This is the conclusion of this series, Sex And The City Of God. This topic is a passion of Pastors John's and is something that has been burning in his heart for some time. It has revolutionized my thinking on the subject of sex, particularly as it relates to Christians and answered many of my unanswered questions and has given me a whole new perspective and understanding of the Word Of God as it relates to our sexuality. One of my questions which was answered is; : Why have so many Christian leaders and churches fallen into sexual sin in recent times?
If you are interested in watching this series it is all recorded and you can see it at www.westhighland.org. It would be an excellent teaching series for a church on Sunday evenings or for a bible study discussion group. CD's and tapes of the whole series can be ordered for a nominal fee.
This lesson is based on principal #5- The Glory of God.
When we sin sexually we are hurting the Lord God.
God's displeasure can be seen :
1) As a Law-Giver- It was God that gave the law through Moses and the Ten Commandments. When we break the law, we do wrong to the giver of the law.
2) As a lover- We can see in scripture that God loved King David. He chose him to be King. When we look at 2 Samuel 12:7-9, we can see how God was talking about suffering a personal wrong. He was telling David of all the good he had done for him from the time he was a shepherd boy to the time he was made King of Israel. God gave many gifts to David and even provided for his sexual gratification. In verse 9, we read the words of a heartbroken lover. It was these words that devastated David and put him on the road to repentance. Psalm 51:4 is really not accurate, because David sinned against many others, not just God. Bathsheba, Uriah, his family, and himself, just to name a few.
The root of sexual sin is spiritual, not physical. Sexual sin is committed not because we lack anything, but usually happens in the midst of great blessing. We want what we can't have. The forbidden fruit. Satan would like us to think this will bring us freedom, but only results in bondage and judgement. His strategy is to get us focused on what we can't have so we forget all the blessings we have received from God. He would have us think God is deceiving us, not him. We think, If I don't act on my own I won't get what I want. When we believe Satan's lies and take matters into our own hands we do great harm to God.
The real fuel that drives sexual passion is not physical, it is spiritual. Sexual sin is the result of Idolatry, greed and covetousness. Sexual sin is rooted in Idolatry. Look at Sodom and Gomorrah. This is a prime example of sexual sin that flowed out of a self centered idolatrous lifestyle. The scripture mentions the sin of Idolatry much more than the sexual sin itself, although it was evident that was the result.
The generation that grew up in the 60's and 70's was willing to lead and to rebel over a cause. We could see that with all the riots in the Universities in the U.S. during that time period. Our current generation, unfortunately has very few leaders. Many would rather follow that lead.
Jesus has given us a cause to rebel against the status quot.
He is to be the center of our life, not only the savior that saves us from hell, but to be Lord of every aspect of our life which should revolve around him, including and especially our sexuality.
We should have the attitude; " I will die before I sin against him"
This is a radical way to live.
We should want not only to live well for Christ, but we should want to finnish well!
At the conclusion of the talk, Pastor John called for all the men who wanted to join the New Sexual Revolution to join him at the front of the church to make a public commitment before God to be leaders in our homes, and our society and to live a life of sexual purity for Christ. Hundreds of men got down on their knees and made that commitment.
I was one of them.
Thank you Pastor John for your courage and your obedience in teaching this series and may God richly bless you.
THE REVOLUTION BEGINS!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Talk 9- The Manifesto Of The new Sexual Revolution
Whether it be a church or a nation, there needs to be a firm foundation upon which to build. Jesus said in Luke 6:48, that a wise man builds his house on a firm foundation. Ideas and philosophies have consequences. For example, look at Marxism or Nazism. They both collapsed. Our current Post Modern Society is the consequence of Freudian Philosophy that goes back 150 years. Freud thought every Human behavior is an expression of their sexuality. Guess what is dominating our society today? Foundations are very important.
So how do we avoid the inevitable consequences in a society that is patterned after Freud's philosophy?
Let's take another look at King David in 2 Samuel. David offered an innocent man ( Uriah) on the alter of his own reputation. Why? To try and cover up his sin. That's what happens with sexual sin. It puts in motion a whole bunch of other sins to try and cover it up. Lies, deception, murder, jealousy to name a few. It creates subterfuge. To deceive through a strategy to conceal the truth. We are so sinful we need to know the potential depravity of our hearts. David was a believer when this took place. No Christian should ever say " I would never do that!". A very dangerous statement. We don't even know how evil our hearts can be. What we should be saying is " I need Gods grace so that won't happen to me. " There is a deeper repentance that needs to take place than for just for the sexual sin. We tend to compartmentalize our lives which diminishes the seriousness of sexual sin. We may say to ourselves, " I have a good prayer life and I read the bible every day, I have a good job and am honest with my customers, so If I messed up in this one area, I'm not that bad off compared to some others I know." In 1 John 1:5, it talks about light and dark. Light is that which reveals, dark is that which conceals. Light is God's nature. Truthfulness must be our approach to God. Honesty is required. What do you find when you lift up a slab of rock? A bunch of bugs and worms running around looking for a hole to crawl into. Why? They can't stand the light. They have been exposed. It's the same with our sin. It's honesty, not holiness that's the basic requirement in our relationship with God and with others!
Just so we don't forget, yes God hates sin, but he loves the sinner and because of that he is merciful and willing to forgive our sin and give us hope, thanks to the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.
In 2 Samuel 12:14, we can see that David was forgiven, restored and reconciled "but" there was still consequences to his sin that God did not take away. Why? Because if you look in Hebrews 12:4-12 God loved David enough to discipline him. God's hand was heavy on David. He reaped his sexual sin and murder through his children. This was God's loving discipline to remind David of his own sin, so that he could see the seriousness and harm it caused to others. He wanted to make David pure and Holy.
David finally did repent and got honest with God, himself and others. He accepted the consequences of his sin, he didn't try to excuse his actions, he accepted the responsibility. This is why God called him a man after his own heart.
That is the destiny of every believer. To be Holy, as he is Holy.
So, let's get honest with God, ourselves and others, so we can get on that road to Holiness!
Start building a firm foundation. On "The Rock". Jesus Christ!
Watch the final talk # 10. This coming Sunday at 6:30pm at www.livechurch.ca
So how do we avoid the inevitable consequences in a society that is patterned after Freud's philosophy?
Let's take another look at King David in 2 Samuel. David offered an innocent man ( Uriah) on the alter of his own reputation. Why? To try and cover up his sin. That's what happens with sexual sin. It puts in motion a whole bunch of other sins to try and cover it up. Lies, deception, murder, jealousy to name a few. It creates subterfuge. To deceive through a strategy to conceal the truth. We are so sinful we need to know the potential depravity of our hearts. David was a believer when this took place. No Christian should ever say " I would never do that!". A very dangerous statement. We don't even know how evil our hearts can be. What we should be saying is " I need Gods grace so that won't happen to me. " There is a deeper repentance that needs to take place than for just for the sexual sin. We tend to compartmentalize our lives which diminishes the seriousness of sexual sin. We may say to ourselves, " I have a good prayer life and I read the bible every day, I have a good job and am honest with my customers, so If I messed up in this one area, I'm not that bad off compared to some others I know." In 1 John 1:5, it talks about light and dark. Light is that which reveals, dark is that which conceals. Light is God's nature. Truthfulness must be our approach to God. Honesty is required. What do you find when you lift up a slab of rock? A bunch of bugs and worms running around looking for a hole to crawl into. Why? They can't stand the light. They have been exposed. It's the same with our sin. It's honesty, not holiness that's the basic requirement in our relationship with God and with others!
Just so we don't forget, yes God hates sin, but he loves the sinner and because of that he is merciful and willing to forgive our sin and give us hope, thanks to the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.
In 2 Samuel 12:14, we can see that David was forgiven, restored and reconciled "but" there was still consequences to his sin that God did not take away. Why? Because if you look in Hebrews 12:4-12 God loved David enough to discipline him. God's hand was heavy on David. He reaped his sexual sin and murder through his children. This was God's loving discipline to remind David of his own sin, so that he could see the seriousness and harm it caused to others. He wanted to make David pure and Holy.
David finally did repent and got honest with God, himself and others. He accepted the consequences of his sin, he didn't try to excuse his actions, he accepted the responsibility. This is why God called him a man after his own heart.
That is the destiny of every believer. To be Holy, as he is Holy.
So, let's get honest with God, ourselves and others, so we can get on that road to Holiness!
Start building a firm foundation. On "The Rock". Jesus Christ!
Watch the final talk # 10. This coming Sunday at 6:30pm at www.livechurch.ca
Friday, April 10, 2009
Talk 8 - The Manifesto Of The New Sexual Revolution -Principal 2- Love Your Neighbour
In Talk # 7 the discussion centered around a truth about ourselves and the dishonour done to one's own body when we sin sexually. This talk is centered around the wrong done to others.
In our culture we have tried to diminish the seriousness of sexual sin by calling it by other than what it really is. Instead of adultery, we say " affair", or instead of homosexual we say " alternate lifestyle" etc. God, on the other hand, takes this sin very seriously, as we can see in scripture.
Let's take a look at King David in 2 Samuel 11 and 12. From reading this scripture and others like it in the old testament we can conclude that when God is displeased, he always responds. His actions and the timing of his actions are determined by his own sovereign will. When King David sinned with Bathsheba, he knew he was doing wrong, but deceived himself into believing it wasn't as bad as it really was. When God sent Nathan the prophet to David who told him the story about the poor man and his sheep to show David his own sin, David was outraged by the story, not knowing that Nathan was talking about him. Here's a man that committed both Adultery and Murder, but still had a proper sense of justice. That teaches us that people can be deceived about their own sin and still maintain a sense of justice as it relates to others.( even church leaders).
So, what is the wrong in Adultery?
It is one of the most calloused sins you can commit to another man. It's like murder and steeling rolled into one. It can bring out a jealous rage that can lead to murder. You steel another man's spouse and it kills the relationship. Not only between the spouses, but other family members as well. Children, parents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, you name them and they are affected by this sin. It's not just the two people involved in the sin. It's effects are devastating and permanent. Even though God is full of mercy and grace and can forgive this sin, there are still consequences that nobody can escape. In King Davids case he ended up losing his sons, who were heirs to his throne, to the sword.
What is the wrong in pre-marital Sex ?
1. Misleading occurs- people tell each other things they don't really mean just to get what they want.
2. Pressure to go against conscience- people have an inner sense that they are doing is wrong but feel the power of peer and social pressure and not wanting to look like a wimp if they say "no".
3. Beginning of a slippery slope- once you start and cross the line it is harder and harder to resist.
4. Rob yourself ( and other participant) of the most precious gift you can give your future spouse. Your virginity is the one gift that you should give your spouse that is not shared by anyone else. That's what makes the wedding night so special and unforgettable.
5. Destroys the foundation of future marriage stability- if you have had multiple sexual relationships prior to marriage, you bring a piece of each person into the marriage making it very difficult to give all of yourself to your spouse.
The good news is there is forgiveness for sexual sin and counselling available to help us cope with the consequences, however just like King David we cannot escape the consequences.
Wouldn't it be better to love our neighbour as ourselves? Love does no harm to a neighbour.
We are our brothers keeper!
There will be no Lesson this Sunday night due to the Easter holiday. The next lesson , Talk #9- The Manifest Of The New Sexual Revolution- Principal 3 - Walk In The Light( Honesty)- Principal 4 - Pursue Holiness will tale place on Sunday night, April 19th at 6:30pm. Join us at www.livechurch.ca
This Sunday night join us for "The Sacrifice" musical and drama Easter special at 7:00pm. See www.westhighland.org for more details!
God bless you and have a great Easter!
HE IS RISEN!
In our culture we have tried to diminish the seriousness of sexual sin by calling it by other than what it really is. Instead of adultery, we say " affair", or instead of homosexual we say " alternate lifestyle" etc. God, on the other hand, takes this sin very seriously, as we can see in scripture.
Let's take a look at King David in 2 Samuel 11 and 12. From reading this scripture and others like it in the old testament we can conclude that when God is displeased, he always responds. His actions and the timing of his actions are determined by his own sovereign will. When King David sinned with Bathsheba, he knew he was doing wrong, but deceived himself into believing it wasn't as bad as it really was. When God sent Nathan the prophet to David who told him the story about the poor man and his sheep to show David his own sin, David was outraged by the story, not knowing that Nathan was talking about him. Here's a man that committed both Adultery and Murder, but still had a proper sense of justice. That teaches us that people can be deceived about their own sin and still maintain a sense of justice as it relates to others.( even church leaders).
So, what is the wrong in Adultery?
It is one of the most calloused sins you can commit to another man. It's like murder and steeling rolled into one. It can bring out a jealous rage that can lead to murder. You steel another man's spouse and it kills the relationship. Not only between the spouses, but other family members as well. Children, parents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, you name them and they are affected by this sin. It's not just the two people involved in the sin. It's effects are devastating and permanent. Even though God is full of mercy and grace and can forgive this sin, there are still consequences that nobody can escape. In King Davids case he ended up losing his sons, who were heirs to his throne, to the sword.
What is the wrong in pre-marital Sex ?
1. Misleading occurs- people tell each other things they don't really mean just to get what they want.
2. Pressure to go against conscience- people have an inner sense that they are doing is wrong but feel the power of peer and social pressure and not wanting to look like a wimp if they say "no".
3. Beginning of a slippery slope- once you start and cross the line it is harder and harder to resist.
4. Rob yourself ( and other participant) of the most precious gift you can give your future spouse. Your virginity is the one gift that you should give your spouse that is not shared by anyone else. That's what makes the wedding night so special and unforgettable.
5. Destroys the foundation of future marriage stability- if you have had multiple sexual relationships prior to marriage, you bring a piece of each person into the marriage making it very difficult to give all of yourself to your spouse.
The good news is there is forgiveness for sexual sin and counselling available to help us cope with the consequences, however just like King David we cannot escape the consequences.
Wouldn't it be better to love our neighbour as ourselves? Love does no harm to a neighbour.
We are our brothers keeper!
There will be no Lesson this Sunday night due to the Easter holiday. The next lesson , Talk #9- The Manifest Of The New Sexual Revolution- Principal 3 - Walk In The Light( Honesty)- Principal 4 - Pursue Holiness will tale place on Sunday night, April 19th at 6:30pm. Join us at www.livechurch.ca
This Sunday night join us for "The Sacrifice" musical and drama Easter special at 7:00pm. See www.westhighland.org for more details!
God bless you and have a great Easter!
HE IS RISEN!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Talk 7- The Manifesto Of The New Sexual Revolution
The question remains, how do we, in The City of God, live in a sexualized culture? From examples in the Old testament we have concluded that we have three options:
1. Jonah - avoidance
2. Esther - Accommodation
- Assimilation
3. Daniel - Separation
- Activist
From the last lesson, we concluded that Daniels example was the best one to follow. Daniel was totally immersed in a culture that was hostile to his Jewish faith. The Babylonian culture he lived in, tried to brainwash his faith out of him through education in a total immersion program. They even changed his Hebrew name to one after a Babylonian God. Him and his three Hebrew friends. If you have trouble remembering their names, just think of " my shack", " your shack" and a "bungalow". The Babylonians tried to totally change their thinking and their way of living. Daniel drew the line at eating the Kings Food, because he believed God's word and did not want to defile his body because he knew this would destroy his faith. This was the one thing he knew he must not do, in order to keep his faith in tact while living in this pagan culture. He could learn their culture, even be called a name after one of their god's, but he must not defile his body by eating food that had been dedicated to their Gods, which by the way were all sexual Gods. As we learned last week, our Kings Food is our cultures sexual ethics. We too, in our culture, must keep our bodies from being defiled in order to maintain our faith. Look at 1 Corinthians 6:18. " Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body." You see, sexual sin is much worse that other sins because of the total damage it does to our whole psyche. It has adverse effects on our whole being. Our sexuality is so closely related to our emotions, body, mind and spirit. Cameron Diaz said it really well in the movie Vanilla Sky. She was so engrossed with Tom Cruise she was stalking him, because she couldn't get over the fact that he didn't want her any more after their brief, but intense sexual love affair. She said to him " Your body makes a promise, even if you don't." Imagine that! Cameron Diaz saying what Paul the Apostle said In 1 Corinthians 6:18!
So what can we conclude from all this? How was Daniel able to stand up to the pressures of Babylonian culture?
1. Influence of the Believing Community
Daniel was around 9 or 10 years old in 622B.C. It was during this period after the reign of an evil king , that the Jewish temple was re-opened after being closed for 70 years. There would have been great revival of faith during this time. The Jews were once again on fire for God, and was this influence on young Daniel that shaped his religious convictions that carried him through the tough times during the exile.
2. Influence of Godly parents
Nothing is mentioned specifically about Daniels parents, but we know through familiarity with Jewish culture of that time that Hebrew parents gave their children names that meant something. Daniels name means " God is my judge". we can conclude therefore that God was very important to his parents and they wanted his name to reflect that fact. They must have raised him to be a God fearing young man.
Psalm 78: 4-7 " We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands."
Pastor John invited us to a New Sexual Revolution. One that would honour God by honouring our bodies and keeping them pure according to his word in order to maintain our faith in our paganistic society. We must pass this down to future generations.
Next week Talk # 8 - The Manifesto Of The Sexual Revolution- Principal # 2 Love your Neighbour. Watch live at 6:30pm, www.livechurch.ca
1. Jonah - avoidance
2. Esther - Accommodation
- Assimilation
3. Daniel - Separation
- Activist
From the last lesson, we concluded that Daniels example was the best one to follow. Daniel was totally immersed in a culture that was hostile to his Jewish faith. The Babylonian culture he lived in, tried to brainwash his faith out of him through education in a total immersion program. They even changed his Hebrew name to one after a Babylonian God. Him and his three Hebrew friends. If you have trouble remembering their names, just think of " my shack", " your shack" and a "bungalow". The Babylonians tried to totally change their thinking and their way of living. Daniel drew the line at eating the Kings Food, because he believed God's word and did not want to defile his body because he knew this would destroy his faith. This was the one thing he knew he must not do, in order to keep his faith in tact while living in this pagan culture. He could learn their culture, even be called a name after one of their god's, but he must not defile his body by eating food that had been dedicated to their Gods, which by the way were all sexual Gods. As we learned last week, our Kings Food is our cultures sexual ethics. We too, in our culture, must keep our bodies from being defiled in order to maintain our faith. Look at 1 Corinthians 6:18. " Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body." You see, sexual sin is much worse that other sins because of the total damage it does to our whole psyche. It has adverse effects on our whole being. Our sexuality is so closely related to our emotions, body, mind and spirit. Cameron Diaz said it really well in the movie Vanilla Sky. She was so engrossed with Tom Cruise she was stalking him, because she couldn't get over the fact that he didn't want her any more after their brief, but intense sexual love affair. She said to him " Your body makes a promise, even if you don't." Imagine that! Cameron Diaz saying what Paul the Apostle said In 1 Corinthians 6:18!
So what can we conclude from all this? How was Daniel able to stand up to the pressures of Babylonian culture?
1. Influence of the Believing Community
Daniel was around 9 or 10 years old in 622B.C. It was during this period after the reign of an evil king , that the Jewish temple was re-opened after being closed for 70 years. There would have been great revival of faith during this time. The Jews were once again on fire for God, and was this influence on young Daniel that shaped his religious convictions that carried him through the tough times during the exile.
2. Influence of Godly parents
Nothing is mentioned specifically about Daniels parents, but we know through familiarity with Jewish culture of that time that Hebrew parents gave their children names that meant something. Daniels name means " God is my judge". we can conclude therefore that God was very important to his parents and they wanted his name to reflect that fact. They must have raised him to be a God fearing young man.
Psalm 78: 4-7 " We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands."
Pastor John invited us to a New Sexual Revolution. One that would honour God by honouring our bodies and keeping them pure according to his word in order to maintain our faith in our paganistic society. We must pass this down to future generations.
Next week Talk # 8 - The Manifesto Of The Sexual Revolution- Principal # 2 Love your Neighbour. Watch live at 6:30pm, www.livechurch.ca
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