Intro
• We live in a world today that has truly given itself to its lustful desires.
• Think about it, one cannot go a day without being confronted with the sexual lusts of this world.
• When you turn on the TV, good luck finding something to watch that doesn't have scantily clad women or nudity in it.
• Even if those things are missing, then we are confronted with people having any and all kinds of adulterous sex.
• The TV though is just one of the avenues that we are confronted with the sinful sexual desires of our world.
• We find it at the movies, on the internet, ads on billboards/buses, in magazines and newspapers; anywhere you can think of, we are confronted with the sinful sexual desires of this world.
• The message of our society runs against the message of Christianity.
• Our society encourages premarital sex, adulterous affairs, sexual rendezvous; it encourages sex with anyone or anything at anytime.
• Is it any surprise then that Christians have fallen prey to this onslaught of sexual frenzy?
• Remember, if Satan can discredit Christians, then the lost will see them as "just like them."
• And if there is no difference between Christians and Non-Christians, then what's the point of accepting salvation in Jesus Christ?
• That is exactly where we are as a society and as Christians today.
• As Christians, we are called to live in obedience to God through His Son Jesus Christ but many are following after their own sexual desires.
• One of the ways that we can obey God, is by obeying His command to save ourselves sexually for marriage.
• For many years, I have led youth groups through True Love Waits and many have followed through with making a commitment to remain sexually pure until marriage.
• I have had some that would not commit because they were brokenhearted over already losing their virginity, some thought they were too cool to make such a commitment and some didn't commit because they wanted to have sex. --> Pray for our Youth
• True Love Waits is not just a program to keep youth from having premarital sex; it is a commitment that all Christians should make!
• Today we will see that in a relationship, we have a #1 Desire For One Another but we must #2 Resist Sexual Temptation and #3 Protect Our Virginity.
• Prayer
#1 Desire For One Another
• Song of Songs 2:8-14
• We have already seen that this man and woman have a joyful love for one another and so it is natural for this love to deepen in love into a desire for one another.
• She had already warned the chorus of Jerusalem girls in v7 to "not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time."
• She was saying this as a warning to them but it was advice that she would have to listen to herself.
• In the very next verse, v8, we find that she is presumably home and in her own room when she hears her love approaching and then sees him approaching as well (Listen; look).
• In v7 she challenged the chorus of Jerusalem girls "by the gazelles and wild does" and by doing so she is painting a picture of the female as being beautiful, vigorous and sexually active.
• She now applies similar terminology to the man in v9, "gazelle or young stag"; the same meaning applies to him as well.
• The picture that we get in v9 and v10 is that the man has come to the window of her room at night and possibly act on their desire for one another. "Come away, my beautiful one" v10
• In the ancient near east, the windows of a home were covered with lattice work much like shutters.
• This lattice work was closer together than some of ours today; It blocked out the sunshine but allowed air to flow through the home.
• What we have here is her standing on one side of the lattice work in her room while her love is "behind the wall, gazing through the window" v9
• He likens their relationship to the season of spring.
• In springtime, everything is fresh and new; the dullness of winter gives way to the vivid colors and life of spring.
• In the same way, when two people fall in love, it is springtime for them; everything in life seems fresh and new; life is full and vivid.
• One can almost picture the intensity between these two as they talked lovingly through the window's lattice work; their desire is strong.
• Even though their desire is strong and they are only separated by a window, the might as well be miles apart.
• He likens her to being in "the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff."
• What he means is that she is inaccessible.
• It is very natural for a man and a woman in a relationship to have a desire for one another; God made man and woman for each other
• Unnatural Desires - Romans 1:24-28; Matt 19:4-6
• The question that faced this man and woman and the question we all still face today is what will we do with these desires.
#2 Resist Sexual Temptation
• Song of Songs 2:15-17
• It is very obvious that the man and the woman have a strong desire for one another as expressed in this exchange through the window.
• It would have been very easy at this point for the woman to just open the window and for them to give into their desires for each other.
• v15 - Things were getting intense through the window and if left unchecked, they would have given into sin.
• However, the woman and the man do not give into their desires but they heed her call to "catch the foxes for us."
• She states that their "vineyards", meaning their bodies, were in full bloom, meaning that they were ready to enjoy each other sexually, & so she declared that the little foxes that would ruin the vineyards needed to be caught; and not a moment too soon!
• What does it mean "to catch the foxes"? Foxes could mean anything that is harmful to their relationship, in this case, the danger of premarital sex.
• It means that their desire for each other needs to be checked and cooled as they await their wedding night.
• If they were to have sex now, it would ruin their love; knowing this one can see where is takes teamwork in order to resist sexual temptation.
• Each person must work for the other to "catch the foxes."
• Foxes may seem like cute and innocent little creatures but they can be a nuisance especially if you have chickens or a garden
• Foxes truly are a good symbol for sin because, like the fox, sin can often times look innocent; just a little sin, no big deal, Won't hurt anyone
• Those "little" sins are just a bad as any "big" sin and just like the fox eating your chickens or digging in your garden, sin will ruin your vineyard.
• Their vineyards were in "bloom"; the fruit of their vineyards needed to be enjoyed on their wedding night and not devoured by little foxes.
• We should all look to catch the little foxes in our life: control of our eyes, premarital sex, cohabitation, pornography - any form of adultery.
• The woman's call helps them resist sexual temptation but she still waits for him and desires him but only at the appropriate time.
• In v16 she knows that her love is hers and she declares that she belongs to him; they exclusively belong to each other and no one else.
• Because of this, she knows that she doesn't have to have premarital sex with him in order for him to love her; in order to keep him.
• She does however look forward to the day that soon approaching that they could celebrate in physical love with each other as described in v17.
• In order for us to resist sexual temptation, we must be careful to look out for the little foxes in our lives.
• We must also be careful not to give ourselves to someone in order to prove our love or to keep them.
#3 Protect Our Virginity
• Song of Songs 3:1-5
• After this encounter at the window, after the man had left, she finds herself in bed thinking about her sexual desires and fears.
• This portion of scripture is her reflection upon her anxiety as she was approaching the time in which she would lose her virginity.
• In Ancient Israel, a woman must prove, upon penalty of death, that a woman was a virgin at the time that she got married.
• Deuteronomy 22:13-17: Proof was the sheets; given to parents
• This was just one reason that could lead this woman to have a great deal of emotional anxiety as she approached her wedding night.
• Her desire is for her man; she desires greatly to be with him (1-2)
• She desires him but she is restrained by the barrier of virginity (v3)
• In this scripture the city (v2) refers to herself and the guards refer to her virginity (v3) - No answer from the guards.
• She desires to take him to her "mother's house" which represents the womb; she is strengthened by the fact that her mother has gone through these very same emotions and by doing so, it resulted in her being born.
• She has her anxieties about losing her virginity but at the same time she is determined to take the man to herself (v4).
• This portion of scripture ends with the exact words of 2:7 to not "stir up love until the appropriate time."
• Would our society be any different today if we approached losing our virginity with as much seriousness as this woman? Ancient Israel?
• Our society ridicules people for being a virgin instead of celebrating the fact that someone has chosen to save themselves for marriage.
• Our society is all too willing to trample upon virginity and declare that there is something wrong and abnormal with virgins.
• Never, ever let someone look down on you because you are a virgin, but celebrated your purity for God.
Conclusion
• Today, we have seen in a relationship, we have a #1 Desire For One Another but we must #2 Resist Sexual Temptation and #3 Protect Our Virginity.
• Christ
o Let us know that in a relationship, desire between a man and a woman is perfectly normal; But the challenge is what we do with that desire.
o Let us be challenged to catch all the little foxes and resist sexual temptations.
o Let us be challenged to hold on to our virginity until marriage and not be ashamed of it.
o Already lost virginity? God forgives, start again
