LESSON 1, VERSE 32:

If the Bible is true, and it is, our current Text is of paramount important. Oh, how it needs to be preached! But it won't!

It's not "politically correct," better yet, not "religiously correct!"

The Verses are not "churchy" enough!

Why, the children would have to be downstairs in their worship service, the teens on a retreat, and the senior saints at Gatlinburg!

No sir, Brother Bagwell. leave this one alone.

But if somebody doesn't preach it, the devil is just going to keep "killing" us in this vital area!

What area?

Sex!

God's invention, you know, sex!

And likely the number one violation of God's moral standards, fornication or adultery!

I'm telling you, there's something about this class of sins tat is unique. The Bible warns against adultery again and again, Old Testament and New.

And folks who get "caught" in this net of deception are not always "bad" people either.

At times, I think, there are even some rather innocent victims, too close to an alluring situation for too long a time!

And then ... that slippery slope we've all heard about!

Too late!

Oh yes, there are people who are "out to get you" in this area. Predatory adulteresses or adulterers. Both sexes involved.

This is the classic "strange woman" of Proverbs. Scripture plainly says they exist. "The adulteress will hunt for the precious life." Proverbs 6:26

And on the male side, "Having eyes full of adultery, that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls." 2nd Peter 2:14

Paul even warns us. "For of this sort are they (masculine gender here) which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts." 2nd Timothy 3:6

There are also people who have tried to live godly lives who, in a moment of weakness, "fall" into this sin.

King David did, and despite what we say, the Lord called him "David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will." Acts 13:22, Wow!

So, I'm thinking, a word of warning might be good for us all!

If you will let me preach it!

It might, though unintended, add to someone's guilt or grief over his ir her sins of the past. Sins already confessed I mean. That's not the goal here. If God has forgiven you, best you can, try to put it behind you too.

But these words might also, hopefully, prayerfully, keep someone from treading the downward path, spiritually at least, to the land of sexual promiscuity. Or at least sensual license, too much liberty!

So, let's listen to God's Word now, Proverbs 6:32-25. And let's ask God to help us. For those of you who just don't need this information ... I just add one short verse. "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." 1st Corinthians 10:12

By the way, if you really don't need this Sermon, say you're 120 years old or something, you do know someone who does need it!

Maybe a typical young person, a relative or a friend's relative.

A frustrated husband or wife. It happens for many reasons.

A lonely Preacher.

A traveling professional person, lots of nights on the road, motel rooms, little accountability.

All these are recipes for potential disaster.

Let's obey Hebrews 3:13 and get started. "Exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."

Amen!

Help us, Lord.

May we see the power of Psalm 119:11 during this Bible Study time! "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

And: "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me." Psalm 19:13

                                                                                     --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 2, VERSE 33:

There are certain "consequences" that accompany the sin of adultery, perhaps as dangerous as any sin committable my mankind.

Our Text, our context really, is primarily addressed to the man. "But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts." Proverbs 6:32-35, filled with masculine pronouns!

The guilty woman is discussed elsewhere. Especially the ones who are on the "prowl." Not so much, I think, the women who are inadvertently taken victim with the "snares" of the devil. Paul's precise word from 2nd Timothy 2:26 is "pagis," a "trap" or even a "noose" literally.

Here is the loose woman, the dangerous vixen. This is a long Passage, but it's required reading for this lesson! "And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner. So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. For the goodman (her husband) is not at home, he is gone a long journey: He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed." Proverbs 7:10-20, Wow!

And Solomon, back when he was living right, immediately wrote, quoting the Lord: "With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death." Proverbs 7:21-27

But, again, that's the woman, at her most dangerous point.

Our Text is for the men.

In any relationship, and this statement is sure going to be politically incorrect and unpopular, the man is to be the initiator! The leader! The picture of Christ! The lady is a type of the Church, a responder, passive and malleable.

If the man will treat the woman right, any woman anywhere, there will be no adultery.

Even when he meets Miss Temptress as described above, he will obey Paul and "flee youthful lusts." 2nd Timothy 2:22

Or like Joseph in Genesis 39:12, in reference to Potiphar's flirtatious wife. "And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out."

He ran!

Meanwhile, back to the man in Proverbs 6:33, today's Verse, notice again the pronoun "he," masculine in gender. "A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away."

Special consequences!

Adultery causes "wounds." The Hebrew word "nega" means anything from "strokes, plagues, diseases, marks, or sores" to "stripes." The verb "naga" means "to strike, to smite, to beat!"

Maybe the married woman's husband beats the tar out of lover-boy here! But, more than likely, it's the Lord doing the whipping!

Then again the wound may be on his soul, his heart, his spirit.

Adultery is a sin that folks just may never fully get over!

It's spiritual ramifications go so deep!

To be unfaithful to one's mate is to destroy the living picture of "Christ and His Church," a picture that all of us married Christians have been commissioned to live.

Sounds deadly serious!

And, not incidentally, "naga" or "wound" is the very first word in the Hebrew Text, for this verse. It is to be emphasized vigorously.

The forbidden fruit might be sweet, for sure ... but is it worth the pain and agony of the beating that is sure to follow?

"A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away."

And that's not all!

"Dishonour" is "qalon," meaning "shame, disgrace, reproach, confusion, ignominy." That last word means "no name," loss of one's good reputation.

The first consequence is probably physical, the wounds. The second is more emotional and psychological and spiritual.

And don't forget that "disoriented" element either. Loosing one's bearings! Like the compass has quit working!

How can you look a woman in the eye when you have so belittled her? When you have destroyed her life? No matter what kind of husband she had? Or has? No wonder there is such "shame."

"Shall get," the verb, is "matzsa," that is, "to find, to attain, to acquire." Whether he wanted them or not, these consequences are coming!

Sooner or later.

"Be sure your sin will find you out." So wrote Moses in Numbers 32:23. And it's the truth.

Then is "reproach." Our whole verse again: "A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away."

This noun is "cherpah," meaning "taunt, scorn, rebuke." We've gone from the physical to the psychological and now to the inter-personal!

Folks talk about adulterers.

Badly so.

They, even if behind their backs, slaughter them verbally.

Fornication is one thing, bad as it is.

Adultery is, apparently, even worse.

Fornication involves a bunch of single people, unattached, acting like animals.

Adultery crushes and splits homes, families, the very God-ordained bonds of matrimony!

It's then not surprising that wounds, dishonour and reproaches follow the perpetrator!

The man who overpowers a married lady.

'Wiped away" is what God does to our sins, because of Calvary. I'll underline it in Isaiah 44:22. It's beautiful there. "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee." That's God talking!

But the adulterer's record will never be "wiped away!" It's "machah," meaning "to obliterate." To exterminate, to abolish!

It's one of the few sins in all the Bible that carries such dire side-effects.

Men, beware!

Women, you too!

The warning is clear.

Sir, when you sin in this area, adultery, no matter how the world has "sanitized" it, invariably ... "A wound and dishonour shall you get; and your reproach shall not be wiped away."

So says the Word of God!

I would not challenge it either.

                                                                                --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

It's downright scary!

LESSON 3, VERSE 34:

In one of its most unusual tactics yet, the Bible is about to warn a sinning man, not about the wrath of God, but about the fierce anger of another person!

A third person!

An offended person!

And he's mad!

Livid with anger, anger God seemingly overlooks, at least for the time being!

This is one more of the many "pitfalls" the adulterer must circumnavigate, if possible!

Watch the Text develop. Only the last sentence is our focus for today. Carefully study the sequence. "But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance." Proverbs 6:32-34.

Don't worry, Verse 35, not showing here, is for tomorrow. I don't plan to forget it.

Now, let me repeat today's verse. "For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance."

Now, who is this man?

Why is he so mad?

I'll tell you who he is.

He's the husband of the woman who was just unfaithful!

He's the groom to the bride who has been involved in this "tryst," this "affair," this, let's call it what God does, this "adulterous" liaison.

Now, remember, the woman may have lured the poor adulterer into this position. Some do.

Then again, the adulterer may have flirted and wooed and infatuated the woman.

The Text just does not tell us.

It implies, I think, that the man bears the majority of the guilt. He's supposed to be the leader, the strong one, the initiator in human relationships anyway.

But either way, if the woman was the seductress or the victim, her husband has found out about the situation!

And he's planning to get even, revenge, maybe even more!

Let's analyze the Verse. God has built more meaning into these words than any Preacher can ever extract. But it's enjoyable trying! We are again today thinking God's thoughts right along with Him. Isn't that great?

"For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance." Proverbs 6:34

The opening word, "for," is a conjunction. It "joins" or "links" this verse to the last verse. It's "kiy" in Hebrew, pronounced "key."

Adultery brings, at least to the man, personal consequences, inner conflicts, Verse 33 ... and also outside dangers, "third person" perils, like the wrath of her husband, Verse 34!

And if some fool has a "fling" with an unmarried girl, a young woman still at home, he might ought to remember that she has a Daddy too!

Some Dads still believe one of their responsibilities is "protecting" their daughters!

Beware!

In our Text God says to the adulterer, to the man who leads a woman to break her marriage vows, "I will punish you! I will wound you! I will scar you forever! You will bear these marks until death!"

But then the Lord adds, "Not only that, her husband will deal with you too! You have stolen his most precious possession! Expect his retribution as well."

"For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance." Proverbs 6:34

Now it's true we are living in a progressively permissive society. Many husbands today might not get all that disturbed. Thousands are likely to have been having their own "affair" on the side anyway. Or if not, they have just been given an "excuse" to go have one!

But, how do you know that?

If you belong to God and fall into this sin, expect exactly what Proverbs 6:32-35 says! You likely will have "picked" the wife of the most jealous man in the entire county, maybe the whole state!

God oversees such details I think.

The world calls such things "fate" or "luck," but the old Puritans called it "providence!" God's oversight, foresight really!

I can't get started on this Verse, can I?

I can't quit preaching long enough!

I guess when you've been married to a precious wife 44+ years, like I was to Sister Norma, you just don't understand unfaithful behavior.

Although none of us, not me or you, is above it! Not on our own! "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Paul is certainly right, 1st Corinthians 10:12.

"Jealousy," spelled "qinah," means "zeal, envy, ardour, passion," and even "anger" at times. Steal some men's money and they go berserk. Tamper with other men's families and you've crossed the line!

Now this husband-love of his may be a bit hypocritical. He may not in fact care all that much about his wife in the first place. Maybe he's just an angry man, always looking for someone to "beat up!" Either way, Mr. Adulterer, you've sure given him a prime "target," yourself!

I'm thinking if she had really felt loved and secure and special and "precious," she would have never looked at another man anyway!

But, whatever, here he comes!

And he's mad!

How mad?

Look at that word "rage" to see!

"For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance." Proverbs 6:34

It's spelled "cheman" and is used 124 times in Scripture, not a rare word. It means "hot!" Filled with hot displeasure! It's "wrath" 34 times in the Bible! But get this, it's translated "poison" 6 times in the King James Bible.

That fellow is going to "poison" you, Mr. One-Night-Stand! Or maybe you've been Mr. Pretty-Good-At-Hiding all this, perhaps for weeks or months. I've heard of some "preachers" who have buried affairs for years!

But they always surface, one way or another.

And somebody is going to "get" you!

In addition to the Lord!

This husband will not "spare," either! "Chamal" means "to have pity." It's rendered "to have compassion" 5 more times as well. It's basically the same verb structure used in Deuteronomy 13:9 where the Israelites are "not to spare" idolaters in their midst!

Serious business!

God Almighty, both in the Old testament and the New, sternly prohibits adultery! Probably because the marriage relationship is a "symbol," a "model," a "type" of one's relationship with our Heavenly Father, our eternal Bridegroom! "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you." That's Old Testament, God speaking in Jeremiah 3:14. Then comes Paul, New Testament, 2nd Corinthians 11:2. "For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." That's a wedding scene too!

And "vengeance" is represented by "naqam," meaning "revenge, quarreling, punishment," that kind of an idea anyway.

We generally reap what we sow!

Steal a man's wife, in some ways his very "life!"

And he might come and take away your "life" too!

This whole verse is red-hot or white-hot with intensity.

With reciprocation!

To the last word!

The innocent little noun "day" is spelled "yom," translated "day" 2008 times in the Old testament. Yet it's root meaning is "a time of heat," from the blazing sun no doubt! It's not all that hot at night, but in the daytime, in ancient Israel, it's scorching!

Directly and indirectly!

Patently and latently!

Stay away from the sin of adultery!

Do not touch another man's wife!

Now we have all been warned.

Men, today's culture says the consequences of sexual laxity no longer apply. God's Word says they do!

Whom will you believe?

If you're saved, your very life may depend on the answer!

                                                                                --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 4, VERSE 35:

The last Verse in our Text is powerful.

It "links" to the overall message, a stern warning against the sin of adultery.

Speaking of the compromised woman's husband, that's the adulteress' husband, ishe who has been unfaithful, we are clearly told: "He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts." Proverbs 6:35

He's out to get "blood!"

He can't be placated very easily!

Firstly, "He will not regard any ransom."

The noun "ransom" is "kopher" in Hebrew, a "price, bribe, sum of money, pay-off, buy-out," anything like that.

Although the adulterer was for sale!

And she, his married compatriot, his "partner" in sin, was too! Cheaply bought it appears.

However, her husband's satisfaction is not for sale!

The verb "regard" translates "nasa," sort of the idea of "putting up with something."

He wants revenge, not some kind of buy-out!

Furthermore, "Neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts." He's not going to forget this indiscretion.

"To rest content" is "abah," contextually picturing his implacability. It means "willing," as in "willing to settle" a dispute! Something this jilted husband certainly is not!

Yes, his ranting and raving are of the long-lasting nature!

Isn't this ironic?

This should-have-known-better couple, now having dabbled in extra-marital promiscuity, the very sex act itself, is going to be harassed by an angry mate, hers!

Forget the adulterer's wife!

She might poison him at breakfast tomorrow morning for all I know! Something he just might deserve! But she's not mentioned by God here in our Text.

It's Mr. Unfaithful's lovely little play-thing's husband! He's the one with whom God is threatening lover-boy here!

Yes, the one who is all upset is her legal husband, though rather jealous it appears!

What an outcome!

It's like Bathsheba having that one-night-stand with king David, then coming up pregnant! How many women have tried to have a baby hundreds of times before success came?

But, when God has His great chastening Hand lifted, pregnancies or beatings or murders occur quite easily it seems!

This "adultery" thing sounds a little risky!

That is, if you have ever walked with the Lord!

Her hubby: "He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts." Proverbs 6:35

In the Book of Proverbs "giving gifts" is often a euphemism for some kind of "bribery."

Hey, offended husband?

How 'bout a new bass boat?

He doesn't fish, not this one!

What about a pay-off on your house?

You've moving, eh?

Maybe a new car?

You have a hybrid!

Sir, Mr. Adulterer, Mr. Thief, stealing another man's wife, "Though thou givest many gifts," nothing will satisfy him, ever!

Looks like the sinning couple has an unsolvable situation on their hands!

Somebody's got to pay!

Probably both of them!

Could cost one of them their very life, really!

Plus, they have just committed a sin over which God has also pronounced the death sentence!

I am not advocating that today, not in our times. World population would be too dangerously reduced!

Still, God said: "And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death." Leviticus 20:10

Of course I realize we live in the Age of Grace, too.

But it's not the Age of "Cheap" Grace!

There are still penalties for violating God's premier Symbol for the "Christ and His Church" Relationship.

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing."

Then immediately, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church." Ephesians 5:22-29, there's just no place in this whole lovely paragraph for adultery!

To mar one of God's Types is serious, maybe even deadly serious!

Let us all now be warned!

                                                                                  --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

Paul: "please" wife ... "please" God!

LESSON 5, A REMEDIAL COURSE IN LOVE:

This Lesson is written primarily for the men. Of course, our Text is too! Read it again, watching carefully the first clause. "But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts." Proverbs 6:32-25

The person who commits adultery with a woman is _________, guess what? A man! Even the subsequent pronouns are masculine in gender. "He" that doeth so destroyeth "his" own soul!

Even the woman's "husband" gets into the story, mad as he can be! He is jealous and filled with rage, can't be pacified or bribed either!

Somebody's going to pay!

It's a "male" Text. The poor lady, while obviously guilty to some degree, is hardly discussed. Other portions of Scripture, especially Proverbs again, speak to her.  If she "lured" the adulterer into a trap, shame on her. If he "seduced" her, God will not hold him guiltless!

But no more to the women, not from me. If Sister Norma, my darling wife, were still alive, she could, skillfully using Scripture, write the ladies. With wisdom from above!

Men, back to you.

Men, back to us.

I thought as I slept last night, what are God's "prohibitives" here?

What advice does the Bible give to help avoid the sin of adultery?

And, strange as it may seem, all the Texts I can find deal with a man's love for his own wife, not another man's wife!

The following Verses immediately came to mind. I'll have to discuss them one at a time, over the next two or three Lessons I guess.

Men, we get used to our wives, accustomed to them.

Familiarity breeds some things, too.

Loss of "wonder" is one of them.

A man can have an absolutely lovely wife, and forget that fact as he sees her day after day after day. Sees her at her worst. While cleaning the toilet. While cooking supper on a hot summer evening. While rearing the children.

So, Scripture gives us an example of how not to let that happen. Once, in Ezekiel 24:16 God spoke to the Prophet Ezekiel about the preacher's wife. She was soon to die, apparently from a stroke. Yet, though they had apparently been married for many years, no record existing of their wedding in Ezekiel's 48 chapters, she was to Ezekiel "the desire of his eyes!"

God even called her that, the desire of Ezekiel's eyes!

That means to him she was beautiful!

He "feasted" his eyes on her regularly. The word "desire" means "delectable, delicious, strongly desirous!"

The Prophet, an old preacher at that, kept himself in a state of mind that stayed in "awe" at his wife's beauty!

Wonder of wonders!

Hear me. God has given every man, every married man, that very capability! Those "super-models" so-called, they are not as pretty as those pictures portray! We men are being misled. Those photos are computer enhanced, digitally edited, and otherwise changed to make those woman look all the more lovely.

Our wives do not have, nor would they want, those "tools." They, via God's Hands, are pretty already!

If a man thinks his wife is absolutely gorgeous, he will be much less likely to ever fall into the sin of adultery.

Remember, adultery does not start with an invitation to bed!

Just a smile!

A flirty conversation!

A wink!

Fellows, better do your winking at home!

Ask the Lord to begin to show you (again) the beauty latent in your wife. You must have seen it once! You asked her for that first date! And you proposed! And who could ever forget that first night, after the wedding?

Tell her occasionally how lovely she is!

Make pictures of her.

Keep them with you.

Buy her new clothes as you can.

Go shopping for them with her.

Tell her what looks good on her!

What memories are flooding my mind!

Now here come the tears.

My wife is in Heaven today, prettier than ever!

                                                                              --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

I did not get as many verses to you today as I had planned. Lord willing, more next lesson.

LESSON 6, ANOTHER "SAFEGUARD" AGAINST ADULTERY:

And, as they all do, all God's built-in "adultery repellants," this one again focuses on a man's wife.

Seems that God wants us men to be "ravished" with our wife's very presence. I'll try to explain that in a minute.

But first let me give you the verse. It's just that I must do so a little bit at a time. You will not be able to handle it all at once.

From the wisest man who ever lived, outside of Jesus this is ... to the married men in his kingdom, concerning their wives. "Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well." Proverbs 5:15, which means: "Enjoy the pleasures of your own wife, not those of some other woman!" And in context he is talking about sexual pleasures, too.

Solomon continues: "Let them (these pleasures) be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee." Do not fall in love with some other woman, some 'stranger,' no matter who she is!" Then, "Rejoice with the wife of thy youth." To be glad, to be merry, to party, husband and wife style. We're still talking about physical things now! Then, here it comes, Proverbs 5:19.

Warning: If you have high blood pressure, read no further!

"Let her (your wife) be as the loving hind (a female deer) and pleasant roe (more deer); let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love." There it is. Both the verbs here, "satisfied" and "ravished" are powerful! By the way, that "deer" analogy means "cuddle, play, enjoy, flirt," the husband with the wife! "Satisfied" literally means "made drunk!" Look it up for yourself. And "ravished" means "to stagger, wander, meander, reel," like an intoxicated man walking up the road, or trying to anyway!

I'm telling you, God has given your wife the ability to drive you nearly "out of your mind," really "ecstatic," absolutely, "love-sick!"

When a man has this, why look around at other women? Solomon goes on, too bad he didn't practice what he preached here: "And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?" Why love a stranger and risk be killed by her raging husband? When you can enjoy godly husband-wife love and be in the very center of God's perfect Will!

God does hold us accountable, not only for the way we live, but for the way we love! "For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings." Proverbs 5:21

Yes!

I've just given you a sure cure for adultery!

Men in love with their wives, really head-over-heels in love, do not commit adultery.

Any time adultery occurs, it did not come on suddenly. Things have been disintegrating around the house for a while.

Emotional separation always occurs before physical separation.

And just in case there is a wife still reading these lines, violating all my rules of course, do not be a cold "turkey" in the bedroom!

Love him right back!

Make him glad he married you, no matter how long you've been together!

And for those of you who feel I've crossed the line today, read what Paul said in 1st Corinthians 7:2. "Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."

See that?

"To avoid fornication!"

Enjoy your mate!

And if you still don't get it, at which point I pray you are not married, read Paul's next verse: "Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband."

I rest my case.

God's barrier against adultery!

The Lord has something better ... for the husband and wife who follow His Plan! And it's not even a sin!

Oh yes, this too! "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Hebrews 13:4

"Sex" was God's idea first!

Before the devil got hold of it and perverted it!

                                                                                   --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

"Defraud" not!

"Please" his wife!

Remember those "vows!"

It was a "capital" offense!