It can happen to me, it can happen to you, and so I thought I d share a study this morning on Living a life of sexual purity.

Transcription

1 Living a life of Sexual Purity Sunday, July 21, 2013 Proverbs 22:11 There s an epidemic in the world, and it s becoming an epic problem in the church; many are falling even the mighty are falling, failing, ruining their lives and the lives of all the members of their family, and the problem is the problem of sexual immorality, a lack of purity. It can happen to me, it can happen to you, and so I thought I d share a study this morning on Living a life of sexual purity. Many of you probably know, that the church of Jesus Christ is pictured in the Bible as a Building, a Body and a Bride. As a Building, the emphasis is on the residency of God; as a Body the emphasis is on the unity among the people of God; and as a Bride the picture moves from residency, and unity to purity purity in the sight of God. That as that Bride is presented to Christ, she is to be presented as a chaste virgin, wearing white, symbolic of the appropriate purity imputed and imparted to the people of God. But the tragic truth is, purity is very rare it s hard to find nowadays, not only in the world, but even in the church of Jesus Christ. It s almost come to the place that purity is a rarity, an abnormality an outright anomaly. We do the premarital counseling, we ask the couple in front of us, how you doing, have you stayed pure? And so many times we hear those words no, we fell, shucks, we tried, but, you know, we re only human. Yeah, but humans are created in the image of God, and Christians possess the Spirit of God, there is really no excuse to be like the dogs down the street, in heat. The word purity is found only 5 times in the NKJV In Proverbs 22:11 He who loves purity of heart and has grace on his lips, the king will be his friend. The Hebrew word teh-hore' speaks of cleanliness, to be pure physically, morally, and ethically 1

2 In the NT, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:4, but in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God and he says how - in v. 6, by purity. There are a lot of ministers nowadays, who miss this point, this point of purity and we ll come back to that later, but the Greek word translated purity here, speaks of chastity, and uprightness of life It s derived from another Greek word found a couple of times in 1Timothy 4:12 Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Later in that letter Paul tells Timothy to treat the, older women as mothers, younger as sisters, with all purity And so, just as a quick side note, when a brother falls into sexual sin with a girl in the church, it s like they re committing incest try your best to keep that in mind and heart - to really treat them as they are, they are our sisters. (Watch the hugs and girls if a guy hugs you wrong I want you to know that you have the right to kick them in the shins!) Christians should be able to come to the altar on that wedding day, pure for as long as they ve been in Christ, and they should be able to stay pure, faithful to their spouse, for as long at they live. We read there in Proverbs 22:11 that living a life of purity makes the king your friend; we saw in 2 Corinthians 6:4 that purity makes you a good minister, and then in 1 Timothy 4:12, that purity makes us good spiritual siblings, and examples, of the basics of being a Christian. Clear, concrete the importance of sexual purity and yet, the following stories are as true as true can be: Over there, one of the guys in ministry, who seemed to have a golden heart, got a girl pregnant, and left her and their son, to fend for themselves. Over there, just a few miles down the road, the pastor falls into sexual sin, with his son s girlfriend. Just a little farther east, the pastor, fell into sexual sin with one of the ladies in Music Ministry. So he left his family, and she left her family, they both left the ministry, and they left the Lord. So how does the rest of the members of the family put the shattered pieces of their lives back together again? Yes, we know that with the Lord, there s no mountain too massive that He can t move, but how can someone do this to God or the people of God? 2

3 And so, you ask, Manny, why are you telling me all this? Well, when I contemplate stories like this, firsthand, up close and personal, along with all the other things we ve heard I m struck with the reality that this is absolutely devastating, it s epidemic, it s rampant and it can happen to me. And just in case you re here and you re thinking, no way, it would never, ever happen to me if that s your mentality, then you just moved up to the front of the line. Part of the victory of purity, is simply realizing our susceptibility. I ve actually had the opportunity to share this message at other churches, but I ve never done it here. I ve been praying over the years for the Lord to show me if and when that day would ever come; and I really believe today is the day. I don t want to wait until I hear of another person falling, another family shattered, another leaders disqualified no, prevention is the best medicine. May it never, ever happen to you, and who knows, God might even use this study to strengthen you in this area! I d actually like to share with you 8 things that can help you stay pure, sexually. Billy Graham, said there s 3 things that will make a man fall, pride, money and women. So I do my best to remember what another man said, Don t touch the glory, don t touch the gold, and don t touch the girls; Today we re going to talk to the boys about the girls; 8 things to do our part to stay pure, to not fall, and to die with integrity, in this area of purity. 1. Keep your love for God John 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me... John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word... Purity is a simple matter of loving God. You can only conquer one passion with a greater passion (Joseph Genesis 39:7-9) 3

4 SIRENS: Greek mythology, THE SEIRENES (or Sirens) were externally beautiful sea nymphs who lured sailors to their death with a beautiful, yet bewitching songs. When sailors ventured within the range of their mystical music they would be drawn to them, and drawn to the crushing rocks of death. One man by the name of Odysseus was able to sail by, having been bound tightly to the mast, his men blocking their ears with wax. A different group, however, the Argonauts, came upon a better way to pass by unharmed, as they summoned the help of Orpheus, the poet drowning out their music with his songs, that surpassed the songs of the sirens in beauty. Get to know God; the more you know Him the more you ll love Him, the more you love Him the more you ll obey him. 2. Keep the fear of God When it comes to the fear of God keep 2 things in mind: A. Getting hit B. Going to hell One s a Dad s discipline and one s a defiant destiny A. Getting hit If we fall sexually can God forgive us? Of course if we repent (1 John 1:9) But does that mean there will be no ramification to our rebellion? Absolutely not, as a matter of fact, there will always be some type of discipline, when we disobey. Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. It s not only the logic of the Lord, it s the law of the land, whatever perversity we plant we must reap the fruit of our failures. Proverbs 22:8, He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow Abraham did, he slept with Hagar, and in one sense, had a son he should have never had, he couldn t be a father to, and his sin has affected and infected so many other people. It hurts the Family; it hurts the Ministry 4

5 How many men, were called to do so much more, but their ministries, even their lives were cut short, because some pretty girl was used by the devil to reduce them to a crust of bread? Proverbs 6:26 For by means of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread; and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. And of course, this works both ways! I think of Samson, a man with so much potential; he didn t win, he was only allowed to begin. We read in Judges 13:5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. He played with God and he played with sin, and he played with the ministry and the calling on his life and he got hit, spanked, disciplined that s what sin does, it binds you, it blinds you and it grinds you. David (2 Samuel 12:7-15) 2. Keep your Fear of God A. Getting hit B. Going to hell Proverbs 5:5; 7:27; 9:18 Revelation 21:7-8 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Revelation 22:15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. 3. Keep your love for your wife Proverbs 5:19 As a loving deer and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love. (*1 Corinthians 7:3-5) 5

6 (For some, your future husband/wife) 4. Keep your eyes where they belong Job 31:1 I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman? (Pornography has become an epidemic) I read one statistic that said 70% of all men, are engaged in full-on pornography. And, it s not just a problem in the world; it s a problem in the church. Harry Schaumburg in his blog entitled, Sexual Sin in the Ministry, on March 6, 2012, said that over half of the men that have enrolled in their intensive counseling workshop for overcoming sexual sin were pastors and missionaries. One mission s agency told him that 80% of their applicants voluntarily indicate a struggle with pornography, resulting in staff shortages on the field. One seminary professor told him, We no longer ask our entering students if they are struggling with pornography, we assume every student is struggling. The question we ask is, How serious is the struggle? Jesus said, Luke 11:34 The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Some guys think it s okay to check out the menu, as long as they don t place an order and these guys have bad eyes, walking in darkness, it s just a matter of time, before they fall. (There s no such thing as window shopping ) 5. Keep your hearts clean Matthew 5:27-28 You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Weed out all wickedness; do not allow any lusts to linger; Proverbs 4:23 the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. (2 lions which one wins?) 6

7 6. Keep your distance 1 Thessalonians 4:3 -...abstain from sexual immorality The Greek word translated abstain literally means, distance yourself 1Cor 6:18 Flee immorality... this is what Joseph did. Some guys want to flirt with fire and find out how close they can get and not be burned. (Going to the Grand Canyon) (Girls have that 6 th sense) 7. Keep accountable Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Proverbs 18:1 A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment. (My wife checks everything) 8. Keep in mind - it can happen to any of us! Once we come to a place in our lives where we thing we re beyond this temptation, we just moved to the front of the line. And you might be strong in the Lord, but that doesn t produce the elimination of the temptation: Proverbs 7:24-26 Now therefore, listen to me, my children; pay attention to the words of my mouth: do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths; for she has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men. If you don t want to be slain by her, then slay yourself, take up your cross and follow Christ. The cross isn t a recovery program, to improve on what good is already there. It is a place to die. It is not a question of giving up sexual sin, but of giving up one s right! John Piper Sometimes I tell myself, you re good in this area Manny, you re good. You re not much of a catch for one, girls aren t going to want you, and look how long you ve walked and stayed pure you re good Manny. 7

8 James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. God help us to die with integrity! 8