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Sexual Immorality

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Sexual Immorality

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Sexual Immorality

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Sexual immorality is spoken of frequently in the Bible. This sermon examines what the Bible says.

Transcript

The Bible doesn't give us a lot of detail about the kind if creatures that roamed the earth before we look at our period of time – Adam and Eve and all the birds and animals and fish and insects.  But there were other creatures that we know of that were here – forms of life.  But the Bible does tell us, though, in Genesis, that God created creatures of water and air and land, and He said, “Let the waters abound with the abundance of living creatures.”  In verse 22 of Genesis 1, God commanded that they be fruitful and multiply.  Now, He doesn't have to command creatures to be fruitful and multiply. When He says, He commanded - that's the way He made them so that they would be fruitful, that they would multiply. 

So we can see, then, that God, our great creator, in His infinite wisdom and planning, created creatures with the ability to increase in numbers.  And it is astonishing, as we heard in the sermonette, to just stop for a moment and try to comprehend the kind of a mind that created these incredible things that we are a part of.  And here we are, called to have a mind like that ultimately.  But in His infinite wisdom, He planned and created creatures with the ability to increase and they are very differently created.  And it isn't that God sort of sat by and thought for a long time and decided how was He going to create this kind if creature.  How are insects going to multiply?  How are birds going to multiply?  How are fish going to multiply? And then He scratched His head for a while…He just spoke and it happened.  It was in God's mind and His head, and He spoke, and it happened.  When God created, for example, insects of the Garden of Eden, I doubt if He created one bumblebee.  That's not enough.  Two aren't even enough.  They have to have a hive built.  So how did God do all of that?  He doesn't say much, but some animals, and some birds, and some insects, some fish were created to be at the bottom of the food chain, you might say. Some are created to be at the top of the food chain. Some reproduce in great numbers. Some reproduce very slowly.  Some had long lives.  Some had short lives.  So it's interesting to note that water creatures – even those that live in the water - increase differently.  A whale, for example, breathes air, but lives in the water, so do the turtles breathe air, but live in the water. But a whale gives birth to a calf that can weigh 400 lbs., or something like that.  Turtles lay their eggs and just wander away and that's it.  Never even think about them anymore.  Then they hatch and never see their moms and dads again.  Fish lay vast quantities of eggs – the female does – and the male just comes along there, fighting for space almost, and fertilizes the eggs.  They don't come in contact with each other as well.  Birds generally lay one egg or more and incubate them until they hatch, and feed their chicks, and so on – scurry around feeding them.  God designed, in many instances of the species – not all – many, that there is a male and a female who come together to bring about reproduction. 

Animals are also different in their method of reproduction.  So as far as the male/female situation is concerned, we can note that in cattle, or the deer, horses and creatures, mice, rabbits, lions, elephants – all can be male and female and all reproduce differently.  So there is a sexual connotation that God has made for all creatures in one way or another.  But it's different for others and God seems to have built a system of reproduction which has similarities, yet it's unique for various animals.  It's interesting to note that elk, moose, white tailed deer and mule deer, who reproduce similarly, but have a slight different period of time – maybe different by a week or two so that they stick with one another. 

God wanted creatures to populate the earth so He tells them to do that – populate this earth and spread out.  And He wanted humans to do that, too.  And we try to comprehend, you know, how He did all of this.  He just spoke, the Bible says, and it happened.  No doubt God created pairs of animals – male and female – where that was necessary; larger numbers of insects where they were necessary.  He created them even with an instinct to migrate to different places or move into different places.  But He said it was good.  As a matter of fact, He said it was very good – all that He designed.  In almost every part of the creation of living things – newborn, new generation – very quickly it leaves the parents or the adults and begins to increase, then, on its own.  Insects – bugs, of course, just keep on going on – but most creatures have a newborn, and in a short span of time – it can be hours, it can be days, it can be months, it can be a couple of years – they grow up and leave their parents. 

Last of all, God created human beings – Adam and Eve.  Genesis chapter 1 – I won't turn to it – verse 28, He told them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.”  And then He said, “It's very good.”  Everything He did from beginning to the end – what He saw and what He did – was very good.  But human beings were very different than all the other animals that He had made – very different.  Human beings, when they are born, take twenty years, approximately, to grow to full adulthood, and they have to mature mentally to do that.  They are created to be able to think.  They also need to be loved and cradled and protected.  They don't develop properly if they aren't cuddled and loved.  As a matter of fact, it has been proven that, if children are not loved, they sometimes will die.  Russia had a big experiment where children, put into a crèche and not taken care of – mom and dad went to work – and the death rate was very high.  In Alberta, they said recently, last year 89 children put in foster homes died in foster homes, and sometimes it's just because of lack of attention and care and love that is given to the children.  So we need to be cradled and protected in order to grow up to be balanced, you might say, or at least to think and function in a way which God then wants us to do. 

Humans are given an ability to learn, to think, to plan and to create.  And the various things that happen to us in that twenty year span of time, let's say – 60-year-olds don't think it's twenty years – but it's even twenty-five, they say, before the human mind becomes mature – in that span of time that mind can be imprinted with something very, very strong.  That strong imprint can stick for your whole life and sometimes it can be something which is very bad and horrendous.  So we're not like animals that we can become ready to mate quickly and mate in certain ways. God defined for human beings a very different way. 

We will go to Genesis 2 just for these two verses.  Genesis, chapter 2 and verse 18:

Genesis 2:18 - God said, "It is not good that a man should live alone..." And it is not good.  We are social creatures.  We do need one another.  Certainly that is proven at birth, we have to have moms and dads and adults to take care of us – someone to cuddle us and hold us, even if it isn't the actual mother and father, because sometimes moms and dads die in accidents and somebody else has to cuddle the child.  But we need that.  It's not good that a man should be alone.  God didn't design us to be hermits – individually living in the mountains somewhere.  So He said, “I will make him a helper comparable to him."   Or one that they can match together – do things together. They think differently – men and women don't think exactly the same – but they complement one another.  The two make themselves better when they are together. 

He went on to say in verse 24 - Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.  That's the plan of God.  That's the design of God.  That's the way He designed it to be.  And there's reasons for that that we can understand.  And one, certainly, that it teaches us what family is.  The ultimate goal is to become a member of the family of God – a child of God.  So we learn what a family is.  Children that don't grow up in families have a tough time figuring out and learning what a family is.  We learn what a family is in a family.  The best chance for a newborn to be loved, to be cared for – for each child to have a stable, constant, peaceful home in which to grow.  I don't think there's any doubt in our minds that nobody loves you more than your mother and father.  Nobody does.  When you get right down to figuring who loves you more – other people love you, grandparents love you, uncles and aunts love you and neighbors love you, and friends love you, and husbands and wives – but mother's love is pretty special, to a very, very special degree.  We can argue as to degrees and so on, but a mother and father have a responsibility with this child - love the child, sacrifice for the child, do everything they can to make that child grow up to be a fine adult at twenty years of age.  And only humans have a mind that can be impacted and formed completely.  It doesn't mean that animals can't be affected by their surroundings.  They can be.  Animals can be frightened, they can be scaredy cats – that's what we say -  they can be frightened in some ways, they can be affected lots of different ways, as well. 

But the human mind in that twenty year span of time is susceptible to longer and more on-going protracted forms, I think, of suffering.  Humans wrestle with good and evil and the mind is imprinted with that.  And all of us are subject to the imprint of Satan because of Adam and Eve.  From that time on, we are subject to that imprint.  We live in Satan's world.  And as David said himself, you know, “I was conceived in evil, brought up in evil” – brought up in Satan's world. 

But God understands that and He knowingly has left us this way and has given us guidelines to live by.  And He demands of us all – commands of us all – something which He doesn't demand of animals, because He doesn't communicate with animals the same way – that we learn His ways and that we come out of this world.  We heard that in the sermonette.  We are to come out of this world and live God's way.  So it's Almighty God who defines good and evil, right and wrong, that which is holy or that which is profane.  He defines it.  It's a marvelous thing to comprehend that it is God who gives eternal life to His people – ultimately to His children.  He decides who to call, who to choose, who to work with, and ultimately who to give eternal life to.  He's the one who decides it.  And He also has boundaries set for those who would ultimately receive it.  Number 1, He says the only door you come into, the only name by which you can be saved is the name of Jesus Christ.  So that's one of the very important parts of it.  Then He tells us, as well, how we should live, what we should do, what kind of a life we should live.  By coming out of Satan's world then we can get into the situation with Him that we are able to then function. 

Let's go to Proverbs, chapter 1.  Human beings, with the direct influence of Satan, have pretty well messed up everything that God has designed and planned for them to be like.  Satan seems to enjoy just taking what God gives us and twisting it. And humans are the ones who suffer.  Proverbs chapter 1, the whole book of Proverbs is about wisdom.  It's a very good book.  Years ago I used to get the little booklets for the teenagers and give them a book of Proverbs to go by.  We'd discuss those proverbs in our little studies.  Verse 7 says,

Proverbs 1:7 - The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge...  that is the awe and respect of our Creator is where knowledge begins.  And it is such a frightening thing to note at this stage of the development of human beings, that it is within the brain where knowledge takes form and is placed that we are impacting that more and more with various kinds of drugs – and affecting that thinking ability even.  But that's where it begins.  That's the beginning of knowledge.  ...But fools despise wisdom and instruction.   Fools will laugh at you, they say you're old fashioned, you don't know, you don't understand, you are far removed – whatever they will say – and they despise wisdom and instruction. 

Vs. 8 - My son, hear the instruction of your father...  God as our Father, but our parents, as well.  Moms and Dads love their children, they try to give them the absolute best advice.  It isn't always correct, but they try to give them the best advice they can.  ...hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother...  So God puts this high on the list of being wise – paying attention to your mom and dad.  Vs. 9 - they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck.  

Vs. 10 - My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.   But if you don't know what sin is, how can you not consent?  How can you avoid that?  You've got to first understand what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad – what is sin.  ...if sinners entice you, Do not consent.   Vs. 11 - If they say, "Come with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;   Vs. 12 - Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;   Vs. 13 - We shall find all kinds of precious possessions, We shall fill our houses with spoil;   Jumping down to Vs. 33 - Whoever listens to me...  that is, to wisdom  ...will dwell safely...  So God wants humans to have a good life, a productive life, a healthy life.  They ...will dwell safely, And will be secure, and will have no fear of evil."   So that's the output of all of that. 

In chapter 2, jumping ahead to verse 11:

Proverbs 2:11 - Discretion will preserve you...  Now you have to know what discretion is so we are to teach our children what discretion is.  Teach them what sin is.  ...Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you,   Vs. 12 - To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things,   Vs. 13 - From those who leave the paths of righteousness to walk in the ways of darkness.  And that's something which human beings simply do.  They do that because they want power, all the gifts that Satan offered to Jesus Christ when he tempted Him.  Human beings seem to like that and so they go in those directions.  Those ...who rejoice... in Vs. 14 - ...rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked;   Vs. 15 – Those whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths;   Vs. 16 - To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words,   Vs. 17 - Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.   Forgetting that we were created and that Creator made us a certain way, designed us a certain way mentally and physically.  And if we walk His way, mentally and physically, then He will bless us and can bless us.  Her house – Vs. 18 - leads down to death, And her paths to the dead;   Vs. 19 - None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life—  You know, sometimes you go on a path and your bridges are burnt behind you.  You cannot come back on that same bridge, so there is a great deal of suffering that takes place for those to do not walk God's way or are led astray or allow themselves to go and make these mistakes.  They sometimes cannot come back.  And sometimes the human being can't even affect it.  I mean, you don't even have any control over it depending on who you were born to or where you were born or how you were born, because there are physical problems that people have at birth even.  So this does happen.  But those who intentionally go down a certain path can't always return.  Vs. 20 - So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness.   Which is what God wants us, then, to do, to follow discretion. 

In chapter 5 of Proverbs - as Proverbs, of course, is full of these various important points, he says:

Proverbs 5:1 - My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding,   Vs. 2 - That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge.  So that's what we need to begin with – it's understanding, knowing what is right, knowing what is wrong.  That's where repentance begins, where you understand what God's way tells us.  And it is quite remarkable that throughout the Bible much is said about sexual immorality for human beings and living a way where Satan interferes with the function of human beings so that for a child to grow up and be as balanced as God would like it to be, is very very difficult in our society and in our world.  Vs. 8 - Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house,   Vs. 9 - Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one;   Vs. 10 - Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;   Jumping down to Vs. 15 - Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well.   Now, we know this referring to marriage, to loving one another and to staying together as a man and a woman ought to.   Vs. 16 - Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets?   Vs. 17 - Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you.   Vs. 18 - Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth.   That's the plan that God has - would like to see for human beings - and the plan that was disrupted by Satan – has been disrupted by Satan probably since the time of Adam and Eve, which he disrupted their life to a certain extent, as well.  So it goes on explaining, then, that we are to be enraptured with the love of each other. 

But we see in the world that we live in and the world that has always existed, this is nothing new at all, that there have been a number – multitude of religious beliefs and gods or goddesses that have to do with sexual pleasures and with sexual living.  There is, for example, in Greek mythology and Paul ran into that.  When Paul began to go to the Gentiles, the first ones he bumped into, of course, were the Hellenists, had the Greek mythology behind them and they worshiped all kinds of goddesses and gods of lust and beauty and love –

- Aphrodite would be one of them
- Philotes would be another one, personification of affection, sexual intercourse and friendship
- Hera was the goddess of marriage
- Anteros was the god of requited love
- there was Eros, the god of love, sexual passion and naughty thoughts
- Himeros was the god of sexual desire
- Hedylogos  was the god of sweet talk and flattery
- Hymen was the god of weddings and involving wedding songs
- Pothos was the god of sexual longing, yearning and desire

And on and on the list goes – a long list like this of sexually oriented gods and goddesses – that pagan believers believed in.  And so it is, in a way, almost a twist. Satan enjoys to see people worshiping Christ with rabbits and eggs at Easter time, which is a direct relationship to worshiping gods or goddesses of immorality, or sex, fertility – goddesses of fertility.  So there are countless deities, it seems, with fertility, love and sexual desire in every culture throughout history.  And they are all, to some extent, a perversion of what God wanted.  It brings hurt and pain and suffering. 

So God makes a boundary.  In Romans, chapter 1, Paul, who was now getting into the Roman Empire and mixing with the Gentiles, was running into a problem that wasn't so much prevalent amongst the disciples of Jesus Christ, that is, the Jews.  It was in the Gentile world where you ran into all these gods and goddesses now having to do with reproduction and having to do with fertility and so on.  So Romans, chapter 1, Paul says this - and this is his definition which we certainly accept as the word of God - verse 18 of Romans chapter 1 he says:

Romans 1:18  - the wrath of God...  so when God sees this, He knows how harmful and damaging it can be.  God says He loves widows and orphans and the reason is that they suffer – they suffer more without the proper care of the love of a mom and a dad, you know, the child suffers something terrible.  It is hard for them to grow up and live the way that God would like them to do.  They have a big battle to fight and a lot of us should see and recognize the fact that a lot of young children growing up have huge battles to fight.  But we ought not to be critical of them or looking down upon them.  We need to be reaching out to help people who are fighting battles like that.  But ...the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness...  So we don't want to do that.  God's church is defined by truth.  We live by the word of God, which is the truth, we live by it, we preach it, we struggle to change our lives to conform to His word of truth.   Vs. 19 - what may be known of God is manifest in them, for (because) God has shown it to them.  We know that God is love, He is outgoing concern, He shows that to us – to each one of us – He loves this world so much, that is this unconverted world, that He sent Jesus Christ so that some would be saved.  That's how much God loves the people of this world.  We need to understand that.  We need to learn that, as well, so that when we see people who are having great troubles in their lives because of something which they aren't even responsible for, that is to say something that's imprinted in their minds and thoughts when they were children, that has hurt them, we need to try to reach out to help rather than to criticize and to put people down for that.  ...what is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.   Vs. 20 - Since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made, even His eternal power and Godhead.   So God says mankind doesn't have an excuse.  Now, when there's a reason, as Satan, and when the human mind is imprinted with a certain way of thinking, it's very difficult to get beyond that.  It's very difficult to come out of a lifetime of believing in superstition or in witches and goddesses and so on.  I had a lady send me a question to ask me about Genesis chapter 6 where it says that sons of God saw the sons of men and married them and she believes that angels went into women and children were born – part angel and part female, part child.  You say to yourself, well, if she believes that strongly enough, it's difficult to root that out of your mind, root that out of your thinking.  So it says, because - Vs. 21 - although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.   And so if you don't have a guideline which is steady and solid, you're susceptible to be led in different directions.  And people are, then.   Vs. 22 – Professing...  themselves  ...to be wise, they became fools,  Vs. 23 - and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.   

This is what Paul was running into when he was going into the Gentile world, into the Roman world, he went into Athens and on both sides of the street were all these temples you walk past and they were all temples to some form of god or goddess, and many of them were related to either Aphrodite or one of these gods or goddesses that I mentioned to you.  Vs. 24 - So God, then, gave... human beings,  ...gave the human mind over to uncleanness.  They didn't want His way.  They wanted to try their own experimental ways.  Gave them over to uncleanness, which is Satan's way, ...in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves...   God doesn't want that, He knows how harmful it is, but He says, “I'm going to give you freedom of choice.  Please choose wisely.  Here's the truth, here's what's false.  Please choose wisely,” just as parents do to their children.  You want your child to have a fruitful and fulfilled life.  So God gave them over ...to dishonor their bodies among themselves,   Vs. 25 – those  ...who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, who worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.  

We are to worship our Creator.  We are to look around us and see, you know, how God designed creatures and the insects and the birds and the fish and the animals and how they all are reproducing, because God sort of programmed them all to reproduce a certain way and they do it.  They obey God.  Human beings are the ones who come up with all these new ideas in their minds.  For this reason...  Vs. 26  because they would serve the creature rather than the creator,  ...God gave them over to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.   Vs. 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.  So this is God's definition.  This is what the Bible says about right and wrong, holy and profane and He says,  Vs. 28 - even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind...  that's the mind of Satan  ...to do those things which are not fitting;   And some people are battling a strong and difficult battle against that mind, the mind that Satan has imprinted them with which you come to understand, especially when God calls you, and you fight against it.  You fight against it and you fight against it.  It is difficult to fight that battle.  And all of us certainly may not be fighting that battle ourselves, but need to also be willing to reach out to those who are fighting the battle and support them and not, you know, disdain them in any way, but actually to show our concern for them and pray for them, as well.  Vs. 29 - being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,   Vs. 30 - backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents...   He lists all of these things and he says in Vs. 32 - who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.   

Now, ultimately he is talking about eternal death because people do change and need to change, and God wants them to and He gives them every opportunity to do that.  Peter said that God gives us the opportunity to take on His nature.  We'll just turn to 2 Peter for just a moment and that's an astonishing thought.  That comes about by living His way, by practicing everything that He gives us to live by in His way.  2 Peter, chapter 1 – I'm only going to take one verse although we should start with the beginning of it.

2 Peter 1:4 says, By which have been given to us...  given to you, given to God's people  ...exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.   

So we are to come out of this world and lust has to do with sexual desires as well as wanting power and money and so on, also wanting other things.  We are to come out of this and it says after we have ...escaped the corruption of this world, which is in lust...  So He wants His people to develop self control, virtue, brotherly love, knowledge – the things that God wanted us all to have. 

There's a beautiful book in the Bible which we don't read very often and that is the Song of Solomon.  Let's go back there for just a moment.  We don't read it that often, we don't preach about it very often, it's so tender that it's something which we don't even see often, but it should be common in God's church amongst God's people who are putting out the world from their lives and bringing God into their lives.  Then it makes it possible for God's people, then, to begin to have a relationship that God would like us to have.  He's talking here about a relationship of a man and a woman basically and it starts of:

Song of Solomon 1:1 - The song of songs, which is Solomon's.   Solomon is almost a phenomenon in a way, you know, he had a thousand wives and concubines together.  He said, I couldn't find one in a thousand.  And he was looking for – what he wrote here in the book of Song of Solomon – he was looking for someone who he could love purely, completely and totally with a pure heart and who would love him back with a pure heart, as well.  And we know it is just temporary in our lives, you know, everything can affect that, a life can be cut short, an illness can come, things can change.  But this is the hope.  This is the ideal, which God says might happen even if it's for a short span of time.  But it's a preparation for eternity ultimately, because in eternity we all have the love for one another that is the Godly love, which we share and strive to comprehend in this world.  In Song of Solomon 1:2 - Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— For your love is better than wine.   Vs. 3 - Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, Your name is ointment poured forth; Therefore the virgins love you.   Vs. 4 - Draw me away!  Vs. 7 - Tell me, O you whom I love, Where you feed your flock, Where you make it rest at noon. For why should I be as one who veils herself By the flocks of your companions?   Chapter 2:10 - My beloved spoke, and said to me: "Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away.   Vs. 11 - For lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone.   And all of these various sections in here are really beautiful.  Chapter 4:10 - How fair is your love, My sister, my spouse! How much better than wine is your love, And the scent of your perfumes Than all spices!   Vs. 11 - Your lips, O my spouse, Drip like the honeycomb; Honey and milk are under your tongue...   and all these beautiful things, but there's a relationship of caring and of loving that is reflected here.  It's a relationship that we can aim for, we may not actually reach it, but we can aim for that and it can make life very, very beautiful. 

In the book of Proverbs – I want to go back for just one verse.  This is in Proverbs, chapter 7 and when I was looking at many, many verses that have to do with living a good and a proper life - with sexual immorality and sexual morality – this verse jumped right out at me.  This is chapter 7 of the book of Proverbs.  It tells us here in verse 27.

Proverbs 7:27 - Her house is the way to hell, Descending into the chambers of death.  I want to go back to verse 24 - listen to me, my children; Pay attention to the words of my mouth:   Vs. 25 - Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths;   Vs. 26 - For she has cast down many wounded, And all who were slain by her were strong men.

So he's explaining it to us here how difficult life can become.  There isn't anything new under the sun.  We know that.  Sexual perversion, abuse, distortion has been with mankind for thousands of years and that's what we see when we look at all of the various gods and goddesses that are being worshiped.  And all of that has brought a loss of the potential of what a human being could be like, what life could be like.  And it is God who determines what is right and wrong, good or evil.  But amongst God's people, there is chance to improve your life and your relationships the way God intended it.  And for our children growing up, there's a much better chance than there is for so many children in this world. 

When I was in Pembroke I saw my granddaughter for a few minutes, she's just turned ten years old now.  And her grandmother informed me she took her out of the public school system and put her into the Catholic school system because of what they are teaching in the public schools in Pembroke.  She says, “In the Catholic school at least she can say the Lord's Prayer and they teach her some good things.”  Well, there are other problems that are there, as well, but there is a problem for our children from the adults of today – whether it's in the school systems, the books that we have, the movies that we have, the television that we watch and so on.  It is there.  We know it's a fulfillment of what Paul said would happen to Timothy.  We can remind ourselves in 2 Timothy.  This is what Paul said was going to happen and it has happened.  It's been like this.  As I said, there's nothing new under the sun.  This has been going on, but it seems, at a time where our knowledge and understanding has just grown so dramatically, we should know better.  We should know better by far than what we allow to happen.  But he says in 2 Timothy, chapter 3 – when I say 'we', I'm talking about the world about us.  Chapter 3 of 2 Timothy in verse 2, just look at the terminology that is here and relate that to sexual behavior or sexual immorality. 

2 Timothy 3:2  - Men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, and unholy...  and that means anything but fit quality for a father to bring up children.  All these things are a man who would be an unfit father.  Vs. 3 - unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good...   women are, of course, involved here, too.   Vs. 4 - traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God...  and we see this in our society today – lovers of pleasure, unthankful and unholy  Vs. 5 - having a form of godliness...   everyone has a fear there is a creator, but they deny the power of that, the power of our calling, the power of what God's plan is for mankind and why it's worth every bit of effort to make that the most important part of our life is to change and live His way, to change our way of life and anything which is displeasing to God.  He says in verse 5  ...having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!   Vs. 6 - For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,   Vs. 7 - always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

This kind of thinking forms the pattern of thinking in the minds of children and of adults, as well, and when it's imprinted, it's really hard to erase that.  It's much better to imprint positive things in a mind of a child, imprint the fact that God is there to support and help a person even to overcome difficult times and difficult things. 

In the days of Jesus Christ the people came to Jesus when He was saying we should live by the law of God, He was explaining how God designed Adam and Eve in Genesis, chapter 1.  And they said, “Then why did Moses allow God to have divorce?”  And Jesus' answer in Matthew 19, is because of the  hardheartedness of a person, the hardheartedness of a human being.  So God did add permission or laws which were not good because of the stiff-neck, hard stubbornness of mankind because they were not people wanting to follow God.  Let's go to Matthew 19.  There is a verse in that portion I do want to bring to your attention.  Matthew, chapter 19, and this is what Jesus was replying to the Pharisees.  He said,

Matthew 19:8 - "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  There are times where you just can not live with another person.  There are things that can happen, as well.  The Bible tells us and gives us permission for that whether it's fraud – there are various thinks like that, Jesus said.  But God's intention was never that.  His intention was for human beings to be able to live together.  But that means we have to be pretty well balanced human beings and especially people who are seeking God.  Vs. 9 - I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality...  and so there's a permission Jesus gives  ...and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."   So it's the hardness of the heart which is the concern which Jesus is about.  But then He goes on saying here as well in Vs. 10 – His disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry."   Vs. 11 - But He said to them, "All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:   Vs. 12 - For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it."  

Well what Jesus is talking about here has a lot to do with the sexual orientation of a person.  And what Jesus is saying is at birth sometimes there are people who are born with certain problems and they can be born that way.  They have to contend with that sometimes all of their lives and it is very difficult.  None of these things were easy, it is all very difficult, but everything you and I do is difficult, too.  Not gossiping is difficult.  Coming out of criticism of other people is difficult.  Not wanting to have the top seat in the power is difficult for us.  We have to overcome whatever it is that stands between us and God.  So Jesus said that there are eunuchs who are born that way. 

What is a eunuch?  The definition of a eunuch is an emasculated man either from birth or voluntarily abstaining from wedlock.  That's what a dictionary definition of a eunuch is.  An emasculated man, either from birth or voluntarily abstaining from wedlock.  And so we have a religion of about one billion people who believe that the most holy position to be in is to be unmarried, to be a eunuch.  And that has caused a horrendous number of problems, as we all know, within that particular organization.  But some, He said, were born that way, some are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men.  It could be sickness, it could be an accident, it could be various things like that which change a person – male or female can be affected by these things and changed by them - and there are some, then, who make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.  In other words, who did not get married.  As Paul said, I could get married.  Why shouldn't I be?  Peter was married.  Some for the kingdom of God's sake never did marry.  But Jesus said that some can do that and some can't.  It's contrary to God's will for people to do that and often, then, it creates huge problems.  As I said, there's a billion people here whose priesthood is run by individuals who believe that to be sanctified you have to be without sexual orientation.  And that is, for them, a major problem because there are constantly problems arising there. 

The natural state – Adam and Eve – the creation of God – the natural state by God is for a man and a woman to be bound together as husband and wife.  Anything else is contrary to God and that's how God made us.  The key for fulfilling that, of course, is to choose a mate for life and life may be short.  You know, you can get married for a short span of time and someone dies in a accident.  That happens and ends a marriage even in persons very young.  And sometimes as a sway over to Satan's side of this world which changes things so badly in a person's mind – either brought on by Satan or brought on by the person themselves – which makes it impossible to have the kind of relationship that God wants for a person. 

Let's go to 1 Corinthians 7 and here Paul continues on what he was talking about in Romans, concerned about the people who were coming out of the Hellenistic cultures mostly.  But he was talking about those coming out of the world – us coming out of the world.  Anything that we've come out with - and some of us come out scarred and hurt and yet we're humans – yet we're physically human beings and we still need to be loved and cared for and cuddled from time to time and so God says it's not good for a person to live alone.  In 1 Corinthians chapter 7, Paul says in verse 1:

1 Corinthians 7:1 - Concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman...  So he had been writing to them about the times of persecution, difficulties and troubles within the church, writing to individuals in Corinth and Athens, places like that where the gods or goddesses worshiped were gods of fertility and sex was high on the agenda of all those kinds of things.  If you've ever read commentaries about the Athenian way of life, I think Stan mentioned he came back from Athens, you can't take a picture of all the statues because they're all obscene.  The whole orientation of that culture was that way.  So Paul went into that and now he's writing.  So he says,  ...It is good for a man not to touch a woman.   Vs. 2 - Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.   So Paul acknowledges as God said, He created us with a very strong sexual drive, sexual need that we have as human beings.  Animals are created that way.  Animals will fight for mates and go long distances to have a proper mate.  So men and women need a mate, he is saying – for man to have a wife and woman to have her husband.   Vs. 3 - Let the husband render to his wife the affection that's due to her...   So the instructions of Paul is that the man should love his wife and cherish her and take care of her and help her and do those kind of things.  ...and likewise also the wife to her husband.   That's the relationship that God would like to see between a man and a woman.  And it's a relationship that takes effort, it takes work, it takes overcoming anything in a person's mind which may be a part of a problem there.  Vs. 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.  In other words, there is a relationship that God would like to promote that is clean and pure and loving and caring.  Vs. 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...  and then Paul says  ...so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

So Satan is there continually.  He's there looking for an opportunity and he does tempt even God's people and we need, then, to bear that in mind and understand what he is saying there.  He says in Vs. 8 - But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am... unmarried,because of the troubles that they were having at the time.  If they cannot exercise self-control...  Vs. 9  ...let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.   So Paul is giving instructions here about how strong the sex drive was, what a wonderful gift it is, designed by God to bind a man and a woman together for life so that their children can have a stable home for twenty years to grow up in and become strong adults to carry on those traditions.  But unless it's controlled, as it says in verse 5, serious problems could come as a result because Satan can get into that as well. 

In chapter 7 and verse 36 there towards the end of the chapter – one more verse here -

1 Corinthians 7:36 - But if any man thinks he is behaving improperly toward his virgin, if she is past the flower of youth, and thus it must be, let him do what he wishes. He does not sin; let them marry.
So the encouragement of Paul was for a man and a woman to marry in a Godly way understanding there was stress that was happening there around them, there was a strain being put on the church as it was being persecuted, it was a dangerous time.  And there was unrest in Judea resulting from Rome sending in their armies, destroying the city – all this was about to happen and take place. 

We do know Abraham and Sarah are written up in the book of Genesis and it says that they went to a certain point in their lives, it said they were well advanced in age and Sarah was past the childbearing age, for example.  So we know the way God created a man and a woman, it isn't that a woman is able to have children for the whole length of her life – 70 or 80 years – there's a short span of time in there where a woman can have a child.  Now it may vary slightly, but between the ages, I would say, the healthiest point which God is talking about is between the ages of about 18 and 30/35.  Beyond 35 your body begins to slow down, your joints get a little bit stiffer, all these kinds of things.  God didn't create us to have children at the age of 60.  Now Sarah was what?  Ninety?  But that was a little bit different.  That was a little bit different there.  God had to really do a lot of work.  It says in Genesis 17 and 18 that Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age and past childbearing age.  Did they stop loving each other?  No.  No, love isn't based upon sex only.  Love is based upon respect for the other person, being a companion, being a friend, trusting somebody.  It builds and it develops in a relationship and in a marriage.  It isn't based only upon sex.  Sex has to do with having your children which binds you together very strongly for the sake of the children as well, but the love is to go on, it's to continue.  Even in the book of Hebrews when it talks about Abraham and Sarah there, it says that she was past the childbearing age and so for a woman, once you're about 45, that's it – or 40 even.  You know, it is very difficult, then, for a woman to have a child.  And Abraham, it says in Hebrews 11, was as good as dead at 99.  So I'm thinking that men do lose their drive and ability and women lose the ability to have children and so God created us in such a way that roughly from the age of 18 to 40, let's say, a woman is able to have a child.  And a man during those years is also stronger and more active.  That's the way God intended it so that our sex drive is taken care of and also our relationship of loving one another is built. 

We do live in an age today where things are happening and they happen for reasons that we sometimes think are good – like, for example, an education.  You want to get an education so you put off having your children.  You want to travel so you put off having your children.  You want to have money, you put off having your children and you do all of these kinds of things until you are about 35 years old and then you maybe can have one child or two.  Today we live in an age where few women start their families when they are young.  I'm not saying that all should.  Many, though, are in their late 30's and I've talked to some, you know, who try to have a child after they are 37 or 38 and they are worried about being able to have a child any longer.  It's a great burden to carry.  It's difficult for a woman, it's hurtful to them not to ever have a child.  But it means fewer children are born.  You have greater trouble in delivering a child if you are in your late 30's.  God created the female body to be more productive when she is young.  And in our world, education – formal education – takes so long, so much energy and so much concentration that it is very difficult, may be difficult for our young women.  Maybe Satan has got something to do with that.  I remember when I got out of high school, almost all the girls in grade 12 were engaged to get married, got married at the age of 18 or 19 – very few got married later than that.  Today, I'm not sure what the average age anymore, 25 or something like that, 26 is the average age of a marriage.  But what we're finding out in our society is that we're shrinking in size.  There are grandparents I know of who have no grandchildren or maybe 1 grandchild or 2.  Talked with a man the other day who has got one daughter, may not ever have a child, and so he'll never be a granddad.  That continues and happens, as well, which we don't like to see.  Of course, that isn't the end of the world, because Jesus Christ never had children and others didn't as well who were great people of God. 

But we do live in a world that's far removed from the instructions which God has given our society.  As you push Christianity out, as you push the Bible away, as the Bible no longer becomes the word of God then we have moved the instructions of God away.  And you and I are told, God's people are told that we have to come out of this world and get back into God's world, back into God's set of instructions, to start living a Godly life and we do this because we want to enter the kingdom.  And the price that we pay is to make the changes that are necessary that sometimes have been dumped upon us though we don't want them.  The door into that kingdom, we know, is Jesus Christ and He judges us by what we do.  He died to grant the ability for people to enter into that kingdom.  And all people in this world – God loves this whole world. 
In 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 1 Paul says:

1 Corinthians 6:1 - Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?   So he's talking about coming out of this world, living in a different way.  Vs. 2 - Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?   So we need to understand the laws of God, understand the way of God and judge accordingly, but judge as God would judge.  He doesn't condemn.  He loves people.  He so love the world (John 3:16) He gave His Son.  And perhaps He's giving you to somebody who needs your help.  Vs. 3 - Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, the things that pertain to this life?   Vs. 4 - If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge?   That is, people out of the church?  Vs. 5 - I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?   Vs. 6 - But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers!   Jumping ahead to Vs. 9 he says - Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?   And that's the judgment of God ultimately to bring it to pass that we do know that God does call people, He wants all people to be saved.  He calls them in all conditions of life and He demands that they change.  And so anyone with anything which is contrary to God's way has to change that way in order to ultimately be in the family of God.  You had to do that and I've had to do that.  I had to stop fooling around with rabbits and Easter eggs, you know, at Easter time.  Had to become to understand that that is pagan fertility worship that has been foisted into God's way and Christianity.  You had to stop that.  You had to stop keeping Christmas.  You had to correct yourself in ways which were contrary to God's way.  Don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  In our work, our task – yours and mine- is to open the doors of the kingdom of God, to  teach about Jesus Christ and God's mercy and God's compassion and God's love.  So he says  ...Don't be deceived. Neither fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals...  look at all of the sexually immoral statements that are put in this portion of it here.  ...sodomites,   Vs. 10 - nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.  That's God's decision, that's not mine nor yours.  But He is saying that He's going to call them and they just need to change.  Vs. 11 - And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus...  And you know, sometimes the greater the struggle a person has, the more you respect the person, the more you think highly of the person. 

Some years ago I met a young man in Colona and he informed me – he was 55, 58 years old  - he informed me that he was a homosexual and just not understanding since he was 17 years old and God called him into the church.  He lives by himself, he lives a Godly life and struggles and has done that for all those years.  Some person like that, you know, you have to respect a person who goes to that extent to serve God and to make the changes.  And some of you – listed in verse 8 - you are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified in the name of the Lord and the Spirit of our God because it wasn't something that they wanted to have, it was something that was dumped upon them by society around them. 

I know that every one of us are really upset when we see children being molested or involved with.  It happened just last week, there were reports of two boys who were invited to jump into someone's car, a stranger's car.  And we teach them in our schools that if a stranger wants you to get into his car, run.  Don't go in the car with him.  Don't talk with him.  We teach them that because we understand the damage that it does to the young mind and how many young minds have been hurt by an adult, you know, who is acting on his own Satanic ways?  But God says He will call them and it is possible for them to change and to come to Him.  You are washed.  You are sanctified in the blood of Jesus Christ.  So God says, “I will help you.”  And we need to have that frame of mind towards people.  We humans seem to develop patterns of thinking in our minds that are very, very hard to change once they have been set in place. 

I looked up the dictionary definition of a homophobic, because people accuse you of being a homophobic if you have a certain point of view.  But a homophobic, by the dictionaries, are people who hate or fear homosexuality or homosexuals.  Now, we're not to hate anybody.  God doesn't hate.  We are not to hate people, so we're not homophobic.  We can't be.  If we're God's people, we don't hate people.  We hate evil.  God doesn't hate sinners, He hates sin.  We hate evil, but we don't hate the person who has been caught up in something which they maybe couldn't even control.  These forms that Paul talks about in Corinthians of sexual  immorality, this is two thousand years old.  He's writing about it.  It happened a thousand, two thousand years before that.  It's gone on since before the time of Noah.  This has always been the same.  Satan has been there from the very beginning, so these forms that we are reading here of sexual immorality and any other form of disobedience to God needs to be corrected in anybody's life before we will be in the kingdom of God. 

So everyone of us have a hill to climb to get into the kingdom of God.  And other people are climbing their hills and sometimes they are big hills.  So pure Christianity – God says in James – is loving a widow and an orphan because they've got a bigger hill to climb.  They've got more difficulty than we would then have, perhaps if you're not in that way. 

Going on in chapter 6 of 1 Corinthians, verse 13.  He says:  Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but is for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.   And so this concept is frequently mentioned in the Bible – this problem that Satan has put upon human beings to distort what God intended to be a beautiful, beautiful thing.  And sometimes a human being has been so hurt by it that they cannot get back far enough to have a relationship that is truly beautiful and loving.  Vs. 14 - And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.   Vs. 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 harlot? Certainly not!   So we can't live the way of this world.  We've got to come out of the way of this world and we have to be willing to reach a hand out to somebody who's also trying to come out of that way, out of the way of this world.  Vs. 16 – Don't you know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "THE TWO," He says, "SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH."   So we can't be involved with this world.  We have to come out and we have to be willing to help those who want to come out.  Vs. 17 - He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.  And that's the strength and the help God gives.  Vs. 18 - Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does...  or a woman, of course  ...is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.   It does something to your thinking, it does something to your mind and it prevents God from working in your life.  Vs. 19 - do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own?   Vs. 20 - For you were bought at a price; so glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.   When we look around us and see individuals struggling in any way that they are struggling in – if they truly are striving to turn to God, we need to try to understand and be patient and kind with them in assisting and helping them. 

Sometimes when I flip through the channels on the television, you know there are some channels which you don't dare stop at.  It's an amazing thing that it is so prevalent and common now that it's just out there all of the time.  Child pornography is something we all hate.  The whole world hates that.  Child pornography – molesting little children is something that no society accepts.  We know that some people have corrupted their minds to such an extent that they lose sight of the difference between good and evil, holy and profane.  And no society on earth would just accept any form of sexual behavior.  Even the most pagan societies don't accept just any form.  The trouble is, rather than understanding what causes the problem, people discriminate against and hate a person who is involved or caught up in it.  But they're all human beings who need to be understood and loved and trained and taught and then, if possible, to fight the battle that they have to then fight.  Children need to be protected.  They need a mom and dad who would die for them, if necessary, to protect them and they don't always have that protection.  They get hurt sometimes by somebody who shouldn't be looking after them.  Even though there's always been a problem, it seems, in the area of worshiping God - and Satan getting in the way and Satan distorting the gifts which God has given us - we seem to have reached a new high in recent times.  The price that has to be paid, the responsibility of the difficulties is something that people don't want to pay.  Rather than correcting the problem, people want to just continue living that way and remove any penalties.  One of the greatest problems facing our educated, highly advanced society is sexually transmitted diseases.  The greatest problems and it all comes about from not living God's way.  That's where it comes about. 

We do all kinds of things to enhance our experiences – develop drugs like Viagra and Cialis.  We develop drugs to make us bigger or smaller.  We develop medication like steroids to develop muscles, shrinking some parts of the body and building other parts.  And then we want to develop drugs which will enhance those other parts. 

We teach concepts that are wicked and hurtful as though they were right.  And God designed us a certain way and sometimes people have lost and lose the opportunity to enjoy the love that God wanted to give them.  I think Solomon just lost the ability to love anybody and be loved himself.  It says he loved many women, that doesn't mean he loved them the way he wrote in Song of Solomon.  He said, “I didn't find in a thousand, one I could love.” 

We know that the sexual act doesn't bind a husband and wife for all of their lives because when you get older – it says Abraham and Sarah, it says both of their bodies were dead and with bodies, that happens.  The most beautiful women and the most handsome men who get married often don't stay together for more than 4 or 6 months because it's not love, it's lust that drags them together, as well.  But children are intended by God to be a glue and a cement between a husband and wife, between a man and a woman.  They are intended to be that way.  And children who don't grow up in that kind of a relationship do suffer, have a difficult life and things to overcome.  Jesus said that some people will kill those who think the right thoughts, they killed the saints thinking they were doing society a good favor.  And in the church we have our young children who need to be protected, taken care of in this world that we are in.  And we cannot just trust everybody.  But we say, well, does God offer a way out?  How does a young person, then, change?  How does a young person come to God?  How do you get away from that which you have been imprinted with all of your life?  Does He make it possible to reverse those years? 

When Paul said in the book of Corinthians, we just read that, such were some of you  (1 Corinthians 6:11).  'Were' is past tense.  So there are individuals, we read in 1 Corinthians 6, who have come out these terrible relationships they have had with others that have hurt them and damaged them – either marriage situations or relationships they have had that have hurt them and damaged them, abuse that they have suffered and gone through or thought patters that have been put into their lives and how do you come out of that?  It certainly isn't easy, but then changing to obey God in other ways is not easy either.  As I said, stopping gossiping is a real problem even in the church.  Defying authority is a real problem.  Giving up power and authority is not easy.  Quitting smoking is not easy.  There are a lot of things that people have had to overcome. 

Let's go to a couple of Psalms here as we wind down for today.  Psalm 19 gives us a clue and there's much more we can say to it.  It's called conversion.  It's a process.  Psalm 19, just one verse. 

Psalm 19:7 - The law of the LORD is perfect...   ...The law of the LORD is perfect, it converts the soul...  In other words, it changes the thinking pattern.  It changes the mind.  So if a person comes to love the law of God – think about it, meditate on it, make it a part of your being, talk about it, live it, walk on that street – it converts the mind.  In other words, it changes the mind.  It heals the mind.  Acknowledging what is right and what is wrong, what is good, what is evil.  ...The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 

One of the most incredible Psalms is Psalm 119 – something in the middle of the Bible pretty well, we ought to read often.  It's got some remarkable verses in it regarding the benefit of the law.  The answer to this lies in Psalm 119 and other parts of the Bible, but just a few verses.  Psalm 119 starting in verse 9.

Psalms 119:9 How can a young man cleanse his way?...  How can a young man overcome that which is hurting him, causing problems and battling something?  You've got to have a direction and a path to travel on, a way that is certain for your feet.  How can a young man cleanse his way?  Mistakes have been made.  You can't go back and erase them and pretend it didn't happen or anything like that.  Sometimes you have to draw a line and go forward from there.  How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.   Vs 10 - With my whole heart I have sought You...  the psalmist writes  ...Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!  Morning, noon and night a person needs to think about the laws of God and apply them in your life.  Vs. 11 - Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.   That's called conversion, but it trains the mind, it trains the brain, it changes the way of thinking.  Vs. 12 - Blessed are You, O LORD! Teach me Your statutes.   Vs. 13 - With my lips I have declared All the judgments of Your mouth.   Vs. 14 - I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches.   Vs. 15 - I will meditate on Your precepts, I contemplate Your ways.   Vs. 16 - I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.   And this is the path that God wants us all to go on – that everyone goes on to ultimately be a part of His family in His kingdom.  And the rest of Psalm 119 has just got so many other words which tell us that.  It's a good psalm to read from time to time.  David said,  Against You and You only, have I sinned (Psalm 51:4).  And so he asked God to purge him and to clean him.  And this is done by having the word of God transplanted into your heart, into your mind, into your being. 

Paul gave a way of that happening, as well.  I won't turn it, but you know the beautiful verse in Philippians, chapter 4 where he says whatsoever things are good and wholesome and pure and upright and uplifting, think about those things.  And, you know, the more you think about those things, the more you become like God in that way - the more you are filled with positive thoughts and healthful thoughts, as well. 

We are all to walk in the newness of life.  I've got one scripture left in Romans, chapter 6.  So every one of us have needed the mercy of God, the forgiveness of God, the direction of God, the guidance of God, the encouragement of God, the teaching of others, support and love of others, as well, in order to be children of God.  We've all needed that.  We've needed each other.  We are social creatures.  That's the way God made us.  And some of us have got a heavier load to carry than others have.  We need to all be aware of that.  And when a person that you know and care about has a heavy load to carry, we need to help that person carry that load.  That was a lesson of Jesus Christ.  The only reason that I can think of for Jesus walking with his cross or pole up to be crucified and couldn't carry it – the only reason, I think, that's in the Bible is to show us that sometimes we carry something we cannot manage and someone else will help you carry it.  God will send somebody.  Maybe that somebody is you.  Romans, chapter 6.  Here's what Paul writes:

Romans 6:4 - Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.   I was reading the inscription that Kathy had out here and thought how fitting that was to I was saying today.  We should walk in the newness of life.  Everyone one of us has had to do that.  And we need to leave room for others to walk that way as well.  Vs. 5 - If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection  -  converted, changed, fitting the laws of God into our hearts.  Vs. 6 - knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.   Vs. 7 - For he who has died has been freed of sin.

So we need to trust the fact that our sins have been forgiven – everybody – and then walk clearly and strongly with Him.  God's children ought not to be disgusted by the actions of others.  We hate sin, but we know the hurt and harm it does to human beings.  Our Creator, our Father, has designed us, He knew we needed partners.  That's why He created male and female, sex the way He did.  He wanted reproduction of all creatures – all kinds of different ways.  We are to be a glory to Him, not to bring shame to Him.  But the land that we live in is becoming less and less Godly, more and more secular, which has always been the pendulum swing over the many many years of the existence of mankind.  And ultimately the society gets to be such a society that they cannot even function properly as the Roman society became.  And if you ever read the book about the fall of Rome, you'll know why.  Athens was much the same. 

The Bible does say a little bit of wine is good for the stomach, but too much will kill you.  A little bit of what God wants – even food is good for the stomach, too much will kill us.  People do have a mixture of good and evil.  Some have got more good than others, but they have a mixture of good and evil.  And many people are trying to change their lives,  if they have their Bible in their hands and live this way.  But our children are growing up in a world that has changed drastically in the last forty years.  Drastically.  It's changed scientifically as we heard in the sermonette.  It's also changed in the sliding of the moral standards even further than what they were before.  One change is that God has been put on the shelf and anything goes.  The definition of sin is not even taught in the churches of today and there is a terrible, terrible price to pay for sin.  A terrible price to pay for doing things wrongly.  God will always allow us to make choices even to our hurt.  But we'll see more evil in this world of ours, we'll see more children hurt, we'll see more adults carrying heavy loads and we need to cry all the louder, “Thy kingdom come!” 

So let us know those who are struggling with problems, realize they are not always to blame, little children are innocent, but they're hurt by the error of society, error of those they trust – teachers that we trust or priests or ministers that we trust or adults in the neighborhood.  It takes, as they say, a village to grow a child.  The child has to be protected.  Sadly enough, in our villages we cannot let them walk the streets by themselves.  But the Bible says by their fruits you will know them, those who do good and seek God, those who parade their righteousness.  We hate and abhor evil, but not the people caught up in it.  We need to pray for them, we need to pray that the kingdom of God should come and solve the problems that so many are carrying – and often without a solution in this life. 

Sexual immorality is spoken of frequently in the Bible.  It will keep a person out of the kingdom of God because the mind cannot be formed to be the mind of Christ and the mind of God which we need to form.  So let's us be thankful that God has called you and us all and whoever He is going to call and be ready to help and assist and pray for this world, this world which so desperately needs their Savior and their Creator to come too.