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Heb 13:4: "Marriage is honorable in all." I will read this a little differently; I think it is the way you will find it in other translations: "Let marriage be honorable in all things, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." We have been up in the heavenlies; we have been in the Holy of Holies, and we have been enjoying the contemplation of what our portion is in the glory above. (And we may be up there before this day is over!) Now we just drop right down to a subject like this—such an exhortation as this, coming right in the same Book. Remember, there were no chapter divisions in Hebrews when it was written—no chapter divisions. But, just reading right along, we suddenly find ourselves being confronted with a thing like this: "Let marriage be honorable in all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Why is that there? Because God knew what we were. He knew the kind of material we were made of. He knew what the flesh was. He knew the temptations that come along, and He put this warning here.
There is one thing that I want to emphasize: That is, that God does not lower His standards. We are living in a day when standards are going all to pieces. One wonders how far the thing is going to go. And, it is all through the whole nation. From the top echelon, right down thru all the ranks, the same spirit is loose. It is the spirit of, "Let us cast off their bonds." No restraint. "Let us do what we want to do." That is the spirit of today, and there is such a wholesale acquiescence in it that some have become utterly alarmed, if not in despair, over this horrible reversal in standards. I have lived to see tremendous changes (more than some of you younger ones), and it seems as though the end is not here yet. Oh, let us not be deceived. God's standards are as holy as they ever were! "Let marriage be honorable in all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Beloved, God cannot deny Himself. Let God be true and every man a liar!
Notice, it says, "Flee fornication." Remember dear Joseph down there in the house of Potiphar, subjected to the pressure of a temptation that was being forced upon him? It says, he fled. He fled! He ran away—literally got out, and ran away! "Flee fornication." God doesn't temporize. God doesn't change His standard! Let us not be guilty of thinking that just because the standards around the world are sinking daily, that we have any right to lower God's standard one notch. No! "Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."
Heb. 13:8: "Jesus Christ the Same yesterday, and today, and forever." Aren't you thankful that there is something accessible to us that is unchanging and unchangeable? The Same—capital "S." That is one of His titles—"The Same." He is the same blessed Jesus that He was when the dear disciples went up and down the paths of Galilee with Him. The same that was with those two on the way to Emmaus. The same that met Paul on the way to Damascus. The same that led them out to the Mount of Olives, and said farewell to them as He lifted up His pierced hands and bade them goodbye. He is the same up there as our great High Priest, living for us day by day—Jesus, "The Same." He doesn't change! His standards haven't changed, and He wants you and me to recognize the fact that He is just as ready to receive and bless us as He was to bless those in the day when Paul said, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Brethren, it is true! "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain!" That is the standard.