Glorify God in Your Body

WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:07.150 All right, let's give our attention now to God's word. Fir Scrinthians, 2 00:00:07.190 --> 00:00:13.830 sixth, verse twelve. All things are lawful for me, but not all 3 00:00:13.910 --> 00:00:18.629 things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not 4 00:00:18.750 --> 00:00:22.980 be dominated by anything. Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for 5 00:00:23.100 --> 00:00:28.820 food, and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is 6 00:00:28.940 --> 00:00:34.340 not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for 7 00:00:34.460 --> 00:00:38.969 the body, and God raise the Lord and will also raise us up by 8 00:00:39.090 --> 00:00:44.369 his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? 9 00:00:45.369 --> 00:00:50.200 Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? 10 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:54.880 Never or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute 11 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:59.240 becomes one body with her, for, as it is written, the two 12 00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:03.280 will become one flesh, but he who has joined to the Lord becomes one 13 00:01:03.390 --> 00:01:10.549 spirit with him? Flee sexual immorality, every other sin a person commits outside 14 00:01:10.549 --> 00:01:17.590 the body, sins against his own body. Or do you not know that 15 00:01:17.709 --> 00:01:23.659 your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within whom you have from God? 16 00:01:23.859 --> 00:01:27.019 You are not your own, for you are bought with a price. 17 00:01:27.739 --> 00:02:02.950 So glorify God in your body. Amen. You maybe seated. Well, 18 00:02:04.030 --> 00:02:08.189 every ethic, every moral decision that we make has a starting place. Right 19 00:02:08.270 --> 00:02:15.669 there's an idea of value, some sort of core belief that forms the decisions 20 00:02:15.819 --> 00:02:21.180 that follow. Like a domino in a string of dominoes, you click the 21 00:02:21.259 --> 00:02:24.219 one and then they others follow right as a result of the first, or 22 00:02:24.659 --> 00:02:29.419 like the cornerstone for a building. Right, you set the cornerstone and then 23 00:02:29.460 --> 00:02:34.449 that determines the direction and size. I'm maybe not the size but the direction 24 00:02:34.490 --> 00:02:37.969 in the angles of the of the foundation in the rest of the building. 25 00:02:38.569 --> 00:02:43.289 So let's say you're in a classroom or a doctor's office and you see a 26 00:02:43.449 --> 00:02:47.199 bowl of candy and you decide to take one without telling anyone. Well, 27 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:52.759 if you believed, if you had a belief, that they bowl of candy 28 00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:58.319 was intension only left for you, well then not telling anyone this just fine, 29 00:02:58.789 --> 00:03:02.430 especially if that bowl of candy was intentionally left to share with you, 30 00:03:02.550 --> 00:03:07.229 because it's you're not taking something that doesn't belong to you because it was given 31 00:03:07.270 --> 00:03:12.430 to you. If, however, your teacher has a desk of a little 32 00:03:12.469 --> 00:03:15.060 bull of candy in her in her drawer and her desk and you go take 33 00:03:15.139 --> 00:03:20.099 a piece of candy out of that, knowing that it belongs to her and 34 00:03:20.219 --> 00:03:23.860 not to you. Right now, you've told so are you've taken something without 35 00:03:24.379 --> 00:03:29.729 telling someone, and of course you've sinned. That's called stealing. So, 36 00:03:30.129 --> 00:03:35.770 though the action might be relatively the same, taking candy without telling, where 37 00:03:35.810 --> 00:03:39.210 the starting place begins is, in a large way, what determines whether it's 38 00:03:39.330 --> 00:03:44.960 moral or not. Both what actually is the case and how we think about 39 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:49.759 it is important. The point is that what you believe about the candy and 40 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:53.919 what is actually true about the candy matters, and it affects the decisions that 41 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:59.909 you make. Well, Paul deals with sex in a similar way in this 42 00:04:00.110 --> 00:04:03.830 passage. He helps us to think about the starting place for the choices we 43 00:04:03.949 --> 00:04:10.139 make about sex and our body in general. Ultimately, the key is in 44 00:04:10.259 --> 00:04:15.379 the last verse. So if you leave with nothing, leave with this glorify 45 00:04:15.580 --> 00:04:18.860 God in your body. That's the starting place. That's where Paul wants us 46 00:04:18.860 --> 00:04:28.209 to start to think about why it's that and not something else. Let's first 47 00:04:28.209 --> 00:04:34.410 think about how the Corinthians were making their decisions about morality and around sexual issues. 48 00:04:35.649 --> 00:04:42.480 They came and we're speaking with a certain set of assumptions and Paul deals 49 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:46.480 with those in a few different ways and particularly at the beginning of this passage 50 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:48.839 he deals with them through a couple proverbs. Like you can think of them 51 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:56.670 as Corinthian proverbs, right. The first one we read is I turn my 52 00:04:56.790 --> 00:04:59.670 page back here on the first one we read is in verse twelve. It 53 00:04:59.750 --> 00:05:03.589 says all things are are lawful for me. There's other ways you could put 54 00:05:03.589 --> 00:05:08.220 that. You could translate it something like all things are permissible for me, 55 00:05:08.379 --> 00:05:15.060 or liberty for me and all things or maybe just freedom. Right. This 56 00:05:15.220 --> 00:05:18.339 is what this is the first proverb. The second one is food is meant 57 00:05:18.420 --> 00:05:23.730 for the stomach and stomach is met for the food or for food, and 58 00:05:23.889 --> 00:05:26.610 we'll come to each will take each of those in turns. So let's first 59 00:05:26.889 --> 00:05:30.610 look at the first assumption that the Corinthians have this starting place for how they 60 00:05:30.730 --> 00:05:38.920 thought about sexual morality, liberty and all things freedom, all things are lawful 61 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:43.879 for me. When Paul says this, he's not speaking about the law just 62 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:49.269 in general. Paul is against the idea that the law can bring righteousness, 63 00:05:50.470 --> 00:05:55.230 the righteousness that it requires, but he's not against the law as a rule 64 00:05:55.310 --> 00:06:00.670 for righteousness. Paul speaks affirmatively in many places about the importance of honoring both 65 00:06:00.790 --> 00:06:06.259 God's law and the law of Rome, as long as it doesn't counter God's 66 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:11.339 law. So, for example, in Roman nineteen we hear him saying this. 67 00:06:11.939 --> 00:06:15.819 For just as you once presented your members, so think body parts. 68 00:06:15.180 --> 00:06:21.209 Just as once as you presented your members of your body as slaves to impurity 69 00:06:21.610 --> 00:06:27.769 and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your member, your body, 70 00:06:28.410 --> 00:06:32.160 your body, as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. So this is 71 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:35.319 what Paul thinks. Paul doesn't say a law doesn't matter, you can do 72 00:06:35.480 --> 00:06:40.959 whatever you want. He says you are to be a slave to righteousness. 73 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:46.629 Another way people sometimes take this phrase is by thinking that Paul's thinking about the 74 00:06:46.750 --> 00:06:51.990 ceremonial law or the Judicial Law. Now, Paul does say that we in 75 00:06:53.069 --> 00:06:57.230 other places that we are under a new covenant and that he or any believer 76 00:06:57.509 --> 00:07:01.899 is bound any longer to the civil and ceremonial laws of Israel, but that's 77 00:07:01.980 --> 00:07:05.899 not what he's talking about here. Why would we say that? Well, 78 00:07:05.939 --> 00:07:10.660 because he says nothing about that here. There's nothing here in the context to 79 00:07:10.779 --> 00:07:15.209 indicate to us that he's making distinctions about one law one kind of law of 80 00:07:15.370 --> 00:07:21.610 the old covenant over another. So if Paul isn't affirming the proverb in other 81 00:07:21.689 --> 00:07:26.370 way, in other words, what is he doing? Well, he's correcting 82 00:07:26.490 --> 00:07:30.600 it. That's what Paul's doing. He takes this Corinthian proverb and he says, 83 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:34.879 basically, you all say this. However, that's what he's doing here. 84 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:41.199 He's correcting this proverb. And notice first how notice his first counterpoint that 85 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:46.550 he offers. The first counterpoint is but not all things are helpful. Liberty 86 00:07:46.709 --> 00:07:50.230 and all things or all things are lawful for to me. And then he 87 00:07:50.310 --> 00:07:56.790 responds, but not all things are helpful. He says the same thing in 88 00:07:56.870 --> 00:08:01.220 chapter ten, versus in Chapter Ten Verse Twenty Three. And here he points 89 00:08:01.259 --> 00:08:07.980 to the reality that even if you say I'm free from all things, good 90 00:08:07.060 --> 00:08:15.370 doesn't necessarily result from that. In other words, it's maybe not necessarily helpful. 91 00:08:15.649 --> 00:08:18.569 One dictionary defines the word, the Greek word for helpful here is something 92 00:08:18.610 --> 00:08:24.930 that gives benefit, confers and advantage, is profitable or useful. In other 93 00:08:24.930 --> 00:08:30.199 words, he's asking the Corinthians to just slow down a little bit and examine 94 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:35.200 this, examine their own suppos or presuppositions, examine their own experiences. If 95 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:41.279 you say sexual freedom in every way, ask yourself what are the results of 96 00:08:41.549 --> 00:08:46.269 that? And we know that the results of complete freedom and sexual matters are 97 00:08:46.389 --> 00:08:54.470 awful. People get histories, as we say, stds and broken hearts, 98 00:08:56.139 --> 00:09:00.620 babies that don't have a mom and a dad to belong to, abortion and 99 00:09:00.740 --> 00:09:05.299 many other things come as a result of people saying I can do whatever I 100 00:09:05.500 --> 00:09:11.889 want in matters of sex. Let me ask you this. In which area 101 00:09:11.090 --> 00:09:18.450 of life does limitless freedom go well for you? You just tell me right 102 00:09:18.809 --> 00:09:22.850 which one, and and then we'll talk. Of course none. Can you 103 00:09:22.970 --> 00:09:28.440 imagine liberty in all things when it comes to driving, or liberty in all 104 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:37.279 things when it comes to surgery? Paul second counterpoint to liberty in all things, 105 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:41.070 or all things are lawful for me, is really clever and really true. 106 00:09:41.230 --> 00:09:48.350 He says I will not be dominated by anything. Paul saying something something 107 00:09:48.389 --> 00:09:52.230 like this. Liberty in all things, no way. I'm going to keep 108 00:09:52.269 --> 00:09:58.460 my freedom. Isn't that interesting? Liberty in all things, no way, 109 00:09:58.860 --> 00:10:03.340 not for me. Why? Because I want freedom. I will not be 110 00:10:03.460 --> 00:10:11.570 dominated by anything. What Paul is remembering here and bringing to our attention is 111 00:10:11.690 --> 00:10:16.370 something that we often bury in moments of temptation, and it's this. When 112 00:10:16.409 --> 00:10:22.279 you let your result, your desires run wild, the result is not freedom. 113 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:26.000 When you let your desires run loose, the result is not freedom, 114 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:33.799 but domination by those desires. Let an untrained animal in your house and just 115 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:39.149 go free and see how things go for you. You will spend all your 116 00:10:39.230 --> 00:10:46.710 time devoted to managing the aftermath of that animal. When people who try to 117 00:10:46.789 --> 00:10:52.139 abstain from sex, who are very practiced in letting it run free, when 118 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:56.580 they describe their experience, as they talk about going crazy, feeling overwhelmed, 119 00:10:56.700 --> 00:11:03.940 incapacitated, controlled by their thoughts, feeling enslaved, feeling addicted, that's language 120 00:11:03.980 --> 00:11:09.929 of enslavement, that's language of control and domination. That's not freedom. That's 121 00:11:09.970 --> 00:11:13.769 the thing that we often suppress. And moments of temptation is Ah, I'm 122 00:11:13.850 --> 00:11:18.799 just going to be free. Oh No, you're not. That's what Paul 123 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:24.559 reminds us here, and this is true, beloved, even if it doesn't 124 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:28.320 get expressed outwardly. In other words, there can be a kind of internal 125 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:35.429 enslavement when it comes to our desires, even when everyone else around you things 126 00:11:35.470 --> 00:11:39.350 you're just doing great. Let me use another animal example. Have you ever 127 00:11:39.470 --> 00:11:45.669 seen a dog that wanted something really badly? You knew they wanted it, 128 00:11:45.990 --> 00:11:48.220 but they controlled their desire and just walked away. We're talking about a well 129 00:11:48.340 --> 00:11:52.860 trained dog, right. You place the piece of cheese or meat on the 130 00:11:52.940 --> 00:11:56.059 counter and they look at it and they just moved to the other room, 131 00:11:56.740 --> 00:12:00.500 right. They kind of sniff the air, plop down on the couch, 132 00:12:00.659 --> 00:12:03.169 maybe get a toy, whatever. Then imagine the other dog that we've all 133 00:12:03.289 --> 00:12:11.250 seen that sits there and just lets its desire go free. Right, uncontrolled, 134 00:12:11.889 --> 00:12:16.000 extreme in every way. It sits there at the kitchen counter, whining 135 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:20.240 and whining and crying and shaking and upset and wishing it could have that thing. 136 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:26.679 Let me ask you, which dog is more free? The one that 137 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:31.269 can't move, the one that is attached to this thing it cannot have, 138 00:12:31.950 --> 00:12:39.429 the one that's body is physically shaking because of this desire, or the one 139 00:12:39.470 --> 00:12:43.980 that's hanging out in the couch or playing or getting pat or whatever? which 140 00:12:45.059 --> 00:12:48.059 dog is more free? Well, sometimes when we see an attractive person, 141 00:12:48.139 --> 00:12:52.539 we think here's an opportunity, I can let my desire go free, but 142 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:56.539 I'm going to keep it in check, right so that nobody will know that 143 00:12:56.580 --> 00:13:01.370 I'm actually lusting. I can't have them, which is frustrating, but I 144 00:13:01.409 --> 00:13:03.370 can let the desire go free as long as it doesn't show up on the 145 00:13:03.450 --> 00:13:11.649 outside. But is that helpful, to use Paul's corrective? Of course not. 146 00:13:11.529 --> 00:13:16.639 We end up just like the dog, frustrated, distracted, white knuckling 147 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:22.159 it through an illicit desire that has you in its grip when you could be 148 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:26.549 doing something else, having a good time, glorifying God with your body. 149 00:13:28.389 --> 00:13:33.429 My friends, when we tell ourselves that we can do whatever we want, 150 00:13:33.549 --> 00:13:37.389 it's not helpful. It's not helpful to us, it's not helpful to others. 151 00:13:37.429 --> 00:13:41.820 It's not real freedom. In fact, it's exactly the kind of freedom 152 00:13:41.940 --> 00:13:48.419 that the devil wants you to have, a freedom that ultimately enslaves you and 153 00:13:48.740 --> 00:13:52.860 tears apart your heart and tears apart your relationship with other people and tears apart 154 00:13:52.899 --> 00:13:58.769 your relationship with God and all his good things. So when someone tells you, 155 00:13:58.889 --> 00:14:03.850 or you're telling yourself, all things are lawful for me, or I 156 00:14:03.970 --> 00:14:07.289 can do whatever I want, or no one's the boss of me, or 157 00:14:07.730 --> 00:14:13.879 liberty in all things, see it for what it is. It's a trap, 158 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:20.440 it's a snare. This kind of SOC socalled freedom, is not helpful. 159 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:28.230 It'll dominate you, it'll grab you, it'll hold you. So that's 160 00:14:28.269 --> 00:14:33.190 the first proverb Paul Brings Up, and the counterpoints and corrections and ways he 161 00:14:33.269 --> 00:14:39.220 helps us understand what actually is true. Let's consider the second. Now the 162 00:14:39.379 --> 00:14:43.179 food is meant for the stomach and the stomach is meant for the food or 163 00:14:43.299 --> 00:14:46.419 for food. I don't know why I keep inserting the word the other. 164 00:14:48.580 --> 00:14:52.370 On one level, this proverbs obviously true, isn't it? In a way 165 00:14:52.450 --> 00:14:58.250 that we wouldn't say for the first proverb? Breakfast Burritos and my stomach are 166 00:14:58.250 --> 00:15:03.809 a match made in heaven. Right, these two things go together. They're 167 00:15:03.809 --> 00:15:09.679 always been to go together, they always will be together. However, asking 168 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:13.200 Paul is asking us to think about this a little more carefully. Yes, 169 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:18.919 God designed food in the stomach to go together, and that's good. Asks 170 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:22.149 Fourteen. Let's emphasize this just a little bit more. Acts Fourteen seventeen even 171 00:15:22.230 --> 00:15:28.470 tells us that God's witnesses to the whole world about his goodness in what we 172 00:15:28.629 --> 00:15:33.830 eat. so as fourteen seventeen, yet he did not leave himself without a 173 00:15:33.909 --> 00:15:41.419 witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons. 174 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:48.580 Satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. So are eating food is one 175 00:15:48.659 --> 00:15:54.809 of the ways that God witnesses to the whole world about his goodness. Isn't 176 00:15:54.809 --> 00:16:00.129 that wonderful? I love that ecclesiastes nine seven says, go eat your bread 177 00:16:00.129 --> 00:16:04.360 with joy, drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already 178 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:11.720 approved of what you do, and Jesus taught us to pray. Give us 179 00:16:11.799 --> 00:16:15.120 this day our daily bread. Right, this is God's design. Right. 180 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:18.870 When we think about this proverb, we thumbs up. Right, the food 181 00:16:18.909 --> 00:16:22.710 is meant for stomach. The stomach is meant for food. So what's the 182 00:16:22.789 --> 00:16:26.750 problem then? What's the problem that Paul sees here? I'll put it this 183 00:16:26.830 --> 00:16:33.139 way. The corincy the Corinthians, were not using the proverb to remember God's 184 00:16:33.139 --> 00:16:37.659 beautiful design, his approval, his goodness. They were using the this proverb 185 00:16:37.779 --> 00:16:42.860 as a way to excuse bad behavior regarding sex and, as we'll see in 186 00:16:42.980 --> 00:16:48.769 future chapters, also food. But connected with what he says here and the 187 00:16:48.889 --> 00:16:53.090 idea of liberty, you could pre paraphrase the pre suppositions that the Corinthians were 188 00:16:53.129 --> 00:16:59.409 using something like this. All things are lawful for me, and this hunger 189 00:16:59.529 --> 00:17:03.360 for sex is natural, so obviously I'm going to get what I want. 190 00:17:03.399 --> 00:17:07.920 Let me ask you, does that sound familiar at all to you? Does 191 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:12.079 that sound like a merely ancient thing that just the Corinthians had to deal with? 192 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:15.789 Of course not at all. This is the kind of reasoning that people 193 00:17:15.829 --> 00:17:19.430 make all the time today. I can do what I want and it's natural 194 00:17:21.589 --> 00:17:26.710 right. But again it's a trap. We've talked about the first part, 195 00:17:26.710 --> 00:17:32.700 but what about this second? What's the correct of the poem makes? Well, 196 00:17:32.740 --> 00:17:37.180 he starts by saying and God will destroy both one and the other. 197 00:17:38.380 --> 00:17:44.140 In other words, fine, God did design the food for stomach and stomach 198 00:17:44.180 --> 00:17:48.569 for food, but that doesn't make the food and the stomach some kind of 199 00:17:48.769 --> 00:17:55.089 new deity. God is still in control over both. He made both, 200 00:17:56.089 --> 00:18:00.880 and just as food decays and dies under his command, so too does the 201 00:18:00.920 --> 00:18:04.920 human body. God is the one in control here. God is the designer, 202 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:11.440 not the food, not the stomach, not our desires. But people 203 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:18.069 do make their desires their God, don't they? Philippians three nineteen says that 204 00:18:18.589 --> 00:18:23.390 their end is destruction, and then it gives a reason, their god is 205 00:18:23.470 --> 00:18:30.859 in their belly and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly 206 00:18:30.019 --> 00:18:36.619 things. Notice he doesn't say necessarily sinful things, although perhaps he could mean 207 00:18:36.700 --> 00:18:40.299 that. But it could be even true of just earthly stuff, good stuff, 208 00:18:41.019 --> 00:18:44.250 food, wine, things that God has made for us to enjoy. 209 00:18:44.930 --> 00:18:48.009 But if we set our minds on him, if we focus them on them, 210 00:18:48.049 --> 00:18:52.890 if they become our gods, if our desires become our God, then 211 00:18:53.690 --> 00:19:00.839 our end is destruction. Well, of course Christians are not destined for destruction. 212 00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:04.960 Destruction, and that's because they're not ruled by their desires, but they 213 00:19:06.039 --> 00:19:10.869 ruled by Jesus, their Lord. When the rest of the world says it's 214 00:19:10.910 --> 00:19:15.869 natural, you were born this way, Christians submit themselves not to their desires 215 00:19:15.190 --> 00:19:19.509 but to the designer, the one who made them, the one who made 216 00:19:19.549 --> 00:19:26.660 their bodies. Listen again to Romans chapter six. This is versus fifteen through 217 00:19:26.779 --> 00:19:32.420 eighteen. Now do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone is 218 00:19:32.460 --> 00:19:37.579 obedient slaves? You are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of 219 00:19:37.779 --> 00:19:41.970 sin, which leads to death, or of Obedience, which leads to righteousness. 220 00:19:42.170 --> 00:19:47.170 But thanks be to God that you who are once slaves of sin, 221 00:19:47.369 --> 00:19:52.119 have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were 222 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:59.400 committed and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 223 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:04.160 So, when someone tells you to just relax and be free, you're 224 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:10.630 going to remind yourself of the standard of teaching to which you are committed, 225 00:20:11.390 --> 00:20:18.869 that not all things are helpful, that so called freedom is often sin and 226 00:20:18.950 --> 00:20:22.460 actually slavery, and that, when someone says it's natural you can do whatever 227 00:20:22.500 --> 00:20:27.619 you want, whatever you desire, remind yourself that your body and its desires 228 00:20:27.660 --> 00:20:33.299 were made by God and you submit to him and not to your body. 229 00:20:34.730 --> 00:20:40.009 Now, I know we've done a lot already, but shall we give up 230 00:20:40.170 --> 00:20:44.609 on this train of thought when we already know what the devil will say next? 231 00:20:45.049 --> 00:20:51.160 How will we defend ourselves when he says, well, if God gave 232 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:56.279 you the body and these desires, then why does he not let you have 233 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:03.880 the freedom that you want? Is God really good? And there it is, 234 00:21:03.750 --> 00:21:07.670 right there it is the old liar, the liar from the beginning. 235 00:21:08.390 --> 00:21:14.509 Kind of one hit wonder, but the lie is tricky nevertheless, isn't it? 236 00:21:15.470 --> 00:21:18.859 He twists the truth just like he did with Adam and Eve, when 237 00:21:18.900 --> 00:21:22.259 he spoke to eve and he wanted her to apply what was forbidden to what 238 00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:27.579 was allowed. In a similar way, the Corinthians were taking this proverb about 239 00:21:27.700 --> 00:21:32.970 food that's generally true and trying to apply it to sex, as though it 240 00:21:33.049 --> 00:21:37.329 was the same thing. The stomach is meant for food and it's a desire. 241 00:21:37.769 --> 00:21:41.170 Therefore, the body is meant for sex and it's a desire. So 242 00:21:41.809 --> 00:21:47.200 eat what you want and sleep up with whomever you want. But where did 243 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:52.599 God say that the body was meant for sex with whomever you want? He 244 00:21:52.759 --> 00:21:57.519 didn't say that. In fact, he tells us that is meant in the 245 00:21:57.680 --> 00:22:04.349 context of a relationship, a marriage between a man and a woman. Paul 246 00:22:04.509 --> 00:22:10.029 corrects it here and he says, I'll read it. The body is not 247 00:22:10.829 --> 00:22:17.420 meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord. And what counts as sexual 248 00:22:17.460 --> 00:22:26.420 immorality anytime we feed our sexual desires outside the bounds of marriage. Or, 249 00:22:26.500 --> 00:22:34.410 to put it another way, God designed these desires to be acted upon in 250 00:22:34.569 --> 00:22:41.410 a baby making bond enforcing communion between a man and a woman that are committed 251 00:22:41.450 --> 00:22:47.039 to life to death. To us part that's what those desires are intended for, 252 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:51.640 and when they're used for that, it's great, and when they're not, 253 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:57.000 it's called sexual immorality. Go back to food, to think, to 254 00:22:57.400 --> 00:23:02.630 think about this for a moment. You might desire to eat right, you 255 00:23:02.630 --> 00:23:06.029 might have a desire to eat, but that doesn't mean you should sit down 256 00:23:06.069 --> 00:23:10.430 in front of a movie with a pound of ransom meat. You, I 257 00:23:10.589 --> 00:23:14.539 desire intimacy, but that doesn't mean you should sleep with someone who's not your 258 00:23:14.579 --> 00:23:21.900 spouse. If you desire marital intimacy, and it's a strong desire, you 259 00:23:21.940 --> 00:23:26.059 should get married. That's what Paul says in Chapter Seven, verse Thirty Seven. 260 00:23:26.099 --> 00:23:29.730 If his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him 261 00:23:29.769 --> 00:23:33.410 do as he wishes. Let him marry. It is no sin. Now, 262 00:23:33.450 --> 00:23:37.690 of course this is not always easy and sometimes we wine and we say, 263 00:23:38.450 --> 00:23:44.079 but I'm not married. That's hard, it takes time or it's impossible. 264 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:48.759 Well, that may be true or maybe not. That's something to think 265 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:55.710 about with good counselors and friends, but it doesn't really change anything that it's 266 00:23:55.789 --> 00:24:00.470 difficult. Just because it's difficult doesn't mean that the command has changed. So, 267 00:24:00.869 --> 00:24:04.109 for example, let's say the only thing you have in yourself house is 268 00:24:04.109 --> 00:24:07.869 rants of meat. It doesn't mean you eat rants of meat. Means you 269 00:24:07.910 --> 00:24:11.660 go to the grocery store and if somebody says, well, I got to 270 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:14.779 get up, I got to the store and I don't have enough money and 271 00:24:14.859 --> 00:24:17.980 I got to work that money and well, you know, well, don't 272 00:24:18.019 --> 00:24:22.220 even ransom meat. It doesn't mean that it's difficult. You still have to 273 00:24:22.339 --> 00:24:26.289 do what you have to do. Yes, it'll take time, but it's 274 00:24:26.369 --> 00:24:30.890 worth it. Now, of course I know, and I speak with great 275 00:24:30.930 --> 00:24:36.170 sensitivity here, great getting married is way harder than going to the grocery store. 276 00:24:36.250 --> 00:24:40.559 Right, five minutes, five years, you know, you know it, 277 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:44.759 you know what I'm talking about, but keep this in mind. Acting 278 00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:51.480 on one's sexual desire is also much more consequential than acting on one's desire for 279 00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:59.430 food. There's a reason it's harder and a reason that Paul says what he 280 00:24:59.470 --> 00:25:03.910 says in verse eighteen. Sex is in a different category, he says in 281 00:25:03.990 --> 00:25:08.059 Verse Eighteen. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is 282 00:25:08.339 --> 00:25:12.380 outside of the body, but sexually more important. But the sexually immoral person 283 00:25:12.900 --> 00:25:21.099 sends against his own body. Yes, it's more difficult to get married, 284 00:25:21.140 --> 00:25:25.890 but it should be that way. Shouldn't it in a sense, like you 285 00:25:25.930 --> 00:25:30.130 were taking this super powerful thing, right, sex, and we're applying it 286 00:25:30.369 --> 00:25:36.759 in a particution, in a very powerful way? It should be within the 287 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:41.880 bounds of commitment and and trust. Think about what Paul says here about the 288 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:52.990 nature of this desire. He says in Verse Fifteen, do you not know 289 00:25:52.230 --> 00:25:56.990 that your bodies are members of Christ? Okay, so what is he saying 290 00:25:57.029 --> 00:26:02.549 there? He's saying that in you know, in so that, in a 291 00:26:03.230 --> 00:26:07.220 spiritual say, he'll say, by the Holy Spirit, are physical bodies, 292 00:26:07.859 --> 00:26:12.660 are members of Christ's body. Now that's a great mystery, right. That's 293 00:26:12.980 --> 00:26:22.089 an amazing thing, and that could only be accomplished by God, Divine God, 294 00:26:22.250 --> 00:26:26.650 who himself was able to take on human flesh. Another great mystery, 295 00:26:26.690 --> 00:26:30.809 right. So our bodies are united to his body in such a way that 296 00:26:30.890 --> 00:26:33.559 we can be described as the body of Christ, where you are members of 297 00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:37.400 that body. Okay. Going on, he says, shall I then take 298 00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:47.390 the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Should the Lord's 299 00:26:47.630 --> 00:26:55.269 body be united with the body of a prostitute? Right, like that's repulsive. 300 00:26:55.829 --> 00:26:57.549 When we think about the holiness of the Lord, the goodness of the 301 00:26:57.630 --> 00:27:03.180 Lord, his his perfect her his perfection in every way, to be united 302 00:27:03.660 --> 00:27:10.259 in such an intimate way with in in this kind of sexual immorality. The 303 00:27:10.380 --> 00:27:14.420 answer is, of course, what Paul says right before Verse Sixteen. Never 304 00:27:15.500 --> 00:27:19.250 like, let's just stop talking about that and read on. He says in 305 00:27:19.329 --> 00:27:25.210 Verse Sixteen. Or do you not know that he who is joined to a 306 00:27:25.329 --> 00:27:33.000 prostitute becomes one body with her. Well, why is that? Why is 307 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:38.119 it that a person I'm not married to, I can become almost like one 308 00:27:38.359 --> 00:27:45.309 flesh or one body, I'm united to that person? Why is that intimacy 309 00:27:45.950 --> 00:27:52.069 that close, when it was when maybe somebody else said this was just a 310 00:27:52.109 --> 00:27:56.309 financial transaction or pleasure thing or something like that. But like, why is 311 00:27:56.430 --> 00:28:04.380 it touching at such a deep and intimate spiritual place with someone that is unknown 312 00:28:06.619 --> 00:28:14.890 or even despised? Well, he answers. As it is written, the 313 00:28:15.210 --> 00:28:22.089 two will become one flesh. That's how God designed it. You go by, 314 00:28:22.329 --> 00:28:25.329 you go to the hardware store and you buy a really powerful, really 315 00:28:25.450 --> 00:28:29.960 sharp saw. That saw is going to be able to cut through wood really 316 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:38.000 fast. That's what it's designed for. Sex brings to people together in such 317 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:44.589 an intimate way that they become as one flash that you can speak about it 318 00:28:45.029 --> 00:28:56.579 as like one body. So the Lord has placed around that rules to protect 319 00:28:57.019 --> 00:29:00.779 a right. You don't when you're operating a power tool. You make sure 320 00:29:00.779 --> 00:29:04.900 it's plugged into the proper extension cord, that you don't have the thing looped 321 00:29:04.940 --> 00:29:07.859 around right in front of your saw. Right you get at everything in place, 322 00:29:08.180 --> 00:29:11.690 you look carefully and then you go and you're super happy that it was 323 00:29:11.769 --> 00:29:15.769 so easy. But if you let the electrical cord, you know, sort 324 00:29:15.809 --> 00:29:18.329 of sit there in front of your saw, or it's plugged into the wrong 325 00:29:18.369 --> 00:29:22.329 thing or half plugged in or your blades doll, you can lose a finger, 326 00:29:23.319 --> 00:29:26.480 you can lose an arm, something can go really, really wrong. 327 00:29:27.559 --> 00:29:32.839 It's similar with sex. It's a powerful thing, it's meant to be powerful, 328 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:36.319 it's designed for this. And so when we just say well, whatever, 329 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:45.430 tragedy happens, tragedy happens, and not only sinning against our own body. 330 00:29:45.589 --> 00:29:49.029 But as Paul continues and just keeps impressing and impressing this point on us, 331 00:29:49.029 --> 00:29:52.779 verse nineteen now, or do you not know that your body is a 332 00:29:53.059 --> 00:30:00.779 temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God. You 333 00:30:00.819 --> 00:30:04.900 see how it keeps impressing this point, that your body is something special. 334 00:30:06.420 --> 00:30:11.369 This union in the soul that you have is something special. It's kind of 335 00:30:11.490 --> 00:30:18.250 in a different category than eating food, is wonderful as that is. Your 336 00:30:18.410 --> 00:30:22.359 body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. For those of you who have 337 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:26.279 been listening to the evening Sir moments through Ezekiel, you remember how Zekiel was 338 00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:32.440 placed in a vision outside the temple and God gave him in this tour. 339 00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:37.990 He got to go inside the temple and as he went in he saw abomination 340 00:30:37.029 --> 00:30:44.230 after a bombination, who after horror, as the Israelites had erected false gods 341 00:30:44.829 --> 00:30:51.019 in the temple of the Lord. They had brought into the temple of the 342 00:30:51.259 --> 00:30:53.940 most holy God, who had set his name and his presence and his his 343 00:30:55.140 --> 00:30:59.779 people in this place, and they had brought in all of these abominations. 344 00:31:00.539 --> 00:31:06.529 That's why the prophets talk about horroring after other gods. They use this language 345 00:31:06.569 --> 00:31:11.450 to describe their idolatry. Well, in a similar way, we could use 346 00:31:11.490 --> 00:31:18.200 it to describe our adultery or our sexual immorality in general. When we take 347 00:31:18.359 --> 00:31:22.960 our bodies, which are united to the son of God, the second person 348 00:31:23.160 --> 00:31:27.920 of the Trinity, which are temples for the Holy Spirit, the third person 349 00:31:29.079 --> 00:31:33.990 of the Trinity and all and bring it and and bring ourselves into union. 350 00:31:34.589 --> 00:31:40.470 That is illicit. Well, as Paul says, may it never be. 351 00:31:41.470 --> 00:31:48.259 It's a tragedy and there are consequences. Paul's conclusions, then, are very 352 00:31:49.059 --> 00:31:56.900 straightforward and memory able. Flee sexual immorality. Glorify God with your body. 353 00:31:57.099 --> 00:32:01.009 Take your body and don't present it two members for sin. But to God, 354 00:32:01.569 --> 00:32:06.250 sex is God's gift. Food is God's gift and these are great within 355 00:32:06.369 --> 00:32:09.690 their parameters. But the body, as he says, he is not meant 356 00:32:09.769 --> 00:32:15.369 for this. So when the world tells you you're free and it's natural, 357 00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:22.759 we say no, that's not freedom and my body is for the Lord. 358 00:32:23.880 --> 00:32:32.029 He rules over me, not my desires. Now, as we bring this 359 00:32:32.150 --> 00:32:37.029 to a conclusion, we've heard much of the law thus far and that's very 360 00:32:37.109 --> 00:32:40.910 good that we've had. It's important that we think about the decisions behind the 361 00:32:42.069 --> 00:32:45.900 decisions. It's important we think about where we're starting for our morality. The 362 00:32:45.980 --> 00:32:50.819 world tells us these lies. You're free and everything, it's natural, do 363 00:32:50.940 --> 00:32:53.740 what you want. But where did those come from? What do they lead 364 00:32:53.819 --> 00:33:00.329 to. We have to ask ourselves these things. But it's also important that, 365 00:33:00.369 --> 00:33:06.049 as we conclude, we remember the Gospel, the Good News, about 366 00:33:06.089 --> 00:33:10.529 where our hope comes from, where our strength comes from, where forgiveness comes 367 00:33:10.609 --> 00:33:15.000 from, because all of us at this moment are going, oh, wretched 368 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:22.319 person that I am, man or woman, these desires in me and I 369 00:33:22.359 --> 00:33:25.039 keep giving myself over to them and it's struggle and it's hard and it's this 370 00:33:25.240 --> 00:33:32.230 and it's that. I want to finish by reminding you of what God has 371 00:33:32.309 --> 00:33:39.269 done and what God is doing. We think about where our sanctification comes from. 372 00:33:42.019 --> 00:33:46.180 Where does it come from? It comes from that Holy Spirit, the 373 00:33:46.380 --> 00:33:52.059 Holy Spirit who dwells within us. That's an amazing and I'll put it in 374 00:33:52.180 --> 00:33:57.609 this sort of silly way, but resource. But if you're looking for help, 375 00:33:58.410 --> 00:34:04.849 look to God who is dwelling inside of your body. That's an amazing 376 00:34:04.930 --> 00:34:10.000 thing. If you're looking to fight the temptations of the flesh, which is 377 00:34:10.119 --> 00:34:15.960 a different thing in some ways than the body, it describes that sinful nature 378 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:22.039 inside of us that our body sometimes falls into. When we're fighting that, 379 00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:28.630 let us also remember that we fight in the spirit and that God is on 380 00:34:28.750 --> 00:34:32.949 your side. God didn't accidentally come into your life right. You didn't sort 381 00:34:32.989 --> 00:34:37.070 of grab him down or pull him out of a book. He came into 382 00:34:37.070 --> 00:34:44.659 your life to help you, to sanctify you, to forgive your sins and 383 00:34:44.820 --> 00:34:49.460 to remind you, day after day after day, you are my son and 384 00:34:50.380 --> 00:34:55.929 you are my daughter and I've got you and I love you. Our purpose 385 00:34:57.090 --> 00:35:00.929 in this life is not for the things of this world. Our purpose in 386 00:35:00.050 --> 00:35:06.610 this life is not to grasp and hold fast to our desires. Our purpose 387 00:35:06.690 --> 00:35:09.280 in this life is to live for him, to glorify and enjoy him, 388 00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:15.880 and that is also his purpose for us, and Paul reminds us of that 389 00:35:16.079 --> 00:35:22.269 here in many ways. One of my favorite ways is when he says your 390 00:35:22.469 --> 00:35:27.469 body was meant for the Lord, and the Lord was meant for the body. 391 00:35:30.030 --> 00:35:34.630 You see that in verse thirteen. The body is not meant for sexual 392 00:35:34.670 --> 00:35:37.699 in the reality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. 393 00:35:39.900 --> 00:35:51.050 Think about that. The Lord Jesus, fully God and fully man, who 394 00:35:51.130 --> 00:35:59.210 came into this world in massive ways, limited his freedom and quotes there freedom 395 00:35:59.289 --> 00:36:02.929 to do all that is good and well. Let me step back for a 396 00:36:02.969 --> 00:36:09.719 second. He limited his he limited himself by taking on a human body right 397 00:36:09.800 --> 00:36:15.039 now. He was somebody who got tired. Now. He was somebody who 398 00:36:15.039 --> 00:36:20.389 faced temptations, just like you do now. He was somebody who could die 399 00:36:20.630 --> 00:36:28.989 and did die on a cross. The son of God came for your bodies. 400 00:36:31.150 --> 00:36:35.699 When you think about how he came and how he died and all that 401 00:36:35.860 --> 00:36:40.179 he emptied himself of the glory which he set aside, and that he did 402 00:36:40.420 --> 00:36:45.380 that for you, for your soul's to not denying that, but for the 403 00:36:45.460 --> 00:36:52.849 moment, for your bodies, the emphasis there which means that you get to 404 00:36:53.090 --> 00:36:58.210 hope because of what Jesus did for you on the Cross, in a resurrection 405 00:36:58.369 --> 00:37:02.239 from the dead, that the struggle and the pain and the way you desire 406 00:37:04.280 --> 00:37:08.599 things that are disorderly and inordinance and all the rest, you can look forward 407 00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:12.280 to this day, because of what Christ has done, that he's going to 408 00:37:12.360 --> 00:37:15.789 set everything right and that one day your body will not be at war with 409 00:37:15.829 --> 00:37:22.110 itself and your soul will not be at war with itself, but everything will 410 00:37:22.110 --> 00:37:29.429 be at peace, everything will be at rest. When we think about what 411 00:37:29.949 --> 00:37:34.420 the Lord did for our bodies and what he is doing from them now, 412 00:37:36.139 --> 00:37:39.179 we can breathe a sigh of relief. We can know who is on our 413 00:37:39.219 --> 00:37:45.090 side. We can fight against the devil, we can fight against the temptations 414 00:37:45.170 --> 00:37:47.250 of the flesh. We can fix our minds on the things that have been 415 00:37:47.289 --> 00:37:52.489 committed to us, knowing what he has done for us and knowing that he's 416 00:37:52.530 --> 00:37:58.840 done it for us in love. When we think about the indwelling spirit, 417 00:37:58.960 --> 00:38:01.400 the redemption of our bodies, that is he says, was bought with a 418 00:38:01.559 --> 00:38:07.639 price, the price of his own body. When we think about our union 419 00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:13.869 with Christ, our union with the father, our union with the spirit, 420 00:38:13.909 --> 00:38:20.550 keep these things in mind, and I'm finishing this with this now, when 421 00:38:20.670 --> 00:38:29.059 your body and your soul is tempted and tried, remember the command glorify God 422 00:38:29.260 --> 00:38:35.739 with your body and remember the commander who came into this world to live and 423 00:38:35.860 --> 00:38:39.820 to die for you, to draw you into himself, into his own body, 424 00:38:39.980 --> 00:38:45.650 to have an intimacy with you that is mysterious and wonderful and deeply connected, 425 00:38:47.010 --> 00:38:52.849 filled with joy and compassion and friendship that isn't wavering in back and forth. 426 00:38:53.690 --> 00:38:58.440 That's the one who gives you this command, that's the one who loves 427 00:38:58.480 --> 00:39:00.719 you, and that's the one who, even now, dwells in you and 428 00:39:00.840 --> 00:39:06.639 empowers you to stand strong, and he's the one, our God, who 429 00:39:06.679 --> 00:39:12.550 will also raise you from the dead. As Paul says, the body is 430 00:39:12.670 --> 00:39:15.349 not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for 431 00:39:15.469 --> 00:39:21.349 the body, and God raise the Lord and will also raise us up by 432 00:39:21.469 --> 00:39:28.860 his power. If you're not used to thinking in moments of sexual temptation about 433 00:39:28.860 --> 00:39:34.300 the resurrection, maybe this is a good time to start. That's what Paul 434 00:39:34.380 --> 00:39:42.369 points us to, among many other things. Praise be to God that God 435 00:39:42.489 --> 00:39:50.730 has designed us and this world in such a perfect way. Maybe repent of 436 00:39:50.769 --> 00:39:53.760 our sins, where we have fallen short and where we have brought all kinds 437 00:39:53.800 --> 00:39:59.559 of trouble on ourself. Maybe repent even of our original sin in us, 438 00:39:59.559 --> 00:40:05.000 which is inherited from Adam and eve and their fall into stand and maybe look 439 00:40:05.079 --> 00:40:10.190 to Christ every day, every moment, not just internally and emotionally, but 440 00:40:10.349 --> 00:40:16.710 even with our physical bodies, giving our hands and our feet and every part 441 00:40:16.710 --> 00:40:22.380 of us, every precious part of us, every wonderful part of us, 442 00:40:22.019 --> 00:40:29.739 over to the Lord and glorify him as he is glorifying us in Christ. 443 00:40:29.780 --> 00:40:32.059 Let's pray our