Purity of Life

October 31, 2004

Introduction

           

            It was probably two or three years ago that Carolyn bought a new water filter and it came with a tester to test the purity of your water.  I poured a glass of water and tested it, and it contained about 800 parts per million of various minerals and whatever other substances may have been present.  I ran the water through the filter, and it contained one or two particles per million units.

 

            We won’t get into water purification, but I just want you to think, which water would you rather have?  Today, our subject is not water purification, but purification of the heart and life.  Jesus put it this way, “Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.” (Mat 5:8 NKJV)  That’s a pretty simple statement.  It really doesn’t matter which translation you chose, I never found one that didn’t use the word, “pure.”  The dictionary says the word translated pure could have been translated “pure, clean, or clear,” so there isn’t much variation, nor is there much explanation.

 

            We don’t have a meter to test our hearts, but we do have the Bible, and we do have a conscience which can be trained to know right from wrong.  Just as there are many things that might contaminate our water, there are many things that can contaminate our hearts, but this morning we are going to focus our thoughts on one subject, and that is sexual purity.  Immorality is becoming so common place that people no longer blush at things that people 50 years ago not even want to mention.

 

            But why the lesson today?  Once again, we had two requests to speak on homosexuality.  There was also this request:  “Teaching what morals and standards God expects of Christians (especially the youth.)

 

Body

 

I.        What is God’s pattern for our sexuality?

 

1. He said it in really simple terms.

 

(Gen 1:27-28 NKJV)  So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. {28} Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

 

1.      Male and female He created them:  God created sex.

 

a.       He intended it to be between a man and a woman.

 

(Gen 2:24 KJV)  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

b.      He intended it to be in the confines of marriage.

c.       He intended children to born to couples.  "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth.

 

1)      He intended for children to be born to us.

2)      Our earth has been populated, so “fill the earth” is not as urgent now as then.

 

2.      Homosexuality was never God’s plan for man.

 

2. The Bible clarifies God position in numerous passages.

 

II.     Man has perverted God’s plan in various ways.

 

1. Homosexuality and so called “gay marriage.”

 

 (Lev 18:22 NKJV)  'You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.

 

All versions say basically the same thing except one:

 

(Lev 18:22 TLB)  "Homosexuality is absolutely forbidden, for it is an enormous sin.

 

(Lev 18:24 NKJV)  'Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you.

 

(Lev 18:29 NKJV)  'For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people.

 

2. The New Testament is very clear about the seriousness of sexual sins:

 

(1 Cor 6:9-10 NKJV)  Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, {10} nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

 

1.      Using different words, Paul spells it out in Romans as well.

 

(Rom 1:26-28 NKJV)  For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. {27} Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. {28} And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

2.      As the Bible closes with the book of Revelation, there is another serious warning.

 

(Rev 21:8 NKJV)  "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

 

III.         What was God’s design?

 

(Gen 2:24 KJV)  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

 

A.     Jesus explained this simple passage.

 

(Mat 19:3-6 NKJV)  The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" {4} And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' {5} "and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? {6} "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." 7  They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"  8  He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

9  "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."

 

1.      God had a plan and He spelled it out:  One man, one wife, for life.

2.      It is the plan that is fair and right and just for women.

 

(Mal 2:14-16 NKJV)  Yet you say, "For what reason?" Because the LORD has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. {15} But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously¹ with the wife of his youth. {16} "For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one's garment with violence," Says the LORD of hosts. "Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously."

 

¹1) to act treacherously, deceitfully, deal treacherously

1a) (Qal) to act or deal treacherously, faithlessly, deceitfully, offend

 

3.      It is the plan that provides security and stability for children.

4.      In short, it is the plan of love, not lust.

5.      It is the plan of integrity and right and just feelings.

Conclusion

 

I.        Our intent this morning is not to cast shame or guilt on anyone who has made a mistake in the past and has done everything they can and should to make things right.

 

II.     We do want everyone, young and old alike, to know that sexual sins are against God’s law and cause numerous problems we have not even had time to mention.

 

III.   Regardlesss of who we are, all have sinned, and need God’s forgiveness.

 

Scripture quotations marked "NKJV™" are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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