And I also want to say a word of greeting to those who may be joining us on Facebook Live. We're glad that you're here. And for those of you that don't know, for a number of months now, we do broadcast our services on Facebook Live as they're happening, the entire service. And then when the service is completed, the video of the sermon remains there. So you can just go to River City Grace Community Church at Facebook and find us. I think you can access that even if you don't have a Facebook account. Is that right, techie folks? Is that right? Okay, maybe it is. Anyway, just know that that's available. Well, I want to invite you, if you would, to turn in God's Word once again to the book of Hebrews chapter 13. And if you're using one of the Bibles in the seats there in front of you, it's page 1009, Hebrews chapter 13. We're zeroing in on verse four, and this is actually our third week focusing on verse four. I've been constrained, as I mentioned last week, the last couple of weeks to do this because of the immediate relevancy of matters of marriage and the marriage bed to every single one of us in one way or another. Many of you who are a regular part of things here know that a few weeks ago, prior to my first message from Hebrews 13 verse four, I sent an email just alerting you to the focus of these things and the significance of these matters. And Lord willing, this'll be our last Sunday in verse four, planning to move on to verses five and six next week. But these are deeply significant issues. And not only because they're immediately relevant to all of us and more, marriage and for the marriage bed hit at the very core of his purposes in creation and in redemption. And in many ways the entire book of Hebrews, really we could say this about all of scripture, is a book about worship. It's a book that tells us what it means to worship God acceptably and what that worship looks like. In many ways, all of chapters one through 12 in Hebrews are about the why and how we're to worship God in faith in the supremacy and in the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapters one to 12 tell us why and how we're to worship God. chapter 13 really shows us what that worship looks like and I want to draw your attention actually to verse 28 of chapter 12 once again as we'll be leading into the passage but we read there, therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. And so this focus of what it means to worship God acceptably is at the heart of the entire letter of Hebrews. Again, that's really the heart of the whole of scripture, what it means to worship God acceptably in the way that he has prescribed and through the means that he has provided, namely the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're not to refuse God in this, but to rather respond in faith to all that he's given. And so chapter 13 outlines for us the details of just what this worship looks like in many different ways. And verse four, speaking about marriage and the marriage bed, really brings the acceptable worship of God into the home and into the bedroom. The most intimate of places is to be impacted by our worship of God. It just doesn't get any more daily and detailed than than marriage and the marriage bet. And it reminds us that the kind of worship that God desires, the kind of worship that God calls us to is not a compartmentalized worship where we think of what we're doing right now as an expression of our worship and an aspect of our worship. Indeed it is. But often it's easy for us to think that from 10.30 till 12, 12.15 on Sunday morning, that's when we worship. But then everything else is something other than worship. That is a completely unbiblical view of worship. Worship is comprehensive. Worship is all of life. It is every day, every moment. And again, it doesn't get more intimate than when we're dealing with matters of marriage and the marriage bed. And so this is why these matters are so vitally significant for every single one of us. To have a biblical understanding of worship and to think about how that plays out in marriage, in the marriage bed, in every part of our relationships. And this, as we've been saying the last couple of weeks, whether you're single, whether you're married, whether you're young, whether you're old, wherever God may have you in your life at this very moment, These truths are deeply significant. So with all that in mind, let me lead us in prayer once again as we ask God's help, as we look to his word, and then we'll behold what he has for us. Oh Father, even as the psalmist declared, as we heard in Psalm 41, blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. You are the unchanging God, unchanging in your holiness and righteousness and goodness, unchanging in your design and your purposes and your truth, unchanging in your promises and grace that you have given in the Lord Jesus Christ. and you are worthy of all trust, all obedience, all blessing, all worship. Oh God, may you be pleased to direct and lead now as we look to your word. I desperately need your help to be faithful to what you have revealed and to simply speak as one speaking your very utterances as you've revealed in your word. And we all need grace and help as we hear that we might understand and that in understanding we might likewise respond in faith and be transformed in the ways that you desire. Lord, may all these purposes be accomplished for your glory and for your worship in Christ's name, amen. Well, let's hear the word of the God who speaks once again, and I'm gonna start again in verse 28 of chapter 12, and then read through verse four. Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them and those who are mistreated since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. Well, most of us have a tendency, I believe, to respond instantly and zealously if the honor of someone that we love, if their character, if their reputation is dishonored, attacked, or defamed in any way. Perhaps that may be our mother, or it may be our father, or it may be some other significant person who has greatly influenced our lives. If that person's reputation and character is attacked and defamed, the hairs on the back of our neck will tend to stand up and we'll respond immediately and zealously to defend the honor of that person. All three of my sons played football while they were in high school and at one point my wife, their mother of course, was having a conversation with one of them and was asking about what goes on down on the field in terms of what players say to one another. And she was particularly interested in what the opposing team players would say in the midst of the heat of battle. Now, you may know and understand that most of that probably couldn't be repeated, but this particular son, whom she asked that question, thought about it for a little bit as she asked about what they say, and then he just quietly said, well, they talk about you a lot. Some of you may have to think about that a little bit. We'll just leave it at that. But for some reason, that somewhat provoked the intensity of his play because he loves his mom and he cares for his mom. Well, how much more immediately, how much more zealously should God's children act and react for the honor and glory of God's good character and reputation? The God who is holy, the God who is good, the God who is gracious, the God who is merciful, the God who is wise and kind beyond measure, our Father in heaven. When His design, when His purposes are maligned and defamed and dishonored and defiled, it should provoke something in us. Now even as it does, there's a right way and a wrong way to respond, and that's perhaps another sermon for another time. But God's people should be immediately eager and zealous for the honor and glory of His name, for the honor and glory of His word and of His design and of His reputation. And this bears much significance as we think about these matters of marriage and the marriage bed as we find this very brief verse with massive implications in verse four of chapter 13. Mark it well, dear friends. To dishonor marriage, to defile the marriage bed, is to defame the holy and good name of God. the one who is sovereign, wise, and who is the good creator of marriage and the marriage bed. And to so dishonor marriage, to so defile the marriage bed, and to defame the name of God in doing is to open oneself up to the judgment of God. One commentator has said, quote, sexual immorality is actually a rejection of the presence and goodness of God who created the human family in its maleness and femaleness. He goes on to say, the writer warns that those who place personal gratification above responsibility to God and to the community will encounter God himself as judge. And indeed, that is the message of chapter 13, verse 4 in Hebrews. And we know and we understand, as we've been observing over the last couple of weeks, our world as a whole, in rebellion against God, grossly dishonors marriage, and aggressively, boastfully dishonors and defiles the marriage bed. And it does so because the world, all of those who are outside of faith in Jesus Christ, just like any of us who now are in faith, we once were, the world does so because it hates God. And it hates His good authority. And it rebels against Him and His good authority. The world in many ways is like a tsunami of rebellion that's seeking to destroy God's good and gracious design for marriage. And in many ways, we ought not be surprised that that's a reality in the world because of sin, of this sinful nature that we all are born with, a disposition to rebel against God, to rebel against His good authority. We ought not be surprised that that happens in the world. The tragedy is when that tsunami of rebellion begins to weave its waters into the life of the church. and press in against the church and press in against believers and easily those who may succumb to such dishonor and rebellion against God. Well friends, as we've seen again, as believers we're called to worship God in the fullness of the hope, in the fullness of the life that he has given in the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, that's what the first 12 chapters of Hebrews are all about. who Christ is in the greatness of his glory and his sufficiency as the one who has made purification for our sins. He died as a substitute in bearing God's wrath in the place of all who would trust him. He's now risen from the dead. He's ascended at the right hand of the Father. He's the King of kings and the Lord of lords and he's our great high priest who is continually making intercession in the basis of his merit for all who would trust him. so that we can know complete and total forgiveness, so that we can have clean consciences even though we know that we are sinful and we battle sin. And yet we can know cleansing and forgiveness and security and assurance and hope in Christ. And so we're to worship God. and it plays out in the bedroom. And as I've said the last few weeks, it's vital for every believer to have a biblical theology of marriage and of sexuality. We're constantly fed the lies of Satan through endless avenues in the world, and it is imperative if we're gonna be faithful salt and light in a world that's on its way to hell, that we have a biblical view of marriage and of sexuality. And not so that we can thump people over the head with the Bible, but so that we can be ministers of His grace and of His truth in the hope that God would be bringing others to salvation just as He's rescued us and brought us to salvation. But because these issues of marriage and the marriage bed so permeate everything in our culture, it's vital for us to have a biblical theology of these and to understand and to submit to and to delight in and to promote and to defend God's good design because we understand that it's God's character, it's God's reputation, it's God's truth that's at stake. And the foundation of all of this, just to make this very explicit, the foundation of all of this is indeed the goodness of God. Remember when God created everything in Genesis chapter one. Go read it this afternoon again. Numerous times he says it is good. And then after he creates man and woman, Adam and Eve, the first husband and wife, he says it is very good. And the fact that before sin entered the picture that they were naked and they were unashamed is an expression of the right intimacy that they shared that is good. Beloved, the foundation of all of this is the goodness of God. And that's why God reacts so aggressively and intentionally and zealously for his own honor even when it means judgment. because he's good. And as we're gonna see, even this warning of judgment at the end of verse four, this threat of judgment, this expression of that which ought to further motivate us to honor marriage and to not defile the marriage bed, even this threat of judgment is an expression of kindness. and of goodness from a God who says, don't go there. Don't run into the street and get smashed by the car, don't go there. It's an expression of kindness because he's good. A man from another age, Stephen Charnock, who's written a massive volume on the existence and attributes of God. If you're looking for some dense, rich, powerful reading this summer, buy that volume. You can actually go online, and I think most of it you can find online. Stephen Charnock, C-H-A-R-N-O-C-K, The Existence and Attributes of God. He has an extensive section on the goodness of God. Let me give you just a small little teaser for what he says. Quote, the goodness of God comprehends all his attributes. All the acts of God are nothing else but the streams of his goodness. He goes on to say, God's holiness would scare an impure and guilty creature, but his goodness conducts them all for us and makes them all, referring to all of God's attributes, amiable to us. When you lay hold of the fact that God is good, friend, it changes everything. I mentioned at the very beginning of the service, for all of those who are in Christ, He has brought us to taste and see that He is good. That's a statement that comes from Psalm 34, verse eight. It's echoed again by Peter in 1 Peter 2, verse three, that the calling of God in repenting of your sin and trusting Christ and believing upon Him is a call to taste and see that He's good. And not only does He call us to taste and see that He's good when He converts us and saves us, but that's the ongoing call throughout our whole Christian life over and over and over again to taste and see that He is good. And you see how diabolical and how deep and how heinous the deception of Satan is with all of his temptations because what is the essence of temptation? but a twisting and distortion of what is good. That's exactly what Satan did when he came to Eve in the garden as it's recorded in chapter three. He questions the goodness of God. and he tempts and deceives Eve to look at the one fruit in this massive garden of plenty and of beauty and of riches and of glory, to look at this one fruit that God had said don't eat, and for her to look at it and to surmise to herself in her own opinion, oh, this is good. I'm gonna take and I'm gonna eat that. Friend, that's the heart of sin, and we know that. Theoretically, but we all understand that experientially too, don't we? Because we all fall prey to that. And that's the very essence of sin, to make what is evil look good, and to make what is good look evil. When you learn, when you lay hold of the truth, the reality, as God has displayed on every page of scripture, that he's good. and that His ways are good, and that trusting Him, worshiping Him, obeying Him is good. Friend, it changes everything. And that, of course, is the battle. Well, as we come back to verse four, this is all just kind of leading us back into verse four, but it's vital to understand the significance of His goodness in order to understand the danger of His judgment. and why even, as I said, the expression of this warning is a good and a kind thing for God to do to any of us so that we wouldn't go where we ought not to go lest we experience His judgment. Well, verse four is very clear and very straightforward. It falls into three different parts. The first part is this call to hold marriage in honor. We see that at the beginning of verse four. Understanding that God's the one who designs and defines marriage, that he has defined marriage as a lifelong covenanted union between one man and one woman. Anything other than that is not marriage. No matter what the world says, it's not marriage. Marriage is the lifelong covenanted union of one man and one woman. And we've seen that marriage is a redemptive analogy. It's a picture of Christ's relationship with the church. And God is the one who's given specific roles and responsibilities to husbands and wives in marriage. And we've seen even within this that marriage, while it is rich, while it is blessed, while it is wonderful, it's not ultimate. It doesn't last into eternity, at least human marriages don't last into eternity. Jesus made that clear in the Gospels. The marriage of Christ with his church is eternal and it teaches us that because marriage is a picture of Christ's relationship with the church, it points to that greater ultimate reality. And I would just underscore one of the significant implications of that once again, that is if you are single, you're not a second class citizen. And you're also not incomplete. It is a lie to think that marriage completes any of us. Christ is the one who completes us. Christ is the one who makes us whole. Yes, there is blessing in marriage. Yes, there are unique elements of marriage. But friend, if you're not married here today, and if perhaps God has that not in your life at all, you're looking forward to the marriage of Christ with his church just as all of us are. And for any who are married, it's a reminder to not idolize marriage. to appreciate it, to give thanks to God, to rejoice in what God has done, and yet to know that it's all intended to help us prepare for the eternal marriage of Christ with His church that we all share in. And this is why marriage is to be held in honor. Of course, the second part of the verse that we looked at in some detail last week, that the marriage bed is to be kept holy. It's to not be defiled. It is to be undefiled, which is to say it is to be pure. It is to be uncontaminated. It is to be unpolluted. And we took time last week to realize and understand from many passages in scripture that what God has designed in the marriage bed, which by the way, for those of you who haven't tracked along yet, that's a euphemism for the sexual intimacy that God has designed to have a husband and a wife in the covenant of marriage share in. And that's the only context in which it is to be shared in. But we saw that God is good in his design of the marriage bed. It is holy, it is pure. Because of that, we are to reject, we're to avoid all that would defile it. Namely, as the writer says here in verse four, sexual immorality and adultery. Sexual immorality has to do, another way that can be understood is fornication. That's what the word that is used there means. And that has to do particularly for single people as it refers to any and all sexual activity outside of the covenant of marriage between one husband and one wife. any and all, that would include premarital sex, it would include any form of homosexuality, it would regard any form of solo sex, bestiality, cross-dressing, I mean you name it, anything at all that is anything other than the right pure marriage bed between a husband and a wife is what is referred to as sexual immorality. And of course adultery is referring to any form of sexuality with someone other than one's spouse. And in both of these, whether sexual immorality or adultery, we see and we understand from scripture, this has to do not only with actions that relate to all of that, but with things that go on in our minds. So whether it's real or whether it's imagined, whether it's action, whether it's fantasy, it's all sexual sin. And it all defiles God's design for the marriage bed. And you may ask the question, well, why should we honor marriage? Why should we keep the marriage bed undefiled? We've spoken of it already and alluded to it, but just to make it explicit, that's what the end of verse four, the third part of the verse is about. Because of the fear of God's judgment. The fear of God's judgment. In other words, he's saying, let the fear of God's judgment motivate you to obey God's goodness. Let me say that again. Let the fear of God's judgment motivate you to obey God's goodness. The threat of God's judgment, as I said, is an expression of his kindness and his goodness. And to speak of God's judgment as it is spoken of here is identifying the truth that God will destroy all, any and all, who rebel against His good and His gracious design. It's not ultimately the heart of God to do so, but he's just, and because he is good, he is good in his justice, and because he is good and just, he must punish sin. And so the threat, the warning, is intended to protect us and intended to keep us from doing anything that would subject ourselves to God's judgment. And so we wanna look just a little more detail at this third statement, this third part of the verse to fear God's judgment, to understand what is being said and what is not being said and that in all of this we might come to trust and follow and rejoice in God's good ways all the more. To speak of God's judgment is to speak of his right, just, judicial punishment for those who rebel against him. He is the judge. As Tim alluded to in his prayer of confession earlier, we are accountable to God. As much as we might wanna think that we're free, that we can do whatever we wanna do and not reap any consequences, not only Scripture, all of Scripture describes and displays the fact that we're deeply accountable to God, but history and experience bears that out. We reap what we sow because God is God. and we are accountable to Him. And to speak of His judgment is to speak of His right and judicial punishment of those who rebel against Him. Well, as we think about this judgment, and this is vital for us to understand, because if you are a Christian here this morning, if you are one trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're probably thinking, wait a second, I'm trusting Christ. I've been delivered from God's judgment. How is it that God's judgment is to be a motivating factor in me pursuing holiness, in me pursuing obedience? I don't get that. Why am I? to fear God's judgment if I'm in Christ. Well, as we're gonna see, I believe scripture makes very, very clear, there is both an eternal aspect to God's judgment, and there is also a temporal aspect to His judgment. And I believe both of those aspects are what are expressed in this short but powerful statement at the end of verse four, that God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. There's both a temporal reality to that, that affects Christians and non-Christians, and there's an eternal reality that of course is gonna bring to bear on those who are non-Christians, who persist in their rebellion until death. And so we wanna think a little bit about both of those aspects, and hopefully this will become clear. Let's think first of all about the eternal aspect, the eternal dimension of God's judgment. This has to do with condemnation in hell forever. This is his eternal judgment. Condemnation in hell forever. For anyone and everyone who refuses God's salvation in Christ, who refuses to repent of sin and to trust the only provision God has given whereby we can be forgiven and reconciled to God, for anyone who refuses that, there is only eternal condemnation to anticipate. And this is the eternal sense of his judgment. We see this most prominent immediately even in the book of Hebrews. Let me just highlight a few places where this is spoken of. Back in chapter two, if you go back there, verses one to four. Listen to what he says. It says, therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will. Say, listen, if you neglect this great salvation, if you, and in that neglecting, you're ultimately rejecting the salvation God's provided, how will you escape judgment? How will you escape the right judgment? That's what's being intimated. That's really the first direct warning of God's judgment we find in the book of Hebrews and in these others that we're gonna look at as we move along. They really escalate in their intensity and severity and clarity. to help us see that we ought not to play games with God, that we ought not to take His word and His reality and His holiness and His judgment and His salvation, we ought not to take it lightly. So go over to chapter four. verses 12 and 13, and these are actually concluding statements from a focus that begins in chapter three with an exhortation to not reject God's word, and to not set aside God's word, and not harden your heart if you hear God's word. But this all concludes in verses 12 and 13 of chapter four, when he says, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the, or piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. See, and this is how God works through his word, to just cut through everything in our hearts and in our minds, to go to the core, to expose the reality of what we are. This is how God works through his word, through his spirit, perhaps even now as I'm preaching. This is what God does. He goes on to say, verse 13, no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. God sees everything. Not only what you do, He knows the thoughts of your mind, He knows the intentions of your hearts, He knows it all. You can run, but you can't hide from God. And He's the one with whom you have to do, with whom we all must give an account. Over in chapter six, and these warnings, by the way, are really focused on those who are even professing to be Christians. And yet we find that in many instances, they're not genuinely saying verses four through eight. He says it's impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come. And I'm convinced there he's talking about somebody who's perhaps giving as close of evidence of possible to being saved and they've been in the community of the church and yet in the final analysis they're not actually saved. because he goes on to say in verse six, and they've fallen away. It's impossible to restore them again to repentance since they're crucifying, once again, the Son of God to their own harm, holding him up to contempt for the land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. And he's using this agricultural imagery to identify those who hear the word again and again and again and again, like rain falling on the ground. The issue isn't though whether or not people hear God's word, it's whether or not God's word takes root and bears fruit in a person's life. That's the issue. Over in chapter 10, another sobering warning. Again, you see how these escalate as the letter moves on. Chapter 10, verse 26. He says, if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin. And the sense of sinning deliberately here means a conscious, willful, aggressive, ongoing, relentless rejection of Jesus Christ. He's not talking about genuine believers who fight sin and battle sin day by day as we all will until we die. He's talking about those who aggressively, willingly, consciously, steadfastly reject Christ, reject God's salvation in Christ. He says, if you do that, then there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin. You've rejected the only one who is the sacrifice. He goes on to say, verse 27, but a fearful expectation of judgment, this is what you have to expect, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sacrificed and has outraged the spirit of grace? For we know him who said, vengeance is mine, I will repay and again the Lord will judge his people. Friend, if you reject Christ, if you reject all of God's provision of Christ, even if you've heard the message of the gospel countless times. There's nothing to look forward to except judgment, a fearful expectation, and you will not escape because God knows, God sees everything. He sees everything. The final warning comes in chapter 12, really in the verses preceding verse 28, and talking about not refusing. It starts actually in verse 25 of chapter 12. Don't refuse him who is speaking. For if they didn't escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns from heaven. Don't reject God's voice. Don't reject His word. Don't take lightly what He has said. And so we see that all of this is speaking of this eternal judgment that will come upon all of those who reject God's provision of Christ, who reject the salvation available in Christ. And in the context of then what is said in chapter 13 verse four about God judging the sexually immoral and the adulterous, it's important to understand he's talking about the sexually immoral and adulterouses who are not repenting, who are refusing to repent in their sexual immorality and in their adultery. As we're gonna see, and as we've already spoken of through the service, there is mercy, there is grace, there is cleansing, there is healing, there is restoration, there is hope for all sexually immoral people, all adulterous people, if you will repent. But if you won't repent, Friend, you are giving indication that you're not a believer and you will experience God's eternal just judgment forever in hell. In favor of the few fleeting moments of sexual pleasure you may try to cling to on this earth. This corresponds to many other passages. We won't take time to go there, but I would encourage you to look at Ephesians chapter five. verses one to 12, a passage which in detail warns against the dangers of sexual immorality. Within the context of walking as beloved children of God and imitating God's love in Christ, knowing His goodness is what's intimated there, His kindness, His richness, don't give in to any form of sexual immorality. And in that passage in verses one to 12, a reference is made to the fact that it's on account of these things, on account of sexual immorality, that the wrath of God is coming. The same is true in Romans chapter one, the same is true in 1 Thessalonians chapter four, verses one through eight. the same truth, and we could go to many other places as well. Even Jesus in Matthew chapter five, verses 27 through 30, when he talks about the dangers of an adulterous eye, when he says that, listen, it's not only that you might actually commit adultery, but he says even if you lust after a woman in your heart, you've committed adultery in your heart, and you're subject to hell, unless you repent is what's intimated. You might think of it this way, momentary pleasure, passing thrill, goodbye heavenly treasure, hello eternal hell. If you are enslaved, if you are bound to any form of sexual deviation, be it immorality as a single person, be it adultery as a married person, if you are enslaved in any form, don't take it lightly. There is mercy in Christ, there is hope in Christ, there is cleansing in Christ, and all the means of grace that God has provided in Christ. But friend, if you don't turn, you will experience God's eternal condemnation in hell. And we need to be aware of that, and we need to be warned of that. God warns you even now that you might repent, that you might taste and see that He's good. that there is mercy, that there is grace, that there is cleansing, but that you might know that fully by repenting of your sin, which means to acknowledge it for what it is, and to turn from it, and to turn to Christ, and to cry out to Him even now in your seat, where you're at in your heart, just, God, I need you. He will welcome, He will forgive, He will cleanse. We need to understand the eternal dimension of God's judgment. But hand in hand with that, we need to also understand the temporal dimension of God's judgment. And as I said, this is a word of warning to believers and unbelievers alike. Because while there is eternal hell to face for those who will never repent from their sin and who will never trust Christ, There are temporal disciplines, there are temporal judgments that God brings even against believers who may be found guilty of such sin. And we need to take this to heart as well. And really the context for understanding this temporal aspect of God's judgment and to be warned and to be alert is the immediate context in Hebrews 12. Verses five through 11 speak of God's loving discipline of his children. not as a means of destruction, but as a means of purifying, as a means of sanctifying, as a means of causing His children to share all the more in His holiness. And the exhortation there in chapter 12, verses 5 through 11 is to submit to God's discipline, and to know and to understand that if you are a believer, if you have come to faith in Christ, And you have become guilty of any form of sexual immorality or adultery that God would have you to repent. And God would have you to know His forgiveness. He would have you to know His cleansing. And again, He would have you to lay hold of the fullness of His grace in Christ that you might grow in His holiness all the more. But even as it is with human discipline that children might experience from their parents, even as God is the perfect Father who disciplines us for our good to share in His holiness, sometimes, because of our sin, even when there is forgiveness, there may yet be consequences that will carry on in this life. God's judgment that we not fear condemnation. Paul says in Romans 8 verse one, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. But if you give yourself to sexual sin, if you give yourself to adultery, if you aren't dealing with that, if you're not fighting that, if you're not seeking God's grace and striving to grow and to work and to lay hold of all he's given in Christ, there likely will be consequences in this life that God will bring. as an expression of his temporal judgment, if you will. He forgives, he restores, he cleanses, but consequences may remain. One example, tragic example of this in scripture is the situation with King David in the Old Covenant. You're probably familiar with the story. David was a man after God's own heart. He's the primary author of the book of Psalms. He's a prominent figure throughout much of the Old Testament narrative. generally a good king. He certainly was not a perfect king. Later in his life when his armies are out in battle and when David should have been out in battle with them overseeing what was taking place, he's at home. And he begins to watch a woman who's on an adjoining roof to the place where he lives, and he begins to lust after her. He ultimately commits adultery with her. She becomes impregnated through that union, and he tries to cover it up. I mean, when you really think about what he did, it's just mind-boggling how heinous this is. He tries to cover it up because this woman, whose name was Bathsheba, her husband Uriah, was a key soldier in David's army. And David sends word to his commanders to have, he does some other things to try to get Uriah to, actually he brings Uriah home in the hope that he'll have relations with Bathsheba and that'll cover up the fact that she's been impregnated by David. Well that doesn't work out because Uriah is an honorable man and he won't do that while the rest of his comrades are in battle. And so he goes back to the battle line and David sends word to his commanders to send Uriah to the front line. Why? So that he'd be killed. And that's exactly what happens. So David commits adultery, he tries to cover it up, he conspires to have her husband killed, and eventually David is confronted with his sin by God through the prophet Nathan. And Nathan tells this story to kind of, Nathan says, you're the man, David. And I want you to hear what God says to David through Nathan in light of his sin. Because I'm convinced David was a believer. He was trusting God. He was trusting the righteousness of God, even as he was looking to God's provision in Christ. But he nonetheless sinned egregiously and there were consequences. Listen to what God says. This is from 2 Samuel 12, verses seven and following. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul, and I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. He says, why have you despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his sight? Friend, by the way, that's always the question God asks any time that we sin. Why do we despise God's word? Why do we not trust his goodness? Why are we not content and satisfied with who he is and with what he's given? Why do we despise his word and do what is evil in his sight? He says, you have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and you have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. He says, now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. And he goes on to outline for him what the legacy of his sin is gonna be. Now David knew, ultimately, the forgiveness of God. As he confesses his sin, as it's recorded in Psalm 51, and then in Psalm 32, as he recounts God's forgiveness of his sin, he knew the full, complete forgiveness of God. But the sword never left his house. In fact, one of his own sons ultimately rised up in rebellion against him. And that division and that rebellion permeated the nation of Israel on down through the generations. And so understand that while God forgives sin and cleanses us, that if we're persistent in our sin, even as believers, he may well bring consequences that will go beyond just the event itself and consequences that we will face in this life. And so there's an eternal aspect to God's judgment, there is a temporal aspect to God's judgment. I would encourage you, and I encourage dads in particular with this often, to read the first nine chapters of the book of Proverbs. To read it for yourself. It's good for any man, for any woman. But to read it not only for yourself, but if you have children, to read it with them over and over and over again. Because in those first nine chapters, sort of an introduction to the book of Proverbs, Solomon is exhorting and warning his son to fear the Lord and to walk in the Lord's ways so that he'll be prevented from evil and so that he'll be kept from the adulterous woman. And he says that over and over and over again. And at one point in chapter seven, he tells this just sobering and terrifying story of a young man who just begins to drift and he kind of wanders over in the way of the adulterous woman. And he just begins to look a little bit and he just begins to think a little bit and she begins to then speak to him and seduce him and ultimately pulls him into her net of rebellion. And we're told in verse 22 in chapter seven, all at once he follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter or as a stag is caught fast. Till an arrow pierces its liver as a bird rushes into a snare, he does not know that it will cost him his life. It's a terrifying story. of a young man who foolishly just begins to flirt with sin a little bit and to toy with it a little bit. Just a little curious, a little look, a little thought, a little idea, but all of a sudden he's seduced and pulled into the rebellion and he's destroyed because of it. And the point that Solomon is making to his son is don't be that person. Don't be that person because you will experience trouble and ultimately perhaps even death. You may be a genuine believer. I would say if you're persisting in rebellion and refusing to repent, and that goes on and you just are steadfast in your refusal to repent, it's giving indication that you're not even a believer. The Spirit of God is not at work in you. There's eternal judgment to fear. There is temporal judgment to fear. And friends, again, the reason for all of that is because God is good. And God takes his goodness seriously. And when his goodness is dishonored, when his goodness is defiled, when his name is defamed, he reacts. We're told over and over and over again in scripture, God is full of loving kindness. He is full of mercy. He is full of patience. But there comes a point where judgment comes. There comes a point where his patience is done. And the message of the book of Hebrews is be alert and wake up and repent because God will destroy all who rebel against His good and His gracious design. And if you persist in rebellion, if you persist in dishonoring Him, He will destroy you. So friends, we're to hold marriage in honor. We're to keep the marriage bed undefiled. We're to fear God's judgment. Let me just draw out maybe a few points of implication for us as we draw this all together and close this out within the next little bit of time. One implication, I mean the resounding implication is worship God. worship God through faith in Christ. Learn of Christ, see his supremacy, see his sufficiency, see the wonder of all of God's grace in Christ. That's what the whole of the first 12 chapters of Hebrews is all about. Again, it's what the whole of all of scripture is about. He alone is the one who completes you and I. And worship, again, is not compartmentalized, it's every day. Within that worship, pursue holiness. Pursue holiness. And we've said before, to speak of God's holiness is to speak of His complete otherness. It's to speak of the absolute purity and beauty of His life and of His love. in all that He is and He calls us to lay hold of all of His means of grace revealed through His word, through prayer, through our corporate gatherings with one another and the relationships that we share as God's people to be encouraging and praying for one another, all of that is a part of how we pursue holiness. to worship Him, to pursue His holiness, to fight sin, and if you struggle with sin, to be open with God about it, and to pull along another brother or sister. If you're a man, pull a brother. If you're a woman, pull a sister, to say, I need help in this area. Would you help me? Would you pray for me? Would you help look to God's word with me? Would you help me in these things? That's how we care for one another. Let me also say as an implication, if you're single, Get married, pray about getting married. And I would say whether you're young, whether you're old, whatever the Lord may have, he certainly calls some people to singleness and we know from 1 Corinthians chapter seven that there is great blessing in that. As I said earlier, you're not a second class citizen, you're not incomplete, it's an aspect of God's calling and praise God for that. But again, whether you're young or whether you're old, perhaps God yet has marriage for you. You know, back in Genesis chapter two, when God created man first and he said, it is not good for man to be alone. I mean, that is a statement of reality that God generally designed us to be in that kind of a relationship. Those of you who are children here today, let me encourage you, you might wait a few years, but be thinking about marriage. I know your parents are praying for you regarding that. Let me say that if you're in college here this morning, if you're one of our collegians, it's good to get a degree, it's better to get a spouse. So just take that as it is and pray about that. Now I understand, in the way that God has designed things, women are generally the responsive ones, men are to be the leaders, men taking the initiative, which by the way, Proverbs 18 verse 22 says, he who finds a wife, finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord. One implication of that, men, is that you're to be finding a wife. So take some initiative, be praying about that. Gals, you long to be married. For those who do, be praying that God would bring a spouse and make yourself inclined to that as best as you can and look to other sisters to even encourage you in that. I understand God has different ways in these things and I don't mean to do anything that hopefully is bringing any sense of difficulty, but it ought to be something we pray about and think about and encourage. And within all of that, as you worship God, pursue holiness, get married. If you are married, keep pursuing what God desires in your marriage and growing in whatever context that marriage is happening. And I understand there can be many, many difficult situations and hard things. Again, that's what the body of Christ is for, and God's given us His word to help us in any and every situation. But if you are married, be seeking to be what God would have you to be in that marriage. And within all of this, to be seeking the lost, knowing that we're here on this earth to bear testimony of Christ, to be looking to realities of heaven and eternity and seeking to bear witness of Him. And so leveraging whatever circumstances and conditions God has put us in, whether single or married, to ultimately be seeking to proclaim Christ to others. Friend, there is great help for rebels and for sinners who will repent. If you've never come to faith in Christ, if you've never bowed the knee to Christ, today is the day of salvation. And let me encourage you to consider the invitation of God. It's expressed many ways in scripture, but here's one of them in Isaiah chapter 55. Listen to these words in Isaiah chapter 55. Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? He says, listen diligent to me, diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Let me ask you, if you're eating the fullness of your own sin and the things that you think are good, is it bringing satisfaction? Is it bringing joy? Is it bringing peace? Is it bringing hope? It's only found in God. And he says, come and eat what is good. Eat of me, learn of me, taste and see. He's implying that I'm good. He goes on to say in Isaiah 55, incline your ear and come to me. Hear that your soul may live and I will make with you an everlasting kingdom. He says, seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. That's a promise to lay hold of. This instant, if you've never repented, you've never bowed the knee to Christ, this instant, if you would do so and call upon the Lord, He will have compassion on you. He will abundantly pardon you. Your sin may be great, His salvation in Christ is infinitely greater. And that's the hope for every single one of us. Sexual immorality is heinous and unexcusable. Adultery is heinous and unexcusable, but none of it is the unforgivable sin. The unforgivable sin is to reject the only one who is the savior of sin. That's the unforgivable sin. Come to Christ now. And if you are a believer and you have been caught, perhaps ensnared, in any form of sexual sin, in any form of sin for that matter, Oh, the words of Ephesians 5, verse 14, wake up, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. If you wake up and repent and acknowledge, I'm stuck, I can't get out of this, and sin always pays more than it promises. It always reaps more than it promises, and we get stuck in sin, and we can't untangle ourselves, or extract ourselves, or pull ourselves out of the pit. What God wants us to do is to wake up, which is, by the way, in Ephesians 5, verse 14, when Paul quotes that, he's echoing those statements from Isaiah, a few places in Isaiah, but to wake up, acknowledge your sin, acknowledge your need, acknowledge God's holiness, and to repent, to arise from the dead, and then Christ will shine on you. The light of Christ, all that he is, all of his goodness, all of his glory, all of his mercy, all of his kindness, all of his love, you can know it again. He will forgive and he will restore. In Revelation chapter three, when Jesus said, behold, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I'll come into him and eat with him and he with me, that's not a word to non-Christians. Often we use that passage or it has been in the past used for evangelism to non-Christians. It's actually a word of Jesus to believers who have become lukewarm and who have kind of set him and set the gospel aside. He says, listen, I'm standing at the door and knocking. If you would but hear me and answer the door and open it up, which is speaking of repentance and welcoming him again, he says, I'll come in and I'll sit down and I'll eat with you. We'll have fellowship, we'll have intimate fellowship. Friend, it means crying out to God. And then it means embracing all of God's means of grace again. God's judgment on unrepentant rebels is absolutely certain. But friend, God's salvation for any and all who would repent is absolutely complete. And He wants you to taste it and see it and know it in fullest measure today and then worship Him and live for His glory. Let me lead us in prayer. We've covered a lot of ground, Father. And certainly, even as you've promised, your word never goes out void. We trust that it is accomplishing your purposes for each and every one. Lord, help us to respond in faith in light of all that you have promised, knowing that even your purposes in turning on the searchlight of your truth and righteousness is not ultimately to destroy us, but to save us. For any who are here who have never bowed the knee and never trusted Christ, may today indeed be the day of salvation. For any of us for whom you've already brought to faith, oh, how we confess how much we need you because as much as we hate sin and hate our own sin, we confess that all too often we just kind of like it. and we're drawn to it and so we need your help to hate it that much more and to love you and to love your goodness that much more and follow in your ways in the fullness of all your grace. We thank you that you are indeed a gracious and a merciful God, kind and forgiving and abundantly so. May each one know it in fullest measure for their joy and hope in you and for your glory. In Christ's name, amen.