Proverbs chapter 5, a warning against adultery. My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Listen well to my words of insight, that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil. But in the end, she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to the grave. She gives no thought to the way of life. Her paths are crooked, but she knows it not. Now then, my sons, listen to me. Do not turn aside from what I say. Keep to a path far from her. Do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your best strength to others and your years to one who is cruel. Lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil and rich in other man's house. At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and body are spent. You will say, how I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of a whole assembly. Drink water from your own cistern. Running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. May your fountain be blessed. May you rejoice in the wife of your youth, a loving doe, a graceful deer. May her breasts satisfy you always. May you ever be captivated by her love. Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife? For man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths. The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline. led astray by his own great folly. And thus far, the reading of God's Word. I've entitled this sermon a warning and a wooing. In the bulletin it says an invitation, but I changed that to be alliterative, a warning and a wooing. And we're just going to get to the warning today, and then finish that next week, and then go on to a positive approach here, which is the wooing. So, with respect to the warning aspect of this chapter, The Bible, unlike most people's perceptions of it, even in the Christian church, the Bible is very realistic and it's very earthy. It's very down-to-earth. It's very realistic. Here, the Father is speaking to the Son about the reality of sexual temptation, and any father Desiring his son to be wise in the ways of God and in the word of God would do well to talk, have a heart-to-heart, or a man-to-man, or a very frank discussion about sex and sexual temptation. And I say that because that's exactly what the father here does with the son as he trains him in the ways of wisdom and in the ways of the word of God. So much so that this is one of three main sections in the book of Proverbs on this particular subject, as well as many individual Proverbs. Look at chapter 6, verse 20 to 35, similar heading there, warning against adultery. And chapter 7, the whole chapter, verses 1 through 27, talks about the adulteress. These three main sections in the introductory section, that first nine chapters of Proverbs, these three main sections, one third of the introduction to the book of Proverbs is given over to the matter of adultery, the adulteress, and sexual temptation. It highlights, it underscores, and emphasizes for us the importance of this subject. And if it was important as a subject to be addressed by a father to a son in Solomon's day, it is at least as important, and I think more so, in our day. We live in a sex-saturated society where sexual temptation is constant, and ladies, girls, Though this is a father speaking to a son, because predominantly this is a guy problem, it is, and you ought not to think, that uh... it isn't a girl problem as well and increasingly so in our day so uh... ladies uh... amongst us don't just turn off and think that all uh... yeah the guys need to hear this alright no this is for girls too and it's for moms and would be moms that they are aware uh... hopefully about a deal with future sons so The Bible is very realistic and very down-to-earth. Hear the Father speaking to the Son about the reality of sexual temptation and a warning against adultery. Well, a number of points that need to be made here. First of all, this is not a warning against sex. Alright? Let's get this straight. It is not a warning against sex. Look at verses 15 through 19, and we'll be looking more closely at these in the third sermon two weeks from today, Lord willing. But these are literary devices that are erotic, You heard right. Erotic images. Alright? Drink water from your own cistern. Running water from your own well. Is a reference to a woman. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Has to do with male springs. Alright? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. May your fountain be blessed, is an erotic image. May you rejoice in the wife of your youth, a loving doe, a graceful deer. And here's a word which people think might never be uttered from a Christian pulpit. May her breasts satisfy you always. Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife? You see, the Bible is not prudish, alright? The Bible doesn't oppose sex, or sexuality, or sexual relations, okay? So when we hear this warning, boys and girls, you need not get in your mind the idea that the Bible is against sex. Rather, as we read these verses, and we'll see, Lord willing, in two weeks, this is actually something that the Bible delights and rejoices in. It encourages, alright? But only within the bounds of marriage. And it's only within the bounds of marriage that it can be properly enjoyed. Actually, regarding these verses, one commentator says, there's a slightly naughty overtone by suggestions of being deliciously dazed in ecstasies of lovemaking. Look at verse 19, the second part of that verse. May you be ever captivated by her love, The NIV is so sterile, it really, somebody needs to slap them upside the head and get a little bit more Jewish, alright? The word here is intoxicated, alright? Intoxicated. May you be intoxicated by your wife's love. Now, that is not in opposition to sex, alright? As a matter of fact, turn over to another wisdom book, Song of Solomon. You've got Proverbs, right? Turn to the end of Proverbs. You've got Ecclesiastes. And then you've got Song of Songs. Something... Chapter 5. You know what the rabbis used to say about Song of Songs, right? You couldn't read it until you turned 18. Because this was a hot book. Right? Song of Songs, chapter 5, verse 1. I've come into my garden, my sister, my bride. This is all erotic imagery. Alright? You know that for centuries, people allegorized this book. And they said, really, this is about Jesus' love for the church. Alright? I'm sorry, that cannot be sustained. Alright? It's not to say that Jesus doesn't love His church, or that there's a point not being made that Jesus loves His church, right? But this is about married love, and it's a book of wisdom. Alright? It's a book of wisdom. I've come into my garden, my sister and bride, I've gathered my myrrh and my spice, I've eaten my honeycomb and my honey, I've drunk my wine and my milk. Eat, oh friends, and drink! In other words, enjoy! Enjoy this erotic imagery. Enjoy it. Drink your fellow lovers. Again, a little bit too sterile here, alright? Literally, this is drink and get drunk. Not alcohol, but on love. On love. Comes back to Proverbs 5. Be intoxicated with the love of your wife. Drink and get drunk on her love. Alright? So the warning, first of all, is not against sex. The Bible is not prudish. Okay? Let's get that straight. Secondly, it's a warning against adultery. But in order to understand the warning against adultery, we have to define it. What's adultery? In Proverbs chapter 5, very clearly, as it's talking about another man's spouse or it's talking about extra marital sex. Extra-marital sex. That is, extra is outside of, marital is marriage, so sex outside of marriage. That is, outside of your own marriage, okay? That is, with another's spouse. Now, that highlights a couple of things for us, okay? It highlights, seriously, the importance of family. in the book of Proverbs, and in the Bible as a whole, the importance of family. We'll see when we get to the seventh commandment, you shall not commit adultery, that really what this is, is a provision that protects family. Why? Because family is the most basic unit of the Bible. The most basic unit in the Bible is not an individual, and Americans with a sense of rugged individualism need to think more covenantally, more biblically, more faithfully in this regard. The most basic unit in the Bible is not an individual, it's a family. It was not It was not good for man to be alone, so God made a help me for him. Alright? It was not good. That's not the most basic unit. It's a family. And the seventh commandment, and the warning against adultery consistent with that, is a protection of the family as the most basic unit of society. The family is the seminary of church and state. As goes the family, so goes the church. As goes the family, so goes the nation. This is covenantal. And the Bible does not think individually, it thinks covenantally. Alright? And adultery, why we're warned against adultery, adultery is a murderous act against the central social institution of any healthy culture. It's a murderous act. And the seventh commandment is intended to protect that. And a matter of wisdom as we come to, what does the law mean when it gets applied to real life situations? We have three chapters on a warning against adultery, because it's a murderous act against the family, which is the central social institution of any healthy culture. The family is the central custodian of property and children. What do we do? We get old, we start thinking about, well, there's not much of life left. Maybe you do this when you're young, but I didn't do it until I was old. You start thinking of a will, because you have possessions, you have property. And who are you going to leave that to? The state? No, you want to leave it to your kids, right? You want to leave it to your children. The family is the central custodian of property, and it's the central custodian of children. And therefore, in a healthy society, biblically healthy, alright, A healthy society protects the family because its survival is at stake. We really need to understand this in our day. as there are repeated, almost daily, attacks on the family. And if any of you go into a secular college, you'll hear these attacks almost in every class, alright? There are attacks on the family as it's redefined. You know, you can now live with the dog and that's your family, or whatever. All these things are being redefined, and as a result, it's affecting our society. But today, you see, adultery is purely personal. That's all it is. We saw this with Bill Clinton when he was running for president. I don't mean to single him out, it's just such a good illustration. This is a problem with a number of people, any one of whom could be mentioned, but he's such a good illustration. That when he was caught in an adulterous relationship, we were told that this was a personal matter. that this was private, and that a person's private life should not affect their public office. Do you know that in 1992, when Bill Clinton was being elected, adultery was illegal in 42 states? It was illegal. Because the law was Christian. It reflected the fact that this was something that needed to be protected against for the well-being of a society and for the well-being of a culture. But we were told that it was a purely personal matter. You had a man running for President of the United States who in 42 of those states would have been considered a criminal. And we were told that it didn't make any difference whatsoever. So adultery is not seen on a social level anymore, it's purely personal. And there's a cultural rejection of God and His Word. But here you see, that's why it's a matter of wisdom and it's so important, three chapters devoted to it, that it's warned against. Because it has to do with family, it has to do with society, it has to do with culture. If this goes on, then it's the death of a society, it's the death of a culture. And that's what we're seeing in America today. However, allow me to continue here. This ought not to be considered as something that only applies, though, to married people. And I say this for the benefit of the singles amongst us, lest you misunderstand and misinterpret that though the seventh commandment, you shall not commit adultery, and though these chapters in Proverbs are clearly speaking about extramarital sex, that is, sex outside of someone that's your spouse, That it has nothing to say about premarital sex. Alright? That it has nothing to say about premarital sex. I had somebody come up to me once years ago and say, you know, where does the Bible forbid premarital sex? My immediate response was 7th Commandment. Shall not commit adultery. They said, no, no, no. If you're not married, you can't commit adultery, because you can only commit adultery when you have a spouse. I said, I don't believe a Christian is asking me this question. I began to recite scriptures, one thing or the other, and I said, oh, I never thought of that, you see. So, there's something here for everybody, certainly for married couples, but also it addresses, adultery addresses the question of premarital sex. All, let's just be clear on this, at the risk of insulting anybody's intelligence, all sexual immorality is prohibited. premarital as well as extra-marital. Just one verse quickly, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. We could find many, but we'll just look at perhaps the most explicit. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 3. It is God's will. You see why I chose this text? It's perhaps the most explicit. It's not only black and white, it's spelled out for us. It is God's will that you should be sanctified, that is, that you should avoid sexual immorality. Verse 7, God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. This would have to do, let's be clear again, when we have to define what is is in our generation, that this is talking about all forms of sexual immorality. It's not just talking about genital sexual immorality, it's talking about all forms of sexual immorality. And it has to do, you see, with the purpose of sex, which we'll get to when we look in depth and detail at verses 15 and 19 and the wooing part of this chapter. But the purpose of sex, to put it briefly, is that it's to be other-oriented rather than self-oriented. If you have your bulletin on the back, I've given you a couple of new quotes. Al Martin has a good one here. It says, God never intended that man could find the true meaning of his sexuality in any other relationship than that of the total self-giving involved in marriage. Sex, you see, is something that is reserved so that it can be fully enjoyed, and it's to be fully enjoyed because it's reserved for within the bounds of marriage. But let's address another problem, not just explicit behavior of premarital sex, but pornography. We ought to take these warnings against adultery as a warning about pornography. Why do I say that? Statistics show that 70% of men 18 to 24 years old visit porn sites each month. 70%. 66% of men in their 20s and 30s report they're regular users. Internet pornography is the number one industry, I think, it's either number one or number two, in America. In America. It is a multi-billion dollar industry. And it is something which many men struggle with. Many Christian men. And this warning ought to be heard about that. Jesus, in Matthew chapter 5, says if anybody looks lustfully on a woman, he's already committed adultery with her. Pornography Ordinarily cannot be viewed without lusting. And most men or people who look at pornography are doing it to lust. We'll look more about this next week. When we hear this warning, we need to be here, we need to hear it as addressing all of us, young and old, married and single, and addressing various aspects of behavior, including magazines, television, MTV, video games, and pornography. Alright? Okay. So we're warned about these things. Thirdly, First point, it's a warning not against sex, but adultery. Secondly, we've defined adultery, extramarital, premarital, across the board, comprehensive. Thirdly, a motivation. What's the motivation that's provided here in this warning? Well, verses 3 through 14, are the bulk of the lesson here in this warning, at least in chapter 5. And to sum it all up, the Father says to the Son, consider the consequences of this. Consider the consequences of this. And the point is similar to what we looked at last week, is you ought to stop and think before you open your mouth You ought to stop and think before you engage in this kind of behavior. You ought to stop and think before you start surfing the web. You ought to stop and think before you turn on MTV. You ought to stop and think before you stand there at the 7-Eleven magazine rack. You ought to stop and think before you read that romance novel. You ought to stop and think before you commit adultery. You ought to use your head. That's what the father is saying to the son. Think about the consequences of this before you act. Look at verse 3. 4, here's the reason. The lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil. But in the end, she's bitter as gall. Sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to the grave. One man said, honey is sweet, but the bee stings. And this lady has a sting in her tail. Alright, think of the consequences. Just pause with me for a brief moment and think of the consequences of adultery, alimony. child support, broken homes, hurt, jealousy, lonely people, sexually transmitted diseases, which are at epidemic proportions in America today. And let me just say, alright, if you're married, and you sleep with somebody that's not your spouse, you just brought everybody that that person ever slept with into your marriage bed. Think of that. Alright? You know, you wouldn't have to worry about sexually transmitted disease if everybody was just faithful. Right? Because you'd have one sex partner. That was it. Right? Abstinence works every time. Just don't do it. But when you commit adultery, you've not just had sex with that person, you've had sex with everybody that that person has had sex with. And then you bring all those people into your marriage bed. And if you get a sexually transmitted disease because you've committed adultery, now you're endangering your spouse. but this is a personal, private matter, right? Social breakdown, abuse, personal shame, humiliation for loved ones, if it becomes known, loss of respect in the community. Just look at what happened in this past week with Senator Larry Craig, alright? This guy, before the eyes of the whole world, has been humiliated and forced to resign. Yesterday he resigned from his office. Alright? Whatever happened to it doesn't affect his public life. Let's overlook his private life. What about the consequences of pornography? Pornography. Viewing pornography. Well, let's just... some of them. Alright? Just tip of the iceberg here. It takes away time from your responsibilities because it's an addictive and compulsive behavior. It's not just a matter of looking at one picture and then going and doing your thing. It's a matter of spending hours surfing the web and watching that pornography. And then that grows to the point that it outweighs the importance of other responsibilities. So it robs you of your time. It destroys relationships as people suffer emotional withdrawal from those that they are emotionally connected to. It presents unrealistic expectations of the opposite sex. There's even a name for this. You know what it is? It's the centerfold syndrome. It's the centerfold syndrome. All you girls, all right, you need to beware that as you check out of the supermarket and you're seeing Vogue and Cosmopolitan and Today's Woman and whatever else, all right, that there are hours and endless man hours spent on retouching these images to make them look absolutely perfect. Okay? And then we have bulimia and anorexia rampant amongst women in our day. Only, only, since the ability to proliferate images of female perfection. Only since then. You didn't have these problems when there weren't movies, magazines, and television. You didn't have them. You go back and you look at Ruben, right? The painter Ruben. Boy, you know, these women were big women! That was sexy! Right? Right? But, you know, you got these magazines. This is centerfold syndrome. You get hooked on porn. Alright? You get hooked on porn. That's going to be the image of a woman for you. Let me just tell you, most women are not like that. Alright? And once a woman has a child, her body changes forever. Sorry, single women or whatever. This is just a fact of life. You better get used to it. This is reality. Alright? And love better be more than just an image, you see. And that's the other thing is this devalues women. It makes them into sex objects who exist to fulfill your fantasy. And then only outside image matters. It violates the wedding vow and therefore breaks a bond of trust for married people. It puts other family members at risk. You know how many kids got started on pornography with their father's playboy under the couch or at the barbershop or one thing or the other puts other family members at risk. It desensitizes one sexually so that it leads to worse behaviors. Soon enough, looking at magazines or surfing the net is not enough. You've got to go to a strip club or prostitutes and in extreme cases, rape and physical abuse. Now all of these things are not spelled out here in chapter 5, but the point of the Father to the Son is think about the consequences. And here I'm just enumerating some of the consequences of sexual immorality, adultery, pornography for you, that you think about them before, not after. You know how many people I've had come into crying to me as a pastor after they've done it? Their heart is burdened, their conscience is burdened, they're so deeply sorry, but the scars are there, the damage has been done. Think about this before. You young kids, you listen. Second motivation provided here is is theological. Look at verse 21. There are two theological motivations given. Four, here's why, here's because, here's the reason, the rationale. Four, a man's ways are in full view of the Lord and he examines all his paths. Why is the Father telling the Son a warning about adultery? Avoid this. Flee from it like you would flee from the plague. Simply because of God. A man's ways are in full view of the Lord. You think you're sitting there surfing the web and nobody knows what you're doing? You think you've got that magazine in the bathroom and nobody knows what you're doing? This is private. You think this is something purely personal? Man's ways are in full view of the Lord. Hebrews 4, that passage I mentioned to you that we're studying on Thursday night, verse 13, it says, nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. We'll talk about this a little bit more next week. But this is what Joseph was with Potiphar's wife. You remember? Potiphar's wife, dressed in fancy clothes, all seductive, maybe had a little, you know, eau de cologne on and smelling sweet. He says, Oh Joseph, come to my bed. I have something for you. Joseph was wise though, right? He said, man's ways are in full view of the Lord. What did he say? How could I do this and sin against God? How could I do this and sin against God? You see? Because everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. You think it's private? You think it's personal? You think nobody knows? God knows. God sees. And you're going to have to give account to God. What are you going to say? It used to be a matter of shame and embarrassment when I was growing up. You know, you had all this stuff reserved in the slutty areas of Times Square. If anybody ever saw that you were there, you'd be shamed. You'd be so embarrassed. God sees. Are you embarrassed because God sees? God knows. And you see, you have to give account. And that's the second theological rationale here in verses 22 and 23. The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him. The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him fast. He'll die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly. See, verse 21 talks about God's omniscience. Verse 22 and 23 talk about God's justice. Talks about God's justice. Verse 22, the father says, warns the son against adultery, warns the son against sexual immorality, warns the son against all these behaviors. Why? Because God is just. God's just. And the evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him, the cords of his sin hold him fast. You ever talk to anybody that's been addicted? to porn? You ever talk to anybody who's been addicted to romance novels? Women who can't get enough of an insatiable appetite for these terrible novels? Addicted to them. That's God's justice, you see. God says, you want it? You want it? You got it. You got it. You don't want to serve me? You don't want me for your master? Okay, now find out what slavery is really like. You're a slave to your sin. Is that what you want? That's God's judgment in this life. Then, of course, verse 23 is God's judgment in the life to come. He'll die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly. Look with me at just a couple of passages in the New Testament here. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. warnings from israel's history he's talking about now the generation that's brought out of bondage in slavery in egypt okay uh... Our forefathers, all under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all baptized into Moses in the cloud and the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food, drank the same spiritual drink, drank from the same spiritual rock. The rock that accompanied them was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them. Their bodies were scattered over the desert. Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. And then verse 8, we should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did. And in one day, 23,000 of them died. Can I be very blunt with you? God does not have a boys will be boys mentality. God doesn't look down and say, well, you know, everybody goes through a period where they've got to sow their wild oats. God understands this stuff. It's a guy thing. Everybody does it. In one day, 23,000 of them died. Look at Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. Verse 19, the acts of the sinful nature are obvious. Sexual immorality. Then down in verse 21, I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. You can't screw around and think that God's going to ignore it. You can't go out and sow your wild oats and think that God's going to ignore it. You can't be engaged in sexual immorality and come and plead 1 John 1. That's sin, my friend. It sent Jesus Christ to hell. And repeatedly, throughout the New Testament, we have these warnings. Do not be deceived. You can't live like hell and expect to go to heaven. What did 1 Thessalonians 4, last one, then we'll move on here. Back to that passage we looked at before. We started in verse 3. It's God's will you should be sanctified, avoid sexual immorality. Each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not impassionate lust like the heathen who don't know God. And that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. Why? The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man, but God, who gives you His Holy Spirit." By the way, this is what should guide interpersonal relations between men and women. No one should wrong his brother or sister or take advantage of him. Alright? No one should wrong his brother or sister or take advantage of him. If you love me, you all... Well, girls, the response to that should be, if you love me, don't ask. I've got another whole sermon, but I'm not going to go down that track. Alright, turning back to Proverbs chapter 5, I want to point out to you just a couple of things in conclusion here. I want you to see that this is a matter of the heart. This is a matter of where your heart is at. Where is your heart at with God? That's what the Father is saying to the Son. Again, this is not moralism. And dads, please, learn the lesson here. This is not just do this, don't do that, alright? God spare us from Nicianity, alright? The Father has a heart-to-heart with the Son and says, this is a matter of your heart. Where is your heart at? Look at verse 12. You will say, how I hated discipline, how my heart spurned correction. My heart wanted nothing to do with what I was told. My heart wanted, wanted, and wanted. And I didn't listen. Look at verse 2. That you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. You see, this is something that must be internalized. It's something that must come from the heart. Because it's not what goes into a man that makes him impure, it's what comes out of the heart. So we all need to ask ourselves this morning in the light of the scrutinizing gaze of the Word of God, where's our heart in relationship to the Word? Because you see, in chapter 5 as in the subsequent chapters, what we actually have are competing sets of words. They're competing sets of words. Look at verse 1. On the Father's part, my son, pay attention to my wisdom. Listen well to my words of insight. Verse 7, now then, my sons, listen to me. Do not turn aside from what I say. Verse 12, you will say, how I hated this one. I spurned correction. I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. So here you have the father and the wise in the community. Maybe the priests who were entrusted with teaching the law of God. Today it would be the preacher, or the catechism teacher, or the school teacher, or the aunt, or the uncle, or the grandmother, or the grandfather. Prominent members in the community who are conveying God's wisdom to the child. God's wisdom to the young man and the young woman. And that's one set of words. They're representing God's wisdom, God's Word. But then there's another set of words, with which they're in competition. Verse 3, For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than gall. And the question is, here you have these competing sets of words. Which words are going to guide you? Which words are going to guard you? Which words are you going to take to heart? Which words are you going to follow? Which words are you going to hear and heed? And of course, in the bigger picture, the Father, as we've learned in preceding chapters and as we'll continue to see in following chapters, The Father, in presenting these competing sets of words, is presenting competing women. Are you going to follow woman wisdom? Or are you going to follow woman folly? Are you going to be wise? Or are you going to be a fool? Are you going to walk the ways of the Lord? Or are you going to go the way of the world? Which woman? And we know, of course, and we'll see when we come to Proverbs 8, that when wisdom took on human flesh and came to earth, it was Jesus Christ, Paul says, in whom all the treasures and riches of wisdom and knowledge are dwelled. In 2 Corinthians 11, just take a note, you don't have to look there, listen to what Paul says. This is the Father. This is Paul speaking as a father to the Corinthians in a sex-saturated culture that Corinthians was. He says, I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promise you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. Jesus is the bridegroom of the church. Jesus is the husband of the church. When Paul gives instructions on husbands and wives in Ephesians 5, he says, I'm speaking to you a mystery, because I'm really, I'm not speaking about husbands and wives, I'm speaking about Christ and the church. And the Bible tells us that Jesus purchased His bride with His own precious blood. That He went to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. that He rose from the dead that they might be justified, and called them to live a holy life. And I speak to you, as the Father spoke to the Son in Proverbs 5, as Paul spoke to the Corinthians, I'm jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you as the pastor of this church to one husband, Jesus Christ. And I promise you, I will labor with everything that is in me, every hour of every waking moment of every day, to present you to Him spotless and holy. Because I love you. Because Jesus Christ loves you. And He loved me and gave Himself for us. Let's pray. Lord God and Holy Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, and Holy Spirit, our Purifier, we come before you and lay ourselves at your disposal and ask that you would have your way in our lives. Hear us. Help us, we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen.