WWUTT 073 Sexual Immorality (Colossians 3:5-11)

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I am grateful. Thank you for making when we understand the text a part of your

Bible learning Families have written to me and said that they use this program in their daily devotionals

We have viewers and listeners of all ages So it's for that reason I want to preface this program today by saying that we're going to be talking about sexual immorality

Parents you may want to listen to this program first and decide whether or not there are some things you'll want to talk to your

Children about before they listen to this particular episode now, don't just shrug it off and wait for the next episode

This is still very important One of the biggest instructions that we receive as Christians is to abstain from sexual immorality

For this is the will of God when we understand the text You're listening to when we understand the text committed to the sound teaching of the

Word of God For questions and comments email when we understand the text at gmail .com

and don't forget our website Wwut .com. Here's our host

Pastor Gabe. Thank you Becky. That is my wife By the way, who has lent her voice to opening and closing this program

My wife and I were abstinent all the way up to the day of our marriage We started dating on March the 1st.

We were married on August the 1st of the following year 17 months to the day and we saved sex for the marriage bed in fact

I was abstinent all the way up to The day of my marriage 29 years old when

I got married and had never had sex now while that might sound like an incredible Achievement and in today's culture it really is

But I will tell you that I did not do that perfectly. I did pretty well through high school Once I got to college,

I felt like there was this line that I could go to as long as I didn't cross it I did take advantage of girls.

I was addicted to porn So while I may not have been having sex there was lust in my heart.

I have asked God forgiveness for that sin He has forgiven me and has cleansed me from all unrighteousness.

I have been washed sanctified justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our

God as it says in 1st Corinthians 6 11 and That's a verse. We're gonna come back to a little bit later on in this particular episode

So I still have to take every thought captive and make it obey Christ I mean all of us have to do that with every single thought that's the instruction that's been given to us in 2nd

Corinthians 10 5 But even when it comes to sexual immorality there are image searches that I have to do to make the what videos that you see and sometimes

I am Searching for something that is completely innocent and yet there will be an image in the mix of all of those images that I am looking

Up, that is not so innocent And if I am not careful, it can get my mind wandering in the wrong direction

And so I must take those thoughts captive to obey Christ So I do not indulge or or I don't dwell upon those images that I have seen and therefore indulge in a lust of the flesh

It is necessary for us to always Make our thoughts obedient to Christ, especially when it comes to especially when it comes to sexual immorality

Now sex is a wonderful gift that has been given to us by God But it is a gift that is to be enjoyed between a husband and a wife

Only do not awaken love until the proper time the instruction that is given to us in song of Solomon So we must remain pure in the flesh for this is the will of God for us for his people

It is said to the Israelite people in the Old Testament that they must not partake in the pagan ways of the of the people of the land that they were about to go in and Inhabit do not do the things that they do because many of those pagan practices involved ritual sex

They must remain pure also and reserve sex only for marriage

And we see this instruction come up numerous times in the New Testament as well And we're going to talk about some of those occasions here today and Colossians chapter 3 verses 5 through 11

This is the section that we're going to study where Paul is calling the Colossians to abstain from sexual immorality

So before opening up these scriptures and reading further Let's go to the Lord in prayer our wonderful Heavenly Father I pray and ask that if there is any sinful way in us before we come to your text today

That we will be convicted of this perhaps some of us may have to pause this program here at this point and Spend some time in prayer with our

Lord seeking forgiveness because we have been sexually impure There are things that we have done that we know have been against what

God has created sex to be in our minds We have defiled ourselves in our bodies as well

And so Lord, we we ask to be convicted by your spirit that we might come to you and be cleansed so we might properly

Understand your scriptures in a right way in a way that is pleasing to you Our body is a temple of the

Holy Spirit whom we have from God So we must honor God in our bodies teach us this as we come to your scriptures today

And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen Colossians chapter 3 verses 5 through 11 put to death therefore what is earthly in you sexual immorality impurity passion evil desire and covetousness

Which is idolatry on account of these the wrath of God is coming in these you too once walked when you were living in them

But now you must put them all away Anger wrath malice slander and obscene talk from your mouth

Do not lie to one another seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self

Which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator here. There is not Greek and Jew circumcised and uncircumcised barbarian

Scythian slave free but Christ is all and in all

So we go back to where these instructions start here in Colossians 3 5 put to death

Therefore what is earthly in you? Therefore what will remember we are citizens of the kingdom of heaven as Paul said in Colossians 3 1 if Then you have been raised with Christ seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God Set your minds on things that are above not on things that are on earth for you have died and your life is

Hidden with Christ in God when Christ who is your life appears that you also will appear with him in glory

You are not a citizen of the kingdom of God when you get to heaven You are a citizen of the kingdom of God when you are rescued in Christ Jesus So if you are in Christ, you are a citizen of that kingdom

Now you must live as a citizen of that kingdom as though you were in that heavenly place already

So we go through this process of sanctification that we are in as long as we inhabit these bodies and it is that calling to Sanctification that Paul gives the following instructions put to death

Therefore what is earthly in you if we are heavenly minded we must not live in an earthly way

And what is earthly the first thing that Paul mentions is Sexual immorality and in fact everything that follows in that verse deals with sexual immorality put to death

What is earthly in you sexual immorality? impurity passion evil desire and Covetousness, which is idolatry all of these things pertaining to sexual immorality impurity

Anything that we indulge in that is sexually immoral if it is not sex that has been reserved for the marriage bed only between a

Husband and a wife that it is impurity and it makes us in Pure passion.

It's okay to be passionate. But again in the context, we're talking about sexual immorality here

If your passion is burning for that which is against what God has created sex to be then it is the wrong kind of passion

Evil desire you are a you are desiring things that are evil you are desiring

Something that is not meant for you to have so therefore it is also Covetousness and that is ultimately at the heart of all sexual immorality.

It is desiring something that is Beyond what God has called for you to desire which is him desiring

God That's the name of John Piper's entire ministry, right? So we are to desire God when we desire something that God is not meant for us to have or it is not

Pleasing to God then it is covetousness We covet something that we want and we think will make us happy again

This goes back to the theme of a lot of the things that Paul has been saying to the Colossians here We are supposed to be completely satisfied in our

Savior wanting nothing else in this world because nothing in this world will satisfy Put to death what's earthly in you, right?

We're to be heavenly minded fully satisfied in our Savior wanting nothing else except more of God And so when we desire something in this world that is beyond what

God means for us to have we covet in our hearts something that We think will make us happy because God is not enough

God is not satisfying enough and I need this other thing in order to truly be happy So at the heart of all sexual immorality is coveting now

There are numerous places throughout the New Testament where Paul has called upon his readers

To live in a pure way and the first thing he says almost every time now

It's not every time but it's pretty close. The first thing he says to stay away from his sexual immorality

We see this throughout the New Testament Jesus talked about sexual immorality Matthew 15 19 for out of the heart come evil thoughts murder adultery

Sexual immorality theft fault false witness and slander So again, this all goes back to a condition of the heart

You are not sexually impure because you engaged in sexually impure behavior you're sexually impure because the condition of your heart is

Impure, you know, this is in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5 where Jesus says

Hey, you say that you don't commit adultery But I say to you that if you lust after a woman in your heart you have committed adultery with her in your heart

It is out of the heart that these thoughts come and then further along as we read through the

New Testament We see the instructions that are given to us and how often that instruction to stay away from sexual immorality comes up Romans 13 13, let us walk properly as in the daytime not in orgies and drunkenness not in sexual immorality and Insensuality not in quarreling and jealousy.

So the first thing Paul mentioned there among that list of sins was sexual immorality orgies 1st

Corinthians 5 11 but now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed or is an idolater reviler drunkard or Swindler not even to eat with such a one again

The first of those sins that Paul mentions there all of which are important and we should be mindful of but the first one

He mentions is sexual immorality next chapter 1st Corinthians 6 9 through 11 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who practice homosexuality

Nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God and Such were some of you 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 So the first sin again mentioned there among those that make a person unqualified for the kingdom of God is

Sexual immorality, but you can be cleansed of that sin you can be washed and made right by the blood of Jesus Christ repent in Jesus Christ our

Lord and Repenting means don't do that sin anymore and in our weakness the

Spirit will help you So pray to God to help you in your weakness Ephesians 5 3 but sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness

Must not even be named among you as is proper among the Saints again

First one mentioned there is sexual immorality. Now. Here's where we get a little bit more into the will of God for the

Christian first Thessalonians 4 3 through 8 for this is the will of God your

Sanctification that you abstain from sexual immorality So again, we're talking about instructions that have to do with Sanctification here that that growth in holiness growing in purity according to the image of Christ This is the will of God your sanctification first thing that's listed that you abstain from sexual immorality

That each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor not in the passion of lust

Like the Gentiles who do not know God or the pagans is another word You could substitute in for that that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter

Because the Lord is an avenger in all these things as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you

For God is not called us for impurity, but in holiness therefore whoever disregards this disregards not man, but God who gives his

Holy Spirit to you and Here is where we find a very important instruction in 1st

Corinthians 6 12 through 20 So I had mentioned to you 1st Corinthians 6 9 through 11 I'm gonna go on from there to verse 12 all things are lawful for me

But not all things are helpful all things are lawful for me But I will not be dominated by anything

Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food and God will destroy both one and the other the body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the

Lord and the Lord for the body 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? Shall 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 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 flee from sexual immorality

Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins

Against his own body or do you not know that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within Within you whom you have from God.

You are not your own for you are bought with a price So glorify

God in your body I'm gonna come back to that passage again here with the question that I have to respond to today as well, but here

Sexual immorality is listed as even a particularly unique sin Every other sin that we commit is outside our body, but sexual immorality is committed with the body

So therefore we must abstain from this for our bodies are a temple of the

Holy Spirit whom we have from God So we must honor God with our bodies stay away from sexual immorality

This is the will of God for you now going back to that passage in first Thessalonians 4 3 through 8

It was also mentioned in there verse 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter

Because the Lord is an avenger in all these things as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you so a couple of things that Go with this here first of all

Do not speak with your brothers and sisters in Christ in such a way that would cause them to maybe give in to sexual immorality

We must stay away from any kind of course joking that would cause a person to stumble in this way

We must also realize that when we sin in our bodies and sexual immorality is it is a sin not just Against ourselves not just against God, but it is a sin that we bring into the entire body of Christ It affects everybody which was why

Paul gave the instruction in first Corinthians 5 Not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality

So if they're partaking in those things Then we should not associate with them because they know that they need to repent of those things and live purely

Before the Lord live in a pure and a right manner according to the instructions of God So when we sin in our bodies, we are sinning against the

Holy Spirit Who it dwells within our bodies since our body is a temple of the

Lord? We also must stay away from this sin because when we are indulging in this sin, it brings

Impurity even into the body of Christ We are sinning against a brother in this way since we are all one body in Christ Jesus So be aware that you do not sin on your own and it is not a sin that oh

I'm not hurting anybody with this sin It is affecting the entire body of Christ the very people whom you worship with are being affected by your sin

So stop indulging in that sin repent of it before the Lord. We have this instruction in Galatians 5 16 through 24

But I say walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh

So just looking at that verse right here. How do you stay away from sexual immorality? You dwell upon the things of the

Spirit if you were to just take my instructions here is okay I'm not supposed to think about sex. I'm not supposed to think about sex outside the marriage bed

I'm not supposed to think about sex and as you continue to repeat that over and over to yourself What are you thinking about sex and as you because this is the law

All right and so as you are constantly reciting the law to yourself it actually Awakens sin in you because there is a rebellion in your flesh against the law of God And so how is it that we can stay away from sexual immorality if by reminding ourselves to stay away from that?

We're gonna end up indulging in it. We walk by the Spirit. That's how we stay away from it Meditate on the things of God draw near to God and the devil will flee from you as James talks about in his letter

So in Galatians 5 16 through 24, I say walk by the Spirit Entertain the things of God and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh

For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things that you want to do But if you are led by the

Spirit, you're not under the law Now the works of the flesh are evident sexual immorality impurity sensuality idolatry sorcery enmity strife jealousy fits of anger rivalries dissensions divisions envy drunkenness orgies and things like these

I Warn you as I warned you before that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God notice that this list of sins here starts and ends

With sexual immorality, but then we go on but the fruit of the Spirit So Paul's not just throwing the law at the

Galatians here He gives them the fruit of the Spirit, but the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness

Self -control Against such things there is no law and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires

So again put to death therefore what is earthly in you?

sexual immorality impurity passion evil desire and covetousness

Which is idolatry on account of these things the wrath of God is coming in these

You too once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away

Put on then as Paul goes on Colossians 3 12 put on then as God's chosen ones holy and beloved compassionate hearts kindness humility

Meekness and patience bearing with one another and if one has a complaint against another forgiving each other as the

Lord has forgiven you So you must also forgive and above all these put on Love which binds everything together in perfect harmony and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts so that nothing impure is coming out of your heart

But what's coming out of your heart is Christ to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful again

Be satisfied with everything that the Lord has given to you and you will not be looking to gratify the desires of the flesh

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom singing

Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God and whatever you do in word or deed do everything in the name of the

Lord Jesus Giving thanks to God the Father Through him and all

God's people said amen God work these things out in us help us to be

Submissive to your word help us to be convicted by these things that we repent of our sin on a daily basis desiring the righteousness of Christ Jesus It's been said that whether someone is a vicious dictator or they steal a pack of chewing gum from the grocery store all sin is

The same before God is that true? Well, the Bible does say that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that when a person breaks one law

They're guilty of breaking the whole thing. So while there's some truth to the statement that God sees all sin is the same

It's also not true. The Bible does say some sins are worse than others For example, Jesus says that all sins will be forgiven the children of man and whatever blasphemies they utter

But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness. So clearly there's at least one sin

That's worse than all others. By the way, we've addressed the topic explaining the unforgivable sin. You can look it up later

Here's another one flee from sexual immorality Every other sin a person commits is outside the body but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have from God? So glorify

God in your body. So sexual sin has a uniqueness to it That's different than all other sins

And there are many other examples that tell us God doesn't view all sins the same and neither should we by doing so we make

Morality relative. Well, I can't judge someone else because I've sinned too. So we're both sinners Let's all just love each other at the topic of judgment.

That's another one We've addressed when we try to respect each other's badness. We actually cheapen

God's goodness We need to be right and wrong and love and even hate not through our eyes, but through the eyes of God How do we do that you ask when we understand the text that Particular video was made by popular demand

We had several requests to do a video about how not all sins are the same In fact,

I want to come to an article that was written by Kevin de Young This was published in the gospel coalition May of 2011 that he wrote in which he wrote about moral equivalency

He says the following every sin is not the same in God's eyes This sentiment is popular with many

Christians for some it's a sign of genuine humility. I deserve God's wrath, too So, how can

I judge someone else for others? This is a way to dodge the hits that come when you dare to criticize trendy sins

Yes, I do think mating with bovines is wrong But it's not worse than any other sin and for still others

It's simply a soft form of relativism those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, you know

Like many popular adages this one about all sins being equal before God is not entirely wrong

Every sin is a breach of God's holy law and whoever fails to keep the law in one point is guilty of breaking all of it

James 2 10 so any sin committed against an infinite God deserves punishment.

We're all born sinners We all sin every sin deserves death That's why the truism is half true

But it's also a lot not true over and over the Bible teaches either

Explicitly or implicitly that some sins are worse than others Here's one example

God waited 400 years before giving the Israelites the promised land because the iniquity of the

Amorites was not yet complete Genesis 15 16 they were sinners all along but eventually their sins merited drastic punishment

Another example the Mosaic legislation prescribes different penalties for different infractions and requires different sacrifices and payments to make restitution another example numbers 15 recognizes the difference between Intentional sins and those done with a high hand as in numbers 15 29 through 30

Dropping a four -letter word when you hit your thumb with a hammer is not as bad as giving God the middle finger

Another example some sins in Israel's history were more notorious than others Judging from the

Lord's outrage Sacrificing your child to Moloch was probably worse than losing your patience Jeremiah 32 35

Another example Jesus Mentions that some people will be judged more severely on the day of judgment because they had more reason to believe

Matthew 10 15 We will all be judged according to the light that we have Another example though not saved by as good works

Cornelius was nevertheless a devout man who feared God acts 10 to even among non -christians

There is a difference between being a decent human being and being a dirty rotten scoundrel another example the requirements for overseers

Presupposes that some men are actually godly some Christians have lives marked by general obedience to God's Word Some Christians are just better examples than others again.

The name of that article is one more time on moral equivalence It was written by Kevin DeYoung and you can find it at the gospel coalition org

I am a pastor that serves in a plurality eldership There are two other lay elders that serve over the teaching of our church in addition to me and I am

Accountable to those two men the three of us keep one another accountable So we might be able to present ourselves to the church as examples worthy of imitation when we say to our church flee from sexual immorality, we need to be able to show ourselves to our church congregation as examples on fleeing from Sexual immorality and I want to tell you

Christian that this is something that is going to take some help if you have to repent of sexual immorality do that before the

Lord but also Find somebody in the body of Christ that you can confess that to and ask them to pray for you and help you

Keep you accountable and keep you pure in your conduct before the

Lord May we all aspire to this in the name of Jesus. Amen This has been when we understand the text of pastor

Gabriel Hughes for all of our podcasts episodes videos books and more visit our website at www .utt

.com If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast or just send us a comment Email when we understand the text at gmail .com