The Deeds of the Flesh Are Evident

Transcript

GR 1167
01/30/2000
"The Deeds of the Flesh Are Evident"
Galatians 5:19
Gil Rugh

I want to pick up our study in chapter 5 of Paul's letter to the Galatians. Paul has demonstrated in writing to the Galatians that salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone. The Mosaic Law is not part of our salvation in Christ. You don't believe in Christ plus keep the Mosaic Law or parts of the Mosaic Law in order to receive the forgiveness that He has provided in Jesus Christ. The Judaizers failed to understand this. According to Acts 15 they thought that you had to believe in Christ and also be circumcised and keep the Mosaic Law for salvation. Paul is also demonstrating in the book of Galatians that our sanctification, our growing in holiness before God, is not a result of keeping the Mosaic Law. We are not under the Mosaic Law for justification nor are we under the Mosaic Law for sanctification. But this does not mean that the believer is lawless. He is under the authority of Jesus Christ. He is under the Law of Christ which is different than the Law of Moses and we'll see that in a later study. He is under the control and direction of the indwelling Holy Spirit who molds and shapes and leads him and produces within him the character of Christ.

So in chapter 5 verse 13 Paul said, "You were called to freedom, brethren, only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh." Freedom does not mean the opportunity to do whatever you want. It is a freedom to do the will of God to serve others in love. Then picking up with verse 6 he begins to focus specifically on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And in verses 16 to 26 he mentions the Holy Spirit by name seven times. There's a strong emphasis in this section on the Holy Spirit's ministry in the life of the child of God and what He does and what are the evidences of His work.

In verses 16 to 18 several key points were made and let me just review those with you as we go into this section we are going to look at. Beginning with verse 16, "I say, walk by the Spirit." And the first point to realize is we must live our lives under the direction of the Holy Spirit. We are to walk by the Spirit. We are to live our daily lives and all of our activities under His control and direction. And in the last part of verse 16, "and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh." If you are being led by the Spirit, controlled by the Spirit, you will not be controlled by sin. The flesh refers to all we are as fallen beings apart from the work of God's grace in our lives. It's the same thing as Romans 6 talks about as the old man. We refer to it sometimes as our old nature. Some passages like Ephesians 2 where we were by nature children of wrath in our unredeemed state.

The beginning part of verse 17 tells us that the flesh and the Spirit are in constant warfare. The flesh and the Spirit are in constant opposition with one another. And so the last part of verse 17 says you cannot do the will of God in the flesh. You cannot do the things you please because the flesh is always opposed to God. So apart from the work of the Spirit of God in your life, you can never please God because the flesh never does anything that is pleasing and acceptable to God. So those who are in the flesh cannot please God as Paul wrote to the Romans.

In verse 18 the first part of the verse he says, "If you are led by the Spirit you are not under the Law." And to be led by the Spirit in this context is a synonym with being a believer. Believers are those who are being led by the Spirit. Romans chapter 8 verse 14 says, "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God." When he says if you are being led by the Spirit, it's another way of saying if you truly are a believer. If you are a son of God, you are not under the Law.

So the last part of verse 18 made the point clearly. You are not under the Law. So to try to bring believers under the Law is contrary to the revealed will and plan of God. There ought not to be confusion on this. But in my reading and studying this week, I'm reminded again of the number of evangelical Christians who try to make allowance to say the believer is under the Law in some way. And the fear in it is that if we say we are not under the Mosaic Law in any way, believers will see themselves as lawless, without restraint and control. That's the whole purpose of Galatians 5 and the section we're looking at. We have the Holy Spirit in us and He makes all the difference. We don't need the Law. When you have the Spirit, you have all you need.

Now what Paul is going to do next is move into a section where he will give a list of the vices or
sins that characterize those who are dominated by the flesh, unredeemed people under the control of their fallen nature. So when he ends this list he'll say at the end of verse 21, "Those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." And we'll talk about the details of that statement when we get there. But it's another way of declaring to all, and particularly to the Judaizers who were Jews, you cannot be part of the kingdom if any of these things characterize your life, a recognition that fallen beings manifest certain characteristics. Then he'll follow that up with what are called the fruit of the Spirit and the evidences or manifestations of the Spirit's presence or work in the lives of those who are believers in Jesus Christ.

Look at verse 19. He begins by saying, "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident." We do not see the flesh as Paul is talking about it. We see our physical flesh, but we don't see the flesh as our fallen sinful nature, as the old man. We see the manifestations of sin and the control of sin in our lives, of the sins domination of a life in the behavior of an individual. So that's what Paul is talking about here. When we get to the fruit of the Spirit, you don't see the Holy Spirit in a life. You see the evidences of the Holy Spirit's presence in a life through what He is producing in that life. You see that He is the one controlling and leading that life because of the way that life is being lived.

So Paul says here the deeds are evident. The general statements here. They are not hard to sort out. You can recognize those who are being controlled by the flesh. That doesn't mean that every sinful person does all these things or even when they indulge in some of these things they do them to the fullest possible extent. This is just a sample of the kind of things you will see in the life of someone who has not been redeemed by God's grace. And he will say at the end of this list in verse 21, "envyings, drunkenness, carousings, things like these." So he concludes his list by saying this is a general sample of the kind of things you'll see in the life of someone who is controlled by the flesh.

There are 15 items that he lists here in the works of the flesh, the things that the flesh does when it's controlling a life. Some categorize these. Others think it's just a miscellaneous list. It doesn't make any difference in the outcome. For some it's helpful to see them in groupings. For others they think it's just a random list. The point is all of these things demonstrate the kind of things you will see in the life of someone who is under the control of their sinful passions, their old nature, dominated by what they are as fallen beings.

Those who break this list down and this goes back into the last century usually do it in four kinds of groupings. Let me just mention them for you even though I won't necessarily be emphasizing them. Some see the first grouping as dealing with sensual passions. You note those three sins are immortality, impurity, sensuality--built around sexual kinds of sins. The second grouping would be false religious activity dealing with idolatry and sorcery. The third grouping has eight things in it deals with conflicts among people. This is the largest grouping and probably the largest because this is a major problem in the church at Galatia--enmities, strife, jealous, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissentions, factions, envyings. And then there's the final two which are intemperate excesses, sometimes described--drunkenness, carousings. All these things are the kind of things you see in a life that is being dominated and controlled by the flesh.

I want to focus our attention on the first three and then I want to draw our attention to conclusion to some things that God says to us as believers about being sure these things don't happen. The deeds of the flesh are evident. So not something hard to see, hard to find it. Clearly to be seen. They are immorality, impurity , sensuality. That first word "immorality." It's the Greek word "pornia." We've carried it over into English in words like pornography. It's used to refer to sexual immortality of all kinds. Sometimes it's used in connection with adultery. And you'll have fornication and adultery, referring adultery to sexual sins among those who are married. So infidelity in marriage and fornication to all others. Sometimes it's used just in the general sense and includes adultery. Here Paul uses it just as a general term to encompass all kinds of sexual immorality. That would include adultery, homosexuality, incest, all kinds of sexual conduct that the Bible says are sinful and wrong.

Should understand that the New Testament was written in the context of a very open and permissive sexual culture. Sex was not viewed as wrong in any context unless you carried it to excess. Seneca was a Romans statesman philosophy, writer, who lived about 4 BC to 65 AD. So roughly he's a contemporary of the apostle Paul. And he gives you an idea of the conditions of the day. He wrote, "Chastity is simply a proof of ugliness." The only people who are chased sexually and those that are too ugly to find a partner. That gives you an idea of the day. That any kind of sexual activity is acceptable and not only tolerable but desirable. And it flooded the Roman empire of New Testament times.

I was reading some of the background of the times in preparation for this and one of the writer went through some of the list of the awful sins and the writers of New Testament times, secular writers describing the practices. And he noted that 14 of the first 15 Roman empires indulged in the most vile of sexual practices including incest and homosexuality. And it wasn't done in secret. It was a public thing. In fact, one of the Roman empires when his homosexual lover died in an accident, he had him deified, a temple to be built in his honor so he would be worshipped. Kind of vile filthiness sexually being practiced. And after quoting a whole list of secular writers from the time he concludes, "It is to be noted that all the evidence that we have adduced for the unspeakable sexual immortality of the world contemporary with New Testament times comes not from Christian writers but from pagans who were disgusted with themselves." It was a polluted world. It has been said by some writers of that time that virtue--chastity--was the only new virtue that Christianity brought to the world. This was like something totally shockingly new. Chastity--sexual purity.

Now I say that because we sometimes as Christians feel like we're overwhelmed in our day and sexual immortality and the promoting of sexual immortality of all kinds seems like a tide to sweep over to society. But we understand the flesh has not changed. You know there are times when certain sins are more openly practiced and then there are times when they are less open. The Greeks never did view sexual immortality as something wrong or undesirable. In early part of the Roman Empire they valued purity and sexual faithfulness. But by the time you get to New Testament times, the thinking of the Greeks had overwhelmed the empire. And they had become Greek, if you will, in the thinking of sexual purity and sexual matters. The concern of the Scriptures is not the world is taken up in its rebellion against God with these kinds of practices but the concern is that the Church not be reflecting the behavior of the world in these matters. We don't find Paul amazed that the unbelieving world is indulging in sexual immortality. We find Paul though very concerned that the Church not mimic the world and follow the world's pattern in these matters. So he repeatedly warns Christians of the danger of sexual immortality.

Look at a couple of passages with me. Backing up to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. And Corinth is a Greek city. And he writes at the end of verse 13 of 1 Corinthians 6, "The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord is for the body." Evidently some in that Greek society were saying just like the body needs food, food is made for the body, so the body is for sex and sex is for body. They are parallel. Paul says food is for the body sure but the body is not for immortality. The body is for the Lord. Down in verse 18, "Flee immorality." It has serious consequences and particularly for us as believers. Then he concludes that chapter, "For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify god in your body."

Go back to the book of Galatians and then keep going to the next book, the book of Ephesians, chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 3, "But do not let immorality or any impurity." And that's the next word we are going to come to in the works of the flesh in Galatians 5--impurity. We'll talk about it in a moment but just note its presence with immorality here. "Don't let immorality or any impurity be named among you as saints." Verse 4, that includes, "filthiness, silly talk, coarse jesting, which are not fitting." So not only the practicing of these things but the talking about these things and the joking about these things has no place in the life of the child of God. They are manifestations of a life under the control of the flesh and ought not even be named among believers. It has no part either in our behavior or even in our conversation.

Keep going from Ephesians through Philippians to the book of Colossians. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians chapter 3 verse 5, "Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity." You note how often in the list of sins that Paul sets forth sexual sins head the list. It reveals something of the climate of the day in which he wrote. Also probably reveals something of the character of the flesh and some of the overt ways that it manifests its rebellion against God and opposition to the work of the Holy Spirit. Reminds the Colossians in chapter 3 down in verse 6, "For on account of these things the wrath of God will come. In them you also once walked, when you were living in them." That was the characteristic of your life before the grace of God redeemed you, set you free, made you new. It's what he's telling the Galatians. Don't used your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. The flesh is in rebellion against God and it ought to have no place, its manifestation in our lives.

One more passage. Keep going past Colossians to 1 Thessalonians just after Colossians. First Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 1 tells us, the end of verse one of 1 Thessalonians 4. He's writing so they know how they ought to walk and please God. Verse 2, "You know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus." The believer in Jesus Christ is not under the Mosaic Law but he is not without commandments from Christ. He is not lawless. Verse 3 what do these instructions and commandments from Christ entail, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification." The very subject Paul was considering in Galatians 5. "That you abstain from sexual immorality." And that's our word we're talking about in Galatians. You abstain from sexual immorality, fornication. "That each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor." What he's talking about there is we are required and responsible before God as His people to have our bodies under control. You note what Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, "I discipline my body and bring it into subjection." So here we are to have our bodies under control Paul says.

Not living in "lustful passion," verse 5, "like the Gentiles who do not know God." You see that kind of abandoned life pursuing the passions of the flesh is characteristic of those who do not know God. And God will judge in these matters. So verse 6, "The Lord is the avenger in these things." Don't defraud your brother. Sexual immortality is still a serious matter in the sight of God. Verse 7, "God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification." You note there's that word "impurity" again we're coming to in Galatians. Note verse 8, "Consequently, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you." Rebellion and rejection of God's Word in the area of sexual conduct is a rejection of God. Not rejecting man but the God who gave His Holy Spirit. Sexual immorality is a serious, serious subject.

I say that because we face the same kind of problem maybe not quite to the same degree yet in our society where we have like a tide coming from the world around us constantly bombarding us and telling us that any kind of sexual behavior is acceptable even desirable. Our only concern is the spread of disease. We have no moral basis for encouraging people to behave properly sexually. We just want to be sure we don't spread disease. But what about the morality of it all. It's almost like a nonissue. That the world functions that way we don't need to be wringing our hands. What do you think the flesh has always been like? Christians want to run around and go on a crusade to restrain the flesh of the world. Paul assumes that's what the unregenerate people are like. That's what they do. His concern is that the Church not become like the world. Paul is not concerned to make the world like the Church. He is concerned to be sure the Church does not become like the world. We reach out with the Gospel as the Church so that the world might experience redemption and deliverance from the power, control and authority of the flesh. But I'm not trying to reform the behavior of fleshly-controlled people. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But woe be when the Church becomes like the world in these areas. What does the world does becomes acceptable to the Church and we do it under the guise, you know, it's just not realistic to have that kind of standard today. Nobody lives like that in world. We don't expect anybody in the world to live like that. But God does require the people that He has redeemed and empowered with the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit to live differently than the world. And the world is offended by that. It does not understand. And we're coming to that in Galatians.

Come back to Galatians chapter 5. The second word in Paul's list in verse 19 of Galatians 5 is impurity. We've seen it in other passages we just looked at that use the word "immorality." The word "impurity" was used of just physical dirt. When you were dirty you would use this word. If your child went out and played in the dirt, you'd say you’re dirty. You could use this word. Just physical dirt. It was used in the Old Testament in a ritual and ceremonial way to refer to those things which spiritually or ceremonially defiled a person and separated them from God. For example, if a Jew touched a dead body, he was ceremonially unclean. He was defiled. He was cut off for a time from being involved in the worship of the nation. There were a variety of those kinds of defiling practices that reminded Israel that God is holy and you must be holy because you are the people of a holy God.

It's used in the New Testament primarily to refer to moral and sexual impurity and uncleanness. So if we would use the term today, something being dirty in a spiritual sense, defiling. It makes you unclean. It pollutes you. Now in this context we're talking about the sexual things. It's not only that is sexual wrong but it is defiling before God. It is impurity. These Judaizers with their Jewish background would understand that concept of making someone unacceptable before God separated from God and this kind of sexual behavior is impurity before God. It's dirtiness. It's defiling.

Look at the next word "sensuality." We've got a little bit of a progression here. You have the sexual immorality, the act. It is defiling, makes you impure, unclean, if you will. And then you have sensuality. We have a progression here in the sense some people who are sexual immoral and defiled by their sexual behavior still have a sense of embarrassment and shame. They want to keep it hidden. They recognize this is wrong. This word denotes often translated in English debauchery or licentiousness. It indicates that the sin has become so entrenched in the life. The person has become so controlled by their sin that they don't care what anybody thinks. There is a shamelessness and a brazenness that now characterizes their sinful conduct.

William Barkley who has written extensively on the Greek of the New Testament but who himself was not a believer so some of the theology of his commentaries is not biblical. But he's written with insight on some of the Greek background of the New Testament and he notes three characteristics of the word translated "sensuality" here. He says number one, it is wanted and undisciplined. In other words, it is the action of a man who is at the mercy of his passions, his impulses. He's controlled by the flesh. Number two, it denotes a person who has no respect for the rights or persons of anyone else. So it is often violate, insolent, abusive, audacious. It is totally selfish and so can be brutal and uncaring in dealing with others. And number three, it is completely indifferent to public opinion and public decency. And he notes what I think is a pattern we need to be careful to observe and be aware of. "A man may well begin to do a wrong thing in secret. At the beginning his one aim and desire may be to hide it from the eyes of men. He may come to a stage of sin where he is lost to shame so that he no longer cares what others may see, what they may say, what they may think." There's a shamelessness here. So it's not just sinful practice. It's not just being willing to pollute ourselves and defile ourselves with sin, but then it's the brazen shamelessness in the practice of sin, the arrogance, the willingness to be open.

Today in some sins like homosexuality, they speak of a person coming out and oh this has set me free. I don't feel the pressures and burdens I used to. But all it is a brazen shamelessness. I am no longer going to hide my sinful behavior. We see it in unfaithfulness in marriage. Oh at the start of that unfaithfulness it's so important to keep it secret. I would be so embarrassed if my children knew, if my wife or husband knew, is my friends knew. And it comes to the place pretty soon it's shameless. I don't care who knows. We think that we have come to a state of maturity and liberty when we really have come to state of hardness, being so consumed by our sin that we don't care about anything but our sin. Israel had come to this place and was condemned by God for it.

Turn back to the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 6. Here you have the condition of Israel, the southern kingdom -- Judah, as we sometimes distinguish it. The northern kingdom has already gone into captivity. And yet these who were the people of God had so conformed to the world around them that they had lost any sense of shame in their sin. In Jeremiah chapter 6 verse 15 God says through the prophet Jeremiah, "Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; they did not even know how to blush." Look over in chapter 8 of Jeremiah verse 12 as God repeats again, "Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They certainly were not ashamed and they did not know how to blush." Isaiah over a hundred years earlier had written about the condition of the nation Israel before the northern kingdom went into captivity and he said in Isaiah 3:9, "The expression of their faces bears witness against them and they display their sin like Sodom. They do not even conceal it." Remember the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when the angels came to the house of Lot? All the men of the city young and old come and surround the city demanding sexual relations with the visitors. You think what are they thinking? What about the children? There was a shamelessness. They didn't conceal their sin. They didn't see their sin as something to be ashamed about. They had come to the point where they were happy to have the younger men as well as the older men of the city indulge in such perversity. And now God says Israel is like Sodom. They are not embarrassed about their sin. It's not only that they were committing sin. They weren't even ashamed of their sin. They didn't even try to conceal it. Jeremiah--same thing. No shame. No embarrassment.

Turn over to the book of Romans in the New Testament. In the book of Romans Paul deals with the characteristics of a world that have rejected God, that is suppressing the truth that God has revealed about Himself as the end of verse 18 of Romans 1. He is speaking of those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. In verse 21 of Romans 1, "Those who knew God, did not honor Him as God." The creation reveals God but man refuses to acknowledge Him as God. Verse 24, "God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity." Again, he starts with sexual sins as a manifestation of the world's rejection of God and His revelation of Himself. "Gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity." Verse 26, God gave them over to degrading passions." And here the vileness of homosexual behavior of all kinds are mentioned. Verse 28, "They did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those e things which are not proper." You see what happens. As a result of rejecting God, man has given over to be consumed and controlled by his own sinful desires and sexual passions play a dominate role in this. And that behavior is an indication of people who do not see fit to acknowledge God, who will not recognize his authority, who will not acknowledge the revelation He has given.

Down in verse 32 the end of this ugly list of sins, "Although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death." And that's why there's such a tension, such animosity against believers who preach against these activities. They already know in their hearts and minds that they are wrong. They already are convicted in their own fold that they are guilty before God. And they just are so antagonized when they are confronted again with the truth. They know that those who practice such things are worthy of death. "They not only do the same, but they also give hearty approval to those who practice them." You note, it's not enough to indulge themselves. They want to encourage others to indulge.

As I was preparing this passage an editorial appeared in the paper a few days ago that struck me. The title of the editorial . . . This is not by a believer. It's by a syndicated columnist. It appeared in the Omaha World Herald on January 27. "First tolerance, now affirmation." It's talking about homosexual behavior here and it might have been thought that the aids issue and the spread of aids would have put restraints. But instead of being a restraint "in the hands of gay interest groups, the scourge of Aids became not a caution against homosexual acts or even against promiscuity but instead evidence of the victim status of gay men. If you've seen one, you've doubtless seen a dozen touching stories on TV about faithful monogamous gay couples caring for one another for a lifetime and fighting unjust and ignorant stereo types." Again, you see the thinking of the world press in and in as those who are ignorant, those who are unloving, those who are hateful that don't understand the struggles these poor people are going through. I'm not reading consecutively. There's too much in the article. "Still everywhere one turns these days, the movement to normalize homosexuality and place it on an equal footing with heterosexuality is gaining ground. Vice President Al Gore announces that homosexuals will serve openingly in the armed forces in his administration and that this issue will be a litmus test for appointments to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Vermont Supreme Court has now branded the preference for heterosexual unions enshrined in the laws of 50 states to be mere bigotry. And note this one. This gets close to home. "An alliance of education groups and psychological associations has now teamed up to distribute a booklet to all 14,700 public school districts in the nation titled the Just the Facts Coalition. The group which includes the NEA, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association among others, urges that schools create a safe and healthy environment in which all students can learn." Well, no one is against that. "But using antigay violence as the hope to gain sympathy, the pamphlet offers a highly biased set of 'facts' about how the gay orientation develops and about the supposed futility even danger of programs aimed at reversing homosexual inclinations. Kevin Jennings, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network describes the impact of the booklet as history changing and declares that gays need to receive support from their schools. They need to receive affirmation. And there you have it. This is not about tolerance. It is about affirmation. Anyone that believes that homosexuality is to be tolerated but not encouraged is smeared as a bigot. And now the public schools in the name of violence prevention are to become cheerleaders for gay liberation. A few years back under pressure from gay groups, the major American psychological groups withdrew homosexuality as a mental disorder. Now they are beating the drum for affirmation.”

Some of us have lived during that transition, the time when all society generally speaking agreed that sex outside of marriage was wrong, homosexuality was perverse and wrong. And now we have turned not only to find it something that should be tolerated but something that should be affirmed, encouraged. "Aselgia," debauchery, that's the Greek word here--"aselgia." Shameless, to brazenly speak out and declare that I am sexually immoral. They've lost their shame.

That should not surprise the Church but it should put the Church on notice. The Church is under tremendous pressure to accept the world's standard of acceptability, to get in line. Recently in the last couple of weeks in the paper an alliance of religious people and church leaders declaring what? The Church needs to affirm homosexuality as normal and homosexual unions as normal. And the pressure bears in and pretty soon we say do we have to be so narrow. And we don't say oh we don't want to promote it but we don't want to come across as unloving. But there is no way that those under the control of the flesh will accept anything but capitulation. We ought not to fool ourselves.

We've come to that point. That's the flesh. No surprise. I'm not reading this to you so we can start a crusade in the public schools. We ought not be surprised. These are the works of the flesh and those who indulge the flesh become consumed by the flesh are soon shameless and brazen in the practice of the flesh. But we ought to be very careful that those things are still intolerable in our lives as God's people personally and in the Church of Jesus Christ. Now I want draw these things together and talk about what God says in this whole sexual area.

These are the works of the flesh but they are a danger to us even to us even as the redeemed as we're seen in the passages where Paul writes to the churches and warns them and exhorts them and commands them regarding immortality. God has made provision for sexual expression and that provision is within the marriage relationship and only within the marriage relationship.

Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. Part of the way the church gets into trouble is it ceases to function biblically in an area and that opens the door for the corruption that spreads so quickly. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 1, "Now concerning the things about which you wrote." So the Corinthians had written questions about this subject. Corinth was a Greek city, vile in its sexual practices and as we even in our own thinking can sometimes begin to be influenced. We think sex is so dirty. It's used in such a polluted way in the world, we sometimes get the idea that this would be better than we didn't indulge in it at all even as believers. Paul said that's fine. That's good. You lead a celebrate life. "But," verse 2, "because of immoralities," there's our word, "let each man have his own wife, let each woman have her own husband." There's God's solution to the problem of immorality. Get married. Have sex with your husband. Have sex with your wife. Now there's a novel idea. "Let the husband fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband, the husband does not have authority over his own body but the wife does. Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control." I don't want to embarrass anyone but this is what Paul says. Stop depriving one another unless you agree on it for a time of prayer. Now I think that implies a pretty active sexual life. Now the wife has to sit down and say we've got to stop for a while. We need to make some space for prayer. But not long space. Because Satan will tempt us for our lack of self-control. You know what God's solution to the sexual immortality is -- get married. You know what? Indulge all you want with your spouse. Express your love physically every day, twice a day. You know there'll be no energy left for unfaithfulness any longer. Isn't that right? No more, dear, I got to go to work. I can't do this anymore. You know, we laugh about it. We joke about it, but we know the seriousness of it, don't we. When you talk to people who are having marriage problems and ask have you been treating one another properly. Have you been expressing and fulfilling your marriage obligation sexually. Well, you know we've got off track. It's been months. Well, you've been unbiblical. Isn't that surprising that the Devil tempt you. I mean, we don't handle things biblically and then we wonder why we get in trouble and we think we are being the bulwarks of morality because we talk how terrible the world is. If we are not fulfilling our biblical responsibility in marriage, we are not doing what God says we're responsible to do to be moral. We have obligations here, responsibilities. This is God's provision.

Down in verse 9, "If they do not have self-control, let them marry; it is better to marry than to burn." Now you sort out when I've crossed the line and I'm giving you my opinion from what's biblical. No doubt the Bible says it's better to marry then burn. I am concerned we've adopted the world's standard. I've been through this with you before. But the world has, you know, accomplishment, power, money, wealth, position as priorities. So the best thing for them is to put off getting married until you get the best education you can, get established in a job, be sure you are going to make good money and then get married and have your family. But in all the studies they do and so on show that the sexual desires reach their peak way before we're talking about them being marriageable because they got all this to do so they got to weight for their mid or late twenties then get married. The world just solves it. They are just immoral.

I tell you young people come to me. They are 19 years old. They say, you know, I realize I got school to do. I have to prepare for a job, but you know, I really strongly desire for a sexual relationship. That's not the only thing in marriage. You have to marry a believer. There are other things. But dealing with the subject that Paul dealed with, I say get married. Oh, but I won't finish school.

You know, I got married when I was 20. I had a lot of school to do, but I decided Marilyn wasn't going to be able to control her passions for me much longer. I said I . . . What am I going to do? I think that's the way it was. What was better? Still had to do another eight years of school or whatever. But better to say look be sure you get your school done. Be immoral. Sometimes I think we as parents are not much help to our kids because we don't have biblical priorities and a biblical perspective on things. We first want to know how much money they are going to make and all of this instead of going and sorting with them through the Scripture on the scriptural issues involved and then trusting the Lord to work out the details of those who are committed to be biblical.

So we are talking about immortality and we get all at this stage and our Bible-believing church says oh yes, the immorality of the world is awful. That impurity and that brazen sexuality just disgusting. At the same time we are not carrying out the responsibilities within our marriage that we should. And we are not dealing with our young people coming into that time of real sexual passion in a biblical way because we've adopted the world and we're proud we're not doing what the world does here but we've adopted the world's plan here and that gets into trouble over here and we say I don't know what's happening. We need to come back and decide what the Scripture says is truth and that deserves the priority. Holiness and purity of life is a priority for me as a child of God. Riches and wealth and power are not. Far better I be moral and poor then rich and immoral. And I'm not saying those are the two alternatives but we need to be careful we have our feet planted in the Scriptures on this subject.

So are we doing in marriage that which will prevent immorality by fulfilling the desires of our partners and being sure that we are? Read the Song of Solomon, a whole book devoted to the physical pleasures of marriage and then dealing wisely with our young people.

One other passage. The book of Hebrews chapter 13, "Let marriage be held in honor among all, let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge." And remember 1 Thessalonians 4:8, "He who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you."

Praise God there is forgiveness for sexual sin. "Such were some of you," Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "but you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified." There is the indwelling Spirit who strengthens and enables and empowers. And there is obedience and submission to His Word to satisfy the passions that are a natural part of our life in a way that God has specifically set forth that we might have lives that honor Him. Let's pray together.

Thank you, Lord, for Your grace. Thank you for the wonderful salvation that we have in Christ and it is an abundant, totally sufficient, totally adequate provision for us as those who have been redeemed by your grace to live lives of purity and holiness. God forbid that we should adjust the standards of Your Word to conform to the world. And may we be careful that we are being biblical in the carrying out of our responsibilities as your children to honor you in our marriages, to provide biblical counsel for our young people that we might not be a church that is conformed to the world but is transformed into conformity with the image of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In His name we pray, amen.