Guarding the Marriage Bed - Part 1 (Hebrews 13:4) | Worship Service

Welcome to Kootenai Church. We're glad you're here today. Would you please stand as we.

Psalm 93 and the Call to Worship

Begin our service this morning with a call to worship from Psalm 93. And it says, Yahweh reigns. He is clothed with majesty. Yahweh has clothed and girded himself with strength. Indeed, the world is established.

It will not be shaken. Your throne is established from of old. You are from everlasting. The rivers have lifted up, O Yahweh. The rivers have lifted up their voice. The rivers lift up their pounding waves.

More than the voices of many waters and the mighty breakers of the sea, Yahweh on high is mighty. Your testimonies are very faithful. Holiness befits your house, O Yahweh, forevermore. Would you please join us as we sing together this psalm, The Lord Reigns.

He has armed himself with strength and does with splendor fully shine. The world is established firmly. It cannot be ever moved. Your throne is established ever from as you are God. The voice around the flag, stars and angels sing around the center of the field and forest, flashing sea.

Singing for us to rejoice, these have wondrous noise. By the earth and the seas, great breakers, God, the holder, showed the hand of God. In the light of creation's grand design. In the lives of those who prove his faithful.

By faith and not by slack. By faith our fathers robed the earth. With the power of his promise in their hearts. Of a holy city built by God's hopes and justice. We'll stand, we'll fix our eyes on him.

Our souls reward. Till it's finished and the word, by faith the prophets saw it. When the longed for Messiah would appear. With the power to break the chains of sin. And up and from the church was called to go.

The spirit to the law, steps and to free eyes on him.

Our souls reward.

Till by the faith the mountains shall move. Of the gospel shall prevail. Christ all things are possible. Till it's finished and the word, by faith and not by slack. We'll stand, we'll fix, it's finished and the word.

My fortress deliver, brings down my foes. And beneath me is man that you recognize him. The son of man that you are mindful of him. For man is but faith. The earthly days are just like a shadow which passes away.

Most victorious. Your grands above and save me from strangers and floods. Their tongues speak so falsely and truth they despise. Their right hand they hold forth to swear to their lies. A new song to you oh my God I will sing.

And offer my praise on a harp of ten strings. You give kings their triumph. Your hand kept David your servant. From hurt by the souls of the ancient of days. All my victorious. Ancient of. All my victorious.

All right.

The only announcement that I have that is pertinent for this morning is. Excuse me as I had to catch my breath singing. I was belting that out. Now I got it. I'm all out of breath. I should stand up and down more.

The only announcement that I have this pertinent for today is that we have our annual meeting and potluck after the service. Of course, you already see that. But here's what that means. As soon as we are done with the closing song and Josh gives the benediction.

We're going to have everybody get out of this room as quickly as you possibly can. Get into the other parts of the building. You are free to go upstairs if you would like. And we need to set this up with tables and chairs.

And I've talked to about 12 or 15 people already. You know who you are. We're going to meet up here in this corner and go over a game plan for doing that. But just so we can know how many tables and chairs need to be set up.

Can I have everybody who is not attending the potluck. If you're leaving without sticking around for the potluck. Will you please raise your hand.

Okay.

It will be a full house. Looking forward to that.

Good.

Proverbs 7 and the Warning Against Adultery

All right. Will you please turn now to the book of Proverbs. To Proverbs chapter 7. Proverbs chapter 7. And we're going to read this entire chapter together. Proverbs 7. My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you.

Keep my commandments and live. And my teaching is the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers. Write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, you are my sister. And call understanding your intimate friend.

That they may keep you from an adulteress. From the foreigner who flatters with her words. For at the window of my house, I looked out through my lattice. And I saw among the naive. And discerned among the youths.

A young man lacking sense. Passing through the street near her corner. And he takes the way to her house. In the twilight. In the evening. In the middle of the night. And in the darkness. And behold, a woman comes to meet him.

Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart. She is boisterous and rebellious. Her feet do not remain at home. She is now in the streets. Now in the squares. And lurks by every corner. So she seizes him.

And kisses him. And with a brazen face, she says to him. I was due to offer peace offerings. Today I have paid my vows. Therefore I have come out to meet you. To seek your presence earnestly. And I have found you.

I spread my couch with coverings. With colored linens of Egypt. I have sprinkled my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come. Let us drink our fill of love until morning. Let us delight ourselves with caresses.

For my husband is not at home. He has gone on a long journey. He has taken a bag of money with him. At the full moon, he will come home. With her many persuasions, she entices him. With her flattering lips, she seduces him.

Suddenly, he follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter. Or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool. Until an arrow pierces through his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare. So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. 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 many are the victims she has cast down. And numerous are all her slain.

Her house is the way to Sheol. Descending to the chambers of death. Will you stand with me as we pray? Our Father, we are humbled and stunned by the frankness of your word. Of the dangers that threaten us in our moral and spiritual life.

We are grateful for the clear teaching of your word. Which warns us against the very things that would threaten to undo us. And destroy our lives, our walk with you. Our purity and our marriages. Father, it is before the frankness of that counsel that we bow our hearts.

And ask that today in our worship. In our praise. In the meditation of our hearts and minds. That you would be glorified and honored. And that through repentance and our confession. And our coming before you.

We would be cleansed and be renewed. In the vigor of our commitment to you and to your truth. That you would be honored and glorified. To bring us conviction. And repentance. And the grace to stand in your truth.

And before your word. We pray that you would strengthen us through our worship. Through our fellowship. And through our meditation upon your word. That you would be glorified here through this time. We pray and may we meditate.

May we sing as those who have been set free. Whose hearts and lives and minds and souls have been redeemed. To serve a great and glorious king. So give us a robustness in our voice. In our hearts and in our affections today.

That you would be glorified and honored here. Through the praises and in the praises of your people. It is for Christ's sake that we ask this.

Amen.

Colossians 3 and Singing as the Redeemed

In Colossians chapter 3.

Verses 12 to 17 it says. So as the elect of God. Holy and beloved put on a heart of compassion. Kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bearing with one another and graciously forgiving each other.

Whoever has a complaint against anyone. Just as the Lord graciously forgave you. So also should you. Above all these things put on love. Which is the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.

To which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly with all wisdom. Teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns. And spiritual songs.

Singing with gratefulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed. Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Giving thanks to God the Father. Through him. Let's sing together the song forgiven.

Forgive us for our pride. When our faith becomes a show. Dressed in righteousness divine.

All the stains below.

We have judged your sons and daughters. For the sin that is our own. May we now forgive each other. And lay down our soul.

Forgiven.

Forgiven. Through the blood of Christ we are forgiven. Lord forgive us for our love. Of the things we wish to hold. We forsake the feast above. For all the crumbs below. Though you've made us sons and daughters.

We do not the world disown. May we find our greatest treasure. Is in you alone.

Forgiven.

Forgiven.

Through the blood of Christ we are forgiven. Through the blood of Christ we are forgiven. Lord forgive us for our shame. When we can't release the past. When we're quick to take the blame. But forget we're free at last.

We avoid your sons and daughters. For the fear we don't belong. Give us eyes to see each other. Through your only son.

Forgiven. Forgiven.

Through the blood of Christ we are forgiven.

Forgiven. Forgiven.

Through the blood of Christ we are forgiven.

You may be seated.

Hebrews 13:1-6 and the Christian Sexual Ethic

And will you please turn now to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13 and before we pray we're going to read together verses 1 through 6. Hebrews 13. Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.

For by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember the prisoners as though in prison with them. And those who are ill treated since you yourselves also are in the body. Marriage is to be held in honor among all.

And the marriage bed is to be undefiled. For fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Make sure that your character is free from the love of money. Being content with what you have for he himself has said.

I will never desert you. Nor will I ever forsake you. So that we may confidently say the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What will man do to me? Let's pray together. Our Father we ask now your blessing upon the preaching of your word.

And our consideration of your word. We pray that you would make this book live to us. That you would shine the light of truth upon our hearts and upon our minds. Upon our conscience. Upon the deep recesses of our imaginations.

Our motives and our intents. That you would be honored and glorified through a holy and obedient people. That is our desire. That you would create within us every good and pleasing virtue. That you would grace us with the strength to mortify sin.

And to pursue holiness without which we cannot see you. We pray that you would sanctify us by your word. And draw us near to Christ. And meet with us your people now. In your word we pray. In Christ's name.

Amen. The Christian sexual ethic. You can tell right from the first words here that we are getting into some deep territory. Is revolutionary and transformative. And prior to the New Testament was incredibly rare.

The church was born into a culture that was awash in sexual immorality, depravity, perversion, lasciviousness and licentiousness. A culture that looked at many points much like our own. But by my judgment we are not there yet.

Now of course I say that and you have to take that with somewhat of a grain of salt. Because obviously I live in this time and not that time. But from what I have read and I'm going to give you some examples of it here.

The culture and the environment of the first century was worse than what we have today. Our culture as depraved and wicked and astray as it is. Is tame in many ways compared to what you would have been exposed to had you lived in the first century.

The birth of Christianity and the living out of a biblical sexual ethic. Introduced to the first century something that had been virtually unheard of. Chastity. Virtually unheard of in the first century.

In many ways the ancient world was a moral sewer. And this was true not just among rank pagans but it was also true in some Jewish circles. In some Jewish communities adultery, immorality and divorce.

As well as polygamy were as commonplace as among the rank pagans and the Gentiles. Certain Jews did practice polygamy. Justin Martyr in his book Dialogue with Trifo discusses Christianity with a Jew. And he says this, quote, it is possible for a Jew even now to have four or five wives.

Jewish historian Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews said, quote, by ancestral custom a man may live with more than one wife, close quote. Divorce in the Jewish world was tragically easy. And in the ancient world the Jews had the highest ideals of marriage but that was a low bar.

Because among the pagans it was worse. If you thought that the moral culture of the Jewish first century community was bad, under the pagans it was worse. In some schools in Jewish circles a divorce could be declared without a court action, without a decree and for nearly any offense that a man might conjure up out of his imagination.

She burned my toast. She came home late. She's not giving out her conjugal rights. I'm divorcing this woman. For almost any imagined offense. And with such a loose law of marriage and divorce women were the losers in such a circumstance because a man could put away his wife for any reason, rendering her ineligible to remarry and unappealing to marry by any other man.

And in that culture that would exclude them from the marketplace and from the job place. And so a woman in that culture, if she was divorced, would oftentimes have to resort to sexual immorality, promiscuity, prostitution just in order to make ends meet.

Because otherwise she would be destitute. And such a stigmatism that could attach itself to a divorced woman in that culture motivated some to remain single and to grow old and to never marry. In Roman culture it was even worse.

According to Roman law a wife had no rights at all. Cato said this, quote,. If you were to take your wife in adultery, that is to catch her in adultery, you could kill her with impunity, without any court judgment.

But if you were involved in adultery, she would not dare to lift a finger against you, for it is unlawful, close quote. You might think that that would deter adultery and divorce and fornication and immorality, but it did not.

It didn't deter that among men or women. Ovid, who lived in 46 BC, said in his book, The Art of Love, quote,. These women alone are pure who are unsolicited. And a man who is angry at his wife's love affair is nothing but a rustic boor, close quote.

In other words, the only pure woman is a woman who hasn't been asked yet. And man, if you're upset with your wife's infidelity, you need to get with the times. You're just being a prude. Seneca said, quote,.

Anyone whose affairs have not become notorious and who does not pay a married woman a yearly fee is despised by other women as a mere lover of girls. In fact, husbands are got as a mere decoy for lovers, close quote.

You got a husband just to hide, to shield the reality that you are being promiscuous with everybody out there. And according to Seneca's words there, if you don't have so many affairs that you have become notorious, the other women look at you as you're just playing.

You're just a lover of girls. You're not serious about that part of your life. Seneca also said,. Only the ugly are loyal, close quote. Now make of that what you want.

Yeah. Wow.

Now listen, just to be clear, I didn't say that. I'm quoting Seneca. Only the ugly are loyal. Also Seneca said, quote, A woman who is content to have only two followers is a paragon of virtue. Restrict yourself to two, you're a paragon of virtue.

So polygyny, polyandry, and polyamory were so commonplace that a long-lasting, faithful, pure marriage, free from divorce, adultery, fornication, was an anomaly. Serial divorces followed by remarriage, adultery, immorality, pederasty, concubines, and widespread serial fornication were not just present in the ancient world, they were ever-present, almost omnipresent in the ancient world.

And into that context stepped the divine creator of marriage and sex, and he said, quoting Genesis 2 .24, For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

And he didn't stop there. He said, They are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate. So they said to him, Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?

And he, that is Jesus, said to them, Because of the hardness of your heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been this way. In other words, that was not God's design.

And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife except for immorality and marries another woman commits adultery. That's Matthew 19, verses 6 -9. Jesus, unlike other rabbis of his age and of his time, did not come up with clever ways to excuse adultery or polygamy or find some clever interpretation of the law that would allow them to be engaged in sexual immorality and sexual activity outside the confines of marriage.

In fact, he said, he highlighted the law's demands in Matthew 5 when he said, You've heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you, for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you, for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

In other words, the violation of that commandment, thou shalt not commit adultery, takes place before the physical act is ever committed. The violation of that commandment takes place before the physical act is ever committed.

Jesus reaffirmed what was from the beginning. So therefore, any faithful biblical sexual ethic will reflect God's design and intention, and it will affirm what the apostles affirmed. What God said in the garden, what Moses said at Mount Sinai, what Jesus said on the mountain, and what the apostles recorded in the New Testament.

A biblical, faithful, sexual ethic will affirm that, and it is a revolutionary sexual ethic. One man, one woman, becoming one flesh for one lifetime. That is God's design. Chastity before marriage and faithful, monogamous sexual activity in marriage.

That is the design. Anything outside of that is foreign to God's intention, it is foreign to His purposes, and a violation of His Word. That is the sexual ethic that obeys God's creation order and His mandate from the garden all the way through the Old Testament into the New Testament.

It is that sexual ethic that results in the protection of women and children. It is that sexual ethic that builds civilizations, protects homes, and results in Christian and human flourishing. And it is that sexual ethic that our culture is abandoning at breakneck speed to its own destruction and demise.

So, in the context of the Old Testament truth and in the context of Jesus' teaching on this subject, it should not surprise us to find the command that we have in Hebrews 13, verse 4, which addresses this, even though it is addressed to a first-century Jewish audience, because even in the first century, in the Jewish audiences, they needed to be reminded that marriage is to be held in honor among all and the marriage bed is to be undefiled for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

Now, we have spent the last two weeks, the last two Sundays, considering our responsibility to honor marriage, why it is honorable, what makes it honorable, how it is that we honor it, the commandment to do so.

And now we are turning our attention to the second half of that verse, which is the command to honor the marriage bed. We honor marriage by guarding the marriage bed, and guarding the marriage bed is a means by which and a primary way in which we honor our marriage covenant and our spouse.

So, today we're going to look at what a pure bed is, what makes it pure, and then we're going to look at the threats to this. That's as far as we're going to get. And you will notice in your bulletin that it says, part one, because next week we are going to look at how it is that we guard the marriage bed.

Not just why we guard it, but how we guard it. So, let's turn our attention to verse four. There is the command here to honor the marriage by guarding the marriage bed. He says in verse four, the marriage bed is to be undefiled.

Now, if Scripture affirms that marriage is a good thing and that it is honorable, that it is holy and sacred and created by God, if Scripture affirms that it is worthy of holding in high regard and high esteem, and that it is a good gift of God to His creatures, given to man before sin entered into the world to Adam and Eve to enjoy, and they did enjoy that before the fall, if that is true, then the sexual, physical expression of that covenant love and that purpose is also pure and holy and sacred and good.

That is something that we have to get into our minds. The physical union of a man and his wife, that one flesh relationship, was created by God and it is honorable and it is good. In fact, the word that is translated marriage bed here is the word koite.

It is sometimes translated bed, sometimes translated conception, sometimes it is translated as sexual life. We get our word koitis from this. It refers to sexual intercourse or the sex act. It is not describing a piece of furniture that you sleep on where your wife stores her pillow collection.

That's not what it's describing. It is describing the one flesh physical act that is to be reserved for marriage. It is not to be engaged in before marriage. It is to be worked on and worked at and enjoyed and developed all the way through your marriage, and it is never to be engaged in outside of marriage, neither before nor after your marriage.

That is what he is describing. He means here the expression of covenant love, union, and marital koitis, which is obvious from his reference to fornicators and adulterers at the very end of verse 4. This is the expression of oneness that goes with marriage and in marriage and is part of marriage and should be enjoyed in that relationship, meaning that this is a good thing because God created it and gave it to men and women to be enjoyed inside the confines of the covenant of marriage.

It is a beautiful expression of your service to your spouse. It is an expression of love, pleasure, delight, and joy, and it is by God's design since it was given to us before the fall. Therefore, it is not dirty, it is not disgusting, it is not impure, it does not defile.

We defile it when we misuse it and abuse it. We defile it. It does not defile us. The sexual act does not pollute a marriage. It does not defile the spouses. It does not tarnish your piety. It doesn't impede your holiness.

It doesn't corrupt your mind. It doesn't make your heart drift away. It is not a necessary evil. It is not a begrudged obligation. It is not sinful at all within the confines of the marriage covenant.

So, our author says, the marriage bed, the koitis, should remain undefiled. It can be pure, and it should be pure, and you and I honor our marriage, our individual marriages, and we honor our marriage partner, and we honor marriage as an institution, and we honor God when we guard the marriage bed to make sure that it is undefiled.

That word that is translated undefiled is used four times in the New Testament. It means untainted, unsoiled, or pure. It describes something that is without anything that would render it impure, and its usage in the New Testament is instructive.

I said it's used four times. I'll give you all four verses. It is used in James 1 to describe religion. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Pure religion is a religion, a faith, that remains free from the corrupting, polluting influences of the world and the world system and the world thinking. And therefore, a religion or a faith that is pure will issue in good works, that's James point in James 1, and it will remain untainted by all of the corrupting influences that surround us.

Second, the word is used to describe our inheritance, our heavenly inheritance in 1 Peter 1, verse 4, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away reserved in heaven for you.

The reward that awaits the child of God is without impurity. It cannot be corrupted. It is untainted and it is without any tainting or polluting or corrupting influence. That is what it means to be undefiled.

And third, this word is used to describe Jesus who is our high priest. In the book of Hebrews, chapter 7, verse 26, he says it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens.

So there it is used to describe the moral purity and the moral quality of the Lord Jesus Christ, his separation from sinners, his untainted nature, who though while participating in humanity and with and alongside and near sinful beings for his whole life, remained untainted, unsoiled, uncorrupted, and unpolluted by all the sinners around him.

He was pure, holy, innocent, without guilt, without guile, uncontaminated by the sin, the sinners, and the immorality, and uncontaminated and untainted and unsoiled by the immoral culture that surrounded him, even in his day, one that I just described to you is worse than our own.

And then fourth place that it's used is here in Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 4, where it says that the marriage sexual union, the marriage bed, must remain undefiled. Now, there are a number of implications then from everything that I've laid out here, and I want to give you a few of them.

Number one, this marriage bed is inherently a good thing, given to his creation for procreation and recreation, for the production of children as well as the enjoyment and the unity between spouses. It is a gift, and it is a guard against sexual immorality, which is why Paul says it is better to marry than to burn.

If you burn with passion, then go about the business of finding yourself a spouse and get married. If God brings that to you, don't put off marriage. If you cannot remain focused and fulfill the moral demands that are required of you under the new covenant, then you should get married.

It is a guard against temptation and sexual immorality, and thus Scripture commands spouses not to withhold coitus from one another. 1 Corinthians 7, verse 5,. Stop depriving one another except by agreement for a time so that you may devote yourselves to prayer and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

It is a good thing, a gift given to us to guard us against sexual immorality. A second implication is that sexual union expresses a good thing, namely the one flesh relationship and the mingling of souls.

I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago. It is the mingling of souls. That is what it means to be one flesh. Sexual activity is not just simply the fitting together of body parts. It's not just simply a physical act.

It's not it. It's not merely a material exchange. Physical sexual union inside of a marriage is the mingling and the oneness of souls. It is souls coming face to face with one another. It is souls embracing one another, being vulnerable with one another, and coming together in unity with one another.

Therefore, this is not something that ought to be just engaged in once every year or a couple of years because that is not the purpose of that gift. It expresses a good thing. It is begun by the sexual consummation of marriage vows and it is continued through the nurturing and the flourishing and the continual enjoyment of that intimacy.

A third implication is that it can and should be enjoyed without defilement. It doesn't defile you. It doesn't make your marriage impure. It doesn't pollute your mind. It does not weaken the relationship.

In fact, the opposite is the case. Fourth implication is that the marriage bed does not defile us. Adultery defiles us. Fornication defiles us. Lust defiles us. Our imaginations defile us. Illicit sexual activities outside of the marriage covenant defile us and defile the marriage bed.

But the marriage bed can be and must remain undefiled. It can be undefiled. Even in our culture, it can be undefiled. Defiling activities are mentioned here, adultery and fornication, and this tells us what we are to guard against, sexual immorality.

And now we want to talk about some of the threats. What are the things that threaten this undefiled marriage bed? And brothers and sisters, I'm going to ask you now to gird up the loins of your mind because we are going to have some frank talk about some frank issues.

So prepare yourself. And if you're not prepared and you're unwilling to prepare yourself, now would be a good time to leave.

Don't leave.

The author mentions here adultery and fornication, but this is not a comprehensive list of the things that threaten the marriage bed. These are two things that threaten the marriage bed, but it's not a comprehensive list.

Anything that is sinful can defile the marriage bed. Anything that is sinful. Fornication and adultery are not the only sinful things that can defile a marriage coitus relationship. Sin defiles it, and there are many sins that can pollute and taint the marriage bed and affect it negatively, turning it into something that it should not be.

And I'm going to give you a couple of them, and quickly, and I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this because the author does not spend any time on this, but just in order to get you to think outside of the box as to the other things that can affect our marriage bed, I'm going to give you a couple of examples.

Number one, selfishness. To approach the marriage bed selfishly, without concern for your spouse, without concern for how to serve, love, cherish, care for, or benefit the other person, to care only for your own gratification and your own enjoyment and not the delight of your spouse, that kind of self-centeredness, self-seeking, and self-gratification have no place at all in a physical relationship, which is the act and the expression of mutual love, mutual enjoyment, mutual service, and mutual affection.

It is not a one-way street. And if it is a one-way street for somebody who is married, something is broken, and you need to figure out what it is and fix it. Second is the misuse or abuse of sex within marriage.

To use sex against your spouse as a bargaining chip, as a leverage, as a reward for good behavior, as a way of getting something for yourself, to hold it over them, is to take something that is precious in the sight of God, given as His gift to you, and it is to wield it as a weapon against your covenant partner.

Your covenant partner is not an enemy to be conquered or a hostile enemy to be negotiated with. Your covenant partner is your partner. Most marriage conflict comes because rather than facing the same direction and seeing themselves as partners, the marriage partners see themselves in competition with one another or as enemies to be bested.

Third is sexual immorality, both physical and mental. Fornication and adultery is what the author mentions here, and both of these defile the marriage bed. Obviously, physical infidelity defiles the marriage bed.

An affair is an act of betrayal and immorality and unfaithfulness. It is to break the vow that is made in the presence of God and to bring an illicit union into a marriage relationship. That violates the marriage bed.

Physical fornication and physical adultery are not the only ways that you bring others into your relationship. There is also mental and emotional and spiritual unfaithfulness that also taint the marriage bed.

All of these things are made possible and readily available to us because of the ubiquitous access that we have to pornography, which is a scourge to our society. And I will tell you something, we have not yet even begun to see the effects of this upon a culture.

We've not even begun to see the effects of it, not even started to see that. I'm old enough to remember when you didn't have an Internet and your Internet was beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, was that sound.

You couldn't access anything but a local bulletin board to try and arrange to have lunch with somebody. And now we carry the entire world and everything that is produced for us on video in the palm of our hands with ready access to every server on the planet.