Same Sex Sin

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.800 --> 00:00:06.960 My father in heaven. We thank you that you, though infinitely transcendent, 2 00:00:08.310 --> 00:00:15.990 came down into our world in time and in very particular space to take on 3 00:00:16.469 --> 00:00:22.940 a humanity, to take our side of the Covenant and fulfill it for us. 4 00:00:24.219 --> 00:00:26.739 Lord, we thank you that, as we look to the cross, 5 00:00:26.859 --> 00:00:32.579 we are humbled by it, seeing all of our countless sins. They're seeing 6 00:00:32.899 --> 00:00:38.049 the reason why Jesus had to suffer and die, but also seeing on the 7 00:00:38.170 --> 00:00:43.450 cross great love and mercy, a love which has the power to lift US 8 00:00:43.490 --> 00:00:49.090 up, I'm not only out of poverty but out of death itself, to 9 00:00:49.250 --> 00:00:54.359 bring us into a resurrection and a resurrected life that is new and is full 10 00:00:55.039 --> 00:01:00.079 of love and peace. Lord, we ask that you would help us to 11 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:03.510 look to Jesus, and look to him alone for that, for our salvation 12 00:01:04.349 --> 00:01:08.510 and also for all of our actions in this life. May We learn to 13 00:01:08.549 --> 00:01:15.590 follow him as we ought. Please give us this wisdom, give us this 14 00:01:15.790 --> 00:01:19.299 word as we hear your reading and preaching today. Bless us in it, 15 00:01:19.659 --> 00:01:26.659 and we pray this in Jesus name. Men, please remain standing if you're 16 00:01:26.659 --> 00:01:41.769 able, and let's turn to First Corinthians, chapter six. For Scrinthians, 17 00:01:41.769 --> 00:01:47.129 Chapter Six, verses nine through eleven, and returning to this passage this week. 18 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:53.239 This is another passage which speaks to issues of greed, among other things, 19 00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:57.920 another passage which reminds us of the Great Salvation we have in Christ and 20 00:01:57.079 --> 00:02:00.909 all the things that he saves us from. Today I'm going to be focusing 21 00:02:00.950 --> 00:02:07.069 on a sexual or morality that is listed here. So, First Corinthians six, 22 00:02:07.590 --> 00:02:14.229 verse nine. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit 23 00:02:14.310 --> 00:02:19.780 the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, 24 00:02:20.020 --> 00:02:24.580 nor idolaters, nor adulters, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, 25 00:02:24.819 --> 00:02:30.969 nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit 26 00:02:30.129 --> 00:02:35.810 the Kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were 27 00:02:35.930 --> 00:02:40.210 washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord 28 00:02:40.250 --> 00:02:47.199 Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God. Amn. Please be seated. 29 00:03:00.509 --> 00:03:04.830 The Bible, and First Corinthians included, is full of these names of 30 00:03:05.030 --> 00:03:10.789 people, Paul and Sasthenes, a polus and Chloe, these various names which 31 00:03:12.110 --> 00:03:15.620 speak about very real lives, real people just like you and me. These 32 00:03:15.659 --> 00:03:19.259 are people that, if you could travel back into a time machine, you 33 00:03:19.340 --> 00:03:23.099 could meet and then you could come back to us and you'd say this is 34 00:03:23.180 --> 00:03:25.379 what their hair color was and this is what they kind of clothes they like 35 00:03:25.500 --> 00:03:29.689 to wear, and these are the people they were related to and this is 36 00:03:29.729 --> 00:03:31.810 how they came to know Jesus. They you'd be able to tell their story 37 00:03:34.409 --> 00:03:38.169 and these names remind us that there's a backstory here. When Paul talks to 38 00:03:38.289 --> 00:03:44.879 US and says to the Corinthians in the first place that such were some of 39 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:50.639 you before you were washed and sanctified and justified, it tells us that, 40 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:57.229 by the marvelous welcoming grace of God, the Church had welcomed into its midst 41 00:03:59.270 --> 00:04:05.870 the sexually immoral idolters, idolaters, adulters, men who practice homosexuality, thieves, 42 00:04:06.150 --> 00:04:13.340 greedy people, drunkards, revilers, swindlers, people that would not inherit 43 00:04:13.419 --> 00:04:17.019 the Kingdom of God except that they were brought in to the community of the 44 00:04:17.100 --> 00:04:23.500 people to hear the Gospel and the good news, that they didn't be come 45 00:04:23.579 --> 00:04:28.290 members of the church until they were washed, until they were baptized, until 46 00:04:28.329 --> 00:04:31.370 they had received Jesus by faith, but they heard the Gospel, they heard 47 00:04:31.410 --> 00:04:33.970 the good news of the church. They saw it in the lives of the 48 00:04:34.089 --> 00:04:40.519 people. They saw others who would likewise been changed, who had likewise been 49 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:47.319 one thing and had become another. People, sinful, people, bound and 50 00:04:47.399 --> 00:04:53.149 enslaved by their sin, just like Jesus met with them, tax collectors and 51 00:04:53.310 --> 00:04:58.870 prostitutes and self righteous people, all kinds of people enslaved by their sin that 52 00:04:58.949 --> 00:05:02.910 Jesus brought and spoke with and told them about the Kingdom of God. It's 53 00:05:03.029 --> 00:05:08.860 coming. He said, it's wonderful. He said, repent and believe in 54 00:05:09.019 --> 00:05:15.060 the Gospel, he said, and we say the same thing. Rather than 55 00:05:15.139 --> 00:05:21.810 ignoring the enslaved and just letting them store up wrath for themselves, or treating 56 00:05:21.850 --> 00:05:28.850 them or falling into their lies and believing the lies that they did and do, 57 00:05:30.250 --> 00:05:35.399 the church loved these people. They loved their enemies, they loved their 58 00:05:35.480 --> 00:05:41.120 former selves in a sense that they pitied them and they desired to see their 59 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:46.399 salvation. The Church did not fall into the lies of the world, nor 60 00:05:46.519 --> 00:05:48.839 did they fail to deeply love the people that were enslaved. To the world, 61 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:55.189 the Church was, as we are, a pilgrim people of another kingdom, 62 00:05:55.910 --> 00:06:00.389 living here among our neighbors and inviting them in to the Kingdom of God. 63 00:06:01.269 --> 00:06:05.180 As we do that, of course, that requires clarity about what the 64 00:06:05.220 --> 00:06:10.699 Kingdom of God is, the things that keep us from inheriting the Kingdom of 65 00:06:10.779 --> 00:06:14.100 God, how it is we come to receive the Kingdom of God. And 66 00:06:15.060 --> 00:06:21.689 as we speak those truths, as we speak those true things into the life 67 00:06:21.689 --> 00:06:28.370 of our friends and our family and even our enemies, the word of the 68 00:06:28.449 --> 00:06:32.240 Lord begins to do its work. He does his work and lives are changed 69 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:36.879 and people who then were once dominated by the lies and the sins of the 70 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:43.439 world become free, no longer pure and defiled, but holy, washed, 71 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:50.269 justified and inheritors, rightful, inheritors of the Kingdom of God, instead of 72 00:06:50.350 --> 00:06:54.790 being separated from God and living in a world of sin, that now they 73 00:06:54.790 --> 00:06:59.310 are living under Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. It's a 74 00:06:59.389 --> 00:07:05.180 beautiful thing, and Paul is saying remember this, remember this, that you 75 00:07:05.259 --> 00:07:15.810 might be humble and that you might give praise to God. Paul also wants 76 00:07:15.889 --> 00:07:23.089 them to remember, for other reasons, and as he will get into in 77 00:07:23.250 --> 00:07:28.970 other places here in Chapter Six and seven, chapter eleven elsewhere, is that, 78 00:07:29.009 --> 00:07:34.000 as pilgrims in this world, there is a constant calling and a tugging 79 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:40.560 from the world, calling it's back into its brakes embrace, and that includes 80 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:46.470 sexual sins, which will focus on today. Remembering what God has done for 81 00:07:46.509 --> 00:07:49.990 us should be a strength for us, and if you are on the outside 82 00:07:50.029 --> 00:07:54.069 of that, if you're sort of looking into the life of the church going 83 00:07:54.589 --> 00:07:58.779 wow, that looks good, know that this is what God can do for 84 00:07:58.899 --> 00:08:03.980 you as you put your faith in him. As we will see, the 85 00:08:05.339 --> 00:08:11.740 remembering the truth gives us thoughts, thoughts that are the fuel of repentance and 86 00:08:11.899 --> 00:08:16.490 faith, things that are true about God, things that are true about ourselves, 87 00:08:16.649 --> 00:08:22.089 things that we ought to remember that help us in our lives as Christians, 88 00:08:22.930 --> 00:08:26.009 in our lives as people that live in this world but are not of 89 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:31.720 the world. As we begin to think about these things, I want to 90 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:37.679 remind you that the call of the world, specifically as it relates to sexual 91 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:45.470 matters, is very strong, very enticing and very deceitful. The call and 92 00:08:45.549 --> 00:08:48.710 a sexual sin is a strong one and we have to be wise about it. 93 00:08:50.750 --> 00:08:54.509 There has to be an exercise of wisdom. Our brains need to be 94 00:08:54.710 --> 00:08:58.460 turned on, our hearts need to be calibrated and understand some of that. 95 00:08:58.580 --> 00:09:03.220 I'd like to turn your attention to proverbs Chapter Seven. Turn with me there, 96 00:09:03.259 --> 00:09:11.809 if you will, proverbs Chapter Seven. I want you to hear how 97 00:09:13.250 --> 00:09:24.600 wisdom expresses it here. So this is a father writing to a son, 98 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:31.080 and father says, my son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments 99 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:33.799 with you. Keep my commandments and live. Keep my teaching. Is The 100 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:37.000 apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers, write them on the 101 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:41.549 tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, you are my sister, and 102 00:09:41.789 --> 00:09:48.029 call in sight, your intimate friend, to keep you from the forbidden woman, 103 00:09:48.429 --> 00:09:54.659 from the adulteress, with her smooth words. Now he's going to describe 104 00:09:54.700 --> 00:10:01.539 a scene in very vivid details to help get us in the moment, in 105 00:10:01.659 --> 00:10:05.340 a way, to help us picture and see how these things happen, how 106 00:10:05.500 --> 00:10:09.169 they play out, how foolishness and sin comes about. This is so helpful 107 00:10:11.450 --> 00:10:16.210 and and powerful. So proverb seven. Now Verse Six. He continues. 108 00:10:16.649 --> 00:10:18.450 But at the window of my house, I have looked out through my lattice 109 00:10:18.490 --> 00:10:22.480 and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived, among the youths, 110 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:28.039 a young man lacking sense. Right. So the scene is set. 111 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:31.600 He says, I'm looking out, I'm looking out onto the city. There 112 00:10:31.720 --> 00:10:35.070 and bunch of kids, bunch of youths, and that guy doesn't know what 113 00:10:35.149 --> 00:10:43.389 he's doing, a young man lacking sense, very say, passing along the 114 00:10:43.429 --> 00:10:48.029 street near her corner, taking the road to her house, in the twilight, 115 00:10:48.190 --> 00:10:52.860 in the evening, at the time of night and darkness. And behold 116 00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:56.740 the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute. Wily of Heart, she 117 00:10:56.940 --> 00:11:01.419 is loud and wayward. Her feet do not stay at home. Now in 118 00:11:01.500 --> 00:11:03.850 the street, now in the market and in every corner she lies in wait. 119 00:11:05.529 --> 00:11:09.370 She sezes him and kisses him and with bold face, she says to 120 00:11:09.409 --> 00:11:13.889 him, I had to offer sacrifices and today I have paid my vows. 121 00:11:13.169 --> 00:11:18.529 So now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, 122 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:22.799 and I have found you. I've spread my couch with coverings, colored linens 123 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:30.639 from Egyptian Egyptian linen. I've perfume my bed with mirror aloes and cinnamon calm. 124 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:33.789 Let us take our fill of love till morning. Let us delight ourselves 125 00:11:33.870 --> 00:11:37.070 with love, for my husband is not at home. He's gone on a 126 00:11:37.190 --> 00:11:41.629 long journey. He took a bag of money with him. At full moon 127 00:11:41.750 --> 00:11:48.139 he will come home. With much seductive speech. She persuades him with her 128 00:11:48.259 --> 00:11:54.500 smooth talk. She compels him. All at once, he followers, follows 129 00:11:54.580 --> 00:12:00.139 her as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught 130 00:12:00.179 --> 00:12:05.250 fast till an Arrow pierces its liver, as a bird rushes into a snare. 131 00:12:05.049 --> 00:12:11.289 He does not know that it will cost him his life. And now, 132 00:12:11.370 --> 00:12:13.210 O sons, listen to me and be attentive to the words of my 133 00:12:13.330 --> 00:12:18.879 mouth. Let not your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not stray 134 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:22.120 into her paths. For many a victims she has laid low, and all 135 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:26.639 her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is the way to Sheoal, 136 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:37.110 going down to the chambers of death. How is the young man lacking, 137 00:12:37.269 --> 00:12:45.980 since persuaded? Well, we're told, with seductive speech. She persuades him 138 00:12:45.980 --> 00:12:52.299 with smooth talk, she compels him, she paints a picture, both with 139 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:58.419 her body and her with her words, that says this is good and you 140 00:12:58.649 --> 00:13:05.529 want this. But it's lying. That's the thing. It's lying. It's 141 00:13:09.250 --> 00:13:13.919 just, to be really simple, it's saying something that is not true. 142 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:20.000 It's acting as though one thing is true when something else is and it's worth 143 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:28.429 noting, to be as clear as the proverbs are, that this makes her 144 00:13:28.830 --> 00:13:35.269 an ally with the devil. John Forty four says of other, of another 145 00:13:35.309 --> 00:13:39.389 kind of person. You are of your father, the devil, and your 146 00:13:39.509 --> 00:13:43.539 will is to do your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning. 147 00:13:43.580 --> 00:13:46.259 He does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. 148 00:13:46.779 --> 00:13:50.580 When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he 149 00:13:50.779 --> 00:13:56.090 is a lie and the father of lies. This is very important because that's 150 00:13:56.129 --> 00:14:01.850 the whole thing. There is not just here a physical thing going on, 151 00:14:01.129 --> 00:14:07.009 but there's a spiritual thing going on here, in this picture that the father 152 00:14:07.169 --> 00:14:09.440 paints for his son, and proverbs seven, the God pains for us. 153 00:14:11.799 --> 00:14:16.320 There is a spiritual warfare going on here. As she lies, she lies 154 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:20.440 after the father of lies, who is a liar from the beginning. And 155 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:26.309 that's why the father, as he speaks to his son, says you need 156 00:14:26.470 --> 00:14:31.309 to pay attention, you need to know the truth. It's so important. 157 00:14:31.669 --> 00:14:39.299 Cling to it, treasure it, because there is going to be a persuasive 158 00:14:39.460 --> 00:14:43.100 factor to the lie. There's going to be something about it that seems very 159 00:14:43.539 --> 00:14:48.659 good, very true. If you go back to chapter five, for example 160 00:14:48.860 --> 00:14:52.690 this a similar theme of proverbs comes up and he says in verse three of 161 00:14:52.809 --> 00:14:58.409 Chapter Five, for the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her 162 00:14:58.450 --> 00:15:05.610 speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is as bitter as 163 00:15:05.610 --> 00:15:11.440 wormwood, sharp as a two edged sword. Her feet go down to death. 164 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:15.679 It says in Chapter Seven. Her steps follow the path to Sheol. 165 00:15:16.279 --> 00:15:18.559 You may be mighty in your ways, but she has slaid a mighty throng. 166 00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:24.789 Now's important to point out that these things are not speaking about women in 167 00:15:24.029 --> 00:15:30.909 general, nor is it limited to women in particular. All of sexual immorality 168 00:15:31.070 --> 00:15:37.700 is included in these kinds of verses. God is not against sex. God 169 00:15:37.980 --> 00:15:43.179 made sex, he designed humans for it, in both their bodies and in 170 00:15:43.220 --> 00:15:48.779 their souls, and it works really well when it's used for its intended design 171 00:15:48.980 --> 00:15:52.490 and purpose. And this is true with everything that is designed right. If 172 00:15:52.490 --> 00:15:56.570 you get a smartphone and you use it to share photos and make calls and 173 00:15:56.649 --> 00:16:00.690 keep it in touch, keep in touch with other people's, it's great, 174 00:16:00.009 --> 00:16:03.519 but if you use it as a hammer or use it as a sandwich for 175 00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:07.080 your lunch, it's not going to go very well. It's not designed for 176 00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:11.960 that. It's going to break and it's going to maybe cause you pain, 177 00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:17.919 or at least a pain to your check book. It's similar with everything else 178 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:22.429 that God, with all that God, has designed. So here the father 179 00:16:22.549 --> 00:16:26.710 speaks to his son about one common danger. But God knows, and of 180 00:16:26.789 --> 00:16:30.269 course we know, and the scriptures tell us in many other places, that 181 00:16:30.470 --> 00:16:33.860 there are more dangerous than one. The devil doesn't know just one lie, 182 00:16:33.980 --> 00:16:38.740 he knows many and he offers many, and so the point can be expanded 183 00:16:38.860 --> 00:16:45.740 to all of those lies God designed for sex, for a specific purpose and 184 00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:48.289 to be used in a specific way. And when we don't, things go 185 00:16:48.570 --> 00:16:55.450 bad. But there's another step here. That Satan wants things to go bad 186 00:16:55.610 --> 00:17:00.289 for you. He will lie and use others to lie in order to trick 187 00:17:00.330 --> 00:17:04.880 you, in order to get you to eat your phone or do other stupid 188 00:17:04.920 --> 00:17:10.839 things. And if you think that's so obvious that you'd never fall to it, 189 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:15.160 your eyes are opened yet, because that's the whole point of these proverbs. 190 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:18.670 It's saying there are if you're you have to pay attention, you have 191 00:17:18.789 --> 00:17:22.950 to treasure these things. If you have a mindset that goes at that's for 192 00:17:22.109 --> 00:17:29.710 other people, you're already on the wrong path. Wisdom is being alert, 193 00:17:30.299 --> 00:17:36.579 wisdom is knowing the truth. Wisdom is being awake to these things. Well, 194 00:17:36.859 --> 00:17:41.779 going back to Corinth, the Corinthians were not unlike you and me. 195 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:48.009 They lived in a culture that was preoccupied with sex. Their thought life, 196 00:17:48.130 --> 00:17:55.210 their cultural thought life anyway, and probably individual lives as well as with ours, 197 00:17:56.130 --> 00:18:00.759 saturated with it. When we go back and look in those early in 198 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:06.200 those years, both before and after this time in Corinth we find it everywhere, 199 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:10.960 in their poems, their philosophy, their plays, their comedies, in 200 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:15.309 their art, in their laws, in their language, like they're like our 201 00:18:15.390 --> 00:18:19.150 own language. Their language had all kinds of words, a very rich vocabulary 202 00:18:19.789 --> 00:18:26.230 within the domain of sex, to describe all kinds of different things. They 203 00:18:26.349 --> 00:18:29.380 thought about it, what a lot. They knew it, or at least 204 00:18:29.380 --> 00:18:33.059 they thought they knew it well. But despite all the attention, decite the 205 00:18:33.099 --> 00:18:36.940 fact that it was everywhere, all around you, all the time, and 206 00:18:37.099 --> 00:18:41.609 all aspects of life, despite the promise that everyone could just be free and 207 00:18:41.809 --> 00:18:47.329 happy and it would be wonderful to live as we plea, live as they 208 00:18:47.529 --> 00:18:52.930 pleased, the Corinthians and that whole world, as is true for ours, 209 00:18:53.130 --> 00:19:02.359 found out that that was a lie. It's complicated and the world is much 210 00:19:02.359 --> 00:19:07.119 more broken sometimes. One of the great lies, the evil you one uses 211 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:11.150 is that if we just go with our feelings, if we just go with 212 00:19:11.230 --> 00:19:15.630 what we want, everything will be fine. Today that's tied very much to 213 00:19:15.789 --> 00:19:21.150 selfhood and identity. It's we can become our real selves, are true persons. 214 00:19:21.390 --> 00:19:26.819 We can find fulfillment for this moment and for our whole lives if we 215 00:19:26.900 --> 00:19:30.500 would just gratify the desires and the things that we want. That's the message 216 00:19:30.539 --> 00:19:34.660 that we get all the time, in our movies and our TV, in 217 00:19:34.779 --> 00:19:45.490 our poems and songs and advertising and casual conversations. It is everywhere. And 218 00:19:45.690 --> 00:19:48.849 yet, though, that's the lie, the under Curti alls. You have 219 00:19:48.930 --> 00:19:52.920 a bunch of broken people who are hurt all the time. And of course 220 00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:59.200 there's always double standards in these things. In Ancient Corinth there was this idea 221 00:19:59.319 --> 00:20:02.119 that everyone could be free, as long as that meant you were a man. 222 00:20:03.480 --> 00:20:07.549 Women were expected to be honoring to their husbands and chaste, which of 223 00:20:07.589 --> 00:20:11.230 course is a great thing, but for men, they the standard was very, 224 00:20:11.269 --> 00:20:18.269 very different. Augustine law forbid anyone to have intercourse with a married woman 225 00:20:18.390 --> 00:20:22.660 other than her husband, but the same rules didn't apply to men. This 226 00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:26.180 wasn't a good thing. The idea isn't to set women free here. When 227 00:20:26.339 --> 00:20:30.339 half the people are cheating in the game, you don't make the game better 228 00:20:30.380 --> 00:20:37.130 by allowing the other half to cheat. Follow the rules. That's what makes 229 00:20:37.170 --> 00:20:41.410 the game fun. And our world is just like that. It's saturated with 230 00:20:41.450 --> 00:20:45.089 messages about sex, lies about sex, and it's not just this or that 231 00:20:45.250 --> 00:20:52.680 message. They're woven together into a world view, a framework for understanding really 232 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:59.559 all of life. If you think I'm exaggerating this point, I can get 233 00:20:59.559 --> 00:21:03.200 into some details and point you to some resources later, but I'm not and 234 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:07.390 I hope you, I hope you can see it. The world will tell 235 00:21:07.390 --> 00:21:12.349 us that our sexual desires on the most important thing and failure to fulfill those 236 00:21:12.390 --> 00:21:18.380 will make you less human, less than yourself. And then if you say 237 00:21:18.539 --> 00:21:22.619 something is forbid and either to you or to anyone else, then that's a 238 00:21:22.779 --> 00:21:30.619 direct assault on their personhood, that you are denying the fundamental reality of just 239 00:21:30.940 --> 00:21:37.450 them. The world will tell you that if you pursue sex outside of marriage, 240 00:21:37.450 --> 00:21:40.730 it's not a big deal, it's fine, you'll be more fully human 241 00:21:41.130 --> 00:21:47.200 and alive. But what do we see? Do we see a world full 242 00:21:47.319 --> 00:21:52.440 of free people, excited people, happy, healthy people, or do we 243 00:21:52.559 --> 00:22:00.240 have me too movements? Do we have whole people, industries, culture at 244 00:22:00.279 --> 00:22:04.589 every place that are just broken and saying I've been hurt and hurt and hurt, 245 00:22:04.710 --> 00:22:08.990 and we're being hurt and hurt and hurt, and families that are falling 246 00:22:10.069 --> 00:22:18.900 apart and all kinds of terrible things. Sometimes it's the very same people who 247 00:22:18.299 --> 00:22:23.140 promote the lie who then promote and tell us about all the suffering that's caused 248 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:30.809 from it. This is how broken our world is. If we are too, 249 00:22:33.329 --> 00:22:37.289 if we are to make progress in any of this, not cultural progress, 250 00:22:37.410 --> 00:22:42.289 but in holiness, to live as citizens the Kingdom of God, we 251 00:22:42.410 --> 00:22:48.319 have to know the truth. So let me tell you the truth about sex. 252 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:55.160 God designed sex to be to bring two very different people together in the 253 00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:59.869 Union so close, a union of love, so close that it can be 254 00:23:00.029 --> 00:23:07.150 described as being of one flesh too, people, different people, becoming one. 255 00:23:08.069 --> 00:23:14.500 You know how Paul describes it? A great mystery. That's how he 256 00:23:14.579 --> 00:23:18.539 described it. was like. This is mind blowing right. This is hard 257 00:23:18.660 --> 00:23:22.940 to understand, but isn't it amazing? A wonderful thing. When two people 258 00:23:23.059 --> 00:23:29.970 come together in joy and fellowship, in a context of covenant and commitment, 259 00:23:30.690 --> 00:23:36.890 giving themselves deeply and personally and intimately to one another. They are bound together. 260 00:23:36.890 --> 00:23:47.240 Their souls are knit together, their minds are knit together. This bond 261 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:53.440 is strengthened love flowers and though there are significant differences between male and female, 262 00:23:53.880 --> 00:24:00.990 those differences don't separate them from one another but join them together as one. 263 00:24:02.630 --> 00:24:07.549 Sex between a married and a man and woman creates a bond. It also 264 00:24:07.710 --> 00:24:14.019 creates a bond when people are not married, and that's the problem. Sex 265 00:24:14.259 --> 00:24:18.619 is really powerful. It does powerful things and if it is not honored, 266 00:24:19.500 --> 00:24:23.809 it can destroy. If it is honored, it can bring wonderful things. 267 00:24:23.930 --> 00:24:30.089 It can create children, families, whole societies. It builds trust, commitment, 268 00:24:30.130 --> 00:24:36.890 it gives pleasure and joy. Going back to proverbs five, we read 269 00:24:37.130 --> 00:24:42.440 in in this these chapters, this this excitement and joy of marriage and of 270 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:48.200 sex. The father rights to his son. Let Your Fountain Be Blessed and 271 00:24:48.359 --> 00:24:52.119 rejoice in the wife of your roof, a lovely dear, a graceful joy, 272 00:24:52.279 --> 00:24:55.430 a dough. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight. 273 00:24:55.869 --> 00:25:00.789 Be intoxicated always in her love. Why should you be intoxicated, my son, 274 00:25:00.869 --> 00:25:03.190 with a forbid and woman? The point isn't that she's a woman. 275 00:25:03.269 --> 00:25:07.980 The point is that it's forbidden, and anything that's forbidden out by the Lord 276 00:25:08.500 --> 00:25:14.779 is something that leads us to destruction, and that's important to mention as we 277 00:25:14.900 --> 00:25:18.220 come to for to First Corinthians, chapter six versus nine through eleven, and 278 00:25:18.299 --> 00:25:29.130 think about something like homosexuality. The opposite of homosexuality is not heterosexuality. Hear 279 00:25:29.210 --> 00:25:34.650 what I'm saying. He's not saying that this is bad, but any form 280 00:25:34.690 --> 00:25:40.319 of this other thing is okay. The holy thing or the thing that God 281 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:45.640 has designed us for, or sex for I should say, is between a 282 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:51.269 man and a woman in the context of marriage. That's very specific thing and 283 00:25:52.069 --> 00:25:56.349 that's what God is after her. This is what God is designed for. 284 00:25:56.789 --> 00:26:03.940 Now the proverb speak very and very wonderful and elevated ways right about all of 285 00:26:04.059 --> 00:26:08.819 this. Be intoxicated with her love right, elevated lift up this sort of 286 00:26:08.900 --> 00:26:15.500 feeling of delight and joy, and that's all wonderful, but it's important to 287 00:26:15.539 --> 00:26:19.690 say this doesn't necessarily make sex the most important thing in the world, but 288 00:26:19.809 --> 00:26:23.930 it does tell us what it is for what it's designed for and how God 289 00:26:23.970 --> 00:26:29.690 intends it to be used. So what happens when we use a powerful force 290 00:26:30.130 --> 00:26:34.240 intended for good and we use it for evil purposes? Well, all hell 291 00:26:34.359 --> 00:26:40.039 breaks loose, as we see in our world. The work of the devil 292 00:26:40.119 --> 00:26:45.640 and the work of unclean spirits goes about in the world and there is destruction 293 00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:53.829 and division and strife and hurt. I'd be willing to bet that every single 294 00:26:55.029 --> 00:27:00.630 person here has been hurt in one way or another by it. We live 295 00:27:00.710 --> 00:27:07.539 in a broken world and the world that prizes and in forces complete disregard for 296 00:27:07.660 --> 00:27:14.619 God's law. It makes things tough sometimes, it makes tongues tough to get 297 00:27:14.660 --> 00:27:18.609 your head screwed on straight about what is and what isn't, about how to 298 00:27:18.690 --> 00:27:25.690 think about things, about what's right and what's wrong. When we give ourselves 299 00:27:25.769 --> 00:27:29.210 over to the lives of the world and live our lives practicing the things that 300 00:27:29.369 --> 00:27:33.160 make sense in the world, we deny ourselves the possibility of something greater. 301 00:27:34.519 --> 00:27:38.720 And I'm not just talking about sex and marriage, but I'm talking about the 302 00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:45.029 Kingdom of God itself, because that's what Paul says in First Corinthians. The 303 00:27:45.109 --> 00:27:52.910 Kingdom of God, which includes the forgiveness of sins, which includes freedom from 304 00:27:52.950 --> 00:28:00.539 the enslaving power of sin, which includes everlasting good life and joy and pleasure 305 00:28:00.740 --> 00:28:11.220 and communion, things that sex is just a shadow of heaven being so wonderful 306 00:28:11.259 --> 00:28:15.650 we can can't even begin to imagine it. That Kingdom of God, Union 307 00:28:15.730 --> 00:28:22.569 of God with man. That's what we don't get, that's what we don't 308 00:28:22.650 --> 00:28:27.000 have a right to inherit when we put on the lies of the world. 309 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:37.119 Think of it this way. To just give an example, imagine that. 310 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:41.630 Imagine that a man puts on a virtual reality set, you know, those 311 00:28:41.670 --> 00:28:45.470 sort of giant plastic things that go over your eyes and plug into a computer 312 00:28:45.630 --> 00:28:52.069 and you can see a new world. Now, maybe this is just me, 313 00:28:52.230 --> 00:28:55.069 but when you look at this person right holaring one of these V are 314 00:28:55.109 --> 00:28:57.259 SOS, they always look ridiculous. Right. They're standing there, you know, 315 00:28:57.420 --> 00:29:00.500 doing these motions and it doesn't make sense, and they got this giant 316 00:29:00.539 --> 00:29:03.019 thing on their eyes. It's kind of funny. But of course, if 317 00:29:03.059 --> 00:29:08.259 you're the one who's playing the game or doing whatever, it can be fun. 318 00:29:11.490 --> 00:29:15.490 You look at this person, the same man doesn't matter. But you 319 00:29:15.650 --> 00:29:21.250 look at this person, he's got a vr set on his eyes and there's 320 00:29:21.289 --> 00:29:23.599 a plant in the corner, he's standing on a rug, there's a picture 321 00:29:23.720 --> 00:29:27.920 on the wall, maybe some snacks on the table. There's this reality that 322 00:29:29.079 --> 00:29:33.720 he is in right this you can see it with your own eyes, this 323 00:29:34.039 --> 00:29:40.430 true thing, that is really true. The light is coming in at a 324 00:29:40.509 --> 00:29:45.069 certain time of day, which indicates that as a certain time of year. 325 00:29:48.789 --> 00:29:52.029 But this person, for this moment, either for good reasons or bad, 326 00:29:52.150 --> 00:29:57.779 has chosen not to live for this moment according to reality. They've put on 327 00:29:57.779 --> 00:30:04.099 these these these goggles, to live in a fictitious world, maybe, where 328 00:30:04.099 --> 00:30:11.369 he can walk on water, fly or Mary, whoever he wants, or 329 00:30:11.410 --> 00:30:15.890 take whatever kind of job he wants or really do whatever he wants without any 330 00:30:15.930 --> 00:30:21.759 kind of consequences. But imagine this isn't just a kind of fun game. 331 00:30:21.799 --> 00:30:26.279 You're not just doing fighter pilot stuff or something like that. But imagine that 332 00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:27.640 this person decides, you know what, I'm going to live the rest of 333 00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:33.400 my life like this. This world, this virtual world, is just too 334 00:30:33.559 --> 00:30:37.509 good. I get whatever I want, I can do whatever I want. 335 00:30:37.589 --> 00:30:42.589 They seemed to be no consequences from my actions. This is a better world. 336 00:30:44.390 --> 00:30:49.539 I prefer it now. This is actually true. I mean people do 337 00:30:49.859 --> 00:30:56.539 do this, and increasingly so, and is likely something will continue to see 338 00:30:56.539 --> 00:31:02.259 expanding in a problem will face more and more regularly people choosing to live in 339 00:31:02.380 --> 00:31:06.890 virtual worlds instead of the real world. But I want you to think of 340 00:31:06.970 --> 00:31:11.049 it not only as like that actual thing that happens and could be very concerning, 341 00:31:11.730 --> 00:31:14.849 but also as an analogy for this, for living in the world but 342 00:31:15.009 --> 00:31:21.079 not being of it. When you take on the virtual world, the lies 343 00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:23.240 will call it, of the evil one, and you this world view, 344 00:31:23.400 --> 00:31:27.759 in this set of presuppositions about what sex is and what life is and all 345 00:31:27.799 --> 00:31:32.440 of these things, and you take it on. You take it's like putting 346 00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:37.589 virtual reality set over your eyes and you take it on. You say, 347 00:31:37.630 --> 00:31:40.990 I'm going to live this way, this is great, this is better. 348 00:31:41.069 --> 00:31:45.910 But what happens to that person in that room, that man who's got those 349 00:31:45.910 --> 00:31:52.460 goggles? Eventually real life is going to catch up with him. He's gonna 350 00:31:52.500 --> 00:31:56.819 have to actually eat real food, he's going to actually have to sleep real 351 00:31:56.940 --> 00:32:02.609 sleep. He is in a real world, whether he would pretend to see 352 00:32:02.650 --> 00:32:07.569 it or not. The VR world is not a neutral world. The actions 353 00:32:07.650 --> 00:32:14.089 that he takes in it will have consequent has for his real life, for 354 00:32:14.410 --> 00:32:19.400 real reality, and not only that, but the consequences will have at caught. 355 00:32:19.599 --> 00:32:23.200 The actions will have consequences for the life to come as well. That's 356 00:32:23.240 --> 00:32:29.440 why Paul says don't be deceived, because if you take on all the presuppositions 357 00:32:29.559 --> 00:32:32.029 and the lies of the evil one, these lies that floor around and culture 358 00:32:32.069 --> 00:32:36.269 that say do whatever you want, feel whatever you want, go after that 359 00:32:36.470 --> 00:32:40.630 and define yourself by it, you will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 360 00:32:43.470 --> 00:32:49.099 That's the consequences of living a lie in the real world, a world that 361 00:32:49.220 --> 00:32:52.660 God has designed, a world that God has made, and you can see 362 00:32:52.660 --> 00:32:57.819 how this would play out. How can you learn self control if you live 363 00:32:57.859 --> 00:33:01.809 in a world of belief that says expressing yourself and living into your desires is 364 00:33:02.289 --> 00:33:08.089 the most important thing? Self control doesn't make sense in that world, any 365 00:33:08.210 --> 00:33:12.329 more than trying to stay on the ground make sense in a world that is 366 00:33:12.450 --> 00:33:16.880 infinite in any direction. It just doesn't make sense. How can you turn 367 00:33:16.920 --> 00:33:22.680 away from evil when it's good in your virtual world? Right? If you 368 00:33:22.799 --> 00:33:28.109 have those glasses on, if you are living in that world, you will 369 00:33:28.190 --> 00:33:35.069 make particular choices, you will do particular things, but they don't. They're 370 00:33:35.109 --> 00:33:45.299 not without consequence. So Paul says to us in First Corinthians six. Don't 371 00:33:45.339 --> 00:33:52.740 be deceived about two things. The first thing is that the people that practice 372 00:33:52.859 --> 00:33:59.809 these things do not inherit the Kingdom of God, and also remember that such 373 00:33:59.930 --> 00:34:06.569 were some of you. The thing that I'll say as we close is that 374 00:34:06.650 --> 00:34:10.880 as we consider the real reality, as we consider wisdom, as we can 375 00:34:12.039 --> 00:34:17.719 look out on the world as it actually is, there is another truth that 376 00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:22.000 God expresses to us, that God, the Holy Spirit, teaches us in 377 00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:28.869 this passage and that that God has entered into that brokenness, into that world 378 00:34:28.989 --> 00:34:31.750 of wise and confusion, all that sort of stuff, and he speaks, 379 00:34:32.469 --> 00:34:37.429 and he speaks through his son, who is the very word of God, 380 00:34:37.190 --> 00:34:47.659 who is God himself, and he shines Jesus says that truth will set you 381 00:34:47.699 --> 00:34:52.570 free. God speaks the truth in our he cut your were. Imagine Yourself, 382 00:34:52.650 --> 00:34:59.050 you're wearing these these this virtual reality set right. That is all of 383 00:34:59.690 --> 00:35:02.010 you know, Satan's lies. It's this whole world view and narrative and way 384 00:35:02.050 --> 00:35:05.769 of thinking and living and all that sort of stuff, and somebody comes up 385 00:35:05.769 --> 00:35:09.840 at you and says that's not the real world. That's not the real thing 386 00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:16.679 here. Feel this book, See your honor ground. That's essentially what I'm 387 00:35:16.760 --> 00:35:21.750 doing right now, is I'm trying to tell you about the real world, 388 00:35:21.789 --> 00:35:25.510 about what God has done. And you know what, if you take off 389 00:35:25.630 --> 00:35:30.550 the glasses, if you trust the word that is being said to you, 390 00:35:31.590 --> 00:35:36.820 Oh man, it's going to be good. The your world is going to 391 00:35:36.940 --> 00:35:39.900 change, your perception of it, your feeling of it, your actions and 392 00:35:40.019 --> 00:35:45.300 at the consequences that all of it will change. And the truth that is 393 00:35:45.340 --> 00:35:51.570 spoken is not just that our world is actually broken and there are lies and 394 00:35:51.650 --> 00:35:54.650 there are tricks and deceptions and all of these things lead to death, but 395 00:35:54.809 --> 00:36:00.050 that God has entered in the world not just to tell us that that we 396 00:36:00.130 --> 00:36:04.880 are condemned under the law, but that he has fulfilled the law on our 397 00:36:05.039 --> 00:36:09.719 behalf so that we can have life. He comes into the world and says, 398 00:36:09.920 --> 00:36:15.519 I will set you free from the things that enslave you. And that's 399 00:36:15.599 --> 00:36:22.150 exactly what happened to these people, people who formally practice these things because they 400 00:36:22.230 --> 00:36:29.150 made sense in that world of lies. They don't do that anymore because they 401 00:36:29.150 --> 00:36:36.019 were washed, because they were justified, because they are sanctified and because of 402 00:36:36.260 --> 00:36:40.340 God justifying them through the work of his son on the cross, because God 403 00:36:40.659 --> 00:36:46.530 died in the real world to save us from our sins. Those people are 404 00:36:46.690 --> 00:36:52.250 forgiven. They have a right to inherit the Kingdom of God, not because 405 00:36:52.289 --> 00:36:58.289 they finally started acting right, but because Jesus fulfilled the law on their behalf. 406 00:36:59.610 --> 00:37:02.599 And now, knowing that of that fulfillment, knowing of their justification, 407 00:37:04.119 --> 00:37:07.440 knowing who they are as citizens of that kingdom, now, of course, 408 00:37:07.480 --> 00:37:12.519 they act differently, and the same is, of course true for us. 409 00:37:14.159 --> 00:37:19.550 We live in the world as it is. If we are truly Christians, 410 00:37:20.429 --> 00:37:23.269 we live in a world that is broken and sad and lost in so many 411 00:37:23.309 --> 00:37:30.460 ways, but a world that God has also entered into to bring us life 412 00:37:30.139 --> 00:37:36.860 and joy and peace in our relationships here and now, to bring healing amidst 413 00:37:36.860 --> 00:37:43.579 all kinds of brokenness, unto untake things that were once awful and terrible and 414 00:37:43.739 --> 00:37:47.650 turn them into something beautiful and good. This is what our Lord does for 415 00:37:47.769 --> 00:37:53.170 us, this is how he loves us, and so trust him, believe 416 00:37:53.369 --> 00:37:58.409 him, listen to him, watch him and as you do so, know 417 00:37:59.119 --> 00:38:04.440 that you will inherit the Kingdom of God. Let's pray and ask that God, 418 00:38:05.320 --> 00:38:10.199 would help us to see our heavenly father. We asked that you would 419 00:38:10.199 --> 00:38:15.949 give us a wisdom for this life, that we might hold fast to the 420 00:38:15.110 --> 00:38:21.510 truth of your word and and and be saved by it. Yes, we 421 00:38:21.630 --> 00:38:24.070 desire to fulfill your law. Yes, we desire to be obedient, but 422 00:38:24.230 --> 00:38:29.699 we know that, because of the flesh that wars within us, that gives 423 00:38:29.699 --> 00:38:34.579 assent to those lies that follows after the evil one, we know that there's 424 00:38:34.739 --> 00:38:37.579 nothing that we can do, even as those who are sanctified, that can 425 00:38:37.739 --> 00:38:44.170 earn our place before you. Know we trust in Christ and in him alone, 426 00:38:44.409 --> 00:38:52.170 who took a people and made them into a spotless, perfect and beautiful 427 00:38:52.210 --> 00:38:59.960 bride, who joined them with himself to create even one body, one flesh, 428 00:39:00.119 --> 00:39:06.960 in some mysterious, wonderful and beautiful way. Lord, we ask that 429 00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:08.800 you would help us not to put our hope in the things and the foolish 430 00:39:08.840 --> 00:39:14.030 things of this world, help us not to put our identity and our hope 431 00:39:14.110 --> 00:39:20.869 and in foolish passions and and in the fulfillment of our desires, but instead, 432 00:39:20.949 --> 00:39:24.019 let us find all of every all that we need and all that we 433 00:39:24.179 --> 00:39:28.659 are in you and in you alone. Lord, we asked that you would 434 00:39:28.659 --> 00:39:32.380 humble each and every one of us here, as we consider our own sins, 435 00:39:34.500 --> 00:39:37.420 as we consider the many ways in which we have offended you, the 436 00:39:37.500 --> 00:39:40.170 ways in which we have contributed to our own brokenness and the brokenness of others. 437 00:39:42.170 --> 00:39:45.809 We humble ourselves before you and we do as you call us to do. 438 00:39:45.849 --> 00:39:52.210 We repent, filled with sorrow and anger, even at our own sins. 439 00:39:52.280 --> 00:39:58.440 We embrace we embrace you as you reach out to us and draw U 440 00:39:58.440 --> 00:40:02.400 see and for the forgiveness of our sins, for resurrection, life, for 441 00:40:02.559 --> 00:40:08.630 justification and sanctification and glorification as well. And Lord, it is in your 442 00:40:08.710 --> 00:40:12.429 love that we now walk. It is in your love that we now fight 443 00:40:12.550 --> 00:40:16.070 against sin and temptation, the lies of the evil one. It is in 444 00:40:16.150 --> 00:40:20.469 your love that we now turn to love others, and we ask that you 445 00:40:20.510 --> 00:40:24.380 would do that work in us. May Our lives, like those in the 446 00:40:24.420 --> 00:40:30.699 Church of Corinth, be those that are increasingly ones marked by you, that 447 00:40:30.820 --> 00:40:37.130 the world might see us and hear and know the Truth About your love and 448 00:40:37.329 --> 00:40:40.809 what you have done for us. Lord, we ask that you would strengthen 449 00:40:40.889 --> 00:40:45.610 us in these things, strengthen us in the gospel of peace, unite us 450 00:40:45.650 --> 00:40:50.079 to yourself, that you might be glorified and your name might be praised, 451 00:40:50.400 --> 00:40:54.159 and that we might have communion and fellowship with you forever. We pray this 452 00:40:54.280 --> 00:40:57.039 in Jesus name. Men,