marriages will end in divorce. You'll hear people say that the percentage of Christians who divorce is basically the same as everybody else. I'm not going to comment on that, but I find those statistics questionable at best. It is too generic. Bottom line is this. If you are married and you stay married, you are slowly becoming a minority in this country. Fidelity means faithfulness. You'll see three sub points, sexually, spiritually, and support. First is sexually. Unfortunately, with technology on the rise, we have confused what faithfulness means. The digital age, everything's so accessible, there are more adulterers in the sight of God than there are inside of the culture. In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapter 5, verses 27 through 28, you are familiar with this. Jesus says, you have heard it was said, you shall not commit adultery, but I tell you. And anyone who looks at a woman with lust, with a lustful intent, has already committed adultery with her and his heart. Close to one third of all internet downloads are porn related. Even if you are not seeking it, a third of internet users have been exposed to unwarranted porn ads and pop-ups. People who admitted to having extramarital affairs were 300% more likely to admit consuming porn and seeking porn than those who did not have an affair. 64% of people who were young. Ages 13 to 24 are actively seeking porn material on a weekly or more basis. Jesus tells us that anybody who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. When you see a woman, when your imagination takes the lead beyond your action, there are sexual inclinations. Your imagination is a breeding ground for sexual thoughts. You have cheated on your wife. When your mind entertains another woman in any sexual manner, even without touching her, even without having any contact whatsoever or interaction, you have been unfaithful to your spouse. You have cheated on your spouse because she does not have your full heart. Be. Spiritually. Being a one-woman man means that you are habitually pursuing your wife's greatest joy, which is not you. It's Christ. It means that you two are one, and in the marriage context, both must be pursuing the Lord together. When you enter into a marriage covenant, the two becomes one and it is a mystery, but you pursue the Lord together. And oftentimes in marriages, there is a false perception of other people's godliness. It is easy to be gravitated towards someone of the opposite sex who you believe to be more spiritual than your spouse or even more sanctified. And I have this warning with you, do not go there. and C, support. There may not be any sexual advancement or any sexual entertainment, but when there is flirting with a co-worker or a friend of the wife or another woman other than your mother, grandmother, sister, cousin, or daughter, and there becomes an emotional bond where there is a transfer of information that causes an emotional bond which oftentimes manifests itself physically, you are cheating on your spouse because your wife does not have all of you. You are not a one-woman man. Now, I'm not talking about getting wisdom, and I would urge you and I would beg you and plead with you, if you are a young woman seeking wisdom, go to an older woman. If you are a younger man or any man seeking wisdom, go to a man. Why cross interact? This one-woman man means that he has fidelity towards his wife and his wife alone. He loves her, and he does not want to compromise the intimacy that he has with her, and he does not put himself in any way or place that would compromise that intimacy. He does not even want to create a false perception. Point number three, foundation, foundation. Why is he a one woman man? I'm gonna tell you why, it's real easy. Because he loves the Lord. He even loves the Lord more than his wife. He loves his wife because he loves the Lord. Sometimes it can be difficult to love your spouse. I know no one in here will agree with that. But sometimes the flesh can get in the way. You know who always does right? The Lord. If you would, please turn to Genesis chapter 39. Please turn to Genesis chapter 39. I'm gonna read about a man who was not married, but who loved the Lord very much. Genesis chapter 39. Read verses 1 to 10. Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. The Lord was with Joseph and he became a successful man and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him and He made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he has made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian house for Joseph's sake. The blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in house and field, so he left all that he had in Joseph's charge, and because of him, he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance, and after a time, his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, lie with me. He refused and said to his master's wife, behold. Because of me, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has but everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her to lie beside her or to be with her. You know, Joseph was not married, but his marriage status was not the determining factor. It was not Joseph's willpower, what he thought to be culturally acceptable, or what would bring him the most fame. There was one standard, and this was it. He says, how can I act a great wickedness and sin against God? Not only did he love the Lord, but he loved Potiphar and Potiphar's wife. Now, something I didn't mention as part of the F for the foundation is frequency. So if you would, please write down frequency as well. And the reason why is because I want you to notice that this was not a one-time thing. In verse 7, It says cast. The Hebrew word is nesah. It's a very interesting word. It actually literally means to carry away. This is interesting. So Potiphar's wife cast her eyes on Joseph. Her eyes carried him away. Her eyes, her mind carried Joseph away. Her mind entertained and fancied a fictional storyline. Her desired sexual imagination was ahead of reality. This is lust. Verse 10, she spoke to him day after day. We don't know how long, but we do know the frequency of it. It was day after day. Beloved, you will be tempted by Satan. He will lure you and he will try to entice you with bait and hook. If you're a man or a woman who loves the Lord, I would urge and beseech you to be on guard, especially. As we read last week from Richard Baxter, Satan hates the captain. He hates the general, which is Jesus Christ, and as a result, he hates all of Christ's soldiers. Reality, that no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will provide you will with the temptation. He will also provide a way of escape that you may be able to endure it. Potiphar's wife. tried to catch him and seize him, but he endured by escaping and fleeing. And I have to ask you this question, have you been entertaining any voices this week or this month? Has any other woman been calling you? No one will know, nobody will see, but here's the thing that we see with Joseph, God would have known. God would have known. And as we're walking in step with the Spirit, we need to be asking ourselves this question. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? The foundation for the reason for Joseph not lying with another man's wife is because the Lord was at his right hand. Observation number four, false promises. If you want to add anything, I would add deception, deception. Turn back or turn forward to Proverbs chapter seven. Proverbs chapter seven was our scripture reading this morning, Proverbs chapter seven. I want to remind you here that foolishness here is personified through this young man. This is not a literal story, although it may have happened, but this is a personification of what stupidity and foolishness is. Wisdom would be the very opposite of what this young man did. Solomon is most likely the author, and he is writing from his vantage point. Or maybe he's even reflecting on his own life, which was a tragic mess. I want you to look at verses six through seven. I'm not gonna read all of them, but I do wanna make a couple of observations. I want you to notice that he is looking at this young man through his lattice or window, The simple here is anybody who is easily manipulated or swayed. Essentially, it's a man that lacks discipline. Calling him a young man is not a compliment. He is a fool. I want you to look at verses 8 through 9, and I want to give you some practical examples. I'm going to do something I don't normally do. This is going to be a running commentary, but I think the end will provide beneficial and helpful for you. Verses eight through nine, passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness. He should not have even been there. He should not have even been out. He's trying to conceal and hide. And I must tell you right now, if you are trying to hide something from somebody, and it is not a surprise, it is probably sin. Not only should he have not even been out, but he should not have been anywhere near this woman's house. I want you to notice what time it is. It is twilight. It is dark. Oftentimes we sin in the dark. Literal and figurative. And it can happen with the click of a mouse. I want you to notice as well in verse 10 that the woman meets him. The ESV says, behold. I don't think that's the best translation. In modern day language, it would be this. Yo Or no way Check this out If a bunch of teenagers were hanging around and all of them had phones, it's like yo, check this out. Look at this Look at this behold, this is This is crazy Behold Check this out She didn't come to him while he was at home. She came to him while he was looking. And I want you to notice as well that this woman is alone. She is not with anybody else. Man is alone and the woman is alone. It's just him and her. And here is my encouragement to you. Be careful who you are alone with. Third application, verses 10 through 12. I'm not gonna read it, but I'm gonna tell you. The way she looks, the way she dresses, she looks good. And her talk is good too. She's loud. She laughs at his jokes. She flirts with him. She's full of talk. She's unfaithful. She makes him feel really, really funny and special. She looked pretty, she was talkative, and she's good at what she does. Be careful with confiding in her because there is nothing special about this young man. She is always around, she is not faithful, and she is very dangerous. In verse 13, she seizes him and she kisses him. There is now physical contact you go from no physical contact now to physical contact They went from none now to some And here's my encouragement as well to you be careful who you are physical with even a tap on the shoulder, or a long pausing hug, or a brushing of the shoulder. It starts with that, and the regression is very, very difficult. In verses 14 through 15, she appears pious and religious. Look what she says, I've come out to meet you, to seek you, and I found you. I found you, back to verse 14. I had to offer sacrifices and I've paid my vows. She appears to be religious. She said she had to offer sacrifices. I have to ask, who is she offering sacrifices to? This young stupid man sees this woman as being pious and religious. I've offered sacrifices, I've paid my vows, and God has answered me because here you are. I found you. We were meant to meet. Look. God responded favorably to my sacrifice, and here you are. This young man thought she was religious just like him. And then verses 16 through 20, she confirms this young man's imagination. No one's at home. My husband is long away. He took a bag of money, which means he plans to be gone for a very long time. There's no way anyone will know. My couch and my bed are appealing to you. I have the finest linen. All five senses are fully firing. But here's the thing. God will know. God will know. In verse 21, this is where some of you may be. and I need you to pay it very close attention. With much seductive speech, she persuades him. She seduces him, which means that up to this point so far, he has resistance to it. He's not won over by her seizing and her initial invite. His conscience is still there because he has resistance to it. His conscience is still screaming, no, not a good deal. Alarm, alarm, alarm. But he stayed, he lingered there. He hung around. And finally, she persuades him. She compels him. Verse 21 is the breaking point in this story. There's no return. The narrative goes from his conscience screaming, what are you doing to this? All right. Here's another practical point of application. Do not violate your conscience. Do not violate your conscience. In verse 22, all at once, he finally surrenders to her. He follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter. Just like an ox follows his hand master as he goes to the slaughter, the ox has no idea. The ox thinks he's going to eat on greener pasture. And here's the death blow. It is an arrow through the liver. This is a proverbial way of speaking that it is a death blow. It is a death blow. Game over. There's anyone here who is following the path of this young man? In imagination, thought, or in physical contact, I beg of you to stay off her path. The reason is in verse 26. She has slain many mighty ones. Now, you're at our last point, which is forgiveness. As I've already mentioned, scripture paints the believers as the bride of Christ. Christ is our husband. Now, for those who have been married prior to the ceremony, a fiance is given a what? A ring. It's an engagement ring. The engagement ring is a promise that we're gonna make it official in the future. The engagement day is one of the happiest days of a woman and man's all of our lives, second to salvation, but it's only eclipsed by the wedding day. Beloved, when you're saved, God puts a mark and seal on you and it is not an engagement ring. Ephesians chapter one tells us that the Holy Spirit is God's engagement ring to you. See, in order to secure you, Christ had to die. When it should have been me, Christ took that on himself. But in order for the Holy Spirit, instead of being with you and being in you, Christ had to die. The Holy Spirit is the engagement ring that keeps you, guards you, holds you until that wedding day. Do you know what that wedding day is, believers? When you get to see Jesus Christ face to face. We are holding out to that day. When you are engaged, you are fully committed. Love it in order for you to be with God. God had to come to us. He came in the form of a servant. It's one thing to love somebody because they are lovely or beautiful or have something to offer, but we have nothing to offer God in and of ourselves other than our sin. We are naturally dead, and we are dust. Ladies, if you're married, I want to encourage you, I want you to ask your husband this question, not now, but later. Why did you want to marry me? You want to know what they won't say? They will not say, I married you because you were helpless, poor, bankrupt, sin-polluted. I married you so that any good that comes out of you is a result of my work. If you were to say that, I hope there's a comfortable couch. I hope you have a lot of cereal because that will be your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and you will be in the doghouse for a very long time. I hope they would not say that. But reality, as a poor and condemned sinner, what do we bring to the table? The Lord saved us. See, people today marry for upward mobility. But the kingdom of God is the opposite. It's a paradox. Christ descended to us so that we may in him ascend to him. Christ bowed his head in grief so that we may uplift ours in joy. Christ wept so that every tear might be wiped from our eyes. Christ was considered an enemy so that you and I may be welcomed as a friend. Christ died so that I may forever live. And so in light of what Christ has done for us, why would we want to wound him? Why would we be unfaithful? Christ is committed to you, not because of your loveliness or my loveliness, but because he is lovely. He is heaven's darling. But his commitment to us is meant to drive us to repentance. In light of all that Christ has done for us, do we have the mindset of Joseph where we say, how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? If you are saved, and you have been walking down this road or this corner where this woman is, and you have been flirting and you have been doing what you should not have been doing, you must confess your sins to the Lord and help Him and ask Him to help you. Because if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is the promise and encouragement to you this morning. But if you are someone who has been habitually sinning who has been habitually unfaithful without genuine repentance, you may not be saved. There are no divorce papers with Jesus. Those who he saves, he keeps, he glorifies, and evidence that you belong to Jesus Christ is very simple. Your life looks like him. Husbands and wives find out about each other's weaknesses and shortcomings oftentimes once they're married. But God is fully aware of our baggage and our failure. He doesn't figure things out. He doesn't learn anything. So when he saves, he knows completely who we are and who we will be. And I have a parting few questions for you. Will you fulfill your end and be faithful to the Lord? He forgives you this morning if you cry out as the tax collector did, be merciful to me, a sinner. Will you set yourself apart for him? We all be faithful as a one woman man, be faithful to our spouses and be faithful to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, let us pray.