THE CONSEQUENCES OF SEXUAL SIN
Today, we will talk about the consequences of sexual sins.
What is the meaning of the word: CONSEQUENCES?
The word consequences means the effect, the result or the outcome of something occurring earlier.
Many people have never thought about this is something to think about.
Everything that we do on this earth has an eternal consequence in the future.
Everything that we do has a far reaching effect whether for good or for evil.
There will always be repercussions of all your thoughts, words and actions.
There will be a chain reaction, a backlash, a fall out, an effect of things we do here on earth.
When we do good to people for instance, our good deeds will be rewarded accordingly either in this world or in the world to come.
But when we do evil, not only ourselves will suffer the consequences but the people close to us will feel the aftershock.
This is specifically true with regards to sin.
Sin will always have repercussions ahead after it has been done.
Sin will always have side effects.
Sin will always have an intense and devastating influence.
This is true to the people you love most and the people who know you.
Evey sin has a consequence particularly sexual sin.
I would like to be honest with you.
This is a hard topic to talk about particularly in the present culture we are in.
But you see, the truth must be preached regardless of how unpopular this might be.
If we do not preach the truth, there is a possibility that we might agree to every man's opinion that will come out.
And our task is to speak and expound the truth.
We are now in chapter 34 of the Book of Genesis.
We have been following the life of Jacob who had been transformed by God.
In our study for today, we will focus on his daughter, Dinah through Leah.
We will learn three things today:
How can temptation enter into our hearts?
Then, we will look at the action and consequences of sin after it has been committed.
Then, we will close at the ways we can overcome sexual sin.
1. THE ATTACK OF TEMPTATION
Genesis 34:1-2 "Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her..."
The first thing we will notice in these verses is that Dinah went out on her own.
She went to visit the women of the land all by herself without any companions.
It was just an ordinary day and and regular visit to her friends that probably have happened before.
But this time, it was different.
Shechem, the son of the ruler of the Hivite saw her.
We were not told about his background.
The only thing we know is that he was a son of the ruler in that area.
That means he had a very influential family.
And so, he thought he could have the same authority over any woman he wants.
And so, he saw her.
Behold, she was very young and extremely beautiful.
Temptation entered from his eyes to his mind.
It was very strong.
He could not resist it.
The lust of the eyes and the desire of the flesh was ignited, flared up and inflamed.
He had no inner strength to overcome this temptation.
He does not not know how to handle the attraction.
It happened too fast.
He acted immediately.
He fell into sin.
My brothers and sister, temptation is like that.
If you are not ready and prepared, it will be too strong to resist it.
That is why we need to watch out.
Jesus said to "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."
Matthew 26:41 (NIV)
That means the spirit is willing to help us but the flesh is too weak to resist it.
The spirit is willing to assist us and reinforce our spiritual strength but the flesh is too weak to withstand the temptation.
There are several truths that we need to remember about temptation.
When your mind is idle and you are bent into doing wrong, temptation will always come to hit you real hard.
When you are weak and you have unconfessed sin, temptation will come and will be on the offensive.
When you are young in the faith and you want to make a difference in God's kingdom, temptation will come to snare you.
When you have just experienced a tremendous blessing and you put down your guard, temptation will come to trap you.
Temptation is subtle, ingenious, sophisticated and brutal.
It can come when you are resting.
It can come when you are sleeping .
It can come when you are worshiping in church.
It can come when you are in the office.
It can come when you are at home.
It can come anytime, any day, any situation and circumstances.
Temptation is a trap we need to avoid.
In order for us to be able to overcome temptation, we must focus our thoughts on God's Word.
It is in God's Word that we can receive new spiritual strength to fight temptation.
It is in God's Word that we can draw wisdom to discern and conquer temptation.
It is in God's Word that we can take our stand and subdue temptation.
It is in God's Word that we can obtain assurance that God's power is available to those who believe.
We must therefore receive God's Word, study God's Word and meditate upon its principles daily.
When we do that, even though temptation attack us, we can be able to conquer it.
So, I encourage you to please continue receiving and reading those daily verses that we text you in your cell phones.
But here is the problem:
There are many Christians who allow themselves to be exposed from the attacks of temptations.
When you go to questionable places even though you know that these places are the hang-outs of sin, you allow yourself to be attacked by temptation.
When you have been harboring sin for so long and you don't want to deal with it, you have just opened yourself for the attacks of more temptations.
When you are not content with the first look, but considered the second look and the third look and tossed the idea of having her in your arms because she is beautiful, you have just opened yourself into more attacks of temptation.
When you have cherished the idea of watching those beautiful nude bodies in your computer thinking that no one else knows about it, you have just opened yourself for more attacks of temptation.
Brothers and sisters, temptation is an enticement that we need to vanguish.
And so, we need to deal with any temptation of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.
At the sign of the first move by the enemy, flee and run away.
At the sign of the first maneuver by Satan, pray and plead for God's help.
At the first activity of fleshy desire in the heart, refocus your mind on other things.
At the indication of a harboring storm ahead, look for shelter in the arms of God.
At the hint of a growing entrapment upon your life by the onslaught of th enemy, look for the only way out available and take cover.
Brothers and sisters, temptation can be subdued.
It takes will power, alertness, vigilance, attentiveness and watchfulness to be able to overcome it.
Scriptures on temptation:
We must walk by the Spirit. Gal. 5:16 (NIV) "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."
We must resist the devil. James 4:7 (NIV) "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
We must flee from sexual immorality. I Co. 6:18-20 (NIV) "18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."
2. THE FALL INTO SIN.
Genesis 34:1-2 "Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her
The second thing that we need to remember is that when the temptation is not subdued, it can turn into sin.
When temptation is entertained, it can have devastating effect to the soul.
This is what happened to verse 2.
Shechem saw her, took her and raped her.
The degree of the clutches of sin was so overwhelming.
It all started with a simple look.
It grew into full blown lust.
He took action by force.
There was no courtship involved.
There was no mutual feeling of understanding.
He did not allow true love to develop.
He did not take time to get to know the girl.
He did not show any respect to her womanhood.
He was just consumed by his own passion and selfish desires.
It became a forced sexual assault.
It was called sin.
It was a pure molestation and abuse of his physical strength to overpower a woman so that he can get what he desires.
Brothers and sisters, that is what SIN is all about.
When you are not able to control the attacks of temptation, it can progress into sinful action.
God hates sin.
Because it can blind your judgment.
It can paralyze your life.
It can darken your soul.
It can break relationships.
It can depress your emotion.
It can obscure your future.
It can blacken your name.
It can deepen your sorrow.
Beware of sin.
It can bring you down.
The stories are all too common.
Driven by lust and sexual fantasy, a young man had sexual relations with three underage girls and goes to prison.
A father of three, married for 19 years, has an affair with his secretary, who is his wife's best friend.
For years they vowed to God and to each other to end the relationship before it destroyed everyone in their lives but they had great difficulty to do so.
A young wife leaves her husband and two children to work in a strip club.
The worker who is caught with internet pornography on his office computer.
The wife who feels lonely and abandoned finds comfort in the arms of another man.
I could go on and on telling you stories after stories of real people subdued by temptation and deep down in sexual sin.
They were trapped, imprisoned and had no power to get out.
It had happened to them, it can happen to us.
We must watch out and pray.
We learned last time that God created man primarily for relationship with Himself and for other people.
But in order for that relationship to improve, there must always be intimacy involved.
Intimacy is getting to know someone to the deepest level.
Intimacy does not necessarily have anything to do with physical touch.
You can have intimacy with a person as you open up your heart in a two way conversation.
You can have intimacy with a person as you get to know his character better through years of acquaintance.
The highest form of intimacy is when you have sexual relationship with your spouse.
But this kind of sexual intimacy is only reserved for a married couple.
If you have sexual intimacy outside of marriage, that is called sexual immorality.
Sexual immorality is sin.
You are abusing the thing that God has created for a purpose.
Sex should only be enjoyed in the bonds of marriage.
Any sex therefore outside the bond of marriage is a sin and God hates it.
God hates sexual sin so much because it draws us away from Him.
God hates sexual immorality because our bodies belong to God.
And so, if God hates sexual immorality, we need to hate sexual immorality also.
Why? Because sexual immorality can bring us feelings of guilt, condemnation and anxiety.
It can brings us mental division and diminished our thinking capacity.
It can damage our self-esteem.
It can give us emptiness and loneliness.
It can bring us disappointment and depression.
It can make us doubt our salvation.
It can diminish our relationship with God.
It can give us physical diseases.
It can give us sexual addiction.
It can break our family relationships.
It can lead to abortion and difficulties for children.
I could go on an go but I hope you know the point.
The consequences of sexual sin is always devastating.
A moment of pleasure to satisfy fleshy desire is not worth it compared to the eternal devastation it can bring to the soul and spirit.
You know how the chapter ended.
There was disgrace, deception, defilement and death.
All because of the sin that was not dealt with int h beginning.
So, how do we overcome sexual sin?
1. ADMIT IT AS WRONG.
Confess it.
Recognize it as sin.
Disclose it as evil.
Confirm it as immoral.
2. DON'T PUT THE BLAME ON OTHERS.
Take responsibility.
Acknowledge that you are accountable for something you have done.
3. SPEND TIME IN GOD'S WORD TO HELP YOU REMAIN PURE.
Read the Bible.
Meditate, memorize and apply God's Word.
Let me say a few words about confession because this is so important.
Confess your sin specifically, not just, "Lord, forgive me all my sins."
You have to name your sin. "Lord, forgive me for my sin of immorality."
Confession is the key to transformation.
It means you admit and confirm that it is shameful.
It means you acknowledge and assert that it is disgraceful.
It means you profess and recognize that it is immoral.
When you confess your sin, you agree with God that it s an abomination to Him and he hates it.
And so, you hate it as well.
When you confess your sin, you repent from it, you renounce it and you reject it completely.
When you confess your sins, you turn away from it and you stay out of it.
When you confess your sin, you cut loose the power of darkness from its clutches over you.
When you confess your sin, you begin to receive new spiritual strength from God to help you live a victorious Christian life.
When you confess your sin, you allow the blood of Christ to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
Brothers and sisters, it is important for us to confess our sins and make a fresh start towards Christian purity and holiness.
What are those specific sexual sins that we need to beware and be watchful?
Here are some list from the Scriptures on what we need to reject and separate ourselves from:
1. Sexual Immorality - Ephesians 5:3 (NIV) "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people."
The words: "not even a hint" means not even a suggestion, not even a clue, not even an evidence that will implicate you with that sin.
You are completely pure and holy.
2. Lust - Matthew 5:28 (NIV) "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
The word: lustfully there means: "having strong sexual desire."
This is also called "immorality of the mind"
This is the situation when a man lust sexually for another woman not his wife.
Remember that every man is responsible to learn to control his mind and his eyes.
Because the one who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
The adultery committed in the heart is equivalent to the one committed physically, because it will finally lead you to physical immorality of all kinds.
That’s why, it is important to learn to control your thoughts and your eyes. The righteous Job said in regards to this:
Job 31:1 (NIV) "“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman."
3. Immodesty - I Timothy 2:9-10 (NIV) "9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God."
Do you know that the clothing that a woman wears or doesn't wear can easily arouse this lustful thought?
Proverbs speaks of a woman “dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart” (7:10).
We also read of Bathsheba bathing in a place where David could see her and lusted for her, which lead to an adulterous relationship (2 Samuel 11:2-5).
All of these passages and principles show that the human body, even partially clad, can evoke lust in the heart and mind which can sometimes even lead to the act of fornication or adultery.
Thus, it is sinful for a woman (or man) to be clothed in a way that would stimulate sinful thoughts in another.
4. Fornication - Hebrews 13:4 (NIV) "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral."
These words: sexually immoral" is also translated "fornication"
It means sexual relations between unmarried couples.
Fornication is a sin as grave as adultery because it affects the future marriage and the eternal fate of that person.
According to this verse, if you commit pre-marital sex, you are putting your future marriage at risk.
That is why there is a widespread divorce nowadays because of the practice of fornication before marriage.
5. Adultery - Exodus 20:14 (NIV) "“You shall not commit adultery."
Adultery is a sexual act wherein one or two persons break the covenant of marriage.
It is a serious sin in the Old Testament that the punishment is death.
Leviticus 20:10 (NIV) “‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death."
Brothers and sister, adultery is a sin.
It has always been a sin and it will always be a sin.
6. Pornography- I John 2:16 (NIV) "For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world."
Pornography is the explicit representation of sexual activity in print or in film to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings."
It shows women as mere physical objects and focuses on their breasts and sex organs.
It does not even try to show other ways in which a woman can be attractive, lie her character, intelligence or humor.
It shows sex as the only important thing in a relationship between a man and a woman.
It cannot substitute for long term love and commitment.
It produces short-lived thrills and does nothing to develop loving sexual relationships.
Brothers and sister, pornography is a sin.
It has always been a sin and it will always be a sin.
7. Homosexuality -1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NIV) "9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men[a] 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."
Homosexuality is a sexual attraction or sexual relations with persons of the same sex.
The Word of God has not changed.
It has always been a sin and it will always be a sin.
The goal: Spiritual purity - 2 Timothy 2:22 (NIV) "Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."
We must always pursue righteousness.
We must run after purity and turn away from anything that contaminates both body and spirit.
