Duty in Marriage

Transcript

GR 1317
02-19-06
Duty in Marriage
I Corinthians 7:1-5
Gil Rugh

We're studying the book of I Corinthians together, and we're ready for chapter 7, so turn in your Bible to I Corinthians 7. We come to a change in focus in the epistle. Through the first six chapters of I Corinthians Paul has been dealing with matters that were brought to his attention by others. Different people that had contact and were part of the church at Corinth had brought Paul reports about matters that needed to be addressed, and so Paul does that in the first six chapters. Look in chapter 1 verse 11, for I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you. So some from the family of Chloe had brought a report about the conflict and quarrels that were taking place in the church at Corinth. In chapter 5 verse 1, it is actually reported that there is immorality among you. So again Paul has heard reports of immorality being practiced in the church at Corinth so he addresses that issue and gives his instructions.

Now with chapter 7 Paul is going to turn his attention to responding to questions that the Corinthian church has written to him asking about. So you'll note chapter 7 begins, now concerning the things about which you wrote. So the Corinthian church had written Paul a letter and in that letter they had raised certain questions that they wanted him to address. So with chapter 7 he begins to address the questions that they raised in their letter. And there'll be a number of topics that he covers through the rest of this letter, we'll note them as we move along. The issue in chapter 7 is the subject of marriage. There are a variety of issues related to marriage that he'll touch on in chapter 7. He's going to talk about sex in marriage, the issue of marriage to an unbeliever, the impact of salvation on the matter of marrying or not marrying, the pros and cons of the single life. These are matters that will be dealt with in chapter 7.

Now let me note before we go any further that chapter 7 is not a complete picture of marriage. It's not the biblical theology of marriage, nor is it all Paul would have to say or other biblical writers have to say about marriage. What Paul says in chapter 7 about marriage relates to the questions that the Corinthian church has raised with Paul. And I want you to be clear on that because the first part of chapter 7 talks about sex in marriage. And it sometimes happens that when we deal with a subject like this people will say, well you know you didn't really cover the subject, because you didn't talk about love, you didn't talk about companionship, you didn't talk about other reasons that God gives for marriage. No, because we're talking about chapter 7 and Paul is only concerned to address matters that the Corinthians have indicated that they need help with in chapter 7. So keep that in mind. We'll not be talking about a number of things that are important in marriage, but we'll be limiting our discussion to those things that are found in chapter 7. And the things found in chapter 7 are very important in understanding God's plan for marriage. But they are not all God has to say on the subject of marriage.

Paul has led into this by laying the foundation for the comments and instructions he gave in chapters 5-6. In chapter 5, remember, verse 1 he said, it is actually reported that there is immorality among you. So chapter 5 was dealing with the matter of a specific case of immorality in the church at Corinth. In chapter 6 verses 9-20 he dealt with the matter of immorality and demonstrated how it is totally out of character for a believer to be involved in immorality. And he reminded them in verse 13, the last part of the verse, the body is not for immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. And our bodies are members of Christ, so verse 18 says, flee immorality. And he closes the chapter by reminding us that our bodies belong to the Spirit of God as His dwelling place. We have been bought with a price. Ultimately these bodies are not ours, they are His by purchase and we are to glorify Him.

So the subject of immorality has been on Paul's mind and he's heard things about immorality in the church. Now the church at Corinth writes and asks him about the whole issue of sex and sex in marriage. And in verse 2 of chapter 7 Paul says, but because of immorality, same word that he used in chapter 5 verse 1, same word that he used in verse 18 of chapter 6 when he said, flee immorality. So he has prepared the way for beginning to answer their specific questions by matters that he has addressed. And he's led into this issue of immorality. And what he really does in the first part of chapter 7 is give a clear presentation of God's plan for satisfying the sexual desires of a man and a woman within God's established and ordained plan of marriage. Paul again will develop the issue of sex in marriage, then he's going to talk about celibacy and he'll talk about his own role as a single person and give us somewhat of a balanced picture on these matters, but not a complete picture as I have noted.

Look in chapter 7 verse 1, now concerning the things about which you wrote. And the only knowledge we have of these things is what Paul refers to. Now there are not extensive quotes from their letter. We are sometimes not sure whether he is quoting a portion of their letter or he is expressing something on his own. But we do know the subject matter was raised by the Corinthians. And he is addressing their concerns and questions. It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Now some would say this is a quote from the Corinthian letter. Concerning the things about which you wrote, and what they wrote about was it is good for a man not to touch a woman. Others would say this is Paul's summary response to the issue they raised. Either way we will come to the same point. Paul is addressing the matter of a sexual relationship. That expression to touch was a common euphemism in Paul's day, particularly among the Jews, for sexual intercourse. It is good for a man and a woman not to have a sexual relationship. Now whether the Corinthians are offering that for Paul's response or Paul is giving it as a general statement, the rest of the chapter falls together either way. Paul will talk about the advantage, in verse 7, of a celibate life. He'll talk about that at the end of the chapter where if you have a choice there is advantage to remaining single. So that is there, but he'll be clear that the celibate, single, life is not for everyone. And it definitely is not an option within the bounds or context of marriage.

It is good for a man not to touch a woman, not to have a sexual relationship with a woman. He's going to talk mutually here, even though he addresses it a man not to touc a woman, because the man is the initiator. But his concern through this section will be to demonstrate that it is a mutual relationship. And within marriage sex is to be mutually satisfying for both the husband and the wife.

It is good for a man not to touch a woman but because of immoralities each man is to have his own wife and each woman is to have her own husband. That word immorality, immoralities plural here. It's the same word that I've drawn your attention to in chapter 5 and in chapter 6. Here it's in the plural, so all kinds of immorality, any kind of sexual activity outside of marriage could be included here. Because of the problem of immoralities. He's dealt with a case of incest in chapter 5, he's dealt with a general issue, those who might visit prostitutes in chapter 6 and other kinds of immorality as he mentioned in verse 9 of chapter 6—fornicating, adultery, effeminate, homosexuals. So because of the prevalence and prominence of immorality and the danger of falling into immorality, each man is to have his own wife and each woman is to have her own husband. God's plan is for the man and the woman to find sexual fulfillment and satisfaction within the marriage relationship. Now this means that satisfying the sexual desires outside of marriage is contrary to God's plan and it is sin. As Paul will make clear in further elaboration, it also means not to have a healthy sexually fulfilling relationship within marriage is also contrary to God's plan. I realize there may be special cases of physical impairment and so on, but Paul is dealing with the general plan of God and the general provision of God for the fulfillment of sexual desires.

Marriage is God's plan for enjoying a sexually fulfilling relationship. Okay, amen, let's move on. But this is absolutely crucial. Something is wrong. Why is the issue of immorality when they take polls about the same percentage wise within the professing church of Jesus Christ as outside? When God has established a beautiful plan for satisfying and fulfilling the sexual desires and enjoying great pleasure in the marriage relationship. It's because believers are ignoring what God says, and anytime we ignore or reject what God says we end up in the problems God says we will have. Sin, immorality. Now sex is not the only reason for marriage, even though we're not going to be talking about other reasons today. You understand, I understand that. But sex is one of the only things you cannot find outside of marriage and still be within the will of God. There is companionship and closeness and so on in marriage, but you can have close friends and companions and so on outside of marriage. You cannot have sex in any way outside of marriage with another person and be within the will of God.

What seems to have happened at Corinth is what happens today in some people's minds. You know the world takes sex and does vile things and we begin to think of sex as something evil, polluting. It's maybe necessary in marriage, and how else are you going to have children unless you have sex, and there probably is a certain amount of it that you just have to do. But that's not God's approach and we understand that what the world does with sex is wrong, it is sin. But God intended sex from the beginning to be pleasurable and satisfying and enjoyable within the marriage context.

Go back to Genesis 2, and we're not going to do an elaboration of Genesis 2, but I just want to remind you of the context. Now as most of you are aware, sin does not come into the world until Genesis 3. In Genesis 3 Adam and Eve rebel against God and fall into sin and sin corrupts the race. But in Genesis 2:18 God said, it is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him. Then down in verse 23 the man said, this is now bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Now note this, verse 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 you remember in I Corinthians 6:16 Paul quoted verse 24 as to why it is so wrong for a man and a woman who are not married to each other to have a sexual relationship, because they are joined as one in an immoral relationship. So it was God's plan from the beginning that the oneness established in marriage be expressed physically. And I stress this because I want you to understand that the sexual relationship in marriage is not a result of the fall. It was part of what God planned. Adam and Eve would have been enjoying the pleasures of a sexual relationship together if sin had never entered the picture. In fact, their enjoyment, of course, would have been much greater because it would not have been tainted by the impact of the fall.

All right, come back to I Corinthians 7, and you may want to note verse 16 of chapter 6 where he says, the two shall become one flesh, as why you cannot join in a sexual relationship outside of marriage. It is a complete violation of God's ordained plan that you be joined together as one in a sexual bond within marriage and only within marriage. Because of immorality each man is to have his own wife, each woman is to have her own husband. You'll note the mutuality there. The woman was not provided for the man's pleasure, period. The woman was provided, in this context, for the man's pleasure and the man was provided for the woman's pleasure.

Verse 3, the husband must fulfill his duty, present imperative, command given in the present tense. This is constant obligation, requirement. He must be fulfilling his duty to his wife. Likewise, also, the wife to her husband. When you enter into a marriage relationship you have incurred obligations and responsibilities. One of the news magazines on the newsstand this week has the cover story on sex. I think it is Sex among the Baby Boomers, who are getting older. And as they interview, the single life has gone up tremendously, those who are single in this age group, even though we're dealing with some older people. And a number of these are comfortable being single and as they are interviewed they say, one of the things they don't want, they don't want the commitment that a marriage involves, they don't want the responsibilities that marriage requires. Now they still want the sexual fulfillment and so they find it outside of marriage. But it is true, when you entered into a marriage relationship, you entered into an obligation, an obligation that God has established. The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and the wife to her husband. Both men and women have sexual desires, sexual needs. It is the husband's responsibility to see that his wife's sexual desires and needs are properly fulfilled. And it is the wife's duty to see that her husband's are fulfilled. His duty, his obligation.

Now things stay the same. We talk about immorality and the world has been immoral all along the way, and it is immoral today, it was immoral in Paul's day. And there are people who react to that. Even unbelievers who begin to see sex as dirty and their reaction is to think a celibate life is more holy. The Roman Catholic Church tried to require celibacy, we'll get into celibacy in a future study, of its priests and it doesn't work because it is not God's plan, it is man's plan. And if we're not careful, we as believers begin to think it is more spiritual.............. Think about it, my wife and I, we don't have to have satisfaction of those base desires of sex. I mean just look around, how polluting sexual activity is and how vile it can be. Wouldn't it be much better if we just agreed to devote ourselves to the Lord and realize our bodies belong to Him, not each other. And so we don't need to satisfy these desires because we find all of our satisfaction in the Lord. That's a lie from the devil, it's not truth from the Bible. In fact, if you're going to honor the fact that your body belongs to the Lord, you must do with your body what God says you must do. And you see the command in verse 3. The husband and the wife must fulfill their duty to one another. But we can build up some kind of pious thinking that it's more holy, more spiritual, and then we'll say about people who make that decision, I just admire their commitment, I admire their dedication. We'll talk about the celibate life and it is a high calling and it is better in some ways that Paul will specify. But it is not God's plan for the majority of us. And for us it is not better, it is a disaster. And within marriage, if you are not sexually satisfying your partner and fulfilling them to the best of your ability, you are not carrying out God's plan. The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband.

Let me read you something from the day. Josephus and Philo, Josephus the Jewish historian and Philo the Jewish philosopher. Both lived in New Testament times. Philo died in 45 A.D., Josephus died around 100 A.D. So you see they were in that first century, New Testament times. One writer puts it this way. Paul recognizes that women have sexual needs and rights as well as men. But what is also striking about Paul's remarks about sex within marriage, particularly when compared to those of Philo and Josephus is what he omits. He makes no mention of procreation. Paul doesn't get into the idea, the reason you have sex is to have kids. You know what Paul talks about? The reason you have sex is to have fun, pleasure, enjoyment. Does that mean having sex is not for having kids? Fine, but that's not the only reason for sex. But there were some people who taught that, Josephus did. Josephus said, the law recognizes no sexual connections except the natural union of a man and a wife and that only for the procreation of children. That's not true, but that's what he taught.

Philo sneers that when married partners have intercourse for pleasure instead of for procreation, they are like pigs and goats. In other words, we've reduced ourselves to just basic acting like animals. That means if you aren't focused on the reason for having sex is for having children, then you're no better than the pigs and the goats. But you know, the Bible indicates that having sex for pleasure is part of God's provision in marriage.

Come back to Proverbs 5. And the opening chapters of Proverbs are giving instructions to a son and warning him about the danger of immoral behavior. And note what he says in verse 15, picturesquely done here but it's clear. Drink water from your own cistern, fresh water from your own well. Should your springs be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets, let them be yours alone. Not for strangers with you. Now listen to this, let your fountain be blessed and rejoice in the wife of your youth. As a loving hind and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times. And I love this expression, be exhilarated, literally intoxicated, with her love. For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress and embrace the bosom of a foreigner? For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord and He watches all his paths. Now note verse 21, you don't want to be involved in immorality because it is contrary to the will of God and He is watching. But it is wonderful to be intoxicated with your wife, and you can't get enough of her breasts. And God is watching, and that is His will. He's talking about pleasure. We think, men have a breast fixation, when will they get over it? But isn't that what verse 19 says? Not just when she is young, but she is the wife of my youth and she is my wife today. And let her breasts satisfy you at all times. The problem isn't that men have a breast fixation, the problem is sometimes they are not fixated on their wife as wonderful. The wife shouldn't be telling her husband, would you just pay attention to me as a person and not my physical attributes? No, I won't, I want to be biblical.

We allow the abuses of the world to corrupt our thinking and it turns us away from what ought to be the focus. I mean when he says, be intoxicated, be like a drunk man with your love for your wife. I can't get enough of her, she can't get enough of me. This is wonderful. You say, oh, grow up. No, I mean that's talking about pleasure, isn't it? Talking about sort of being out of your mind, what it is to be intoxicated. I mean the problem with this is that it happens outside of marriage. Bread eaten in secret is pleasant and stolen waters are sweet. The book of Proverbs worries about the intoxicating attractions outside of marriage. But they are right in marriage.

Turn over to the Song of Solomon 4. You know God has given us a whole book in the Bible about romantic love. We might call it erotic love, sexual attraction between a husband and a wife, and it is good, it's clear, it is (I don't want to say graphic), but it presents clearly marital sexual love. The reason we don't study it together on Sunday morning is because we have young people and people not married and we don't want to draw out those desires. But we ought to concentrate on it in our marriage. There is a place for it. We say, there is too much emphasis on the physical. I want to say there is not enough emphasis on the physical love in marriage. There is too much emphasis on the physical outside of marriage, but you know it's all right to be physically attracted to your husband, to your wife.

Look at chapter 4 of Song of Solomon. How beautiful you are, my darling, how beautiful you are. Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats that have descended from Mt. Gilead. Get over it. No, you are beautiful, I can't get enough of you. Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes which have come up from their washing, all of which bear twins. Not one of them has lost her young. In other words, you have all your teeth. Be thankful for the little things. Your lips are like a scarlet thread, your mouth is lovely. I mean this guy has a physical fixation. Verse 4, your neck is like the tower of David. You know where he's going. Verse 5, your two breasts are like two fawns. I mean, he's enthralled with her. Does that mean, well, I don't want my husband to read this, I don't look like this.

Well that's all right, come over and read what she says about him. Let's see, I'm not as familiar with this. Chapter 5 verse 10, my beloved is dazzling and rudy, outstanding among ten thousand. His head is like pure gold, his locks are like clusters of dates, black as a raven. His eyes are like doves, his cheeks are like a bed of balsam, his hands are rods of gold, his abdomen carved ivory, legs pillars of alabaster. You mean those spindly things you're walking on? No, there is the attraction. That doesn't mean everyone's wife and everyone's husband is like this. But we say, oh you shouldn't have those kind of physical................... I find my wife enthrallingly attractive to me and I know she is enthralled with the beauty of my body. I mean, marriage is wonderful, it ought to be, we oughtn't to tire of it. I mean, that's God's plan. The problem is it happens outside marriage and that's not God's plan. And it becomes ugly and vile and defiling. But in marriage it is beautiful, it is God's plan. Young people entering into marriage ought to understand that. And we that have been in marriage for many years ought to still be testifying to the reality of it and the beauty of it.

Come back to I Corinthians 7. We're not done. Verse 3, the husband is responsible for fulfilling the sexual needs and desires of his wife, the wife is responsible to her husband in the same way. Note verse 4, the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Now that's in the context of chapter 6 verses19-20, you are not your own, glorify God in your body. And now part of God's plan is for a mutually satisfying physical, sexual relationship in marriage. I don't have authority over my own body, I lost that when I entered into marriage. My wife lost it when she entered into marriage. Now note, the emphasis is not on me becoming aware of my wife's responsibility is to satisfy my desires and needs. No, my occupation is in what? Satisfying her desires and needs. She has authority over my body, and vice versa. The wife does not have authority, acousia. It's the common word to be in authority. So you do, when you get married, you enter into obligations, responsibilities that God has established. And this is one of the key areas.

We wonder why immorality is so prevalent, even among believers today. Well, are we following the Word of God on this matter? I mean, if not, what did Paul say? Chapter 7 verse 2, because of immoralities, let each of you have his own wife, her own husband. And now the authority of my body is to be used for my wife's pleasure, my wife's body for my pleasure. She has authority over my body to that end, I have authority over her body to that end. You know we put restraints on one another and we think, well,.................. We're free to do whatever we enjoy within marriage. It's not wrong, it's not sinful. We say well I don't know. If it gives my spouse pleasure, why wouldn't I do it? I mean, that's what my body is for, that's what her body is for. We put these restraints on and we end up making up marital love and the physical expression of marital love less interesting, less fulfilling, less satisfying. That's where we can take all the restraints off, in our marriage relationship. It ought not to be, why would she want to do that, why would he want to do that? Well read the Song of Solomon. You know you get the flights of fancy, that they're fulfilling in their relationship together as they do whatever to enjoy one another to the fullest. That's part of what God planned, that we would enjoy in marriage.

Verse 5, stop depriving one another. Now this is another present tense command. It would indicate that some in the Corinthian church had taken the statement in verse 1, it is good for a man not to touch a woman, and they were trying to apply it in marriage here. And there are all kinds of problems and some of these as he'll deal with later, may have been married to an unbeliever. Now I'm going to take that body which has been joined to Christ and join it to an unbeliever even though we're married to one another. That seems to me to be defiling. And besides the whole sexual thing, and all you have to do is look around and see how polluted our society is with all the vileness and sexual things that are going on. And I just think I would be more pure and more holy. And we're back to what I talked about earlier. So wouldn't it be better, even in marriage, if we abstain. We don't have to do that. We can discipline our bodies and bring it into subjection and demonstrate that our commitment to the Lord is total. Wrong. Stop depriving one another, stop that kind of practice. It's a command given.

Except. There may be a time when you're going to take a break. Stop depriving one another except by agreement. I can't decide and tell my wife, you know I've decided we're not going to have sex for a while because I'm going to concentrate on prayer. And she can't tell me that. There must be an agreement for a time so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. We get the idea that Paul is contemplating, here, under the direction of the Spirit, a rather active sexual relationship between a husband and a wife, don't you? When you have to sit down and say, can we talk for a moment? I'd like to concentrate on prayer. What do you think if we take a break from our sexual activity for just a time here to devote ourselves to prayer? Now be careful, because the Bible does say, pray without ceasing. So since I pray without ceasing and sex could be a distraction, that's why we don't have sex. Wait a minute, that would be wrong. We pray without ceasing and that would indicate here that there may be something of a particular, special nature that comes up that a couple agrees we're going to concentrate on praying and so we'll be not allowing our attention to get diverted.

Stop depriving one another except by agreement for a time so that you may devote yourselves to prayer and come together again. Come together again. That again is expressed in a way that would imply a command. Don't let this drag out. Now I don't like to think of the number of couples that have gotten into trouble morally because they haven't taken these instructions seriously. And sometimes you deal with a couple you want to know, what's your sex life? Well you know my job is so hectic and so demanding, with the kids and the family and with this and with that.............. In other words, you found reasons not to do what God says is a priority. And you end up with shattered lives. We say, what happened? You didn't do what was biblical. You know if you were having a regular sexually satisfying relationship with your spouse you won't have energies to be chasing around other places. You don't think I'm telling you the truth? Here's a test. Have sex together three times a day for the next month. Find out how interested you are in anyone else. I have my hands more than full here, I just don't think I have any energy for anything else.

I mean that's basically what he says here, because you know what happens, the end of verse 5. Come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. He doesn't say draw upon God's provision for your self-control. Now there may be times, there may be separations that you have no control over. Husbands sent overseas to war or whatever. Then God's grace is sufficient. But God's grace is not sufficient for me to be rebellious, and that's where we get into trouble. Well for whatever reason, you know, with my job, the kids.............. You know it just seems like the weeks go by and............... Well, you just are saying the devil has worked in such a way to keep me from obeying the scripture and we think we got by with it because nothing happens. And then when he has lured us far enough down the road he closes the trap and all of a sudden our vulnerability is exposed and we're in a situation we never planned for. But we set ourselves up by being disobedient to the Word. Well I didn't intend that, well I wasn't planning that. But you weren't doing what God said. I mean, am I satisfying my wife and doing what God says in bringing her the physical pleasure that will be fulfilling and satisfying and vice versa? It seems like such a simple answer. I'm not excusing immorality and the responsibility we have for ourselves, but I am saying God tells us Satan will tempt us in this area and it's serious enough you have to have an agreement to withhold sex from one another by agreement for a time and then you get back together again. I daresay if we take this to account in our marriage relationships in this church, we would resolve most of the problem of immorality. I mean, just think, the satisfaction is there. You know, it's like eating, and when you're hungry........... Some of you diet, and you get on this diet and decide you're not going to eat. What happens? It seems like you cross a line and all of a sudden there is something available to eat and you're stuffing it in, can't get enough of it. And I'm all done after two bags of potato chips, four brownies and four sodas and I think, what did I do? I don't know, I was doing so well. But I wasn't. All of a sudden I think I'm doing all right, we haven't had sex for a couple of weeks and that's all right, I have other interests. And all of a sudden somebody comes along and there I go. I mean God is always right, what He says is always true.

Because of immoralities each of you should have your own wife and each of you her own husband. That's the general plan. And if you don't take seriously the fulfilling of these responsibilities of making them a priority........... When I was in Bible College I was dating Marilyn and she was being overwhelmed with passion for my body as I remember it. So we're going to get married, I decided it's time to get married. And yet the school had a rule, if you get married before you're a senior, you're out. And I remember being told by well-meaning men, you will never be in the ministry, you will never finish school, you're done. You've put marriage before............. I said, I believe marriage is God's will for me. Well, here I am. I could set other things aside, the schooling, the job, all of that and do what God said, but if I become immoral would I be here preaching to you today? I mean, we get all turned around. We need to be careful about this as parents. Parents want their kids to put off marriage so they get done with school, so they get a good job, so they do this or do that. They destroy their kids by telling them to be unbiblical. I mean, there are priorities set and so, get married. Now that I'm married I have a responsibility, my wife comes first and she continues to come first and we had kids, but they never replaced my wife and they were never to replace me for my wife because the kids are gone now. You know what? We still have each other. They have their own spouses that they are responsible to. We need to be careful that we decide the Bible will direct us. And our kids come and say, you know I think I should get married, we oughtn't to give them a lecture on the advantage of finishing school first. We ought to say, well, do you have the desire for sexual fulfillment? Yes I do. Then you're right, you should get married. Well what about how much money they'll make? Would you rather have an immoral rich person for a son or a daughter, or a moral poor person, if those are the only choices? They're not, but let's go on that. What are we talking about? I mean, we read these passages, we study it, then we go on blithely because we think we have a better plan, and let's do it this way, and it will work here and we'll have the best of both worlds. Because then when you're 35 and you do get married, you'll be well established and you'll money and you'll have education and then you'll be able to enjoy life.

You know, you don't have a better plan than God does. God's plan is always best. Satan will tempt you because of your lack of self-control. In other words, God has not made provision for you to function the normal course within marriage as a celibate person. That's just not His plan. So don't think you can open the door to Satan and stand. It's a beautiful plan, why would I want to fight it, why would I want to resist it.

Turn over to I Thessalonians 4. We read this in connection with our study in chapter 6, so I just want to read it to you again. Verse 3, for this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you knows how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, your own body in sanctification and honor. In other words, I have control over my body and use it properly. Not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God, let no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity but in sanctification. So he who rejects this is not rejecting men, but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you. Pretty blunt. You don't obey God in this point, you're not rejecting what man says, you're rejecting what God says. Part of what I understand in light of the Word of God, how to possess my body in sanctification and honor is God's plan for marriage, which we just read. And so I don't make provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. I don't provide occasion for the devil to tempt because I am completely fulfilled and satisfied in my sexual relationship with my wife, and she is being completely fulfilled and satisfied by me in that relationship.

Turn back to Ecclesiastes 9:9 and we're done. Enjoy life with the woman whom you love, all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun. For this is your reward in life and in your toil and what you have labored under the sun. That marriage relationship is God's blessing. Again, we'll talk about His provision for the single life, but enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life, your life of vanity which He has given you under the sun. This is your reward in life, your toil. God intends us to enjoy one another, and that includes the sexual enjoyment and satisfaction.

Let me say something to the young people. You understand the truth of this scripture and you ought to consider. It's not an excuse that I don't want responsibility, I don't want to be tied down. That's the way the world functions and they go around having their sexual fulfillment and satisfaction outside of marriage. You can never experience God's blessing and true enjoyment that God intends apart from God's plan. And that may mean that you get married earlier. We'll get to that, it's better to marry than to burn. We need to decide what is God's plan and I want to be careful I'm not selfish in this. I have to be honest, otherwise I will end up in a problem of the same kind of immoralities that the world practices.

Marriage is a beautiful plan of God. We ought to enjoy it to the fullest and all that God provides in it and part of that is the physical satisfaction and fulfillment that God has planned for in the marriage relationship.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the simplicity of your Word on this matter, for its clarity. Lord, your Word is clear that you have planned for sexual fulfillment, the satisfying of sexual desires, and that plan is the joining in marriage of a man and a woman. And that within that marriage relationship that they give themselves without restraint to one another for the full satisfaction and enjoyment that sexual pleasure brings in the marriage relationship. How sad that this blessing becomes corrupted and rather than enjoying the fullness of what you have provided for us in marriage, men and women, young people seek to satisfy these desires in other ways to their own ruin. Lord, may we take these matters to heart as young and old alike and be careful to do what you have said so that we possess our bodies in sanctification and honor. We pray in Christ's name, amen.