Amen. All right. Well, we're there in First Corinthians chapter number six. And of course, on Sunday mornings, we've been going through a series of lessons that are meant to help disciple and to help us get rooted and grounded in the things of the Lord. And specifically, the last several weeks, we've been looking at this idea of separation and living a separated life. And we've been talking about some very specific things when it comes to separation. We've talked about what the Bible teaches about dress standards and music standards and alcohol. And this morning is not going to be any different. We're going to continue on with a very specific topic with regards to Christian separation. And I'm preaching on the subject of fornication. I'm talking about fornication this morning. And fornication is a biblical word that speaks about the engaging of a physical relationship of a man and a woman before marriage. And a sermon like this is important to preach because of the fact that this is something that young people, young adults, those that are not married, need to be taught. They need to learn what the Bible says. I say young people and young adults, but honestly, this is a sermon that needs to be preached to anybody who's not married. If you're not married, you need to know what the Bible teaches about these things. Obviously, we want to focus in on young people And I'm thankful in our church that we have many young adults here and we've got teens and of course all sorts of children and these are individuals that need to be taught these things, need to learn these things. It's important to learn it. But it's also good for everyone else. Maybe you're here this morning, you say, well, I'm married, the sermon isn't gonna apply to me. It's good for you to just know what the Bible teaches about these things, because you're probably going to have a young person, you're probably going to have an unmarried person that you care about in your life, and you should be able to influence them in the things of the Lord. You should be able to open up the Bible and show them in a loving way, in a caring way, what the Bible teaches about these things. You should be able to teach your children what the Bible teaches about these things. So this morning, we're gonna spend some time learning what the Bible teaches about fornication. And I'd like to give you three thoughts this morning, and if you want to jot these down and take notes, I always encourage you to take notes. On the back of your Course of the Week, there's a place for you to write down some notes. I'd like to begin with this first point, which is the sin of fornication. The sin of fornication. And I begin with this idea of the sin of fornication because we live in a society today that accepts this idea of fornication, that has normalized this idea that a young man or any man that's not married can engage in a physical relationship with a lady that is not married. And we've turned it, our culture, not we here at Verity Baptist Church, but this culture we live in has turned it into a normal thing. But the Bible teaches and the Bible explicitly explains that this is a sin before the Lord. The sin of fornication. You're there in 1 Corinthians chapter 16. But I can look down at verse number 13. 1 Corinthians 16 verse 13. I think it's interesting how the Apostle Paul begins this conversation. And he begins by saying this. Meats for the belly and belly for meats. Meats for the belly and the belly for meats. And the word meat in our King James Bible here is a word that is being used in an older way. It's not the way that we use it today necessarily. The word meat in our Bible is just a generic word that means food. Usually when we think of meat we think of what the Bible would call flesh. But here, the word meat is just talking about food in general. But I want you to notice that the Apostle Paul begins by saying, meat's for the belly. He says, food is for the belly and the belly for meat. And you might think, well, what does that have to do with fornication? But it begins with this idea of just physical appetites and physical desires. And I believe the Apostle Paul is teaching here. And I think something that is important for us to say to unmarried couples is this, that the desire for a physical relationship is normal. There's nothing unnatural about it. In fact, it's as normal as the physical desire to want to eat, which is why Paul says, And I think that we need to clearly teach on the subject of fornication. We should know what the Bible teaches about these things. But at the same time, We shouldn't go to this extreme that makes this topic seem like it's something that is unnatural or something that is not a good thing. Obviously, God created marriage and God created the marital relationship. And the desire for a physical relationship is normal. It's natural. It's as normal as meat being for the belly and as belly being for meats. It's a natural thing for any normal person to want to engage in. However, the problem is that fornication distorts God's purpose for the body. Notice again how Paul connects these thoughts. Verse 13, meat for the belly and belly for meat. He says, but God shall destroy both it and them. And he says this, now the body is not for fornication. He says, the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord. And what Paul is saying here is that we were not created. He says, yes, meat is for the belly. The idea is this, that there are physical, natural desires and attractions, things that you're going to want, just like food. We were created that way. And it's normal. It's natural. But what we need to understand is this, that we were not created to simply live a life that is fulfilling our physical appetites. The primary purpose of life is not to go through life trying to just fulfill every appetite and every physical desire because the reason that you and I were created was for the glory of God. This is why he says the body is not for fornication but for the Lord. and the Lord for the body. So though there are natural desires, there are natural attractions and physical appetites that God put in us and they're normal and they're natural, we need to understand that these should not be the primary focus, the primary purpose. They should not be the primary drive of our lives. The primary drive of our lives should always be to love the Lord and to please the Lord with our lives. Our bodies were not created for fornication. Now the body is not for fornication but for the Lord. So we see there that the desire for a physical relationship is normal according to the Apostle Paul. As normal as wanting to eat food. As normal as the appetite for food. Meat for the belly and belly for meat. But I want you to notice the second thought here that Paul gives us. He says We see the desire for a physical relationship and we see that it's normal, but we also see the defilement of fornication and we see that it's harmful. He continues there in verse 14, he says, And you might think, what does verse 14 have to do with fornication? But the idea is this, that if you're saved, And if you have the Lord Jesus Christ, if you're in Christ and Christ is in you, then He can give you the power to overcome these physical desires. You do not have to live under the power of your flesh and your appetite. And here we're talking about fornication, but it's not just that. You don't have to live a life that is just pursuing hedonism. appetite of your flesh. You can, through the power of the resurrection, overcome and have victory in these areas. He says, God hath both raised up the Lord and will also raise up us by His own power. Notice verse 15. He says, The word members there means body parts, and he says, don't you know, don't you understand that when you got saved, and I hope you're saved this morning, I hope that you've called upon the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and faith, believing, putting your faith in Christ. He says, know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? In another passage, he tells us, know ye not that ye were bought with a price? He said, when you got saved, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ not only paid for your sin, It paid for your soul, but it paid for your body. He says, know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? They are the body parts of Christ. They belong to Christ. And he says this, shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of Enharlot? And then he answers this question. He says, God forbid. And we see here not only that the desire of a physical relationship is normal, verse 13, meat for the belly and belly for meat, but we see that the defilement of fornication is harmful. He says when you take your body parts and you make them the members of an harlot, he says you are taking the members of Christ and uniting them in this defilement. He says your body belongs to God and the sin of fornication desecrates that temple, which is your body. The Bible tells us it's the temple of the Holy Ghost. It desecrates it when it's united and become the members of an harlot. Notice verse 16. He says what? Now what's interesting about this, and we'll see it here in a minute, that the way that God describes marriage, the way that God describes marriage is by calling it to becoming one flesh. All throughout the Bible, when God instituted marriage, in the Garden of Eden and all throughout the Bible when marriage is referred to. It's this idea of twain becoming one, two becoming one. This idea that two become one flesh. And of course there's lots of applications there and the idea is that you are now one person in the eyes of the Lord. You and your wife are considered one before God. And you should be one in purpose and commitment and spirituality. You should be all one in all of that. But there is this underlying idea of a physical relationship. And I'm not going to get into details, of course, if you're an adult and you're old enough to understand these things and you should be able to comprehend these things. But this idea of becoming one flesh with your spouse teaches us that marriage is a special thing. And there is an act that should only happen between a husband and a wife. And you should only ever be One flesh with the person you're married to. And here Paul says what? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? For to saith he shall be one flesh. The idea is this, that fornication binds a person to another in a sinful way. Fornication connects a person to another in a way which is not appropriate. And what the Bible is teaching us here, and what Paul is teaching us, and what I'd like to try to teach you in as clear of a way, without being too descriptive as possible, is this, that there are some things that should only be enjoyed within marriage. There are some things that should only be experienced within marriage. Do you understand that there are some things that should only be seen within marriage? And fornication is a grievous sin in Scripture because it binds a person to another in a way that is sinful. Why? It's sinful because it's not within their rights. They have not become married and therefore it should not be one flesh. We see the sin of fornication. The desire for a physical relationship is a normal thing. We understand that. But the defilement of fornication is a harmful thing. By the way, let me just go ahead and say this. And again, I realize this is a Sunday morning and maybe this is a heavy topic. I don't know. But my job is to teach the Word of God. I'm just going to preach the Word of God. You do what you want with it. But I want you to notice in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 16, and I especially want unmarried, obviously unmarried people need to be listening this morning. When the Bible says what, know ye not that he which is joined, notice this word, to an harlot, to an harlot is one body. And here the Bible says when someone engages in the sin of fornication, God calls the individual engaging in it a harlot. In the New Testament, that same Greek word that is translated here in 1 Corinthians 6.16, obviously the English word being used here is harlot, but there's an underlying Greek word that is translated harlot. That same Greek word that is translated here as the word harlot is translated elsewhere in our King James Bible as the word whore. In the Old Testament, the same Hebrew word, which is translated harlot, is also translated whoring, whore, whoredoms, whorish. Don't let those words offend you. Those are Bible words. Those are biblical words. The same word that's used as harlot is translated as whoring, whore, whoredoms, whorish, and fornication. And you say, well, I don't like those words. I don't like you saying the word whore or whoring or whoredoms or harlot with connection to fornication. Well, don't get mad at me. I didn't say it. God did. And what I'm saying to you is that this should give you an idea of how it is that God sees this sin. You say, well, I don't ever want to be referred to as a whore, or I don't ever want to be referred to as a whoremonger. I don't ever want God to look down at me and see something that is whorish. Well, then don't act like one. Then don't participate in the things that make you one. Because this is what God calls it. And look, again, we live in this society that minimizes this and kind of laughs it off and acts like it's no big deal. But it's a big deal to God. And we need to get back to a Christianity that makes sin exceeding sinful. This is the sin of fornication. Yes, there's nothing wrong with the desire for a physical relation. That's normal. It's as normal as the belly desiring meat. But there's the defilement of fornication and it is a harmful thing. Notice verse 17. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Notice there's this contrast. Don't be joined to an harlot, be joined to the Lord. The body's not for meat, the body needs meat, but the body was made for the Lord. And look, I'm here to tell you, do you understand that there is a sense in which you can get so close to God and you can become so spiritual that your relationship with God actually fulfills the physical desires. I mean, Jesus told us the titles. He says, I have meat that ye know not of. He said, you desire physical meat, and that's what you live for, and that's what fulfills you. He said, but man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. So there's this idea that the Lord, you say, well, I'm single, and I've got natural desires. Let the Lord fill those. The Lord can be enough. God should be the goal. In verse 18 he says it plainly, flee fornication. We'll come back to that in a minute, flee fornication. But I want you to notice verse 18. He says this, And here we have the Apostle Paul making the statement. And he's putting the sin of fornication, and I wouldn't just say the sin of fornication, the act of fornication, but every sin that goes down that road, everything that leads in that direction. He says it's in a different category. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that committed fornication sinneth against his own body. And the idea is this, what Paul is saying is this, that most sins, I mean, when we talk about sins and list off sins, I mean, we might say things like lying, we might say things like stealing, we might say things like anger, we might say things like saying things you shouldn't say. Most sins do not directly affect the person's physical body in the same way that fornication and those types of sins do. And while all sin is serious, I'm not minimizing any other sin. Paul teaches us here that fornication has a distinctive impact because it involves the body in an intimate way. And it involves the body in an intimate way in the same way that other sins do not. This doesn't mean that other sins do not have physical consequences. Obviously other sins have physical consequences, but the idea rather is this, that fornication is unique in the fact that it defiles and it dishonors one's own body in a way that sets it apart from other sins. Fornication directly involves and harms the body itself. Fornication will have not only physical consequences, but it'll have emotional and mental consequences in a way that many other sins do not. I'd like you to keep your place there in 1 Corinthians. We're gonna come back to it, but go with me if you would to the Old Testament book of Genesis, Genesis chapter number two. Keep your place in 1 Corinthians and flip or go back with me to the book of Genesis, put a ribbon or a bookmark in First Corinthians, we're gonna come back to it. And then do me a favor, when you get to Genesis, put a ribbon or a bookmark or your finger or something there in Genesis, because we're actually gonna go back and forth between these two parts of the Bible, and I'd like you to find them quickly. First Corinthians and Genesis. And look, you've got to understand that fornication is unique in the sense that it involves your body in an intimate way, in an emotional way, in a mental way, and it can have an effect. And I've said this before many times and I'll say it again. There's a reason why my wife and I have now been in ministry 15 years, or close to 15 years, I can't remember. I think either we're gonna do 15 years here in September or we're past that. But over the last 15 years of ministry, you know, one thing that I've noticed is that whenever a 30-something-year-old man or a 30-something-year-old lady, when a man comes to me or a lady goes to my wife, a 40-something-year-old man or a 40-something-year-old lady goes to my wife or a man comes to me or whatever, whenever grown adults come to us, people that are well past adolescence, they come to us and they have to speak to us, a man, of course, to me, or a lady, to my wife, and they need help, and they're struggling with something that happened in their youth, and it's something they need help with, and it's something that they need counsel about, it's someone they need to talk to about, and they need guidance, something, you know, whenever that happens, it's, I've just noticed, it's never, no one ever comes to me in their 40s and says, Pastor, I just gotta tell you, you know, when I was 13 years old, when I was 14 years old, I stole a Kit Kat from the 7-Eleven. Now stealing a Kit Kat from the 7-Eleven is not a good thing, alright? Stealing is bad. But those are not the types of sins that you carry with you into adulthood. It's usually these types of physical relationship type sins. It's usually these types of fornication type things that mess with your brain and mess with your mind and mess with your emotions. It's a sin that is distinct in the sense that it has an effect on your body. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that committed fornication sinneth against his own body. And though God created the physical relationship, there is a reason why God said that it must be enjoyed within the bounds and within the safety of marriage. Because it'll have an effect on you. Say, why would you preach a sermon like this to your congregation? Because they care about you. Because I love you. Because I'm trying to keep you from having regrets that you'll carry with you for the rest of your life. See, there's nothing wrong with the physical relationship. In fact, God created the physical relationship between a man and a woman. There's nothing wrong with that desire. Like we've already said, the desire for a physical relationship is normal. It's as normal as the belly desiring meat. Meat's for the belly, belly's for the meat. It's normal. God created it. But God also wants you not to distort it. He wants you not to be defiled. He wants you to enjoy it within the bounds of marriage. And let me just say this, the only way The only way to engage in a physical act between a man and a woman without it being shameful and harmful is to do it within the bounds and the safety of marriage. Are you there in Genesis chapter 2? Look at verse 24. In Genesis chapter number 2 and verse 24, notice what the Bible says, Genesis 2, 24. You know what this teaches? It teaches commitment. It teaches that you are leaving one relationship and you are forming a new relationship. You're leaving one home and you're forming a new home. You're leaving one authority structure of father and mother and you're creating a new authority structure of husband and wife and Lord willing children. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife. Notice these words, and they shall be one flesh. And listen young people, the only time that you should engage in this act that makes you one flesh should be when someone has committed enough to you to commit the rest of their lives to you. They should be willing to leave father and mother and roommates and buddies and friends and cleave unto his wife and cleave unto her husband. Now I want you to notice verse 25. What the Bible says. This is where God, obviously this is Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve didn't even have a mother and father. God is telling us this because He's using Adam and Eve as an example for all mankind. This is when God instituted marriage. He performs this marriage ceremony between Adam and Eve, and God declares that this is an institution that He has given to humanity. He says, therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, though Adam and Eve did not even have a father and mother, because He's teaching this is for all mankind, Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. This is the marriage ceremony that God gave for Adam and Eve. Verse 25 says this, And they were both naked, the man and his wife, notice these words, and were not ashamed. And were not ashamed. The only way to engage in this relationship, the physical relationship between a man and a woman, the only way to do it without shame, without baggage, without physical harm and mental harm and emotional harm, is for it to be done within the bounds and safety of marriage. And within the bounds and safety of marriage is to be enjoyed. That's a sermon for another day. The Bible teaches that as well. It's something that God wants couples to enjoy and wants couples to engage in, but not before marriage, and of course, not outside of marriage. So we see the sin of fornication. I want you to notice secondly this morning, not only do we see the sin of fornication, keep your place there in Genesis, we're going to make our way back in that direction. Go back to 1 Corinthians. This time go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 if you would. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Not only do we see the sin of fornication, but we see the severity of fornication. the severity of fornication. Again, you might be so brainwashed by our culture and society that you're sitting here thinking, I can't believe you're preaching this, I can't believe you're talking about this, you know, nobody preaches this type of stuff. And look, most churches you go to aren't going to preach what I'm preaching right now. But I don't know if you've noticed, I'm preaching the Word of God to you. I'm preaching the Bible to you, this is what the Bible teaches and we need to understand these things. So we see number one, the sin of fornication. And by the way, let me just go ahead and say this, if you're here this morning and you fornicated or you fornicated before you were married or whatever, I'm not trying to beat you up. Paul said, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. You know what? The Bible says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And if you've lived in fornication in the past, you fornicated before you were married, or maybe you're not married and you fornicated, hey, ask God to forgive you. Confess your sins before the Lord. Don't ever do it again and move on with your life. We're not trying to beat you up. But you know what I am trying to do is I'm trying to save a lot of young people from a lot of harm that can come to their lives. There's physical harm and mental harm. There's children being born out of wedlock and there's all sorts of STDs and things that can have an effect on your life and you have a pastor that loves you enough to tell you about the sin of fornication. Nothing wrong with the physical desire, it's normal. But the defilement is harmful. It should only be enjoyed within the commitment of marriage. And a man is willing to say, and a woman is willing to say, for richer or poorer, in sickness as in health, for better or for worse, till death do us part. It's the only way to engage in that relationship, and it be said like it was said of Adam and Eve, and they were not ashamed. So we see the sin of fornication. I want you to notice the severity of fornication. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 7, The Apostle Paul gives us a story, he's referencing a story in the Old Testament. I want you to notice in verse 7 he says, Now he's about to tell us that God ended up killing a bunch of them. In fact, look at verse 8. He says, You say, how serious is fornication? You know, it's so serious that God one day killed 23,000 people because they were committing fornication. And by the way, this is just one example in the Old Testament. There's more than one where God did this. Let me just show you the story real quickly. Go to Exodus if you would. Keep your place there in 1 Corinthians. And go to Exodus chapter 32. If you kept your place in Genesis, it's just the next book over. Exodus chapter 32. Look at verse number 4. The specific story that Paul is referring to here in 1 Corinthians 10, like I said, there's more than just one in the Bible. But the one that he's talking about is this story of when Moses goes up to the mount to meet with God. Bible says in Exodus 32 in verse 4, and he, this is referring to Aaron, received them, and we're kind of jumping in in the middle of the story, so let me just explain. Moses goes up to the mount to meet with God. He's been gone for 40 days, and the people come to Aaron, and they say, we want not what has become of this Moses. We don't know where he's at or if he's even coming back. They said, make us gods that we may serve them. And Aaron says, well, give me the earrings. And the Bible says that the men and the women, the men and the women, this is not a good culture. This is a bad culture. This is a culture that's given itself to idolatry and it's about to give itself to fornication. The men and the women took their earrings off and they gave them to Aaron. And he makes a golden calf, verse four, and he Aaron received them, that's referring to the golden earrings that is mentioned in verse 2, at their hand, the words their hand is referring to the children of Israel, the congregation, and fashioned it, referring to the Notice verse 5. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and to drink." Notice this little phrase. Does this sound familiar? From 1 Corinthians 10, verse 7, "...and rose up to play." Exodus 32, 6 says, "...and rose up to play." 1 Corinthians 10, verse 7 says, "...neither be ye idolaters," that's the golden calf, "...as some of them were. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play." Notice verse 25, Exodus 32, verse 25. Notice what he sees. Moses comes down, he's coming down off the mount. If you remember the story, they hear noise. Joshua says, it sounds like war. And Moses says, that's not war, that's music. And we talked about that in our music sermon. But look at verse 25. Look, it's always shameful to be naked. other than with your spouse. And when Moses saw that the people were naked, for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies, verse 28, skip down to verse 28 just for sake of time, Moses commands these people to be slain, verse 28, and the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses and there fell, now notice here, there fell of the people that day about 3,000 men. So Moses says, who is on the Lord's side? The Levites say, we are. And he commands them, he says, gird your, he says, take a sword and slay. And they go through and start killing all the individuals. that were engaging in fornication. And the Bible says there fell of the people that day about 3,000 men. So Moses and the men of Levi go and they killed 3,000 people because of fornication. Idolatry, nakedness, fornication, all of it. But that's not it. Look at verse 35, same chapter. Exodus 32, verse 35. After Moses kills 3,000, the Bible says in verse 35, So not only does Moses kill 3,000, then the Lord sends a plague. This is what Paul is talking about. Go back to 1 Corinthians 10. Look at verse 8 when he says, 3 and 20,000. How severe is the sin of fornication? Well, when you look at the judgment of God in the Old Testament, the judgment of God in the Old Testament fornication, He killed 23,000 people! Just in one day! And there are other stories similar to this one, where God kills people because they engage in the sin of fornication. And here's what I'm saying to you, this is a big deal to God. The severity of fornication is a big deal, the fact that God would even kill in the Old Testament because people engaged in this. But I want you to notice, you say, well that's the Old Testament, that's the judgment of the Old Testament. What about the New Testament? Well go to 1 Corinthians chapter 5, I'm glad you asked. Obviously, the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament. God feels the same way about fornication in the New Testament as He did in the Old Testament. But we understand that we are living under different covenants. We are not living under the Old Testament nation of Israel, under the political laws of a nation. But God is working through His people, through a local church. So what about the judgment of God in the New Testament for fornication? How severe? How big of a deal is it? Notice 1 Corinthians chapter 5. And look, again, I realize that even if you've grown up in church, if you didn't grow up in this church, you probably have never even heard a sermon preached about this. You probably never even had these things taught to you. Which is why I'm not here beating you up or whatever. I'm trying to help you and warn you and teach you what the Word of God says. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, look at verse 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 1. It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you. This is Paul speaking to the church at Corinth. He said it's reported commonly that there is fornication among you. And such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And sometimes this confuses people, but obviously he used the word fornication, not adultery here. So when he's talking about his father's wife, it's either his father's ex-wife or the father's dad, and it's his widow, obviously not his own mother. But here, this individual is engaging in fornication. Look at verse 2. And you are puffed up. And this is Paul rebuking the church at Corinth. He says, Notice these words, might be taken away from among you. In the Old Testament, they literally, they took them away from among the earth. They just took their lives. In the New Testament, we don't live under the political power of Old Testament Israel. So we don't have the power to give criminal punishments as a local New Testament church. So God says in the New Testament, we just remove people from the congregation. Are you listening to what I'm saying? Look at verse 2. That he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. That's what he says. Now there is coming a day called the Millennial reign of Christ, where the Lord Jesus Christ will physically reign on this earth for a thousand years, and I'm here to tell you, during that time, the Levitical law is coming back. In the Old Testament judgment, which is why the Bible says that he will rule and reign with a rod of iron, those things are coming back. But under the New Testament time, in a local New Testament church, God says, he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. Notice verse nine. You say, I don't know, does that mean to not have these people around us when it says that they might be taken away from among you? Look at verse nine. I wrote unto you in an epistle, notice these words, not to company with fornicators. There are some sins that God says are not acceptable within the congregation. Now let me just say this. We're all sinners. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Every single one of us is a sinner. And all of us are going to sin. But God tells us there are some sins that cannot be allowed, they cannot be put up with within the congregation of believers. And one of those, here he's highlighting, he said, I wrote unto you an epistle not to company with fornicators. Then he clarifies in verse 10, yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world. He said, I'm not talking about worldly people. I'm not talking about at the grocery store, or at your job, or your neighbor. He says, or with the covetous, or with extortioners, or with idolaters, for then must ye needs go out of the world. So a couple things. He says, I'm not talking about just unsaved people engaging in fornication. He said, otherwise you would have to go out of the world, because this is what unsaved people do. This is what unregenerate people do. They fornicate. He says it's not acceptable within the community of believers. And by the way, it's not just fornication. In verse 10 he gives us the whole list. Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world. He says, but not just fornicators, or with covetous, or with extortioners, or with idolaters, for then must ye go out of the world. Here's a list that God says. He says, look, obviously we're all sinners, but there are some sins that cannot be tolerated within the congregation of believers. You say, well why is that? Well one of the reasons, he tells us here in 1 Corinthians 5, he says, because a little leaven leaveneth the whole lamb. So why can you not allow young people that are not married to each other just to live in open fornication? Just to be sleeping around together, or what the Bible would call whoring around together. So why can't you allow it, Pastor Jimenez? You know why I can't allow it? Look around. If you look around, you know what you're going to see here? Close to 90 children that called Verity Baptist Church their home, and we cannot allow you to set an example of whoremongering for those children! Why? Because the little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. We need to make sin exceeding sinful. We want to teach these children that they need to be pure and they need to walk down an aisle one day and they should be pure and virgin and save themselves for their spouse so that they can enjoy that relationship with no baggage, with no shame, with no issues and no things that they have to explain and, well, I got to tell you about this before we get married. We want them to be able to enjoy marriage and to enjoy what God created for them to enjoy within the bounds and safety of marriage. And we cannot allow a little leaven to leaven the whole lump. Notice verse 9, he says, I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators, yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with covetousness, or extortioners, or idolaters, for then must ye needs go out of the world. Verse 11, he says, but now have I written unto you not to keep company. Look at it. This is a command from God. But now I have written unto you not to keep company. If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator. So he says, I'm not talking about the guy that's fornicating at your job. Then you'd have to go find another job, and when you go find that job, there's gonna be some guy fornicating there. He's like, I'm not talking about that. He's like, but I'm talking about the guy that's called a brother. Talking about a believer. But now I've written unto you not to keep company of any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or a covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such in one, know not to eat. What have I to do to judge them that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within, but them that are without God judge it. He said don't worry about judging worldly people, God will judge them. Verse 13, therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. So what is it that's being described here in 1 Corinthians 5 verses 1 through 13, when he says that he that had done this deed might be taken away from you, when he says not to company with fornicators, when he says not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, when he says put away from among yourselves that wicked person. What's being described here? What's being described here is what we often refer to as church discipline. Or what other religions call excommunication. And obviously that term has a lot of connotations depending on the religion. Catholics, when they talk about excommunication, they talk about losing your salvation. But excommunication, the word communicate or communication has to do with fellowship. And excommunication is when someone is told, you cannot fellowship within this body of believers. You must be taken away. We cannot company with you. We cannot keep company. You have to be put away from among the congregation. And we see in the New Testament that the severity of fornication, it's so severe that it'll get you kicked out of church. God says you need to literally be thrown out of church and kicked out of church and told don't come back if you're living in fornication. Now let me just give you some thoughts. Because obviously, sometimes I preach these things and people have all sorts of questions. Let me just answer some questions. With regards to church discipline, of course we want to show grace. Notice again there in verse 11, the Bible says, Notice these words, called a brother. Called a brother. The position that we take here at Verity Baptist Church is this, that we want to have grace and patience, obviously with new believers. Some couple shows up and they just got saved and they don't know, they've never been taught these things. We're not gonna be like, okay, praise the Lord, you just got saved and I'll never come back. We're gonna, you know, we wait, we have patience, we have grace with people, but you know what Paul says? There comes a point where you've been living the Christian life long enough, where you've been doing this long enough, where people start calling you. And literally, I wait till people, you know, when people start calling you, hey brother so-and-so, hey sister so-and-so, Because you've been coming, and you've been showing up, and you've been faithful, and you start getting to that place. Look, so obviously we're gonna wait for Christian maturity. We're gonna have grace and patience with people that show up, couples show up. We're not checking marriage certificates at the door. Couples show up. You say, Pastor, have you ever had a couple show up at a living fornication? Look, there are people, and obviously I'm not gonna point anybody out, but there are people sitting in this room right now. that showed up to Verity Baptist Church living together, not married, in fornication years ago. You say, well, what happened? Well, they're still here, so you know what happened? They heard a sermon like this and they got married. They heard a sermon like this, and they just said, hey, that's what the Bible says. That's right. And they just did the right thing, and they got married. I've performed marriages in my office. We've performed marriages, small marriages and big marriages and all sorts of marriages. We have people go and get married at the courthouse and then come back and do marriages. Why? Because look, we're not trying to hurt people. You're new at this. You've never heard this before. You've never been taught this. We're going to love you. We're going to have patience with you. But there is gonna come a time in your Christian life when we're gonna say, hey, you've been here long enough, you know enough, you've heard enough, you've been taught enough, you guys need to get married. Or, stop fornicating. But the Bible says that it's so severe that it cannot be allowed in church. And look, you say, well, I don't like that list. Well, I didn't write it, God didn't. This is the list that God gave. And look, for example, drunkardness is on that list. And I preached on alcohol. And again, I've explained this. We're a spiritual hospital. People come in here and they're struggling with drugs, they're struggling with alcohol. We will help you. My wife and I, over the last 15 years of ministry, by God's grace, have helped many people get victory over drugs and alcohol. So it's not like people come in and, I'm struggling with alcohol, and we're just like, get out. No, we love you, we want to help you, but the idea is this, if you're coming here and you're wanting to get help, you're wanting to get victory, then we're a spiritual hospital and we'll help you get healthy and get better and all of that. But let me tell you something, somebody walks in here and says, I'm a drunkard, I'm a drug addict, I don't think there's anything wrong with it, and I want to come to this church, but I just want to keep getting high every day. We're going to tell you, get out. Get right with God or get out. Because I'm not going to let you be the example of a bum to all these kids out here, because a little loving, loving it the whole long. You say, well, I'm fornicated. We're living in fornication. What do we do? Hey, get right with God. Let us help you get right. Let us help you. But if you're just like, we're just going to keep living in fornication, and we don't care, then just go to some other church that's not going to preach the word of God. Because we actually love the Bible, and we actually read the Bible, and we actually follow the Bible here at Mary Baptist Church. So, with regards to fornication, we see the severity. In the Old Testament, God killed people because of it. He removed them from the congregation by taking their life. In the New Testament, we're commanded that they are to be excommunicated. Church discipline, removed. And again, not new Christians, not people that have never been taught this. We're going to have grace, we're going to have patience, we're going to help you, we're going to counsel with you. We'll do whatever we can to help you along the way, but let me be clear, there comes a point where we say this sin is so severe it cannot be allowed to be opened. Let me just say this, because people ask me questions, and I'm sure you all have questions, or someone will have questions. Someone will email me a question. But let me just go ahead and say this. We include cohabitation, what the world calls cohabitation, in this. We include couples that are not married living together. It's not acceptable. Shacking up or living together when you're not married is not acceptable, and we will kick people out of church for it. And again, if you're new and you're starting out and you're just learning, we'll have patience, we'll have grace. But eventually a sermon like this is gonna come along and then it's like, okay, now you're learning, now you're knowing. What are you gonna do? Let me read to you an excerpt from an article. This is from the New York Times on the subject of cohabitation. Because cohabitation is a dangerous thing. And again, cohabitation is defined as a couple that's not married living together. Here's what the article says. It says, cohabitation in the United States has increased by more than 1,500% in the past half century. In the 1960s, about 450,000 unmarried couples lived together. Now the number is more than 7.5 million. The majority of young adults in their 20s will live with a romantic partner at least once, and more than half of all the marriages will be preceded by cohabitation. In a nationwide survey by the National Marriage Project, about two-thirds, and this is talking about people in their 20s, 20-somethings, About two-thirds said they believed that moving in together before marriage was a good way to avoid divorce. This is what people think. By the way, this is an article from the New York Times. This is not the sword of the Lord, all right? And this is what they're saying. They did this survey of people in their 20s, and two-thirds of them said that living together, they thought, was a good way to avoid divorce. And I'm not going to go through and read the whole thing, but they give all their reasons, like, you can live together and you can, you know, see if you get along, see if you like each other, whatever. That's the secular thinking. And in a carnal way, you can kind of see where they're coming from. Obviously, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. We should not think carnally, we should think spiritually. Here's what they said, about two-thirds said that they believed that moving in before marriage was a good way to avoid divorce, but the belief is contradicted by experience. Couples who cohabit before marriage, and especially before an engagement or another wise, clear commitment, which I'm not for, this is the New York Times, tend to be less, here's what they said, couples who cohabit before marriage tend to be less satisfied with their marriages and more likely to divorce than couples who do not. These negative outcomes are called the cohabitation effect. Again, this is New York Times. This is a research that's been done. They've done studies. They found couples that lived together before marriage more likely to be unhappy when they are surveyed anonymously to say they're unhappy in their marriage and more likely to end divorce than couples who don't. In the article, I'm not gonna take the time to read the whole thing, but they go on to give an example about a lady who was 32, and she lived with her boyfriend for four years, and she had, after living together for four years, they had this big lavish wedding, and merely months later, she was filing for divorce. Her name was Jennifer, and they said that Jennifer stated that moving in together, this is what they call the cohabitation effect, Jennifer stated that moving in together just kind of happened, and this is how most couples end up living together. Here's what the article says. I want you to hear what I'm saying to you. She was talking about what researchers call sliding, not deciding. Moving from dating, to sleeping over, to sleeping over a lot, to cohabitation can be a gradual slope, one not marked by rings, or ceremonies, or sometimes even a conversation. You understand what I'm saying to you? I'm not saying it to you, I'm reading from the New York Times. Couples bypass talking about why they want to live together and what it will mean. One thing men and women do agree on, however, is this, that their standards for a live-in partner are lower than they are for a spouse. Go to Ephesians chapter 5, real quickly. If you have your place there in 1 Corinthians, go to 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians. 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 5. You say, what is this cohabitation effect? And look, I want you to hear this, because you might talk to your friends and they're like, oh, well, you know, you gotta live together before you get married, and that way you'll know. Well, listen to me. Research shows, first of all, the Bible says that's wrong, but research says that's wrong as well. Isn't it funny how the secular world always catches up to the Bible? God's always right, and they're always wrong. You say, well, what? Well, it makes sense, though. But here's why it doesn't make sense. Because you, an individual, is going to have a higher threshold for who they marry, for presenting a ring to her, accepting a ring from him, from walking down an aisle, from signing a contract. That ceremony, that level of commitment is gonna cause you to think about, do I really want to spend time, I mean, he's 30 years old and he plays video games all day, do I really want to spend the rest of my life with this guy? when you don't fornicate, when you don't live together. But here's what happens, you date a guy that's a loser, or you date a young lady that's a loser or whatever, and you're like, I'd never marry him, I'd never marry her, but you'll go to bed with them. You'll sleep over. And then you'll sleep over several nights, and then you'll just kind of move your stuff, and slowly, you end up living together, and sometimes there's not even a conversation, there's no conversation, it just kind of happens. You're just kind of spending more time there than you're spending at your place, or spending more time there than you're spending at your parents' house, and the lease is up, and you just, and it's kind of this thing, no commitment, no decision, nothing. You just kind of end up living with this person, and then four years down the road, five years down the road, 10 years down the road, you're like, well, we've already been living together, might as well get married, or, well, now you're pregnant, so we might as well get married. And then you get married, but now all of a sudden that you have to sign that contract, that you have to make that commitment, that you have to, say those words and say, this is the person I'm committing to for the rest of my life. Now all of a sudden, you realize, no, I'm not that satisfied with this. Which is why these people end up, research says, more likely to end up divorced. You say, I want to have a happy marriage. I think everybody that gets married wants to have a happy marriage. If you say, I want to have a happy marriage, I want to be able to get to the end of my life happy. You know, I'm thankful for my wife and the marriage that we have. I'm thankful that my wife is my best friend. I'm thankful that I'm not, you know, some of you guys, I'm not the guy who's just looking for reasons to not come home. Oh, I got to go to the gym. I got to go hang out with my friends. Oh, I got to work late. I got to do this, you know, just to avoid your wife. I want to spend time with my wife. I want to spend time with my children. I want to spend time. I love my family. I love my wife. Hey, I'm looking forward to growing old and spending the rest of my life with my wife. You say, oh, that sounds nice. I like that. And don't fornicate. and don't live in, move in together, and do it right, make a commitment, buy a ring, sign a contract, make the vows, do it in front of your friends, do it in front of your family, have enough respect for yourself and for the person that you supposedly love more than anyone else in this world, to not treat them like a whore and to not be a whoremonger. You say, I don't think you should speak that way. Look, the Bible says we ought to make sin exceeding sinful. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 3. Ephesians 5, 3, notice these words. Paul said this to the church at Ephesus. He said, but fornication and all uncleanness. And by the way, let me just say this. Whenever the physical action between a man and a woman is engaged in outside of marriage, it's always unclean. There's always shame and uncleanness associated with it. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as becometh saints. It should not be something that characterizes the people of God. He said, let it not be once named among you as becometh saints. So we see the sin of fornication. We see the severity of fornication. But then lastly, this morning, let's talk about the solution for fornication. You say, what's the solution? When you're there in Ephesians, I want you to go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. You have Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians. You say, what is your goal with a sermon like this? A goal with a sermon like this is that you parents would teach your children from a young age to live pure lives and to make it a goal to walk down the aisle pure. Male and female. My goal is that the young people, the children and the young teens that aren't even close to that, that you would make a decision right now. Like Daniel says, the Bible says about Daniel that he purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's meat. That you would make a decision right now. I'm not going to engage in fornication. I'm gonna save myself for marriage. I'm gonna walk down the aisle pure. I'm gonna be a virgin on the day I get married. And I'm gonna only enjoy that relationship with the person I've committed my life to. And for those of you that have already, you say, I already messed up, I've already gone down that road. I'm not here to beat you up, but I am here to tell you it's wrong, and you need to confess it as sin, you need to get right with God, and you need to make it right. And maybe that means that you make a decision that you say, from here on, I will live pure. From here on, I will not engage in that sin until I'm married. Maybe it means you need to move out. Maybe it means you need to break off a relationship. Maybe it means you need to step back. You know, whatever that means, the goal of this sermon is that you do whatever you need to do to make that right. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 3, the Bible says this, for this is the will of God. It's interesting, people often talk about the will of God, and what is the will of God? Here's a clear verse where God tells you, let me tell you exactly what the will of God is. This is the will of God, even your sanctification. He says that you should abstain from fornication. He said abstain from it. Abstain from it. You say, oh, you need to engage in that relationship in a safe way. No, you need to abstain. You say, how do I keep from getting pregnant before marriage? Abstinence. How do I keep from getting an STD? Abstinence. How do I keep from having all that baggage and all that drama and all those memories? Abstinence. Abstain from fornication. So let me give you a solution. Let me give you some steps. How do you do this? What do you do? Number one, go back to 1 Corinthians 6. I know I've already been preaching for 57 minutes. I apologize. This sermon maybe is going to go a little longer. I'm just going to preach it because it's just needed. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, if you kept your place there, let me give you three steps. We'll finish this up with three steps for the solution for fornication. What are they? Number one, flee fornication. Flee. 1 Corinthians 6.18. Flee, fornication. You say, is that a step? That's a step. You say, what does that mean? The word flee means to run. And fornication is telling you what to run from. Literally run from it. Let me give you an example of this. Did you keep your place in Genesis? Genesis chapter 39. Genesis 39. Now this is not exactly fornication. But it's an example of how we should flee lust and flee these types of sins. Genesis 39. In Genesis 39, you have this famous story of Joseph. Joseph is one of the greatest characters in the Bible. Here's a young man. He's been sold into slavery by his brothers. He's living at Potiphar's house. He's been promoted. And the Bible says in Genesis 39 in verse 7, And it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and she said, Lie with me. And of course, this is adultery, but I want you to see the same idea of fleeing. Of course, verse 8, the Bible says, But he refused and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wanteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand. There is none greater in this house than I, neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife. I want you to notice this, and I'm not making this a step, but I do want to highlight this for you. I want you to notice what Joseph says here. He says, how then? This woman comes to him and says, lie with me. He refused, and he gave the reasons. He said, I can't do that. You're my master's wife. He said, my master wanteth not what is with me in the house. He said, he has committed all that he hath to my hand. He said, there's none greater in this house than I. Neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife. He gives all these secular, relational reasons, but then he gives the main reason. Notice verse 9. He says, how then can I do this great wickedness? and knows what he says. He doesn't say, and sin against Potiphar. It would have been fine for him to say that, but that's not what he says. He doesn't say, and sin against my parents. Would have been fine for him to say that, but that's not what he says. He doesn't say, you know what he says? He says, and sin against God. And you know, when it comes to purity, whether it's unmarried young people, Or whether it's married, older people. One way to keep purity is to practice the presence of God. You know what the Bible says? The Bible says that the eyes of the Lord, they see everything. There's nothing hid from God. I believe that one of the reasons that Joseph lived such a pure life is because he lived in the presence of God. He knew that God saw him. He said, I can engage in this sin and no one will know. My parents won't know. My brothers won't know. A part of her won't know. Nobody will know. But Joseph said, but God would know. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? One way to maintain purity is to practice the presence of God, to live in the presence of God. That's one thing David forgot. when he committed adultery with Bathsheba. If you look at that story of David and that whole episode of David and Bathsheba and how it all went down, it's interesting to me when you get to the last chapter, excuse me, the last verse of that chapter, when you get to the last verse of that chapter, it just ends with this statement, the thing that David did displeased the Lord. And it's almost like this afterthought, like David commits adultery, and then he's lying about it, he's hiding it, he kills Uriah the Hittite, he does all these things, and God never comes to his mind. But at the end there's just this statement. God had been watching the whole time. God knew the whole time. David forgot what Joseph remembered. To live in the presence of God. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And it came to pass as she spake to Joseph day by day, verse 10. that he hearkened not unto her to lie by her or to be with her. And it came to pass about this time that Joseph went into the house to do his business. I want you to notice the last part of verse 11. And there was none of the men of the house there within. That was the mistake that Joseph made. It's not a sin, but it was a mistake. We'll talk about that here in a minute. That was a bad move. Look at verse 12. And she caught him by his garment saying, lie with me. And he left his garment in her hand, notice these words, and fled. and got him out. You say, how can I, what's a solution for fornication? Here's a solution for fornication. When you find yourself, or adultery or any other type of sin, you find yourself in the midst of that. Flee. Paul told Timothy, flee youthful lust. Flee fornication. Run! Literally run. And did it cost Joseph something? He left his coat and she accused him falsely. He gets thrown into prison. But you know what? He had his integrity. He was right with the Lord and the Lord helped him. So I would say one, flee fornication. But secondly, I would say this, set boundaries. Set boundaries. Notice, one of the reasons that Joseph got in trouble is because he went into the house with this woman when there was none of the men of the house there within. It was just him and her. I don't think his heart was in the wrong place. I'm sure he didn't even notice. But one thing that you should do, and specifically I'm talking to unmarried individuals, is to set boundaries. Go back to 1 Corinthians, this time chapter seven and verse one. 1 Corinthians chapter seven and verse one. Paul says, now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me, I want you to notice these words, he says, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. It is good for a man not to touch a woman. And I don't think this is talking about shaking somebody's hand, I don't think this is talking, The context here is about fornication. He said it's good for a man not to touch a woman, verse two, nevertheless to avoid fornication. So you know what the Bible teaches here is that you should set some boundaries. There should be some boundaries where you don't do certain things. And again, I don't think this is talking about shaking someone's hand. I don't think this is talking about, this is talking about touching in that sort of romantic relational way. Bible says in Romans 13, 14, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. You know, I'm just gonna say, you parents do whatever you want, I'll help you out as a pastor, but I don't think that these young teenagers need to be holding hands, need to be kissing, need to be hugging and groping each other and all on each other. You know, the purpose of dating is marriage. That's the whole point. Why date? To get married. Excuse me, but I just don't think a 13-year-old or a 14-year-old or a 15-year-old are going to get married or should be getting married anytime soon. Their bodies might be developed, but their minds are not where they need to be to be able to engage in this type of relationship. So it's good for a man not to touch a woman. You say, ah, you're so old-fashioned. Why do you think? What's wrong with holding hands? I'm not going to even sit here and tell you, like, that's a sin. But here's the point. Holding hands will lead to kissing, will lead to embracing. It'll just lead you down a road that can eventually lead to fornication. You say, well, how do I avoid it? Just don't even go down that road. Just don't even go into the room when it's just you and her or you and him by yourselves. That's why dating couples, I think you ought to date in public places. You don't need to be somewhere alone. Just set some boundaries to protect from fornication. So flee fornication, set boundaries. And then the last step, and this is for people that are of the age. How do I avoid fornication? Get married. Look at verse 2. 1 Corinthians 7 verse 2. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, here's what he says. You say, how do I avoid it? Well, he already told you verse 1. Now concerning the things where if you wrote unto me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. He said, look, if you don't hold hands, you're not gonna, if you don't even hold hands, you're not gonna do that. He said, you don't like that? You don't like that preaching? You don't like me telling you, hey, be, set some boundaries. Don't be in a car alone together. Don't be in a room alone together. Don't be, set some boundaries to protect you. You don't like that? He says, well, then here's another piece of advice. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Get married. In verse 8 of the same chapter, he says, I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I, but if they cannot contain, what does that mean? They cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn. And the word burn here is not talking about hell, it's just talking about burning in lust. But he says if you cannot contain, let them marry. So how do you avoid fornication? Number one, flee it. Run from it. Number two, set boundaries in your relationships to keep you from going down that road. And number three, if you just can't contain, just get married. Well, you don't understand, we can't, you know, move out and this and that. Okay, just go get married. Make a commitment, make it right, make it right before the Lord. Hebrews chapter 13, you don't have to turn there, I'll just read this for you, we'll be done, this last verse I'll read to you. Hebrews 13, four says this, marriage is honorable in all. Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled. I mean, that's talking about the physical relationship. You know what God says? God says within marriage, it's a good thing. The bed's undefiled. But then he says this, and this is the contrast. He says marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. So here's the compare and contrast. Marriage is honorable. He says in all and he says even in the physical relationship because he mentions and the bed undefiled. But then he says but whoremongers, that's fornication, that's engaging in that physical relationship before marriage and adulterers, that's engaging in the physical relationship with someone you're not married to, you're married and you're doing it outside of marriage, he said, God will judge. Here's what he's saying. The physical relationship is honorable within marriage, and the physical relationship is dishonorable outside of marriage. And God isn't trying to keep something from you. He's trying to protect you. He's trying to keep you from bringing a bunch of baggage and heartache and bad things into your marriage. So why don't you decide today? Why don't you make the decision? I'm going to flee fornication. No matter where you're at, no matter what you've done, I'm going to flee fornication from this day forward. I'm going to live a pure life. I'm going to save myself for marriage. I'm going to walk down that aisle one day. I'm going to meet that young lady in that aisle one day. I'm going to commit myself to her. I'm going to commit myself to him so that we can not be ashamed like when Adam and Eve were naked and they were not ashamed within the bounds and the protection and the love of marriage. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. And Lord, we thank you for the word of God. And Lord, however this sermon lands, I don't know. But Lord, I pray that you would help us to just decide that the Bible is always right. The Bible is always true. And help us to learn what the Bible says and to do it. And Lord, I pray you'd help us all to realize the heart behind what we're talking about. Obviously, new Christians, new converts, they need time to grow, they need time to learn. We want to love them and give them grace and give them patience. But let us also never minimize this sin of fornication. And Lord, I do pray for the young people, that they would make choices and decisions that would protect them and that would protect their happiness for the rest of their lives. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.