Proverbs chapter 6.

Scripture Reading

Proverbs chapter 6. I'll read verses 20 to 35. Proverbs chapter six, beginning in verse 20. My son, keep your father's command and do not forsake the law of your mother.

Bind them continually upon your heart. Tie them around your neck. When you roam, they will lead you. When you sleep, they will keep you.

And when you awake, they will speak with you. For the commandment is a lamp and the law a light, reproofs of instruction of the way of life, to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of the seductress. Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids. For by means of a harlot, a man is reduced to a crust of bread, and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.

Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be seared? So is he who goes into his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.

People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold. He may have to give up all the substance of his house. Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding.

He who does so destroys his own soul. Wounds and dishonor he will get, and his reproach will not be wiped away. For jealousy is a husband's fury. Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

He will accept no recompense, nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Opening Prayer

Father in heaven, again, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for the instruction that we have here from Solomon, ultimately from our blessed God. We know this just isn't a collection of quick little sayings, but it is the divine-inspired Word of the living and true God. So give us ears to hear, hearts to receive, and again, forgive us and cleanse us in that precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we pray in His name. Amen. Well,

Introduction

God willing, we'll return to our studies in John's Gospel next Sunday morning, and then our studies in Ephesians next Sunday night. It may seem a bit odd that we're going to take a bit of a detour here in Proverbs 6, 20 to 35. It is basically a warning against adultery. And there's three reasons why we're taking this detour.

First, we were in the neighborhood. We looked at the 6th commandment in some detail this morning, so we'll look at the 7th commandment tonight in a bit of detail. Secondly, when we look at our section that we've worked through recently in Ephesians 5, 22-33, it dealt with the husband and wife relationship. And if you've been married for any amount of time, you'll know that there are difficulties along the way, there are arguments to be dealt with, there are tensions at times, but there is one thing that brings or has the potential to bring irreparable damage, and that is the sin of adultery.

But as well, thirdly, we get some instruction here, at least by way of a pattern, on how Solomon instructed his children. So as we move along in the book of Ephesians, specifically in chapter 6 at verse 4, Paul says, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. So Solomon here serves as a good pattern for parental instruction with reference to our children. So those are the reasons for the detour.

Exhortation of a Father

Now let's investigate what Solomon says here, specifically in chapter 6, at verses 20 to 35. He's already spoken in chapter 5 in the book of Proverbs with reference to the dangers of adultery. And in chapter 7, he highlights the tactics of an adulterous woman. So this wasn't a foreign concept.

This was obviously a real temptation, a real situation against Solomon. Part of the book of Proverbs is his instruction of his sons, those sons that would eventually occupy the throne, those sons that would succeed him and would indeed rule and govern and reign over the nation of Israel. So it was imperative that they have self-control. It was imperative that they manage things effectively.

It was imperative that they didn't end up like he does, ultimately, in 1 Kings 11. And so we see here this exhortation of a father, specifically in verses 20 to 29, And then secondly, the consequences for an adulterer in verses 30 to 35. So note first, with reference to the exhortation of a father, there's two subsections here. First, the necessity of God's law, verses 20 to 24.

And then secondly, the warning against adultery in verses 25 to 29. But notice the necessity of God's law.

Necessity of God's Law

He speaks of its instruction in verses 20 and 21. My son, keep your father's command and do not forsake the law of your mother, bind them continually upon your heart, tie them around your neck. So this emphasis on his sons to not disregard his and their mother's words. In other words, parental instruction is absolutely crucial in the context of a Christian home.

And children are to give heed to that. Listen to Solomon. Keep your father's command. Do not forsake the law of your mother.

Bridges says, God never intended young people to be independent of their parents. Instruction from every quarter is valuable, but from parents, always supposing them to be godly parents, it is the ordinance of God. They will bring you God's word, not their own. So again, a good reminder, a good admonition for us both as parents to give this kind of instruction and for you children to pay heed to this kind of instruction.

Your parents are not trying to lead you astray. They're not trying to take you down a dark path. They're not trying to ruin you or decimate you. Rather, they want your good.

They want good to happen. They want you to know the fear of the Lord. They want you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and once saved by God's grace, go to that law as a pattern for sanctification. The necessity here about binding them continually upon your heart and tying them around your neck.

In other words, I think the idea is do not forsake it. Receive that teaching, clutch on to that teaching, and don't let that teaching go. We need to remember that this teaching is most valuable, it is most excellent, it is most wonderful. Now

Blessing and Protection of the Law

Solomon directs his son to consider the blessing of the law in verses 22 and 23. Notice the blessing, verse 22. When you roam, they will lead you. When you sleep, they will keep you.

And when you awake, they will speak with you. In other words, they are a constant companion. Whether you are up, whether you are in bed, where you are in work, whether you're in school, no matter where you are, that law of God is a constant companion, and it is a most blessed companion for the children of God. And then notice he gives the specific reason in verse 23.

For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light, reproofs of instruction are the way of life. Your word, Psalm 119, 105 says, is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. So Solomon sees the value of God's law. Solomon sees the benefit of God's law.

So Solomon seizes upon the opportunity in the book of Proverbs specifically to instruct his sons in the way that they should go. He's training them up in the way that they should go so that when they're old, they will not depart from it. Solomon is putting into practice what he has preached throughout this book of Proverbs. And again, as far as parents, we ought to take that seriously and see our responsibility to bring up our children in the training and admonition of the Lord.

Now, notice he goes on to highlight the protection that the law affords in a general sense in verse 24. And then this serves as a bridge to deal specifically with Seventh Commandment situations. So notice in verse 24, the benefit of the law, verse 23, the commandment is a lamp, the law is a light, reproofs of instruction are the way of life. And then notice in verse 24, to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a seductress.

Now the emphasis is not on the intrinsic wickedness of all women. He's not suggesting that every single woman out there is dangerous, and you need to fear that. Rather, or not rather, but in addition to that, Solomon is not suggesting that adulterous men are not liable for their actions. He's not saying if all those women would just clean up their act, then every man would be great.

That's not the point. What he is pointing out is the danger of some women falling into this category, and hence he warns his son to be on the lookout, to be on guard, to make sure that he resists that temptation, to make sure that he refuses that particular sin. The existence of that kind of temptation out there calls upon you, son, to be aware, to be alert, to be mindful, to recognize and then to depend upon that law of God that when you roam it leads you, when you sleep it keeps you, and when you wake it will speak with you. Now the background of this admonition or this general principle in verse 24 to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a seductress, is the seventh commandment.

The seventh commandment deals with the sins of the flesh. the sins prohibited by the Seventh Commandment, which are in Exodus 20, 14, and then Deuteronomy 5, 18. That's where the Seventh Commandment is given its voice. But then as we survey the law of God, we notice that the sin of adultery, or the seventh word, encompasses a whole slew of sins of the flesh. I'm just going to read them off.

So adultery, obviously, fornication, incest, rape, sodomy, bestiality, unlawful divorce, immodesty, polygamy, prostitution, and pornography. So there's a lot of things that are behind or applicable with reference to the Seventh Commandment. It's like with the Sixth Commandment, you shall not murder. Obviously that applies to the man bearing the ax in his neighbor's head with malice aforethought.

But it applies to abortion. It applies to maid. It applies to recklessness. It applies to a whole host of things.

It applies to heart problems or heart dispositions. And as we move through the study tonight, we'll notice that that is in view here too. So we've got the seventh commandment, but also the 10th commandment. Notice what he goes on to say in verse 25.

We'll unfold this in a moment. Do not lust after her beauty in your heart. So in other words, Solomon does what Jesus does in Matthew chapter five. He doesn't just externalize the sin.

In so far as you don't go into your neighbor's wife, you've fulfilled the law. No, you're not supposed to engage in heart lust. You're not supposed to engage in that sort of conduct that God forbids or prohibits. Exodus 20, 17, Deuteronomy 5, 21.

We are told very specifically, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And so we've got the external application, the act of these sexual sins, but we've got the internal heart disposition, the lust that fuels those particular sins. So that's the general statement in verse 24. Now

Warning Against Adultery

notice he gives a specific warning against adultery in verses 25 to 29. He gives an admonition, verse 25, and then he gives an argument in verses 26 to 29. Notice the admonition, verse 25, do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids. Jesus says in Matthew 5, 28, but I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

So again, whether you actually engage in the particular activity, if it's in the heart, you need to kill it, you need to resist it, you need to refuse it, you need to be like Joseph in Potiphar's house who runs from that temptation. And so Solomon emphasizes that very thing. C.H. Spurgeon commenting on Matthew 5.

He says, if sin were not allowed in the mind, it would never be made manifest in the body. This, therefore, is a very effectual way of dealing with the evil. Proverbs 4, 23. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. many emphases throughout the book of Proverbs on self-control, self-management.

It's a fruit of the spirit, self-control, according to Paul in Galatians chapter 5. Self-control and self-government go a long way to helping a man navigate in this present evil age. Without self-control, without self-management or government, you are going to be a lawless, reckless rebel against the living and true God. Again, good parental instruction here.

We encourage, we exhort, we command our kids to engage in self-control. They're not allowed to lose their minds. They're not allowed to engage in whatever lawless activity they want to engage in. And then notice, one more quote here from Watson.

He says, as a man may die of an inward bleeding, so he may be damned for the inward boilings of lust if it be not mortified. That's a very powerful statement. When you read the writers, the older writers, they really impact with what they say concerning these particular sins. Again, verse 25, nor let her allure you with her eyelids.

Look over at chapter 7. Chapter 7, I've already mentioned, he gives the tactics of the adulterous woman, and specifically in chapter 7 at verses 10 to 23. And there a woman met him," this is talking about the foolish young man, the simple man devoid of understanding according to verse 7. And then in verse 10 it says, and there a woman met him with the attire of a harlot and a crafty heart.

She was loud and rebellious. Her feet would not stay at home. At times, she was outside. At times, she was in the open square, lurking at every corner.

So she caught him and kissed him. With an impudent face, she said to him, I have peace offerings with me. Today I've paid my vows, so I came out to meet you, diligently to seek your face, and I have found you. I have spread my bed with tapestry, colored coverings of Egyptian linen.

I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until morning. Let us delight ourselves with love. This isn't a prostitute.

I'm going to argue in the next section in Proverbs chapter six. It's not dealing with a prostitute. He's dealing with an adulterous woman. And we see that specifically in verse 19 of chapter seven.

For my husband is not at home. He has gone on a long journey. He has taken a bag of money with him and will come home on the appointed day. Now notice verse 21, with her enticing speech she caused him to yield.

Not her gorgeous looks, though probably she had something going on, but it was her enticing speech. It was the flattering tongue. It was the promise of benefit. It was the promise of good things.

With her flattering lips she seduced him. Immediately he went after her as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, till an arrow struck his liver as a bird hastens to the snare. He did not know it would cost his life. And on the heels of that description of the tactics of the adulterous woman, listen to Solomon in verse 24.

Now therefore listen to me, my children. Pay attention to the words of my mouth. Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not stray into her paths, for she has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men.

Her house is the way to hell, descending to the chambers of death. He's pleading with them. He's exhorting them. He's entreating them.

Give me your heart, son. Don't give your heart to the adulterous woman. And so with reference to the admonition in verse 25 of chapter 6, don't lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids. Now here's his argument in verses 26 to 29.

And just as I mentioned earlier, we need to clarify that he's dealing with an adulterous woman. So verse 26, he says, Now it's a bit of a difficulty in terms of translation, but I think the focus may be on the sin of adultery versus prostitution. Now, Solomon isn't endorsing prostitution any more than he endorses theft in the succeeding passage, but he is rather highlighting or contrasting the difference between prostitution and an adulterous woman. The price of a harlot is a crust of bread, but the price of adultery with a married woman is one's own life.

So when it says in 26a, for by means of a harlot, a man is reduced to a crust of bread and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. Again, he's not suggesting that prostitution is fine. He's rather giving us a comparison. The ESV translates it this way, for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life.

The NIV is similar, for a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread, but another man's wife preys on your very life. It's not gonna just cost you a loaf of bread, it's gonna cost you your everlasting soul. It's not gonna just cost you whatever it costs today for a loaf of bread, it's gonna cost you in succeeding generations. It is going to leave a mark.

It is going to leave a mark upon you in a manner, in a way that prostitution doesn't. And again, just want to make sure I qualify this, this is not an endorsement of prostitution. And then notice the recurring emphasis on the fact that this is indeed an adulterous woman. Notice specifically in verse 26, an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.

And then verse 29, so is he who goes into his neighbor's wife. And then in the references in verses 32 and 34, Aswell demonstrates this. So the bottom line from what Solomon is saying is don't do this, and here's the reason why. It's going to hurt you.

It's going to devastate you. It's going to damage you. This isn't playing around. This isn't flirting.

This isn't something that you can do somewhat innocuously or innocently. This is going to ruin you. It will bring devastation. So again, Ephesians 5, 22 to 33, all of us can testify that there are some difficult patches in a good marriage.

But you're able to work through those difficult patches in a good marriage. It is difficult to work through the sin of adultery. I'm not saying it's an impossibility. I'm not saying that it never has happened.

But I am suggesting that it's a whole lot more different than, hey, dinner wasn't ready at 5.30, or pick up your socks, you lazy beast. The bottom line is, is that Solomon wants his sons to take heed to the reality that if you go into your neighbor's wife, you are dancing with the devil himself. And you need to be alert, you need to be on guard, you need to bind that law around your neck so that you do not depart to the left or to the right. So Solomon is not saying prostitution is acceptable.

He is saying, however, that adultery is a vile and wicked thing. And then notice that he goes on to give the inevitability of punishment for the adulterer. Notice his logic in verse 27. Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned?

Of course not. You can take fire, put it to your bosom and not burn your clothes. Of course it's gonna burn. That's what fire does.

And then notice he goes on to say, can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be seared? Of course he can't. You walk on hot coals and something's going to happen to your feet. There's a chemical reaction involved and you're going to get burned.

It's going to sear. It's going to damage. And then from that, he concludes with the point in verse 29. So is he who goes into his neighbor's wife, whoever touches her shall not be innocent.

So he uses these analogies in the created order, fired the buzzer, walking on hot coals and bare feet, to demonstrate the inevitability that results in a man who commits adultery with an adulterous woman. And then

Consequences for the Adulterer

that brings us to the consequences for an adulterer in verses 30 to 35. He first presents a contrast with the thief, and then he sets forth the consequences for the adulterer.

Contrast With the Thief

Notice the contrast with the thief in verses 30 to 32. People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold. He may have to give up all the substance of his house.

So he's speaking to what would be a truism, a general principle. He doesn't say it's okay to commit theft. He's not endorsing the commission of theft. In fact, he demands sevenfold recompense for the theft that has occurred.

But brethren, face it, if you heard that a man went into Walmart and stole a ham because he was starving to death, you kind of understand the motivation. I mean, you can't condone the theft. You don't endorse the shoplifting. You don't say, well, that's perfectly acceptable because he was hungry.

No, it's an offense. It's criminal. It's wrong. But there's a place where you understand it, right?

Or a poor man goes into Walmart to steal a ham to feed his starving children. Again, we don't endorse it. He has to pay back. He has to deal with the ferryman.

But we understand it. We get it. There's a sense wherein we know the reality involved. People don't despise thieves if they steal in order to feed themselves.

And this does not mean approval, but it means a recognition of the pitiable condition of a man who is forced, or rather feels forced, to go steal in order to provide food for himself and for his children. But the obvious contrast here is that the thief who steals to satisfy himself when he is starving is different than the man who steals his neighbor's wife. not because of any need, not because of any lack, not because of any deprivation, but because of his own godlessness, because of his own wickedness, because of his own wretchedness. So back to verse 20, people do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold.

He may have to give up all the substance of his house. I mean, you do the time or do the crime, you got to do the time. He needs to be reminded of that. Exodus 21 deals with recompense.

Usually it's two to five. The sevenfold here may represent a full payment back. this giving up the substance of his house, he may have to sell himself into indentured servitude. That was a reality in Old Covenant to Israel. If you were caught stealing and you had no money with which to pay it back, you would be a slave or servant to that particular family and you'd work off your debt.

You wouldn't go to jail to pay your fine or your duty to the state. You'd pay back the victim of your crime. It's kind of an interesting phenomena. The Bible is pro-victim. not pro-state, making money off the victim.

And so when it comes to that, he's not saying it's okay. But then notice the contrast with reference to the adulterer, the man who steals his neighbor's wife. Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding. He who does so destroys his own soul.

So it's not the giving up all the substance of his house, it's giving up all the substance of his soul. It's not deprivation in terms of the temporal, it's decimation in terms of the spiritual. It's not just a temporary thing, but it is a long lasting, eternal thing. And so with reference to the adulterer, he lacks understanding.

And then with reference to that contrast, when we read in verse 30, people do not despise a thief, I would suggest when we get to verse 32, it's not stated, but I think we've all felt it. What's the tendency when you hear that somebody cheated on your friend? You despise the cheater. You don't despise the thief who's starving to death and goes into Walmart to bag a ham, but you do when a man goes into your neighbor's wife.

There is that despising, there is that disgust, there is that disdain that occurs in the hearts of most people when they see that most sacred bond, the covenant of marriage, fractured and ripped apart because of a man's lack of self-control. Listen to Gill. He says, the thief lacks bread and therefore steals, but this man lacks wisdom and therefore acts so foolish apart. The one does it to satisfy hunger, the other a brutish lust.

Bridges says, but the sin of the adulterer claims no sympathy. No one's ever sympathetic to the adulterer. Nobody's like, well, I pity you, I understand you, you know, I just want to ache alongside of you for this vicious and vile crime that you've engaged in. That's not what happens.

The sin of the adulterer claims no sympathy. His plea is not the cry of hunger, but of lust. Not want, but wantonness. Not the lack of bread, but of understanding.

And so just as the thief is in fact going to have to give up all the substance of his house, the contrast with verse 32, he who does so destroys his own soul. And then that

Wrath of Man and Wrath of God

brings Solomon to deal with the consequences for the adulterer in verses 33 to 35. He leaves untouched here. the consequences relative to God. He deals with that in Proverbs 5 and Proverbs 7. We've already sort of seen that in Proverbs chapter 7.

For she is cast down, verse 26, many wounded and all who were slain by her were strong men. Her house is the way to hell, descending to the chambers of death." So he certainly deals with the God-word ramifications for the adulterer, but here specifically in verses 33 to 35, he deals with the man-word ramifications. He deals with what you're likely to get, son, when you engage or if you engage in this kind of sinful activity. Now notice he faces the wrath of man, verses 33 to 35.

Wounds and dishonor he will get and his reproach will not be wiped away. What does that mean? Well, verse 34 is gonna explain it. For jealousy is a husband's fury.

That's explanatory of verse 33. Where does this fellow get the wounds and dishonor he gets? He gets it from the husband of the woman who was violated by this godless man. He goes over and he dots his eye.

He goes over and he punches his nose. Now brethren, I'm not advocating, I'm not endorsing, I'm not suggesting that Solomon is giving tacit approval. What Solomon is doing is telling you the way the world is. For the most part, people want to spice these when they steal to satisfy their hunger.

But for the most part, everybody despises an adulterer or an adulteress. He's dealing with adulterer here. Not that women are somehow above this. No, women can be adulteresses and can be, you know, the sorts of people that bring these things on as well.

But Solomon is telling you what is. He's telling you what is, this is the reality. Wounds and dishonor he will get, his reproach will not be wiped away, for jealousy is a husband's fury, therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. So the infliction of wounds and dishonor.

Now, the actual penalty for adultery, according to Leviticus 18 and Deuteronomy chapter 20, and then again in Deuteronomy chapter 22, is capital punishment. So the wounds and dishonor he's getting here, it's not from the civil state. It's not in preparation for the death penalty. We're going to give you a few wounds and dishonor, and then we're going to let you have it in terms of the capital punishment.

No, it's the husband. The husband's furious. The husband's outraged. The husband is insulted.

The husband has been stolen from. And so the husband responds in kind, for jealousy is a husband's fury. Therefore, he will not spare in the day of vengeance. And then it goes on to say in verse 35, he will accept no recompense, nor will he be appeased, though you give him many gifts.

You see what Solomon is saying. It's a much different category than the thief of food who's starving. This is a thief of a man's wife who's not starving, who has no want, who has no lack, who has no deprivation. Rather, it is a man who is driven by and governed by his lusts.

And so Solomon says, if you go down this path, son, you are going to end up in great jeopardy. You are going to be destroyed. If the husband doesn't kill you, the civil state will. And when that happens, you are then in the hands of a thrice holy God.

And the wrath of God relative to sexual sin is spoken of by Solomon. Turn back to Proverbs 5, specifically in verses 21 to 23. For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths. His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, and he is caught in the cords of his sin.

He shall die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray." We've already seen 7, 24 to 27. We've got the teaching of Jesus. Jesus says it's better to cut off your right hand and pluck out your right eye, enter into heaven maimed, than be whole and be in sin. Spurgeon made the observation there, better a blind saint than a quick-sighted sinner.

Or the declaration of the Apostle Paul in Hebrews 13.4, he says, marriage is honorable among all and the bed undefiled, but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. We looked at Revelation 21.8 this morning to see that murderers find their place in the lake of fire. Guess who else finds their place, unrepentant of course, in the lake of fire? There is the sexually immoral.

There are those people who didn't govern their lusts. There are those people who didn't heed the admonition. There are those people that thought, well, you know, this is just a little thing, just flirting a little bit, just lusting a little bit, just looking at a little porn. There's no little porn.

There's no little flirt. There's no little bit of sexual sin that is somehow acceptable. There's no little fornication. There's no little homosexuality.

There's no little bit of these sins that is somehow acceptable to God Most High. If that's the mindset, cast it out. Because the Lord Jesus Christ said, pluck out the eye, cut off the hand. Now, he's speaking metaphorically.

Origen, one of the early church fathers, took him seriously and castrated himself because he didn't want to sin that particular sin. But he is speaking metaphorically. In other words, he's saying, deal radically with this sin. Don't let it bubble up in your heart.

Don't let it rise up. Don't give it vent. Don't give it a little space. Don't treat it like a little kitty cat that you can just set in your lap and pet.

I remember a sermon series on Cain and Abel by Albert N. Martin, and he uses that very illustration. Sinners think that sin is like a little kitty cat. You can just take that little kitty cat right in your lap if you're so inclined.

I'd prefer a puppy, but you take that little kitty cat and you just pat it and stroke it and you enjoy it. He says, that's not sin. Sin is a roaring lion. Sin comes to pounce.

Sin can't be negotiated with. It can't be trafficked in. It can't be bartered with. Just a little bit of harmless flirting, just a little bit of harmless pornography, just a little bit of harmless.

No, it's not harmless. Listen to Solomon. Listen to the word of the living and true God. So the population in the Lake of Fire includes murderers, and it includes sexually immoral people.

Again, we need to make sure we qualify that unrepentant. There's a blessed statement of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6, 9 to 11. I'm going to end the sermon here, but I'll put it right here now. Sexual sin is not the unpardonable sin.

Murder is not the unpardonable sin. When it comes to murder, when it comes to adultery, when it comes to sexual sin of all sort, we know that there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. 1 Corinthians 6, 9 to 11, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. Well, we understand that.

That's the killing aspect of God's holy law. You commit this crime and you will do the time. You will be cut off and excluded from the kingdom of God Most High. But you see, Paul doesn't stop there.

And one of the interesting things about the church at Corinth, what's the city of Corinth? It was the botched and godless, sensual city. There was all kinds of wickedness, all kinds of sins in the flesh. Remember, the apostle had to deal with incest in 1 Corinthians 5.

He had to deal with prostitution in 1 Corinthians 6. Well, why is that? Because the city was flooded with it. These people had come out of that background.

So Paul goes on to say, after underscoring that these people will not inherit the kingdom of God, and then he says, and such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. So there is forgiveness with God in terms of these particular sins. If you're guilty, if I'm guilty, What do we do? We repent, we forsake, we find mercy from God Most High.

The reality is, brethren, is that there is forgiveness in and through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But if we're not repentant, if we're not believing on Jesus, if there's no justification by faith, the consequences relative to the sin of adultery is the wrath of man, and that is outshined ultimately by the wrath of God Most High. Now,

Application

in conclusion, I want to just summarize the wickedness of adultery. The wickedness of adultery. The effect upon the adulterer. The effect upon the adulterer.

It's soul destruction. It's soul damning. Listen again to Solomon. Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding.

He who does so destroys his own soul. Now, between the world and the devil and other remaining corruption that you and I have, we don't need to help it along. We don't need to advance the cause of Satan. We don't need to advance the cause of a fleshly, sensual age in which we live.

We need to resist it. We need to reject it. We need to refuse it. We need to run from it.

Secondly, the effect upon the other party. So here the spotlight is upon the man, but the adulteress is there too. It's an interesting phenomena. You can't commit adultery alone.

You have to have another partner, another person, and that person is married. Fornication is unmarried, persons engaging in that which is reserved for the covenantal context of marriage. But those who are married engage in this particular activity, and there is an effect not only upon the one who initiates, but upon the one who engages with them. Listen to Watson.

He says, the adulterer not only wrongs his own soul, but does what in him lies to destroy the soul of another, and so kills two at once. He is worse than the thief. For suppose a thief robs a man, yea, takes away his life. The man's soul may be happy.

He may go to heaven as well as if he had died in his bed. But he who commits adultery endangers the soul of another and deprives her of salvation so far as in him lies. Now, what a fearful thing it is to be an instrument to draw another to hell. So there's a fact upon you and upon the other person. then Dabney argues that there is an effect upon society as a whole.

And when you look at our day and age, we've got the murder problem, to be sure. I highlighted a few of those particulars this morning. We got a Seventh Commandment problem big time. We've got lots of lacks of self-control.

We've got lots of being governed by glance. We've got lots of unlawfulness. rampant around us. It's pretty commonplace today to hear of even men in public office, men in pulpits, men all over the world that commit adultery or women who commit adultery. Listen to what Dabney says, R.L.

Dabney, he's a Southern Presbyterian. He says, were all to take the license of the adulterer, men would in due time be reduced precisely to the degradation of wild beasts. The sin of the adulterer, therefore, is scarcely less enormous than that of the murderer. The latter, murder, destroys man's temporal existence.

The former, adultery, destroys all that makes existence a boon. It is calculated for devastation. It is calculated for decimation. It is calculated to ruin not only both parties, but how do children and families respond to that?

Now again, God's grace is wonderful. God's grace is glorious. God's grace gets us through things that we never thought we could get through. But the damaging effect upon a family in the wake of an adulterous relationship is horrifying.

It is horrible. Let us listen to Solomon and resist the temptation and refuse it.

Means of Protection

I would suggest, secondly, the means for protection. Good marriages. Good marriages. Our confession gives us three purposes for marriage.

That doesn't mean that that's the authoritative standard. It takes it right out of the Bible. It defines it this way in 25.2. Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife.

It wasn't good that Adam was alone, right? He needed a helper comparable to him. For the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, so procreation, and the preventing of uncleanness. The preventing of uncleanness there means sexual sin.

What's the remedy to sexual sin? It's God-ordained, God-sanctioned, God-approved relations in the covenantal context of marriage. That's his remedy. That's the purpose.

I've joked before that a man, you know, proposing to a girl doesn't want to necessarily say, honey, I want you to be my bride for the prevention of uncleanness. You're probably not going to win her over with your romantic talk, but that's part of it. That's a purpose in it. That's what God has given it, or one of the reasons why God has given it.

And then Solomon has some really good instruction in chapter 5 in terms of a good marriage, such that you will not be prone to wander, prone to stray. And now, brethren, it takes both parties here. Paul speaks very clearly in 1 Corinthians 7 that a man has authority over his wife's body and a wife has authority over a man's body. Again, covenantal context of marriage, not every man over every woman or every woman over every man.

But in the covenantal context of marriage, Paul says the man has authority, the woman has authority. What's his point? Don't deprive one another. Don't do that.

You're creating a powder keg. Might as well just throw a match on it right now. Don't do that. The only time, the only season that you would deprive one another is to come apart for prayer and fasting.

But even that doesn't need to be 40 days. You need to return to the God-given ordinance of marriage or the aspect of marriage that is a prevention of uncleanness. So notice Solomon in chapter five. He wants, well, let's just read verse one.

My son, pay attention to my wisdom, lend your ear to my understanding, that you may preserve discretion and your lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey and her mouth is smoother than oil. But in the end, she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword, her feet go down to death, her steps lay hold of hell, lest you ponder her path of life, her ways are unstable, you do not know that. Isn't it amazing that people will hear that and will just run headlong into it?

They're simple. It's folly. It's wrong. You need to pay attention.

You need to see what's at stake here. Verse seven, therefore, hear me now, my children, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. And then he gives three R's here, I think, for sexual purity. The first R is verse eight, remove your way far from her and do not go near the door of her house.

Right? Removal. Don't click that button. Don't go near that door.

Don't go down that road. Take steps necessary to resist the potential temptation. This isn't legalism, brethren. This isn't do this and you'll live.

No, justified by grace alone through faith alone, Christian believers should want to imbibe a pursuit of holiness. And so thus, we take those steps necessary for not, you know, literally cutting off hands and gouging out eyes. We can alter our schedule a little bit so that we're not in a precarious position. So remove your way far from her and do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your honor to others and your years to the cruel one.

So the first R toward sexual purity is remove. The second R is verse 18. This jives with 1 Corinthians 7. Look at verse 18.

This is rejoice. Rejoice! Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of your youth. What's a good means for the avoidance or prevention of uncleanness?

It's to obey the apostle in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. It's to obey the apostle in Hebrews chapter 13. The marriage bed is undefiled. It's not wicked, it's not dirty, it's not icky.

That's the place, the covenantal context for these relations. And so God doesn't look down, no, God made Adam, He made Eve, He brought Eve to Adam. Guess what they most likely were engaged in or were going to do at some point when they figured everything out? God is not anti.

God is anti outside of covenant marriage. He's not anti within covenant marriage. If you've got a prudish bent to you, or you've got this, well, it's kind of icky, you need to take your mind to Proverbs chapter 5, verse 18, and Hebrews chapter 13, and verse 4, and 1 Corinthians chapter 7, and see that God is not anti relations. God is pro-relations provided it's in the context of marriage.

That's Solomon's counsel. So you've got remove, rejoice, and then remember. We already read this section. The word remember is absent, but I think that's what he wants you to do.

He says, for the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, verse 21, and he ponders all his paths. In other words, remember, the eyes of Yahweh are in every place. They behold the good and the evil. You go through the door of her house, right into her bed.

God sees that. You know, nobody's up, nobody's around, you and your computer. God sees that. Remember is what Solomon is enjoining upon us.

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths. His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, and he is caught in the cords of his sin. He shall die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly, he shall go astray. So remove your way, rejoice with your wife or your husband, and remember that God ponders all your paths.

It's a reality. He's an omniscient being. Remember Psalm 139 this morning. He deals with the omnipotence of God.

He deals with the omnipresence of God. He deals with the omniscience of God. God knows all things. Not by sort of a discursive analysis.

He's not learning. He's not growing in his understanding. All things are always known to God. He always has every bit of knowledge that there possibly is available to him at all times.

It's not even available to him. There's no accessing it for God. He ponders all our paths. So remove, rejoice, and remember.

And then I would suggest fourthly, or thirdly, we remember the pattern of instruction for parents. This will help us when we get to Ephesians 6.4. Solomon highlights the importance of God's law. Solomon uses very vivid, very lively, very real illustrations to show the wretchedness of adultery.

That's not a bad teaching technique. When Jesus wanted to caution the disciples about anxiety, he points to birds and he points to lilies. Solomon was typical in the teaching manner of our Lord Jesus. He was typical in terms of kingship.

Christ is a greater king, according to Matthew 20, 12, 42. But what Solomon does in terms of teaching, we see our Lord Jesus Christ do that as well. Solomon gives a comparison to demonstrate the vileness of adultery. He appeals to his children at the level of, oh yeah, I don't really despise a thief because he's starving to death.

I have some pity for him. I have some compassion for him. When it comes to the adulterer, there's no pity. There's no compassion.

Nobody gets an award for that. Nobody's recognized and said, wow, we're going to applaud you for the wretched behavior that you have engaged in. And Solomon lists the consequences involved in order to warn his sons. I

Gospel Hope for the Guilty

want to end on that high note of gospel blessing. There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. If you are guilty, if anyone that you know is guilty and you have a chance to speak with them, encourage them with the gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord. There is forgiveness.

There is mercy. Hebrews 9.22 lays down the principle, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. But the blood was shed. The blood came, or is the blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

And that blood is efficacious to wash us from all our sins, the sins of adultery, the sins of murder. There is forgiveness with God that he may be feared. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the clarity and the consistency of your holy word. We pray that you would give us ears to hear and hearts to receive these things. And as we look around, our generation, cause us to be on guard, cause us to be watchful and prayerful, cause us as well to remove our way from those temptations and sins that that seek to devour as well. God, help us in our marriages to rejoice with our husbands, our wives, and to delight in the good gifts that you have given to your people.

And God, help us to be mindful of your omniscience, to know that you are pondering our paths. And may we seek by grace, through faith in our risen Lord, by the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit, to pursue those things that are pleasing in your sight. And we ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

We'll close with a brief time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Exodus 20:14; 20:17; 21
• Leviticus 18
• Deuteronomy 5:18; 5:21; 20; 22
• 1 Kings 11
• Psalm 119:105; 139
• Proverbs 4:23; 5:1; 5:7-8; 5:18; 5:21-23; 6:20-35; 7:10-27
• Matthew 5; 5:28; 20:42
• 1 Corinthians 5; 6; 6:9-11; 7
• Galatians 5
• Ephesians 5:22-33; 6:4
• Hebrews 9:22; 13; 13:4
• Revelation 21:8