The Danger of Moralism: Why Purity Without the Gospel is Dead

• The Seventh Commandment and Adultery [00:26:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces Exodus 20:14, clarifying the literal translation and the historical context of the 'Wicked Bible' misprint to emphasize the absolute prohibition against adultery.
• Male Purity and Sensuality [00:28:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies sensuality as the primary obstacle to godliness for men, linking the commandment specifically to a 'clarion call' for men and fathers to pursue personal purity.
• Cultural Sexual Immorality [00:30:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor critiques the 'hyper-sexed culture,' noting that society has lowered the bar for sexual sin and often applauds what Scripture condemns, making biblical adherence critical.
• Scope of Sexual Sin [00:32:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor outlines that the commandment extends beyond physical adultery to include premarital sex, pornography, and same-sex activity, defining sexual activity strictly within heterosexual monogamous marriage.
• Sexual Purity and Biblical Definition [00:33:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines sexual sin broadly, listing specific acts (casual sex, pornography, same-sex marriage) as wrong because God created us and knows what is best, emphasizing that sex is designed for marriage.
• Divorce and Remarriage [00:34:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > Analyzing Matthew 5, the pastor explains that Jesus deepened the commandment against adultery to include divorce and remarriage (except for sexual immorality), noting that serial divorce/remarriage is also adultery.
• Heart Adultery and Lust [00:37:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > Discussing Matthew 5:27-30, the pastor explains that Jesus internalizes the commandment, forbidding lustful thoughts and fantasies ('heart adultery'), requiring radical spiritual mortification rather than physical mutilation.
• Consequences of Sexual Sin [00:43:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor outlines the 'sorrow' of sexual sin, describing it as a sin against God, the spouse (treachery), children (breaking their sense of security), and the self (self-destructive).
• Sexual Purity and Family Integrity [00:46:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that sexual purity is essential for family stability and children's well-being, citing the anecdote about the father returning from a trip.
• The Self-Destructive Nature of Sexual Sin [00:46:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using 1 Corinthians 6:18 and Proverbs, the pastor explains that sexual sin is unique because it sins against one's own body and leads to sorrow and destruction.
• Spiritual Safeguards Against Sin [00:49:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor outlines five specific actions to avoid sexual sin: maintaining awareness of God, avoiding tempting situations, considering consequences, staying cautious, and maintaining intimacy with one's spouse.
• Marital Intimacy and Covenant [00:58:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor emphasizes the biblical command to 'cleave' to one's spouse, describing sexual union as 'covenant cement' and citing 1 Corinthians 7 regarding mutual authority and duty.
• Safeguards Against Immorality [00:59:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor advises meeting a spouse's physical and emotional needs to avoid vulnerability to adultery, quoting Proverbs 5 and suggesting 'planning' intimacy to avoid affairs.
• The Necessity of the Savior [01:00:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that no one passes God's standard for the seventh commandment, leaving everyone in desperate need of the Savior and forgiveness.
• Repentance and Grace [01:01:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor urges those involved in sin to flee, repent, and confess, citing Romans 5:20 to assure them that God's grace super-abounds over sin.

• Sermon Illustration [00:26:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the historical anecdote of the 1631 'Wicked Bible,' which omitted the word 'not' from the seventh commandment, resulting in a fine for the printers and the burning of most copies, with only 11 surviving today.
• Sermon Illustration [00:31:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a humorous anecdote about President Calvin Coolidge ('Silent Cal') attending church while his wife was ill; when asked what the sermon was about, he replied 'Sin,' and when asked what the preacher said about it, he replied, 'He said he was against it.'
• Sermon Illustration [00:38:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > A story about two monks crossing a river: one monk carries a woman across and sets her down, but the other monk complains for an hour afterward. The first monk replies, 'I set her down by the river an hour ago. Why are you still carrying her?' used to illustrate the danger of carrying lustful thoughts.
• Sermon Illustration [00:44:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > A story about counselor Gary Smalley's son, Greg, who told his children not to sleep in their mother's bed while he was away. Upon returning, the children proudly announced that nobody slept with mommy, causing awkwardness among the crowd at the airport.
• Sermon Illustration [00:45:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > A father tells his kids not to sleep in his bed while he is away. Upon returning, his children proudly announce that nobody slept with their mother, causing awkwardness among other passengers at the jetway.
• Sermon Illustration [00:51:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > Joseph fleeing from Potiphar's wife, leaving his coat behind to preserve his character.
• Sermon Illustration [00:52:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > King David staying home idle while his army was at war, leading to his sin with Bathsheba.
• Sermon Illustration [00:54:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > A quote by Phil Reichen describing David's fall from grace, losing his son, family unity, and kingdom due to a few minutes of lust.
• Sermon Illustration [00:57:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor's professor, Dr. Stanley Toussaint, warning him, 'Mark, whatever you do, don't blow it,' during a video tribute for the pastor's 25th anniversary.
• Sermon Illustration [00:57:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a video message from a respected man who told him, 'Mark, whatever you do, don't blow it,' referring to his ministry and church, which has echoed in his mind for years.
• Sermon Illustration [01:00:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor quotes a man who suggested that the best way to avoid an affair is to 'plan one with the person you're married to,' interpreting this as intentionally cultivating intimacy.
• Sermon Illustration [01:02:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares the story of playwright Tennessee Williams, who was immoral and godless but later converted to Catholicism, quoting his heartbreaking desire to 'have my goodness back' to illustrate the human need for righteousness found only in Christ.

• Pastoral Charge [00:34:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > Physically turn to Matthew chapter 5 in their Bibles.
• Pastoral Charge [00:36:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > For those divorced and remarried outside of biblical grounds, to seek God's forgiveness rather than divorcing their current spouse.
• Pastoral Charge [00:57:58 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor urges the congregation, particularly men, to protect their families and spiritual standing by avoiding sexual sin.
• Pastoral Charge [00:54:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor commands specific behavioral changes to remove access to temptation.
• Pastoral Charge [01:01:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > Flee from sin, repent, confess, and come to the Lord for forgiveness.
• Pastoral Charge [01:02:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > Ask God for forgiveness and confess sin to Him.
• Pastoral Charge [01:03:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > Trust in Jesus, turn to Him, and accept Him as Savior.
• Pastoral Charge [01:04:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > Come to God now to receive His forgiveness.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:00] So good to see you here today. Be courteous and helpful to one another as you make your way in and find a seat today. This is gathered worship at Faith Bible Church. So our desire is to sing
[00:00:10] the gospel this morning. It's to pray the gospel. It's to hear the gospel preached today. That's what we do each and every Sunday here at Faith Bible Church. If you're a guest with us, that's
[00:00:19] what's about to happen. And additionally, if you are a guest, I want you to do something for me.
[00:00:24] I want you to stop by the Welcome Center and visit with a greeter that's there to help you navigate your entry into Faith Bible Church. If you want to get involved in the ministry or take
[00:00:33] next steps into an ABF or just figure out what this church is about, they're there to answer your questions. You can't miss the Welcome Center out here in the foyer, especially today. It's got a big fancy new sign over the top of it. So be sure to stop by there if you're a guest with us.
[00:00:47] I want to also direct your attention toward the bulletin. Let me just give you a directive.
[00:00:51] Always grab a bulletin. Somebody told me this week, I didn't even know we had a bulletin.
[00:00:55] Oh, my goodness. Always grab a bulletin. Now, I will say ushers used to hand bulletins out, and that's one of the things we haven't resumed yet since after COVID. So they're always on a table out in the four-year space or as you make your way in. Always grab a bulletin. There's a
[00:01:11] couple of things in there I want to direct your attention to. First of all, a huge thank you to those who served and attended and were a part of Vacation Bible School. We had over 800 or 900
[00:01:20] people here every day this week, 600 or so kids, 200 or so adults. We asked for your prayers for VBS last week. Thank you for your prayers. They were sensed. They were powerful. It was an
[00:01:31] incredible week. Over $14,000 was raised by our kids for a ministry called Serve Hope in Honduras.
[00:01:38] So yeah, it's great. They brought money all week and it accumulated. And the last day, they really piled it on. And so Serve Hope is a ministry that we've been involved in here at Faith Bible for a
[00:01:51] couple of years. We've sent short-term teams to Honduras to serve with Serve Hope. The coffee you drink on Sunday morning is from Serve Hope. They have that ministry as well. So we're connected to Serve Hope in various ways, and we're excited to partner with them this week and to be able to
[00:02:05] extend that generous giving to them. We're also installing two new elders this morning.
[00:02:13] So we do this every Father's Day at Faith Bible today. You know, many of you are taking time to honor your earthly fathers, those who shepherd your families. Well, in our service, we'll be praying for those that God has called and raised up to shepherd our church family as well. So we're
[00:02:27] excited about that feature in our service today. Just go ahead and bow your heads to me. Bow your heads for me. The call to worship is from Psalm 100. This is verses two and three. Think on these
[00:02:38] words just for a moment. It says, serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing.
[00:02:43] know that the lord he is god it is he who made us and we are his we are his people and the sheep of his pasture father we come to you today with glad hearts we come to you today bringing singing
[00:02:59] bringing our praise our acknowledgement together is that you are god and not only that we are your people we belong to you we are the sheep of your pasture thank you for your goodness and your grace
[00:03:13] toward us. May we sing in light of that today. In Christ's name, amen. Well, amen. It is so good to

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:03:20] be here with you. Would you stand with us and let's begin to sing. We want to give all that we have, all that we are this morning to Christ Jesus. He is our Lord. He's our merciful Savior.
[00:03:36] He's our coming King. And so we're going to sing to him together. Sorry, a little malfunction this

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:03:53] morning. As Jay mentioned earlier, this is Sunday when we bring new elders on and appoint them to

[00:12:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:12:56] their new position and ordain them. And our new chairman this year is Bruce Niedenfuehrer. And so I want to turn it over to Bruce. We need to be praying for Bruce a lot this coming year as he
[00:13:05] leads us. Turn it over to Bruce and he's going to introduce our elders and those who are rotating off. Our elders serve three-year terms here at Faith Bible Church, and so we always have men
[00:13:13] rotating on and coming back on. But anyway, Bruce, you can lead us. Well, good morning. Am I on? Yeah.

[00:13:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:13:19] I don't think so. It's on, yeah. Well, good morning. Happy Father's Day, and I am so excited to introduce you to your elders. I want you to know we are servants. We're here because we love this church.
[00:13:36] We love our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
[00:13:39] Each man up here cares deeply about you.
[00:13:42] And we want you to know that, that we are available.
[00:13:45] We're here to serve.
[00:13:48] We are, first and foremost, I want to thank Larry Aubrey.
[00:13:52] I have, this is, I've been through three years as an elder.
[00:13:57] And I've shared those three years with Larry.
[00:13:59] He's been a wonderful example as our chairman.
[00:14:02] I've been so privileged under Sid Jones.
[00:14:05] you know in Clay Bullard they were just great chairman and Larry filled their shoes wonderfully and Larry I just want to thank you for the example that you set for me for the rest of the team how you serve this church so ably we just
[00:14:20] thank you so very much elders who are still on the board we have Derry Myers Derry's just a wonderful godly man we have Tim Hedrickson we've Okay, we've got Paul Goggins, we've got Scott Sargent, and Tony Bostic,
[00:14:43] who you know probably well over the years as our long-term volunteer accountant.
[00:14:48] He's not here today.
[00:14:50] These are wonderful men. Please pray for them.
[00:14:53] But now we're going to introduce two new men who have answered the call to join this elder team.
[00:14:59] We have Ash Bullard. He has served so faithfully on our missions committee.
[00:15:04] He's a wonderful man, a godly man, and we are so excited, Ash, that you're going to be part of our team.
[00:15:10] Dale Harper, I got to meet Dale early when we first, my wife and I first joined the church, and the man that he is is just an inspiration.
[00:15:18] So we're going to ask if Dale and Ash come forward here to the middle, and the rest of us are going to surround you and put our hands upon you, and we're going to pray.
[00:15:28] Now understand, folks, this is not just a formality.
[00:15:32] This matters.
[00:15:33] We are a blessed church and we're blessed because God is real and he cares deeply about this congregation, about how you are served.
[00:15:41] And so please be in prayer with us right now.
[00:15:45] Heavenly Father, we come to you in humility, acknowledging that you have blessed this church in so many wonderful ways.
[00:15:53] We are in awe of your goodness to us.
[00:15:55] And now we lift up another reason to be thankful that you brought two men, Ash Bullard and Dale Harbour, to serve on this elder board.
[00:16:05] We ask God that you would bless them mightily, that you would watch over them, their families, keep their marriages safe and sound, their children well and walk close with you.
[00:16:17] We pray, God, that you would bring their special giftedness and talents and burdens and insights into this elder team in such a way that we will be better equipped to serve this body and to bring honor and glory to your name.
[00:16:32] Father, we are so grateful for your kindness and goodness.
[00:16:36] We just ask all these things now in Jesus' name.
[00:16:39] Amen.

[00:16:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:16:41] Would you stand again as we continue to worship together?

[00:16:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:16:49] And let's remain standing for prayer.

[00:22:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:22:34] Father we come before you now this morning we thank you that you are our Father we love you, we praise you today we're totally dependent upon you for everything Father we remember those words of Scripture
[00:22:48] but as many as received him then he gave the right to become the children of God even to those who believe on his name Father we thank you that through faith in your Son the Lord Jesus that we become your children
[00:23:03] we thank you for your care and for your comfort and even for your conviction in our lives that keeps us on the path of righteousness. Father, we thank you for our earthly fathers. We pray that we'll honor them in accordance with the fifth commandment.
[00:23:18] We thank you for their influence upon our lives and their impact. Father, may they feel our love and our care and our concern today. Now, Father, give us open hearts. Give us prepared soil down
[00:23:29] inside of our hearts and lives to receive the incorruptible seed of the Word of God into our lives. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You please be seated. Well, welcome this morning to Faith Bible Church. It's wonderful to have you here with us. And if you're visiting with us,
[00:23:48] it's especially good to have you here. I'm sure we have a few visitors here on Father's Day.
[00:23:53] This was a great week at our church this week at VBS. I really, Jay already mentioned it, but it really was spirit-empowered if you were here. It was thrilling. And I just thank Connie and our children's staff and our volunteers and all of you who prayed fervently. I know many of
[00:24:10] you prayed. It just was a tremendous week. It's really hard to describe what it was like being here this week. So I just am so grateful, and I pray that it gives a lot of spiritual momentum
[00:24:20] to our children's ministry. And, you know, I told Cheryl this morning, my wife, I said, you know, I hope that things like this at our church will build into these children's lives so that if the
[00:24:30] Lord doesn't come in our lifetime, no grow up to be leaders in churches and deep lovers of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we pray for great spiritual fruit to come from VBS. I just want to mention
[00:24:42] next week, next Sunday, Philip DeCourcy is going to be here with us preaching. My friend who's in California but from Northern Ireland. If you've not been here when Philip's been here, you'll enjoy his ministry greatly. I say this, I tell Philip this as well, but he's my favorite
[00:24:56] preacher to listen to. So if you don't know what kind of preachers I like to listen to, come next week. And so he'll be here with us next Sunday. But again, happy Father's Day to all the
[00:25:04] fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers. We thank God for you and for your impact on our lives. Well, I ran across a few dad jokes here I thought I'd share with you on Father's Day.
[00:25:17] One says, I spent a lot of time, money, and effort childproofing my house, but the kids can still get in. My wife said I was immature, so I told her to get out of my fort. I didn't want to believe that
[00:25:30] my dad was stealing from his job as a traffic cop, but when I got home, all the signs were there.
[00:25:36] I'm starting a new dating service in Prague. It's called Checkmate. You'll get that. Czechoslovakia, anyway. It's the capital there. What rock group has four men that don't sing? Mount Rushmore.
[00:25:49] When I was a kid, my mother told me I could be anyone I wanted to be. Turns out identity theft is a crime. I like this one. What do sprinters eat before a race? Nothing. They fast. Did you
[00:26:02] hear about the restaurant on the moon? Great food, no atmosphere. Did you hear about the guy that invented lifesavers? They say he made a mint. Now, here's one that actually kind of fits in our
[00:26:14] current series in the Ten Commandments. How does Moses make coffee? He brews it. I mean, that's bad.
[00:26:19] That's the worst one. But anyway, these are dad jokes. What do you expect, right? Well, we're continuing our series this morning in the Ten Commandments, or what the Bible calls the Ten Words. So if you'll take your Bible and turn with me to Exodus chapter 20. Again, we're just going
[00:26:33] to look at one of these commandments this morning, the seventh commandment, the seventh word in Exodus chapter 20, verse 14, you shall not commit adultery. Now, just like the sixth commandment, this is just two words in Hebrew, so you can literally translate it, no adultery. So we move
[00:26:50] here from the sanctity of life to the sanctity of marriage. Back in 1631, the newest edition of the King James Version was hot off the press. And not long after that, somebody discovered that a word
[00:27:06] was missing. Just there was a scandalous misprint. One word was omitted, just one little three-letter word. The word not was missing in the seventh commandment. So it read, thou shalt commit adultery. Now the archbishop was so enraged, he fined the printers 300 pounds, which was a lifetime's
[00:27:27] income in that day. And that version of the Bible became known as the wicked Bible or the adulterous Bible or the sinner's Bible. All the copies were burned, but 11 survived. And if you can get your
[00:27:40] hands on one of those today. They're worth about $50,000. There's actually a copy of the Wicked Bible in the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., so if you make it there, you can go see
[00:27:50] that Wicked Bible. But the word not must never be omitted from the seventh word or from the application of it to our lives. The seventh commandment is clear. You shall not commit adultery. Now, I think it's very fitting to me that we've come to this commandment for Father's
[00:28:10] day. I actually didn't plan this out at the beginning of the year. I'm not that good at planning these kinds of things. But I think this is a strong word for all of us here this morning,
[00:28:18] but especially for men and for fathers, because this is a call, a clarion call in our lives to personal purity. And certainly this applies to all of us here today, but it's a special emphasis
[00:28:31] I want to give to our men, to our young men, to our fathers, to men who are my age and the generation ahead of me. This is so important. Kent Hughes, there's a great book he has called
[00:28:43] Disciplines of a Godly Man. And he says this in the book, sensuality is easily the biggest obstacle to godliness among men today and is wreaking havoc in the church. So he says, look, the biggest
[00:28:56] obstacle to godliness in the lives of men is sensuality. And I agree with that from what I've observed and seen certainly in my own life, but in the lives of other men that I know and talk
[00:29:07] to. Sexual temptation is often referred to as every man's battle, because it's something that every man faces in battles on a daily basis. And Scripture acknowledges this. The prohibition against adultery is second only to idolatry in the Old Testament. And in the New Testament,
[00:29:27] the sin that is most spoken against and most mentioned is sexual immorality. Now, in my 30 years of pastoral ministry, the vast majority of the really difficult sin issues that have come before me and before our elders have to do with sex and with marriage. That's the way it always
[00:29:46] has been. That's probably the way it always will be, because sex and marriage are two of God's greatest gifts. So we could expect the enemy to especially attack and pervert those areas in our lives. You think about this, God's best gifts are the ones most apt to be twisted and perverted by
[00:30:05] the world and the flesh and the devil. And that's certainly true in the area of sexuality and marriage. Satan and demons, I believe, have our sexuality and our marriages in their crosshairs because they realize those are so foundational to who we are and so foundational to society.
[00:30:25] Now again, I don't have to tell you all today, we live in a hyper-sexed culture.
[00:30:29] It's saturated and submerged in sexuality.
[00:30:33] Someone put it like this, people today are looking for love, but they're settling for sex.
[00:30:39] College campuses, I mean, the vast, vast web of the pornography industry.
[00:30:46] Matthew 16, 4, Jesus referred to the people in His day as an evil and adulterous generation.
[00:30:51] And tragically, I think the same thing can be said of us today.
[00:30:55] way. There's no shame or stigma much anymore for sexual sin. The bar is so low. In fact, many people are actually applauding these things when they happen. It's never been more critical in your life and my life for us to learn and live this seventh word that God
[00:31:12] has given to us. So you can see this morning in your outline, I've got four points that guide us through this seventh word. I want to look at the sin, the sorrow, then the safeguards.
[00:31:23] do we safeguard our lives? And then I want to close on a high note by looking at the Savior.
[00:31:29] So let's begin with the sin. Most of you know the name Calvin Coolidge. His actual name was John Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States. I mean, he was known as a man of
[00:31:40] few words. I mean, he was called Silent Cal. And one Sunday morning, his wife Grace wasn't feeling well, so he went to church without her. And when he came back home, she asked him, what did the
[00:31:50] preacher preach about this morning? And he said, sin. And so she waited for a few moments. She said, well, what did he say about it? He said, well, he said he was against it. Now, the same
[00:32:01] thing is true of the seventh commandment. What does God say about sexual sin? Well, he says he's against it, right? There's little room for misunderstanding here. God is against sexual immorality and everyone who commits it. With God, there's no 50 shades of gray. It's a black and a
[00:32:19] white issue. Now, this commandment is clear. It's categorical. There's no excuses. There are no exceptions. Now, when you think about this commandment here of not committing adultery, there's really three layers or levels to this command. The Bible takes us broader and deeper
[00:32:37] than we would imagine when we first read this. Now, the first layer is the one that we would all see immediately, and that is, this is a commandment against adultery, but it also encompasses a whole range of sexual sins. It rules out basically any kind of sexual immorality.
[00:32:56] So it includes sexual activity outside heterosexual monogamous marriage. That's the only one-flesh union that God has blessed, heterosexual monogamous marriage. So it's against premarital sex, prostitution, pornography, same-sex activity. Andrew Randall, who's a Scottish pastor, he really summarizes this really well. He says, the Bible's understanding of sexual
[00:33:21] expression has various consequences, and I like this, we should not be embarrassed to state them.
[00:33:28] Sexual activity apart from a true relationship, such as casual sex or the use of pornography, is wrong. Sexual activity between more than two people is wrong. Open relationships involving so-called sexual freedom are wrong. Sexual activity between two men or between two women is wrong.
[00:33:46] Same-sex marriage is wrong. All sexual activity outside of marriage, as the Bible defines it, is wrong. And the reason for all of this is because God loves us so very much. And I love that last part. It's because God loves us. He's the one who created us and knows what's best for
[00:34:04] us. So sex must stay within marriage and never stray outside of it. Now, it's not that God is against sex. I mean, God is the one who created it. There's a whole book of the Bible devoted to
[00:34:18] human marital love, the Song of Songs, or often called the Song of Solomon. But it's within the safety and the security and the sanctity of marriage. That's the only place that the power of sexual love is to be unleashed. That's what the Bible tells us. That's kind of this first layer.
[00:34:36] There's a second layer, though. Turn over to Matthew chapter 5 in your Bible for a moment, and we'll be there for a few minutes, so you might want to turn there.
[00:34:44] This, of course, is the Sermon on the Mount that we looked at last week with the sixth commandment about murder. And you'll notice down in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 31, says it was said, Jesus says, whoever sins his wife will lay, let him give her a certificate
[00:35:02] of divorce. But I say to you, everyone who divorces his wife, except for the case of unchastity or sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery. Whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. And so what was happening in that day is the Pharisees, the religious
[00:35:18] leaders of that day, they could really divorce their wife for any reason at all. If they burned their food or embarrassed them or whatever, you could divorce your wife. So they would never actually think of having sexual relations with someone while they were still married to somebody.
[00:35:32] But what they would do is when they got tired of their wife, they'd just divorce her, and then they'd go marry somebody else. And it just became kind of this serial chain of divorce and remarriage.
[00:35:41] and Jesus is saying here in this passage, that is also adultery. In other words, the Pharisees thought they could kind of get around the literal words of this, but they didn't realize that it goes deeper. In fact, over in Matthew 19, and again, I don't want to have this whole sermon
[00:35:58] be about this topic, but in Matthew chapter 19 and verse 9, Jesus says, whoever divorces his wife except for immorality and marries another woman commits adultery. Now listen to the disciples response. If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it's better not to marry.
[00:36:16] They thought, man, this is serious. And certainly it is. And that's the point that Jesus is making here. Now, let me say one word about this, because I get this question sometimes. Someone will say,
[00:36:27] look, before I became a believer, or maybe after I was a believer, I was divorced from my spouse, and it wasn't for sexual immorality, and now I'm married to somebody else. What should I do? Do I
[00:36:37] now divorce this person? No, you don't compound the error. You go to God, you recognize what you've done before Him as we do with any other sin, you take it before Him, and you receive God's
[00:36:48] forgiveness. But we all know there are consequences to our sin. God forgives us, but we often still have to live with the consequences of our sin for a long period of time. But anyway, cycles of
[00:37:00] marriage and divorce and remarriage in Scripture, Jesus also tells us here, breaks the seventh commandment. Now, the third kind of lever, level, or layer of this commandment is up in chapter 5 of Matthew, verse 27. Now, remember we said last time that in this section, Jesus six times in
[00:37:20] Matthew 5 says, you've heard it said, but I say unto you. Jesus is not challenging what Moses said, but He's contradicting the false interpretations of the Pharisees. And He says, you've heard it was said, you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you, everyone who looks on a woman to lust for
[00:37:37] her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. So Jesus said, you can commit sexual sin with your eyes, your brain, and your imagination. So Jesus internalizes it, and He forbids sexual fantasizing. So this here is the hard adultery that comes from eye adultery. One man I read this
[00:38:05] week said it well. He said, don't take a second look, but that doesn't give you permission to take a long first look. And I think that's a good word to us. Job 31.1, Job said this,
[00:38:18] I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a woman. We need to do that, men.
[00:38:26] Kevin DeYoung says this in his book on the Ten Commandments.
[00:38:29] Jesus is saying that even if we don't commit the physical act with our sexual organs, we can still be guilty of sexual sin by means of our thoughts, our fantasies, our reading, our clicking.
[00:38:40] Talking obviously about the computer or the phone and our affections.
[00:38:45] So Jesus says, look, this is heart adultery.
[00:38:46] Look, these commandments go a lot deeper than we realize, don't they?
[00:38:50] There's a story I read years ago about two monks.
[00:38:53] and they were on a pilgrimage and they came to the ford of a river and they saw a beautiful girl young lady dressed in all of her finery she obviously didn't know what to do since the river
[00:39:03] was high and she didn't want to spoil her clothes without much discussion one of the monks took her on his back carried her across the river and put her down on dry ground on the other side
[00:39:14] the monks continued on their way for a while but the other monks started complaining to the man who'd carried her across the river. He said, surely it isn't right to touch a beautiful woman like that. It's against the commandment to have contact with such a beautiful woman. How could
[00:39:29] you go against our rules as monks? The monk who carried the girl said, I set her down by the river an hour ago. Why are you still carrying her? It's a great thought. Look, men, make sure that there's
[00:39:43] not someone other than your spouse that you're carrying around all day. I'm in the theater of your mind. Look, this is a radical call to purity. Look what Jesus says in verse 29. If your right
[00:39:56] eye makes you stumble, tear it out, throw it from you. It's better for you that one of the parts of your body perish than your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you tremble,
[00:40:06] stumble, cut it off, throw it from you, for it's better that one of your parts perish than for your whole body to go into hell. In other words, he's talking about take radical action in this
[00:40:17] area of life. Now, some have actually taken this literally in church history. Origen of Alexandria, a well-known church father, actually had himself emasculated to overcome his sexual desires.
[00:40:31] But Jesus here is employing hyperbole. You all know what hyperbole is. It's intentionally exaggerating to make a point. It's like when I tell my wife, I'm hungry enough to eat a horse.
[00:40:43] I mean, that's hyperbole. Usually it is anyway when I say that.
[00:40:47] But Jesus is not talking here about physical mutilation. He's talking about spiritual mortification, putting to death the deeds of the body, cutting off spiritually harmful practices in your life. After all, think about this. If you did cut out one eye and threw it away,
[00:41:03] the problem is you still have another eye, right? Cut off one hand, you still got the other one.
[00:41:08] So it's just a hyperbolic statement here.
[00:41:10] Notice he says that only you can do it.
[00:41:13] It's your eye.
[00:41:14] It's your hand.
[00:41:16] It's your foot.
[00:41:17] You're the only one who can take the measures to bring this to pass.
[00:41:21] He's saying, look, take radical steps.
[00:41:25] Limit your time on the computer alone.
[00:41:27] Don't stay up late at night on the computer.
[00:41:30] Cancel TV channels if you have to.
[00:41:32] You may even need to get a new job to get away from a situation that's tempting you beyond your ability to resist. He's saying, take drastic action, whatever it is. Now, there's an important distinction here, I think, to make, though, between physical adultery and heart adultery.
[00:41:50] They're both sins, but there is, I think, a qualitative difference.
[00:41:55] R. Kent Hughes has a quote here that was very helpful to me this week. Let me read this to you.
[00:42:00] He says, do not succumb to the untidy reasoning that there's no difference between physical and mental adultery. It is true that lust, lasciviousness, and adulterous thoughts are damning sins, that unforgiven will send one to hell, as surely as adultery. Nevertheless, adultery is a
[00:42:16] greater sin. Adultery breaks the marriage covenant, whereas adulterous thoughts do not.
[00:42:22] Adultery provides the grounds for divorce, whereas mental adultery does not. Adultery violates and defiles another's body, whereas its mental counterpart does not. Adultery invites abortion, whereas the other does not. Adultery is the vehicle for sexually transmitted diseases,
[00:42:37] where the mind does not. There's vast substantive differences between mental adultery and the act of adultery. And I think that's a helpful qualification he makes here. He's not trying to make us feel good about it. He's just simply saying there is a qualitative, substantive
[00:42:52] difference between these two acts. Now, we could go on and on here this morning, but that's the sin. You get the idea here. Now, let's move on to this next point, what I call the sorrow.
[00:43:05] Adulterers never, or those involved in sexual immorality, never sufficiently consider the consequences, right? If we did, we wouldn't do it. Sexual sin always brings shame and it brings sorrow. First of all, it's a sin against God. Remember David when he sinned with Bathsheba?
[00:43:24] What's he say in Psalm 51? God, against you and you only have I sinned. It's a sin against God that brings shame and sorrow. It's a sin against the other person. If you read in 1 Thessalonians
[00:43:37] 4, there's a good passage here you might want to read this week, the first few verses. It talks about those involved in sexual immorality who don't know how to control their own vessel, looking at their body. It says you defraud the other person. You're defrauding and stealing
[00:43:52] something from another person that's not yours. You read in Malachi 2 that adultery in a marriage is a sin against the spouse. When you read that in Malachi 2, it's powerful. It refers to it as
[00:44:06] treachery. It almost has a sense there of it's an act of violence against someone's spouse to break the covenant of marriage. And it's also a sin against children. It's a sin against children in a family. Robertson McQuilkin, who many of you may know of him, his wife contracted dementia,
[00:44:28] Alzheimer's disease, and he quit his presidency at Columbia University to go care for his wife.
[00:44:33] Wonderful, godly man. Robertson McQuilkin said this, infidelity tells a child your mother's not worth much, and your father is a liar and a cheat. Furthermore, honor is not nearly as important as pleasure. Send them a message to your children that they hear. I was reading a book
[00:44:53] sometimes back by David Jeremiah. He tells a story in the book about Gary Smalley's son. You all have heard of Gary Smalley, many of you, a well-known counselor, writer in the era of marriage.
[00:45:05] Well, Gary Smalley has a son named Greg, and Greg Smalley would go out and speak at marriage conferences, and Greg Smalley tells a story about he would go speak at these conferences and be gone
[00:45:15] for a few days. He would come back, and his children, while he was gone, would all go in and sleep in the bed with their mother while he was gone, and he had a hard time when he got back
[00:45:25] getting them to go back to their own beds. So he finally had enough of it, and so one of his trips, he's leaving, and he says, look, kids, he said, I've had enough of this. He says, when I'm gone,
[00:45:34] nobody goes in there and gets in bed, because I have a hard time getting you guys out of there, so I don't want you going in there and sleeping in there. So everybody agrees to that. So when
[00:45:43] he's coming back from the trip, this was back before 9-11 when people could come right up to the jetway, you know, and greet people as they're coming out. As he tells it, his family and hundreds
[00:45:52] of people were waiting there for their loved ones. He came down the jetway. He was greeted by his children who all ran up to him and says, good news, dad, good news, good news. Nobody slept with mommy
[00:46:02] while you were gone. And he said, you should have seen the looks on the people's faces who were coming down the jetway. He said he wanted to say something, but what do you say? So he just kind of
[00:46:14] walked off to there. But I say that because, and tell that story, because this is a powerful thought. Every child deserves the good news that nobody slept with mommy or daddy. Every child deserves this, because it's God's purpose and His plan for our lives and for our families.
[00:46:34] You know, the other thing about sexual sin in Scripture is it's self-destructive.
[00:46:39] It's a sin against yourself.
[00:46:41] 1 Corinthians 6.18 says, Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.
[00:46:50] And the Proverbs, as you know, most of you, has a great deal to say about the sinfulness and the sorrow of sexual sin.
[00:46:58] Proverbs carries more warnings against sexual sin and immorality than any other sin.
[00:47:03] Let me just read a few of these Proverbs, and you can write some of these references down if you want to go back and read them. Proverbs 5, verse 20. Why should you, my son, be exhilarated with
[00:47:16] an adulteress and embrace the bosom of a foreigner? For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord. God knows what you and I do, what we think, what we say. What happens in Vegas doesn't stay
[00:47:28] in Vegas. He watches all his paths. His own iniquities will capture the wicked. He'll be held with the cords of his sin. He will die for lack of instruction, and the greatness of his folly, he will go astray. Proverbs 6, verse 27, can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes
[00:47:46] not be burned, or a man walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is the one who goes into his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her will not go unpunished. Down in verse 33, wounds and
[00:47:59] disgrace he will find, his reproach will not be blotted out. For jealousy enrages a man, he will not spare in the day of vengeance. And you notice up in verse 32, the one who commits adultery with
[00:48:12] a woman is lacking sense. I mean, you could say it like this, to be involved in sexual immorality he's not just sinful, he's saying it's stupid. It's self-destructive. Over in chapter 7 and verse 21, with her many persuasions, she entices him. This is talking about the adulteress. With
[00:48:32] her flattering lips, she seduces him. Suddenly he follows her. Listen to this, as an ox goes to the slaughter and is one in fetters to the discipline of a fool, till an arrow pierces through his liver
[00:48:44] as a bird hastens to the snare. He does not know what will cost him his life. On and on and on we could go in Scripture. Again, you get the picture there from this, but it's a sobering warning to us
[00:48:55] of the sorrow of sexual immorality. Well, let's move to the safeguards here, to the positive to this. You're probably ready for some positive now. Look, we need to build barriers in our lives and our marriages. We need to affair-proof your marriage, if you will. We need a game plan
[00:49:13] for how to avoid this sin in our lives and our hearts.
[00:49:17] Now, if you're unmarried here this morning, these safeguards, I think, will be of great help to you as well.
[00:49:22] But let me give you five spiritual safeguards against sexual sin.
[00:49:26] Number one is keep conscious.
[00:49:29] Keep conscious.
[00:49:30] This is the most important thing.
[00:49:32] Keep an awareness in your life daily of the presence of God, that God is with you.
[00:49:38] Have a divine awareness.
[00:49:40] Practice the presence of God.
[00:49:41] Think often about God.
[00:49:42] Meditate upon the Savior.
[00:49:44] The best way to do that is get up every morning and read the Bible and pray and get God and who He is before you in your heart and your mind.
[00:49:53] Stay enraptured with God, because it's the fear of God that drives away sin in our lives.
[00:50:00] Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher, once said this, I never go 30 minutes without consciously thinking about Christ.
[00:50:09] Well, that should be the goal for our lives, to not go 30 minutes in life, without consciously thinking about Christ.
[00:50:15] And I don't know about you, but even sometimes when you wake up in the night, it's the first thing that comes to your mind is God and who He is and to pray to Him.
[00:50:25] You know why we can't see the sun or the moon and the stars during the day?
[00:50:31] We can't see them because there's a brighter light.
[00:50:34] It's so bright and so luminous and so glorious, everything else is washed out.
[00:50:40] And that's the way it needs to be in your life and my life.
[00:50:42] the brightness and the glory and the magnificence of God should blind us to the other things in life that would draw us away from a walk with Him. So the first thing, very simply, is to keep
[00:50:55] conscious. The second point I would mention is keep clear. Keep clear of tempting situations.
[00:51:01] Keep clear of certain people and places that bring temptation. Back in Genesis 39, 10, we all know the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife. But it says there, and as it came about, as she spoke
[00:51:14] to Joseph day after day, that he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her. Now, to be with her, there could be a euphemism for sexual activity, or it could be to lie beside
[00:51:28] her or just even to be with her or be around her. Joseph did all he could to avoid Potiphar's wife.
[00:51:35] Now, finally, she cornered him, but he fled, and she was left just holding his coat.
[00:51:41] And I love what's been said many times, is that Joseph lost his coat, but he retained his character.
[00:51:47] He fled and stayed away from this sin.
[00:51:50] Proverbs 5, 8 says, Keep to a path far from her, that is, the temptress.
[00:51:57] Do not go near the door of her house.
[00:52:00] So steer clear of tempting people and tempting places.
[00:52:06] You remember King David?
[00:52:07] We'll talk a little bit more about him in a moment.
[00:52:09] But King David, when he sins with Bathsheba, 2 Samuel 11-1 tells us that he'd sent his troops out to go and fight against the Moabites.
[00:52:18] And he stayed back home by himself.
[00:52:21] So the passage is not just telling us where he was, but it's telling us where he wasn't.
[00:52:26] He wasn't out doing what he should have been doing.
[00:52:29] And here David is by himself back at the palace.
[00:52:33] He's idle.
[00:52:34] He's isolated.
[00:52:35] he's a perfect victim to this sin and by the way david when he committed that sin was probably in his early 50s and for a lot of men around my age i'm not my early 50s i'm not concluding putting
[00:52:48] myself there but people around my age as people begin to retire and maybe their their workload is different people can become idle and become more isolated and they can become victims for this temptation so easily. Remember the words of 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 13? It tells
[00:53:07] us there that there's no sin that's overtaken you that's not common to man. Every sin we have, you know, a lot of men will say, oh, you just don't know how bad this is for me. Look, every sin you
[00:53:17] and I have is common to others. There's no sin that's overtaken us that's not common to man.
[00:53:23] But God is faithful, and with the sin will provide, and in the Greek there, there's a definite article. God will provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it. God provides the way
[00:53:35] out for us. There's always a way out, but we have to keep clear of sin and look for it. Someone put it like this, it's better to shun the bait than struggle on the hook. That's a good way to think
[00:53:46] about it. It's better to shun the bait than to struggle on the hook. Look, keep clear. If there's someone you know that you're attracted to of the opposite sex, be particularly on guard around that
[00:53:58] person. Don't talk to old boyfriends and old girlfriends online. Get intensely practical and realistic. Lose the phone number. Alter your daily routine if you have to. Don't stay up alone at night on your computer. Change your job, as I said earlier, if you have to. Do whatever it takes
[00:54:16] to keep yourself clear from the occasion to sin. Keep clear. The third thing I would say here is keep counting. Keep counting the consequences of this sin. When people engage in sexual immorality, one thing you can be sure of, they're not thinking about the consequences of this sin.
[00:54:36] David would have never given Bathsheba more than a fleeting glance if he would have known the shattering results of this sin in his life. Phil Reichen has a powerful statement here about this.
[00:54:49] Listen to these words.
[00:54:50] That warm spring evening, David had everything a man could ever want.
[00:54:56] He'd conquered his enemies, established his kingdom.
[00:54:58] He was living in royal luxury.
[00:55:00] He was famous and handsome.
[00:55:02] More than that, he was a righteous man, a man after God's own heart.
[00:55:05] He wrote beautiful hymns of praise to the God who'd promised him an eternal kingdom.
[00:55:09] He strolled around the roof.
[00:55:11] David was the master of all that he surveyed.
[00:55:14] There was nothing more for him to gain, but he still had everything to lose.
[00:55:18] God certainly held David accountable. From the moment that he decided to act on his lust, his life became a tragic series of disappointments. He lost almost everything he'd worked hard to obtain. Bathsheba's son died. David's family was torn apart by rape and incest and murder.
[00:55:37] His kingdom was divided. His beloved son Absalom rebelled against David, even having sex with David's wives on the top of his palace bringing shame to his father's house? And all that for a sake of a few minutes in bed, do you think it was worth it? If not, then what about your own
[00:55:56] sexual sins? What do you really gain? What are you willing to lose? One man I read this week said it powerfully. This hit me. He said, David's reign lost the smile of God. If there's one thing you
[00:56:10] and I don't want to lose in our lives and our families and our marriages, we do not want to lose the smile of God upon us. We should desire that above everything else. Look, another point
[00:56:22] here, a fourth, I would say keep cautious. Stay scared. If David can fall, so can you, and so can I. There's a Judas lurking down inside of all of us, and our heart is desperately wicked, so keep
[00:56:36] cautious. Some of you may have been here years ago. It's been about five years ago now. The church was very kind when Cheryl and I had our 25th anniversary here. They got some men that have
[00:56:47] had an influence on my life, and some Sundays in a row showed a video of them just, you know, saying some kind things about me and encouraging us in the ministry here. And we did those several
[00:56:58] weeks in a row, and the one that really was most meaningful to me was from my professor at Dallas Seminary, Dr. Stanley Toussaint, a man I love dearly. In fact, I just called his wife and talked
[00:57:08] her the other day. She's 94 and doing well. But I hadn't seen the video before we saw it in church.
[00:57:14] I watched it with everybody else, and he was very kind to some things he said and was very encouraging about going forward in ministry. There's one thing he said, and this is the only thing I remember that he said specifically. He said about all the things that were going well
[00:57:27] in our church and go forward and what God was doing for us. And then he looked in the camera and he said, Mark, whatever you do, don't blow it. And then he kind of laughed, but then he said a
[00:57:36] few other things after that. Those words have echoed in my mind, in my heart and mind often over the years since I heard that. And part of it is the reason because of the man who said it
[00:57:46] and how much respect I have for him. But I would say that really to all of us here this morning, all of us men especially. Look at your wife and your family and what God has given to you.
[00:57:58] Don't blow it. Don't blow it. Keep cautious. And then here's the final point I will say, and we'll move on to our final main point, but that's keep close. Keep close. Keep close and connected to your spouse if you're married. The Bible says you're to leave your father and mother
[00:58:13] and cleave to your wife. That word cleave really means to be glued to. You're to be glued to your wife. You need spiritual, emotional, and physical intimacy. In fact, some have called sexual relations within marriage, the covenant cement that you leave, you cleave, and then the Bible
[00:58:34] says you weave, you become one flesh. Sexuality is a gift from God, and the physical union between a husband and a wife was God's idea in the first place. It's part of the goodness of God's creation.
[00:58:51] What does Paul say over in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 2? But because of immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each wife have her own husband. Let the husband fulfill his
[00:59:02] duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his body,
[00:59:11] but the wife does. Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and then come together again, lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control. Look, this should be a part of our marriages. Look, for those of us
[00:59:30] who are married, do the hard work of meeting your spouse's needs, whatever they are. We're most vulnerable to adultery and immorality when we have physical and emotional needs that are not being met. Someone put it like this, I read this week. He says, men, cherish your wife. Sex will always
[00:59:51] be a chore for her if you don't cherish her. The key to a happy marriage, sexually and otherwise, is really this. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church, gave himself up for her.
[01:00:05] Another man I read this week put it like this. This is a great thought. The best way to avoid an affair is to plan one with the person you're married to. I like that. It's the best way to
[01:00:14] avoid an affair. Plan one with the person that you're married to. Proverbs 5 verse 15 says this, drink water from your own cistern. This is sexual imagery. Running water from your own well. May your fountain be blessed. May you rejoice in the wife of your youth, a loving doe, a graceful deer.
[01:00:34] May her breast satisfy you always. May you ever be intoxicated with her love. Keep close to your spouse. Look, we've seen the sin and the sorrow and the safeguards, but by the standards of the
[01:00:47] seventh commandment here, I think all of us would say none of us are left standing spiritually.
[01:00:52] By God's standard, none of us passes the test.
[01:00:55] Like all the other commandments, the seventh word leaves us desperately in need of the Savior.
[01:01:00] And that's our final point here, the Savior.
[01:01:02] I want to end here this morning on a high note.
[01:01:05] The law serves as a mirror that shows us our condition, but then it takes us by the hand and leads us to Christ.
[01:01:13] Look, some of you here this morning have known the hurt and the horror of a lot of this sin we've been talking about here this morning.
[01:01:19] And I want you to know that you can be led to the Savior and find forgiveness and cleansing.
[01:01:24] Some of you may be involved in these things right now.
[01:01:28] And my desperate plea to you would be to get out and don't despair that somehow you've sinned yourself beyond the love of God.
[01:01:37] And if you're toying with these things now, flee from them and repent and confess and come to the Lord for forgiveness.
[01:01:49] Look, God always has more grace than we have sins.
[01:01:53] He always does. What does Romans 5.20 say? Where sin abounds, grace super abounds. You can never, ever out sin the grace of God. That's the good news of the gospel. Even David found that. David
[01:02:09] in Psalm 51, when he's finally confronted by the prophet Nathan, what does David say in the 51st Psalm? Be gracious to me, O God, according to your loving kindness, according to the greatness of thy compassion, blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me
[01:02:28] from my sin. For I have known my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against thee and thee only have I sinned, and done what is evil in thy sight. You have to do what David did, though.
[01:02:40] You have to ask. You have to go to God and confess to Him your sin, and He will forgive you.
[01:02:47] Most of you know the name Tennessee Williams. He's considered one of the three greatest American playwrights of the 20th century. If you know anything about his life, and I won't go into it, you can read it for yourself online if you'd like, but he was a very immoral, very godless man,
[01:03:01] Tennessee Williams. He dipped his pen often in the sewers of life. But late in his life, he realized a deep spiritual need in his heart, and he went and was baptized into the Catholic Church.
[01:03:16] But one of the statements that he made is kind of a heartbreaking statement in some ways, but as he kind of was looking for something to fill the void in his life, he says, I want my goodness back. And I think there's a lot of people probably like that in our culture
[01:03:30] today. Maybe some here this morning. We want our goodness back. And there's goodness to be found in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In fact, that's the only place we can find goodness.
[01:03:41] We won't find it in ourselves. We find it in Him. There's goodness to be found in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And if you want that goodness today that only He can give to you, I urge you to come and trust in Him, turn to Him, and take Him to be your Savior from sin.
[01:03:59] The Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. The Bible says that God is abundant in loving kindness, and He's ready to forgive. Come to Him now if you never have and
[01:04:12] receive His forgiveness. Well, let's pray together. Well, Father, this is a weighty word today.
[01:04:21] We pray that You'll apply it to our hearts and lives. It's so important for us, O God, to have a pure heart, to be pure in heart. You tell us in Your Word, it's only the pure in heart
[01:04:30] that we'll see God. Father, we ask You to come before us and to create in us a clean heart.
[01:04:38] Father, I pray for the man or the woman today who may be involved in this sin.
[01:04:42] They desperately need to turn from it. Father, give them the strength to do that. Those who may be toying with it. Oh, Father, help them to flee from it for Your sake and their own sake and the
[01:04:54] sake of their spouse and the sake of their family. Father, help us to live in Your presence each day.
[01:05:02] Oh, Father, help us to have Your life ever before us like the luminous, shining sun that blots out everything else. Because, Father, our greatest desire in all of life for each one of us here,
[01:05:14] and I pray this for all of the fathers and the grandfathers and the great-grandfathers here today, that we could enjoy your smile upon our lives, upon our marriages, upon our homes and our families. Oh, God, thank you. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Well, please
[01:05:33] stand with me for the benediction. We want to leave here this morning with God's blessing upon us. If you're visiting with us this morning, again, thank you for being here. If you go out these double doors a little ways down in the back, there's a welcome center. We've got big
[01:05:47] new welcome center signs back there. Some of you may have seen those, so you can't miss it.
[01:05:51] and there's some folks there that love to give you some information about our church.
[01:05:54] I'll be down front after the service.
[01:05:56] Our elders will be down front as well.
[01:05:58] If you want to come and meet Ash and Dale Harper, our two newest elders, they'll be down front here this morning.
[01:06:03] They'd love the opportunity, I know, to get acquainted with you.
[01:06:07] Well, let's bow our heads now for the benediction as we leave here with the Lord's blessing upon us.
[01:06:13] Well, Father, we come before you now this morning, and I pray for each one of us that we can enjoy, Father, your smile upon our marriages, upon our lives, upon our homes.
[01:06:22] And Father, we know we can only do that as we abide in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and then the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
[01:06:31] We ask all these things in Christ's name and all God's people said, Amen.