WEBVTT 00:00:00.650 --> 00:00:03.149 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:03.270 --> 00:00:06.209 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.870 --> 00:00:08.750 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.750 --> 00:00:11.169 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:11.330 --> 00:00:14.150 Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:16.469 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10am in 00:00:16.469 --> 00:00:18.809 the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:18.809 --> 00:00:22.329 us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:22.629 --> 00:00:25.030 Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:31.199 sermon. God Bless. Father in heaven we do pray 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:33.600 now the words of my mouth and meditations of 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:36.340 our hearts the things that we contemplate and 00:00:36.340 --> 00:00:40.439 think on sit with This morning would be pleasing 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:44.640 in your sight Lord. I pray that you'd bring Grace 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:46.719 where we need grace and conviction where we need 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:53.340 conviction That you would cause this Lord to 00:00:53.340 --> 00:00:55.939 indeed walk in your ways To find that the law 00:00:55.939 --> 00:00:57.799 of the Lord is beautiful and more to be desired 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:02.850 than gold that is more to be desired than honey 00:01:02.850 --> 00:01:06.010 and honey from the comb, that following you is 00:01:06.010 --> 00:01:09.629 the way of life, that in you is the way, the 00:01:09.629 --> 00:01:11.769 truth and the life because that is who you are. 00:01:12.849 --> 00:01:14.430 So I pray Lord this morning that you would do 00:01:14.430 --> 00:01:19.650 that in us, in Jesus' name, amen. All right, 00:01:19.969 --> 00:01:22.250 I want to suggest to you something that I have 00:01:22.250 --> 00:01:25.780 said before, I think. Now I've said this at least 00:01:25.780 --> 00:01:27.640 an individual conversation that is this that 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:32.019 the devil has no raw material to work with God 00:01:32.019 --> 00:01:35.180 creates out of nothing ex nihilo as theologians 00:01:35.180 --> 00:01:37.420 like to say but the world the flesh and the devil 00:01:37.420 --> 00:01:41.480 don't They twist and they distort what is given 00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:46.299 by God God's good creation and the best things 00:01:46.299 --> 00:01:49.739 that God gives are also often also often the 00:01:49.739 --> 00:01:55.849 things that are most twisted About a month ago, 00:01:55.969 --> 00:01:59.129 I heard that possibly the best word to describe 00:01:59.129 --> 00:02:04.670 our current world is the word libertine. Libertine. 00:02:05.129 --> 00:02:08.169 Obviously, it's related to the word liberty, 00:02:08.729 --> 00:02:10.969 right? It actually comes from the Latin word 00:02:10.969 --> 00:02:14.009 libertinus, which was the Roman slave who had 00:02:14.009 --> 00:02:15.909 been freed. And so there's a good sense in which 00:02:15.909 --> 00:02:18.150 it's something good. Liberty is actually freedom 00:02:18.150 --> 00:02:20.430 is something to be prized in a lot of way. But 00:02:20.430 --> 00:02:24.129 by 1500 or so, we know Actually, we know this 00:02:24.129 --> 00:02:28.710 in part because of writings of John Calvin, really 00:02:28.710 --> 00:02:30.830 the great theologian in the Reformed tradition 00:02:30.830 --> 00:02:34.430 in Geneva, that the word was already being used, 00:02:34.530 --> 00:02:36.629 libertine, to refer to somebody who didn't want 00:02:36.629 --> 00:02:40.229 to do what somebody else told them. No authority. 00:02:40.909 --> 00:02:45.069 Tell me what to do. The individual as the arbiter 00:02:45.069 --> 00:02:49.689 of what is right. And most of all, what is right 00:02:49.689 --> 00:02:53.460 is what gives that individual pleasure. in this 00:02:53.460 --> 00:02:56.439 world, libertine. So don't tell me what to do 00:02:56.439 --> 00:03:00.080 with my body. Don't tell me what to do with my 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:07.719 guns. Don't tell me what to do. Of course, the 00:03:07.719 --> 00:03:12.659 praise of the libertine that marks our time is 00:03:12.659 --> 00:03:15.259 in part why a series on the Ten Commandments 00:03:15.259 --> 00:03:20.280 can feel so sticky and challenging, unlike the 00:03:20.280 --> 00:03:24.189 permissive gods of our day. namely the gods of 00:03:24.189 --> 00:03:27.189 self -actualization, self -expression, and self 00:03:27.189 --> 00:03:31.530 -fulfillment, and self -self, and the permissive 00:03:31.530 --> 00:03:36.449 gods of antiquity, which were numerous. The god 00:03:36.449 --> 00:03:39.030 of the Bible, the one who gives the commandments 00:03:39.030 --> 00:03:41.849 at Mount Sinai, the one who comes living the 00:03:41.849 --> 00:03:43.349 commandments in the incarnation, the one who 00:03:43.349 --> 00:03:45.389 gives the commandments of the second Pentecost, 00:03:45.629 --> 00:03:47.349 they're in Acts chapter two, the father, the 00:03:47.349 --> 00:03:51.789 son, and the Holy Spirit. is a rather intrusive 00:03:51.789 --> 00:03:57.310 God. We prize kind of ourself as the arbiter 00:03:57.310 --> 00:04:01.050 of the good life. And he tells us that we must 00:04:01.050 --> 00:04:08.310 worship him alone. He tells us how we must worship. 00:04:08.449 --> 00:04:14.250 Don't have other images of gods. One author says 00:04:14.250 --> 00:04:18.230 that he's a good micromanager. or a bad micromanager, 00:04:18.350 --> 00:04:20.329 depending upon how you think of micromanagers. 00:04:21.750 --> 00:04:24.529 He even tells us how we must spend our time, 00:04:24.529 --> 00:04:29.589 right? And he's the divine idealist. He expects 00:04:29.589 --> 00:04:31.750 us to live in the world without violence and 00:04:31.750 --> 00:04:35.649 vengeance, in this world without anger. Who is 00:04:35.649 --> 00:04:40.029 this God who keeps telling us? You know, we are 00:04:40.029 --> 00:04:42.470 going to get to the 10th commandment where the 00:04:42.470 --> 00:04:45.209 Lord is even instructing us how we ought to desire. 00:04:45.449 --> 00:04:51.410 and think about things. So take this libertine 00:04:51.410 --> 00:04:53.930 ideal that we live in in our day and this reality 00:04:53.930 --> 00:04:56.610 of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as speaking 00:04:56.610 --> 00:04:58.449 to us and calling to us and speaking into all 00:04:58.449 --> 00:05:00.709 these different aspects of our lives, both of 00:05:00.709 --> 00:05:02.730 that first Pentecost at Sinai and the second 00:05:02.730 --> 00:05:07.970 one at Jerusalem, and come to the seventh commandment. 00:05:09.329 --> 00:05:11.569 And I feel like we have a little bit of a mess 00:05:11.569 --> 00:05:17.579 on our hands. One of the great libertine creeds 00:05:17.579 --> 00:05:20.000 in our day is no one can tell us what to do with 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:23.579 our bodies and our sexual desires and our constitutional 00:05:23.579 --> 00:05:26.699 right. Thank you very much to pursue freedom. 00:05:29.459 --> 00:05:33.100 To pursue what makes us happy. And here's what 00:05:33.100 --> 00:05:37.980 our response often is. Can I have a little privacy, 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:51.009 God? Please? Right? And what does he say? No. 00:05:53.769 --> 00:05:57.870 Thou shalt not commit adultery. Again, like last 00:05:57.870 --> 00:06:02.209 week, it's kind of short. It's pretty simple. 00:06:02.250 --> 00:06:04.250 It's even shorter. Again, in the Hebrew, it's 00:06:04.250 --> 00:06:07.850 only two words. Again, lo, that's that word again, 00:06:08.410 --> 00:06:13.310 t 'naap, t 'naap. And like last week, in some 00:06:13.310 --> 00:06:15.800 ways it's pretty straightforward. All right, 00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:20.220 last week is pretty straightforward. Don't murder. 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:23.819 Pretty straightforward this time. Don't have 00:06:23.819 --> 00:06:25.740 sexual relationships with anyone who's not your 00:06:25.740 --> 00:06:31.220 husband or wife. Don't commit adultery. But guess 00:06:31.220 --> 00:06:34.839 what? Like last week, there's a lot here. A lot 00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:39.600 here. This morning, I want to... Let me say this. 00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:41.660 There's always so much that I don't say. There's 00:06:41.660 --> 00:06:44.120 a lot this morning I'm not going to say and it's 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:47.540 still longer than... I normally have it But this 00:06:47.540 --> 00:06:49.180 morning I want to talk to you first about how 00:06:49.180 --> 00:06:53.079 the bible sees sex as something beautiful And 00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:56.139 then then as something broken and then as something 00:06:56.139 --> 00:07:00.339 that truly god does also love and redeeming Okay 00:07:00.339 --> 00:07:04.980 Because it's true that only god creates the world 00:07:04.980 --> 00:07:09.980 the flesh The devil the world can only distort 00:07:09.980 --> 00:07:13.879 what god makes Okay, so first the beauty of sex 00:07:14.530 --> 00:07:18.449 The Bible begins with the goodness of creation. 00:07:19.689 --> 00:07:21.490 You all know this. If you read your Bible, if 00:07:21.490 --> 00:07:24.170 you open to the first chapter, there are a few 00:07:24.170 --> 00:07:26.889 things that are repeated and God said is repeated. 00:07:26.949 --> 00:07:29.189 But the main thing that you will hear is he saw 00:07:29.189 --> 00:07:33.750 that it was good. Good is the refrain. Good is 00:07:33.750 --> 00:07:37.370 said over the creation days. That is until a 00:07:37.370 --> 00:07:39.449 little glimpse into the sixth day when Adam is 00:07:39.449 --> 00:07:43.829 all alone. And it is wild. It is actually wild 00:07:43.829 --> 00:07:45.850 that there is something that is said to be not 00:07:45.850 --> 00:07:48.149 good before the entrance of sin into the world. 00:07:49.230 --> 00:07:52.949 Before the rejection of God, God himself looks 00:07:52.949 --> 00:07:54.310 upon it after saying, good, good, good, good. 00:07:54.370 --> 00:07:58.610 And he says, not good. This is what he says. 00:07:59.050 --> 00:08:01.470 It's not good that man should be alone. Make 00:08:01.470 --> 00:08:06.589 a helper fit for him. Now what God does is he 00:08:06.589 --> 00:08:09.689 does not make an animal we had them already paraded 00:08:09.689 --> 00:08:12.350 by him He does not make another Adam another 00:08:12.350 --> 00:08:19.750 man No, he creates women they're similar, but 00:08:19.750 --> 00:08:23.350 they're all so very different When God brings 00:08:23.350 --> 00:08:26.370 the woman to the man, this is what the man says 00:08:26.370 --> 00:08:33.929 Now this is what he says, okay This at last is 00:08:33.929 --> 00:08:36.409 bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, which 00:08:36.409 --> 00:08:40.809 is to say we're similar. That's what he begins 00:08:40.809 --> 00:08:47.309 with. You're me. We go together. Bone of my bone, 00:08:47.429 --> 00:08:50.029 flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman 00:08:50.029 --> 00:08:53.289 because she was taken out of man. But that, the 00:08:53.289 --> 00:08:57.730 second thing is we're similar and we're different. 00:08:59.750 --> 00:09:02.830 She shows she shall be called Isha because she's 00:09:02.830 --> 00:09:11.169 taken out of each similar Work together complimenting 00:09:11.169 --> 00:09:15.809 working similarly differently Think back at the 00:09:15.809 --> 00:09:18.470 end of chapter 1 when on the sixth day by the 00:09:18.470 --> 00:09:20.389 way I I think the best understanding of chapter 00:09:20.389 --> 00:09:22.750 2 in Genesis is that it's a snapshot into the 00:09:22.750 --> 00:09:26.500 sixth day of creation Okay But on the sixth day 00:09:26.500 --> 00:09:28.899 of creation anyway on that sixth day after God 00:09:28.899 --> 00:09:32.519 made humankind male and female in his image He 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:36.720 told them what be fruitful multiply fill the 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:40.600 earth right And at the end of Genesis chapter 00:09:40.600 --> 00:09:44.419 2 after Adam said this at last it says Therefore 00:09:44.419 --> 00:09:46.419 a man shall leave his father and his mother and 00:09:46.419 --> 00:09:50.639 hold fast to his wife By the way, it's the man 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:53.379 leaving the father and mother interesting think 00:09:53.379 --> 00:09:57.690 different cultural tradition but hold fast cling 00:09:57.690 --> 00:10:03.230 to be bound up in together with it says and the 00:10:03.230 --> 00:10:05.409 man and his wife are both naked and we're not 00:10:05.409 --> 00:10:09.330 ashamed many people properly understand that 00:10:09.330 --> 00:10:13.169 as a sexual thing much more than that though 00:10:13.169 --> 00:10:15.610 is the binding up together physically emotionally 00:10:15.610 --> 00:10:18.990 mentally spiritually the whole deal they are 00:10:18.990 --> 00:10:22.230 to hold fast to one another in heart and in body 00:10:22.230 --> 00:10:28.059 faithfully committedly What I'm saying and what 00:10:28.059 --> 00:10:29.860 Jesus says in Matthew 19, which we're gonna get 00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:34.320 to, is that creation is the starting point for 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:38.000 understanding, well, to be honest, all of the 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:40.139 commandments, but very specifically the seventh 00:10:40.139 --> 00:10:42.860 commandment. It is the starting place from which 00:10:42.860 --> 00:10:45.100 you understand marriage and from which you understand 00:10:45.100 --> 00:10:48.679 sexual experience. And you must start with the 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:53.580 idea that it is God's idea. And because it is 00:10:53.580 --> 00:10:58.279 God's idea, It is therefore good. We must start 00:10:58.279 --> 00:11:00.500 with the goodness of it, the beauty of it, the 00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:05.559 gift of it. More than this actually, within the 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:07.820 context of this union of husband and wife, and 00:11:07.820 --> 00:11:09.519 they're physically holding fast to one another, 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:12.659 naked and unashamed, it is actually how God's 00:11:12.659 --> 00:11:15.320 mission in the world through them goes forward. 00:11:16.620 --> 00:11:18.759 You cannot have a fruitful and multiply unless 00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:23.240 you have a husband and a wife procreating. It's 00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:26.379 how God made the world. It cannot happen outside 00:11:26.379 --> 00:11:30.919 of that. God designed sex between a committed 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:33.200 husband and a committed wife to be the means 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:36.600 of his fruitfulness and multiplying happening. 00:11:38.460 --> 00:11:41.960 Okay. Beauty and good because God made it. He 00:11:41.960 --> 00:11:44.919 doesn't make bad things. Beauty and good because 00:11:44.919 --> 00:11:47.419 procreation was actually part of his mission 00:11:47.419 --> 00:11:52.350 from the very, very beginning. Which is to say 00:11:52.350 --> 00:11:55.870 that God is not a cosmic prude kind of going 00:11:55.870 --> 00:12:01.769 what are they doing? When they are clinging to 00:12:01.769 --> 00:12:05.409 one another and they're bound together Marriage 00:12:05.409 --> 00:12:07.370 is the sort of union from which children can 00:12:07.370 --> 00:12:10.090 be conceived and sexual intercourse is meant 00:12:10.090 --> 00:12:15.539 for that But it also does not follow that sex 00:12:15.539 --> 00:12:18.039 in the Bible, as the traditional Roman Catholic 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:21.220 position has taught, is simply a utilitarian 00:12:21.220 --> 00:12:23.139 thing, meaning it's just for procreation. It's 00:12:23.139 --> 00:12:26.460 for just an end, a utilitarian end. One of the 00:12:26.460 --> 00:12:27.860 things that you find in the Bible is that it's 00:12:27.860 --> 00:12:30.620 also not just for procreation, but it's for pleasure. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:35.320 Which is why we have an entire book called The 00:12:35.320 --> 00:12:36.620 Song of Songs. I said this sermon's a little 00:12:36.620 --> 00:12:38.159 bit long just because I'm going to read it. I'm 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:40.940 not going to read all of it. But it does begin 00:12:40.940 --> 00:12:44.159 this way. let him kiss me with the kisses of 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:48.700 his mouth for your love is better than wine draw 00:12:48.700 --> 00:12:52.820 me after you let us run the king has brought 00:12:52.820 --> 00:12:55.480 me into his chambers let me skip ahead chapter 00:12:55.480 --> 00:12:59.179 4 verses 10 and 11 how beautiful is your love 00:12:59.179 --> 00:13:02.100 my sister my bride how much better is your love 00:13:02.100 --> 00:13:05.200 than wine and the fragrance of your oils than 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:11.179 any spice Your lips drip nectar my bride honey 00:13:11.179 --> 00:13:14.220 and milk are under your tongue and for those 00:13:14.220 --> 00:13:16.860 of you who know the book I'm going to skip over 00:13:16.860 --> 00:13:19.019 the parts that will make you redder than you 00:13:19.019 --> 00:13:24.820 are This is breathed out for us the theological 00:13:24.820 --> 00:13:31.519 word is inspired by the Holy Spirit The Bible 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:35.139 God's Word is certainly never pornographic but 00:13:35.139 --> 00:13:40.259 it is unashamedly erotic at times. And it may 00:13:40.259 --> 00:13:43.240 embarrass us because often we may be more prudish 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:49.000 than the Lord himself. So sex is beautiful because 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:51.220 it's the mean by which God intends his mission 00:13:51.220 --> 00:13:53.820 to go forth in procreation. It's also beautiful 00:13:53.820 --> 00:13:56.559 because he has made it pleasurable. But also 00:13:56.559 --> 00:13:57.980 I want to suggest to you that it's beautiful 00:13:57.980 --> 00:14:00.720 because he has also designed it to be a picture 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:05.049 actually of his love for us. And that the union 00:14:05.049 --> 00:14:07.409 of husband and wife, particularly in the context 00:14:07.409 --> 00:14:12.090 of a healthy clinging and oneness spiritually, 00:14:12.769 --> 00:14:16.590 spiritually, mentally, physically, entirely naked, 00:14:16.789 --> 00:14:21.169 unashamed is to actually be a sign point post 00:14:21.169 --> 00:14:25.250 and a picture for us of God, our life with Him, 00:14:25.289 --> 00:14:27.850 our life, what will be with Him when we are fully 00:14:27.850 --> 00:14:31.490 united to Him. He is the great groom and His 00:14:31.490 --> 00:14:35.000 church is the bride. And the New Heavens and 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:37.100 the New Earth are described as the marriage supper 00:14:37.100 --> 00:14:40.600 of the Lamb welcoming us into consummate life 00:14:40.600 --> 00:14:46.919 with God. Sex is for fully and permanently committed 00:14:46.919 --> 00:14:51.440 relationships that are a blend of affection and 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:56.879 loyalty and biology and joy and all of that bound 00:14:56.879 --> 00:15:04.190 up together. A marital oneness. But that in the 00:15:04.190 --> 00:15:07.409 Bible is preparing us. That's part of why Paul 00:15:07.409 --> 00:15:09.509 in the end of chapter five of Ephesians says 00:15:09.509 --> 00:15:12.029 it's a great mystery when he's talking about 00:15:12.029 --> 00:15:13.850 the husband and wife, but he then says, but I'm 00:15:13.850 --> 00:15:18.690 talking about Christ in the church. So there's 00:15:18.690 --> 00:15:21.629 a mystery to which it points. C .S. Lewis says 00:15:21.629 --> 00:15:25.970 that it is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily 00:15:25.970 --> 00:15:29.820 united in an ecstasy of love and delight. Compared 00:15:29.820 --> 00:15:32.200 with which the most rapturous love between a 00:15:32.200 --> 00:15:34.600 man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and 00:15:34.600 --> 00:15:38.639 water Just say it's nothing compared to the oneness 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:41.820 that we will have The consummation of all things 00:15:41.820 --> 00:15:46.480 with our Lord, but it is a picture of it So first 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:50.659 we have to start with beauty and design and procreation 00:15:50.659 --> 00:15:53.259 and pleasure and picture and we have to start 00:15:53.259 --> 00:15:56.379 with the idea that God is not a prude and We 00:15:56.379 --> 00:16:01.490 should not be either But if we go to these things, 00:16:01.509 --> 00:16:03.710 we have to go to the other side of it, right? 00:16:04.309 --> 00:16:07.389 Because there is a good reason for this command. 00:16:08.149 --> 00:16:11.970 It's a good reason for this command. Because 00:16:11.970 --> 00:16:14.169 for all the beauty that we see, we also see a 00:16:14.169 --> 00:16:19.929 lot of brokenness. We have to see that God loves 00:16:19.929 --> 00:16:22.590 it so much that he builds it into how his mission 00:16:22.590 --> 00:16:27.879 works in the world. but we cannot sort of push 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:30.340 aside the ways that it is so entirely destructive 00:16:30.340 --> 00:16:34.620 at the same time. So I began this morning with 00:16:34.620 --> 00:16:37.000 this idea that God alone creates and that when 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:40.580 God creates, He creates good. And that all sin, 00:16:40.700 --> 00:16:44.659 all sin is only always a distortion of the good. 00:16:46.220 --> 00:16:48.080 The world and the flesh and the devil can only 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:50.980 take and twist and distort. So we have to start 00:16:50.980 --> 00:16:54.159 with goodness. But here's the reality, Matthew 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:59.139 19, 3 to 9. So the Pharisees come up to him, 00:16:59.139 --> 00:17:03.200 Jesus, and tested him by asking, is it lawful 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:07.960 to divorce one's wife for any cause? He answered, 00:17:08.059 --> 00:17:10.420 have you not read that he who created them from 00:17:10.420 --> 00:17:14.599 the beginning created them male and female and 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:16.359 said, therefore a man shall leave his father 00:17:16.359 --> 00:17:17.960 and mother and hold fast his wife and the two 00:17:17.960 --> 00:17:20.980 should become one flesh. And this is Jesus. So 00:17:20.980 --> 00:17:25.960 they are no longer two flesh, but one. There 00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:28.960 is a union that takes place in this marital reality 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:32.200 of husband and wife that they are one flesh. 00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:37.099 And so he says then, what you've often heard 00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:39.740 in weddings, what therefore God has joined together, 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:45.480 let not man separate. Which is another way of 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:48.480 saying don't commit adultery. Don't be unfaithful 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:53.210 in your physical relationships. They said to 00:17:53.210 --> 00:17:55.730 him, why then did Moses command one to give a 00:17:55.730 --> 00:17:58.109 certificate of divorce and to send her away? 00:17:58.670 --> 00:18:00.789 Let's argue about the Bible here, right? And 00:18:00.789 --> 00:18:03.170 he said to them, because of your heart, because 00:18:03.170 --> 00:18:05.349 of your hardness of heart, Moses allowed you 00:18:05.349 --> 00:18:07.450 to divorce your wives. But from the beginning, 00:18:07.470 --> 00:18:09.210 it was not so. Here's part of what I'm saying. 00:18:09.609 --> 00:18:12.950 Jesus grounds sexual and marital ethics in creation. 00:18:13.829 --> 00:18:16.930 That's what Jesus does. He says if you're supposed 00:18:16.930 --> 00:18:19.670 to have a picture of what God intends for the 00:18:19.670 --> 00:18:21.490 world in terms of our marital and sexual ethics 00:18:21.490 --> 00:18:25.829 You have to go to the beginning Okay But what's 00:18:25.829 --> 00:18:27.710 also interesting is he does then go on to say 00:18:27.710 --> 00:18:30.170 and I say to you whoever divorces his wife except 00:18:30.170 --> 00:18:33.029 for sexual Immorality and marries another commits 00:18:33.029 --> 00:18:36.190 adultery, which she says sexual morality can 00:18:36.190 --> 00:18:39.910 have such a great breaking effect in the world 00:18:39.910 --> 00:18:44.890 That what is intended which is oneness Complete 00:18:44.890 --> 00:18:49.569 oneness can be broken and broken, allowed to 00:18:49.569 --> 00:18:52.190 be broken. You can seek divorce in this context 00:18:52.190 --> 00:19:01.170 because it can be so utterly destructive. It 00:19:01.170 --> 00:19:08.309 can be so breaking. I read this week of the session 00:19:08.309 --> 00:19:11.289 minutes. from the Church of the Great Scottish 00:19:11.289 --> 00:19:13.329 Presbyterian Pastor of the 18th century, John 00:19:13.329 --> 00:19:18.829 Witherspoon. Session records are like elder board 00:19:18.829 --> 00:19:21.630 minutes in the Presbyterian tradition. Okay. 00:19:22.690 --> 00:19:25.450 And what's interesting, what I read is that almost 00:19:25.450 --> 00:19:29.329 all of them are devoted to issues of sex and 00:19:29.329 --> 00:19:35.329 marriage. 18th century Scotland. I also read 00:19:35.329 --> 00:19:37.630 that there's a book that was published not too 00:19:37.630 --> 00:19:40.950 long ago that just analyzes the consistory meetings 00:19:40.950 --> 00:19:45.390 in Geneva under John Calvin. So I think mid 16th 00:19:45.390 --> 00:19:47.390 century consistory meetings being a similar thing 00:19:47.390 --> 00:19:49.690 to session records, different word for the more 00:19:49.690 --> 00:19:54.730 or less the same thing. So those are from 1542 00:19:54.730 --> 00:20:00.359 to 1906. Those are six and a half decades. 1572 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:04.539 disciplinary cases involving men, 777 involving 00:20:04.539 --> 00:20:09.839 women who were suspended for marital abuses, 00:20:11.660 --> 00:20:14.720 marital difficulties and mistreatments sexually. 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:22.039 636 men and 538 women were suspended for fornication, 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:24.420 sexual activity outside of marriage. Why am I 00:20:24.420 --> 00:20:30.180 sharing this with you, right? Whether it's 18th 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:34.880 century Scotland or 16th century, you know, modern 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:37.059 day Switzerland, I think 16th century France 00:20:37.059 --> 00:20:42.140 at the time, in Geneva or 21st century Harrisburg, 00:20:42.900 --> 00:20:44.880 our sexual lives can be something that is a gift 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:48.200 and something that can break. Break families, 00:20:48.460 --> 00:20:52.140 break marriages, break communities. We know this. 00:20:55.720 --> 00:20:59.740 Sexual. Sexual activity improperly done which 00:20:59.740 --> 00:21:01.819 by the way can be between improperly done can 00:21:01.819 --> 00:21:05.180 be between a married husband wife It's a lot 00:21:05.180 --> 00:21:07.240 unfortunately much more of that than we could 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:11.140 admit can wreak havoc on a family can wreak havoc 00:21:11.140 --> 00:21:16.119 in churches Can wreak havoc in society? Societies, 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:18.700 of course, can only continue if they reproduce, 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:21.779 but that reproduction we know is best done in 00:21:21.779 --> 00:21:23.859 certain settings where there is an actual oneness, 00:21:23.980 --> 00:21:26.119 where there is a love and a commitment and a 00:21:26.119 --> 00:21:30.000 binding together of the husband and the wife. 00:21:30.980 --> 00:21:33.180 It's not just about reproducing, but reproducing 00:21:33.180 --> 00:21:36.880 with parents who love and care for and tend to 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:39.339 because they love and care and tend to one another. 00:21:44.580 --> 00:21:47.940 Casual sex that does not have the pledged fidelity 00:21:47.940 --> 00:21:52.380 of marriage. Man is not really loving the woman 00:21:52.380 --> 00:21:56.200 in that way. There's a using and an abusing, 00:21:57.299 --> 00:22:03.839 and we know it. I said last week that when Jesus 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:06.019 says that if we harbor anger against our brother 00:22:06.019 --> 00:22:10.019 or call him fool, that we're told that we break 00:22:10.019 --> 00:22:14.420 the sixth commandment. Thou shalt not murder 00:22:14.420 --> 00:22:18.779 right? Jesus then we heard this he goes on to 00:22:18.779 --> 00:22:21.220 talk about how if we look at somebody in lust 00:22:21.220 --> 00:22:27.160 with lustful intent We commit adultery which 00:22:27.160 --> 00:22:30.069 is to say that The actual act of intercourse 00:22:30.069 --> 00:22:32.390 is not the only way to commit adultery, right? 00:22:32.750 --> 00:22:34.309 And this is a principle. It's actually a very, 00:22:34.309 --> 00:22:37.230 very important principle. So this is an important 00:22:37.230 --> 00:22:38.609 principle when you come to the Ten Commandments. 00:22:38.849 --> 00:22:40.950 The rule for the Ten Commandments are that they 00:22:40.950 --> 00:22:47.410 are typically the most extreme example of every 00:22:47.410 --> 00:22:50.049 kind of sin that kind of falls under that category, 00:22:50.049 --> 00:22:54.069 which is that they include all of the lesser 00:22:54.069 --> 00:22:58.339 things that are going on in them, right? Let 00:22:58.339 --> 00:23:01.500 me put it this way. We all know that most adulterous 00:23:01.500 --> 00:23:08.259 situations do not begin in the bedroom. They 00:23:08.259 --> 00:23:10.880 begin by finding that that other person connects 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:13.059 with your emotions in a way that your spouse 00:23:13.059 --> 00:23:16.140 somehow doesn't or doesn't care to and you start 00:23:16.140 --> 00:23:18.660 to talk to them more and more and you start to 00:23:18.660 --> 00:23:20.779 confide in them more and more and they become 00:23:20.779 --> 00:23:23.500 a surrogate spouse emotionally and that leads 00:23:23.500 --> 00:23:27.180 to something else. We know this. They start with 00:23:27.180 --> 00:23:32.700 noticing, with flirting. They start on computer 00:23:32.700 --> 00:23:39.140 screens and in chat rooms and in offices. I just 00:23:39.140 --> 00:23:41.720 heard recently of a church in our denomination 00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:45.220 who a number of years ago, the minister had a 00:23:45.220 --> 00:23:48.640 four -year adulterous relationship with one of 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:51.660 the elder's spouses who was the woman's ministry 00:23:51.660 --> 00:23:54.599 director. Four years before anyone found out. 00:23:54.619 --> 00:23:57.579 We know it's not just that, there's so much else 00:23:57.579 --> 00:24:03.079 that is comprised in that kind of thing. The 00:24:03.079 --> 00:24:05.940 Bible can speak of pornea, which includes pornography, 00:24:06.859 --> 00:24:09.519 of fornication and incest and pedophilia and 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:12.579 homosexual practice and bestiality and sexual 00:24:12.579 --> 00:24:16.779 violence and adultery because they're all little 00:24:16.779 --> 00:24:20.279 twists on the idea of creation. right there in 00:24:20.279 --> 00:24:22.660 Genesis one and Genesis two that Jesus points 00:24:22.660 --> 00:24:26.440 back to in Matthew chapter 19. All of them are 00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:32.119 subsumed under this command. My point is that 00:24:32.119 --> 00:24:35.160 we twist, we distort this good thing that God 00:24:35.160 --> 00:24:38.720 has given to us for pleasure, for our pleasure 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:41.539 and for our good, because that is what we do 00:24:41.539 --> 00:24:44.920 with our sinful hearts. We take the beauty of 00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:47.140 what God has given us and we break it and we 00:24:47.140 --> 00:24:50.869 all do is what Jesus says. Jesus doesn't let 00:24:50.869 --> 00:24:57.210 any of us off the hook, not one of us. And of 00:24:57.210 --> 00:24:59.349 course, this is actually why so many Christians 00:24:59.349 --> 00:25:01.369 prior to the Protestant Reformation thought of 00:25:01.369 --> 00:25:04.289 sex, even within marriage, as a necessary evil. 00:25:06.210 --> 00:25:09.130 Why is because there's so many perversions of 00:25:09.130 --> 00:25:12.650 it. There's so many ways that we've twisted it, 00:25:13.029 --> 00:25:16.410 distorted it. So Tertullian, the early church 00:25:16.410 --> 00:25:19.529 father writing in the third century, regarded 00:25:19.529 --> 00:25:23.730 the extinction of the human race preferable to 00:25:23.730 --> 00:25:27.789 procreation. Because it's so broken, he said 00:25:27.789 --> 00:25:31.750 there's no right place for it. We might as well 00:25:31.750 --> 00:25:40.210 go extinct. Ambrose, famous church father in 00:25:40.210 --> 00:25:42.829 Milan in the 4th century said that married couples 00:25:42.829 --> 00:25:46.069 ought to be ashamed of their sexuality. Married 00:25:46.069 --> 00:25:49.930 couples. And Augustine admitted that while intercourse 00:25:49.930 --> 00:25:53.089 may be lawful, sexual passion is always sinful. 00:25:54.089 --> 00:25:56.869 Great saying, Augustine. And so maybe you know 00:25:56.869 --> 00:26:00.089 this, but the church actually began to, through 00:26:00.089 --> 00:26:02.690 time, say that certain holy days, couples, married 00:26:02.690 --> 00:26:05.150 couples would have to abstain. And by the time 00:26:05.150 --> 00:26:07.109 of Martin Luther, that number of days was up 00:26:07.109 --> 00:26:17.190 to 183, which is a half. As silly as all that 00:26:17.190 --> 00:26:21.710 sounds, we know, we know in our own lives, in 00:26:21.710 --> 00:26:24.630 our own hearts, in our own eyes, in our own minds, 00:26:24.670 --> 00:26:29.650 and sometimes our own actions, how it can be 00:26:29.650 --> 00:26:34.869 that sex in the wrong place, a glancing eye that 00:26:34.869 --> 00:26:39.329 sits upon the subject of your desire, an addicted 00:26:39.329 --> 00:26:43.200 screen. emotional affair, there have been plenty 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:45.480 of those that have been non -physical contact 00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:48.819 that have wrecked havoc on people's lives. We 00:26:48.819 --> 00:26:50.839 know how utterly destructive every single one 00:26:50.839 --> 00:26:55.220 of those things can be. We may laugh off the 00:26:55.220 --> 00:26:57.019 idea of what some of these early Church Fathers 00:26:57.019 --> 00:26:58.859 said, but we know how destructive these things 00:26:58.859 --> 00:27:04.500 are. We may want to dismiss this old prudishness. 00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:09.500 We may want to show them all the song of songs. 00:27:11.710 --> 00:27:14.029 But we know how hurtful these things are. We 00:27:14.029 --> 00:27:17.210 know how destructive they can be. So what do 00:27:17.210 --> 00:27:19.930 we do with it? What do we do with this reality 00:27:19.930 --> 00:27:22.470 of the beautiful gift that God has given us that 00:27:22.470 --> 00:27:26.390 we have twisted and distorted and it becomes 00:27:26.390 --> 00:27:29.490 something that is so broken and it touches all 00:27:29.490 --> 00:27:34.230 of us. What do we do? I want to tell you something 00:27:34.230 --> 00:27:38.359 that seems very simple. But I want you to look 00:27:38.359 --> 00:27:40.480 to the Word of God and I want you to look to 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:45.019 the Word of God written and embodied, okay? And 00:27:45.019 --> 00:27:46.900 as you look to the Word of God written and embodied, 00:27:47.019 --> 00:27:51.740 I have two words for you, okay? And these words 00:27:51.740 --> 00:27:54.319 are for us who are tempted and who are wayward 00:27:54.319 --> 00:27:57.700 and who are heartbroken and are filled with shame 00:27:57.700 --> 00:28:01.920 But the first one and this is for all of us the 00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:04.940 first word I have for you and for me is listen 00:28:05.559 --> 00:28:09.579 Listen to the word written. You who are married, 00:28:10.200 --> 00:28:12.819 listen to some of the stuff that it calls you 00:28:12.819 --> 00:28:14.819 to in terms of loving each other, being united 00:28:14.819 --> 00:28:18.059 in one flesh, being naked and unashamed, emotionally, 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:21.799 mentally, physically, pressed into all of it. 00:28:24.099 --> 00:28:26.640 But also for all of us, let's give our attention 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:28.980 to the words of scripture as it calls us to be 00:28:28.980 --> 00:28:33.079 vigilant. I mean, listen to some of the words 00:28:33.079 --> 00:28:38.019 that the Bible uses. on this subject. But sexual 00:28:38.019 --> 00:28:40.380 immorality, this is Ephesians 5 verses 3 and 00:28:40.380 --> 00:28:44.200 4, but sexual immorality and all impurity and 00:28:44.200 --> 00:28:49.039 covetousness must not even be named among you. 00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:55.400 Not even be named among us? It's kind of intense. 00:28:56.960 --> 00:28:58.940 Says, as is proper among the saints, let there 00:28:58.940 --> 00:29:02.599 be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking 00:29:02.599 --> 00:29:08.349 among you. So let's listen vigilantly to that. 00:29:08.569 --> 00:29:10.009 1 Corinthians 6, we actually heard this. I want 00:29:10.009 --> 00:29:14.329 you to hear it again, because it says this. Flee. 00:29:15.829 --> 00:29:19.670 Flee from sexual morality. Every other sin in 00:29:19.670 --> 00:29:21.430 a person commits is outside of his body, but 00:29:21.430 --> 00:29:23.069 the sexually immoral person sins against his 00:29:23.069 --> 00:29:26.329 own body. So the Bible does seem to say there 00:29:26.329 --> 00:29:29.230 is a dynamic at play in some of this that is 00:29:29.230 --> 00:29:33.309 so destructive to your own self that you must 00:29:33.309 --> 00:29:37.970 flee it. Or again, listen to the gospel reading 00:29:37.970 --> 00:29:40.609 today. You've heard that it was said, you shall 00:29:40.609 --> 00:29:42.650 not commit adultery. But I say to you, this is 00:29:42.650 --> 00:29:45.630 the words of our Lord Jesus himself upon which 00:29:45.630 --> 00:29:48.950 the church is built. But I say to you that everyone 00:29:48.950 --> 00:29:50.789 who looks at a woman with lustful intent has 00:29:50.789 --> 00:29:52.730 already committed adultery with her in his heart. 00:29:53.630 --> 00:29:57.349 And he goes on, if you're right, I caused you 00:29:57.349 --> 00:30:06.380 to sin. Does it say close it? It says tear it 00:30:06.380 --> 00:30:11.380 out. Tear it out and throw it away, for it's 00:30:11.380 --> 00:30:13.299 better that you lose one of your members than 00:30:13.299 --> 00:30:15.960 your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your 00:30:15.960 --> 00:30:17.940 right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and 00:30:17.940 --> 00:30:19.740 throw it away, for it's better that you lose 00:30:19.740 --> 00:30:21.660 one of your members and that your whole body 00:30:21.660 --> 00:30:26.420 go to hell. I mean, do you think Jesus wants 00:30:26.420 --> 00:30:32.079 us to listen to him? He absolutely does. He is 00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:35.849 not always talking like that. That's not the 00:30:35.849 --> 00:30:39.210 normal sort of way that our Lord talks about 00:30:39.210 --> 00:30:45.950 things He's saying listen to me Do not neglect 00:30:45.950 --> 00:30:52.390 this command Listen and be vigilant I Want to 00:30:52.390 --> 00:30:56.170 get to the second Well, let me tell you a little 00:30:56.170 --> 00:30:57.670 bit of this. Let me tell you a quick story. Okay, 00:30:57.710 --> 00:30:59.809 so this week I was at the Army War College. I 00:30:59.809 --> 00:31:04.619 was actually invited really I was I felt very 00:31:04.619 --> 00:31:09.940 honored to be invited to the 71st National Security 00:31:09.940 --> 00:31:11.500 Seminar. The Army War College has been doing 00:31:11.500 --> 00:31:13.380 this for 71 years, and they invite about 100 00:31:13.380 --> 00:31:15.599 leaders, community leaders from across the country 00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:18.180 to participate in this seminar all week. And 00:31:18.180 --> 00:31:21.940 they have 75 nations represented. They send their 00:31:21.940 --> 00:31:25.839 best single sort of colonel to this thing. And 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:28.740 this is like a program where any Army person 00:31:28.740 --> 00:31:30.660 who's going to be colonel or above has to attend 00:31:30.660 --> 00:31:33.170 this sort of. Program at the Army War College 00:31:33.170 --> 00:31:35.730 and I was invited to be a part of this this week 00:31:35.730 --> 00:31:38.930 and we heard from three four -star generals this 00:31:38.930 --> 00:31:41.829 week okay, so like the commanding general over 00:31:41.829 --> 00:31:43.569 Europe and Africa the commanding general over 00:31:43.569 --> 00:31:46.329 the Western Hemisphere and then General Ron Clark 00:31:46.329 --> 00:31:48.069 who was the commanding who is the commanding 00:31:48.069 --> 00:31:50.029 general over the Pacific? So he's over the army 00:31:50.029 --> 00:31:52.509 from Alaska to Australia's of South Korea and 00:31:52.509 --> 00:31:55.369 Guam and Hawaii and Japan and all that right 00:31:55.369 --> 00:32:00.559 and he's a phenomenal speaker and He told this 00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:02.579 story and I tried to look it up. I took some 00:32:02.579 --> 00:32:04.099 notes, but I didn't take them detailed now. So 00:32:04.099 --> 00:32:06.000 I tried to look it up for you. But he told this 00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:09.700 story of how on December 7th, 1941 right there 00:32:09.700 --> 00:32:13.319 on Oahu, there were these two watchmen who were 00:32:13.319 --> 00:32:19.180 watching for these 12 cargo ships. U .S. military 00:32:19.180 --> 00:32:20.460 cargo ships that were supposed to be coming and 00:32:20.460 --> 00:32:21.500 they were supposed to be telling people, oh, 00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:24.200 yeah, they're on the way. And so there's these 00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:26.200 two guys and they're up watching out for these 00:32:26.200 --> 00:32:29.960 two cargo or 12 cargo ships and they They see 00:32:29.960 --> 00:32:36.079 and they hear 183 other, sorry, not ships, airplanes. 00:32:37.019 --> 00:32:41.559 Airplanes, not 12, but 183 buzz by them and they 00:32:41.559 --> 00:32:49.680 go, huh. I guess that's the cargo ships. Of course, 00:32:49.859 --> 00:32:52.819 General Clark says, I don't know how you mistake 00:32:52.819 --> 00:32:57.200 12 cargo ships, U .S. military planes for 183. 00:32:58.089 --> 00:33:01.730 Japanese fighters, but they weren't vigilant. 00:33:02.910 --> 00:33:05.710 They weren't listening attentively. If they were, 00:33:05.750 --> 00:33:09.230 they could hear, let alone see the noise difference. 00:33:11.390 --> 00:33:15.730 And we all know the outcome. So first I'm just 00:33:15.730 --> 00:33:20.250 saying, listen to the Word of God, please. Be 00:33:20.250 --> 00:33:25.400 vigilant. Don't dismiss this. There's another 00:33:25.400 --> 00:33:30.460 word and so One things I said is is one of the 00:33:30.460 --> 00:33:32.180 one of the words that's towards the Word of God 00:33:32.180 --> 00:33:33.839 as it's written the other one I want you to see 00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:36.299 is the Word of God as it's incarnate in Jesus 00:33:36.299 --> 00:33:46.359 and That word is receive the words love The wonderful 00:33:46.359 --> 00:33:49.960 the wonder of the Christian faith and this is 00:33:49.960 --> 00:33:52.440 said from the beginning of the Bible to the end 00:33:52.440 --> 00:34:03.470 of the Bible is that God loves adulterers. There 00:34:03.470 --> 00:34:05.990 is no sin that you have committed that is outside 00:34:05.990 --> 00:34:10.769 of the possibility of God's grace. I know we 00:34:10.769 --> 00:34:13.150 can just sit in our sin. We can be, and our world 00:34:13.150 --> 00:34:15.630 does say you were defined by your sexuality, 00:34:16.090 --> 00:34:19.250 but often we also define ourselves by our sexual 00:34:19.250 --> 00:34:24.300 sins, right? And the Lord says, no, receive my 00:34:24.300 --> 00:34:29.139 love. It's not the way of Jesus to be defined 00:34:29.139 --> 00:34:33.139 by your sexual sin. It's not. He invites you 00:34:33.139 --> 00:34:39.340 to be defined by his love for you. When we define 00:34:39.340 --> 00:34:41.780 ourselves by our sin, we often feel so we're 00:34:41.780 --> 00:34:45.579 outside of the possibility of God's grace. And 00:34:45.579 --> 00:34:47.039 one of the things that the Bible says over and 00:34:47.039 --> 00:34:48.780 over, and actually there is an entire Old Testament 00:34:48.780 --> 00:34:53.190 book devoted to it. is that God pursues the adulterer. 00:34:56.329 --> 00:34:58.570 So let me leave you with this illustration. I 00:34:58.570 --> 00:35:03.090 grew up largely in the purity culture of 1990s 00:35:03.090 --> 00:35:08.210 American evangelicalism. And so I heard an illustration 00:35:08.210 --> 00:35:10.570 a number of times in my imagine you did too. 00:35:11.610 --> 00:35:13.769 Probably you've heard this illustration before, 00:35:14.150 --> 00:35:16.449 particularly if you're around my age. So the 00:35:16.449 --> 00:35:19.199 speaker's talking about being faithful with your 00:35:19.199 --> 00:35:21.159 bodies and sex and stuff like that. And he begins, 00:35:21.239 --> 00:35:23.579 of course, holding up this red rose and he passes 00:35:23.579 --> 00:35:25.260 it out. You know, I gave it to Will and he looks 00:35:25.260 --> 00:35:27.000 at it and he goes down, he goes down, he goes 00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:28.440 down. And of course, as you're touching it, it's 00:35:28.440 --> 00:35:30.960 just falling apart, right? Because roses are 00:35:30.960 --> 00:35:34.139 fragile. And at the end, of course, he comes 00:35:34.139 --> 00:35:35.840 back and I go over to Casey and I say, hey, could 00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:37.360 you have this rose for me? And she gives it to 00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:41.219 me and all the petals are off. And one of the 00:35:41.219 --> 00:35:44.980 things that the speaker would say is, do you 00:35:44.980 --> 00:35:48.269 want... To offer your spouse this kind of thing, 00:35:48.349 --> 00:35:50.550 you know, I mean, we're like, I mean, I'm a high 00:35:50.550 --> 00:35:55.230 schooler in the nineties. And of course the answer 00:35:55.230 --> 00:35:57.309 is, I don't want to do that because he says, 00:35:57.309 --> 00:36:04.269 who wants this? Who wants this? What is the right 00:36:04.269 --> 00:36:08.849 answer for Christians? Jesus, somebody said it. 00:36:09.170 --> 00:36:16.909 Jesus is the right answer. He is. It's grace 00:36:16.909 --> 00:36:21.230 for you. It's so expansive. His love is only 00:36:21.230 --> 00:36:25.369 ever for sinners. And what is sin, but it is 00:36:25.369 --> 00:36:29.849 spiritual adultery. Jesus' love is only ever 00:36:29.849 --> 00:36:36.230 for adulterers. And he wants you. And he's the 00:36:36.230 --> 00:36:39.929 faithful one. He's the constant one. He's the 00:36:39.929 --> 00:36:45.070 one whose love never ends, who unites you to 00:36:45.070 --> 00:36:50.059 himself. perfect oneness. He knows you perfectly. 00:36:50.139 --> 00:36:53.980 He loves you ultimately. That is the reality 00:36:53.980 --> 00:36:59.239 of Christ's love. He says, I want that. This 00:36:59.239 --> 00:37:03.059 is the only kind of person he loves. Us who are 00:37:03.059 --> 00:37:09.099 broken, beloved by God. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, 00:37:09.619 --> 00:37:12.699 pray that you guide us in this often what is 00:37:12.699 --> 00:37:15.760 a very hard subject. But I pray that we would 00:37:15.760 --> 00:37:19.320 be those who listen vigilantly and who receive 00:37:19.320 --> 00:37:24.639 love of our group. And I pray that we would cherish 00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:27.960 in its proper place your gifts for us and that 00:37:27.960 --> 00:37:33.179 we would be careful as we distort them so often 00:37:33.179 --> 00:37:36.500 for our own gain, our own pleasure, our own desires, 00:37:36.659 --> 00:37:40.139 our own devices. God, this morning I pray that 00:37:40.139 --> 00:37:43.130 you'd also speak to us. And speak to us your 00:37:43.130 --> 00:37:45.010 grace and your love and lift us up in Christ 00:37:45.010 --> 00:37:46.590 in whose name we pray. Amen.