SATAN’S TRAPS: SEXUAL SINS (1 of 5)

Satan’s trap of “Sexual sins” (1 of 5)

Some have said that sex ranks second behind
hunger and thirst as mankind’s greatest drive.
If that’s true, then it is no surprise that Satan
would attack us in that area because he
knows we are very vulnerable there.

This is the first of a 5-part series that will look
at God’s guidelines and boundaries for sex.
We will look at sex from God’s perspective
and not from personal, societal, or worldly opinions.

It is not an attempt to portray one sin as greater than
any other sin, because God considers all sin as sin.
Without a doubt, God’s Word will often be in conflict
with how sin is viewed from a worldly perspective.
Satan wants us to believe one thing,
but God wants us to know His truth (which is the opposite).

According to His Word, we are all sinners who
can be forgiven by a loving Heavenly Father
(who shows no partiality toward anyone).
Each person is created by God and has the same
opportunity to seek the Lord, receive His salvation,
and commit their lives to obeying and serving Him.

And when we do, we can look forward to an eternity
of “bliss”, rather than dreading an eternity of “torment”
(a torment that is worse than anything we
have ever experienced or imagined, and it is never ending).

Obviously Satan has a desire to convince
mankind that ‘right is wrong’, and ‘wrong is right’.
He distorts our logic and understanding
by manipulating our desires in sinful ways.
What God gives us to enjoy within His guidelines,
Satan wants us to pervert by exceeding God’s boundaries.

As a result of the evil one’s efforts, some have preconceived
ideas about certain sins, and this can cause resentment
of God’s commands and guidelines regarding specific sins
(especially the ones where we are most vulnerable,
and the ones we have embraced as our ‘pet’ sins).

There are mistakes, and there are sins.
     – Mistakes have consequences, and so do sins.
Most of us would like to remove the consequences
of sin so we can freely do what we want to do
(in our natural state) without fear of punitive results.

Too many of us listen to the culture of our day,
instead of listening to the Word of God.
All sin is sin in God’s eyes, but some of the
consequences can be far reaching and have
more collateral damage than other ones.

We hear people criticizing God’s Word with
phrases like, “it’s ancient”, “it no longer matters”, etc.
They are wrong!
The Living Word of God DOES matter.
It is the ONLY book by which we will be judged.

The question we must ask ourselves is,
    “Do I believe there is a God, and if so, do I
     believe His commands and guidelines are for me?”
Although some have chosen to deny the Word of God,
it doesn’t mean that what it says, will not happen.
There will be a judgment day where we will be held
accountable for our decisions to accept or reject the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
When we receive salvation from the Lord,
we are identified as ‘sanctified’ individuals
(sanctification means – to walk holy before God).

In order to be holy, we need to abstain from
the things which violate God’s commands.
In the few verses in 1 Thessalonians, we are reminded that we
should not allow sexual immorality to gain control of our lives.

Sexual Sins (according to God’s Word) include:
     – Lust (desires are out of control – burning with a passion).
     – Fornication.
     – Adultery.
     – Homosexuality/Lesbianism.
     – Rape.
     – Child molestation.
     – Pornography.
     – Beastiality.

God’s Warnings:
     Exodus 20:14:
     “You shall not commit adultery.”
          Some may ask, “What does that mean?”
          The answer is: “What does “shall not” mean?”

     People want to rationalize and make some sins
     acceptable, but when God says, “You shall not”,
     He means it should not be a part of our life.

     Leviticus 20:10
     “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife
     (with the wife of his neighbor) both the adulterer
     and the adulteress are to be put to death.”
         – God was teaching the nation of Israel what was
            good for them, and what would destroy them.

Some say,
    “I know what I believe, but what do you believe?”
    The question should be,
         “What does God believe?”

“put to death”
    – We can see how serious God is about
       being faithful and loyal in a marriage.

     God knew that if He didn’t emphasize faithfulness,
     then the people of Israel would succumb to their
     “natural” desires and the whole nation of Israel
     would be destroyed.
     Note:
         If a lack of faithfulness could destroy a nation,
         imagine the amount of destruction it could
         have on a married couple.

Leviticus 20:13
“If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with
a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They
are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”
Question:
Does that mean Christians promote
death to adulterers and homosexuals?
    – No, Christians aren’t promoting anything;
       this is what God says about this type of immorality.

Note:
    No matter how we characterize it, when God says
     something is “detestable”, it is not acceptable.
     Question:
     Was it “detestable” at a prior time in history,
      and somewhere along the way God decided
      it is now acceptable?
     Note:
          The world can rationalize and justify sin all
           it wants to, but this is what God’s Word says.

Someone may ask, “What does God think about it?”.
We have just seen what He thinks, plain and simple.

It’s not the opinion of a believer that is important,
it’s what God’s Word says (He is the one who judges us).
Believers aren’t against anybody, but they are
against any evil action that can destroy a person’s life.

A believer cares enough about others to point out
what God says, in an attempt to warn others of
the impending consequences of their actions.
They are also reminding themselves of their
own consequences when they disobey God’s laws.

Followers of Jesus Christ believe in His existence
and consequently they believe in His laws, however
they also have struggles with obedience themselves.
They are no better than a non-believer with one
exception, they have been forgiven by God and
have made a decision to commit to obedience.

Because Christians struggle with sin themselves,
they understand the struggles of all people and
out of a heart of compassion, they want to remind
everyone (including themselves) of the consequences
of violating what God has ordained for mankind.

Note:
    We cannot break His laws;
         (we can break ourselves by not obeying His laws,
           but we cannot change His laws).
    Society wants to modify God’s laws to fit its desires, but
     no matter what man legislates, God’s laws never change.

Society has attempted to change God’s
definition of some sexual sins in a subtle way.
For instance what God calls “adultery”
man now refers to as “an affair”.

“It is only an ‘affair’, but not something that violates
the standards and principles established by God.”
Wrong!
It is still, and will always be, adultery to God,
and it is His definition that counts, not man’s.

We live in a time of grace and mercy
(God is not telling us to stone people, etc.),
but there will still be a time when His judgment
will fall on the rebellious and disobedient.

God is very clear about what He says regarding sexual sins.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 (“flee”)
Some say,
     “My body belongs to me”.
          No it doesn’t – we didn’t create it;
          God created it; it belongs to Him.
          We can prostitute it, we can injure it, we can
          destroy it, but it still belongs to Almighty God.

He created us for the purpose of living His life in
and through us – to bring glory and honor to His Name.
He has a purpose for everyone He created, and when
we surrender our lives to Him, we initiate the process
which will give us a purpose for living, along with
blessings we could never have imagined.

When we use our body to disgrace Him,
it is a sin against God.
When we reject the principles of scripture,
no matter how the world frames it,
we are rejecting the living God.
Note:
    We have to decide if we will believe
     what God said, or if we will not believe it.

    First, we have to decide if we believe there is a God.
    Note:
         Some may say,
             “I don’t believe there is a God,
              so it doesn’t affect me”
         Yes it does!
         Example:
             A person is standing on the beach
             and a 40-foot tidal wave is coming.
             “I don’t believe there are tidal waves,
             so I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing”.
             Even though a person does what they want to do,
              just like the tidal wave, consequences ARE coming.

Question:
Does God give us His laws
because He doesn’t want us to have fun and enjoy life?
    – No.
      He knows what is destructive to our bodies,
       our personalities, our relationships, and our future,
       so He wants us to enjoy life MORE by avoiding
       these pitfalls.
       Example:
           When there is adultery,
                – How much are the husband and wife enjoying life?
                – How much fun are they having?
                – How much peace and joy is in their home?
                – How restful are they at night?
                – How much do they enjoy doing things together?

Sex is promoted everywhere
(TV, movies, songs, advertisements, etc.).

Genesis 19
(Sodom and Gomorrah: the people were totally
given over to homosexuality, and God rained
down fire and brimstone to destroy the whole town).
Question:
Why?
    – Because He didn’t want that lifestyle to spread
       (He knew the impact it would have on individuals,
       families, children, and a whole nation).
       Note:
            – God wants to protect us…not destroy us.

Judges 16 (Samson and Delilah)
     – Samson was a womanizer and his actions destroyed
        himself and took the lives of many others with him.

2 Samuel (David and Bathsheba)
     – Giving into his lusts caused David
        to get involved in one sin after another.
        His adulterous actions eventually led to murder.
        Note:
            For the rest of his life, he felt the impact of his sins.

Note:
     There ARE consequences to our sins,
      whether we want to admit it or not.

Question:
Where does sexual sin begin?
     – It begins where all sins begin (temptation).
        Temptation is an enticement to:
             – Do evil.
             – Disobey Almighty God.
             – Rebel against God in some way or fashion.

     – It’s universal.
        Paul says,
        “There is no temptation that is not common to man”
          (All temptations and forms of sin
            are common to all men and women).

    – It comes from within us (James 1:14).
      Note:
          We cannot blame someone else for,
               – What we do.
               – How we feel.
               – The way we act.

Sexual sin:
1. Begins with a thought.
2. After the thought, comes imagination (we start to imagine
     what the experience would be like with another person).
3. Then there is identification
     (we identify ourselves as being with that person).
4. Next is a strong desire
     (we have a burning desire to see what it is like).
5. And lastly, there is will and consent
     (we plan our actions, and give ourselves permission to proceed).

Whatever we think in our mind, if it is a thought that
is not Godly, and if we don’t deal with it, eventually
our feet will take us to where our mind has already gone
(Why? Because we have the ability to imagine and fantasize).

Note:
     Sexual sin is powerful;
      it deceives us into believing we can have
      immediate pleasure without penalty.
      Note:
           Look at how the movies portray this kind of sin;
           they characterize it as being something wonderful,
           fulfilling, and natural.
           They do not include the destructiveness
           on the lives of the people involved, or
           the collateral damage it can have on others.

Consider the impact of an unplanned pregnancy.
Society has chosen to identify unborn children as
“protoplasm” which is
“composed of a mixture of small molecules such as ions,
amino acids, monosaccharides and water, and macromolecules
such as nucleic acids, proteins, lipids and polysaccharides”.

In comparison, how does God’s Word identify unborn children?
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together
in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully
and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven
together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my
unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written
in your book before one of them came to be.”
(Psalm 139:13-16)

We can see a distinct difference in these two descriptions.
The first can be destroyed without being considered murder
based on man’s laws, however the second one (God’s Word)
clearly defines the unborn as a human being, so any destruction
would be classified by God as murder, based on His laws.

We all make mistakes (sin) and fall short at times,
but there is a God who loves and forgives us when
we fail.
    Our responsibility is to come before Him,
     admit that we have failed (being specific),
     ask Him to forgive us, and make a conscious effort
     to avoid making the same mistakes in the future
     (to the best of our ability and with His help).