1 Thes. 4

Introduction

4 Observations:

1. God’s will: your growth in holiness.

In Leviticus, God instructs his people to be “Holy as I AM holy.”

this is the mark of the people of God living amongst pagan people

This instruction is brought forward frequently in the NT, in our texts or in ones like 1 Peter

God calls his people to holiness—a mark of the believer is progressive sanctification

2. Sexual sin is a threat to your holiness.

Every sin is a threat to your holiness—yet sexual sin is worth noting in particular for at least a couple reasons.

Sexual sin is often addicting, enslaving, and soul destroying

Sexual sin effects every level of human relationships (God, self, neighbor)

If observations 1 & 2 are correct...

Then

a) we need to acknowledge that pornography is tempting, available, and compromising

-tempting (Barna study showed that 72% of Christian men between the ages of 18-24 regularly seek out pornography)

-available—pornography has been around for a very long time, but access to pornography has never been higher (it is available on websites and magazines, in your texts messages, all over social media, and those HBO and Netflix Original shows you have been watching.

-compromising — (it has addictive and transformative power)

dopamine and the increasing need to feed an increasingly ravenous sexual appetite

an appetite that is being fed with a view and portrayal of sex that is so distorted and grotesque may find the truly wonderful gift of sex in the marital relationship disatisfying

like loving White Castle instead of Ruth Chris, or like preferring playing in a muddy puddle then to play at the beach by the sea.

3. Sexual sin is a triple threat

4. Sexual sin is a triple threat

It is sin against God

It is sin against oneself

It is sin against neighbor (to objectify, abuse, forsake)

-Consider what pornography is doing to relationships and the objectification of pornography

-3/5ths of all divorces site pornography use by one of the partners as a contributing cause to marital failure

-studies are showing that young men (in their 20s) who are addicted to pornography are suffering erectile dysfunction with their human partners at a far higher rate than the general population

-this seems to be caused by appetites that are being driven by increasingly chemically altered brians

-secular research has found that 88% of pornography contains aggressive action or language, and as a result those who watched mainstream porn were more likely to say that they would commit rape or sexual assault if they wouldn’t get caught!

Is this how you would want someone viewing your mother, sister, or future daughter? As an object for their pleasure?

4. Holding your body in self-control and honor is a righteous expectation.

Lies of culture— “boys will be boys”

Biblical expectation: self-control and honor

Steps forward

repentance

radical amputation

accountability

affection change