2008 You Pick ‘em Series – “What the Bible Says About…Family Values (part 2)"
[God's Guide to
Good Sex]
1 Corinthians 6:9-20
Sermon preached at Curwensville Presbyterian Church – April 6, 2008
Prayer Introduction: It had been a long day. I was the last of 4 seminary students, preaching sermons for a class. On a quick break before I was to begin a number of fellow students said, “Dan, I love you; but I just don’t think I can stay and listen to one more sermon.” I said, “Trust me, you won’t want to miss this.” As we gathered back together I began, “Let me invite you to open up your Bible to the Song of Songs.” And I proceeded to preach a sermon on sex from the Song of Songs – the sex book of the Bible. Not only did the students tell me they were glad to have stayed, I was asked to preach it again in another class the next semester.
All of this is to say that the Bible has plenty to say about sex (not just in the Song of Songs); we all need to know it (and put it into practice [all right!]).
This morning’s sermon is not going to look at everything God’s Word has to say about sex – though I’m thinking you might not complain about staying late if we did. Instead, we are just going to look at the topic in connection with this requested sermon series – “What does the Bible say about family values.”
If you are looking for more on the topic of sex, from God’s perspective, let me recommend three outstanding books: (1) Sex, Romance and the Glory of God by C.J. Mahaney (if it were up to me, I would give every man a copy of this) and (2) Sex and the Supremacy of Christ – a series of articles edited by John Piper & Justin Taylor (which includes a video). (3) For students, who are still looking forward to marriage, I would suggest “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” by Joshua Harris.
This morning we
will focus on one passage from God’s Word – while connecting in some other
relevant verses –
I. What Some of You Were (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
Let’s begin with
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
A. The Sins of the Wicked
In these verses we see a partial list (it is certainly not meant to be a comprehensive list) of those who will not go to heaven if they remain unrepentant. They are called “the wicked” in verse 9 – the word is literally “the unrighteous” as opposed to the righteous who will receive the kingdom of God.
Before we go any further we need to remember two things about being righteous:
(1) We are not righteous; and only Christ is. Those who are saved and are going to heaven have been given the credit for Christ’s righteousness. Those who are declared righteous are said to be justified in the name of Jesus Christ.
(2) Those who are justified are also sanctified in the name of Jesus Christ. That is to say that those who have been declared righteous will begin to become more righteous. First, we are saved by Jesus Christ and then we begin to be conformed to the image of Christ.
So this list is saying that the unrighteous (or “the wicked”) are those who have been neither justified nor sanctified. Verse 11 clarifies this by saying, after the list, “that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
The sign of those who have been saved from their sin is that they are repenting of their sin. We looked at this more deeply in the series on Assurance of Salvation. Those who are saved are not perfect, but are “struggling well.” We still struggle with sin; but we are struggling with that sin – we are seeking to turn from it, by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts.
The natural extremes are either to become judgmental – in a self-righteous way (as opposed to a humble Christ imputed righteous way) – and point fingers at those we think should go to hell; or we just say that everyone should be saved, “because no one is perfect.”
And so the Apostle Paul says, “Do not be deceived.” There are people who are spiritually dead in their sins and are going to hell; and the only reason I’m not is by the grace of God.
When someone says, “Who are you to judge;” the two responses are, “You mean, the way you are judging me about judging,” and, “I am not pronouncing my judgment; it is God’s judgment.”
And so in
The first in the list is “the sexually immoral.” The Greek word there is the word for pornography. Pornography is certainly a form of sexual immorality; but so is anything that enflames lust. And yes, this includes romance novels – which should be considered pornography for women.
I have a friend who calls the Food Channel “porn for gluttons.” That’s a whole other sin.
The next sin listed is “idolaters.” This is a broad term for those things that we place ahead of God. It can be everything from sports, TV, video games, our job, another person, money, etc.
The next on the list is “adulterers.” The seventh commandment clearly says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” And Jesus calls out the heart sin of this commandment, “Anyone who looks on a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28).
B. The Sin of Homosexuality
The next two terms are the ones getting all the attention these days: “male prostitutes” and “homosexual offenders.” The King James refers to these with the euphemisms, “effeminate” and “abusers of themselves with mankind.”
There is a whole sermon that could be done on the sin of homosexuality. Let me, at this point, simply make it clear that God’s Word does call homosexuality a sin
The two questions most frequently asked about this are:
(1) Why should we obey this law from Leviticus and not other laws like, “Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. "'Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material” (Leviticus 19:19). The answer is that there are two kinds of Old Testament laws: moral and ceremonial. The ceremonial laws have been completed in Christ and are no longer required; but the moral laws are.
(2)
There is more that the Bible says about this; but you get the point. There should be no question that homosexuality is a sin. And that homosexuality is a perversion – a corruption – of sex as God created it.
God created sex within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman – and praise the Lord for that.
As such not only homosexuality, but also pre-marital and
extra-marital sex is sexual immorality. All of this comes under the prohibition
of the seventh commandment – Thou shalt not commit adultery. But
And people would say, “But I have friends who are gay.” So do I. And I also have friends who struggle with other sins; and if you love that person you don’t endorse their sin.
C. The Other Sins
And so, before moving on, one more thing we need to ask is why pick on homosexuality more than the other sins. Verse 10 includes thieves, the greedy, drunkards, slanderers and swindlers. The fact is, that these are also sins; but no one is disputing this as strongly as with the homosexual agenda.
You don’t hear about a pro-thief agenda. You don’t hear anyone calling someone a “drunkaphobic.” You don’t hear anyone calling for “swindlers rights.”
Martin Luther said – “If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God, except precisely that point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, then I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefront besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”
Why address this issue? Because this is the issue that the world and the devil are attacking at this moment in time.
Now here’s the good news. There are Christians who were gay – but they have been washed, sanctified, justified; they have been saved from that sin.
There are Christians who were adulterers…drunkards…greedy…– but they have been washed, sanctified, justified; they have been saved from that sin.
What WERE you before becoming a Christian?
What WERE you before being changed by Christ?
How ARE you still being changed?
Yes you can change. Jesus Christ is the only way to change.
II. Honor God with Your Body (1 Corinthians 6:12-20)
So let’s move on to
"Everything is permissible for me"-- but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"-- but I will not be mastered by anything. "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"-- but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
A. Corinth & Vegas
The Apostle Paul begins by quoting (most likely) a popular saying in Corinth: “Everything is permissible for me.” It is kind of like, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” And Corinth was very much like Vegas.
Paul is challenging the quote – and especially challenging the mentality behind the quote.
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas – but some stuff shouldn’t happen in Vegas if you are a Christian.
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas – God will one day destroy Vegas and the people who do Vegas stuff.
God calls us to honor him with our body. The body is not made for sexual immorality – that is a corruption of what God created us for.
Sexual immorality is a corruption – a perversion – from the gift of sex that God created for us. The body was not made for sexual immorality, but for the Lord – which still includes sex; but sexual morality.
Again, it would be good to do another sermon on the glories of sexual morality. Sex is good – very good – in the covenant of marriage between a man and woman. It is a great gift of God.
One of the excuses I hear from couples is, “What if we know we’re going to get married.” The answer: then wait until you get married. Don’t engage in sexual IM-morality when sexual morality is just around the corner.
It is springtime, and soon all of our gardens will be popping up with vegetation. But we wait until the vegetable is grown before eating it. You wouldn’t go out to the garden and eat the dirt, manure and seeds; no, you wait until it’s ready to eat. And then you can eat it a-plenty.
We wait for those zucchinis to grow, and when we wait we have more zucchinis then we know what to do with (unless those lousy Japanese Beetles come back). Eating the zucchini before its ready is ridiculous and wrong.
Having sex before your married (even with your future spouse) is ridiculous and wrong. It will actually spoil the crop – spoil the fruit of the marital bed later in your marriage.
Those who wait for marriage to have sex have better sex lives for the rest of their marriage. Those who have sex before marriage have worse sex lives.
Would you rather have a couple of good years of sex with your spouse or dozens of good years of sex with your spouse?
Those of you who are already married, and had sex before marriage, confess it as sin to each other – forgive each other (and then enjoy better sex).
B. Fast Food & Fine Dining
In verse 18 Paul says something very important, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his body.”
In the institution
of marriage, way back in
Think about the impact that sexual immorality has had on the family and our society:
Destroyed marriages
Destroyed families
Increase of rape and sex crimes
Increase of child molestation
Increase of sexual harassment (and you can no longer compliment a co-worker)
Insurance rate increase for sexual harassment payouts
Increase cost for products and services, so companies can pay those insurance increases
More paperwork. More laws. More rules and regulations. More sin and misery.
Now consider the potential positive impact of sexual morality:
Strong marriages
Strong families
Safe homes and communities
Imagine the church standing strong in opposition to sexual immorality; and the world looking with envy at the strong marriages and families. The world would come asking, “What’s your secret?” And we would tell them about God’s guide to good sex.
The people of this church committing to sexual morality can change this community!
I was thinking about this in terms of fast food versus fine dining. We like fast food, because it’s cheap & quick – providing instant satisfaction with all kinds of tasty carbohydrates sugar and fat. Delicious.
The problem is that a diet of fast food, over time, is destructive to the body.
On the other had fine dining has greater cost and involves more preparation – but you can enjoy it a whole lot longer. It isn’t about instant satisfaction; but lasting satisfaction.
I’ve wanted to start a new restaurant. Instead of an “All-you-can-eat Buffet” it would be an “All-you-should-eat Buffet.”
Instead of cheap and lots of it (and then feel crappy afterwards). It would be not cheap and in moderation (and feel awesome afterwards).
C. The Temple of the Holy Spirit
And so Paul concludes, in verse 19, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.”
It should not surprise us the attractiveness of sexual immorality. Put sexual immorality and sexual morality in front of a person, and naturally they will choose sexual immorality 100% of the time. It is only by God’s regenerating grace that we choose Christ (and find sexual morality).
Sex, in and of itself, isn’t anything special. My dog could have sex. We had to have our cats fixed. Now sex within the covenant of marriage – that is something remarkable.
It has been found that people who are faithful before marriage will be more faithful after marriage. Author D. H. Lawrence wrote, “The instinct of fidelity is perhaps the deepest instinct in the great complex we call sex. Where there is real sex there is the underlying passion for fidelity.”
The church needs to be clear on this. Unfortunately that was not my experience. My Junior High youth group had a great three-week program on sex from a godly perspective. And I really became convicted by the Holy Spirit. And as we sat in our small groups at the end I declared, “I’m going to wait until I’m married to have sex.” At which time, our small group leader – a guy we thought was so cool – smirked and said, “Hm, haven’t we taught you anything?!” And proceeded to recount his sexual conquests.
Let us not confuse yet another generation. Instead, may we stand strong for sexual morality – and see a generation enjoy God’s gift of sex within the covenant of marriage.
MAY THE TRUTH SET YOU FREE – AMEN!