Sermon Tone Analysis

THE BELIEVER'S SANCTIFIED SEX LIFE

Spring Valley Mennonite; March 20, 2022; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; 1 Corinthians 6:18-19; Ephesians 4:17-19; Galatians 5:16-17

"The Christian philosophy is a philosophy of self-denial, self-control and self-restraint.

The satanic philosophy is a philosophy of "live as you please", "have what you want," "don't let anyone tell you what to do," and "it's your life, you have a right to live it."

(Bob Jones) Nowhere is the world's philosophy more prevalent than in the area of sexuality.

As we move into the last two chapters of 1 Thessalonians, we find Paul giving some very practical reminders to these believers on Christian living.

He commends them on making real and observable strides in their Christian walk, but warns them against spiritual complacency, of thinking they have arrived.

For churches that have a history of biblical teaching, such complacency is a real danger.

Our enemy would have us believe that we have arrived, and there is little more for us to know.

I have seen this repeatedly and have occasionally succumbed to the idea myself.

What a foolish idea!

Consider Job, who was the wisest man of his time, and how God humbled him, beginning with the words, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?"

We can never exhaust the riches of the knowledge of God! His majesty and wisdom are unlimited.

Paul encourages us to "excel still more."

A.W. Tozer comments, (While) "contentment with earthly goods is the mark of a saint; contentment with our spiritual state is a mark of inward blindness.

One of the greatest foes of the Christian is religious complacency....Orthodox Christianity has fallen to its present low estate from lack of spiritual desire."

An important area of one's Christian growth, or our sanctification is understanding God's gift of our sexuality.

Paul considered this of such importance that he leads off this section on personal holiness on the subject.

Now, I understand that talking about sex can be uncomfortable, for perhaps, if like me, you have been raised to think that this is a subject that is inappropriate for church.

The problem with that attitude is that our culture screams out its standards and inundates us with messages which are contrary to God's standards.

God is not silent on the subject of, and in fact, loudly trumpets the joy of sex within marriage!

Our sexuality is one of God's good gifts to mankind.

But like many good things, it can be and has been distorted by sin.

And if the church does not speak on the subject of sexual purity, who will?

Going to our text for the morning, turn to 1 Thessalonians 4. We'll begin by examining the first three verses: Read 1-3a.

I. REGARDING GOD'S WILL

One of the great quests of believers seems to be "finding God's will."

Loads of Christian books have been written on the subject as well as many talks and sermons.

I don't mean to downplay the importance of knowing God's will, but God's will IS pretty plain in the Bible.

We find in our text one major facets of God's will: our sanctification.

We'll explore the meaning of that in a moment, but I'd point out that God's will is clearly stated numerous places: it is seen in His desire that all would come to salvation (1 Timothy 2:4.) Romans 12:1-2 tells us it includes self-sacrifice; Ephesians 5:18 states God's will is that we be filled with the Spirit. 1 Peter 2:13-15 tells us it is God's will that we submit to human institutions like the government, if it doesn't violate our conscience.

It is God's will that we live a life of thankfulness (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Certainly, following all the instructions of Holy Scripture is God's will.

God's will is not so obscured that it takes great effort to find it!

What we usually mean by seeking God's will is in finding His specific leading-should I choose this or that option, this direction or that one.

If we are walking closely with God in following His revealed will, He will guide our steps and choices.

Psalm 37:23: "The steps of a righteous man are established by the Lord; and He delights in his way."

Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."

God's will as stated in verse 3 is "Our sanctification."

Sanctification means to be being set apart to God.

We "sanctify" certain things every day; I have several T-shirts I have sanctified for painting.

Some things by design are sanctified for a certain use: a Phillips screwdriver is set apart for Phillips screws.

As believers, we are set apart to God for the purpose of holiness and Christlikeness.

Sanctification has three aspects in the New Testament: first is in the past, at the time of salvation: 1 Corinthians 6:11: "...but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God."

We are being sanctified in the present as verse 3 states; this is called "progressive sanctification"; and our future destiny is to be presented holy and blameless before God.

One crucial aspect of sanctification-of holy living-is in the proper practice of sex.

We are given in these verses:

II.

GOD'S WILL REGARDING OUR SEXUALITY

Read 3-5.

Paul makes special effort to teach on sexual morality.

If we consider the Roman and Greek culture, the need for this teaching becomes clear.

The sexual practices of the time could be described as "anything goes."

Absolutely nothing was out of limits.

Those from Jewish background had God's standards, but such restraint was unknown otherwise among the gentiles.

Our present culture is rapidly becoming much like that to which Paul is speaking, so this is very applicable to us.

There are few areas of our lives which present more temptations than the area of sex.

We live in a sexually charged society which seems to consider sexual pleasure as the highest goal of life.

For those of us who are older, we have seen the downward slide of our culture, beginning in the 60's with the "free love" movement.

Think of how things such as pre-marital sex, living together outside of marriage, "one night" stands, and adultery were once condemned by society.

Consider how homosexuality was uncommon, and certainly not endorsed by church denominations!

But immorality has been around for much longer than that, but the influence of the church and Christians kept it in check, or at least not in the open.

Those days are sadly in the past.

So, we all admit the problem in our culture, and if we are honest we will admit our own struggles too.

For we know that even if we control our actions, as Jesus taught, our lustful thoughts condemn us.

The Holy Spirit knows that immorality is so personally destructive and gives us clear guidelines in this and other passages.

The bottom line is clearly stated: Christians are to abstain from sexual immorality.

Immorality is the general term which includes all forms of sexual deviation from God's standards.

Thomas Constable explains, "Christians are to avoid and abstain from any and every form of sexual practice that lies outside the circle of God's revealed will, namely adultery, premarital and extramarital intercourse, homosexuality, and other perversions.

The word porneia, translated "sexual immorality," is a broad one and includes all these practices.1"

The scriptural standard is that sex is reserved for marriage alone.

Verse 4 tells us that we each are to have mastery over our own bodies, that we have personal responsibility to live separated-set apart-lives.

To do so is to honor the body God has given us, but I think also it has the implication of honoring God the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:18-19 speaks eloquently to this issue: "Flee immorality.

Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

For you have been bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body."

The opposite of holy and pure self control is the "lustful passion" of the unsaved world.

The idea of passion is almost always viewed in scripture as negative, of someone out of control and actually a slave of their passion.

Immorality truly enslaves a person, for example, the addiction to pornography.

Paul articulates this principle in Ephesians 4:17-19.

Turn there, for this is important (Turn and read).

Ignorance of God is the parent of immorality.

Our culture bears witness to this truth, for as the influence of the church and Christians has diminished, sexual immorality has increased exponentially.

On a positive note, one who lives in purity in their sexual life shines as bright light in the darkness of our culture.

Although one who "saves themselves sexually for marriage" is ridiculed and scoffed at by people, what a witness it is!

And married folks who are faithful and always speak of their spouse in respectful terms, refraining from coarse talk on sex stand out also.

This is such an important part of holy and separated living.

Sexual sin not only impacts ourselves in a disastrous manner, but it has a widespread ripple effect.

Verse 6 speaks of "defrauding" other believers by our sexual misconduct.

To defraud means to exploit or take advantage of someone, in this instance, another believer.

In Thessalonica, an "anything goes" city, this idea of abstaining from sexual activity was quite new, especially to the gentile believers.

There would have been resistance and questioning and difficulty giving up what had been considered normal and accepted.

Apparently, some were taking advantage of other believers in this area.

Constable clarifies this defrauding: "Sexual immorality wrongs the partner in the forbidden act by involving him or her in behavior contrary to God's will and therefore under His judgment.

Two or more people practicing sex out of God's will are calling God's wrath down on themselves (Heb.

13:4: Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge).

The initiator of the act takes advantage of his partner in sin by fanning the fire of passion till self-control is lost.2"

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to hear of some Christian leaders who have stepped over the line in this area.

What a disastrous effect on the Christian world as well as others when a Christian leader falls in this area!