WWUTT 1096 Remembering to Abstain from Sexual Immorality?

When the Apostles and the Elders told the Gentiles to abstain from sexual immorality.

That's something that's not just relevant for a Greek culture in the first century. Boy, we sure need to remember that command even today, when we understand the text.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We come again to our study of the Book of Acts, and this week we're starting in Chapter 16.

I want to begin today reading the first five verses. Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra.

A disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a

Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted

Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a

Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the

Apostles and Elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

So we meet Timothy in this particular passage, where at least as a name he comes up in the story.

Fact of the matter is, Timothy never speaks up anywhere in the New Testament. We don't ever have a record of Timothy saying anything, but he is most definitely a prominent name, one of the most prominent names, probably after Peter and Paul.

Timothy helped Paul to write many of the letters that he wrote. It wasn't that Timothy himself wrote them, but Paul would have dictated the letter, and Timothy would have written it down, especially while Paul was in prison.

Timothy would have helped him doing this. Of course, we have two of the pastoral letters, 1st and 2nd

Timothy, which Paul wrote to his servant, this man that would basically be considered his protege.

If Paul were to have an understudy, it would most definitely be Timothy. Paul sent

Timothy to Ephesus to teach there. That's what we have stated at the very beginning of 1st

Timothy. He was sending Timothy to be an elder in Ephesus, and in fact the pastor of that church.

This was the church that Paul had endeared himself to the most, sending his most trusted servant to Ephesus.

The church that he loved and the servant that he loved together, that he might grow them in the faith.

Paul had written to Timothy, giving him instructions as an elder as to how he should lead this church and this congregation.

But of course, this letter is applicable to anybody, whether you've been called to preach or not.

Then in Paul's last letter, the last recorded letter that we have from the Apostle Paul in canon, is

Paul's second letter to Timothy, of course, being 2nd Timothy by name. And that was when

Paul was summoning Timothy to come to him in Rome. Paul's second imprisonment in Rome, when the

Holy Spirit revealed to him that he would be martyred. He would die in prison. Nero would put him to death.

So Paul had written that second letter to Timothy, giving him final instructions, but also calling

Timothy to come to him before he died and bringing certain things to him. We have an indication there in 2nd

Timothy that Paul meant to write a little bit more, because he was asking Timothy to bring the writing utensils to him.

So Paul still had the intention of writing, and Timothy would have done that for him. But this is where in the story of the gospel going out to the world, chronicled in the book of Acts, this is where Timothy comes into that story and becomes a partner with Paul in this mission's work.

Paul comes to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a

Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. Now, we know that by what the

Apostle Paul says at the start of 2nd Timothy, that Timothy was raised by his mother

Eunice and his grandmother Lois. In 2nd Timothy 1 .5, he says, I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother

Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I am sure dwells in you as well.

For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self -control.

So even though Timothy's father was a Greek, his mother was

Jewish and was a believer, and she raised Timothy in the faith. So he came to know the

Jewish scriptures and the gospel from his mother. And this sincere faith had even first dwelt in his grandmother

Lois. So you see this wonderful influence of these two beautiful, loving women in Timothy's life.

And it's because of their faithfulness to the gospel that Timothy became a gospel believer as well.

And in fact, one of the most influential persons in the history of the church, from his grandmother

Lois to his mother Eunice and now to Timothy. Now, Paul would refer to Timothy as a child in the faith, but that is simply probably more of an adopted term.

It's not in the sense that Paul would say of like, for example, the Ephesians or the

Corinthians when he calls them children, because he actually led them to the faith. They became

Christians because of what Paul taught to them. So they were spiritual children in that sense.

Timothy would have been like an adopted spiritual child, for Paul didn't lead him to Christ, but did grow him in that faith, had taken him under his wing and directed him in the calling of God upon his life.

As you see here in 2nd Timothy 1 .6, Paul's saying, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

So Paul had instructed and encouraged Timothy in these things, was probably more influential than any man in Timothy's life.

Most certainly the apostle Paul was. So Timothy was well spoken of by the brothers.

This is Acts 16 to at Lystra and Iconium. And Paul wanted Timothy, Timothy to accompany him.

And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a

Greek. Now, that's interesting considering we just came off of Acts chapter 15, where the

Jewish false teachers were saying to the church, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

And then they impressed even upon the Jewish council at Jerusalem. It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.

But what did the apostles and the elders decide? That this would be placing an undue burden on the

Gentiles that even the Jews were not able to bear. We cannot be saved or justified before God by our works.

And the law was never intended to save. As Paul even points out in Romans, that the law was powerless to save us.

It is only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work, not trusting in our works, but trusting in the finished work of Christ, do we have salvation.

By grace through faith in Christ alone. And that's it.

That was the message. That was the gospel as preached by the apostles. So they determined this.

They decided upon this. That's what we read in Acts chapter 15. And this is what was to be communicated to the

Gentiles. That's what they agreed upon. So why is it now that we get to the start of chapter 16 and we read about Paul circumcising

Timothy when that wasn't necessary? Well, again, look at the reason why he circumcised him.

He took him and circumcised him because of the Jews, not because of the Gentiles. The message that was to be delivered to the

Gentiles was so that they would understand it is not by works of the law that we are saved.

But Paul circumcises Timothy because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a

Greek. Why? Because Paul was going to take Timothy with him and he was going to become a powerful instrument in Paul's arsenal for preaching the gospel.

And where did Paul go first whenever he entered a new town or a new city? He would go into the synagogue, correct?

Well, if Timothy was uncircumcised, he would not have been allowed in the same place

Paul was allowed to go in the synagogue. And there would be people who would frown on him and maybe not even let Paul in because his most trusted student was a

Greek and somebody who was uncircumcised. So for the sake of becoming like a

Jew unto the Jews, Paul had Timothy circumcised so that there would not be any stumbling among the

Jews Paul was trying to reach. Consider what Paul said to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 9.

This is starting in verse 19. Paul says, For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.

To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the law

I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law.

To those outside the law, referring to Gentiles now, I became as one outside the law, not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ, that I might win those outside the law.

To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means

I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

So this mindset of being a servant to all, of not wanting to cause anyone to stumble in any of those extraneous things,

Paul became as them so he might reach them. So he was teaching the same thing to Timothy here.

Though Timothy was a Greek, though he was a Gentile, though there was no salvation in circumcision, and Timothy had no greater standing before God by being circumcised.

Though that was certainly understood by Paul and taught to Timothy. Nevertheless, he had

Timothy circumcised so that, as they would want to become all things to all people, for the sake of winning them to the gospel, there would be an acceptance among the

Jews of Timothy, so that Timothy might be able to come in and preach the gospel to them, and they would be welcoming of him and hear it.

This was for their sake. The circumcision was not for Timothy's sake. It was for the

Jews' sake and their hardness of heart, so that they might be receptive to the gospel that would be preached by Paul and Timothy when they went into the synagogues.

That was the reason for that. So then going on in verse 4, as they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.

Now you remember those decisions that were made, correct? As James was addressing the council, here in Acts 15, verse 20, he says,

We should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.

And so this was indeed said in the letter. That was delivered by Paul and Silas and the others who went with them, and then as they went out preaching to other

Gentile cities, they shared it with them as well. In the letter, Acts 15, verse 29, it says,

You need to abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.

If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. Now the

Jews had laws that pertained to sexual ethics, but the Gentiles did not.

There really was no ethical or moral law concerning human sexuality.

Consider what the Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 4, 3, For the time that is past suffices for doing what the

Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.

These were the things that were customary to Gentile behavior, and you'll notice that all those things are passions of the flesh.

So there wasn't really much of a sexual ethic among Gentiles. Therefore, in this letter that is sent to the

Gentiles, they're not being told that you will be saved, or you will be justified before God, as long as you don't do these things.

We are justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But when it comes to an immediate understanding of the implications of the gospel that you have heard, know this, that you must not participate in any lawless idolatry, because that's what those food things pertain to.

Remember, there were Jewish food laws as well, but those food laws had been fulfilled in Christ.

And the Apostle Peter even had that shown to him by God, by the Holy Spirit, in the vision that he had before he went to Cornelius' house.

And that was in Acts 10. So all of those things had been fulfilled in Christ. Jews are going to tell you, you've got to be circumcised, you've got to keep the food laws, you've got to keep the

Sabbaths. We're saying, no, those things do not justify you, they do not save you.

So what do you need to be mindful of? Stay away from the lawless idolatry that you were in before you became

Christian, and stay away from the sexual immorality that is rampant among Greeks and Gentiles, and especially in those lawless idolatrous temples that you used to frequent before you came to worship the

Lord Jesus Christ, before you turned from idolatry and worshiped Jesus. There is a desperate need for us to remember the call to purity, that this goes back even to when the gospel was first preached among the

Gentiles. They were even told the implications of this gospel should lead you to living godly, upright lives in purity in your bodies, not indulging in the passions of your flesh that you used to walk in.

In Romans 13, verse 11, we read, Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep.

For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone, the day is at hand.

So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the

Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

Let me read that last verse again, verse 14. This is Romans 13, 14. Put on the

Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

To the Ephesians, Paul said to them, there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality among you.

You must not even be covetous for it. So in other words, you must not even have the desire for that sexual immorality.

And there are those who will say that, you know, every man struggles with lust, and you'll never get over that lust.

So you should just learn to accept, hey, men are going to be lustful. My friends, I tell you that is not true.

A conscience that has been transformed by the Lord Jesus Christ will not meditate on those things that are of the flesh, but will instead desire to honor

Christ. It doesn't mean that transformation happens overnight, but it will happen.

If you put your mind and your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ instead of the passions of your flesh, as James says in James 4, draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. These things will happen for you.

This isn't being spoken about as some sort of hypothetical, but that if we commit our minds to the

Lord Jesus Christ, these fleshly desires will not dominate us.

Rather, we will master these things. As the apostle Paul says, I have disciplined my body so that I might not found to be unqualified, and we must do the same.

We discipline our minds and our hearts, committing ourselves fully to the Lord Jesus Christ, even in our bodies.

As Paul says in Romans 12, 1, submit your bodies unto the Lord as a living sacrifice.

This is your spiritual act of worship. There's also this movement that is going on, and even some

Christians are latching onto this to cling to something called gay Christianity, that a person can be a

Christian but still be gay, can still have these thoughts toward someone of the same sex, or what is referred to as same -sex attraction.

But I tell you, that's in direct contradiction to what the Scripture calls of us. Ephesians 5, 3, again, but sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among the saints.

This is not just addressing the things that we do with our bodies, it's even addressing the condition of our minds.

If we're going to talk about orientation, your mind must be oriented to Christ, not to the passions of your flesh, sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness.

See, that's talking about desire. It's talking about the desire of your mind to give in to the temptations of your flesh.

And if you allow those desires to sit there, and you think to yourself, hey, as long as I'm not indulging on those desires, then it's fine.

No, I tell you, my friends, that desire is a poison, and it will infect your conscience, and you will be looking for ways that you can give in to those temptations that are in your mind and try to excuse them as being okay.

Because, as it is, you're already excusing that temptation as okay, and you're trying to identify yourself with that temptation.

Well, men are always going to lust. Well, I am gay, and so I'm always going to have these feelings of same -sex attraction.

You've already given up the fight. You've given yourself over to your own fleshly temptations, and you have said that those have mastered you rather than submitting yourself to Christ, and Christ has mastered these things.

We are to put on the armor of light. Again, Romans 13, which means that we are fighting to seize those passions that would otherwise exist in our flesh and submit them unto

Christ. Paul mentions this also in 2 Corinthians 10 .5, that we take every thought captive.

We take it captive. We conquer it and make it obedient unto

Christ. This has been going on since the gospel was first preached to the church, this call to leave the sexual temptations and passions of your flesh and instead submit your whole members, your whole body, unto

Christ. Read Romans 6 if you want to challenge me on that. So we must not give in to the ways of this culture, which are gradually telling us that we need to succumb to what they refer to as the right side of history.

The LGBTQ agenda is inevitable. The fact that porn is going to be prevalent all over the

Internet all the time. There's just nothing you're going to be able to do about it. It's true that our culture might fall into more and more licentiousness, but that doesn't give us an excuse to behave that way.

We are called to purity and not to be like the world, but to be like citizens in the kingdom of God through our

Lord Jesus Christ. So leave the former passions of your flesh and take hold of the

Christian sexual ethic that we are taught in the Bible. Do not let the culture have your mind.

Do not let Satan win this war for your body. You submit your whole self unto

Christ. For as it says in Romans 8, 1, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And we are more than conquerors for those who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. Let's conclude with prayer.

Then we'll pick up in our study in Acts chapter 16 tomorrow. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day.

We thank you for the call to purity that you have placed upon us. It's a privilege to do this, to know what is pleasing unto our

God, the creator of the entire universe. And you have revealed to us what is pleasing to you in your word, through your prophets and apostles.

I pray that we would take this not as simply words on a page, but we understand that this is the living word of God.

You have called us to yourself through your son, Jesus Christ, and that we might grow in Christ's likeness.

You have given us instructions. As Jesus had said to us, you will show me that you love me when you obey my commandments.

And so may it be our delight to obey these things because of what Christ has done for us.

Not because obedience is what saves us, but it's because we've been saved in Christ and we love him, that we would also obey him and love to do so.

Help us to crucify, put to death the desires, the passions of our flesh, and walk in the righteousness of Jesus Christ even this day.

And may we encourage and admonish one another and even pass on these wonderful holy instructions to our children and a future generation.

It's in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. Gabriel Hughes is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas.