Call to Purity and Faithfulness
Minister: |
Rev. Ronald Van Overloop |
Date: |
2/18/2018 AM
|
Text:
|
Matthew 5;
Lord's Day 41
|
Psalters: |
276, 40, 260, 125 |
- What God provided.
- God created man pure with sexual desires, so man was naked and not ashamed (Gen. 2:25).
- Mankind’s experience of the fall into sin was that they were ashamed (Gen. 3:7).
- Satan constantly works to destroy the foundation of good order in the marriage and family with selfishness.
- God’s command (never out-dated) makes every human responsible to reflect God’s holiness and purity.
- And God gifted every one of His people with the real marriage with Christ (Gen. 3:21; Eph. 5:25b-27,32).
- As a result marriage (after sin) is honorable and the bed undefiled (Heb. 13:4) picturing the real marriage (Eph. 5:32).
- Maintaining His holiness and purity God condemns adultery, all unfaithfulness and every uncleanness (Leviticus 18:29).
- Adultery is unfaithfulness on the part of a husband or wife, or it is sexual impurity before marriage.
- Adultery/fornication violates covenant, severely damaging relationships.
- Jesus was angry when the physical temple was violated; and is much more so when the temple of the Spirit is defiled.
- Everyone married to Jesus is called to reflect God’s faithfulness in grateful purity and faithfulness.
- Learn to detest what God detests (though that is not enough!), and to love what God loves (unconditionally).
- Each spouse must labor (in gratitude to God, not to their mate) to do their part because so abundantly forgiven.
- Look up and see yourself in the real marriage with Jesus, which is only mercy and always undeserved.
- God always has more grace than we have sins, both to forgive and to enable us to be pure.