Sexual Ethics and the Gospel (Part 1)

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. I�m almost up to a first. This is the fourth try at this intro, and I�ve canceled all those. I�m up to the number four shot, and I hope it works.

We�re No Compromise Radio, a ministry. Info at NoCompromiseRadio .com. You can write us, and we have several people on staff that would love to have you write, so then they can write back. We are talking today about sexual ethics and the gospel, sex and the cross, sex and Christians.

Sexual Ethics, the Gospel, and the Bible’s Answer to Sexual Temptation

And certainly, this is a topic that we need to address, that we must address, that�s regularly in the Bible. And I have been, as a pastor, working with people throughout the years regarding sexual purity and working through forgiveness and confession when there�s been sexual failure.

And today I�d like to talk about what does the Bible say, or how does the Bible address this issue? That is to say, if you�re struggling with sexual temptation with your eyes, with your body, married or unmarried, what is the best way to guard against sexual sin?

And so that�s going to be the topic today. So now that I have your attention, I want to give you a little bit of information, and then we�ll get to the topic at hand. We have two conferences per year at Bethlehem Bible Church.

We�ve just had Danny Akin in the spring, and in the fall we�ll have Todd Friel and Wretched Radio here. That�s really their conference. We�re just hosting it and sponsoring it. And Steve Nichols will be here 2012.

But we also have a women�s conference every year in May, and this year is no different. May Women�s Conference at Bethlehem Bible Church, May 2011, Donna Shannon on Reflections of a True Heart. These are her topics here at the church for ladies.

You�re welcome to come if you�re a lady, a young lady, or you�ve always been a woman, you�ve always been a young lady, you�re welcome to come. It�s not for men, it�s just for ladies. These principles on adorning ourselves, that doesn�t say adoring ourselves, control our thoughts, controlling our thoughts, biblical femininity, and taking our cue from the Word, not the world.

May 20th and 21st, Bethlehem Bible Church, ladies� conference. You won�t want to miss it. Friday night, 7 -9, all morning, Saturday, $15 for an individual, $25 for a household if you are a lady and you�ve got a young daughter.

You ought to come here. Donna Shannon, an elder�s wife, and Bill is her husband, and he is an elder at Grace Community Church. You might have heard of the guy that he serves under and with, John MacArthur.

That�s biblical femininity, slash, Reflections of a True Heart, Donna Shannon. Register at bbcchurch .org, bbcchurch, bbcchurch .org, and we�d love to have you. Registration deadline, May 13th, Donna Shannon.

If you live near Worcester, if you live near Hofford, you ought to come hear this lady speak. Lots of experience. Neat lady. She�s funny. She�s fun to be around. I love Donna and her husband, Bill, and so they�re going to come here from California in May.

Why Fathers Must Teach Their Children About Sexual Purity

Today, how to keep your mind pure, how to keep your body pure, how to think through sexual temptation. Now, here�s the thing. Some people are kind of uncomfortable with the topic, and certainly we have to be careful on what we say.

The Bible doesn�t give anatomy lessons, and there�s not some kind of inappropriate, sinful, voyeuristic kind of language in the Bible, no, and there ought not to be from the radio waves, and there ought not to be in the pulpit either, and so if you�re listening today and you think, �I�ve got to cover my kids� ears I don�t think you should.

I think, actually, we�re going to look at some Proverbs, and you see a father is teaching his son about sexual purity and how to avoid sexual sin. Fathers need to teach their children. Certainly mothers can teach their children, and mothers can teach their daughters, and fathers can teach their daughters, and the list goes on and on, but your children are going to receive a sex education, and is it going to be the kind that God is pleased with, that is, from the Scriptures, either through a pastor or through parents, I hope parents, but they are going to receive a sex education, or it�s going to be through, you know, the world and their friends, and I remember people telling me things when I was 10 years old, 8 years old, 14 years old, and I wish I never would have heard because it wasn�t even really right, and it wasn�t done in the context of a generous, creative creator who is very good and pleases his people with a variety of foods, a variety of sights, a variety of all kinds of good, common grace things, and he also gives people the gift of sex, and so God is a gracious God, a good God, and the Christian sexual ethic is not �don�t.

The Christian sexual ethic is �don�t unless you�re married, and then do and enjoy yourself and enjoy the banquet of God�s provision. And so today, I�d like to ask you this question. If somebody were to come to you and say, �I�m struggling with this issue of sexual temptation.

Remember, it could be singles doing that, or it could be married. How do I work through it? Can you give me some advice? Now maybe the advice might be, �You don�t want to ruin your marriage. You don�t want to get a disease.

You don�t want unwanted, you know, pregnancy. I guess you don�t want any of those, that�s true, but that�s not really the biblical perspective. That�s not really, �Well, let me tell you who Jesus Christ is and remind you of his great salvation, and now I want you to live in light of this great redemptive work that Christ has accomplished, and now he�s given you his Spirit, and you are indwelt by the Spirit, so you have the power to overcome temptation.

It�s not really like that. Maybe some struggle with pornography, for instance, and so they have to have some kind of pornography stop on their computer. I guess those things can be helpful assistance to, you know, this issue.

As a matter of fact, it is a big issue. Pornography is so big now even ladies are getting into it. Usually ladies would not stoop so low, and there�s some sense of propriety and some sense of femininity and something that protects them from the vulgar, base, gross, visual of pornography, yet now they�re dipping their toes into it, and they�re getting into it.

Proverbs 2, 5, 6, and 7: The Word of God as the Battleground Against Sexual Sin

So what do we do in a sex-saturated culture? A culture that basically says there are no taboos, there are no mores, and anything goes. If you have an urge, go for it. Paul writes much, he spills a lot of ink when it comes to 1 Corinthians chapter 6, and so I�m not going to look at 1 Corinthians 6 today, I�m going to look at Proverbs 5, 6, and 7, actually 2, 5, 6, and 7, and the theme of Proverbs 2, 5, 6, and 7, and how to stop sex sin, how to never get involved in sexual sin, how to not be fallen when it comes to sexual temptation, and to be pure.

What does the writer of Proverbs 2, 5, 6, and 7 say? What�s the theme? And again, it could be �don�t�, it could be �stop it�, it could be �forsake�, it could be �watch out�, it could be �bad testimony�, it could be �people that do this on a regular basis show that they have the characteristics of the unrighteous, and the unrighteous will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

There�s lots of different ways you can go about it, but I think you�re going to find this default in the second chapter of Proverbs, 5th chapter, 6th chapter, 7th chapter. It�s a fascinating thing to say that one of the ways that Solomon, the wisest man who was ever on this earth, who was not Jesus Christ, he says it�s all tied to the Word of God.

It�s all tied to saturating your mind with the Word. It�s tied to remembering the Word of God that your fathers taught you. It�s tied to letting the Word of God, Colossians chapter 3, dwell in you richly.

Now let�s think about that on No Compromise Radio for a minute. What would you say if you said to a friend, �I�m struggling with sexual sin, sexual temptation. Can you help me And then your friend just said, �Well, you need to read your Bible more.

You�d probably say, �Thanks for nothing, buddy. That�s the typical throwaway prescription line for the Christian. You just need to read your Bible more. Just read your Bible more. Pray more. Read your Bible more.

We don�t really like that answer. But the thing is, we actually should like that answer. Now it could be delivered more compassionately. It could be delivered more thoughtfully. It could be teased out a little bit.

That is to say, it could be stretched out in its description on why it�s important. But we�re going to see in Proverbs 2, 5, 6, and 7, the direct correlation. Now hear me. The direct correlation between the intake of the Word of God and the resistance to sexual temptation.

And so, if you are sexually tempted, you might be born a celibate, you might be born a eunuch, you might be made a eunuch, you might be a variety of different things. But if you have sexual temptation, I want to encourage you today that it is going to help you if you are in the Word and you�ll have the mind of Christ and understand who God is.

And God using the Word, His Spirit energizing that Word and illuminating it to conform you into the image of Christ Jesus. And the closer you are to Christ Jesus in terms of living up to your position in Christ, practically, the better off it�s going to be to you.

So info at No Compromise Radio. My name is Mike Abendroth. And here�s the scoop. If you struggle with sexual temptation, you need to be a man or a woman of one book of the Bible. It�s going to help you.

And so we�re going to flesh this out a little bit in the second, fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters in Proverbs, both today and both next week. And who knows, it might turn into something longer. And you�re going to see the correlation.

Of course, there are other ways to combat the problem. I don�t disagree with that. I�m not saying you shouldn�t put something on your computer. I�m not saying you shouldn�t throw your computer away. I�m not saying you shouldn�t enjoy your wife.

By the way, one of the ways to deal with this problem is to get married if you�re single. And if you�re married, to regularly enjoy your wife and the great covenantal commitment that you have in the marriage bed.

There are a variety of different ways, but that�s not what I�m after today. This is one of the ways that you can deal with sexual sin is dealing with the Word of God and soaking your mind with Scripture.

And if you don�t believe me, then basically you don�t believe the Bible. Let�s go to Proverbs chapter 2, and I want you to see the link. The Word of the Father, the Word of God, in this particular case it�s both the same because these are inspired Proverbs.

You see the link between the Bible, the teaching of the Father, and the buttressing against sexual temptation. So, if you�re listening today, we�re talking about sexual temptation. How do you overcome it?

There are a variety of ways. This is one, but it seems like it�s such a throwaway that we never go to it because oh yeah, read your Bible. Now, it�s not just read your Bible, but listen to these. Let me just do Proverbs chapter 5 first, and then we�ll go backwards.

My son, be attentive to my wisdom, incline your ear to my understanding. I�d like you to listen, young man. I�d like you to listen up, pay attention, and I�m going to tell you that when it comes to this issue of sexual sin, sexual temptation, sexual ethics, your own discipline, your own strength, your own stick-to-itiveness, your own self-discipline, your own solo bootstraps of pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps are inadequate, are powerless to keep you from sinning.

You�re going to need more help. Of course, you�re going to need the Spirit of God, as we think New Testament-like, New Testamently. You are going to need the Spirit of God. You�re going to need living in light of the cross, gospel-centered ethics, of course.

But now we�re in Proverbs 5, and he said you�re going to need thoughtful consideration about what I say, now in fact inspired word. Why verse 2 of Proverbs 5, that you may keep discretion and your lips may guard knowledge.

The context, in the context of avoiding sexual sin, that�s the context. God�s Word gives you insight, enlightenment. It gives you light so that you will keep away from sexual immorality. And of course, the Bible also gives us ways and reasons to enjoy sexual morality, that is, all sex inside of marriage.

Proverbs 6, it does the same thing. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life. Listen, Proverbs 6 .24 says to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

So if you�d like to give sexual temptation and sexual sin a wide berth, a lot of room, then you need the Word of God. Proverbs 7, verse 1, �My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you.

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. Say to wisdom, �You�re my sister. And call insight your intimate friend.

Why? Comma, Proverbs 7, 5, �Do not miss this. That�s the first time I�ve ever done that in a No Compromise radio. �Do not miss this. Now therefore, here is what it says in verse 5, �To keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words.

If you�d like to be sexually pure and not run to the adulteress, to the whorehouse, to the forbidden woman, then you need to listen to your Father as He tells you about life, the birds, and the bees.

And in this particular case, now we have the inspired words of Solomon, �My son, this is what I want you to do, to keep my commandments and my teaching. Now even Proverbs chapter 2 does this. You know, I�m going to yawn.

If I�m yawning about this topic on No Compromise radio, I wonder what you�re doing. Proverbs chapter 2, �My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding, yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as a hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of the Lord.

And he goes on, now let me skip down to verse 16, �So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman from the adulteress with her smooth words. If you struggle with temptation sexually, 1 Corinthians says if you�re single, then you ought to marry.

It�s better to marry than to burn. If you struggle with sexual temptations as a married person, then you need to, if you�re a man especially, you need to love your wife like Christ loved the church and self-sacrificially give to her.

And I�m sure if a husband acts like that, a wife would be happy to be with her husband. A husband acting like that, you need to enjoy your wife, Proverbs 5, verse 15 and following. There are different ways to deal with this subject, but it must be dealt with.

And what I�m trying to say today is when people say, �Oh, you�re struggling with pornography, you need to read your Bible more. I think they�re actually right. I don�t think it�s some cop-out, just read your Bible more.

I don�t think it�s just a throwaway line, I did my daily bread thing for two minutes today and that�s it. No, I mean systematically, I mean regularly, I mean S. Lewis Johnson-like where they�re trying to read through the Bible three times a year to just soak their minds with God�s thoughts, with God�s ways, God�s decree, God�s purpose, God�s will, the person and work of Christ.

To soak your mind with Scripture so that it controls, that the Spirit of God uses the Word to control your mind and your thoughts and your sex thoughts and your sex life. And as much as we want to be uncomfortable when it comes to this topic, these are just general topics and if the kids are four-year-old listening today, they don�t get it.

This is again, not some kind of, the Bible isn�t prudish and Victorian, but it�s not purient. It�s not, I mean, but it is purient. It is something that we can talk about in public. All Scripture is God-breathed and you know it�s profitable, it�s profitable to preach and it�s profitable to teach.

And so what I�m saying today is, very simply, very matter-of-factly, is this. If you struggle with sexual sin, you need to get into that Bible all the more. And that�s exactly what Proverbs 2 does, Proverbs 5, Proverbs 6, and Proverbs 7.

Now, 2, 6, and 7 talk about the adulterous, smooth words. And isn�t it interesting, especially if I look at Proverbs 5, �The lips of a forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil. Isn�t that interesting?

Solomon is saying, if you want to live a holy life and you want to live a life that is pure sexually before God, you need to listen to God�s words, not other people�s words like the forbidden woman or the adulteress.

Proverbs 2, �From the adulteress with her smooth words. Proverbs 5, �The forbidden woman, her speech is smoother than oil. And so words can either help you with fidelity or words can harm you with seduction.

Did you get that? The battleground is for what�s going into your mind, what�s going into your mind. And if you�re putting in something other than the Word of God, no wonder you�re struggling. I can just ask you, �How are you doing

And I�ll know how you feel. Let me rephrase that. �What are you doing And I�ll know how you�re doing. That�s the right way to say it. I wish I had an editor on No Compromise Radio. If I ask you, �What have you been doing

And you say, �I haven�t been studying the Bible, but I�ve been viewing all kinds of things that are inappropriate and all kinds of inappropriate R-rated movies with all kinds of sex scenes and everything else.

I�ve been putting all that into my mind. Then no wonder you�re struggling. But if you�re saying, �I�ve been saturating my mind and letting my mind richly dwell on Scripture. I probably know how you�re feeling.

I know probably how you�re doing. So here in this passage, in Proverbs, the whole book, you see the tie-in, and the tie-in is this. The Word is the battlefield, and what goes in determines how you live.

What goes in your brain determines how you live as a Christian. And of course, if you�re not a believer, then certainly sexual sin is easily shown. For instance, Ecclesiastes 7 .26,. �And I discovered more bitter than the death of a woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains.

One as pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her. If you�re an unbeliever, I would say to you that God uses often sexual sins to manifest the heart of the unbeliever, because unbelievers can�t stop it.

The libido is too strong, and they can�t stop their sinning, either in their mind or with their bodies, sexually. And so when you are ensnared and enslaved to sin like that, that�s a good motivation for you to say, �How can I call myself a Christian

So today on No Compromise Radio, we�re talking about sexual sin and how to deal with it. And I�m going back to the book. I�m going back to the Bible. I�m going back to the authoritative, sufficient, powerful gospel.

And this is the means by which God helps us think properly. This is the means by which we are transformed by the renewing of our mind. This is the means by which the Spirit of God begins to say in our lives in a progressive way, more and more no to sanctification, more and more no to selfishness, to self-righteousness, to unrighteousness.

We say no to that. The Spirit of God is using the Word to help us to do that. And conversely and positively, the Word of God is used to help us to say yes more to self-sacrifice, to self-denial, to sacrificial love, etc.

So I�m trying to go back to the book. If you struggle with pornography, let me ask you a question right now. It could be some women, but mostly men. I�d like to know how often you read your Bible. And I�d like to know if you think the Word of God is really powerful enough to do what it says it does.

Like in Psalm 19. Read Psalm 19, read Psalm 119, and you�ll say to yourself, �The Word of God actually performs its work in those who believe as Paul said to the Thessalonians. It is powerful. Do not fall for this default, negative default, �Well, you know, read a Bible verse and call me in the morning.

How about begin to memorize the Scriptures? How about to begin to memorize and brainwash and wash and re-wash your filthy mind with the things of God? I wish I could get all this stuff out of my mind, and Scripture basically tells us, �You want something out of your mind?

Well, you�ve got to replace it with something else. Christianity is not stop. Christianity is stop and then do. So if you steal, don�t steal. Get a job. If you lie, don�t lie. Tell the truth. And here, sexual ethics, if you are struggling with sex, sins, then stop it and then enjoy sexual morality.

That is all sex within marriage. It�s not stop, it�s stop and then do. Stop and then love your wife self-sacrificially like the leader should, like the husband should. And so when people just say, �Well, just give me a Bible verse and that�s it.

They�re not thinking about it. They�re not chewing on it. They�re not digesting it. They�re not kind of like a cow with a cud going over and over. They�re just like, �I did my Bible verse and that�s it.

Now, I want you to really meditate on the Word of God like Psalm 1 says. That�s a man who delights in the Word of God. He�s a blessed man. If you want to be a blessed man, ruminating on the Word, digesting the Word, memorizing the Word, saying to yourself, �You know, when I begin to wander in my thoughts and want to get on some kind of program, some website that I ought not to, Bible verses start coming into my mind.

That�s what I�d like. Now, while I don�t struggle with pornography, either online or by print or anything like that, I do struggle with sin and I do struggle. And when I do, I like it when verses pop into my mind.

At the moment, I don�t want to because the terror, the horror, just let me sin in peace. But God loves us enough not to let us do that and so why don�t you inundate your mind with Scripture and that will help you with all different kinds of sinning, including sex sin.

My name is Mike Abendroth, No Compromise Radio. We�ll look at Proverbs 5, 6, and 7 next time. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God�s Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text. Please come and join us.

Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We�re right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400. The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.