Sexual Purity
Notes
Transcript
Good morning
Last week we talked about imitating God and walking in love. Monday, we got the opportunity to live out what we talked about. We had a member’s home catch fire and it was a total loss. We were able to serve them and walk in love by live a life that is self-sacrificing just like Jesus lived. Liberty, that is what it is all about. Living out what we believe and talk about. Did we do it perfectly, no. But we did it and we honored God in our service to the family. It was a long week, but it was a good week. We were able to help a family in need. We saw in Mark that the disciples and Jesus never got rest, they were always going and doing. Even when they tried to get away and rest, the people and troubles found them and they responded. We are commanded to rest one day a week, but just like Jesus taught, people are more important than the rest. If we miss our rest due to serving and honoring God, He will provide the rest we need. Helping others and serving are why God has us here. It is through those things that He gets the glory and that is our main job here on earth, to glorify our God.
I want to thank Carolyn for stepping up and taking charge while I was unavailable due to a funeral this week. She really did the lions share of work this week helping the family. She made calls and got things lined out. Thank you
Life is hard! There have been times in my past that I didn’t have the money to even pay the electric bill. Those were definitely the darkest days of my life!
On May 30th, the last Saturday of the month, we are going to have a work day. The men will cook breakfast for our men’s breakfast since I will be gone the second Sunday of June. We have a lot of things to get done around the church and we need people to help get them done.
Today we are going to be in Ephesians 5:3-6.
Last week Paul told us we are to imitate God and walk in love just as Christ walked in love all the way to the cross. Are lives are to be a living sacrifice to God. We are to live a life marked by sacrificial love. When we do that, our sacrifice will be a sweet aroma to God! He will be please with our sacrifice. In those two verses from last week, Paul gave us an exhortation to self-sacrificial love. In verses 3-20 Paul gives us instructions on how to live Holy. How to walk in the newness of Jesus.
Today the focus is going to be on purity and exalting God and not idols.
Please stand as we prepare to hear God’s Word.
3 But sexual immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints; 4 and there must be no filthiness or foolish talk, or vulgar joking, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know with certainty, that no sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, which amounts to an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 See that no one deceives you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Paul calls us saints. Saints are not dead people who were believers. All believers are saints. Saints means “set apart ones”, since we were once darkness and through Jesus Christ have been called to the light, we are to walk as a child of the light. We no longer belong to the dark world that we live in, we have been changed and should no longer walk with the darkness. Paul is calling us to become what we now are! We are light!
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a Holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
The question for us is, how do we walk in the light? Paul is going to tell us. We have to exalt God and not idols, we have to exhibit the fruit of the light(Spirit), and we have to expose the darkness.
It is beneath the dignity of a saint to indulge in sins that belong to the darkness, some of which Paul has called out here in our verses today. Paul mentions sexual immorality, impurity, greed, and filthy speech. These sins grow out of a heart that have replaced God with their idol. We are told that these sins should not even be mentioned among the saints.
He begins by warning us against sexual sins, sexual immorality. This was very prevalent in Ephesus back in Paul’s time.
We like to think that we are more advanced in the twenty-first century, but when you read this, you see that we have the same sin issues faced by the first century church. I would say that we are at the same place today here in America!
There are over 30 million pornographic websites that are visited by around 800 million people a day. I found research that said one site That gets 3.59B visits per month!!
One site said that around 61% of the general population watch porn.
It is estimated that over 100 million sites are visited every day! Amazon only gets 75-85 million views.
The average first exposure is around 12 years old!
Artemis is still an idol today! We live in a very dark and sexual world.
We should not be a part of any of this darkness!
It is sad to say that these sexual sins have invaded the homes of Christians and have brought grief to the local church and to countless families.
Impurity is a broad word that refers to any type of filth. It is often combined with sexual immorality, but when Paul says “any,” we should not limit it to sexual sin! He is telling us that we should be living lives of holiness, 1 Peter 1:16
16 because it is written: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
God is holy, as His children, we should be holy as well! We are to set ourselves apart from the sin that use to define us!
Sexual immorality tops Paul’s list not only here in Ephesians, but also in Colossians, Galatians and 1 Corinthians. The word used for sexual immorality is pornei, which is a broad word that covers any sexual sin. Scripture condemns sexual sin. Jesus took it a step farther in His sermon on the mount. He said that if you lust after another, you have committed adultery! It isn’t the act alone that is a sin, it is the desire in the heart that is the sin and where the sin is born. People have always tried to find a loop hole in scripture for their sexual desires. Paul tells us that it should not be hint of sexual immorality in a believer’s life. Paul’s words are clear on this matter! We were once darkness, but we are now light. Become what you are! Light!
The world tries to rename sexual sin, saying it is for mature audiences or Gentlemen’s Club. I can promise you there are no gentlemen in those clubs! We must call it what God calls it, SIN. The world tells us that if it feels good, it must be good! We are not called to manage our sin. One club promotes itself by saying, just the right amount of wrong! God’s people must seek to kill their sin. Colossians 3:5
5 Therefore, treat the parts of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
And we are to flee from sin! 1 Corinthians 6:18
18 Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
This is not a game! Our eternal home is at stake!
Ultimately, pornei is idolatry. It is a worship problem. It is a result of not honoring God. Our lives are an overflow of our hearts. A renewed heart will not worship selfish desires and sin. If you have a sexual sin problem, you fundamentally have a worship problem. If you do not get the worship problem fixed, you can never get the sexual sin problem fixed, and you will never be able to enjoy the beautiful gift of sex that God has given to the husband and wife.
This is not a new sin, it is everywhere. Technology has made pornography explode!
Churches should be known for restoring those who have fallen into deep sexual sin. However, healing can only happen when there is true repentance. Repentance involves acknowledging the sin, believing that you need to change, experiencing the grace of Jesus, and then changing your life. Let us repent and call others to repentance as well.
Greed may seem out of place here next to sexual sin, but the two sins are only different expressions of the same basic weakness of fallen nature - uncontrolled appetite. They both desire to satisfy the appetite by taking something that does not belong to them. The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, describes these two sins. Self control is a fruit of the light. We have to control ourselves.
Greed is also a heart condition. It is about desiring something more than God. Jesus told His followers about this in Luke 12:15-21
15 But He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one is affluent does his life consist of his possessions.”
Exalting Jesus in Ephesians Exalt God, Not Idols (5:3–6)
I once heard Tim Keller describing a sermon series that he decided to present on the seven deadly sins. His wife predicted, “Your lowest attendance will be for the message on greed.” Keller said she was correct. And of those who did show up for the greed sermon, no one was observably moved or upset. Why? It is because few think the topic applies to them. Keller went on to say that no one has ever confessed, “Pastor, I think I may be greedy” or “I think I love money too much.” Why? Is it because no one is guilty or because we are not “watching out” for this blind spot? I think we know the answer. In materialistic cultures greed is the air breathed. We must seek to put this idol to death.
Jesus commands us to delight in God and to store up treasure in heaven!
The god of money and things, will never satisfy. It is empty and a horrible master. We are called to find our satisfaction in God alone. We are commanded to work to make money, thank God for the money He has given us, and use that money to help others while worshipping our God and Him alone.
The enemy is working overtime to get us to sin, to destroy all that we are working for and that God has done in our lives and our church. We must be intentional about everything we do, we have to be on guard and we have to kill our sin and flee from it. Someone set apart does not hang out with dead people. We should not do dead people things. We are light.
We have a God more satisfying than sexual sin and greed!
We have a God worthy of endless praise and thanksgiving.
We have a God who had given us a kingdom!
We must worship God alone, not cheap man made substitutes!
Let’s pray
