Burning Up: What You Need To Know to Win Against Sexual Tempation

JoBros Lyrics to Burnin Up: I'm slippin' into the lava And I'm tryna keep from goin' under Baby, who turned the temperature hotter? 'Cause I'm burnin' up, burnin' up, for you, baby

The culture we live in today is over-sexualized. From celebrities’ fits, to social media exposure, to our favorite TV shows and video games, and our device addictions, we are constantly being exposed, whether we want to or not, to this sexualized culture. The problem is the sexualized nature of our culture, but it isn’t the only problem. The other problem, which I will dare say is WAY MORE problematic, is the under-informed narrative that has blanketed the generations ahead of us and the generations behind us concerning the consequences of this over-exposure. Not only has the world been under-informed, but those in the churches, youth groups, and such across this nation have went under-informed and that is why sexual activities and temptations are dominating our culture today. The very place you are meant to receive LIFE-BREATHING, WAR-WINNING content has been the very place that has avoided the demonic agenda over your generation. Tonight, WE are going to learn how to win the battle of against sexual temptation God’s way. When I was saved and eventually baptized in the Holy Spirit almost 4 years ago, this is what God spoke to me in that moment and told me He rescued me for. I was caught up in the tangles of this mess, God delivered me, and now it is my mandate to see you FREED and WINNING as you live as a child of God. Tonight will bring freedom, deliverance, and fresh air if you are willing to step outside of your dignity to receive it. If you do not deny your pride, you will leave bound by the same sins and even secret sins you walked in here with. Whether you have no relationship with Jesus or a relationship with Jesus, He has an invitation for you to receive. You can walk out of here saved by His grace from your mess to live a new life for Him if you haven’t received Him yet. You can walk out of here on a new path in your relationship with Him without the bondages of this sin that will constantly and consistently separate you from Him until you finally walk away.

PRAYER

1 Corinthians 6:12–20 (NLT)

You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead. Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.” But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

This passage of Scripture begins by addressing what the culture of the church in Corinth was proclaiming as the they participated in these activities. What is amazing is it is the same that our very culture and even church culture proclaims with or without words…

“I CAN DO WHATEVER OR WHOEVER I WANT”

“I AM ALLOWED TO DO WHATEVER OR WHOEVER I WANT”

“JUST LIKE WHEN I CRAVE FOOD, I EAT IT. WHEN I CRAVE A SEXUAL DESIRE, I SHOULD JUST FULFILL IT”

Paul calls out this kind of talk from the Corinthians in V12-14. He counteracts each statement with…

“You may be able to do anything, but not everything is good for you”

“You may be allowed to do anything, but you must be careful what you submit yourself to.”

“Just because you crave it, doesn’t mean there isn’t a right way to handle it.”

V12-14: 12 You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. 13 You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. 14 And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.

Just because God gave you free will doesn’t mean you should follow your will.

Paul was explaining to the Corinthians that these mindsets would not lead to pleasing God.

Just because I can, doesn’t mean God says I should.

Just because I want it, doesn’t mean it is good for me.

Once you get into a relationship with Jesus or begin a relationship with Jesus, your desires have to be submitted at His feet.

Even after I come into this relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit begins to live in me, I am not perfect yet. I still have my flesh (human sinful desires) that I have to war against with God for the rest of my life on Earth. That means every desire that I have is not always God-honoring.

I have to submit EVERY SINGLE DESIRE I have through the filter of His Holy Spirit and the Bible to make sure I am living a life that pleases Him. Through the power of the Holy Spirit working in me, I can do this!

So Paul is explaining to them that unlike how food was made for the stomach and the stomach for food, the body was never meant to be for sexual immortality

This is where I am going to stop an explain the term “sexual immorality” more in depth. See, I fear this is where the lack of information lies because we only talk about how sexual immortality in terms of sex before marriage (like traditional sex).

The term sexual immorality is connected to the word “porneia” in the Greek, which is traditional sex, but also covers homosexuality, lesbianism, incest, adultery, which later Jesus ties to more than just the action of a sexual activity (Matthew 5:28). Jesus makes sure to point out the lust (cravings, hunger, longing) involved is also sin. This opens up the other avenues of pornography, masturbation, and other sexual activities aside from traditional sex to be included in the term of sexual immorality. If it involves lust, it is considered sexual immorality.

So we can’t make the excuse any longer that what we struggle with is not talked about in the Bible so therefore, I can just keep on doing.

God addressed it as sin.

V15-17: 15 Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! 16 And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.” 17 But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him

Another issue that I have been burdened about for this under-informed generation is that though most have heard the spill about not having sex before marriage, but have never been taught WHY GOD SAID NO.

Not being taught the heart of God behind the command of God can lead to rejection of God.

HERE IS WHY GOD SAID NO SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE (READ ABOVE SCRIPTURES)

Talking to believers here: if you believed in Jesus to save you from your sins and be the Lord of your life, you came under His authority, His lordship. So Paul is saying you cannot be under the authority of Christ and under the authority of sexual tie that is outside God’s design. The only way you can be connected to both is by doing it God’s way through marriage.

V12 “…I must not become a slave to anything”

Sex is more than just a physical act to get physical pleasure. Sex is a physical act that brings spiritual connection.

If you have ever heard of the term “soul-tie”, this is where the Bible discusses it.

Paul explains that sex is the JOINING of two people to become ONE PERSON. He refers to the book of Genesis and Mark when he quotes this Scripture.

This means that sex cannot just be casual. This means that every single person that you have sex with (whether in a traditional way or you enter into a sexual activity with), you connect yourself to that person FOR LIFE.

This means that every person you go to after one will follow you into the next relationship and into the next. It means it will follow you even into your marriage and affect it, if not dealt with.

HOW TO DEAL WITH SOUL TIES FROM SEX? Repent and ask the Lord to break the ties off your life.

V18-20: 18 Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

Paul gave the Corinthians the only route to dealing with this type of sin: RUN

This means sexual temptation cannot be reasoned with, negotiated with, or anything. You must setup boundaries to prevent getting near it and if those boundaries are incoming, RUN the opposite direction.

Our bodies were never meant to handle sin. We were meant to walk with God and be clothed in His glory forever. Now, with redemption through Jesus, we can experience again this presence by the Holy Spirit living in us.

Our bodies are temples that should express and exude worship unto God and bring honor (value) to Him. Sexual immorality dishonors the house of worship we are supposed to be unto God.

We see even in the earliest parts of the Bible where Joseph in Genesis 39 practiced this very concept of running from sexual temptation. It says that as his boss’ wife began to throw herself on him, that Genesis 39:12 “She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.”

He left the temptation instead of reasoning with it. He ran from the temptation instead of entertaining it.

He had already set the boundary with her that he would not disobey God or his boss by sleeping with her, but when she began to close in on that boundary, he fled.

Why? Because Joseph knew that to entertain the pushing of the boundary would lead to the crossing of a boundary

To close tonight’s message, I wanna talk about someone who didn’t do it right, but actually got it wrong. His name is David.

2 Samuel 11:1–5 “In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.”” 2 Samuel 11:14–17 “So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. The letter instructed Joab, “Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.” So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy’s strongest men were fighting. And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers.”

There was a step by step process that lead David down a path of destruction.

STEP OF COMPROMISE

STEP OF CURIOSITY

STEP OF ENTERTAINMENT

STEP OF THE SPIRAL