2/2 Malware 1 Corinthians 6:13-20
Our body and how we use it is to be glorifying to God!
The 2nd most beautiful gift God gave humanity is sex.”
Five types of malware that are harmful to us:
Malware #1: Cohabitation
biblical pattern: date-engage-marry
worldly pattern: date-cohabit-marry
Malware #2: Pre-marital sex
Malware #3: Adultery
Malware #4: Pornography
Malware #5: Homosexuality (previous messages)
Biblical principles:
*Each and every human being, gay or straight, is created in the image of God and therefore is an object of God’s love and worthy of our respect and love
*The church of Jesus Christ should be a place where all people from all lifestyles are welcome
*Regardless of cause (innate or learned), gay sexual relationships are sin, just as straight sexual relationships outside of marriage are
*Marriage is a loving, covenantal relationship between a man and a woman
What happened to Target over the holidays? (pic of Target logo). They had a colossal security breach. Someone was able to upload a some malware into their system so that they could download personal credit card and debit information on customers who used their cards from November 27-December 15th. Reuters reported last week that at least 70 million customers were affected.
You know what malware is, don’t you? Malware: short for malicious software, is software used to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems, even destroy operating systems of computers.
Last week we talked about God’s operating system for male/female relationships. If you want your dating life to be enjoyable, if you want your engagement to go well and prepare you for marriage, if you want your marriage to be exciting and fulfilling and life-long, then you’ve got to understand God’s design for male/female relationships.
God’s design, God’s operating system is found in the Bible. You can’t get it off Netflix, you can’t download it off the internet, you can’t discern it from the tv set. It’s imbedded in the Bible and you can download it as you spend time in God’s word and submit to its authority over your life.
But what happened in the garden of Eden, Satan got Adam and Eve to doubt God’s word. He got them to doubt God had their best interest at heart. And he’s been doing that ever since.
Here’s what God’s word says about the operating system and the malicious software, the malware, that can destroy intimacy with Him and between humans.
1 Corinthians 6:13-20 “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will do away with both of them. The body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. 15 Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not! 16 Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh. 17 But anyone joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
18 Run from sexual immorality! “Every sin a person can commit is outside the body.” On the contrary, the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body. 19 Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.”
v.13 There are people out there who say that sex is just a biological function, like eating and drinking. So most of our society, and certainly the entertainment industry touts that sex doesn’t have a proper and healthy context, it just is…so be careful that you don’t get an unwanted pregnancy or an unwanted disease. But v.13 is clear that sexual activity with your body impacts your relationship with the Lord.
v.14 the point is that even though our bodies die, they have an eternal dimension, and therefore what we do with our body impacts our relationship with the Lord.
v.16 Where does the phrase, “For the 2 shall become one flesh” come from? Genesis 2 as God is establishing this thing called marriage. For believers then, we are prohibited from engaging in sexual behavior with anyone who is not our spouse.
v.18 says that sexual sin is different and more damaging than any other sin. Wow! We don’t get that from our society’s operating system, do we?
v.20 Bottom line: Our body and how we use it is to be glorifying to God!
God’s word says that sex, s-e-x, is a gift to be enjoyed in a covenant relationship called marriage. I’ve said many a time, “The most incredible gift God gave humanity is salvation by grace and through faith. But The 2nd most beautiful gift God gave humanity is sex.” The gift can be fantastic inside marriage, but outside of that covenant relationship, sex is destructive. Period. Paragraph. End of story. Sex outside of marriage always ends badly.
So let’s look at Five types of malware that are harmful to us:
Malware #1: Cohabitation
Rather than following the biblical pattern: date-engage-marry, many follow a worldly pattern: date-cohabit-marry (build)
More Millennials (ages 18-34) are cohabitating than getting married
“Many cohabiting couples who decide to get married assume that the difference between the two is minor. This assumption is, after all, a major justification for cohabitation before marriage: it is considered to be a kind of test, in similar circumstances, of the couple's suitability for marriage. We may term this assumption the cohabitation illusion: cohabitation seems like marriage but actually it is not.” Psychology Today
“(Many who cohabit) wish they hadn’t sunk years of their 20s into relationships that would have lasted only months had they not been living together. Others want to feel committed to their partners, yet they are confused about whether they have consciously chosen their mates. Founding relationships on convenience or ambiguity can interfere with the process of claiming the people we love. A life built on top of “maybe you’ll do” simply may not feel as dedicated as a life built on top of the “we do” of commitment or marriage.” New York Times These 2 publications not exactly Bible belt…
Of those who get married to each other, how many divorce later? 80% according to the U.S. government(build)
Of those who later marry someone else, they are 46% more likely to experience divorce than those who don’t cohabit before they marry.
Cohabitation is a malware that steals and destroys personal intimacy and peace, and it sets the individuals in this arrangement for failure later.
I know we have quite a few couples here this morning who are cohabitating. If you’re living together, let me ask you this: why? Why set yourself up for failure? Why set yourself up for more pain? Why cut yourself off from the blessing of God? Why short-circuit His peace and joy?
God loves you. He has set up the operating system, a design by which you can finally find someone to live with the rest of your life and experience the intimacy and peace and joy you long for. Move out. Start praying. Start discovering God’s design. And then, carefully, begin dating if God leads. You will NEVER regret it.
Malware #2: Pre-marital sex
The Bible calls this fornication: sex prior to marriage. If you’re a teen or a single, I know the prevailing cultural value out there is that sex is just a biological, physiological activity, like eating and drinking. But it is not. Something about sex binds 2 people together in a way like nothing else. Sex before marriage is not harmless; it is harmful.
Psychologists, psychiatrists, family counselors will tell you that those who experience sexual activity before marriage have a dramatically increased risk of STDs, unwanted pregnancies, guilt, depression, forgiveness issues, and even having an affair when they do get married.
I can tell you as a pastor, when I have a married couple in my office and they begin to describe the challenges they are having, I can tell in 10 minutes if they were sexually active before they got married. The trust issues, the anger issues, the guilt issues, the love-blockers—all in play in the marriage.
God’s design for sex is that it be experienced in the context of a loving, covenant relationship called marriage. Anything else will just bring pain and scarring. So if you’re not yet married, keep yourself pure. You’ll NEVER regret it!
Malware #3: Adultery
Adultery is when a married partner has an emotional or sexual relationship with someone outside of the marriage. I say emotional because in today’s environment with email, texting, Facebook and other social media, we are seeing more and more emotional affairs that are destroying marriages. Whether it’s emotional or sexual, it will destroy your marriage. I hardly need to mention it. I’ve never seen, heard or read about ANYONE who thought adultery was a good thing. It is devastating to both partners in the marriage. If you are in an affair, stop it now. Tell your spouse. Seek forgiveness from God 1st, then your spouse. And get help. You need to call our counseling center tomorrow and set up an appointment, and maybe, by the grace of God, it’s not too late to salvage your marriage. You’ll NEVER regret it.
Malware #4: Pornography
I’ve spoken many times on this. Pornography is insidious. Native Americans at 1st resisted allowing photographers to take their pictures because they mistakenly thought it would steal their souls. Make no mistake about it, pornography will steal your soul. It will eat it up like a cancer.
Prolonged exposure to pornography leads to: (build)
a diminished trust between the couples
a diminished intimacy
a diminished attraction for the spouse
a diminished affection between the couple
an increase in sexual frustration
an increase in marital failure: nearly 60% of divorces are caused by one of the spouses being caught up in pornography.
Whether male or female, single or married, gay or straight if you find yourself caught up in looking at pornography, you need to come to our ministry called Restore (graphic) that meets on Monday nights in the Family Theatre. If you do, you’ll NEVER regret it.
Speaking of gay or straight, that’s the last malware we have time to talk about this morning.
Malware #5: Homosexuality
18 states have passed laws allowing some form of same-sex marriage. Before the dust settles, the Supreme Court could render a decision declaring that same-sex marriage is constitutional. I’ve taken entire mornings and talked about this before and I refer you to those protracted, and I think balanced discussions of the issue. (Karen/Trey/Meghan, find these 2, make sure they’re on the website, and put titles/dates in WF)
All I have time for this morning is to affirm what the Bible says:
*Each and every human being, gay or straight, is created in the image of God and therefore is an object of God’s love, and worthy of our respect and love. When we get on the anti-gay band wagon we come across hypocritical and judgmental. What did Jesus say? “Remove the log from your own eye before you try to remove the splinter from your neighbor’s eye.”
*The church of Jesus Christ should be a place where all people from all lifestyles are welcome. Shouldn’t make any difference to us whether they are homosexual, adulterers, pornographers, substance abusers or whatever. The cross is level ground for everyone. Jesus died for my sin, and yours, and yours.
*Regardless of cause (innate or learned), gay sexual relationships are sin, just as straight sexual relationships outside of marriage are. They are not operating according to God’s design, and therefore harmful to them and those around them. Sex outside God’s design is not harmless. Period.
*Marriage is a loving, covenantal relationship between a man and a woman. This is not my decree; it is God’s. Genesis 2:24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.”
Closing Illustration (giving something a name doesn’t make it that; or ‘dot’)
Invitation: stop viewing other’s sins as worse than yours; stop abusing this beautiful gift called sex; purpose to enjoy it in the context of a loving, covenant relationship called marriage.
More next week! PG-13
