SATAN’S TRAPS: SEXUAL SINS (5 of 5)

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

DEALING WITH SEXUAL SINS
(which have already been committed)

1. Confess it to God.
     – Confess it specifically (don’t generalize it).
        “God I sinned against You when I committed this lustful act”

2. Take responsibility for our actions.
     – Don’t try to blame someone else.
     – Others may entice us to do wrong, but we are
        the ones who made the decision to commit the act.

3. Genuinely repent.
     – Tell God that we know we have sinned against Him,
        and ask Him to give us…
             …a heart for repentance
             …a heart that will refuse to give in
                  the next time we are tempted.

4. Ask God to forgive us.
     – (John 8) Look at how Jesus dealt
        with the woman caught in sin.
     – James says, “we have not because we ask not”.
        We need to ask God to forgive us.

5. Forgive ourselves.
     – If we beat ourselves up over our failures, chances are
        we will beat ourselves into giving in to the sin again.
     – We tend to develop a mindset of,
        “I’ve tried to change and do what is right,
         but my guilt is overwhelming, and I keep failing,
         so I might as well commit the act again”.
     – The key is to realize that in our own strength,
        we cannot overcome
        (we need God to overcome it for us).

6. Flee immorality (2 Timothy 2).
     – Run from it.
     – Don’t walk toward an environment
        or situation that entices us to sin.
     – If there are temptations in the workplace,
        ask God to either move the temptation away,
        or move us to another area.
     – Ask God to help us to…
            …Think about the hearts of others, and not their bodies.
            …Think about where they will spend eternity,
                 not where they will spend tonight.
     – If we are in a relationship, and we know it is
        headed in a wrong direction, walk away.
        Note:
              When we walk away,
              God will bring someone else into
              our life (we just have to trust Him).

7. Seek Godly counsel.
     – If the continual sin has become an addiction,
        we may need professional help (at least initially).

Sexual sin is a rejection of God, and all of us
will have to give an account for the sins in our lives.

If we want to spend eternity with Him,
then we need to stop rejecting Him,
and start fellowshipping with Him….NOW.

A Holy God made the universe in such a way
that actions which are true to His character and the
laws derived from His character, are always rewarded.
Actions that violate His character are always punished.

Sexual sin is idolatry,
because it puts our desires in the place of God
(“idol” means something we value more than God).

Jonah (the rebellious prophet) may have had a contrary
spirit, but getting tossed overboard and swallowed by
a fish, did wonders for his perspective.
“Those who cling to worthless idols
  turn away from God’s love for them” (Jonah 2:8)

We were made to find joy in God, not in some substitute.
We swap God’s present and future blessings
for that which we can see, taste and touch
(something which never satisfies).
We’ve all been guilty of this at some point.

To one degree or another, every sinner trades
what he or she has (and could have had) for a lie.
It’s a terrible trade:
     it’s a deal with the devil
     (who never keeps his side of the bargain).

Every day, too many Christian men and women
forfeit future happiness for the sake of
temporary sexual stimulation.
Similar to drug addicts who go from fix to fix – trading
the contentment of righteous living, for the quick hits
which always leave us empty, and with a craving more.

God created us in His image.
We are free moral agents,
which means we get to choose our own path.
But with each path comes consequences.
We may not consistently choose God’s way until
we understand that ‘His way is always best for us’.

Our failure to follow the teachings of Scripture
in the area of sexual immorality, undermines our
ability to accomplish what God has called us to do.
If we are just like the world, we have nothing to offer.
An unholy world will never be won to Christ
by an unholy church.

Question:
Where is the world on the issue of sexual immorality?
     – In the USA,
        revenues for pornography in 2005 were $12 billion.
             – More revenue than for professional football,
                basketball and baseball…combined.
            – Twice the revenues of ABC, NBC and CBS combined.
     – Worldwide revenues for pornography in 2005 were $57 billion.
     – In 2005, approximately 1,000 new pornographic
        websites were added daily.
     – Commercials, movies, television shows, music, etc.
        are constantly promoting illicit sexual relationships.

We need to:
  Pray for ourselves,
  pray for each other,
  pray for our churches,
  pray for the leaders,
  and pray for our country.
        As a nation, we can be destroyed by sexual immorality
        (like Sodom and Gomorrah).