Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / A Plea for Morality │ Msg 34

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A Plea for Morality │ Msg 34 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: I'm convinced that living with confidence is directly linked to
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Speaker 1: living without blame. Being blameless is better than knowing all
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Speaker 1: the answers on a test, having plenty of money, or
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Speaker 1: earning an advanced degree. When we are blameless, we can
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Speaker 1: take life's pressures and enjoy its pleasures. And then when
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Speaker 1: marriage comes along, we can enjoy the partnership of the
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Speaker 1: opposite sex. including all the joys of sexual delights. I'm
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Speaker 1: grateful that God talks straight when it comes to moral purity.
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Speaker 1: I'm grateful He doesn't stutter or shuffle about or shift
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Speaker 1: His position. And because God is clear, He leaves us
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Speaker 1: with a decision regarding our own personal holiness. Only one
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Speaker 1: decision pleases Him, absolute obedience. And that's what the Apostle
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Speaker 1: Paul urges us to remember as we read chapter 4
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Speaker 1: of 1 Thessalonians. Listen very carefully as I read a
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Speaker 1: section from that fourth chapter, verses 3 through 8, from
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Speaker 1: the New Living Translation. God's will is for you to
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Speaker 1: be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then
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Speaker 1: each of you will control his own body, and live
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Speaker 1: in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion like the
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Speaker 1: pagans who do not know God and His ways. Never
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Speaker 1: harm or cheat a Christian brother in this matter by
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Speaker 1: violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins.
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Speaker 1: As we have solemnly warned you before, God has called
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Speaker 1: us to live holy lives not impure lives. Therefore, anyone
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Speaker 1: who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying
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Speaker 1: human teaching, but is rejecting God, who gives His Holy
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Speaker 1: Spirit to you. Every person hearing me at this moment
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Speaker 1: is married. Your companion will be with you for a life.
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Speaker 1: Every morning, as sure as the rising of the sun,
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Speaker 1: your partner will be there Every evening, as sure as
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Speaker 1: the darkness of the sky, your companion will be by
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Speaker 1: your side. This companion will never leave you because of
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Speaker 1: lack of support, and a divorce is impossible. You are
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Speaker 1: married for life to this companion. Like it or not,
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Speaker 1: you will be married till death do you part. Your partner,
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Speaker 1: your lifelong companion is temptation. There is no escape. There
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Speaker 1: is no immunity. There is no exemption. And there is
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Speaker 1: no safe location. Even if you entered into the role
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Speaker 1: of the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church and lived
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Speaker 1: the rest of your life behind the walls of a
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Speaker 1: monastery your battle would go on, your companion would be
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Speaker 1: there and would haunt you almost on a daily basis.
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Speaker 1: This is nothing new. Because it feeds on our curiosity,
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Speaker 1: it continues to tell us what we don't have. And
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Speaker 1: because it depends upon comparison, It tempts us to believe
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Speaker 1: that the grass is always greener on the other side.
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Speaker 1: As one seasoned wag put it, not only is the
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Speaker 1: grass not greener, it's not even edible, but it's there
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Speaker 1: and the temptation will always dangle the carrot telling you
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Speaker 1: it is better than what you have and it is
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Speaker 1: worth the risk. Yield and you will find satisfaction. This
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Speaker 1: is nothing new. This is not a late 20th century malady.
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Speaker 1: It has been with us since the first fall in
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Speaker 1: the garden. Travel back with me in the time tunnel
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Speaker 1: to 3000 years ago. The nation is Israel. The city
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Speaker 1: is Jerusalem. The season is spring. The time is evening
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Speaker 1: and the hour is early and the place is the
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Speaker 1: roof of the king's palace. It's a quiet evening, a
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Speaker 1: soft breeze blows across the city and in a rare
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Speaker 1: moment of unaccountable privacy and relaxation, the king is walking
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Speaker 1: on the roof to find some solitude and some cool
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Speaker 1: evening breeze. Behind the palace lives a young married woman,
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Speaker 1: no children. Her husband is away in military service. She
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Speaker 1: is the daughter of Eliam. She's the wife of Uriah.
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Speaker 1: In all innocence, she's taking an evening bath. She is
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Speaker 1: not a sultry, scheming, She is a faithful wife. And
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Speaker 1: the man who begins to watch her with increased interest
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Speaker 1: and excitement is about a 40-year-old respected monarch. He is
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Speaker 1: not a sex-starved peeping Tom. He has at least seven wives,
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Speaker 1: several unnamed concubines, He has fathered by now 17 children,
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Speaker 1: so he is not some kind of human animal on
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Speaker 1: the prowl as if in heat. But he's attractive. And
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Speaker 1: he can't take his eyes off her. Roberta Doerr in
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Speaker 1: her novel, David and Bathsheba, portrays it vividly. Bathsheba pulled
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Speaker 1: off her shift. and stepped into the alabaster bowl her
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Speaker 1: servant Sarah had filled with fresh water. She stood naked
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Speaker 1: in the bowl while her servant dipped water with a
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Speaker 1: gourd and poured it over her. Bathsheba stood without embarrassment,
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Speaker 1: even though she had nothing to cover her nakedness. Unknown
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Speaker 1: to her, a man's eyes had been observing, and ordinarily
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Speaker 1: he would have turned away, but it was all so
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Speaker 1: unexpected and lovely that he continued to watch. With growing admiration,
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Speaker 1: he studied her loveliness as only half seen through the
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Speaker 1: dried palm branches. Her hair clung in damp curls to
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Speaker 1: her full breasts, and her tiny waist accentuated the pleasing
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Speaker 1: roundness of her hips. As he watched, she stepped out
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Speaker 1: of the bowl and tossed her hair back, making the
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Speaker 1: curve of her back visible. He thought he had never
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Speaker 1: seen anything so beautiful and so graceful in his life.
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Speaker 1: A quiet knock at her door totally changed her plans
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Speaker 1: for the rest of that night and for the rest
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Speaker 1: of her life. Now understand, David and Bathsheba had never
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Speaker 1: met if he Had met her, she was just one
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Speaker 1: of the many in the streets, and he couldn't even
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Speaker 1: remember her name. But before that night was over, she
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Speaker 1: would have his child within her. She would be pregnant.
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Speaker 1: Let's understand right away that illicit sex is not novel
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Speaker 1: or new. It's not... It is not something that has
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Speaker 1: grown out of our society. It has been with us
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Speaker 1: throughout time. My Bible is open to James 1 that
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Speaker 1: describes in clear and briefest terms a downward cycle that
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Speaker 1: is taken by all who taste of this forbidden fruit.
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Speaker 1: Let no man say when he is tempted, I am
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Speaker 1: tempted by God. For God is not tempted by evil,
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Speaker 1: neither tempts he any man. But every man is tempted
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Speaker 1: when he is drawn away from his own lust. The
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Speaker 1: New International Version says dragged away. That's not bad. Every
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Speaker 1: man is tempted when he is dragged by his own
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Speaker 1: lust and enticed. And lust, when it has conceived, brings
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Speaker 1: forth sin. And when the process continues, when sin conceives,
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Speaker 1: it brings forth an existence that is like death And
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Speaker 1: if it continues, an addiction that is worse than death.
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Speaker 1: Rather easy to analyze a sexual problem in a safe
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Speaker 1: place like we find ourselves today. Bible open in our laps.
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Speaker 1: Lights are bright. No soft music. No sultry temptress in
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Speaker 1: front of us. We're not alone in a hotel room
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Speaker 1: with the television that has available X-rated channels. We're not
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Speaker 1: on the roof of our own home, as it were,
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Speaker 1: looking down on some other lovely lady. No, this is
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Speaker 1: the place to analyze how it all happens. How the
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Speaker 1: secret smoldering fire can burst into a destructive blaze. and
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Speaker 1: ruin a home and ruin a reputation and ruin a
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Speaker 1: career and ruin a life. Yes, that bad. While thinking
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Speaker 1: about this in these recent days, I have come up
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Speaker 1: with some simple terms that describe why this kind of
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Speaker 1: thing happens. First of all, and I think there are
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Speaker 1: several steps downward, there is an innocent attraction. Nothing wrong
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Speaker 1: with that. Almost without exception, it's spontaneous. God has given
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Speaker 1: us bodies, and some people have beautiful bodies, wonderful shapes
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Speaker 1: and figures, and keep themselves well attired. There is nothing
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Speaker 1: wrong with that. In fact, it is commendable. And the
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Speaker 1: enjoyment of the beauty of another individual is not in
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Speaker 1: itself sin, and it happens every day. We even compliment
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Speaker 1: others who are not our marriage partners because we think
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Speaker 1: they look nice and it is meant in sincerity and
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Speaker 1: it is taken in the same way. There is an
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Speaker 1: innocent attraction. If that doesn't stop, then it leads to
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Speaker 1: what we might call curiosity. Webster defines it a desire
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Speaker 1: to know, interest leading to inquiry. There was a desire
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Speaker 1: to know more about the person. At this point, comparisons
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Speaker 1: usually take place. And while getting to know another individual,
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Speaker 1: it is a great temptation to compare that person to
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Speaker 1: someone else, often the one we're married to. And invariably,
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Speaker 1: we find things that aren't there in our partner. As
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Speaker 1: one woman has said, I'm expected today to be Mother Teresa,
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Speaker 1: Betty Crocker, Chris Everett, and Cheryl Ladd all wrapped up
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Speaker 1: in one And all I really am is Betty Crocker.
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Speaker 1: The comparison goes on and we find the things that
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Speaker 1: individual has whom we do not know intimately and we
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Speaker 1: compare those things with the one we do have and
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Speaker 1: we see something lacking. Invariably something is lacking. The curiosity
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Speaker 1: then leads to temptation. I don't believe at that point
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Speaker 1: it's sin. Temptation happens all the time And this is
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Speaker 1: where imagination plays a vital role. But between temptation and
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Speaker 1: the next step, sin has occurred. The next step is fantasy.
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Speaker 1: Fantasy is the free play of creative and uninhibited imagination.
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Speaker 1: Fantasy is mixing desires and wishes with dreams that have
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Speaker 1: often been held in restraint. And one plays out in
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Speaker 1: the mind the actual intimate act of intercourse. with the
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Speaker 1: individual about whom he or she was once simply attracted
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Speaker 1: or curious. This leads to lust. Lust is an overpowering
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Speaker 1: desire to enter into the fulfillment of the fantasy. The
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Speaker 1: restraints are removed when lust takes charge. Let me define
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Speaker 1: and let me describe for you four restraints that are
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Speaker 1: blown to the winds at this point. First, ignoring of position, reputation,
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Speaker 1: home life, personal commitments, moral standards. There's an ignoring of
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Speaker 1: all of those personal things. All those things you're thinking
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Speaker 1: about right now that will keep you pure, those are
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Speaker 1: the things that lust cancels from your mind. I had
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Speaker 1: a man tell me who was in ministry for many
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Speaker 1: years that when he began the affair with this woman
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Speaker 1: and was involved with her on numerous occasions that by
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Speaker 1: and by it got to where he could hardly name
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Speaker 1: his own children. A man just told me very recently
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Speaker 1: it got to where he was so addicted to the
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Speaker 1: affair that when he was intimate with his wife, he
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Speaker 1: felt he was unfaithful to his mistress. That's how blind
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Speaker 1: did you get. Second point. Blindness to the consequences. You
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Speaker 1: don't think about tearing up your career. You don't play
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Speaker 1: back in your mind how some will find out and
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Speaker 1: how it will bring heartbreak to your children or grandchildren.
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Speaker 1: You cancel all that out, or lust does, whether you
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Speaker 1: do or not. You ignore position and reputation. You are
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Speaker 1: blinded to consequences. Third, you are rationalizing the wrong. you
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Speaker 1: begin to tell yourselves false stories. And fourth, you are
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Speaker 1: burning with excitement to proceed. As so many will say
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Speaker 1: at that point, you cannot stop. And an interesting thing
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Speaker 1: happened late this past week. I was making a connecting
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Speaker 1: flight in another city I'll not name to go to
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Speaker 1: yet another destination for a quick overnight vacation. speaking engagement
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Speaker 1: to come back just yesterday afternoon. And to my surprise,
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Speaker 1: a couple rendezvoused on the plane that was my connection.
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Speaker 1: And they happened to have sat right behind me. And
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Speaker 1: I confess to some eavesdropping. One was on the plane
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Speaker 1: waiting for the woman to join him. And when she
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Speaker 1: walked by, he reached out and took hold and pulled
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Speaker 1: her in the seat. And there began a conversation mixed
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Speaker 1: with all kinds of comments about what they had in
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Speaker 1: front of them as they would enjoy ecstasy together for
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Speaker 1: a couple of nights, along with attending the Super Bowl.
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Speaker 1: It was arranged, and they joked with each other about
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Speaker 1: how each other's mate knew nothing of it. And there
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Speaker 1: was no mention made, of course, of the loss of reputation,
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Speaker 1: of the depression that will follow, of the brokenheartedness when
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Speaker 1: the mate, not if, but when the mate does find out.
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Speaker 1: No talk of that. Of course not. Only the delights
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Speaker 1: of time together. And they could not keep their hands
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Speaker 1: off each other. It was incredibly vivid information. While I
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Speaker 1: was working on a message on sexual impurity, I had
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Speaker 1: a living illustration going on behind me. And I thought
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Speaker 1: of Solomon's words, stolen waters are sweet. Never doubt it.
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Speaker 1: Don't think for a moment it isn't fun. At least
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Speaker 1: for the moment. And lust, when it runs its course,
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Speaker 1: finally leads to the exciting act. And there is adventure,
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Speaker 1: there is ecstasy, there is novelty, there is momentary delight.
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Speaker 1: And not until afterwards does the mind come clear and
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Speaker 1: the fog lift and all the reality of Monday following
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Speaker 1: the weekend falls on you. It seldom stops with one encounter.
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Speaker 1: Quite often it begins a process of an addiction, a compulsion.
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Speaker 1: As one man confessed to me, he was at a
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Speaker 1: gathering and within 20 minutes he was in the backseat
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Speaker 1: of a car with another man's wife. While the man
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Speaker 1: was still at this entertaining evening. Just incredible. So it is.
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Speaker 1: That explains it. And all these things can be seen
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Speaker 1: and pulled out of like threads in a sweater from
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Speaker 1: the David Bathsheba affair. Now the common reaction is threefold.
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Speaker 1: Protect yourself, blame others or circumstances, and three, eliminate the evidence.
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Speaker 1: Just as there are night before pills and morning after pills,
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Speaker 1: an abortion will be nothing more than the swallowing of
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Speaker 1: a pill. and the death of a baby. But in
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Speaker 1: those days when Bathsheba knocked and said, I'm pregnant, it
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Speaker 1: wasn't that easy. It led to deception. It led to hypocrisy.
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Speaker 1: And then it led to murder and family tragedy. And finally,
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Speaker 1: the worst kind of divine judgment. Today it's easier, just
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Speaker 1: kill the baby. Which, by the way, is one of
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Speaker 1: the subtle tragedies of abortion. It's a simple and quick
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Speaker 1: birth control method. if you don't mind killing babies. It's
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Speaker 1: all part of what is described in this 15th verse as,
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Speaker 1: last word, death. Lust gives birth to sin when sin
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Speaker 1: is accomplished. There is a strange kind of stillborn ecstasy
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Speaker 1: that leaves you with a twisted mind a broken relationship
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Speaker 1: in the bond you have in your marriage, and the
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Speaker 1: beginning of the seeds dropped for an addiction that you
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Speaker 1: won't be able to stop if it gets powerful enough.
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Speaker 1: Turn from James to 1 Thessalonians 4. We want to
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Speaker 1: get scriptural insight from three passages from the pen of
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Speaker 1: Paul under the direction of the Holy Spirit's inspiration. And
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Speaker 1: we want with each of the insights from these passages,
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Speaker 1: we want to have a lingering warning to take with
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Speaker 1: us because we will not always be together like this.
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Speaker 1: The lights will not always be on. There will come
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Speaker 1: times of personal privacy. There will come times of temptation
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Speaker 1: when you are alone, when you are in a place
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Speaker 1: that you consider safe which could be the most dangerous
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Speaker 1: place of your life. 1 Thessalonians 4. This is perhaps,
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Speaker 1: of all Paul's writings, the most explicit statement regarding porneia,
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Speaker 1: from which we get pornography. It is the word for
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Speaker 1: sexual impurity, porneia. This passage isn't complicated. The explanation is
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Speaker 1: not mysterious. And the command, listen to this, is not impossible.
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Speaker 1: You can do it. Or God mocks us, giving us
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Speaker 1: a command we can't fulfill. You can do it. The
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Speaker 1: first two verses seem to be saying, in your walk,
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Speaker 1: please God by excelling. Finally, brethren, we request and exhort
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Speaker 1: you in the Lord Jesus that as you receive from
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Speaker 1: us instruction as to how you ought to walk and
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Speaker 1: please God, just as you actually do walk, that you
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Speaker 1: excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave
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Speaker 1: you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. God would
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Speaker 1: have us go further and further in our walk, which
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Speaker 1: is called the doctrine of sanctification. A big word for
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Speaker 1: growing in Christ, maturing in the Lord. And each day
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Speaker 1: our goals are higher. Our desires are greater to please Him.
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Speaker 1: He says, excel in that. As you walk, please God
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Speaker 1: by excelling. Don't be satisfied with just a mediocre lifestyle
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Speaker 1: as a Christian person. Work on holiness. Cultivate habits of
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Speaker 1: discipline that are good for you and honoring to God.
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Speaker 1: And then he gets very specific. For this is the
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Speaker 1: will of God. Your sanctification. That is that you abstain
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Speaker 1: from sexual immorality. Understand most of these people were new
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Speaker 1: in the faith. Some of them not more than weeks
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Speaker 1: old in the Lord. Understand also that There was never
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Speaker 1: an age in all of history where marriage was so
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Speaker 1: disregarded and divorce so easy. You think it's disregarded and
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Speaker 1: easy now. Ancient Greece, it was the worst. Demosthenes writes,
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Speaker 1: we keep prostitutes for pleasure. We keep mistresses for the
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Speaker 1: day-to-day needs of the body. We keep wives for the
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Speaker 1: begetting of children and for the faithful guardianship of our homes.
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Speaker 1: William Barclay adds, so long as a man supported his
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Speaker 1: wife and family, there was no shame whatsoever in extramarital affairs.
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Speaker 1: That's first century living in Greece and Macedonia. And of
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Speaker 1: all things, Paul says to them, secondly, in your morals,
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Speaker 1: obey God by abstaining. Verse 3. This is the will
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Speaker 1: of God. You don't even have to pray about it.
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Speaker 1: You don't have to ask him what he feels about
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Speaker 1: or how he would have us live regarding sexual purity.
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Speaker 1: Just read it. For this is the will of God
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Speaker 1: that you abstain from sexual immorality. Apechomai is the word abstain.
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Speaker 1: Get this. It means to go away from, to depart,
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Speaker 1: to be distant, to keep hands off. I think that's significant.
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Speaker 1: It's used rarely in Scripture, but when it is used,
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Speaker 1: it means that every time. In one place, abstain from meats.
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Speaker 1: In another place, abstain from fleshly lusts. In yet another place,
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Speaker 1: 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 22, there's the same word, apekomai,
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Speaker 1: abstain from every form of evil. In the Christian faith,
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Speaker 1: unlike the pagan faith, Your sanctification is significant in that
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Speaker 1: you don't do what the pagans do. They run around,
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Speaker 1: they play around, they keep mistresses, they live with low
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Speaker 1: morals because it has nothing to do with their idol worship.
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Speaker 1: But in the Christian faith, it has much to do
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Speaker 1: with your worship. And the answer is a total removal,
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Speaker 1: hands off, no contact. That has in mind, pornaia includes homosexuality,
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Speaker 1: incestuous relationships, unnatural acts with beasts and animals, premarital relationships,
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Speaker 1: extramarital sex. You say, well, good night, Chuck. You sound
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Speaker 1: like a celibate. No. Let me show you. Let me
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Speaker 1: show you the answer. Hebrews chapter 13. Hold here and
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Speaker 1: we'll be right back from a quick look at Hebrews 13.
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Speaker 1: I'll show you the the acceptable route for the expression
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Speaker 1: of sexuality. Here's a series of commands. Let love of
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Speaker 1: the brethren continue. Verse one, don't neglect to show hospitality
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Speaker 1: to strangers. Verse two, remember the prisoners as though in prison.
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Speaker 1: Verse three, and in a series of commands, here's a
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Speaker 1: fourth one. Let marriage be held in honor among all.
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Speaker 1: Let the marriage bed be undefiled. Marriage is to be
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Speaker 1: held in honor And the joys of marital sex are
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Speaker 1: to be enjoyed and delighted in and cultivated with great
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Speaker 1: creativity and with ecstatic passion. But, he adds, fornicators and
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Speaker 1: adulterers God will judge. We're going to read in a
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Speaker 1: moment in Thessalonians, he is the avenger of such. Strong word. Now,
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Speaker 1: The answer, of course, is marriage. And if not marriage,
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Speaker 1: hands off. If single, hands off. If divorced, not married,
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Speaker 1: hands off. Stay out of bed with anybody else, same
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Speaker 1: or opposite sex. Stay away from it. I'm just telling
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Speaker 1: you what Scripture teaches. It's also the safest route. I
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Speaker 1: saw a cartoon several years ago where a grandson asks
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Speaker 1: a grandfather, gee, granddad, your generation didn't have all these
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Speaker 1: social diseases. What did you wear to have safe sex?
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Speaker 1: Granddad says, a wedding ring. A wedding ring. A monogamous
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Speaker 1: relationship with a wife with whom you stay faithful or
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Speaker 1: a husband, the same. You got it made. Now, I've
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Speaker 1: also described the most difficult thing in the world to maintain,
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Speaker 1: and that's a creative, delightful, passionate romance with the same
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Speaker 1: woman or man year after year after year. Anybody can
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Speaker 1: change partners and keep it ecstatic. But to do it
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Speaker 1: with the same person with ecstasy and creativity and delight
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Speaker 1: and romance and enjoyment, ah, we're talking tough assignment. Oh,
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Speaker 1: the fulfillment and oh, the relief in one's spirit. I'm
28:52
Speaker 1: talking straight. These are words that probably wouldn't have been
28:55
Speaker 1: even used in pulpits 50 years ago, but they have
29:00
Speaker 1: to be used today. These are things that must be addressed.
29:04
Speaker 1: Go back to 1 Thessalonians 4. We're just getting started.
29:10
Speaker 1: That you abstain, verse 4, that each of you, I
29:12
Speaker 1: love the way he puts that. There's an individualization here.
29:15
Speaker 1: There is an each one of you, and each one
29:18
Speaker 1: is different. Each one knows how to possess his own vessel.
29:23
Speaker 1: Scholars dance between whether the vessel has a reference to
29:25
Speaker 1: a wife or a reference to body. That each one
29:30
Speaker 1: know how to control or how to cultivate or how
29:34
Speaker 1: to manage his wife or husband or body. Perhaps for
29:39
Speaker 1: the sake of illustration, we'll use body. That each of
29:42
Speaker 1: you know how to manage your body when passions take charge.
29:49
Speaker 1: And to do so in sanctification and honor. I love
29:51
Speaker 1: the way he puts it. Know how to do it.
29:56
Speaker 1: Verse 5 and 6 talk about those passions when we
29:59
Speaker 1: are alone. Verse 7 talks about, I should say verse
30:05
Speaker 1: 5 talks about when we're alone and verse 6 addresses
30:08
Speaker 1: when we are with others. Verse 5, not in lustful
30:12
Speaker 1: passion like Gentiles who do not know God. Anything that
30:17
Speaker 1: stimulates the path toward pornoia, hands off. May I get specific?
30:25
Speaker 1: Films and pornographic literature that bring lurid pictures stimulating the
30:30
Speaker 1: base desires of the human anatomy. Conversations and discussions that
30:37
Speaker 1: arouse the same. Parties and pastimes, activities that seduce us
30:43
Speaker 1: and weaken our resistance. Certain friends that are bad for us.
30:48
Speaker 1: and cause only the sensual to arise or mainly the sensual. Drugs, alcohol, literature, music,
30:57
Speaker 1: anything that externally stimulates a breakdown in convictions, stay away from, abstain.
31:05
Speaker 1: You can't handle cable television, get rid of it. You're
31:10
Speaker 1: in a room where it's available and a hotel, don't
31:13
Speaker 1: turn it on. We're not talking about rocket science. complication here.
31:20
Speaker 1: There's an off button. Just push it. That's all. But
31:28
Speaker 1: it works against the nature, see? And everything in society says,
31:32
Speaker 1: leave it on. I mean, don't be stupid. Well, that's
31:37
Speaker 1: my line. Don't be stupid. Leave it off. You're in
31:44
Speaker 1: the newsstand looking for some sports magazine or some magazine
31:47
Speaker 1: of current events. You cannot help but stumble over many
31:50
Speaker 1: of the others. Don't gape it then. You've got to
31:53
Speaker 1: work through them to get to your magazine. Get to
31:55
Speaker 1: your magazine and buy it and get out. The longer
31:58
Speaker 1: you linger, the harder it will be. And before long,
32:03
Speaker 1: you will yield. And it is assaulting. So he says,
32:09
Speaker 1: not in lustful passion. And look, he goes further. Verse 6.
32:13
Speaker 1: and that no one transgress and defraud his brother in
32:17
Speaker 1: the matter because the Lord is the avenger. I said
32:19
Speaker 1: we would be reading about this. The Lord is the
32:21
Speaker 1: avenger in all these things, just as we told you
32:24
Speaker 1: before and solemnly warned you. Now he has reference to
32:28
Speaker 1: deceiving someone else in the process and drawing them into
32:32
Speaker 1: the practice that we are engaged in or falling into
32:35
Speaker 1: their seductive allures, biting the bait that is before us.
32:42
Speaker 1: This has reference to any kind of indecent practices that
32:46
Speaker 1: are carried on secretly and promiscuously with another man's wife
32:50
Speaker 1: or another woman's husband, with one's own child or stepchild,
32:55
Speaker 1: with one's stepmother or stepfather. In the blended families of
32:59
Speaker 1: our day, it is an increasing problem. Incest would not
33:02
Speaker 1: have even been used from a pulpit. Now it must
33:05
Speaker 1: be stated. If you are engaged in it, it is
33:10
Speaker 1: not only an illicit act, it is a criminal act.
33:14
Speaker 1: And it is to be reported. It is to be stopped.
33:20
Speaker 1: If you are a mother tolerating it with a daughter
33:22
Speaker 1: or a stepdaughter, it is to be stopped. It is
33:29
Speaker 1: to be reported. It is not to be tolerated. Verse
33:38
Speaker 1: seven puts the capstone on it. God has not called
33:41
Speaker 1: us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. Wonderful.
33:47
Speaker 1: God has called us to be people of holiness. And
33:56
Speaker 1: will you believe it? God has our good at heart.
33:59
Speaker 1: This isn't judgment. This is assistance. This is great coaching.
34:05
Speaker 1: This is counsel on how to stay healthy. This is
34:09
Speaker 1: the best advice you could give your child, your teenager,
34:14
Speaker 1: the young adult who still lives in your home. This
34:16
Speaker 1: is straight talk from the book. The lingering warning of
34:20
Speaker 1: this passage, let me give it to you. In obedience
34:23
Speaker 1: to God's command against immorality, resist. Yes, it is possible.
34:31
Speaker 1: In obedience to God's command against immorality, resist. I counsel
34:38
Speaker 1: the pastors of our church not to take their secretaries
34:41
Speaker 1: to lunch. Don't sit alone with them in a car.
34:47
Speaker 1: Take your wife along. I counsel businessmen the same way.
34:51
Speaker 1: Don't travel alone with the opposite sex in the business.
34:56
Speaker 1: Bring someone else along. Stay away from even the appearance
34:59
Speaker 1: of evil. Play it smart. Don't give the devil an opportunity.
35:07
Speaker 1: Run from that. Resist it. Abstain. And you know what?
35:13
Speaker 1: Chances are good you won't fall because you played it
35:18
Speaker 1: smart and you played it safe and you walked in obedience. Now,
35:25
Speaker 1: back to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Same era, same writer,
35:33
Speaker 1: another town, but.
35:37
Speaker 1: Don't think because we've left Thessalonica that we've come to
35:41
Speaker 1: prudish Corinth. You know what the other word for fornication
35:47
Speaker 1: was in the days of Paul? Corinthianize. That ought to
35:51
Speaker 1: tell you something. If you had a wild night, if
35:55
Speaker 1: you had some kind of orgy, if you were engaged
35:57
Speaker 1: in some kind of drinking bash with a bunch of
36:00
Speaker 1: guys and you had a bunch of women and you
36:02
Speaker 1: Corinthianized that night, that was the word used. We're talking
36:08
Speaker 1: people who gave themselves to that, even in worship. The
36:12
Speaker 1: worship of pagan gods included cohabiting with priestesses who stayed
36:19
Speaker 1: at the temple for the services of men. Like I say,
36:24
Speaker 1: this was no puritanical society in the first century. 1
36:29
Speaker 1: Corinthians 6, 15 to 20. Six times the same word
36:35
Speaker 1: is used. See if you can figure out which one
36:37
Speaker 1: it is. Verse 15, do you not know that your
36:40
Speaker 1: bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away
36:45
Speaker 1: the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot?
36:47
Speaker 1: May it never be. Or do you not know that
36:52
Speaker 1: the one who joins himself to a harlot is one
36:55
Speaker 1: body with her? For he says, the two will become
36:59
Speaker 1: one flesh. But the one who joins himself to the
37:01
Speaker 1: Lord is one spirit with him. Flee immorality. Every other
37:07
Speaker 1: sin that a man commits is outside the body, but
37:10
Speaker 1: the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do
37:15
Speaker 1: you not know that your body is a temple of
37:17
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have
37:19
Speaker 1: from God, and that you are not your own? For
37:24
Speaker 1: you have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God
37:27
Speaker 1: in your body. Six times the word body or bodily appears.
37:35
Speaker 1: The Apostle's point here is directly related to one's physical body.
37:40
Speaker 1: The general context is the inappropriate connection of the body
37:44
Speaker 1: to that which is specifically described as porneia. Let me
37:51
Speaker 1: put it this way. I have never had this explained
37:53
Speaker 1: to me like I want to explain it to you.
37:55
Speaker 1: So this is sort of an original. When you come
37:58
Speaker 1: to know the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a bonding
38:00
Speaker 1: that takes place, like the meshing of gears with one another.
38:04
Speaker 1: You are linked together in a bond. You become members
38:09
Speaker 1: of one another. Somehow, in the inappropriateness of sexual involvement
38:19
Speaker 1: outside the bonds of monogamy, there is a fracture in
38:23
Speaker 1: that bonding. This mystical union is violated. It is broken.
38:33
Speaker 1: and you become a member with the partner in sex
38:38
Speaker 1: and thereby break through the promiscuity this mystical bond between
38:43
Speaker 1: you and the Lord. And it takes a devastating toll
38:48
Speaker 1: on your life. It opens the door to all kinds
38:54
Speaker 1: of violations and sometimes they are, I have to say it,
38:58
Speaker 1: irreparably damaging. Sometime there isn't recovery. I think this is
39:08
Speaker 1: what Paul has in mind when he writes of passion
39:11
Speaker 1: at the end of chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians and
39:14
Speaker 1: says many of the same things. He says, I buffet
39:16
Speaker 1: my body and I keep under it. It's the word
39:19
Speaker 1: for beating myself black and blue. Lest when I preach
39:23
Speaker 1: to others, I myself should become adakimos. The word means disqualified. Disqualified.
39:31
Speaker 1: When I am seen in that a fractured violation, I
39:35
Speaker 1: have forfeited the right to minister as I once ministered.
39:40
Speaker 1: This has led me to take what some call an
39:43
Speaker 1: extreme position. I think it makes sense. I think when
39:46
Speaker 1: there is this kind of sexual failure among ministers, they
39:49
Speaker 1: should relinquish the responsibility of high-profile public leadership. They can
39:54
Speaker 1: minister when there is recovery and when there is repentance.
39:57
Speaker 1: They certainly can. And I find nothing wrong with serving
40:01
Speaker 1: alongside them in various kinds of ministry. I have great
40:05
Speaker 1: reservations about an individual who falls and certainly those who
40:09
Speaker 1: fall on multiple occasions showing a breakdown in their character
40:14
Speaker 1: as still being qualified to preach as they once preached.
40:18
Speaker 1: I think one forfeits the right There is a violation.
40:22
Speaker 1: There is a break of the mystical bond. There is
40:24
Speaker 1: a psychical change. And it isn't just a quick overnight
40:31
Speaker 1: change back. For some, it can't be reversed. And there
40:37
Speaker 1: are tragedies that follow this failure. You see what he
40:44
Speaker 1: says in verse 18. This is terribly important. Every other
40:48
Speaker 1: sin that a man commits is outside the body. Now
40:52
Speaker 1: look closely. But, that's a negative particle showing a contrast
40:57
Speaker 1: with what he just said. But, the immoral man sins
41:03
Speaker 1: against his own body. Listen closely. In this case, and
41:09
Speaker 1: only in this case, the body is the instrument of
41:13
Speaker 1: sin and becomes the subject of the damage wrought. says A.T.
41:17
Speaker 2: Robertson.
41:19
Speaker 1: The body is the instrument of sin and becomes the
41:22
Speaker 1: subject of the damage wrought. In gluttony, food is taken
41:26
Speaker 1: in the body and the sin is gluttony from without,
41:30
Speaker 1: outside the body. In armed robbery, a crime committed against society,
41:35
Speaker 1: the body, of course, holds the pistol or whatever may
41:38
Speaker 1: be the weapon. But the body isn't the instrument of
41:41
Speaker 1: the sin. Only in sexual immorality Is it the instrument
41:46
Speaker 1: of sin? And thereby creates a damage in the psyche,
41:51
Speaker 1: in the soulish, mystical part of one's being. And I
41:56
Speaker 1: can't describe it any further than that. I can only
41:58
Speaker 1: tell you what it says. And there is a uniqueness
42:02
Speaker 1: to this kind of sin that is like none other.
42:05
Speaker 1: And I warn you, it is from the scriptures that
42:08
Speaker 1: I speak. We're seeing in our day a growing difficulty
42:15
Speaker 1: with AIDS, directly linked in most cases with illicit sex.
42:25
Speaker 1: The lingering warning is, and get this, for the sake
42:30
Speaker 1: of bodily health and our bonding to Christ, run. He
42:37
Speaker 1: says it, flee immorality. Just get away from it. Run.
42:50
Speaker 1: Strong words, I realize, but not impossible to do. You
42:55
Speaker 1: can do it. God can give you that kind of
42:59
Speaker 1: power and grace. That's why you have a savior. Second
43:03
Speaker 1: Corinthians chapter 12 is the last passage I want us
43:06
Speaker 1: to look at. This is, again, the same writer and
43:09
Speaker 1: the same era. Only a few months later, And it's
43:16
Speaker 1: written to the same people in the same church, same subject.
43:21
Speaker 1: Paul is thinking about returning to them for a visit.
43:23
Speaker 1: And he says at the end of the 12th chapter,
43:25
Speaker 1: he's afraid. In fact, the last two verses begin reading
43:29
Speaker 1: that way. I am afraid. I am afraid. It's the
43:32
Speaker 1: last verse that is of major interest to me, but
43:35
Speaker 1: I'll read the last two. I'm afraid that perhaps when
43:37
Speaker 1: I come, I may find you to be not what
43:40
Speaker 1: I wish and may be found by you to be
43:42
Speaker 1: not what you wish. This is what I'm really afraid of,
43:45
Speaker 1: that perhaps there may be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances.
43:51
Speaker 1: I'm afraid of finding the same old schism and I
43:54
Speaker 1: want you to get it cleaned up. But he goes further.
43:59
Speaker 1: In verse 21, he digs deeper. He says, I am
44:03
Speaker 1: also afraid that when I come again, my God may
44:06
Speaker 1: humiliate me before you. I'm going to feel ashamed, I fear.
44:14
Speaker 1: And I may mourn over many of you, of those
44:17
Speaker 1: who have sinned in the past and not repented of,
44:24
Speaker 1: here's the clincher, the impurity, immorality, and sensuality which they
44:29
Speaker 1: have practiced. Now, I want to be a man of
44:34
Speaker 1: the word. I want the Bible to guide us. I
44:38
Speaker 1: don't want to give you just good psychological techniques or nice, helpful,
44:42
Speaker 1: practical tips ways to solve the problem. I want you
44:45
Speaker 1: to see from scripture what God has said about the problem.
44:50
Speaker 1: There's nothing like God's word to open wounds and to
44:54
Speaker 1: bring healing. These three words are used by the apostle
44:58
Speaker 1: and they are distinct words. Three sinful, disgraceful practices. The
45:05
Speaker 1: first one, translated impurity, akatharsia, We get the word cathartic
45:13
Speaker 1: from it. It's the general term for uncleanness. It would
45:17
Speaker 1: include covetousness, greed, wrong motive, even idolatry and sex sins. Akatharsia.
45:29
Speaker 1: I'm afraid that when I come, I will find some
45:31
Speaker 1: of you still engaged in an unrepentant lifestyle of akatharsia.
45:38
Speaker 1: There's a second that concerns him. I'm afraid I'll find
45:42
Speaker 1: a porneia still there. I wrote of it earlier. We
45:45
Speaker 1: read of it in 1 Corinthians 6. I'm afraid when
45:48
Speaker 1: I come, I will still see that there are sexual
45:51
Speaker 1: acts going on that are impure. Sex outside of monogamous relationships.
45:57
Speaker 1: And I will be humiliated. I will be ashamed. Third,
46:01
Speaker 1: I may find sensuality. Now, this is the tough one. Asilgeia.
46:05
Speaker 1: And there's no translatable English word for it. So we
46:08
Speaker 1: must amplify. It means a wanton defiance of public decency.
46:14
Speaker 1: One scholar writes, here is an untranslatable word, untranslatable word.
46:19
Speaker 1: It does not solely mean sexual uncleanness. It is sheer
46:23
Speaker 1: wanton insolence. As Basel defined it, it is that attitude
46:29
Speaker 1: of the soul which has never borne the pain of discipline.
46:34
Speaker 1: It is the wanton insolence that knows no restraint. We're
46:37
Speaker 1: describing an addiction. I've added that. That knows no restraint,
46:43
Speaker 1: that has no sense of the decencies of things, that
46:46
Speaker 1: will dare anything that wanton caprice demands, which is careless
46:51
Speaker 1: of public opinion and its own good name so long
46:54
Speaker 1: as it gets what it wants. Josephus ascribed this aselgaya,
46:59
Speaker 1: by the way, to Jezebel. It was her lifestyle. It
47:03
Speaker 1: is an addiction to sexual indecency. You see the downward trend? Akatharsia, pornaia, asilgaya.
47:15
Speaker 1: A wanton defiance and no longer even a feeling of
47:20
Speaker 1: blushing or shame. The lingering warning in this passage, to
47:26
Speaker 1: be free from the bondage of sexual misconduct, repent. To
47:34
Speaker 1: be free from the bondage of sexual misconduct, repent. Now,
47:42
Speaker 1: I'm talking about more than confession. Repentance is more than confession.
47:49
Speaker 1: To confess is to admit, to agree with God that
47:52
Speaker 1: it is wrong. Repentance is a deliberate turning away from it,
47:58
Speaker 1: changing one's mind, removing all traces, relinquishing all connections so
48:03
Speaker 1: that the bond is no longer broken. And Christ reigns
48:08
Speaker 1: supreme as he longs to. and as he demands to.
48:14
Speaker 1: I'd suggest even the burning of literature, not just the
48:18
Speaker 1: discarding of it, but the burning of it. The removal
48:23
Speaker 1: of friendships that hurt your relationship and attract the sensual
48:27
Speaker 1: part of your life, getting rid of those friendships. Those
48:30
Speaker 1: aren't friendships. Those are destructive relationships. You're living with one
48:36
Speaker 1: outside of wedlock, move out. It's sin, it is wrong,
48:43
Speaker 1: and it will bear terrible consequences. Perhaps the worst of
48:47
Speaker 1: all is addiction for you and your partner. There is
48:51
Speaker 1: a cycle of sensuality that doesn't get better, it gets worse.
48:56
Speaker 1: And by and by, it will destroy your life. God
49:03
Speaker 1: is the avenger. Now, when I talk about removing those
49:08
Speaker 1: things that stimulate and the burning of literature, And the
49:11
Speaker 1: breaking of contacts, I have to ask you, have you
49:14
Speaker 1: done that? Well, are you willing to do that? Have
49:22
Speaker 1: you come to a place where you're willing to be
49:24
Speaker 1: accountable to a small group? Where hard questions can be
49:28
Speaker 1: asked regarding your relationship with the opposite sex? Or if
49:32
Speaker 1: it is your temptation with the same sex? Are you
49:35
Speaker 1: willing to confront or have it confronted in your life?
49:40
Speaker 1: So the close associates alongside you have the freedom to
49:43
Speaker 1: look you in the eye and ask you, is this
49:46
Speaker 1: going on? Is this weakening your walk with God? Are
49:53
Speaker 1: you living a lie? Are you practicing indecent things in private?
50:05
Speaker 1: Paul says, I care so much about this that I'm
50:07
Speaker 1: afraid when I come, God will humiliate me. Maybe I
50:14
Speaker 1: can help with sort of an ABCD plan. These are
50:20
Speaker 1: pieces of counsel I have given to others and I
50:23
Speaker 1: think in some cases it may take time with a counselor,
50:26
Speaker 1: be all very honest about it. It may take someone
50:29
Speaker 1: who will help you walk through it and break the
50:30
Speaker 1: bond that you have established with a lifestyle that's hurting you. A, acknowledge.
50:37
Speaker 1: Acknowledge the impurity. The benefit of this is that it
50:41
Speaker 1: will heal the distance between you and your Lord. Acknowledge
50:45
Speaker 1: the bondage. Acknowledge the involvement. Say it. Say it to
50:50
Speaker 1: somebody who can help you, not just to yourself. Say
50:54
Speaker 1: it to someone you respect. Acknowledge it. Second, I repeat
50:58
Speaker 1: what I said earlier, break all connections. The benefit is
51:03
Speaker 1: that it stops the cycle. Unless connections are broken, the
51:06
Speaker 1: cycle won't be stopped. The flesh dies hard. Get rid
51:11
Speaker 1: of the stacks of Playboy. Get away from the pornography.
51:16
Speaker 1: If you have longstanding connections at places where you travel,
51:19
Speaker 1: get rid of them. Get rid of the black book.
51:23
Speaker 1: Stop that nonsense. It's going to destroy you if it
51:27
Speaker 1: hasn't already. Break all connections. C, communicate your need. The
51:34
Speaker 1: benefit is it will make you accountable. If you've never
51:36
Speaker 1: been before, I suggest you make every effort to get
51:40
Speaker 1: up close with a small group of people, same sex,
51:43
Speaker 1: where you can talk openly about the battle, the problem,
51:46
Speaker 1: the difficulties, certainly in one of our adult fellowships or
51:51
Speaker 1: accountability groups. And there are many available in our church
51:55
Speaker 1: and in many churches. Fourth, determined to abstain. You may
52:00
Speaker 1: have a past that's littered with incredible things that you
52:05
Speaker 1: would find embarrassing to admit even to a close friend.
52:08
Speaker 1: Stop it today. The benefit is that it will free
52:11
Speaker 1: you to be all God meant you to be. And
52:16
Speaker 1: in case you need a reminder that God is indeed
52:18
Speaker 1: the avenger, I close with a true story. I'll call
52:22
Speaker 1: the people in question Chester and Clara. Fictitious names, but
52:29
Speaker 1: the story is true. They were a couple whose 25-year
52:34
Speaker 1: marriage was a good one, not the most idyllic, but good.
52:38
Speaker 1: They now had three grown children who loved them dearly.
52:41
Speaker 1: They were also blessed with sufficient financial security to allow
52:45
Speaker 1: them room to dream about a retirement home. So they
52:48
Speaker 1: began looking for one. A widower, we'll call Ben, another
52:53
Speaker 1: fictitious name, was selling his place. They liked it a lot.
53:00
Speaker 1: They returned home to talk and to make their plans.
53:02
Speaker 1: Months passed between Chester and Clara. Last fall, She told
53:08
Speaker 1: him she wanted a divorce. He went numb. After all
53:13
Speaker 1: these years, why? How could she deceive him? How could
53:16
Speaker 1: she have been nursing such a scheme while they were
53:19
Speaker 1: looking at a retirement home? She said she hadn't been.
53:24
Speaker 1: Not for that long. Actually, this was a recent decision
53:27
Speaker 1: now that she had found another man. Who? Clara admitted
53:30
Speaker 1: it was Ben, the owner of the home, the house
53:35
Speaker 1: they were looking at. whom she inadvertently ran into several
53:38
Speaker 1: weeks after they had discussed the sale. Remember what I
53:41
Speaker 1: said to you about getting alone with people of the
53:43
Speaker 1: opposite sex in private places? It works against you. They
53:47
Speaker 1: had begun seeing each other privately. Since they were now, quote,
53:51
Speaker 1: in love, there was no turning back. Not even the
53:54
Speaker 1: kids who hated the idea could dissuade their mother. On
54:00
Speaker 1: the day she was to leave, Chester walked through the
54:03
Speaker 1: kitchen toward the garage, realizing that She would be gone
54:06
Speaker 1: when he returned. He hesitated. Well, hon, I guess this
54:11
Speaker 1: is the last time. And his voice dissolved as he
54:15
Speaker 1: broke into sobs. She felt uneasy and hurriedly got her
54:18
Speaker 1: things together, drove north to meet Ben. Less than two
54:23
Speaker 1: weeks after she moved in with him, her new lover,
54:26
Speaker 1: Ben was seized with a heart attack, lingered a few hours.
54:29
Speaker 1: Tuesday morning, Ben died. I have said for years that
54:37
Speaker 1: if God moved that swiftly in every case, most folks
54:42
Speaker 1: I know would think again before they started an affair.
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Speaker 1: If God moved now like he did in the days
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Speaker 1: of Ananias and Sapphira, I wonder if you'd have to
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Speaker 1: build a morgue in the basement of every church. He
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Speaker 1: is the Avenger. Friends, he's serious. And I must be serious.
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Speaker 1: And I say this only because of the grace of God.
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Speaker 1: The only reason I can speak with passion before you
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Speaker 1: is because I am clean sexually. And I have been
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Speaker 1: all my life. I say that again only to add
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Speaker 1: credence to the fact that it can be done. Let's
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Speaker 1: do it. And God will honor it. And if you
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Speaker 1: haven't passed like that, I'm not talking about thoughts of lust.
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Speaker 1: Everyone is guilty of that. But if you have a
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Speaker 1: past that's clear of acts of lust, today's the day
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Speaker 1: to deal with it. Now.
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Speaker 2: Now. Let's bow together.
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Speaker 1: Please close your eyes. Please sit quietly for just a
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Speaker 1: few moments. I will not play on your emotions, but
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Speaker 1: I must give you a time to decide to act.
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Speaker 1: Don't let a number of days pass where you just
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Speaker 1: sort of casually think back over what you've heard. Deal
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Speaker 1: with this today. It may be that you're not even
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Speaker 1: a Christian and suddenly it dawns on you that that's
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Speaker 1: the reason you have in power to say no, to
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Speaker 1: push the off button, to walk away from the sensual
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Speaker 1: lures that will continue to be there all your life
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Speaker 1: Jesus said, I will give you power when the Holy
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Speaker 1: Spirit comes upon you. You will not be addicted victims.
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Speaker 1: You will be witnesses. You will be objects I will
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Speaker 1: use for my honor. So if it's the need for
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Speaker 1: turning your life over to Christ, you may make the
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Speaker 1: decision right where you're sitting. Jesus Christ, come into my life.
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Speaker 1: Maybe you have some homework to do around the house
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Speaker 1: or in your briefcase or in the secret file at
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Speaker 1: your office. You may need to break ties that only
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Speaker 1: you know about. Because I warn you, God is the avenger.
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Speaker 1: And He deals severely with His children who deliberately and
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Speaker 1: wantonly compromise with sexual impurity. Today is the day. Our Father,
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Speaker 1: I pray that you will take this brief word from
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Speaker 1: your book and cause it to bear rich fruit in
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Speaker 1: all our lives. And rather than leading to further hypocrisy
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Speaker 1: and continued playfulness with a subject that is like a
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Speaker 1: raging fire, may we treat it with serious attention and
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Speaker 1: may we see it as an urgent matter to be
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Speaker 1: dealt with now. May your name be glorified and may
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Speaker 1: your spirit be in control as these decisions are made
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Speaker 1: from your people and from those who seek to know
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Speaker 1: your Son, Jesus Christ. In his strong name we pray. Amen.
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Speaker 2: The preceding message, A Plea for Morality, was copyrighted in 1990, 2000, 2011, 2014,
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Speaker 2: and 2024, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2024
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Speaker 2: by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
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Speaker 2: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.