Sunday
Morning Bible Study
September
10, 2017
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Regular: 2900
words Communion: 2500 words Video=75wpm
Baptism
Today is our big annual baptism party, it starts at 12:30pm.
What is baptism all about?
The Bible teaches that those who have repented and turned to trust in Jesus
should be baptized.
Baptism is symbolic – a picture of dying with Christ and being raised in
newness of life.
Baptism is public expression of what has already happened inside of you.
If you’ve never been baptized since you’ve come to believe in Jesus, we
invite you to jump in!
What’s going on?
I imagine that some of you are wondering what’s going on in this world we
live in.
Wildfires, massive earthquakes, North Korea’s threats … and…
Hurricanes.
I wonder if God might be trying to get our attention.
(Haggai 2:6–7 NKJV)
—6 “For thus says the Lord
of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and
earth, the sea and dry land; 7 and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of
All Nations…
South Asia has seen 1,200 people
killed from flooding through a disastrous monsoon season.
Almost half of Bangladesh is now
underwater.
Idaho and Montana are struggling
with massive wildfires.
Mexico has experienced the worst
earthquake in a century.
Genocidal slaughter continues in
Syria.
North Korea threatens to nuke the
U.S., then tests a hydrogen bomb and long-range ballistic missiles.
Hurricane Harvey drops 33 trillion
gallons of rainfall, creating a once-in-a-1,000 years event.
And all that’s without the biggest
hurricane of them all, Irma, beginning to plow its way through Florida. The hurricane is wider than the state of
Florida.
As you pray for our nation and our world, pray that we would realize that
God is serious that we turn to Him.
(2 Peter 3:9b NLT) …He does not
want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
Proverbs
5:1-23 Sexual Purity
:1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding,
:2 That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge.
:3 For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is
smoother than oil;
:4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
:3 an immoral woman
immoral – zuwr
– to be strange, be a stranger
The “immoral” person is someone who
doesn’t belong in your life.
When you are married, your spouse
“belongs” to you.
When two married people become
separated, they are “estranged”.
Though Solomon is warning his male offspring of the dangers of an immoral
woman, but women aren’t the only immoral ones to be concerned about. Gals need to be equally concerned about
immoral men.
The New Testament uses the Greek word “porneia”
to describe immorality.
It’s a very broad word and includes any kind of sexual activity outside of
the boundaries of marriage.
It would include adultery. It would
include pre-marital sex and masturbation.
It would include sexual sins such as homosexuality.
Our word “pornography” means literally “immoral writing”.
Solomon warns his children from going down the destructive paths of immoral
behavior.
:3-4 the lips… drip honey … sword
We don’t get caught in immorality because we see all the pain ahead.
We get caught in immorality because we are drawn in by what seems to be
“sweet” and attractive.
The problem is, it will always end in pain.
There will always be a sword in your heart.
:5 Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell.
:5 Her steps lay hold of hell
There are consequences to immoral behavior.
Hell is a part of that.
The more immediate thing you experience when you participate in immoral
behavior is guilt and condemnation.
Guilt and condemnation are intended
by God to remind you that you’re doing the wrong thing.
God does not want you to live your
life under guilt and condemnation.
We’ll talk about that later.
:6 Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do
not know them.
:7 Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the
words of my mouth.
:8 Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house,
:8 do not go near the door of her house
We’re like bugs that just can’t help but be drawn to the “light”, but not
all lights are good for you.
We shouldn’t be concerned about how “close” we can get to temptation, but
how “far” we can get.
:9 Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one;
:9 Lest you give your honor to
others
honor – howd
– splendor, majesty, vigor
:10 Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to
the house of a foreigner;
:10 Lest aliens be filled with your wealth
aliens – zuwr
– to be strange, be a stranger; foreigner
This is the same word translated
“immoral” in vs. 3.
We’re not really talking about
little green men.
The word “aliens” is the same Hebrew ebrewword translated “immoral woman” (v.3).
Sexual immorality comes at a cost.
It might be the cost of medical bills you incur due to stds.
It might be the cost of supporting the baby that will be born. (heaven help
you if you go down the road of abortion)
It might be the cost of alimony.
And then there’s the price of your guilty conscience.
There’s another sense to the cost of
immorality.
Illustration
I’ve heard it explained as if a
person’s sexual nature was worth a million bucks. That’s what you’re born with.
Every time you have sex with another person, you are taking half of your
treasure and giving it to them. When you are married to that person, the
treasure stays within the family. But when you are not married to that person,
you’ve just given away half of your fortune, and the value of your sexual
nature is now worth a half a million. When you have sex with another person,
it’s now worth a quarter of a million dollars. And when it goes on and on, sex
becomes something cheap and filthy, instead of priceless and beautiful.
Virginity is a treasure.
Faithfulness to your marriage is priceless.
I can see a new
Master Card commercial: Cost of the
wedding chapel: $500. Cost of the Bridal Gown: $1500.
Cost of the reception:
$10,000. Cost of purity and
faithfulness: Priceless.
:11 And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed,
:12 And say: “How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised
correction!
:13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to
those who instructed me!
:14 I was on the verge of total ruin, In the midst of the assembly and
congregation.”
:12 How I have hated instruction
In the beginning stages of your sin you tell yourself that you can have it
all – that you can continue to do what you’re doing without having to suffer
any of the consequences that people have told you about.
Until you start suffering the consequences.
Then comes the regret when you realize it was all your fault.
And I tell you that you aren’t going to really change until you recognize
that it is indeed your fault. Don’t
blame others for your actions.
:15 Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own
well.
:15 Drink water from your own cistern
Solomon uses water as a metaphor for sex.
There’s nothing wrong with having water to drink. Water is good.
It’s when you get greedy and want to drink someone else’s water that you
get into trouble.
:16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the
streets?
:16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad
Israel is a land where water is a precious commodity.
In a drought, you don’t take the garden hose and water the street.
Don’t take your sex life out in the streets.
:17 Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you.
:18 Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth.
:18 rejoice with the wife of your youth
Your sex life can be “blessed” when it’s focused solely on your spouse.
(Hebrews 13:4 NKJV)
Marriage
is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and
adulterers God will judge.
When you grow up in an immoral world, and you start to dip your toes into
immorality, you can start to associate sex with feelings of guilt and
condemnation.
God didn’t design sex to be a “bad” thing or a “forbidden” thing.
He designed sex to be a good thing.
It’s just that He designed it to be done in one setting – a committed
marital relationship.
:19 As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you
at all times; And always be enraptured with her love.
:19 a graceful doe, Let her
breasts satisfy you …
What’s the connection between the
deer and breasts?
Solomon uses similar language to
describe breasts.
(Song of Solomon 7:3 NKJV) Your two
breasts are like two fawns, Twins of a
gazelle.
I want to be careful about making a
blanket statement which might not be true in all cases, but I know that many
men are attracted by a woman’s breasts.
It’s one of the secrets of advertising
– show a little flesh to get a man’s attention.
It’s why there are some women
willing to pay money for breast enlargement surgery, hoping they’ll get
attention (which they will).
It’s not wrong for a man to look at
a woman’s breasts, as long as they are his wife’s breasts.
:19 always be enraptured with her love
enraptured – shagah – to
swerve, meander, be intoxicated
Being “enraptured” involves a person’s “looks”, but it’s really about
“relationship”.
You stay “enraptured” by her love, by cultivating a healthy relationship
with your spouse.
Some of that has to do with the words you say to each other.
Illustration
A husband and wife are getting ready for bed. The wife is standing in front
of a full-length mirror taking a hard look at herself. “You know,” she says, “I
look in the mirror, and I see an old woman.” “My face is all wrinkled, every
part of my body is hanging out a mile.” “I’ve got fat legs, and my arms are all
flabby.” She turns to her husband and says; “Tell me something positive to make
me feel better about myself.” He studies hard for a moment thinking about it
and then says in a soft, thoughtful voice; “Well, ... there’s nothing wrong
with your eyesight.”
Services for the husband will be held Saturday morning at 10:30 at Forest Lawn.
That’s not the way to do it.
Paul said that husbands are to wash
their wives in the water of their word (Eph. 5:26-27), and when they do,
there’s a process that takes place where their faults seems to disappear.
:20 For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be
embraced in the arms of a seductress?
:21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He ponders all his paths.
:22 His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in
the cords of his sin.
:23 He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly
he shall go astray.
:21 the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord
Here’s an uncomfortable truth:
God sees everything.
Three last lessons…
Lesson
The Discipline of Abstinence
I’d like to talk a little about sex in marriage, but before I do I need to
lay a foundation – the importance of learning how to abstain.
Sin
Before you get married, sex is wrong.
(1
Corinthians 6:18 NKJV) Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the
body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
This is that word porneia,
which has to do with any kind of sex outside the boundary of marriage.
Even after you get married, sex in any form outside of your marriage is
wrong.
We need to abstain from the wrong kinds of sex.
Life without sex
Did you know that you can abstain sex and not die?
(1
Corinthians 6:12 NLT) You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good
for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a
slave to anything.
You cannot stop eating and live, but you can stop having
sex and live.
You shouldn’t be a slave to sex.
Even after you get married, there are going to be times when abstinence is
necessary.
Maybe one of you is away on a business trip.
Maybe one of you is in the hospital.
You need to learn that you can live without sex.
Trust
For those times when sex is not possible, your spouse needs to know that
they can “trust” you.
They need to know you’ve mastered the discipline of
abstinence when it’s needed.
Interdependence
God wants your sexual fulfillment coming from one place, your spouse.
Marriage is deepened when husband and wife learn to mutually meet each
other’s needs.
It’s part of that process where God makes two people into
one.
If you live your life pleasuring yourself whenever you
want through masturbation, you’re going to short circuit the intimacy God wants
with your spouse.
It’s kind of like having to depend upon someone else to feed you.
Video: Freshpet Holiday Feast – 13
dogs and 1 cat eating with human hands
That’s like your marriage.
At various times, one of you is the hands, the other is the dog.
Maybe your spouse can’t feed you as often as you want. Maybe they don’t always know what they’re
doing.
Maybe you’re an overeater.
That’s when the disciple of abstinence comes in.
Lesson
The Design of Marriage
(1 Corinthians 7:2–5 NKJV) —2 Nevertheless,
because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each
woman have her own husband.
Protection
sexual immorality – porneia
– illicit sexual intercourse
This is that general word that includes
any kind of sexual activity outside the boundary of marriage.
Marital sex is not a magic bullet against immorality, but it is an
important line of defense against immorality when both partners are working at
walking with God.
Meeting each other’s physical needs doesn’t eliminate temptations, but it
makes them a little easier to deal with.
3 Let the
husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to
her husband.
Debt owed
due – opheilo
– to owe; that which is due, the debt
affection – eunoia
– good will, kindness
render – apodidomi
– to deliver, to give away for one’s own profit what is one’s own, to sell;
to pay off, discharge what is due
The language used here is the language of “debt”. Husband and wife owe each other a “debt”.
If your spouse is going to abstain from “feeding themselves”, then you owe
it to them to feed them.
It’s not healthy when I think
that my wife owes me, but
it’s healthy for me to think that I owe her.
My focus needs to be on her needs, while hers is on mine.
4 The wife
does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And
likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
Whose key?
In marriage, your body no longer belongs to you. It belongs to your spouse.
When you get married, it’s like swapping car keys. I hand her the keys to my car, and she gives
me the keys to her car.
She drives my car.
I drive hers. Am I getting too
racy for you?
At times I may think it’s been awhile since I took my car out for a drive.
I need to remember that I no longer have access to the
keys to my car.
So try to be a little nicer to the gal that holds the car
keys.
Paul wrote,
(Philippians 2:4 NLT) Don’t
look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
5 Do not
deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give
yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does
not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
Doghouse
We have another name for when one spouse “deprives” the other. We call it “being in the doghouse”.
There are several areas to balance when it comes to the “doghouse”.
Sometimes a moment in the “doghouse” is appropriate because frankly you’ve
been a jerk and you need to straighten some things out.
Yet sometimes one person abuses the concept of the “doghouse”
because they want to control things and need to show some grace.
Though it may be appropriate to say “no” from time to time, don’t forget
the bigger picture – Satan can use your “no” to put your spouse in a vulnerable
position.
At the same time, don’t use being in the “doghouse” as an excuse for more bad
behavior – “She said no to me, so I’m going to let Satan tempt me, blow up my
brain with porn, and blame it on her.”
Hopefully over time you will eventually get rid of the doghouse
altogether. I can’t remember the last
time I was there.
Lesson
Guilt and Condemnation
How do I deal with the guilt that comes from sexual sin?
Turn around
Make a choice today to turn from your sin.
This is what it means to “repent”.
Turn to Jesus
He alone has the power to break the chains of sin, not your spouse.
(Romans 6:6 NLT) We know that
our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its
power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.
If you haven’t opened your heart to Jesus yet, today is the day.
Ask for forgiveness
(1 John 1:9 NKJV) If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Take steps to stop
Praying a prayer today by yourself may not be enough to stop behaviors that
you’ve done for a long time.
For some of you, the things I’ve shared today don’t even begin to address
the deeper issues you need to address.
Until you learn to deal with the root issues, you’re going
to keep repeating your sin over and over again.
Learn to ask for help and allow others in to help you out of that dark
closet of shame.
(James
5:16 NKJV) Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one
another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous
man avails much.
I know several folks in the church who would be more than
willing and able to show you the steps you need to take.