He will die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.  Proverbs 5:23

Moral and sexual sanity has as its ultimate goal that we experience the fullness of God's life - and that we stay on a path that will bless and keep us safe.  The father reminds his son of these things as he closes his teaching time with him. 

The sexually and morally insane will not listen to instruction.  They will walk into things that will eventually kill them because they will not listen to those who seek to teach them God's way in life.  I know that some roll their eyes when I reiterate this, but to be sexually promiscuous in our day is to roll the dice as to your health in the future.  Our world is unfortunately a cesspool of sexually transmitted diseases.  The one sure way to be safe in regard to these infections is to abstain from sexual activity before marriage, and then be sexually pure and faithful in marriage.  Anything other than these two choices will place us in aposition of danger when it comes to getting a sexually transmitted disease.  Not listening to this kind of advice and teaching will put us as risk of dying because we lack instruction, or rebel against it.  One of the very real problems that we have in this area is the fact that a large number of parents do not take the time to instruct their children with God's Word in these areas.  But to leave such instruction to the public - or private schools is an abdication of our biblical responsibility as fathers!  Dad, are you really willing to leave the moral instruction of your children in the hands of the world system - that is steadily opposing the morals and principles of Scripture?  It is our responsibility to teach our children the truth and the way of God - and that includes their sexuality and how they interact with the opposite sex.

The second thing the father has to say to his son is that there will also be some who will go astray from the teaching and instruction of the Lord because they are fools.  We read that some will go astray due to the "greatness" of their folly.  It is not that they are in danger of being fools - it is that they are grand fools!  In the West some speak of the Playboy lifestle drawing reference to empire of immorality that has thrived under the leadership of Hugh Hefner and his family.  This man and his daughter lead a company of fools into all kinds of immorality, disease, and destruction because of how they urge men and women to abandon moral sanity and live for their unbridled sexual desires.  The idea here is to cause someone to go astray, to err, to wander, to make a mistake - and to do so under the deception of arguments that are contrary to the Law of God.  That is what the father desires to deliver his son from with all this teaching.  He is presenting the truth to his son about his - and other's sexuality.  He wants him to know that this is a gift from God - but that this gift is to be preserved and guarded until he can give it to his wife for a lifetime.  Anything other than this is a lie - it is THE lie - and it will draw his son away - deceiving him and bringing him into an errant lifestyle, an errant sexuality, and a way of walking that will eventually bind him hand and foot and keep him from following the Lord with all his heart. 

Dear brothers and sisters, this is why we need to instruct our sons and daughters with the truth - with the Word of God.  Because to do anything less - is to leave our children completely unprotected and liable to an attack from the enemy that will devastate them, their marriages, and many generations that will unfortunately follow in their footsteps - just like ours has since the 1960's when free love was advocated.  Unfortunately for us we are learning the hard way that their "free love" was anything but free.  It has cost us for 4-5 generations - paying the same price we were warned it would make us pay by a father who tried to instruct his son thousands of years ago.  May we see these things - may we heed these things - and may God give us grace to teach our current generation the way of moral and sexual sanity.  May we return to the Word - to the Lord - and to a life lived not forour unbridled lusts - but for His glory and an honorable sexuality.

For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He watches all his paths. Proverbs 5:21

As was said yesterday, this is the main reason why the father is taking the time to counsel his son on the issues of moral and sexual sanity.  Our ways are before the eyes of the Lord - or said another way - GOD SEES ALL THINGS. 

This has to do with the very nature of God.  God is Spirit - and therefore can be all places at all times.  This truth has to do with God's omnipresence and omniscience.  God's omnipresence means that God is everywhere.  There is not a place in the entire universe where God is not present.  In Psalm 139 David wrote of this when he said,

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.  If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.  (Psalm 139:7-10)

The idea of God's omnipresence is communicated when David tells Solomon that the eyes of Jehovah are on the ways of men.  God watches our paths.  David knew this because he thought no one was looking when he committed adultery with Bathsheba.  God was looking - and he watched David's path into sexual sin.  The day came when God sent one of His prophets, Nathan, to David to confront him openly about what David thought he had done secretly. 

The other doctrine that we see here is that of God's omniscience.  God knows all things.  He knows when we sin - and he knows when two people have agreed to get together and commit adultery.  There is nothing that we can hide from Him - because He is God!  His power and His might are unparalleled - but so is His presence and knowledge.  There is NO limit to either of these things.  Therefore, it is wise for us to remember this about Him - and act accordingly.  This means understanding and knowing His Word, which reveals to us His heart on moral and sexual matters. 

Here is a verse that should help to guide us when it comes to the matter of moral and sexual sanity.  Paul wrote to the Thessalonians about the need for each one of them to possess their own vessel in Ssanctification and honor.  Here the vessel is themselves - and especially their sexuality.  Here is what Paul said,

For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.  For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.  1 Thessalonians 4:2-6

God desires to sanctify us - and part of that sanctification is helping us to maintain moral and sexual sanity!  We are to carry ourselves and our sexuality in "sanctification and honor" rather than in "lustful passion."  When Paul later says that we should not "transgress and defraud his brother in the matter," what he is speaking of is adultery.  The brother we transgress and defraud is the one whose wife with whom we've had adultery.  Paul then gives us a promise in regard to this - that God will be the avenger in this matter. 

God sees and knows all - and as a result we should be wise and fear Him by turning from sin - especially sexual sin.  This is not just a warning from a parent who is a little overprotective of his or her child.  It is God, knowing our frame and our weakness - and warning us about how sexual sin can take us captive and destroy our lives.  But I believe at the root of this admonition is not just a negative warning - but a positive one as well.  If we know that our ways are before Jehovah - and that He is watching our paths - we can turn to Him in time of temptation.  We can cry out to Him for deliverance and for strength to stand.  We can know, as Scripture tells us, that no temptation that has overcome us is not common to man - but God will provide with it a way of escape so that we may endure.  He is there - and when faced with serious sexual temptation we need to turn to Him, listen to Him, and in the process shut out the voice of the devil.  He truly is there - not waiting to smack us upside the head - but waiting to meet us and strengthen us so that we may stand - and having done everything - to remain standing!