The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 1: Sex

Episode Date: October 29, 2017

FLEE sexual immorality. Repent = Run away from sexual temptation and run to Jesus.

Amen and amen. How we're doing, church? Doing all right? You look great. If this is your first time here, you picked a doozy. So, buckle up. If you got your Bible's 1st Corinthians chapter 6 is where we're going to be, then we're going to back up to Proverbs, 5, 6 and 7th,

and we're going to go back to 1st Corinthians 6. So find that. Okay, I hope you've had a great weekend. I know I have. All right. That's all I'll say about that. Okay. Hey, we're going to dig into this brand new series,

Smashing Idols. And the reason we call it Smashing Idols is this, As I think about the way we treat idols versus the way God treats idols, you see, God never played well with idols. He smashed them throughout the whole Bible. And yet, most of us like to cuddle up or snuggle up with our idols. Over the next few weeks, we'll unpack the idea that there are really just four root idols, power, comfort, control, and applause. But really, over the next four weeks, we are going to deal with the primary manifestations in our own lives in our culture of those idols.

We're going to talk about sex, money, success, and pride. Sex, money, success, and pride. And so as you go to 1st Corinthians chapter 6, there's a lot in the town of Corinth that is a lot like the city of Jacksonville. All right? They are sex-saturated societies. We live in a sex-saturated society. It is everywhere all the time. And in the book of Corinthians and in our own community, they kind of had a, I can do what I want with who I want, when I want.

You ain't the boss of me. you cannot tell me what to do kind of attitude, like our culture does now. Then what happened is Paul plants the church in Corinth, and the Corinthians began to get saved. The gospel infiltrated to their heart. They met Jesus, and so they started following after Jesus. But what most of us try to do is sort of fit Jesus into our life versus surrender our life unto the Lordship of Christ. Those are not the same thing.

So in the mantelpiece of the living room of our heart, we're pretty cool with putting the cross in the middle as long as there's enough room to keep all of our other little miniature gods in our world. Now, what this meant for them specifically is this, is in the city of Corinth, there was this big temple to this goddess named Aphrodite. And the way that you would go and worship there is you would go and sleep with temple prostitutes. They had thousands of them. And so what the Corinthians thought was,

well, I can continue to do whatever I want to with my body, but I gave my heart and my soul to Jesus, but my body is just my body. And so those two things don't have anything to do with each other. And they had a very disillusioned view of what it meant to love the Lord of your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And so they had this kind of false dichotomy that what I do with my flesh bears no witness to what I say I'm doing with my heart and soul.

And so Paul is going to speak specifically to this. And honestly, it is very, very common today. in churches anywhere people will be honest, where people say they love Jesus, but what you do with your body is like, no, no, no, but I'm going to do this with my body. And so Paul is going to address that very directly. 1 Corinthians, chapter 6, beginning of verse 12.

And you'll see here that some of this is in quotes. And what's in quotes is Paul is quoting some of the common, modern, first Corinthian philosophy of the day. Okay? So here's what they would say. The people of Corinth would say, all things are lawful for me. In other words, you're not the boss of me, don't judge me, I do what I want to do.

And then Paul replies, but not all things are helpful. And then he quotes them again, all things are lawful for me, and he replies, but I will not be dominated by anything. Verse 13, food is meant for the stomach and stomach for the food. And God will destroy both one and the other. What he's saying is this, is that the Corinthians believe that sex was just physical. It's just a physical act, like ping pong or touch football, maybe more like tackle football, but you know what I mean. It's just a physical act. And so, it's just like any other physical act.

And so God gave me a stomach and I get hungry, I eat. If I get horny, he gave me those parts and I have sex. Now, if the word horny bothers you, then you're not ready to do real Bible study because this is what he's talking about. This was the idea of the Corinthians. And Paul is like, no, no, no, no, no. Sex is way more than just physical. And they're saying, but listen, God's going to destroy our physical bodies anyway. You only live once, so you might as well enjoy yourself.

And to that, Paul says, the body. is not meant for sexual immorality. It's the way the ESV translates. Here's what you need to know. That word here translated sexual immorality is the word pornao. And it's important that Paul uses the word pornao. Sound familiar?

Because what he's specifically talking about in Corinth, he's specifically talking about primarily men sleeping with temple prostitutes. In Greek, there's very specific language that would encapsulate that activity. But Paul does not use that specific language to talk about that specific sexual sin. Instead, he uses this very general term that's translated sexual immorality, which is

Pornayo. Pornayo is the junk drawer of sex. Anything outside of God's design and plan would fall under this category of Pornado. And here's why I think that is. I think if Paul lists, all right, here's eight things that you need to avoid, then what our carnal, selfish, self-promoting mind would do is if whatever our sexual sexual sin is, didn't make the list, and we'd be like, see, I think I'm okay because you didn't list mine specifically. So this word, porneo, Jesus uses this word, this is where Paul borrows it from,

and it is the junk drawer of sexual sin. So anything outside of God's design would be in this porneo category. And so, according to the Bible, now this is very important, okay, according to the Bible, not according to our school systems, not according to our culture, not according to your own desires, not according to our Supreme Court, but according to the Bible, sex is for married people. That's it. Not going to be married, not used to be married. It's not just, you know, young people should wait, but once you get into it after a while, I'll do what you won't.

It's not. Sex is for married people. And according to the Bible, marriage is one man, one woman, one lifetime. That's it. And so anything outside of that, anything outside of that is Pornayo. Whether it's a thought life that is not within the life. that context, or if you're sleeping with temple prostitutes, and everything in between would be what is qualified as sexual immorality. So he says, the body's not meant for that. Your body, my body,

is not meant for Pornayo, but our body is meant for the Lord and the Lord for the body. Verse 14. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? And they would be like, no, we didn't know that. Shall I? Shall I? I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute. Never. Or do you not know that he who is joined or united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For as it is written, he's going to quote the book of Genesis, the two shall become one flesh.

To which the Corinthians have been like, hold on Paul, I'm not uniting. We're just having sex. We're just sleeping together. You know? It's like we do that. It's a physical activity. and we don't unite. I mean, we do for a minute, but then we disunite, and she goes her way and I go my way.

And Paul is like, no, no, no. I don't think you understand why God designs sex. First and foremost, sex is God's idea. If you're new to this whole Bible study thing and you wonder if we serve a good God, ponder upon this. God invented sex. Can I get a witness? All right? In the beginning, there was nothing.

And God went, I have an idea. And the angels was like, what is it, boss? Another waterfall? That brother's better than a waterfall, okay? That God invented this. He created it. And God invented sex, not just for procreation, but also recreation. Like we are to enjoy one another. But sex is not just physical. Sex binds us together at a soul level.

That somehow, in the covenant in context of marriage, that when a man and woman have sex together, that they are imaging the triune God. And again, God could have come up with any way to make more people he wanted to. You realize this? I mean, he could have. He could have just designed it that one day you come home and your wife has these huge earlobes. You're like, what's going on?

She's like twins, all right? I mean, it could have been that. That's just as random as what he came up with. But he invented it as a spiritual union in the covenant in context of marriage. And it is for our good. Just imagine this. Just imagine this. the author of life knows how life works best.

And what if over the past 100 years, every single human being, regardless of what they believed in, what if we all followed the Seventh Commandment? The Seventh Commandment is thou shalt not commit adultery. So with the last hundred years, the only people having sex was husband and his wife. Think about how our world would be different. No one can argue that it would be worse.

I mean, abortion wouldn't be a thing. The death toll would go down. The murder rate would go down. Divorce would not be a thing. I mean, it would just be way that fatherless. would not be a thing. It would cure almost all of our social ills. And don't just think about it as far as a society goes globally. Think about your own life. When you were growing up, if every adult in your life, the only people sleeping together was a husband and his wife,

think about how your life would be different. My life would be totally different, man. And I know God may have used some good things out of that, and God can use bad things for his good. Imagine how much more God can use our obedience for his good. You see, you see God is a good God, and he created sex, and is sex a good thing? In the right context, yes and amen. You see, it's like a fire. Is fire a good thing? Man, in my fire pit?

In my fireplace? Yes. When it gets outside of the context of that fire pit or fireplace, ask Northern California if fire is a good thing right now. It can burn your life down. So Paul says, hey, listen, this is a bigger deal than what you guys understand. You see, do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her.

For as it is written, the two will become one flesh. But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Verse 18. So Paul says, flee sexual immorality. Flea. That's a word that means run away. Do not jog. Do not meander.

Do not loiter. Don't check it out. But flee. Run away from. Now, see, the problem here is that most of us don't flee. We flirt. we see how close we can get. We just think that our self-control is going to be awesome and it's not awesome.

Paul says, no, no, no, listen to me. If there's a one-word sermon in regards to sexual morality, it is this. Flee, flee. This is how big of a deal it is. Later on, Paul's going to write a letter to the Ephesians. And in Ephesians chapter 6, Paul says, your battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the enemy and his evil schemes.

Stand firm against the enemy and the enemy. his evil schemes. That's what he says. This is what this means, very practically. When the service is over today, if you were to walk out to your car, and the devil incarnate was sitting in your car, I mean, the pitchfork, the horns, the tail, and he's like, I'll get you at me. Here's what you're supposed to do. You are supposed to get in a car and say, greater is he who is in me, the snake I'm staring down, get out of my car, all right? You're supposed to stand firm against the devil and his evil schemes. But in, if you get in your car and you drive to your house and your ex-girlfriend is standing in your driveway, guess what you do? Run, forest, run!

So when facing a girl in a short skirt and the devil, he says, take on the devil, run from the honey. You understand? This is what a big deal. I'm not making this up. The Bible says we are to flee sexual immorality. So I want to talk about sex in regards to a pathway, not passion, not passion. Because if you think all your passions are going to change, you're too dumb to talk to.

But the reality is, is every single one of us are on a pathway that leads somewhere. So if you'll back up to Proverbs chapter 5, 6, and 7, we're going to try to cover 3, so you've got to listen super fast. It's because Proverbs talks about this in regards to a pathway, not a passion. So Proverbs chapter 5, beginning in verse 1, says this, my son, be attentive to my wisdom, incline your ear to my understanding, that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoothed. than oil. But in the end, she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Now, notice all the directional talk here. See, because flea is directional language. Flee is, there's danger here,

so you should run there. Now listen to the directional language he's going to use. Verse five, her feet go down to death. Her steps follow the path to shield. Sheal is Greek for hell. She does not ponder the path of life. Her ways wander, and she does not know it. So this is just true. regardless of your like marital status whether you're single never been married used to be married going to be married never going to be married divorce and a great marriage a terrible marriage whatever your situation is every single one of us are either on a path that glorifies God with our body or we are on a path that leads to destruction now the problem is this when you're on that path it's really hard to see what path you're on especially if you're caught up in it you're like

I'm not on a path I just look at pictures no no no they're not pictures it's a path as a path that leads to something. You're like, I'm not on a path. I just, man, there's this girl at work, and I mean, nothing will ever happen, but I kind of like talking to her a little bit. And listen, that is a pathway that leads somewhere. Verse seven, it says, and now, oh, sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her. You know what that means? Run away. flee. And again, most of us don't flee. Most of us flirt. For the 15 years, I student ministry. The number one question I would get from high schoolers is this. Okay, well, where's the line? How far is too far? And I would say, if you're asking that question, then you don't

have a biblical understanding of what it means to flee sexual immorality. Because the moment you begin to draw that line, just because of our human carnal nature, the next step is always, okay, well, if there's the line, how close to the line can I get and still be okay? The moment you get there, the next step is how far over the line can I go and still manage the consequences, which will always lead you to how in the world did I get here? That's where it goes. The last time you got a speeding ticket, that's what you did. You got on the highway. What's the speed limit? 65? Cool. All right. And then you got to it as close to 65 as you get and you're like, who goes 65? They'll give you 10, all right? Now, I've never heard a cop say that, but all of us non-cops have already decided four of the cops,

we get 10. So you're like, I can go 75, right? And then 75 drifts to 80 and the blue lights come on and you're like, God dang it. That's what happens. We begin to drift and slide towards something instead of fleeing from it. And so he says, keep your way far from her. And the reason is because you're on a pathway. You're on a pathway that lead somewhere. Keep your way far from her. And do not go near the door of her house lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless. Let strangers take their fill of your strength and your labors go to the house of the foreigner. And at the end of your life, you groan. You see, again, this is a pathway that leads somewhere. And when your flesh and body are consumed and you say, how I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof, I didn't listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.

I am at the brink of utter ruin. This is what keeps me up at night. There are some of you. There are hundreds of us of 1122 this weekend. You are on the brink of utter ruin. And you're like, no, I ain't, bro. I just been dating this girl. I met her in my class.

We hook up sometimes. I mean, we're here. And what you don't think, what you don't know is you just have not stretched this pathway out long enough. I'd love to introduce you to the hundreds of people at 1122 and they look at their families. And maybe they, maybe they took them through it or maybe it happened to them because of the unfaithfulness of their spouse. And they were like, listen, listen, listen, flee, run away because I am at the brink of utter ruin. It is a pathway that leads somewhere. You say, I'm at the brink of utter ruin in the assembly.

assembled congregation. And with that in mind, that's what hangs in the balance. Either the abundant life that Christ offers or a life of utter ruin. Now, Solomon, the writer of Proverbs, is going to start by giving advice to married people. And here's what he says. The next few verses are to married people. He says, look at your married people. Verse 15. Drink water from your own sister and flowing water from your own well. Now, you just sit there like you're confused when I say that because you don't know Hebrew. If you understood Hebrew, as soon as I read that verse, he'd be like, uh-uh, no, he didn't. I mean, that's what you would do. Because all throughout the Old Testament, a woman was described as a well for obvious anatomical

reasons. And a man is described as a spring for obvious anatomical reasons. In the book of Song of Solomon, it says, may God bless your spring-fed well. You know what that means? Exactly what you think it means. Praise God, okay? So with that in mind, here's what he says. Drink from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.

Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water, and the streets? Let them be for yourselves alone and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice in the wife of your youth. In other words, the best way, if you're married, the best way to flee sexual immorality is to flirt with your wife. Flirt with your husband. Don't stop at flirting. Take it all the way home. That is the best defense for the enemy in regards to sexual immorality.

Now, here's what this means. Husbands and wives. Your spouse is the only legitimate source of romance in your world, period. Your spouse is the only legitimate source of romance. And if you look for that, another source, anywhere, anywhere, then it will, to use his analogy, it will contaminate the drinking water. And if you're like, no, they're just pictures. Now, they're not pictures.

They're a contamination. Well, listen, it's just a guy that I kind of check. with it work. No, no, no, that is a contamination. And if you'll remember, when Adam was created, and God said, it's not good for man to be alone, what did he give him? He gave him Eve. And do you remember he only created one Eve? It wasn't like the Bachelorette. There's like 12 of them. He was like, maybe you, maybe you, I don't like a little short. No, which means this. Adam's standard of beauty was Eve. Men, your standard of beauty is your wife. And if things have changed over the years,

all right, you ain't exactly the Tarzan. You were in 73 either, all right? But that's fine because it's not built on the physical. So men, to use his analogy, your wife is the only clean drinking water in town, period. Wives, if it's true that you're the only clean drinking water in town, the brother gets thirsty sometimes. Okay? And I'm telling you, I'm telling you. And if a man sins against you, it is not your fault, it is not your responsibility. But the best way to prevent him to drink from other cisterns is to make sure he's got plenty to drink.

home. It's like, girls, you know what I'm talking about. You ever, you ever go to the grocery store before lunch and you're hungry? You ever notice you make some really bad choices during that time? You're walking down the aisle, you got your list, and you're like, Captain Crunch, oh, that looks great. Get that in a box of band-aids to clean up my mouth after, I think I'm going to get it. After dinner, you're like, who bought Captain Crunch? What an idiot. You're the idiot, all right? So this is what he is saying to take care of one another. And some of you are saying, Hey, listen, well, I'm not married. I don't have a well.

Okay, great. Men, quit drinking out of somebody else as well. That's not yours. It is not yours. If you want her, put a ring on it. You're like, no, we're married in our heart. No? That's dumb.

That's not a thing. You made that up so you could take something that's not yours. That's not a thing, okay? And let me tell you, let me tell you, you're on a pathway that leads somewhere. And what you want, what you want is what I have. Been married almost 18 years, committed faithful marriage, love her, she loves me. Praise God, it's going really good. And if you were on a path of hook up, shack up, break up repeat, hook up, shack up, break up repeat,

how in the world do you think one day you're going to be able to turn that switch off and turn on the next switch that says, no, you till death do us part? That's not where that path leads. Bro, if you fumble in practice, you're going to fumble in the game. Okay? And so, in fact, the Bible says that love is patient. It's the first definition. So, brother, you cannot simultaneously take something from her and call yourself patient. You are by definition being impatient, therefore you don't love her.

Because to be a husband, here's what being a husband is. Husbands love your wife, like Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. If you can't give up your hormones until you get married, you will never be able to be a husband. You have to lay down your life. It starts, it starts with your hormones. That you better learn how to value her when you're dating so that you will know how to value her when you're married. And so, ladies, the reason you should not have sex before you get married is simply this. because you're too valuable.

You are a daughter of the most high king. That by definition makes you a princess. You are valuable and you should be treated as valuable. Here's what this means. In order for a brother to get to touch you that way, he has to commit to you his entire life. That's what it takes. That's what a big deal you are.

And if you give yourself away, you are devaluing yourself. That brother should work very, very hard for you. You are worth it. So that's why. Sex before marriage. always either prolongs a bad relationship or damages a good one every single time. And then, with that in mind, the Spirit of God inspires the writer of the book of Proverbs to write one of the greatest verses in the history of the Bible. It's got many of my favorite things in here. Let's read.

A lovely deer, a graceful dough. Let her breasts fill you at all times with the light, be intoxicated, always in her love. Don't you love that verse? I think. we should read it again, all right? A lovely deer, a graceful dough, let her breast fill you. When? At all times. What about the morning? That's all time.

Night, that's all the time. It's kind of late. All the time. Lunchtime? All the time, all right? With the light, be intoxicated always in her love. You see, here's what the writer of Proverbs is doing. I don't know if you hunt a lot.

I hunt a bunch. He doesn't say a big buck. No, no, no. He says a dough and a fawn. pretty little woodland creatures. And you see them and you feel tender and you think, oh, I would like to cuddle with them. Praise God, all right?

Now, if you're not a hunter, maybe you don't know this. Do you know what you don't do to a doe in her phone? You don't just go running in the field and put them in the headlock. That's not what you do. You know what they'll do? She gone. That's how it happened.

And you're like, what are you talking about? I'm talking about the Bible. Listen, husbands, you're supposed to pursue and value your wife. She is not a sanctified prostitute that you get what you want when you want because you made a vow 15 years ago and you pay the bills and do the wheat eaten. That is not how it goes. That you are to value her and pursue her and make her feel valued. You see, this is just true. It's just true. When we talk about sexual immorality in church,

all the married people that are faithful and they aren't looking at porn just kind of can check out and think, well, he ain't talking to me. Something about all those freaking young singles over there, okay? No, did you know you could be a sexual prude? Never break a rule. Never look at one thing on line you're not supposed to, never flirt, never have a wondering eye, and be faithful in your marriage and follow every single rule and live a lifetime of sexual immorality because you're mistreating your wife in the way you're supposed to treat her. You see, your wife is meant to feel valued, not violated. She's meant to feel valued, not violated. Husbands, there's a bunch of us, there's a bunch of us that get in in our mind that they owe us something, and we need to repent.

We need to repent. Go first and say, I am. sorry. And ladies, your husband is meant to feel respected, not rejected. This is not, this is not offense versus defense. This is not. That they are intoxicated in love together, that he tenderly pursues and then she tenderly responds. And I can tell you what. And some of you think, I know, well, some of you are like, well, listen, well, if he'd pursue me like that, then maybe. Well, maybe, you know what, when you strike out enough times, eventually you just sit on the bench. Because it's too embarrassing to strike out with your own wife over and over and over.

And ladies, you won't understand this, but we are, dudes, we're emotionally about in the eighth grade and it's just true, you know that part, but it takes a lot of vulnerability to reach out to your wife. And then when you get that hand slap, next time you don't reach so far and then you get it slapped again, next thing you've got T-Rex arms around the house, like, no, okay, and eventually

you just tap out, that's fine, I'll just play golf. Okay? And you could live a lifetime of married, sexual immorality, and never break a rule. Because your wife is meant to feel valued, not violated, your husband's meant to feel respected, not rejected. This is what he's talking about here. Verse 20. Why should you be intoxicated my son with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulterist?

For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponderes all his paths. There's so many of us that think God doesn't see what we're doing. The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him. He is held fast in the cords of his sin. He dies for lack of discipline. and because of his great folly, he has led astray. Do you see that this is a pathway, not just a passion? And then, for whatever reason, there's 19 verses in chapter 6 about suing people.

So we'll skip over that and go to chapter 6, verse 20. He says, my son, keep your father's commandments. This is the second time now that dad's going to like repeat. And do not forsake your mother's teaching, which, by the way, if we just listen to what our mom and dad told us, we'd probably be in good shape in this realm. Verse 21, bind them on your heart always, tie them around. your neck and when you walk they will lead you it's pathway language when you lie down they will watch over you and when you awake they will talk with you for the commandment is a lamp and the

teaching is a light and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life again you and i are on a pathway that will either lead to destruction or it will either lead to the glory of god verse 24 to preserve you from the evil woman from the smooth tongue of the adulteress do not desire her beauty in your heart and do not let her capture you with their eyelashes. I had to look this up. This is a Hebrew phrase that means don't flirt with people that aren't your wife. The reason I had to look it up is because I don't know a lot of brothers that get captured by the eyelashes. I've never been in a conversation and do be like, man, you see those eyelashes? Whoa. They were huge. Do you think they're real? I don't know. Maybe they're pressed on. I can't tell the difference. All right. So,

verse, now things shift gears pretty hard here. Verse 26. For the price of a prostitute, it's only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life. life. Here's what this means. When you think of sex is only physical, it's a pretty simple, easy transaction. I mean, you can meet somebody, hook up, mega out, never talk to them again. It's like buying a piece of bread, right? You give them the money to give you the bread, but the transaction is over. But what he is saying here is, it is exponentially more costly than you would ever know. Then it could kill you physically, that's just true, but it will definitely cost you, could cost you everything. It could cost you everything.

Then we get to verse 27, can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Now, all of us will be like, no, that's impossible. You can't carry fire close to your chest and not get burnt unless you're the person that is caught up in sexual immorality. This is where we lose perspective and we think, well, no, normal people can't, but I can. I got this. I've got this. And everybody around is like, no, no, no, no, no, bro. You don't got this.

You are on a pathway that leads to a place. But I'm going to be the first person in human history, and I'm going to take the fire of fornication, and I'm going to hold it close to my chest, but I'm not going to get burned. I mean, I'm going to live a life of hook up, shack up, break up, repeat. But I'm going to be the first guy ever that one day on a Saturday I'm going to promise I'd do, and then I'm going to change everything I've been learning for the last 20 years. Or you say, hey, listen, man, I'm going to be able to look at pornography, and that's not going to affect my marriage. Listen, every day, okay? I mean, obviously I can't tell my wife because she wouldn't be cool with it, but I'm going to put my wife to bed and I'm going to put my children to bed. And while my real-life wife is asleep and my children are down the hall, I'm going to look at other people's wives and other people's children having sex on my laptop.

But I don't think it'll hurt me. See, it sounds crazy when you say it out loud, right? It sounds as crazy as, hey, can you carry fire close to your chest and not get burned? Yeah. No. Bro, you don't got this. The gospel, the cross says you don't got this. that we need a savior. And so he says, or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not get scorched?

No, it's simple cause and effect. If you walk down this path, it leads somewhere. So is he who goes to his neighbor's wife. None who touches her will go unpunished. People don't despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry, but if he's caught, he will pay sevenfold and he will give all the goods of his house. In other words, listen, somebody that steals because they're hungry, it makes sense, Even that guy has a price to pay. How much greater is the price of sexual immorality? What he's saying is it will cost you more than you know. Then he says this, he who commits adultery lacks sense. And again, from the outside looking in, it is always so obvious to see.

But when you are caught up in it, if you don't listen to wisdom, if you don't listen to the spirit of God, then you'll continue down a path thinking it's not going to take you where the path takes you. I've been in ministry for 25 years this year. It's a long time. I know somebody think I started when I was six, but ha-ha-ha, all right. So 25 years of doing this. And we have a pretty young staff. And every time some prominent pastor fails by sexual immorality,

my staff will always come and go, what were they thinking? I'm like, brother, they weren't thinking. They weren't thinking. They were thinking I could hold fire close to my chest and not get burned. They were thinking, I'm unique. I'm an individual. Nobody gets me like she does. But what was actually happening is at some point in their life,

if you were in Christ, the Spirit of God, stepped in and nudged you in a way that, if you've never experienced it, I don't know how to explain it, but you know what I'm talking about. You were walking down a path, and the Spirit of God said, yo, bro, stop, and you went, nah.

And that, that's the moment it was over. And you just lacked sense. He who does it destroys himself. You see, ladies, you've experienced it before. right? You're in a group with your friends and a girl comes running in. She's like, oh my God, I got great. You're like, okay, tell me what? I got a date. You're like, seriously, great. We've been praying for you so much. Who is it? And then they say his name and you're like, oh, no. Seriously? So yeah, yeah, no, he's great. Are you sure? Because he wasn't great to her and her and her and her.

I mean, we're running out of services for him to attend to dodge all of his ex-girlfriends, okay? All right? He's praying for more campuses more than anybody else, all right? Are you sure? By the way, bro, if that's you, you're a wolf. Come see me. I am not kidding and so and everybody's looking going and you're thinking it's going to be different this time

it's not going to be different this time and they're thinking you lack sense he will get wounds and dishonor and his disgrace will not be wiped away for jealousy makes a man furious and he will not spare

when he takes revenge he will accept no compensation he will refuse though you multiply gifts here's what this means Pastor Britt and I talk about this this is his phrase I stole from him that your horizontal hell is one decision away.

Now, if you're in Christ, you were saved from the vertical hell. You'll go to heaven, I promise, regardless of the sin that you're in. But God does not always rescue us from the consequences of our decisions and sin. In fact, the book of Romans says it would be his wrath to turn us over to our own desires. That when you do get busted and experience this horizontal hell here, it is his grace and mercy so that you know that he is the only thing that can fix you. but man you are one or two by the end of this week things can be awesome in your life right now and you could get on a path of

sexual immorality and it could blow your whole world up by the time you come back to church next weekend and so he keeps going chapter 7 verse 1 my son keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you this is the third time in three chapters that he's going to give them similar advice always pay attention in the Bible when the spirit of God inspires the writers of the Bible to write down the same thing three times in the row Jesus would do it in the parables like Luke 15, which is the preeminent text on who God is,

and Jesus tells three parables, the parable of lost coin, parable of the lost son, and the parable of the lost sheep. Just back to back to back. Okay, so pay attention. Now this is the third time in the row because it is this important. He says, keep my commandments and live, keep my teaching as the apple of your eye, bind them on your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart, and say to wisdom, you are my sister. Wisdom in Hebrew is Sophia. That's what the word means.

And here's what wisdom is. Wisdom is learning from somebody else's experience. Do you want to be wise? Get around wise people and don't just experience yourself because you will have scars and experience. And instead he's like, no, no, no, here's how to win at life. It's look at and listen to people and learn from their scars so you don't have to have their scars.

Say to wisdom, you are my sister, and call insight your intimate friend. To keep you from the forbidden woman from the adulteress with her smooth words, For at the window of my house, I have looked out through my lattice. In other words, the dad, the teacher is like, listen, from my perspective, let me tell you what it looks like. I've seen brothers walk down this road over and over and over, and every single one of them get on a path and it leads somewhere. Listen again, 25 years of ministry, I've done, I don't know how many, hundreds of weddings, maybe a thousand, hundreds and hundreds of marriage counseling. and people come in, sit in my office, and they immediately just say, well, here's where I'm going. And I can stop them in 10 seconds.

I can go, brother, this is where this goes. I'm just telling you, man, you're not unique. I know you're fearfully wondering if you may God's got a plan for your life. You get on this path, this is where it goes. Every single one of us are either on a path that glorifies God or it's a path of destruction. And I see where this is going. And you see, here's what every single one of us want. Regardless of what you believe.

You believe with a girl in the video. that's what you want because what she described on her wedding night was not just a great night of sex what she had was intimacy and that's what we really desire hey man I hope you have great sex okay practice a lot praise God get really good at it talk whatever you need to do okay but what you really desire is intimacy and the reason you desire intimacy is because you were created in the image of God and God in and of himself is intimacy God the father God the son and God the Holy Spirit in a perfect submissive love relationship. And when you and your wife come together with exclusivity and transparency, that's where

you find intimacy, and that's what you're looking for. And if you are on a path that leads to anything other than that, it's not going where you want it to go. So I'm just going to warn you, if you're dating and you're engaged and you want to get married and you come for me to do your wedding, and I make all the pastors that work with me do the same thing, we're going to ask you straight up, are you sleeping together? And the reason, because if you are, you're on a pathway that just doesn't lead to the intimacy that you're looking for.

And, you know, one time I had her go, go, I don't think that's any of your business. I'm like, well, I don't think I ask you for me to do your wedding. I think you asked me. It's not like I chase you down in the park and be like, hey, you two, you're getting in on? No, I'm not just asking random people. But for me to not want you to be on a pathway that leads to intimacy, it's like giving a toddler or a loaded weapon and just saying, good luck. You see, he's like, look, from my perspective, I've looked out through my lattice,

and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youth, a young man, sands, passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house. I think this is the most important verse in the whole thing. It looks like a throwaway verse. It's not. The old guy's like, look, man, I see a young guy, and he's walking down the street, and he gets to a corner. This is important. And when he gets to the corner, he's got a decision to make. And he looks down the road, and down the road is her house. And you know who she is. Later on, we're going to find out she's dressed like a prostitute. Okay? That's Hebrew for Halloween. Seriously. Check yourself.

All right, and so he looks down the corner, and he can either keep going far from her house, or he can turn the corner and go down near her house. This is when you have the opportunity to flirt or to flee. And again, man, we will justify. But hey, listen, it is not a sin to go down the road. It is not a sin to turn down the corner. There's not a verse in the Bible that says, thou shalt not turneth the cornerth, okay? There is not, I have looked.

I know I can walk down here. It's not a problem. you know, that kind of thing. And it may not be a sin to walk down the road. It's just dumb. It's just dumb. And see, again, he's talking specifically about prostitution, but you just put it in the category of sexual immorality. Here's what it means for us.

We're like, hey, listen, I know there's some serious sex scenes in this movie. But what? It's just a movie. It doesn't really affect me. Are you dumb? I mean, for real. How could you possibly say that? Well, you know, I've been in the series for a really long time, and then it got real sexual.

But, you know what? I mean, who isn't watching that? Hey, man, you were at a corner and you were making a decision. You can flee or you can flirt. Or, man, it could be something like this phone. You know, you're like, you know, I kind of get on Instagram, gets my mind running, and then it just leads me to a place where I'm looking at stuff I shouldn't look at. There is a corner.

Or it could be the time that you decide to go to the gym is because he's there. He's there. And you could go any other time, but you know when you pull in there, nothing's ever happened. He just comments on how good your Lulu looks and you've been working out. And you would never. I mean, he's married and you're married, but you know in here this thing kind of happens when you pull up and you see his car. Some of you are like, oh, how does he know that? See, this is real tall.

This is what it means in the 21st century. Or for some of you, fellas, it's that guy's trip. And nothing's ever actually happened. Now, you wouldn't be super stoked if your wife knew in detail everything that happened, but you haven't like crossed any bounds or whatever. But you know every single time you go, something could happen. But you're in some other place doing some other thing. How would anybody know? You see, it's in those moments where you're standing at that corner.

you're looking down the road. And you can flirt or you can flee. Coach Lee used to tell me all the time, hey boy, if you don't want to fall down, don't walk in slippery places. It gets real slippery down that road. And it's in this moment where this brother does not flee, but he flirts, passing along the street corner, taking the road to her house.

In the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness, see, environment matters. This is late at night. My daddy used to say, nothing good happens after midnight. tell me the only people up then are pimps and vampires you don't want to be one of them do you another i don't think so and behold the woman who meets him dressed as a prostitute wily of heart she is loud and wayward her feet do not stay at home now on the street now in the market and at every corner she lies in wait she seizes him and kisses him and he's thinking this is awesome

this is awesome for a minute and then it's over with a bold face she says to him i had to offer sacrifices and today i have paid my vows in other words we're going to be forgiven anyway i've been to church, we're all set there. So, now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you. And this brother thinks, boy, she is into me. This is unique. Nobody's ever gotten me like her. I have spread my couch with coverings, colored linens from Egyptian linen. I have perfumed my bed with my my my, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love till morning. Let us delight ourselves with love. This is not love. This is not love. The way it would sound in our day is I just fell in love. I didn't mean to. I was just walking by her and I fell in and it got

on me. It's not my fault. Or the little chubby angel shot me in the rear with a love arrow and I'm just a victim of love. Or she really gets me. I never felt like this. See, love doesn't take. Love is not self-service. The Bible would say that love is self-sacrifice. And here's how we know it's not love. Here's what she says next. For my husband is not at home. Uh-oh, there's a red flag. If the dude's paying attention, I thought you were into me. Now I'm beginning to think that I'm not the first you've been into. I think there's been a bunch of you that you've come after. For my husband is not at home and he has gone on a long journey

and he took a bag of money with him. At full moon he will come home and with much seductive speech she persuades him with her smooth talk and she compels him and here's the problem. The problem is this is not the end of the road. See the road does not end at the prostitute's house. It goes right through that. It's only a pit stop

to pain and utter ruin. And then verse 22 and all at once he follows her. Here's the thing. It seems it's all at once, but it's not all at once. You see, all at once can be traced all the way back to that corner where he had a decision to make, do I walk down this road or not? You see, we will say things like all that once.

Do you know, all of a sudden, the intimacy in our marriage died? All of a sudden, he just packed up his stuff and left. All of a sudden, she filed for divorce. No, no, it was not all of a sudden. If you back that thing up long enough, all of a sudden, was a lunch with a co-worker. and you knew it was getting a little like, but you just decided it.

And all of a sudden, you're in a custody battle. It's not all of a sudden. It is a pathway. And the good news is, because of the gospel, no matter where you are on the pathway, you could change directions right now. And so he says, all right, at once, he follows her. As an ox goes to the slaughter,

you ever seen an ox go to the slaughter? You know what the ox thinks on the way? Man, I'm awesome. He's dead. That's it. Just like the brother on the way to his house. This is my favorite one. or a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver.

Stag is like Bible for deer. Listen, three, four years ago, I'm in South Dakota deer hunting. I bow hunt, like the Bible says, okay? And so I'm sitting in my stand and a deer walks out. Pretty nice eight-pointers. It's in my office right now. And so as I released the arrow, he took a step forward, and I hit him back, all right? I hit him behind the ribs, which is a liver shot.

Now here's the crazy thing. If you heart shot them or double, I don't see anybody writing this stuff down. I'm trying to give you some good information. There's not. I see you writing down. All right. So, so he takes a step forward. I shoot. Here's the thing about a bow. The arrow goes so fast, the broad-haired is so sharp

that when it hits them back, when it doesn't hit ribs and smack, it goes through them so quick, they don't even know they've been hit. Because it just hits soft tissue and it's gone, and the deer looks at it. What was that? It's like, I don't feel good. And they don't run. He just starts walking off.

And he's a dead deer walking. He has no idea. He has no idea. Then in the next couple hours, it's over for him. And he's going to think, I don't feel good. I think I'll just lay down here. When I wake up, I'll feel better. It ain't no wake up.

He wakes up, he's in my office going, hey, how'd I get in here? Okay, that's what happened. I'm telling you, if you're walking down the path of sexual immorality, whatever it is in that category of Porn A.O. You were a dead deer walking. You've been liver shot, man. You don't even know. Eventually, you will reap the repercussions of it,

but it goes all the way back to that moment on the corner. And he says it's like that to the, arrow pierces its liver. It says a bird rushes into a snare and he doesn't know that it'll cost him his life and now sons, listen to me. And be attentive to the words of my mouth, let not your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not stray into her past. Could he make it any more clear that it is about a direction? For many of victims, she has laid low and all her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is the way to hell going down to the chambers of death. All three of those chapters from Proverbs are to illustrate one word that Paul gives in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 18 flee run away from sexual

immorality why next verse every other sin a person commits is outside the body but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body it's just different sexual sin is in a category of its own it's just different now it's not unforgivable because christ died for all sin but there's just by the nature of the spiritual union between two people. When we sin sexually, it's just like sexual immorality sticks to our soul more. And you hear a sermon like this, and honestly you think, well, I'm in trouble. Because I've already been down that path before. So what about me?

And then the enemy will begin to whisper to you, condemnation. Condemned is a building term. When you see an old dilapidated building and the city condemns it, it means that's unfit for use. the Bible says this about condemnation. Therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Whether you're on your fourth marriage or you've never been married or you just got divorced or your wife took you back or whatever it is, if you are in Christ, therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And the reason I bring that up is verse 19 says, or don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have from God? See, when God Almighty looks at you, the physical building of you, and the enemy says, because of the evil things that you have done, you are condemned, you are unfit for use. The Spirit of God looks at you and says, by the blood of Jesus, you're not a condemned building, you're the temple because I'm going to move in you. And the permanent address of God on this planet is you. So when the Bible says your body is a temple, that has nothing to do with what you look like at the beach.

Can I get an amen? I need a louder amen from the 40 and up crowd. Help me out, please. Praise God. What it means is, not that you have abs, you've got the spirit of God living in you. That God knew exactly all that. He foreknew everything that you would do,

every sin you and I would participate in. And he gladly said, yep, perfect. That's not condemned. I'm going to move in. I'm going to make that body my temple. You are not your own. You were bought with a price. What is the answer?

to sexual immorality, which is every single one of us, it's the gospel of Jesus Christ, that Jesus paid the full price. Do you remember in John chapter 8? He brings, the woman called an adultery is brought before him, and they said, what should we do? Should we stone her? He's like, okay, whoever is never sin, you go first.

Everybody leaves, and then he looks at her, and he says, woman, who condemns you? That's the word he used. Who condemns you? She says, no one. Then Jesus says, neither do I condemn you. you. Look at me for every single one of us that have sinned sexually.

Jesus does not condemn us. Not if you've surrendered your life to him. But he does it in there. Then he says, now leave your life of sin. The next part of this verse says this. So, glorify God in your body. There are two imperatives in 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Two

commandments. One, flee sexual immorality. The second one, glorify God in your body. Flea sexual immorality. That means run away from. Be extreme. Do whatever it takes to get sin, sexual sin, far from you. Put all the guardrails you need in your life. If this thing causes you to sin sexually, throw it in the ocean. For thousands of years, people have made it without one of these smartphones. You can make it. If it's the gym, get a new gym. If that gym does it too, it could be you. Work out in your living

room. Do whatever it takes. If it's the girl at work, get a new work. You realize you married that woman. There's only one of her that you committed your life to. There's lots of employment out here. Figure it out. Trust God more than you put your trust in your circumstances. You do whatever it takes. Man, people hear about my rules, about the rules. I'm like, you're crazy. I'm like, praise God, I want to be crazy. In this world, who wants to be normal? Broke, divorced, and depressed? No, thank you. Chalk me up for crazy. crazy. I wanted to do whatever it takes that my wife has to understand. She has a no-compete clause in my life, man. No complete. And if she don't like it, I just don't do it. Why? I don't

care. I don't care. 18 years of those verses that I like a lot, okay? It's worth it. Now, here's the thing, though. Guardrails will never be enough. To flee, if you're going to run away from something, you've got to run to something. If they're not, you'll just run aimlessly. Paul says, don't do that. And so on the one hand, you have guardrails about the guardrails in your life. You do what it takes, but to flee from, so you flee sexual immorality, and then the other imperative is glorify God. If you're going to run from sexual immorality, then you run to him. And the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is you're not your own.

You're bought with a price. Therefore, come on, man, run to the Father. You know what happened to Adam and Eve when they sin? They run from God. He chases them down. They're in the garden hiding. Sewing fig leaves from themselves. That's going, we don't need you, God.

We got this. And he stepped in and he says, y'all ain't. got this. And so he shed the blood of an animal and made a covering for them that would suffice. It was a picture of the gospel. So what do you do if you sin sexually, which is every single one of us in the room? You flee sexual immorality. Here's the point. Flee, sexual immorality. But again, that's not enough. Here's what repent means. You run away from sexual and temptation. That's flee. And you run to Jesus. That's glorify God with your body. And when you run to him, you will run into the forgiveness of the loving arms of the Heavenly Father.

Why? Because therefore now there is no condemnation, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Amen? Would you please stand and pray with me? Our good and grace is Heavenly Father, God, we love you because you loved us first. Lord, I pray for a deep, deep conviction of the Holy Spirit and a deep, deep comfort of the same Holy Spirit. Lord, I pray that we would make significant and serious lifestyle changes that glorify you. Lord, there are boyfriends and girlfriends that need to break up because they can't run this thing together. God, there are husbands and wives that need to repent and say, I am sorry, I have violated you, not valued you.

There are wives that need to say, I am sorry because I have rejected you, not respected you. God, there are single people that need to trust you and not others' opinion of you. God, every single one of us needs to make some kind of serious lifestyle adjustment that reflects that we want to glorify you. And God, when we can't make it, Christ, your grace is sufficient for us. Lord, I pray, I pray that you would bind up the wounded. God, that you would give back years that have been wasted. Lord, I pray that the Spirit of God was preached deeply into the hearts of the men and women and students in here that they would know that they are your children. and they do not have to fall back into that nature of fear

because we are no longer slaves of fear, but we are children of you. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.