Well, good morning. Welcome again to the Bethany Social Reform Presbyterian Church as we come together to worship the Lord our God on this blessed Sabbath morning. And as we gather together today, just a few announcements and reminders. Just as a reminder, immediately after morning service today, we're gonna be, or those who are going on the canvassing for VBS will meet down in the fellowship hall right after morning service. And if you have any questions about that, just see Ms. Caitlin Long also on that front. Next Sunday will be the first of the VBS days. And so we look forward to that. Being prayer is a last-minute thing to get put together. And likewise, if you have any questions about VBS, please see Ms. Caleb. And as a reminder, again, we do have an adult study with VBS as part of that. We look forward to seeing everybody at that. Also, this evening, we'll be having our fifth Sunday song sing on the fourth Sunday. Because of course the BBS now, I'm sure all the little kids would love to have a Bible song sing in the midst of BBS But we have pushed it back a week and in light of that we are blessed to have with us. Mr. Dr. Clack who's gonna be leading us tonight So we look forward to the opportunity. So again, everybody is invited of course to the psalm sing tonight at 5 o'clock and And also today we are collecting the sunshine basket from Miss Portia. So if you brought something for that, just bring it and put it down in the fellowship hall and we'll get that to Miss Portia and Mr. Don. A couple other things that I have written down here. Thank you for your prayers for Quest. Everything went real well with Quest. And then next week is Horizon. So I'll be praying for the high schoolers as they go up to Horizon this week. Also, just as a way of reminder, of course, our Sunday night and Wednesday night activities and services are on hiatus until August. Sunday night will come back on the 3rd of August. And Wednesday night will come back on the 13th of August. And just by way of reminder, on Sunday evening, starting August 3rd, we're going to be mainly spending time learning about the end times, learning about Israel, learning about what the Bible has to say about the second coming of Christ. So we look forward to that. And of course on Wednesday nights, we're going to be going through world religions and kind of talking about, you know, what other religions believe and how they disagree, of course, with the biblical faith that we have in the Christian faith. We look forward to that. Last thing that I have written down here, just the word from me and my family. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for those who reached out to us as we committed my mom's body to the ground yesterday up in Lewisburg. So thank you again for your prayers for that. And so let us now begin to worship the Lord as we prepare through a time of silent prayer. Amen. Again, as the Lord calls us in this day of grace, this day of love, this day of mercy, of testimony of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we turn this morning to the book of Deuteronomy as we are called to worship by the word of our God from the sixth chapter, verses 20 through 25. Again, let us hear the word of the Lord as we are called into his presence. When your son asked you in time to come saying, What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you? Then you shall say to your son, we were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household, that he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in to give us the land of which he swore to our fathers. And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes to fear the Lord our God for our good always, that he might preserve us alive as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all the commandments before the Lord our God as he has commanded us. As we are reminded once more of the grace-filled love of our Savior, who has done all these things on our behalf. Again, let us return thanks unto our God on this day of glory, as we turn to the Red Trinity Hymnal, as we sing hymn number 518. Let us stand as we sing together. Again, 518 from the Trinity Hymnal. Christ alone my hope shall dwell, Christ the spring of all my joy, still in me may I be found, till forever more. ♪ Lead us from our deep behind ♪ ♪ Lead us from our deep behind ♪ ♪ Marching on, your glory breaks ♪ ♪ Free me from your hopeless care ♪ ♪ Till I'm caught by earthly grace ♪ I'm Amen. As we do testify to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is alone, the hope of the ground upon which we stand as believers and as those who rest in the goodness of our God, let us come now before him in prayer. Gracious Heavenly Father, as we come together on this first day of the week, as we come together in this day of glory, for we remember not only the resurrection of your Son from the dead, the first fruits of that resurrection that we ourselves might share in even in the day of our faith. God, we pray this morning to the power of your Holy Spirit that you will lift us up into your presence, that we may know and feel and recognize that we sing with the angels, we sing with the elders, we sing with those who have gone before, as we stand around the throne room of God, as we look unto the promises and as we see and recognize that they have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. And as we pray for the power of the Holy Spirit, we pray not only for these glories, but also that the Holy Spirit might convict us and witness unto us that our hope is grounded again in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, both this day and forevermore. Let us come now to say the words that your son taught his disciples to pray, saying. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. This is not a temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. As we turn in our copies of God's word this morning to the fifth chapter of the book of Acts, we find ourselves again witnessing to the early days of the New Testament church and some of the ways that life happened. in these early days. And so as we turn now to the fifth chapter, beginning there at verse 12, we witness, again, the power of God working in through his people. So again, let us turn there to Acts 5, beginning at verse 12. Hear the word of God. And through the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. Yet none of the rest dared join them. but the people esteemed them highly. And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people, and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed. Then the high priest rose up and all those who were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and they were filled with indignation and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But at night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said, go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and talked. But the high priest and those who with him came and called the council together with all the elders of the children of Israel and sent them to the prison to have them brought. Amen. Thanks be to God for the reading of His holy and His perfect word. Please be seated. Will I invite the children to come forward for the lesson today? Good morning everybody. How are y'all doing today? Y'all look like you've been enjoying the summer so far? Been a good summer? Y'all enjoying all this humidity we've been getting with the heat? Y'all like the humidity? Well, good. It's always good to know that there are fans of everything. Well, the lesson that we have today comes to us from the book of Acts, and it's one of those interesting stories where we see the Lord do something amazing. Now, when we think about amazing things that God has done, what are some of the things that you think of? That's right, resurrecting people from the dead, that's pretty amazing. What else has the Lord done that's pretty wild, pretty amazing? Making the blind to see. Anything else you can think of the Lord's done that's amazing? It's almost too much to list, isn't it? We think about the fact that God made everything. He made the heavens and the earth. He made us. He made the animals, He made the beaches, He made the mountains, He made the oceans, He made the lakes, He made everything, right? And part of what we do on Sunday morning is we stand or sit amazed at what God has done. Because when we take a moment to think about it, would any of this be here if it wasn't for God? No, right? And when we think about why God made all this stuff, it's important for us to think about something. Do you think God gets bored? Do you think God sits around and says, you know what? I think I'll do this today, and goes and does it. No, right? That's not how God works, right? Now, are y'all already bored this summer? Yeah, y'all ready to go back to school? Now, you're not that bored yet, I guess. But, you know, the thing about it, right, is when we stand amazed at what God has done, we remember that God didn't have to make anything, did he? God would have been God even without the creation. But every day when we wake up, one of the things that we should kind of have in our minds is we should be amazed. Because not only has God woken us up, but God has given us this whole creation to enjoy. This whole creation to be blessed with, this whole creation to be comforted. And so when we hear about amazing things like people being healed, or people being raised from the dead, or people being let out of jail by an angel, and we hear all that stuff, that is amazing. But the only way that that's amazing is because God has made the whole world to begin with. And so when you wake up and you look up, well, don't look at the sun. I probably shouldn't tell you to do that. But when you get up and you see the sun, right, and you see the clouds, and you see the rain, and you see the warmth, and you see the humidity. And of course, here in South Carolina, I think we can't see the humidity, right? We should be standing amazed at what God has done. Because He is our God, and we are His people. We are grateful to the Father for the amazing God that we serve, for the work that he is able to do by his own hand, that he has blessed us with it, and that we are people who most of all should be thankful even for the little things, which are just as amazing as the great ones. Again, one of the reasons why we sing in church is because we are amazed at what God has done. And it's a unique thing that human beings do, to sing to the Lord. And as I referenced in my prayer, one of the things we're gonna be doing in heaven is praising the name of God. So let us enjoy this opportunity God's given to us to stand together and be amazed at His grace as we sing together Bible Psalm number 288, a wholehearted praise. Let us stand and sing together. With all my heart, I'll praise thy name. Before the gods, thy praise proclaim. I'll worship thee, thy holy grace, and praise thee for thy truth. ♪ All things of earth shall give thee praise ♪ ♪ And from thy mouth they know thy ways ♪ ♪ Day in, day out, those ways shall speak ♪ ♪ For great in glory is our King ♪ ♪ For thou alone thy name o'er us sing ♪ Oh All things on earth shall hear me praise, when from my mouth they learn my ways. In Jehovah's grace shall sleep, born great and glorious, O'er all the world the waves of trouble will be o'er, and earth and heav'n will die by storm. The wings of earth shall meet thee great, then from thy bough Amen, let us be seated. Again, as the Lord gives us opportunity this morning to gather together with our brothers and sisters in Christ to lift up these testimonies of grace, let us prepare ourselves once more to be in prayer. Let's pray. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we come together on this Lord's Day morning on this blessed Sabbath, as we witness the glory of your name, as we receive the remembrances of your work, we consider afresh your wonder and stand amazed at your labors on our behalf. Those things which we have received not because we were owed them, but purely by your gracious hand. As we consider afresh our own unworthiness to receive these things. As we are reminded both by the evil one, by our own conscience, and by the law of God. The ways in which we have violated your commandments. How we have sinned against you. How we have given ourselves over to idolatry. How we have allowed ourselves to fall into adultery. How we have allowed ourselves to become thieves. How we have seen fit to covet all that is around us. As we have broken your Sabbath day and as we have molded idols in our own image. As we have murmured under our breath about our brothers. As we consider afresh again these truths. Heavenly Father, we come before you. We come before you with sackcloth and ashes. We come before you not merely being sorry, but God being repentant. Falling with our face on the ground spiritually. You called us to be meek before You. You called us to humble ourselves in Your face. Dear God, we pray this morning that You will help us not to be haughty in a day of sin. Dear God, that we would not be arrogant, that we would not stand above sinners and thank the good Lord that we are not like them. Dear God, we would see again the fullness of your testimony, that we would see the power of your might, that we would see that you are God and that we are not, that you are the one who has made the heavens and the earth, and that you, dear God, have called us in light of these things to repent come unto you all who are weary and heavy laden, and that you alone will grant rest unto your people. In verse 7, the Father, as we consider again the Gospel that won our hearts, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the sacrifice of the empty tomb. To God we pray that you would renew within us a childlike faith, in these promises, an assurance born from above that you might dwell in a temple not made with human hands. For God, we are reminded again this morning that it is Christ who is our citadel. It is Christ who is our rock. It is Christ who is that house in which we dwell. And no amount of storms and waves, no amount amount of temptations of the evil one shall ever draw us away from your love. We pray dear God that as the Holy Spirit enriches our understanding, as we grow in faith, we pray that we would be seen to mortify the flesh. Not seen by others, but seen by you. And dear Heavenly Father, as we do live in a day of judgment, a day of hard living, in a day of trouble, in a day of trial, God, we pray that we would learn from the examples of our forefathers, who in the days of the Reformation covenanted with you and made promises unto you, made oaths unto you, that we would be reminded again of the vows that we took when we were baptized, when we became communicant members of the local church. God, help us to consider again what those oaths and vows mean. For to God, we're reminded this morning in the book of Zephaniah that your judgment often begins at the top. So to God, we do especially pray this morning for our elders and our deacons. As I suffer even to pray for myself. That as you witness unto us that those in authority might be the first to lead in these things. God we pray in your mercy as you do use this summer to remind us of particular sins and particular struggles that we have with the flesh. We pray that as we see the Holy Spirit work in us, that we might see these convictions not as burdens, but as blessings. That as we grow more and more into the likeness of our Savior, that we might see the beauty of holiness. that we might see the bounty of righteousness, that we might see the goodness of your grace on the sinners. Dear Heavenly Father, as we do think about this present evil world, and as we do consider again the events that have taken place in the past 24 to 48 hours, dear God, we do pray for your wisdom and your guidance and your will be done Dear God, we are reminded at every rumor of war that not only are you King of kings and Lord of lords, but dear God, we are reminded in these things of the weakness of this world. We are reminded of the consequences of Adam's fall. We are reminded of how much more the gospel needs to go out. So God, we pray that you would encourage us as we do the works that you've given to us, as we think about Vacation Bible School and the opportunities you provide for us to go out into the community with the good news of Christ. Dear God, may you remind us that our mission field is right outside these doors. that there are many in our own community who need to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. May You give us encouragement to share that Good News with our friends and our neighbors and our loved ones. And to God, as we especially think of our loved ones this morning, we do pray for those of our number who are sick and who are providentially hindered from being with us. We pray for your healing. We pray for your comfort. We pray for doctors and nurses that you would give them wisdom and compassion and understanding. We pray for caregivers. We pray for those who are ministering well, the witness of the fifth commandment. Dear Heavenly Fathers, we continue to worship you this morning and as we receive again a testimony of your grace, we pray that you will give us ears to hear. Just give us eyes to see and hearts which love the Lord Jesus, both this day and forevermore. In whose name we pray, amen. He has chosen the alterations. He has chosen the alterations. He wants to jump off the mountain top. Wishes for the hill in Zion, children of salvation show. Almighty, tell us why we should be peaceful. Almighty, tell us why we should be peaceful. When the Lord shall crown the nations, sons and daughters he shall save. For to him that inspired Zion, ever joyful song shall be. Blessed Zion, all our fountains are with thee. ♪ For the mountains are in peace ♪ Well, the words to which I'd like to draw your attention to this morning comes to us from the sixth chapter of the book of Proverbs. So I invite you to turn there in your copies of God's word to Proverbs chapter six, beginning there at verse 23. Let us again stand for the reading of God's word as we are here in Proverbs chapter six, verses 23 through 29. Hear the word of the Lord. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light. Reproves of instruction are the way of life, to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a seductress. Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids, for by means of a harlot, a man is reduced to a crust of bread. An adulteress will prey upon his precious life. Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be seared? So as he who goes in to his neighbor's wife, whoever touches her shall not be innocent. Amen. Thanks be to God for the reading of His holy and His perfect word. Let us pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, as in your providence you bring us these words on this day, we do pray through the power of the Holy Spirit that you will witness under our hearts and we might heed the warnings of Holy Scripture. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Please be seated. As we have been walking through this time, the Book of Proverbs this summer, one of the things that should become apparent is that no sin is alone. No sin happens on its own recognizance. Sin works together with sin. We testify that as we talk about pride, that pride really is the foundation of all sins that come after. That arrogance of thinking yourself smarter and wiser than God. Of course last week we talked about greed. We recognize that greed is at its genesis, at its foundation, the sin of covening. Covenant in which that is not yours. Not yours to have, not yours to hold, not yours to receive, not yours to lust after. As we see, you know, those words, greed and lust, are synonyms in many ways. The concern, of course, of Solomon as he writes this book is for his young son. that he may learn the ways of righteousness, that he might know that which is the good and honorable way. If you know anything about your Bible, who is probably the least qualified person in the whole Scriptures to say something about lust? We read the story of Solomon. How many wives did he have? How many concubines did he have? Let you in on a little insight in the Bible. When the amount is more than can be known or counted, the Bible has a tendency just to use kind of generic numbers. And you'll notice in 2 Kings and in 2 Chronicles, the number of the concubines of Solomon is not the same. Now, that doesn't mean that the Bible is contradicting itself. It doesn't mean that the Bible is an error. What it means is that the writer of 2 Kings, the writer of 2 Chronicles, doesn't know how many concubines Solomon had because he had so many. It's like saying somebody has a thousand cattle. It's like saying somebody has a thousand of this. It's a way of testifying that it boggles the imagination. And so it's interesting, of all people in the Bible, Solomon would be the one to warn his son about harlots, about Jezebels, about loose women, those who would destroy him in his kingship. For the sad matter of the fact is, is that what happens to Solomon's kingdom when he dies? And why is there such division and destruction in the kingdom? Well, it's because of his many wives, his many children, of the lack of appearance that he gave unto the nation of Israel. And yet, the most beautiful picture in the whole scripture of the love of Jesus Christ for his bride, the church, was also picked by Solomon. Song of Songs, the Song of Solomon, is not a marriage manual. It's not a way in which you do premarital counseling with. Now, there are certainly applications to be drawn from it in that regard. But the book of Song of Songs is about Jesus Christ and his beloved. Of course, the Shunammite woman. beloved not only the Lord Jesus but of course the Shunammite woman is beloved of Jesus. Again there is that relationship between husband and wife witnessed to us there. And also Solomon of course wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. Now we spent a good long while in Ecclesiastes about a year and a half ago and if there was any word that you were to remember from that series in Ecclesiastes what word would it be? Vanity. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. Now when we think of that word vanity, how do we usually associate vanity, right? If you say that somebody is a vain person, somebody who is concerned about appearance. I've told before, you know, as a child, we moved around a bunch of times. My dad moved from job to job as an electrician. And one of the things I always remember about moving is that my mom had a giant vanity that we had to move every time. Now, as I got older, the vanity got smaller. I don't think that's because the physical item got smaller, but I remember moving that thing when I was six years old and my dad wondering why I was not able to pick it up as well as he would. But again, when we think of vanity, right, we think of appearance. We think of this putting on of a face. And all the scriptures have a word. that they like to use, that they take from the Greek theater when it talks about putting on a face. The word hypocrisy comes from the Greek theater where quite literally, as you can know from if you've ever driven by a theater, what is usually in the stone around the entrance. There is the mask with a smile and the mask with a frown. And the hypocrite in Greek theater was somebody who took the mask off and put the other mask on. And so when we come to Proverbs chapter 6, I'm sure that's in your mind about Solomon. Who is this hypocrite to tell me to not engage in adultery? Who is this Solomon to tell me to warn away from harlots? When it seems like that's all Solomon does is play with harlots. Yet remember, what is it that we learn from the book of Ecclesiastes? What does Solomon eventually learn in his life? Vanity, vanity, all is vanity. How does the book of Ecclesiastes close? You remember there in that portion of God's word, as Solomon is closing this testimony to his son, he reminds them, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every word into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. Now who knew that more than Solomon did? Now the purpose of this sermon this morning is not to justify Solomon and tell you that you need to listen to him even though he was a hypocrite, but to remind you that sometimes sinners who have seen the grace of God upon their heart, who have repented of their evil, who have been shown the mighty hand of the grace of God, are often the best ones to warn you against the consequences of sin. Those who know the destruction that sin causes. Those who have seen its danger. Those who have felt its terror. Notice here how in the passage we read from Proverbs, how he describes these temptations related to the seventh commandment. Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be sealed? For by means of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread. The testimony here again is clear for those with ears to hear. Adultery is destructive beyond almost any other sin. That there is no playing with fire, as it were, and not being burnt by it. Because as Solomon says at the end of Ecclesiastes, every secret thing will be made known. Now, when Solomon says that, is he coming up with some new idea that's popped up in the world? No. What is Moses writing in the Book of Deuteronomy? What's that? Every secret thing will be made known in the Day of Judgment. Does not the Word of God tell us over and over again in various different ways that what you seek to hide in the mountain is seen by the God who made the mountain? That what you seek to do in darkness is done in the light of His countenance. That there is no hiding from the Lord. Now Solomon knows this most of all. Because do you think that Solomon was able to hide these concubines and these wives from faithful Israel? We have lived in days with leaders, both in nation and elsewhere, who are gross adulterers. Those who have seen fit to run around on their wives. And it's interesting, right, how culture has somewhat shifted in its understanding of that. Not that it was a big secret back in the early 1960s, but what do we know of JFK? His house was known as what? Camelot. But what was Camelot full of? Other men's wives. We think again of the 1990s and what drove a lot of the political discourse in the late 90s. But an adulterous man who led the nation. And yet, have we seen much change? Some of y'all are old enough to remember Gary Hart and how quickly he was run out of the run for the presidency for his adultery. Look at our leaders today. Does anyone even care about their adultery? In some circles, it's seen as a boost. Is there a concern for sexual sin in our nation today? Of course, I think all of us would answer no, but where does that begin? Like with all other sins that we have spoken of so far, again, it begins in the house of the Lord. It begins in the place where righteousness should be dwelling. It begins in the place where we should be given the example as a city on the hill to the world around us. Yet what have we seen from the church in the last 20, 30 years? How many mighty men of Israel have fallen at the hand of a horror? How many mighty men of Israel have allowed themselves to fall into the temptation of the devil? Have destroyed entire churches, entire denominations for that matter in their wickedness? How many men have been in positions of authority where other men in authority have seen fit to sweep things under a rug? To protect the holy man. To protect the man who has, you know, wisdom and protect the man who has ability. And yet, as we have seen in our own denomination, do these things stay secret? They do not. And what is the fruit of these things but destruction, but even death. The warnings that we have here this morning in the case of adultery could not be more clear. Again, notice again what is warned here about the man. And of course, when the scriptures talk about man, it's not just talking about men. And you can Look at all the statistics you want to, and this is certainly a 50-50 sin. In fact, it's something that's getting even worse on both sides of the aisle, if you will. And so when we talk about a harlot, we're not just talking about a female. We're talking about men just as well. And the witness that we see here is that for by means of a harlot, a man is reduced to a crust of bread. What is that image meant to witness to us? What does the man have left? What does the human being have left in the midst of the adultery? But the crust of the bread. You may be different, but what do we usually do with the crust of the bread? I'll tell you what happens to the crust of the bread in my house. It gets thrown away with the wrapper. Is that the most desirous piece of the bread? Is that the part of the bread you hold on to? Is that the piece of the bread that everybody wants? No. The crust is usually thrown out. The crusts of the bread are specifically mentioned in the Law of God as what is there for the beggar. What is there for the man who has been ruined? What is there for the man whose life has been destroyed? All he has is the crust of the bread. And of course, it's interesting, you know, again, whenever the Bible uses the witness of bread, right, where are our minds meant to be drawn? But to the bread of life! And what, according to Solomon, does a man or a woman who gives himself over to the harlot, to the adulterer, to the adulteress, what do they have left but nothing! That's the picture given here. They have thrown away everything that the Lord has provided in order to gain the crust of the bread. Likewise, when we see the image of, can a man take fire to his burzman clothes and not be burned? Again, these are obviously rhetorical questions. These are rhetorical statements that, no, you can't be burned. I mean, no, you can't not be burned, I should say. Again, that's one of the lies of the devil whenever it comes to sin, is the devil tells you that, yes, everybody else got caught, but you're smarter than everybody else. You're wiser than everybody else. Yeah, that person fell, but you won't. That person did this, but you won't. But what is the truth? Are you greater than your fellow man? Are you stronger than your fellow woman? Are you able to withstand the temptations of the devil in your flesh? What do the scriptures tell us over and over and over again? And why does the scripture need to repeat itself? We don't listen. We're hard-hearted, we're hard-headed, we're hard-eared, we're hard-eyed. And the devil witnesses to us that we are stronger even than him. Of course, one of the blessings of the scriptures is is that what is it that we know of Jesus and his humanity? He was tempted in every way we are tempted, yet without sin. Again, when we talk about adultery, of course, we focus on the way that it most directly affects us in the flesh in the violation of the seventh commandment. But we also recognize that the scripture uses adultery in another way when it speaks of spiritual adultery. What was Israel guilty of more than any other sin? They had made a covenant with God. They had been married to God. We can go back to the Song of Songs illustration. They had been covenanted to Him in blood. They had been covenanted to Him in vow and oath. They had promised that they would have eyes for no other. And yet what do we see from Israel? But at every opportunity their eyes are gazing at the nations around them wishing that they had a king like Canaan. Wishing that they had a god like Balaam. That they had the wealth of Egypt. That they had the power of Babylon. That they had all of these things. And what do we know of riches? We heard from Zef and I this morning in Adult Sabbath School that riches are worth nothing in the day of judgment. You can't buy your way out of judgment, either in the world or with Christ. Can you have a king greater than Jesus Christ? And the answer is no. Can you have more power than what you've received from heaven above? Can you receive the bounty of the world? You can for a moment. But what does Jesus warn us in the gospel? What do men often do? They give all of themselves to the world. They love this present evil world. They love the bounties in this world. They love the flesh! And what perishes in the Day of Judgment but the flesh? Again, it's this desire to violate the first commandment. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. One of the ways we need to think about adultery, not just spiritual, but marital infidelity, is in the context of the first commandment. Put your spouse in that line. Should you have any other spouse than the one that God has given unto you? Should you have any other spouse than that which you have covenanted before the living God? Why do people commit adultery? It's a violation of the first commandment. It's a violation of the second commandment. It's a violation of the third commandment. They have not treasured the vows that they have made. They have no fear of God before their eyes. And they seek that which is destroyed. They seek that which destroys them. They seek that which destroys everything because they love destruction rather than the blessings which they have received. This is the warning that Solomon has for us in the passage this morning. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light. Reproves of instruction are the way of life, to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of an adulteress. Again, move back to the spiritual sense for a second. One of the great warnings that Jesus gives in his letters in the book of Revelation is that we are to beware of Jezebel. Now, that's one of them names that have stayed with us over the centuries, over the millennia. If I walked up to you and called you a Jezebel, what would you do? You would probably punch me in the face and I would deserve it. Why? Is that a word of endearment? If I walked up to you and said, you know, you're such a Mary, right? You love the Lord, right? That would be, you know, a word of blessing. But if I walked up to you and you said, man, I've been watching your life lately and boy, you're just modeling after Jezebel. And on one hand, if it's said in the right tone, with the love of the Lord behind it, what should it then cause within you but repentance? Because that's what Jesus says to the church. That's what Jesus says unto Israel in the Old Testament, that you have become a Jezebel unto me. You have sought the love of the nations. You have sought the love of this present world. You have sought the love of those dumb idols who cannot speak, who cannot hear, who cannot provide what you desire. And I'm giving you over unto your sin. And we who are on this side of the aisle, we who fashion ourselves to be conservative biblical Presbyterians, love to read Romans 1. And one of the reasons we like to read Romans 1 is we aren't those people. And it makes us feel good about ourselves that we're not like those people. That we're not engaging in unnatural lust. We're not engaging in denying the nature of what God has made us to be. But if I was to share with you the statistical work that has been done in the quote unquote conservative biblical church when it comes to adultery, are we any different than the world around us? And the answer is no. One of the sad realities of the world in which we live, and this is going back 50 years, isn't something new in the church? It used to be one of these statistics that I thought people threw out just to scare ministers. But one of the realities is that every time there's a major conference somewhere in the United States with a church, what do you think two things that a hotel's report go up? Porn use and prostitutes. Now, does that surprise you? It's a sad testimony, but it doesn't surprise me. Because why? Because like other sins, we have become comfortable with adultery. We've become comfortable with this idea that as long as we're not committing those sins, we're righteous people. As long as we're not committing the sins of the people we don't like, then everything's okay with us. Wasn't that the attitude of the Israelites? Wasn't that the attitude of the Judahites? Wasn't that the attitude of the Pharisees? See, one of the weaknesses of the church today is we do not love righteousness. We don't love holiness. We don't desire holiness. We don't want to be holy. We want to be seen as holy. We want to be seen as righteous. We want to put on that face that everybody sees and looks at and says, well, boy, look at them go. But what does Jesus say about those Pharisees in Matthew 23? What are they? Like whitewashed tombs. Pleasant to look at, pretty to see. But what are they full of inside? Dead men's bones. What does Jesus say after the great testimony of the gospel in John 3.16 as he's continuing to speak Nicodemus, he says, and this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed. You know one of the reasons why people don't read their Bibles? Why they don't pray? Why they don't come to worship? Why they skip opportunities to be with the Lord? Because they know that they're going to be exposed. They know that what the Proverbs began with, that the light of the commandment is a lamp. And that as you read the Scriptures, you're convicted of your sin. And if you love the darkness, you don't want the light. You don't want to be shown to be what you are. You don't want the world to see what reality is. Because you do not want yourself to see. Because what does Jeremiah say? Who is the greatest deceiver on the earth? Not Satan. We like to blame Satan because he's an easy scapegoat, but what does Jeremiah say in chapter 17? The heart is deceitful above all things. And see, the beauty of the gospel, the beauty of what the Lord Jesus has done, is He's shown a light down upon the world. He's shown a light down upon this evil, wicked place. And what makes the difference between those who run to the light and those who scurry off into the dark corners, into the recesses, behind the refrigerator, or wherever you scurry off to? It's that when we are exposed in our sin, we repent before the Lord. When we are exposed to the hypocrites that we are, we fall on our face in the meekness, as it said in Zephaniah. We recognize that we are weak, that we are not strong, that we are not able to bear these things. Go back to the edge of the bread there for a second. Remember, one of our favorite parables in the Bible is the parable of the prodigal son. You remember there in the parable of the prodigal son, how does it begin, right? There's the two brothers and the dad, they're living all hunky-dory and have all this stuff. And the brother says, hey dad, give me my inheritance and I'm going to go. So he gives it to him, runs off, and what does he do? He spends all of his inheritance on the pleasures of the flesh, on adultery, on all kinds of wickedness. And where does he find himself in that story, right? He finds himself eating the stuff that the pigs won't eat. Now is that when he's convicted? No. Right? It doesn't tell us that he starts eating it and he's like, man, this is bad. If you pay attention to the parable, he's fine eating the pig slop. It's not until he thinks of his father. And he thinks of what he had had in the land that he has left, that he is convicted of his sin. He's convicted of what his life is like now. It's not the circumstances that bring him to repentance. It's the light. It's the Lamb. It's the Word. It's the commandment which strikes at him. And as he runs back to his father, how do we see him in that day? Does he run up to his father and say, Dad, I messed up. Dad, you were right. You told me this is how I was going to end up, all that stuff. Does he say a word? He falls, confesses himself before the father. And what does the father do? The father picks him up and comforts him. The witness of what we see in Proverbs chapter 6 is that if this testimony is convicting you right now, the right thing to do is not run away. It is not to close your ears. It's not to act as if as long as you remain in the darkness, everything is going to be okay. The testimony of the Scriptures are clear that the light of the commandments of the law of God are the way that God exposes us and witnesses to us that our only hope is Jesus Christ. That our only hope is the One who bears the weight and punishment of sin upon Himself. If you are a spiritual adulterer longing after the gods and the nations, repent before the Lord. Come unto Him. If you are a physical adulterer, the same promise is there. Do not hide in the darkness. Come unto the light. The light of the marvelous grace of Jesus Christ. For that alone is the balm Gilead, the soul, bound up in wickedness. The prophet Isaiah tells us, Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsels far from the Lord. And their works are in the dark, they say. Who sees us and who knows us? 1 Corinthians 4-5 Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. Where's the Apostle Paul from Romans 13? Again, that is the testimony that we have before us today. Because what is true of those who have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, what is known of them according to that same apostle? In Ephesians chapter 5 verse 8, it says, For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light. For whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says, Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you life. You see, this is the testimony that we need to hear this morning from the words of Solomon. This is the warning that the Holy Spirit is bringing to us today. Do you believe in the forgiveness of sin? More importantly, do you believe in the forgiveness of your sin before the Lord? Again, that is the question that makes all the difference because it's easy to believe in the forgiveness of sins. It's easy to believe that God forgives sin. It's easy to believe that God is the God of righteousness and that God forgives those who sin. But the question that every soul under heaven has to ask itself is do you believe that you are forgiven of your sin? Do you believe that Jesus Christ's blood and His righteousness are yours today? Do you believe that your sin has been cast as far as the east as from the west? Do you believe that the sin that you have committed, that you have done, has been nailed to the cross at Calvary? Now that is the question that Proverbs is really asking us. Are you ashamed of your sin? Good. Because there is an answer. And there is hope. And there is peace. And there is comfort. And that Jesus Christ is dead for sinners. That Jesus Christ has raised sinners from the dead. That Jesus Christ has given life unto those who hid in the darkness. And when the light of the gospel came and they were shown their iniquity, fleed not, but fell at the feet of the Savior. and received those wonderful words that the Father speaks unto the Son. Get up! Embraced by the light of the glory of God. We'll close on this. Romans 8, 6 tells us, as simply as it can be put, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Amen. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we give thanks again for the word that you provided for us this morning. And dear God, as we rest in the fullness of your glory and in the beauty of holiness, dear God, we pray that you would encourage us to walk in righteousness' sake, both this day and forevermore. Amen. Let us stand as we now sing our closing Bible song, Bible song number 301. Let us stand and sing together. you We'll praise, we'll praise thy name forever and ever. every day every day Every day will I bless thee, every day. ♪ With songs of praise they shall exult ♪ ♪ Thy perfect righteousness ♪ ♪ Every aid will I bless thee ♪ ♪ Every aid will I bless thee ♪ ♪ And thy good praise will praise thy name ♪ Amen. And as we close our worship service this morning, and as we go to enjoy the Sabbath day that God has given unto us, and as we prepare to return this evening at five o'clock to praise and name our God, again, let us close this morning with the words of benediction, which comes to us from the 11th chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, verses 31 and 32. Hear the word of the Lord. For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you will possess it and dwell in it. And you should be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today. Amen. I love you