Staying On The Road Of Sexual Purity

The Church in a Messy World

Staying on the Road of Sexual Purity

1 Corinthians 7:1-9

July 9th, 2017

Introduction:

The last time we met we worked our way through the end of 1st Corinthians 6 in which Paul began teach on sexual purity. Some don’t like to hear sermons on sex. Preach a sermon or two on sex and many Christians become “Victorian” really quick. Listen, we should not be ashamed to talk about that which God was not ashamed to create and bless.

Two of our priorities at Life Bridge are…

Restoring Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (Slide)

And

Strengthening Families (Slide)

Both require a rich, biblical, vibrant view of sex and sexuality. Our kids are dropping like flies partly because churches and their families do not talk about it enough. This morning we’re going to look at chapter 7, verses 1-9. Let me state right here that this morning’s sermon is for singles, widows and marrieds.

In chapter six we discovered one of God’s primary purposes for our bodies. Look at verse 13 on the screen…

“The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.”

1 Corinthians 6:13b

Now look at verse 15…

“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 [someone you are not married to]? Never!”

1 Corinthians 6:15

A bit later Paul asks…

“Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Here’s what Paul is driving at…

One primary purpose for your body is to make Christ look as wonderful as He truly is through how you conduct yourself sexually.

I say this because the verses I just read are couched in a discourse on sex. The Corinthian believers had a big time problem when came to sex. Again, one way we glorify God is through how we conduct ourselves sexually. Think on this. The Lord will give you understanding.

So we must ask this question: How do we give God glory through our sexuality? What’s the Plan?

The Plan

The first thing Paul states is that we must do to glorify God is to…

“Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.”

1 Corinthians 6:19

First: When tempted to sin sexually you must run away and stay away.

That’s part of what the word “flee” means. Remove yourself physically! Like I said last time, this side of heaven you never get to a place where you can stay and not play. The draw is that strong. The longer you stick around the greater the chance for playing around. And we must also build guardrails too. By implication the word “flee” includes shunning sexual immorality too.

Guardrails explained

You all know what guardrails are for. They keep you from getting into trouble. They are usually built a few yards from where real trouble happens. Bumping into them isn’t good. In order to keep from killing ourselves with bad sex, part of fleeing includes building guardrails that prevent you from going over the edge AND they must be built far enough away from the edge in order to work.

Hitting one should send off bells and whistles that make you feel bad. That’s the purpose of a guardrail. They are personal convictions that you adhere to. They warn you not to go there.

After I preached on guardrails two weeks ago someone commented to me that when tempted sexually we must count the cost, meaning we need to count what it’s going to cost if we don’t run. I agree, but the time to count the cost must be done BEFORE sexual temptation strikes, especially for men, since the “feel good chemicals” associated with sex are quickly released in most men’s brains soon after temptation strikes.

Stop, Drop and Roll

Do you remember what you were taught to do if you ever caught on fire? I remembered it this past Tuesday before lighting some fireworks. I live next door to the former Fire Marshall for Illinois. He reminded me that he was as he saw me set up to shoot off a few fireworks. I told him that the key operative word is “former” at which we both laughed. One of the things I miss most about childhood is Cherry Bombs and M-80’s!

If you catch on fire you’re supposed to do what? Say it with me: Stop, Drop and Roll. That’s what I was taught. When you catch on fire you don’t have time to consider the cost. You need to act on what you already know! The same is true when illegitimate fires of passion come your way. You better have guardrails already in place.