“A Biblical Plea for Sexual Purity”
(Sunday Morning November 22nd, 2009)
Passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
O.S. Some of the Characters That I Admire the Most in the Scriptures are Those Who Remained Spiritually and Morally
Faithful to God All of Their Lives
In Fact, This Was Something That Sonja and I Took Into Consideration When We Named Our Children
We Wanted All of Our Children to Have Biblical Names, and We Were Equally Concerned About What These People
Actually Stood For
Ex. “Stephen”, for Example, “Stephanos” in the Greek Literally
Means “Crown”, and the Bible Says That Stephen Was a
Man Who Had a Good Reputation and Was “…full of faith and of the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 6:5)
He Was Also the First Christian Martyr, and He Never Failed Spiritually or Morally; He Remained Faithful to God His
Entire Life
Ex. “Samuel” is Another One; His Name Literally Means “Asked of God,” and He Was the First One to Hold the Official
Title of Prophet in Israel
And I am Also Glad to Say That Samuel Never Veered Off Course
Ex. No One in the Bible is Actually Named “Sophia,” But This is a Biblical Word That Means “Wisdom,” and It Has Been
Our Hope and Prayer That She Will Make Wise Decisions Throughout Her Entire Life
Q.n = So, Why Did We Name Our Children “Stephen,” and “Samuel,” and “Sophia?”
Ans = Well, for One, We Wanted Everyone in Our Family’s Name to Start With an “S”
But It Was Also Our Hope and Prayer That They Would Make Wise Decisions, Maintain Their Integrity, and Live
Exemplary Lives
Q.n = And That’s What I Want for All of Our Young People, Don’t You?
I Want All of Our Young People to be Able to Start Well, and to Finish Well, and to Have the Most Fulfilling Life They
Can Possibly Have (Can I Get a Witness?)
And of Course, This is Why We Decided to Have a True Love Waits Rally Which is Designed to Encourage Young People
to Remain Sexually Pure
Q.n = So, How Does a Person Remain Spiritually and Morally Faithful to God in a Culture That is Constantly Tempting
Them to do Otherwise?
Ans = Well, I Believe That a Biblical Character by the Name of “Daniel” Provides
Us With an Answer to That Question
Most Scholars Believe That Daniel Was Somewhere
Between 12 to 14 Years of Age When He Was Thrown Into a Culture
That Was Pagan to the Core
And One of the Temptations He Faced Was That of Eating Food That Had Been Offered to Idols and It Was Not Kosher,
Which Means That It Was Forbidden by God
But Daniel Was Determined Not to Let God Down
And So, in Daniel 1:8, the Bible Says This; It Says, “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the
king's choice food or with the wine which he drank;…”
You See, He Just Made a Decision
At a Very Young Age, Daniel Just Made Up His Mind That He Was Never Going to Veer Off Course Spiritually, and He
Never Did
And in Order for a Young Person to Remain Sexually Pure in This Promiscuous Age in Which We Live, I Believe That the
Same Thing Needs to Happen
I Believe That You are Going to Have to be Determined; You’re Going to Have to be Wise, and You’re Going to Have to
Keep Your Guard Up
Because My Bible Says That Our Adversary, the Devil, Prowls Around Like a Roaring Lion Seeking Someone to Devour
(1 Peter 5:8)
Q.n = And Which Animal is the Most Likely to Become a Lion’s Prey?
Think About It
Ans = The One That is Isolated, and Weak, and is Not Being Vigilant
Therefore, None of Us Can Afford to Let Our Guard Down, and We All Need to be Informed About How to Avoid and
How to Deal With Sexual Temptation
So, With This in Mind, I Want to Make a Biblical Plea for Sexual Purity This Morning by Answering Three Basic
Questions
Question # 1 = What Does God Require?
And the Answer is That God Basically Requires Two Things
1) Sexual Abstinence Until
Marriage
vs 3 (Read)
I Don’t Believe God Could Have Been More Specific Than That
He Said, in Essence,
That It is His Plan for Us to Stay Away From Sexual Sin
Of Course, the Question That Most Red Blooded Harmone Driven Young Men or Even Young Women Would Ask in Our
Day is “How Far Away?”
And What They Really Mean is “How Far Can We go Without Offending God?”
But You See, That is the Wrong Question, and It Betrays a Wrong Motive
The Right Question is “How Can I Become Sanctified in This Area of My Life?”
And This Word “Sanctified” Means “Holy” or “Set Apart”
So, We Know That Anything That Even Stimulates Lustful Thoughts in the Minds of Those Who are Unmarried Should be
Considered to be Off Limits
a. For Men, Lustful Thoughts Usually Come Through the Eyegate
And That is Why Job Said This in Job 31:1; He Said, "I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a
virgin?”
He Meant That He Had Made a Covenant With His Eyes Not to Look at a Woman in a Lustful Way
And Jesus, Likewise, in Matthew 5:28 Said That…“…everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already
committed adultery with her in his heart”
So, Those
of Us Who are Men Need to be Very Careful About How We Look at Women and About What
We Allow to be
Placed in Front of Our Eyes
St = And Christian Women, Listen to Me Now, Christian Women Can Help Us by Not Dressing in Sexually Provocative Ways
In Fact, I Want All of the Women Who are Here Today to Consider How Romans 14:21 Can be Applied to This Subject
Which Says This, Listen,“It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles”
Q.n = Do You Realize That the Way You Dress Could Cause Your Brother to Stumble Sexually by Stimulating Lustful
Thoughts?
So, for Our Sake, I Want to Encourage You to Maintain an Appropriate Level of Modesty
I Know That You Will be Swimming Against the Current in Our Society to do That; But Nevertheless, I Want to Challenge
You to be More Concerned About Pleasing God Than You are About Fitting in With Your Peers
b. For Women, Lustful Thoughts Usually Come Through the Emotions
So,
Women Need to be Especially Cautious About How They Communicate With Men Verbally
and Physically
The Woman in the Song of Solomon, for Example, Was Stimulated
by the Way That She Heard Her Beloved Describe
Her Beauty
He Said to Her, Among Other Things, “2 Your hair is like a flock of goats that have descended from Gilead. …6 Your
teeth are like a flock of ewes which have come up from their washing, all of which bear twins,…” (Song of Solomon 4:2,6)
Now, Telling a Woman That Her Hair Looked Like a Flock of Goats, That She Had Pretty White Teeth, and That You
Were Impressed by the Fact That She Wasn’t Missing Any Teeth, That Was
Romantic Language Back Then
And at One Point, She Has a Dream About His
Left Hand Being Under Her Head and His Right Hand Embracing Her
(Song of Solomon 2:6)
So, a Christian Man Can Help a Christian
Woman to Avoid Lust by Setting Some Appropriate Limits on Flirting and
by Keeping His Hands to Himself
2) Sexual Fulfillment Within Marriage
Listen to What the Bible Says in Hebrews 13:4; It Says,“Marriage is to be held in
honor among all, and the marriage bed
is to be undefiled;…”
Q.n = Do You See That Phrase “Marriage Bed?”
Ans = That is the Greek Word “Koitay,” From Which We Get the Word “Coitus,”and It Refers to “Sexual Intercourse”
Q.n = And do You See that Word “Undefiled?”
Ans = That is From the Greek Word “Hagios” Which Means “Holy” or “Sanctified”
So, Paul is saying That Sex Within the Context of Marriage is Perfectly Acceptable; in Fact, It is Even “Holy” or
“Sanctified” in God’s Sight
That Means That, Once a Man and Woman Have Taken Their Marriage Vows in the Sight of God and Witnesses; He
Gives Them the Green Light
In Fact, Paul Even Tells Us in 1 Corinthians 7 That It Then Becomes Wrong for Any of Us Who are Married to Withhold
Sex From Our Marriage Partner (1 Cor 7:3-5)
In Other Words, Paul Says, in Essence, That It is Inappropriate for Us to Use Our Sexual Relationship as a Tool to
Manipulate Our Spouse
Pt = God is Not Against Sex; God is for Sex; in Fact, God Even Invented Sex,and the Truth is That God Wants Men and
Women to Enjoy Sex Just as Long as It is Within the Context of Marriage
And Listen, I Can Say Without Equivocation That Sex in Any Other Context is Less Meaningful and Less Fulfilling
In Fact, a Controversial Book Came Out a Few Years Ago With an Interesting Title; It Was Entitled “The Case for
Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Healthier and Better Off Financially”
It Was Controversial, Because It Was Written Based on a Research Study Done at a Secular University, the University of
Chicago; and Yet, the Results Still Favored the Traditional Institution of Marriage in Several Ways
And One Thing They Discovered Was That Married People Have Sex More Often Than Singles and They Enjoy It More
Both Physically and Emotionally
Question # 2 = How Can We Achieve It?
1) We Need to be Physically Disciplined
vs 4 (Read)
Some Scholars Say That This Word “Vessels” That is Used in This Verse Refers to a Wife, But That Doesn’t Make Any
Sense
Q.n = Because What Does Gaining Control Over Your Wife Have to do With Sexual Purity?
Moreover, the Whole Idea That Married Life Consists of a Man Gaining Mastery Over His Wife, as if She Were a Tool,
is Demeaning to Women
It Makes a Lot More Sense to Conclude That Paul Was Talking About Our Own Body, and He Was Saying That He
Wants Us to Learn How to Control Our Body
In Fact, He Said Essentially the Same Thing in 1 Corinthians 9:27 When He Said, “but I discipline my body and make it
my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified” (ASV = Buffet)
Of Course, Most of Us Should Know That It is Very Easy for Our Body to Get Out of Control in This Area
And This is Why We are Encouraged Several Times in the Bible to “Flee” From Anything That Might Arouse Our
Sexual Passions (1 Cor 6:18; 2 Tim 2:22)
Pt = Once Our Physical Passions Have Been Aroused, We’ve Had It; It’s Too Late
And That is Why It Was Very Wise for Joseph to Literally Run Away When Potiphar’s Wife Tried to Seduce Him
You See, Joseph Didn’t Sit Down and Suggest That He and Mrs Potiphar Discuss What She Could Do to Improve Her
Relationship With Her Husband
He Realized That He Was in Great Danger; and So, and He Literally Ran Away
Now, the Problem We Have in Our Day is That a Lot of People are Running, But They’re Running in the Wrong
Direction
They’re Running Towards Sexual Temptation Instead of Away From It
2) We Need to be Mentally Disciplined
vs 5 (Read)
Paul is Telling Us Here That We Should Not Allow Our Passions to be Aroused in the Same Way That Unbelievers Do
So, This Obviously Means That We Should Not Expose Ourselves to the Same Things They Expose Themselves To
And I Can Assure You That These Christians Knew What Paul Meant
Because, Believe It or Not, They Lived in a Society That Was Filled With Even More Sexual Immorality Than Ours
That’s Hard to Imagine, But It is True
In Fact, Sexual Immorality Was Not Only Prevalent in Their Culture; It Was Legal and Socially Acceptable
But There Was One Thing That They Did Not Have That We do Have
And I Believe It is Destroying Us
Q.n = What is That Pastor?
Ans = Electronics
And Unfortunately, Things Like Our Radios, and Our Televisions, and the Internet,Make It Almost Impossible for Us to
go Through a Single Day Without Being Exposed to Something That is Intended to Stimulate Us Sexually
But as Martin Luther Used to Say, “I Can’t Keep a Bird From Landing on My
Head, But I Can Keep It From Building
a Nest in My Hair.”
In Other Words, We Cannot Avoid Being Exposed to Sexually Provocative Material Altogether, Because It is Simply
Too Common and Widespread in Our Society
But We Can do a Lot to Minimize Our Exposure to It
Ill: One Thing We Can do is This; We Can Stay Away From Pornography
And This
is a Huge Problem in Our Society Today
In Fact, Pornography is an $8 Billion
Dollar a Year Industry in This Country, Not $8 Million Dollars But $8 Billion
Dollars a Year
The Sad Truth is That the Pornography Business Brings in More Money Today Than the Legitimate Film and Record
Industry Combined
And Listen to This
So, Young Man, That Means That, Sooner or Later, One of Your Peers Just Might Try to Encourage You to Look at
Some Form of Pornography
And Therefore, You Need to be Ready in Advance to Say “No” and to Flee From It, Because It is a Poison That is More
Addictive Than Cocaine and Twice as Dangerous
Ill: Pornography on the Internet Makes This What Steve Rogers Calls a Triple “A”
Problem, and the A’s Stand for Accessibility, Affordability and Anonymity
A = Accessibility
You See, the Good News is That Penthouse Magazine Recently Had to File for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
The Bad News is That It Was the Easy Access to Pornography on the
Internet That Put Them Out of Business
A = Affordability
Steve Rogers Said, “Not since Manhattan Island was sold for twenty-four dollars by the Indians has so much dirt been
sold so cheaply”
A = Anonymity
A Person Doesn’t Even Have to Risk Being Seen Taking a Dirty Magazine Out of a Convenience Store
And so Parents, We Need to be Aware of What Our Children are Looking at When They Access the Internet
(Elaborate = Our Rules)
App: That’s the Problem; This is the Solution
Listen to What the Psalmist Said in Psalms 101:2-3; He Said, “2 I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.
3 I will set no worthless thing before my eyes;”
Q.n = That is Some Great Counsel for People in Our Day and Time, Isn’t It?
Not Just in Relation to What Can Come to Us Through the Internet, But Also in Relation to What Can Come to Us
Through the T.V. Set and Even Music
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
T.S.
1) We Need to be Physically Disciplined
2) We Need to be Mentally Disciplined
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3) We Need to be Spiritually Disciplined
vs 6 (Read)
The Real Key to Controlling Ourselves Physically is Controlling Ourselves Spiritually
In Galatians 5:16, Paul Said, “…walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh”
Q.n = So, How Can We Live a Spirit-Controlled Life?
Ans =Well, Without Going Into Great Detail, I Can Say That Prayer and Bible Study are Closely Related to This
In Fact, in Psalms 119:9, the Psalmist Said This, Listen, He Said, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping
it according to Your word”
Another Key to It is Self-Denial, and That is What Paul is Encouraging Us to Focus on Right Here
He Wants Us to Consider How Selfish Sexual Immorality Really Is
And So, Paul is Saying, in Essence, That Sexual Immorality Reduces Another Person to the Point Where They Become
Nothing More Than an Object That Another Person Can Use in a Selfish and Sinful Way
(Elaborate = Joseph Thought of Potiphar)
Question # 3 = Why is This Important?
1) Sexual Sin Incites God’s Wrath
vs 6 (Read)
I Elaborated on What the First Half of Hebrews 13:4 Says Earlier in This Sermon
Now, Let Me Remind You of What the Second Part of That Verse Says; It Says “Marriage is to be held in honor among
all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers (Listen) God will judge”
Also, in Reference to Sexual Sin, the Apostle Paul Said This in 2 Corinthians 7:1; He Said, “…beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness (Listen) in the fear of God”
So, the Bible Clearly Says That God Will Not Ignore Sexually Immoral Behavior, and That Those Who Continue to Live
This Way Will Experience His Wrath
Q.n = How Will He Judge Those Who are Immoral?
Ans = God Has No Limitations
Ex. They Might Have to Experience a Marriage That is Less Fulfilling Emotionally Than It Could Have Been if They Had
Remained Sexually Chaste Before Marriage
(Elaborate - This Often Leads
to Jealousy and Suspicion)
Ex. Or They Might Have to Suffer Through a Painful Divorce and Become Strapped With Some Overwhelming Financial
Obligations
Ex. Or They Might Have to Struggle for the Rest of Their Life With the Guilt That is Often Associated With an Abortion
(Elaborate = Small Child)
Ex. And Listen, the Bible Specifically Says That This Kind of Sin Can Even Lead to Death
In Proverbs 7:22-23, for Example, Solomon Gave Us This Warning; He Said, 22 Suddenly he (the Fool) follows her
(Adulteress) as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool, 23 Until an arrow pierces through
his liver; as a bird hastens to the snare, so he does not know that it will cost him his life.”
Ill: I Did a Funeral for a Man Back in 2001 Who Was Killed, in Part, Because He Was Involved in an Adulterous Relationship
His Wife Found Out About It; She Went to the Hotel Where Her Husband and This Other Woman Were Spending the
Night Together
And When She Saw Them Together, She Lost Control Emotionally, and Then, She Murdered Him by Running Over
Him With Her Mercedes
That Same Mercedes, by the Way, Had Been Given to Her as an Anniversary Gift the Previous Year
Ill: That’s One Way That Death Can Come as a Result of Sexual Sin; Another Way is Through Sexually Transmitted Diseases
According to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases 15.5 Million New Cases of S.T.D.’s Occur Every Year With a
New Infection Occurring Ever 45 Seconds
And as Most of Us Know, A.I.D.s, Which is a Sexually Transmitted Disease is Fatal
So, Let Me Remind You of the Fact That a Person Who Engages in Premarital Sex in This Day and Age, is Essentially
Playing Russian Roulette Anyway
By Way of Contrast, the Author of “The Case for Marriage” Which I Mentioned Earlier Wrote This; She Said, “The
likelihood of contracting a sexually transmitted disease during marriage is negligible. Do sex God’s way, one man and one
woman, within the covenantof marriage, for one life. If that were the pattern, and if that were the approach, every single
sexually transmitted disease would disappear from the planet in one generation”
Pt = The Bible, and Science, and Common Sense, Have All Proven That Sex, Within the Context of a Monogamous Marriage
Relationship, is Much Safer and Ultimately Much More Fulfilling
___________________________________________________________________________
T.S. 1)
Sexual Sin Incites God’s Wrath
___________________________________________________________________________
2) Sexual Sin Violates God’s Purpose
vs 7-8 (Read)
The Bible Does Not Say That We Should Sin More so That Grace May Abound
No, the Bible Says That God Saved Us so That He Could Sanctify Us
He Saved Us so That We Could Overcome Sin and Become Conformed to the Image of His Son
And Paul Says That It is God Who, More Than Anyone Else, is Offended When a Christian Chooses to do Something
That is Sexually Immoral
That’s Why He Said This in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20; He Said, “18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is
outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body…
By the Way, I Believe That Paul is Referring to STD’s in That Verse, Because They Were Extremely Common in His
Day
And Then, He Went on to Say …19 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? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify
God in your body”
Of Course, We Glorify God in Our Body by Sanctifying Our Body and by Using the Members of Our Body for His
Purposes
Therefore, by Engaging in Sexual Sin, a Believer Completely Violates God’s Intended Purpose for Their Physical Body
by Using It to Commit Sin
Q.n = By the Way, Could You Think of Anything That Would be More Sinful Than for a Person to Commit an Act of Sexual
Sin Inside of a Church Building?
Well, Consider This
Q.n = Are You or Are You Not, if You are a Believer in Christ, a Walking Church?
Q.n = And if Your Body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit, as Paul Says That It is, What Does That Make You?
Invitation:
I Want to Close This Sermon This Morning by Reminding All of Us of Two Things
a. First, I Want to Remind All of Us of the Value of Sexual Purity Young Man, Young Lady
Q.n = Listen to Me, Are You Listening?
Your Virginity is Precious, and It Certainly Should Not be Devalued or Even Despised as Some People Will Suggest
That It Should be in Our Day
In Fact, I Heard a Story One Time About How a Girl Who Was Living Fast and Loose Was Trying to Entice One of
Her Friends Who Was Pure, to Join Her in Her Jet-Set Lifestyle
But
That Pure Girl, Very Wisely, Said This to the Loose Girl, She Said, “I want to tell
you something. Any time I want
to become what you are, I can.But you can never again become what I am”
(Think About That)
b. Second, I Want to Remind All of Us of Marvelous Grace of God
For You See, I Know That We Could Have Someone Here Today Who Has Already Blown It in This Area
And So, You Might be Thinking That It’s Too Late; You’ve Already Messed Up; Therefore, You Can Never be Pure
Again
But You’re Wrong
Oh, It’s True That You
Can Never be a Physical Virgin Again
But Listen, You Can be a Spiritual Virgin Again
Because
in 2 Corinthians 5:17, the Apostle Paul Said This; He Said,“Therefore if anyone is
in Christ, he is a new
creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come”
And That Means That You Can Become a New Creature in Christ