Call to Purity and Faithfulness

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