How do we respond to a sexual rebellious culture?
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So this morning we dealt with 1 Thessalonians 4 which deals with Paul’s instructions to the church with regard to the way we live our lives in sexual purity, honoring God, and seeking to submit to the Lordship of Jesus with our lives.
Tonight I want to drill down into a related issue.
This morning’s question was: How should we live as Christians in a sexually rebellious world?
Tonight is very much so answering that same question but more directly to- how should we respond to those in our world who are sexually rebellious?
I think out of this morning’s message would probably come the question:
What do I do with the person at my workplace, who is living in a lifestyle of sin?
What do I do with a son or daughter who may be living a lifestyle of rebellion and sin unto God?
Obviously, we want to seek to love them well, but we also want to honor God.
So how do we do both?
Tonight I want to seek to answer that question from multiple passages and I hope that it will be helpful to us as we live in a culture that is sexually rebellious.
The first thing I want to mention tonight is really just to echo, what we were talking about this morning and that is we are to:
1. Live Holy Lives
Our text this morning was clear on that this is God’s will for us. That we be sanctified.
We are to live separate from the world who does not know God.
We as those who do know God, we also know his Will.
And so we are to live holy and distinct lives from the world.
Another text that makes this very clear is
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Peter’s point is that believers should no longer be shaped by the desires that once ruled them.
Just consider for a moment- what has changed since you became converted?
Have your apetites changed?
Have your loves changed?
If we are believers, there should be a change, And the change should be evident.
Upon conversion—
God’s holiness becomes the pattern for Christian living.
God’s standard becomes our standard.
God’s word becomes the ruling agent of our lives.
Yes, we will fail.
When we do fail, we ought to acknowledge our failure.
We ought to repent of our failure.
But we ought to live holy lives.
And we have to understand this as well.
That those of us who claim to be Christians… there will be people watching us.
Peter goes on to say in 1 Peter—
11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
Peter is urging the people that as Christians, We live as exiles in a pagan culture.
It should be clear by the way that we live our lives that we live differently than the world does.
He says there specifically Keeping our conduct honorable among the gentiles.
That there is a way that we must living in front of those who do not claim to know God.
Honorable is a word that means deserving of honor.
And so there is a way that we are to live among those who are sexually rebellious.
Those within the Church should set the example for marriage.
Those within the church should set the example of holy living with regard to purity.
Those who are believers should set the example in our speech regarding this.
We have to know that those within the world are ready to fire the charge of hypocrisy at the slightest deviation from God’s word and his design and what we claim to believe.
What I mean by that is the world is watching.
Primarily God is watching, but God has placed us in this world with unbelievers, and they are looking at our lives.
Like it or not, they will judge us not by their standard, because the world doesn’t have any standard, but they will judge us by our standards.
And so we have to live out what we say we believe.
That touches every aspect.
Again, we dealt with this at length this morning and so I won’t rehash it tonight.
Other than to say God’s desire is that we live distinct from the world.
That we not be conformed to the world, but we would be transformed from the inside out.
I think one of the greatest tools we have in our belt when it comes to responding to a sexually rebellious world is living submissive, lives to the Lord in sexual purity.
You know as your pastor…
I pray for our church regularly.
I pray that God would preserve our marriages.
I pray that God would keep us from sexual sin.
I pray that we would set the example in our communities and in our jobs and in our extended families of what it means to be a Christian and to live a pure life.
And so the first aspect of responding to a sexually deviant world or people is that we have to be consistent in not only saying what we believe, but living out what we believe.
The second thing that we have to do is to
2. Speak the Truth
The main text I want us to consider with regard to this particular point is Ephesians chapter 5.
You can turn there with me.
Listen to what Paul says here to the church of Ephesus
5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
In this text, Paul is exhorting the church, not only to not live as the world, but as those who have been called out of of darkness into light, to take our light into the darkness and expose that which is wrong.
It is a right and biblical thing as a Christian to speak what God says is true regarding sexual relationships.
Our world would have you to believe that the most loving thing that we can do is to tolerate.
And by tolerate the world means don’t say anything that may offend anyone or their lifestyle, especially if it’s different than yours.
Our world says that saying what is true is hate speech.
To say that God’s wrath is coming against those who participate in sexual sin is considered hate speech.
Canada right now has laws preventing what they are calling “conversion therapy.”
And what they mean is Christians can’t tell other people that they’re living in sin and try to convert them to Christ and pointing them towards a holy lifestyle because not affirming.
Because our world says the most loving thing that we can do is affirm people.
They believe we must celebrate them by engaging even in the celebration ceremonies of sinful unions.
But I don’t believe that is right.
In fact, Paul in Romans 1:32— it’s not only wrong to do the behavior but to approve of it is wrong as well.
We cannot approve of that which is an offense towards God.
Ephesians chapter 5, says we must not affirm it
Ephesians 5 says the opposite.
It says we must expose it.
Paul does not permit silent participation or passive acceptance.
Christians must lovingly identify what God calls sin as sin.
Now, let’s be clear… it matters how we do this.
Ephesians 4:15 says that we are to speak the truth in love.
Obediently speaking the truth, according to the Bible requires that we do it in a loving way.
You can say the right thing in the wrong way, and still be wrong.
At the same time, you could say the wrong thing in a loving way and be wrong.
Both of these things have to be true.
We have to say what is right and do it in a loving manner.
Truth and love must remain together.
Truth apart love becomes harsh.
Love apart from truth becomes compromise.
Several of you this morning, came up to me afterwards, and said I know that that was a more difficult sermon.
And it was.
It is difficult at times to say what is true.
And sometimes it’s even more difficult to say what is true in the best way.
And I want to strike the balance of that.
But also want to maintain integrity according to the Bible.
Paul gave Timothy instructions regarding the preached word
Listen to what he said.
1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 But as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
That’s how I want to preach.
And while I do believe Paul is specifically talking to Timothy as a preacher of his word in the church as an elder over the church of Ephesus, I believe Paul is also giving us a model for how we as Christians are to proclaim God‘s word in the world where no one wants to hear the truth.
God’s people must continue declaring God’s truth even when it is unpopular.
And so we can’t live by the lies of our culture.
We don’t redefine marriage.
We continue to uphold God’s standard when it comes to gender.
And we continue to stand firm on the sexual morality that the Bible declares.
And we do it in love.
We speak God’s truth clearly, graciously, and courageously. It really is an exercise and balance.
Holding out the truth.
Declaring what is true but doing so in a way that the people that we’re speaking to know that we love them.
So how do we respond to the sexually rebellious in our world?
We do so living our lives and submission to God.
We do so by speaking the truth.
Finally, I want to remind us of the mission of Jesus and our mission with this third point.
3. Hold Out the Gospel
This morning, as I ended the sermon, I know that it was a sermon that was heavy with regard to God’s requirement for us as Christians.
I know that there was some specific sins that I made mention of and hopefully provided some clarity on how we are to live and think as Christians.
But also recognize that all of us in here at some point or another have probably entered into some kind of sexual immorality.
Whether that be heinous or public or it could be sin known only unto you and to God.
For the reality is Jesus came to save sinners. And I think there’s one particular passage that is wonderfully illustrative of that point.
Turn with me to John chapter 4.
This is, of course, the narrative of Jesus’s meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well.
We are going to pick up in verse six.
6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
Jesus has this wonderful conversation with this woman.
And Jesus, as the omnipotent, omniscient, sovereign ruler over the world, knows this woman and every aspect about her life.
Jesus knowing her sin, what does he do here in verse 16?
He says go, call your husband and come here.
Jesus directly addresses the woman’s sinful situation.
He does not ignore it. He confronts it.
In fact, she is driven then to admit that she does not have a husband.
Now, after she said that, if you knew her situation, what would you have said.
I know what I would have been tempted to do.
Most of us would’ve just moved on to the good news of the gospel, Jesus even gets more explicit.
17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
Jesus confronts her. He explicitly calls her out for her sin.
This is where I just find so many problems with the thought in our culture that Jesus was this tolerant accepting and non-confrontational figure.
Yes— Jesus was gracious and kind.
He was gentle and lowly as he says in Matthew 11.
But he did not shy away from exposing sin for what it is.
And why is that?
Because it’s those who have their sin exposed, who will come running into a savior who can save them from their sin.
We do no one any favors by leaving sin unaddressed and unconfronted.
Now, it’s also important to see that Jesus doesn’t confront her in her sin to leave her in her sin.
We know this because even before exposing her sin, Jesus had already offered grace and eternal life.
In other words, Jesus, knowing her sin still offered eternal life.
He still offered this living water that would well up into eternal life.
He held out to her, the good news that she would believe she could be transformed from her past.
That she could become one of those like Paul mentioned in first Corinthians Such for some of you.. But you were washed…”
Jesus sets the example here for us and how we are to deal with those who are sexually rebellious.
We can’t ignore their sin.
We offer the gospel of Grace to those who are in sin.
Paul told Timothy 1 Timothy 1:15
15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
This is the mission.
He came to save sinners. People needing saving.
Let me encourage you if you have loved ones or friends or coworkers who are currently living lifestyles of sin.
I encourage you with this truth.
God saves sinners.
No one is beyond the reach of God’s grace.
We must not merely tell people what they are doing wrong; we must point them to the Savior who can forgive and transform them.
How should Christians respond to a sexually rebellious world?
We live holy lives before the world.
We speak God’s truth to the world. And we hold out the gospel to the world.
I want to say one last thing and make one final point for how we are to respond to the sexually rebellious in this world.
There is a thought that those who hold to biblical standards of marriage are just living in the past.
That we are going to be on the wrong side of history when it comes to this particular thing.
And I just want to remind you that though our culture may go even further away from God’s command, and though it may become increasingly more rebellious, but it is worth it and right to stand upon God‘s truth as our foundation.
4. Hold Fast to the Truth Knowing It Will Prevail.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
One day every knee will bow to our Lord and king Jesus.
We as Christians have already bowed the knee.
Let us make sure we bow to no one else.
Let us make sure we realize that one day everyone else will bow to the same Lord we bout to now.
I began this morning, talking about the sexual revolution.
The sexual revolution was and is an organized rebellion against God’s design for marriage and relationship relationships.
But not every revolution ends the way the American Revolution ended.
The sexual revolution will not end with a big fireworks celebration, celebrating our freedom.
The sexual revolution will end the way every thing else will end.
Bowing the knee to the Lord Jesus who is king of this world. Jesus Christ is Lord, and every competing authority will bow before Him.
I think it’s true The world often looks powerful in its rebellion:
It seems we have
shifting morals
redefining of sexuality
rejecting God’s Design
How discouraging is it at times to see what our culture celebrates and platforms?
But heres the deal… God has already announced from Heaven that Jesus is exalted above all.
So Christians are not living in uncertainty—we are standing on a victory that has been finished.
And until then, we stand on solid ground as we declare the truth.
So as we close, let’s revisit those questions we began with:
How should Christians respond to a sexually rebellious world?
How do he respond to those that we know in love who live sexually rebellious lives?
I think from the scriptures, we see some principles.
We live holy lives. We speak truth.
We hold out the gospel.
And we hold fast to the truth, knowing that Christ will prevail.
