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The Song of Solomon 8:1-14 ESV
1 Oh that you were like a brother to mewho nursed at my mother’s breasts!If I found you outside, I would kiss you,and none would despise me. 2 I would lead you and bring youinto the house of my mother—she who used to teach me.I would give you spiced wine to drink,the juice of my pomegranate. 3 His left hand is under my head,and his right hand embraces me! 4 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,that you not stir up or awaken loveuntil it pleases. 5 Who is that coming up from the wilderness,leaning on her beloved?Under the apple tree I awakened you.There your mother was in labor with you;there she who bore you was in labor. 6 Set me as a seal upon your heart,as a seal upon your arm,for love is strong as death,jealousy is fierce as the grave.Its flashes are flashes of fire,the very flame of the Lord. 7 Many waters cannot quench love,neither can floods drown it.If a man offered for loveall the wealth of his house,he would be utterly despised. 8 We have a little sister,and she has no breasts.What shall we do for our sisteron the day when she is spoken for? 9 If she is a wall,we will build on her a battlement of silver,but if she is a door,we will enclose her with boards of cedar. 10 I was a wall,and my breasts were like towers;then I was in his eyesas one who finds peace. 11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon;he let out the vineyard to keepers;each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver. 12 My vineyard, my very own, is before me;you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,and the keepers of the fruit two hundred. 13 O you who dwell in the gardens,with companions listening for your voice;let me hear it. 14 Make haste, my beloved,and be like a gazelleor a young stagon the mountains of spices.

I.THE END IS BETTER THAN THE BEGINNING (1-4)
A.Embrace the duty to delight in your spouse rather than delighting in depression.
B.Romance and passion should get better over time, not worse, because we should be better at them as we age.

II.THERE IS POWER IN LONGEVITY (5-7)
A.Romance that gets stronger with time flows out of love that has stood the test of time.
B.A love that will stand the test of time requires a commitment to covenant of grace right now.
C.God redeems broken people and uses a broken man in Solomon to teach us about love between humans.

III.THE ROLE OF SEXUAL PURITY IN FINISHING WELL (8-14)
A.Virginity is valuable and is being committed to your spouse before you ever know them.
B.Committing to do good to our spouse no matter what they do is how a Gospel legacy in marriage gets left.

NEXT STEPS
1.Embrace that marriage is about you becoming holy more than you becoming happy.
2.Embrace that God and His Gospel are able to redeem your past mistakes and use them for His glory and others good.
3.Embrace that while your marriage is not eternal, it does have eternal impact.