Sin In the Camp (Part 2)

Mention the time of prayer from yesterday at the amphitheater! [10 pastors prayed and there were a total of 18 pastors that were representing the body of Christ for the event!]

Baby dedication for Amberley Grace Rector. (Parents: Austin Kane Rector and Courtney LeeAnne Rector)!

This morning, we are going to continue with our message from last Sunday. And for those of you who were maybe not here last Sunday and also as a recap for those who were here, I’m going to briefly go over the message from last week and bring you up to speed for today’s continuation of the topic.

So, last Sunday, we started off by reading the account of Joshua and the nation of Israel and of their loss in battle to the smaller and inferior nation of Ai, as recorded in Joshua chapter 7.

Now, in this passage we find that Joshua and the leaders of the nation, are grieved and perplexed by the loss to this smaller and inferior nation, when they had just had a supernatural victory by God, over the much larger and mightily fortified city of Jericho, as found in chapter 6!

And note that I said, “a supernatural victory BY GOD, over Jericho”!

It is vitally important that you and I remember that our victories over the enemy in this life, are never of our own doing. Every step of progress in our walk with God and every battle won against the devil and his schemes, is by the powerful grace of God, active in our lives, as given through His Holy Spirit! AMEN?!!!!

This why it is so extremely important that each one of us understands that the living, breathing Word of God, MUST be alive and active inside of our hearts and souls and minds!

The Word of God, active inside of our hearts and minds, is our strength against the lies and deception of the enemy!

This is why the Psalmist said, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

OK, so in the account of Joshua 7, the Lord God tells Joshua that someone had sinned and taken things from Jericho, that were to be set aside for God’s use only!

God was saying to Joshua, “The reason that you are no longer victorious over the enemy, is because someone in your midst has transgressed my words and there is now sin active in your camp!”

That became the title of last week’s message and today’s as well, “Sin In the Camp”.

The understanding being, whenever you have active sin in your life, in your home, in your family and in the church, (A.K.A. “sin in the camp”), there are ramifications for this and it must be dealt with!

That is what God said to Joshua and to the nation of Israel. Fix the problem; remove the sin from your midst!

In the book of Deuteronomy chapter 22, we looked at one particular type of sin last week, in which God commanded the people to “purge” it from their midst and destroy those who were committing it.

That one type of sin was, SEXUAL SIN and it’s going to be our main discussion today and for this message!

Now let me say right out of the gait, that sin, is sin. It is not my wish nor my intent, to lead any of you today into believing that if you have in the past, or if you are currently actively engaged in some form of sexual sin, that you have committed the unpardonable sin! That is not the case here.

Sin, all sin, is a transgression against the will and the commands of almighty God for our lives, period. Every sin that you and I have ever, or will ever commit in our lives, regardless of the weight and the severity of that sin (as man looks at it), has the exact same root cause.

Regardless of which sin has been committed, the root of that sin and every other sin since the fall of mankind in the garden of Eden, is the root of PRIDE! The PRIDE of the human heart is why we sin.

Now people will argue this and say that there were other reasons that caused, or produced the sin in their own life, but the only reason that we go against the will of God and sin against Him, is because we CHOOSE to.

In other words, it is our will to do what we want in our lives when we sin, rather than serving God’s will and doing what He wants for our lives!

No matter how you cut it, no matter how you look at it, at the end of the day, whatever sin we may have committed, took place because we did what we wanted versus doing what God wanted for our lives.

Doing what God wants for our lives is walking in humility and trusting in Him.

Doing what we want for our lives is the complete opposite and thus it is walking in PRIDE.

PRIDE demands self, but a broken spirit and a contrite heart, begs for God!

The great pastor, Andrew Murray once said, “Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you.”

So, all that to say, that sin is ultimately sin, it is us doing what we want and desire in our hearts, (which is PRIDE) versus being humble and doing what our loving heavenly Father wants for our lives!

And yes, in the case of sexual sin, like other sins, there are situations where children are raised in horrible situations, in broken homes, where they are subjected to and exposed to demonic and toxic environments of violence and of where they forced into, or made to witness horrible and unspeakable acts of sin by their “parents”.

And because of this, the child many times over, may grow up and either live out that same sin they were forced to witness, or some other sinful life, that was a bi-product of what they were exposed to as a child.

BUT, once that person has been exposed to the TRUTH of the gospel message and they meet the Christ for the very first time, their life can be instantly and radically changed and they can be truly set free from the darkness of their past!

You see, once you have been exposed to the light of the gospel message, from then on, you must choose to go back to the darkness.

The light always pushes back the darkness. AMEN?!!!

And so, today, we are going to be looking at THE TRUTH of what the Word of God has to say about the sin, called “sexual sin”.

Although sin is sin, as I just stated, which is going against the will and the commands of God, the Bible does clearly show us that sexual sin is a very weighty sin and one that God many times over, commands us to stay away from.

Sexual sin, according to the Bible, is directly opposed to God’s will for our sanctification. I Thessalonians 4:3-4 says,

1 Thessalonians 4:3–4 ESV

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,

Sanctification is the process of a Christian transforming more and more into the glorious image of God’s son, Jesus the Christ.

The moment that someone is born again through their faith in the Christ and His shed blood covers them, Jesus instantly conveys His righteousness upon that person (II Corinthians 5:21, “ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”) and then from that point forward, God sees the righteousness of Jesus on them, and not their old sinful self.

So, of all of the sins that God could have been linked as a direct opposition to our sanctification, the sin of sexual sin is the one that the Bible warns us of!

Well, what is sexual sin, according to the Bible? Which sins are in the category of sexual sin?

The word that we find in the NT that is commonly used to refer to sexual sin, is the Greek word, “porneia” and this word means: illicit sexual intercourse (including, but not limited to: adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.)

Basically, all sexual activity, OUTSIDE OF THE MARRIAGE BETWEEN ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN, is considered, “porneia” and it is SIN!

As I mentioned last week, God created man and woman and then put them together and called it a marriage. And God commanded the man and the woman (husband and wife) in Genesis 1:28, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth (God was ordaining and blessing sex between the husband and the wife) and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

So, from the very beginning of the Bible and all the way through, God’s design is clearly laid out. The only sex that God recognizes and ordains, is that between ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN. (“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”)

There is no variation of this that is acceptable. The only grounds for legitimate God ordained sexual activity is, “one husband to one wife”.

Not “one guy and one girl”, but husband wife.

Sexual activity outside of the marriage bed is SIN, period. There is no acceptable level of it, or form of it!

In the world today, we have removed teaching the kids in the school systems about “abstinence” and instead they teach kids to have “safe sex”!

A teenage boy and his grandfather go fishing.

While fishing, the old man starts talking about how times have changed.

The young man picks up on this and starts talking about various problems and diseases, going around.

The teen says, “Grandpa, they didn’t have a whole lot problems with all of these sexual diseases when you were young, did they?”

The grandpa replied, “Nope”.

The young man asked, “Well, what did they use for safe sex back then?”

The grandpa replied, “A wedding ring!”

Let me again say this very clear and strong emphasis: THE ONLY SEXUAL ACTIVITY THAT IS ACCEPTABLE AND RIGHT IN THE EYES OF GOD, IS SEX BETWEEN A HUSBAND AND HIS WIFE!

Not between a husband and “a wife”, but between a husband and “his” wife.

Sexual activity between a boy and girl, man and woman, who are not married, is called fornication (again, “porneia”) and it is sexual sin, period.

Don’t try and pull the old line of, “Well we love each other and we’re already planning on getting married and so we went ahead and had sex. It’s basically the same thing, now versus then, right?”

WRONG! God said that a man should leave his mother and father and cleave to his WIFE and the two shall become one flesh!

Not the other way around; they become flesh and then get married!

Fornication is openly called sin in the Bible.

Hebrews 13:4 says,

Hebrews 13:4 ESV

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

ANY sexual activity outside of the marriage between one man and one woman, according to the Bible, is called SINFUL!

I am not going to get into all of the areas of the word “porneia” with you today, because the list and details of all it would take several messages to cover. Especially in the world in which we live today, where everything is open and accepted.

I will say this however, about the issue of the “LGBTTTQQIAA” that is moving so strongly in the world today. Homosexuality is a lie of the devil and it is SIN, period!

The name itself says that it goes against the created order and purpose of God: “HOMO”, in the word homosexual, refers to “same” sex activity.

God created two sexes and only two and He ordained and empowered sex between those two sexes in marriage.

To say that God approves of sex between two men, or two women is to say that God changed His stance on His creation and that He didn’t mean to say man and woman!

If that is the case and we say that God has changed His mind and His stance on what sex is and on what a marriage is, then you’d better drop to your knees in fear and beg that He doesn’t change His mind also on what “salvation” is and how long we are saved for!!

There are and were only two sexes created in the Bible. Genesis 1:27, says,

Genesis 1:27 ESV

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Today, there are THIRTY ONE recognized genders, according to the LGBT community!

Basically, whatever you feel like dreaming up, is what you can be recognized as!

And they have a whole pronoun list of names to called by. You know longer call them a, “he”, or “she”. It’s no longer “his”, or “hers”.

Now you are being asked to use terms like: zie, zim, zir, zis to refer to others, because they are trying to remove the recognition of God’s created sexual classification of male and female!

IT’S ALL SINFUL! PERIOD!

That’s all that I will say here.

Regardless of what sexual sin a person is entangled in, or struggling with, (fornication, adultery, pornography, homosexuality, bi-sexuality, bestiality, etc.) the Bible clearly makes a stand on the future that someone practicing such things will face. I told you last week that I was going to state with clarity about sexual sin and not sugar coat it. (I didn’t mean that I was going to go into detail about each sin in particular, but rather, that I was going to tell you exactly what God says about this sin and its future.

Listen closely about what God and His Word has to say about sexual sin.

Colossians 3:5-6,

Colossians 3:5–6 ESV

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

I Corinthians 6:9-10,

1 Corinthians 6:9–10 ESV

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:16-21,

Galatians 5:16–21 ESV

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

God’s wrath against sin is sure and it is reserved for the rebellious and wicked.

And one thing that I want to point out in the NT where we see sexual sin being taught against, like with apostle Paul and his writings about it, is that these warnings are not being given to the non-believers; those outside of the church.

When Paul is warning others against sexual sins, he is talking to those within the church and warning them to avoid these sins.

And it is a very strong warning that is given: “ I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!”

There is a difference in saying that they will not “enter” the kingdom of heaven. Paul doesn’t say to these churches, because he knows that he is writing, as directed by Holy Spirit, to believers in the church and as such, they would have already entered in through faith and belief in Christ!

Paul says that they will not “inherit” the kingdom of God”.

Listen carefully and let me explain something to you.

Many people who are struggling with sexual sin are under the mindset that God knows our struggles and that He will forgive us of these sins and turn away His wrath, because He understands our hearts and that we don’t like living in these sins.

And that the sexual struggle we have is just too much for us to overcome.

This is NOT the truth. The Bible tells us in I Corinthians 10:13,

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

If you have been born again and you are filled with the Holy Spirit of almighty God, then you have everything that you need to overcome sexual temptation and the sins of sexual immorality.

What Jesus did on the cross was sufficient for all sin and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit within us, gives us what we need to stop succumbing to sin and to begin to walk in victory!

There are too many men today, who are struggling with sexual impurity and they say, “Well, sexual sin is every man’s battle and that’s just what we have to deal with, because we are such sexual creatures!”

This is a lie from the bowels of hell! If you are a Christian, man or woman, then you are NOT bound to sexual sin, or any other sin for that matter!

We are to walk in freedom from all spiritual bondage.”He who the Son sets free, is free indeed!”

We are not drug kicking and screaming back into sinful life styles, like that of sexual sin, we yield to temptation and then walk back into them.

That’s why James says in James 1:12-15,

James 1:12–15 NLT

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

James said, if we patiently endure temptation, then afterward (when we leave this world), we will receive the crown of life (a.k.a. inherit the kingdom of God). He goes on to say though that if you yield to temptation and start sinning (it grows and matures), it brings about death.

And those who do not yield to and walk by the Holy Spirit and who enter again into sexual sin, while still trying to maintain a walk with the Lord, are deceiving themselves if they believe that God will make concessions for their immoral lifestyle and say, “Enter into my glory.”