in Proverbs chapter 5.
So that's what we're opening to,
is the whole chapter from verses 1 to 23.
And please join me in prayer
as you open up to Proverbs 5.
Heavenly Father,
thank you so much for your word.
Thank you for giving us your instruction,
your wisdom.
God, we pray that you would give us
open hearts that are willing to receive,
that are eager to obey,
for your glory and for our good, Father.
And we pray in Christ's name, amen.
All right, Proverbs chapter 5.
My son, be attentive to my wisdom.
Incline your ear to my understanding,
that you may keep discretion
and your lips may guard knowledge.
For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
and her speech 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 follow the path to Sheol.
She does not ponder the path of life.
Her ways wander, and she does not know it.
And now, O sons, listen to me,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
Keep 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 merciless.
Lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
and your labors go to the house of a foreigner.
And at the end of your life,
you groan when your flesh and body are consumed.
And you say,
how I hated discipline,
and my heart despised reproof.
I did not listen to the voice of my teachers,
or incline my ear to my instructors.
I am at the brink of utter ruin
in the assembled congregation.
Drink water from your own cistern,
flowing water from your own well.
Should your springs be scattered abroad,
streams of water in the streets?
Let them be for yourself alone,
and not for strangers with you.
Let your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
a lovely dear, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight.
Be intoxicated always in her love.
Why should you be intoxicated, my son,
with a forbidden woman,
and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord,
and he ponders all his past.
The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly,
he is led astray.
This is God's word.
Over the last six weeks,
we took a hiatus from our sermon series in Proverbs
to study 1 John.
So this allowed us to focus
on some Christian fundamentals,
such as the person and work of Jesus Christ,
and the importance of Christian obedience and love.
This week, we're returning to the book of Proverbs.
So I think it's helpful to do a quick recap
of where we've been in Proverbs.
A few weeks back,
Sean unpacked the three different contexts
we need to pay attention to
as we study scripture.
The historical context,
the literary context,
and the theological context.
So the historical context answers questions like,
who wrote the text?
Who's the audience?
When was it written?
Why was it written?
And for Proverbs,
we learned that King Solomon was the lead author,
though not the sole author.
So since he wrote most of it,
or came up with most of it,
most of the Proverbs dates back to the 10th century BC.
In terms of audience,
it wasn't specified to one person,
but given to all people
across class and profession and gender.
It's not intended just for the young and uneducated,
but it was given to the simple and the wise,
so opposite ends of the wisdom spectrum.
Therefore, it includes everyone in between.
And also we learned from Sean
that the collective masculine is used,
or that the masculine pronoun is used
to refer to a group of men and women together.
So this is relevant for our chapter today
because though chapter five addresses men
to beware of the adulterous,
women can and should apply this instruction
to avoid the adulterer.
So that's the historical context.
Next, there's the literary context,
which asks questions about words,
syntax, grammar,
as well as the genre.
So Proverbs belongs to wisdom genre,
as opposed to say narratives or epistles.
And it's written in the style of poetry.
In poetry, not only is an idea communicated,
but the text tries to do so beautifully
and with imaginative and figurative language.
So reading Proverbs will be a different experience
than reading example Paul's epistle to the Romans.
Finally, there's the theological context,
which asks questions like,
how does this fit with the rest of scripture?
What does it teach us about God?
How does it relate to Jesus?
This book helps us to live life in the fear of the Lord,
to live every moment before the presence of God,
under the authority of God,
and for the glory of God.
As Proverbs chapter one, verse seven says,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
A person who trusts God,
who loves him,
who lives for him,
this will be a person who lives in the fear of God.
And it is a life entered into by humbling ourselves
and receiving the message of Christ crucified for us.
That we who are sinners condemned to death,
we were loved so much by God
that he sent his only son into the world
to die on our behalf on the cross.
And those who trust in Christ for salvation
will be saved from death to eternal life.
That's what we humbly receive and trust.
This is the ultimate wisdom that this world foolishly despises
because it disagrees either with the idea
that it needs saving
or it doesn't like having to be saved
through faith in Jesus.
But for us, Christ is our wisdom from God.
It's in this Christ-centered life
that the wisdom of Proverbs comes alive
and that it makes sense.
So that's the theological context.
We've covered the first four chapters so far.
And in the first four chapters,
we've hit themes like
the importance of getting wisdom,
entrusting ourselves completely to God,
seeing the signposts from God's word
that tell us to beware of sin,
turn away from sin,
to walk in his ways, God's ways.
And one of the signposts back in chapter two
was about adultery.
And our chapter today goes into more depth
on this topic of adultery.
It serves as a huge signpost that says,
warning, danger, don't commit adultery, turn away.
That's what this chapter says.
So the main message of our passage today
is that we should stay away from the adulteress
and take pleasure in our spouse
as God intended us to do.
The passage is organized into three parts.
There's verses one through six
on the end of adultery as death.
Verses seven through 14
on the consequences of adultery as ruin.
And verses 15 through 23
on the ways of God as the light.
A quick pause here for our parents
to point out that the content of this chapter
involves the topics of adultery
and intimacy in marriage.
And I know we have a broad age group
tuning in to our worship service.
So I'll do my best to keep this child friendly.
That being said,
the passage itself is relatively racy
as we've already read.
And God's word is very good
and does not require any censorship.
So anyway,
I want to give that quick heads up
for parents before we dive in here.
So let's look at the first section
in verses one through six.
It talks about the end of adultery being death.
So verse one says,
my son, be attentive to my wisdom.
Incline your ear to my understanding.
You know, a child might make bad life decisions
because no one's around to tell him any better.
Or he might be getting good advice,
but choosing to ignore it.
So it's helpful for us to be told
to listen up to wisdom.
And in verses two through four,
we see a contrast between
the lips of the son
and the lips of the forbidden woman.
The son having received wisdom into his heart,
he must now guard this knowledge
with his lips, it says.
In other words,
he must carefully consider this knowledge.
He's got to think about it,
ponder it,
which will lead to him eventually speaking it
and even teaching them to other people.
This is in contrast to the lips
of the forbidden woman,
which drip honey
and are smoother than oil,
but lead to death.
What's translated in verse three
as forbidden woman
is literally foreigner or stranger.
In this context,
it refers to someone
who is outside the circle
of a man's proper relations,
is foreign to that.
So here it's an adulteress
who is forbidden to a man.
And here her words are described
as dripping honey
and smoother than oil.
They are seductive,
sweet to listen to.
They promise pleasure and satisfaction.
And maybe in our lives,
they might appear as subtle compliments
about our appearance
or caring questions
that try to make an emotional connection.
They might be flirtatious
or suggested innuendos,
but all that seek entrance
into the intimate spaces of our hearts
that are reserved solely for our spouse.
So don't be fooled by these sweet words.
They are initially sweet,
but they hide the poisonous aftertaste of death.
It says in verses four through six,
but in the end,
she is bitter as the wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death.
Her steps follow the path to shale.
She does not ponder the path of life.
Her ways wander,
and she does not know it.
Her words start sweet as honey.
But in the end,
it's bitter as wormwood.
They're smoother than oil,
but then they're sharp like a sword.
I think this is a helpful description for us
of how sin operates
and how the devil tries to lure us in.
Sin does have something pleasurable about it.
It's appealing,
or else we never get tempted by it.
But it's important for us to consider
what it's going to end up like.
I have this image of Satan
walking the streets of East Cambridge,
and it's sadly a common occurrence
to find a lot of dog poop around
because people don't pick up the dog poop.
So I think of Satan,
like picking up one of those pieces of dog poop
and covering it with a few coats of honey,
and then he hands it over to you.
So that's what it's like to be offered sin,
to be offered adultery.
He likes to tell us
about the initial pleasures of sin
while hiding its bitterness
and hiding its death
that inevitably come and destroy us.
It's like when he deceived Adam and Eve
in the garden,
but he lied.
He lied,
and he said that they wouldn't die,
which was exactly contrary
to what God had told them.
Or when he advertises the fun
of getting drunk
while hiding the hangover,
bad decision-making,
long-term health risks
like liver disease,
if that's kept up.
Or when we're tempted to vent our anger
and verbally abuse someone
because, honestly,
it just feels so good sometimes
to let loose.
But we don't see the hurt
and the pain that comes
and the healing that's needed
because we fail to speak truth in love.
Or here in this chapter,
when we're tempted to enjoy sex
outside of marriage,
and we only see the gratification,
we only see the immediate opportunity,
but not the pain,
the emptiness,
our opening the way up
for possible divorce
and abortions
and health issues.
But again,
coming back to
what Proverbs,
the book,
is about,
here we see the importance
of the fear of God
being the foundation of wisdom
because
even with these examples
that I've mentioned,
it's possible to weigh
the pros and cons
without God in the picture
and say,
yeah,
it's still worth it for me.
There are ways
that I can protect myself
enough from the risks.
But if God is
our Heavenly Father
who loves us,
if Christ is the one
who died for us,
if the Holy Spirit
is within us
to empower us
to become more like Christ,
then the pros
never outweigh the cons.
It's never worth it
for us to sin.
So here we see
the importance
of the fear of God.
Finally,
at the end of the section,
notice in verse 6
how the adulterous woman
is lost.
She's not seeking
the paths of life
and wisdom.
She doesn't know
that she's lost.
This person
who's speaking smoothly
and sweetly to you,
who's pleasant,
but trying to get you
to stray from God's ways,
this person doesn't have
your best interests
at heart.
She doesn't even have
her own best interests
at heart.
So we see that
the end of adultery
is death.
And there is wisdom
in considering
the end
of our decisions.
Moving on to
the second section
of verses 7 through 14,
there's another plea
to listen to these words
of wisdom
because the consequences
of adultery
is ruin.
The specific advice
in verse 8 is,
it says,
keep your way
far from her
and do not go near
the door of her house.
Adultery is not something
to be played around with.
We need to take it seriously.
We need to flee
from this temptation.
A great biblical example
of doing this well
is Joseph
in Genesis 39.
So Joseph
is one of the
12 sons of Jacob
and he's sold
into slavery
by his brothers.
And he ends up
being bought
by a man
named Potiphar.
So listen with me
as I read
a few verses
from Genesis
chapter 39.
Now,
Joseph had been
brought down
to Egypt
and Potiphar,
an officer of Pharaoh,
the captain of the guard,
an Egyptian,
had bought him
from the Ishmaelites
who had brought him
down there.
The Lord was
with Joseph
and he became
a successful man
and he was in the house
of his Egyptian master.
His master saw
that the Lord
was with him
and that the Lord
caused all that he did
to succeed in his hands.
So Joseph found favor
in his sight
and attended him
and made him
overseer of his house
and he put him
in charge
of all that he had.
From the time
that he made him
overseer in his house
and over all that he had,
the Lord blessed
the Egyptian's house
for Joseph's sake.
The blessing of the Lord
was on all that he had
in house and field.
So he left all that he had
in Joseph's charge
and because of him
he had no concern
about anything
but the food he ate.
Now Joseph was handsome
in form and appearance
and after a time
his master's wife
cast her eyes
on Joseph
and said,
Lie with me.
But he refused
and said to his master's wife,
Behold,
because of me
my master
has no concern
about anything
in the house
and he has put everything
that he has
in my charge.
He is not greater
in this house
than I am
nor has he kept back
anything from me
except you
because you are his wife.
How then can I do
this great wickedness
and sin against God?
And as she spoke to him,
as he spoke to Joseph
day after day,
he would not listen to her
to lie beside her
or to be with her.
But one day
when he went into the house
to do his work
and none of the men
of the house
was there in the house,
she caught him
by his garment
saying,
Lie with me.
But he left his garment
in her hand
and fled
and got out
of the house.
So what does
Joseph do well here?
First,
we see that
he maintained
a strong connection
and a strong relationship
with God.
His primary objection
was,
How can I do this wrong
against God?
Even through
his very difficult
circumstances,
he cultivated
this deep
relationship
with God
and he didn't
turn away
from him.
Second,
we see that
he didn't
justify adultery.
He doesn't think
to himself,
you know,
I've had a hard life.
I deserve this.
It's not that big
of a deal.
My master
is a loser anyway.
I mean,
I'm doing all the hard
work around here.
I'm earning the money.
Plus,
his wife wants me
more than he wants.
than him.
Right?
So he doesn't
think these thoughts.
And the situation
is not about himself
and what he wants,
but it's about
loving God.
It's about loving
his master
who's treated him
so well.
Third,
he makes no space
for temptation.
He refuses
to even be
with Potiphar's wife
in verse 10
once he identifies
this temptation.
And when she
tries to trap him,
he bolts.
He just gets out of there.
He even leaves
his clothes behind him.
What does this look
like for us?
Maybe it's
in a work situation.
Maybe there's
someone at work
who's making advances
towards you.
Someone that you
have a ton
of contact with
and honestly,
you can't avoid
not seeing this person.
You know that
he or she
is going to be
a problem
for your marriage.
So then maybe
it's time to look
for another job.
or there's a friend
of the opposite sex
that you spend
a lot of time with.
You get along
with really well
but you guys
are getting
uncomfortably close.
You're sharing
too many deep things,
being more
emotionally connected
with this person
than with your spouse.
Maybe it's time
to cut that friendship off.
Whatever it might be,
again,
this is something
to take seriously.
It's something
to flee.
We've got to identify
its sources
and kill it.
It also helps
to share
this temptation
with a close
Christian friend
so you can be
prayed for,
you can be
kept accountable
and so that's helpful.
Moving on
in the passage,
verses 9-14,
they talk about
the consequences
of adultery.
Verses 9-10 say,
Lest you give
your honor to others
and your years
to the merciless,
lest strangers
take their fill
of your strength
and your labors
go to the house
of a foreigner.
These verses
talk about
the economic ruin
that come from
infidelity.
So the words
your honor,
your years,
your strength,
your labors,
these talk about
the effort
and the good yield
of one's life
and they're being
funneled
because of adultery
to others.
It's unclear
exactly who
the others are.
There are a few
possibilities.
It could be
the jealous husband
of the adulteress.
It could be
that man's family.
It could be
the family
of this person's
cheated wife.
And in terms
of what we see
and what we might
see in our lives,
the financial consequences
of adultery,
you know,
they can be
a divorce settlement,
they can be
child support payments,
they could be
blackmail
from the person
that you had
an affair with,
but it's pointing
to the fact
that adultery
can ruin you
economically
and financially.
Verse 11
speaks of
groaning
at the end
of one's life.
It says,
when your flesh
and body
are consumed.
This could refer
to the ill physical
effects
of sexual immorality,
for example,
from sexually
transmitted diseases,
though this
doesn't necessarily
have to be the case
in this passage.
It might just be
saying that
at the end of life,
when this person's
physical vitality
has left him,
he looks back
on his life
with regret
at the decisions
he's made.
So that's
verse 11.
In verse 14,
it refers to
the social
consequences
of
this person's
mistakes.
So it says,
I am at the brink
of utter ruin
in the assembled
congregation.
When infidelity
comes to light
in a public setting,
there could be
dishonor
and humiliation
for those
involved in the affair
and also those
related to those people.
There might be
professional consequences,
for example,
for those in government
whose roles
involve
and require
public trust
and opinion.
And so
the takeaway
from this section
is that
adultery
can bring
ruin
to your life
economically,
physically,
and socially.
Finally,
in the last section
in verses
15 to 23,
we read about
the ways of God
as the light
and how we
should live.
Remember that
repentance
involves
a turning away
from sin,
but it's not
just a turning
away from sin.
It's a turning
to God
in faith
and obedience.
So they're
two sides
of the same coin.
So this chapter
has already
instructed us
that the sin
that we're
turning away
from is
adultery
and we're
turning to God
and walking
in His ways
of being
sexually satisfied
in our spouse.
the imagery
of drinking
water
is present
throughout
these verses
referring to
our thirst
being quenched.
There's
drink water
from your own
cistern
in verse 15.
In verse 16,
it says
it points to
streams of water.
Let your fountain
be blessed
in verse 18.
And this points
to the fact
that God
has created us
as sexual creatures
and He has
provided for us
with marriage
to meet our
sexual desires
where we can
satisfy our thirst
and we can
drink deeply
from our spouse.
This idea
of drinking
water
from your
own cistern
is referring
to the water
pit that people
in the dry
area of Canaan
would hollow out
in the rocky
ground.
So they would
dig this pit
and then they
would use it
to collect
and store
rainwater.
for its owner.
And verses
16 through 17
say,
should your springs
be scattered
abroad,
streams of water
in the streets,
let them be
for yourself
alone and not
for strangers
with you.
These verses
are saying
enjoy the spouse
that only
you have access
to.
It's referring
to the idea
of privately
owned property
versus common
property.
As in
only you can
drink from
the cistern
in your
backyard
that you
dug
while the
water fountain
in the park,
I mean,
anyone can
drink from
there,
right?
So within
a faithful
marriage,
husband and
wife are
enjoying one
another
exclusively,
whereas with
an adulteress,
she or he
is less
concerned about
exclusivity
and more
concerned about
availability,
right?
So these
verses are
saying,
don't let the
source of your
satisfaction be
common and
shared,
but let it be
private,
special,
belonging to
you only.
There's also
the alternative
interpretation
that this
warning of
not letting
your springs
be scattered
abroad,
that it's
a warning
that your
spouse might
be unfaithful
to you if
you are
unfaithful.
I think
this interpretation
is problematic
for a couple
reasons.
First,
the wife
in verse
15 is
referred to
in the
singular as
your own
sister and
your own
well,
but in
verse 16,
it talks
about springs
and streams
in the
plural.
So there's
no good
reason that
a wife
would be
changed from
singular to
plural from
one verse
to the
next.
And also
a second
problem is
in terms of
cause and
effect,
it's difficult
to think
that just
because you
are unfaithful
you would
automatically
cause your
spouse to
choose to
be unfaithful.
He or she
might be
deeply hurt,
yes,
extremely angry,
yes,
but making
the same
foolish
decisions
that you
make,
that is
not necessarily
true.
So I
would go
with the
previous
interpretation.
Moving on
to verses
18 to
19,
notice the
imagery and
language used
here.
It says,
rejoice in
the wife
of your
youth,
a lovely
dear,
a graceful
doe.
Let her
breasts fill
you at all
times with
delight,
being intoxicated
always in
her love.
The husband
is to be
intoxicated,
drenched,
lost in
his wife's
love.
This phrase
of being
intoxicated
again is a
bit racy as
I mentioned
earlier and
it can have
negative
connotations
when referring
to alcohol
or even
the adulterers
in verse 20.
But when it
comes to the
love of your
spouse,
it's a
good thing
to be
lost in
her love
and in
his love.
note that
this enjoyment
of one's
spouse is
both
qualitative
and
quantitative.
Qualitatively,
the husband
rejoices and
is filled
with delight.
And
quantitatively,
it is at
all times
and always.
Of course,
there's more
wisdom that
goes into
the practical
implications
of a
healthy love
life.
So if
your husband
planning on
coming to
shop for
counseling and
complaining that
your wife
isn't
intoxicating
you enough
since she's
not at
all times
and always
providing for
you when
you want
it,
and you
want him
to call
her out
that she's
a bad
wife,
you should
prepare to
be surprised,
disappointed
when he calls
you out as
a bad
husband.
But still,
it's important
here of the
idea that
the wife is
available to
quench the
husband's
thirst and
vice versa.
That's how
God meant
it to be.
In verses
21 through
23,
it ends
the chapter
by pointing
out God's
omniscience
and justice.
So God
is omniscient.
He knows
all,
he sees
all,
all the
paths of
men are
before him.
And God
is just.
The wicked
will face
the consequences
of their
sin and
their foolishness.
And though
we're talking
specifically about
adultery in
this chapter,
these verses
help to zoom
out onto
all sin.
it's not
just adultery
that arises
from a
lack of
discipline,
as it says
in verses
23,
but all
wickedness.
So let's
wrap up by
talking a
few application
points here.
Why might
we be tempted
to commit
adultery?
What lies
does the
enemy throw
into our
faces to
tempt us?
One thought
is around
our needs
being satisfied.
We might
think my
needs aren't
being met.
My marriage
is really
difficult.
And honestly,
it has been
for a long
time.
This chapter
paints a
rosy but
unrealistic
picture of
marriage.
I deserve
to be happy,
even if that's
not with my
spouse.
So that
is one
thought.
First,
let me address
that marriage
is difficult.
It's really
difficult.
We are all
sinful people.
And two
people in
marriage,
it's like
two pieces
of rough
metal that
come really
close and
rub against
each other.
There's going
to be
friction.
There's going
to be
sparks flying
sometimes.
We should
expect this
and not be
surprised by
it.
So I don't
want to
devalue that.
But second,
marriage is
not about
our happiness.
That's not
what this
world wants
to tell us.
It wants
you to think
that it's
all about
you.
This world
sells us on
products and
services that
make our
lives easier,
more satisfying.
But marriage
is not
about you.
It's not
about me.
It's not
about our
happily ever
after.
Of course,
happiness does
take place in
marriage, but
it's not like
a marriage is
broken if a
person's not
happy.
Instead,
marriage is a
reflection of
Christ's
relationship with
the church.
And when we
reflect this
well, we
point to how
wonderful God
is, how
great he
is.
How does
Jesus treat
his pride?
How does
he treat us
to church?
We know
that he
loves us,
he nourishes
us, he
cherishes
us, he
chooses to
take the
worst from
us, all
of our
mistakes, all
of the
hateful venom
that will spit
out at him,
all of our
burdens.
He takes our
worst and in
return he gives
us his best.
On the cross,
he took away
our sin and
he was punished
on our behalf.
And in him,
we have every
spiritual blessing
in the heavenly
places.
He was rich,
yet for our
sake he became
poor so that
we, by his
poverty, might
become rich.
I mean, how
absurd would it
be if Jesus
treated us the
same way that
spouses so
often treat each
other in this
world?
You know, if he
said, Ray,
you know, I've
sorry, I've
decided to end
our relationship
because you're
not really
satisfying my
needs and
desires.
You've been
growing apart
from me these
past few
years.
Honestly, you
care more
about your
family, your
next promotion,
you're binging
on Netflix,
than you care
about prayer and
Bible study.
You know, you
must not know
about me, Ray,
because there are
a ton of other
people who
appreciate me a
lot more than
you, right?
That's pretty
ridiculous.
We know that
God will never
leave us nor
forsake us,
that he has
loved us with
an everlasting
love.
Jesus is
faithful to
us.
So marriage
is not about
our happiness.
It's about
reflecting Christ
in the church.
And it's also
about our
sanctification.
It's about
becoming more
and more holy,
becoming more
and more like
Jesus.
On the cross,
Jesus took our
worst and gave
us his best,
right?
So in marriage,
we get the
opportunity to
demonstrate that
to someone
else.
Because marriage
brings out the
good and the
bad and the
ugly, we can
have the
opportunity to
receive hurtful
words,
inconsiderate
actions,
gross
incompetence,
and in
response, we
get to choose
to give
kindness and
patience and
love.
this is
impossible on
our own.
We can't do
it.
And the
world doesn't
sell us
anything that
can help us
with this.
It's only
God by the
Holy Spirit
through Jesus
Christ that
we are made
new again.
Another thought
that might
tempt us to
adultery is
that I'm
strong enough
to fight this
temptation or
I'm not
susceptible to
this.
And though
it might not
be a
particular
temptation or
chronic sin
now for
us, we
shouldn't let
our guard
down.
It's when
we're tired,
when life
is hard,
when marriage
is hard,
when we're
not our
best selves,
that then
a woman or
a man who's
basically trained
himself or
herself to
be a
professional
seductress or
seductor who
comes our way,
and that's when
we can all be
caught off guard.
So don't
play with
fire, but
again, flee
from sin,
flee from
temptation.
Another reason
we might be
tempted towards
adultery is
the thought that
I'm strong
enough to
figure it out
on my own,
and here I'm
referring specifically
to marriage
struggles.
When things are
hard, I can
just plow
through it.
We are
supposed to be
sexually gratified
in our marriages,
relationships, but
that might not
be the case
due to a
lot of other
reasons that
don't have to
do with sex
directly.
For example,
ineffective
communication,
constant conflict,
emotional
disconnection,
a lack of
time in a
busy life, a
lot of things
can happen.
And so we
might be tempted
to tough it
out and figure
it out on our
own, but
honestly, it
can save us a
lot of time,
a lot of
heartache to
seek out help
from church
elders and
from professional
counseling.
So I'll
encourage you
guys to
look into
that and
feel free to
speak to me
or Sean or
Matt about
this more if
you're interested
in pursuing
this and we
can help
direct you
guys.
So in
conclusion,
brothers and
sisters,
please be
attentive.
Be attentive
to God's
words.
Keep your
way far from
the adulterer
that brings
death,
and ruin.
Seek to be
satisfied in
your spouse
and remember
that God
loves us and
he wants the
best for us.
Amen.