This is a rush transcript.

[00:00:01] My name is Bobby Blakey, if we haven't met yet, and I'm the pastor here at this church and we're a brand new church, we just moved into this building just a few weeks ago. And so I've had the privilege of getting to meet a lot of people that have been coming here to church. And I love that. That's why I do what I do. I love getting to know everybody here and your stories of how God's work in your life. And so if we haven't talked yet and this is your church love to talk to after the service, I'd love to have a meeting with you here at the office or go have a meal with you somewhere and just get to know you, because that's that's really what I love to do as a pastor, is get to know the people and I'm here to care for your soul. And one of the questions that people often ask me when we're talking is how do I know God's will for my life? That's one of the common questions that comes up.

[00:00:48] Perhaps you're wondering what God's will might be for a certain area of your life. People ask me, what should I move here? Should I. Should I get this job over here? And I'll usually ask homeowners there, good church there where you're going to get that you know about. Or they'll say, should I date so-and-so? Should I marry so and so. What about my kids? Should I put them in this school or that school or which college should I send my. How do I know what God's will is?

[00:01:16] How do I know what God wants me to do? And we talk about it. People try to figure out God's will for their life. This morning, I'm here to preach to you something that is God's will for every single person here in this room. And I can say it to you with 100 percent confidence. With me to First Thessalonians, chapter four, verse three, and let us read our text.

[00:01:39] We've been working our way through this letter of First Thessalonians. This is a letter to Urch. We're a new church. And so we are going our way through this book.

[00:01:49] This is First Thessalonians, Chapter four, and we're now at Chapter four, verse three. Follow along. I'm going to read all the way to verse eight. And this is our text for this morning. First Thessalonians, chapter four, verse three.

[00:02:07] It says, This is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God, that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter because the Lord is an avenger. And all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you for God, has not called us for in purity, but in holiness.

[00:02:50] Therefore, whoever disregards this disregards not man, but God who gives His Holy Spirit to you. Now, if those words sound a little foreign to you, that's because we're talking about something we don't know anymore here in America, we're talking about abstinence.

[00:03:13] This antiquated idea from way back in the day. That people would not have sex outside of marriage and we don't believe in that idea anymore. Our president has been taking funding away from abstinence sex education. And so this starts when we're young. People are not told anymore as they grow up in America to wait till they get married to have sex. No. People are told today in our schools how to have safe sex.

[00:03:47] And I don't know if you've realized what's happened, but almost all abstinence sex education in the school system of America has been defunded over the term of President Obama.

[00:04:00] Because it just isn't effective. See, it just doesn't work. You can't just tell kids not to have sex because they're going to. And so why even try? And I was a youth pastor for many years. And so I would deal with this all of the time. And I would read about why we wouldn't tell our kids that abstinence was a good idea. And I would read quotes like this. Here's something put out from the government of these United States. Condoms are the best way not to get a sexually transmitted disease or unwanted pregnancy. Can I read that again? Condoms are the best way not to get a sexually transmitted disease or unwanted pregnancy.

[00:04:41] Actually, I think not having sex is the best way to not get a sexually transmitted disease. But common sense logic doesn't make sense to us anymore in America because we want to do what we want to do and it starts when we're young. But the consequences continue for the rest of our lives. And I've done plenty of marriage counseling where people did not wait till they were married to have sex, but they had sex with each other. They had sex with other people. They had sex with themself and then now married. They're going to be true to each other till death do us part. And we wonder why there's arguing and we wonder why there's tension in that household and why they can't trust each other to be faithful.

[00:05:26] Because that's not the way they grew up. So why would they be that way now? And it leads to adultery and it leads to pornography and it leads to argument and sin and it leads to separation.

[00:05:38] And divorce is rampant in our society because there is no one abstaining from sexual immorality. But they're letting themselves go.

[00:05:47] And where do we end up where we end up with kids who have multiple parents, blended families? That's the country that we're living in. These are the kids that get to live and are murdered before they're born because of someone's sexual freedom.

[00:06:05] Welcome to America.

[00:06:09] This land is your land, this land is my land, and this is the land where sexual freedom is the latest bill of right. That we think we have to possess. But let me tell you something here this morning from God's word. Let me give us all a little education, because we're living in a land that has forgotten when it comes to sex in the Bible. It's very black and white. There are no fifty shades of gray, my friends.

[00:06:33] And it's very clear if you're married, if a husband and a wife and sex is a beautiful thing. But outside of that place.

[00:06:43] It is a sin before a holy God. That's what it says right here.

[00:06:48] I'm here to tell you what God wants for your life. I can tell you right now what God wants you to do today and every day until you die. He wants you to be set apart. He wants you to be holy. And he wants you to have nothing to do with sex outside of marriage. That's God's will for every single person in this room, for every single person in America in the world right now. That's God's will for us.

[00:07:18] Turn with me to Hebrews Chapter 13, and I think we're looking at today one of the clearest passages in all the Bible. But if you want it in one verse, I mean, one of the clearest passages in all the Bible on sexual immorality. But here's one verse that makes it very clear. This is Hebrews Chapter 13, verse four. In this letter, we get to a list of commands, just like we've gotten to in our letter, a bunch of things that Paul wants to teach the Thessalonians here, the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 13, verse four, see if this is pretty straightforward and clear.

[00:07:51] Let marriage be held in honor among all. And let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

[00:08:06] There's a place that God has designed sex for, and it's called the marriage bed. But anything outside of that same.

[00:08:14] There's a promise there's a promise in scripture that we're gonna look at this morning, God promises to judge anything sexual outside of marriage.

[00:08:25] That's a problem in I'm promised right here in the scripture.

[00:08:28] So no wonder we can't teach abstinence in our schools because we've taken God out of our schools. So no wonder abstinence education isn't working because the reason we abstain from sexual morality is God tells us to. That's why he has authority. He reigns supreme. He created you. He designed life. And this is the way God set life up for maximum blessing and enjoyment and pleasure. Every man and his wife. That's where it exists.

[00:09:00] But no, it's not good enough for us. It's not what we want. And so we decide to break God's commands.

[00:09:10] And that's where we're at in the command here is to abstain. And the truth is, you accept abstinence or you accept consequences. And I'm sure there's many people who could give an amen to that right now. But you don't need to because we know what you're talking about. A very big problem that we have and turn back to first excellent unions, Chapter four. And let's see what it says that we're supposed to do about this. How are you and I going to abstain from sexual morality? Well, it's going to start with how we think about ourselves. Good verse for here. It says that each one of you is talking about every single one of us. You should know how to control his own body in holiness and honor. Every person here re person who's a Christian, that's who were right in to hear the church and that's all a NYK and let me just tell you. Thessalonica was a sexually immoral place. And a lot of people, they say that, well, you must put this command to abstain from sexual morality because there must have been a lot of that going on in the church. I don't think that's necessarily true. It doesn't say that in our text that it is going on. He just says stay away from sexual morality. And I think the reason he says that is because in Thessalonica, no one was staying away from sexual morality. It would have been common to not only have your wife for the purpose of bearing children, but to have a mistress and you could have gotten a prostitute very easily in Thessalonica and it would have been street legal there to do so.

[00:10:42] So this was a city where this was just rampant, this kind of sin, and he says.

[00:10:47] But you guys say you guys should be able to master your own body, your own vessel. And you should be able to do that with holiness and honor because you guys are different. Your saints. So you're you're in the process now of sanctification. You're being set apart by God from sin. That's what it says about the Christians. So we're counterculture. We're completely different than what's going on around us because we can say no to ourselves. And I have self control and the power of Jesus Christ.

[00:11:22] Do you consider yourself here this morning? A saint? I said that. And some of you guys I know I'm a saint. I'm kind of a sinner.

[00:11:31] Right. Well, turn me to Ephesians Chapter five. One of the things that we've done is we've kind of made Saints. You know, Jude is maybe a saint or Peter's maybe a saint. I mean, maybe the apostles are saints or for sure you had to be a famous Christian. You probably have to be dead to really be considered a saint. But that's not the way the Bible talks about it.

[00:11:50] The Bible says that everybody who's been saved in Jesus Christ has been set apart from sin. And it calls Christians in many letters throughout the New Testament. It calls us saints. So if you call yourself a Christian, you could also refer to yourself as a saint.

[00:12:08] Here this morning, we could even greet each other. Hello, St. So-and-so. Great to see you here at church this morning. All right. Look what it says in a feature in chapter five.

[00:12:18] Verse three, it says, but sexual morality. And look, look, my friends, when you read the Bible and there's a list of sins. What's the sin they're going to mention first? Fornia. It's sad that that's a Greek word that everybody knows say.

[00:12:36] Usually when I say a Greek word, everybody looks at me like, oh, she talking about Preacherman, you know, but I say Pawni and what? Well, yeah.

[00:12:42] I give what that's about say. It isn't. It's disgusting. Become commonplace in our society.

[00:12:49] In fact, people people will look at a sunset showing us the glory of God. And they'll take a picture of it and they'll put it on their Instagram or their Twitter and their Facebook. And I even saw somebody that's just beautiful sunset and their hashtag under their picture was nature porn.

[00:13:08] That's how rampant the idea. Pornography is in our culture.

[00:13:14] Put a good looking piece of food on a picture and we call it food porn. I mean, people are getting very casual with this idea of this sex outside of marriage. That's all around us. And it says, no, not you guys, but sexual morality, verse three and all impurity or CompassHB is this must not even be named among you, not even a hint of it, as is proper among. Who does it say?

[00:13:39] They're my friends. Saints. And the minute you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you became one of God's holy ones. And he said shoe apart for a different purpose than your life before.

[00:13:53] And you're called saints. And now you have this will of God that you're walking in and the will of God is that you would be sanctified. That means to be set apart from sin. The idea that that you're your other than what's around you, other than your old self, that you could be called a saint. I know we can all relate to being called a sinner, but who can relate to being called a saint?

[00:14:17] Here this morning, because that's what the Bible calls you and it says that you should know how to conduct yourself in holiness and honor.

[00:14:28] That's something you learn in Christ. You didn't know it before. But when you meet Jesus, it's kind of like any other relationship. When you get married, when you have kids, you change because of those relationships.

[00:14:40] I was never interested in cooking before I got married to my wife. Right. And she's a great cook. And so I started to want to know how she made things. And I found myself sitting down watching the Food Network, my friends, something. Only love could bring. And I got into it became like my favorite channel on TV. What's Rachael Ray cooking today? Throwdown with Bobby Flay. That guy is amazing. And I got in. Wow. I never was interested in that. And then I met my wife, got a son running around our house. Right now is two years old. Name's Jack. I go in his room in the morning. He's so cute. Hey, Jack. And I just wanted to say good morning, Dad. Give me a hug. What does he say every day? Dad, play Mario. Play Mario. He's obsessed with the video game character Mario and his brother Louis G. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Right. For some reason, he's just gravitated to that. It's like, Dad, great, you're here because your access to Mario, you know. And so guess what I do in the morning when I wake up with my two year old son. We play Mario, my friends, because I love this kid.

[00:15:54] If you're gonna tell me that you love Jesus Christ and you're gonna tell me you have a relationship with your father in heaven, then here's the byproduct of that relationship. Here's what comes with it. Holiness. That's the mark of a Christian person. To the point where the scripture will call you a saint and it will say you out of all the people in America who can say no and abstain and willingly, voluntarily not partake of what everybody else is doing.

[00:16:23] These are the people, God's people. You are the ones who can stop sexual morality in your life because you've been set apart in Christ. That's true. If you're a Christian, you've got to believe that.

[00:16:38] You got to see what it says, conduct yourself in holiness and honor. That is something that is possible for you to do. And here's why. Go back the First Thessalonians, Chapter four. Go back to First Thessalonians, Chapter four.

[00:16:53] And it says here you're going to abstain. The command God's will for you that the whole passage focuses in on is abstinence from any kind of sex outside of marriage. In each one of you should know how to control his own body and holiness and honor. Now, verse five. Not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. Do you see how we're drawing a clear distinction here? People who know God can conduct themselves in holiness. People who conduct themselves in lust and sin. Why is that? They don't know God. What's the difference between the pure person and the person who gives into sexual sin? Nothing about the person. It's not that the pure person is any better. There's one thing that's different about them. They know God and it changes them.

[00:17:43] Say.

[00:17:45] Your sexual life clearly shows where you're at in your relationship with God.

[00:17:50] That's what the Bible says. People who know God don't conduct themselves in the passion of lust. That's how people who don't know God live. It's all about your relationship.

[00:18:04] Your sexual relationships really reflect where you're at in your relationship with father in heaven.

[00:18:12] And this couldn't be more clear than First Corinthians, Chapter six term mean First Corinthians, Chapter six. I'm just trying to give you a sampling of all the New Testament passages that command us to stay away from sexual immorality.

[00:18:31] Look at verse 15 of First Corinthians, chapter six, you'll notice the heading of this section fully run away from get as far away from you can as from sexual morality.

[00:18:42] And start. Let's start in verse 15. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ, you saints, you've sanctified ones? Shall I then take the members of Christ? We're all a part of the body of Christ. Where in Christ shall I take my body, the members of Christ, and make them members of a prostitute? Never. Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her for as it is written? The two will become one flesh. That's for marriage. But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him, with the holy one with God, the father in heaven.

[00:19:19] So flee from sexual immorality. There's another way to say the command. Abstain from it. Flee from it.

[00:19:27] Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

[00:19:33] Do you not know that your body is a temple of though? What does it say? They're my friends. A Holy Spirit.

[00:19:41] OK. Now, I look, I'm all about eating right. And I'm all about exercising. And we're going to talk more about that actually next week. But that's not what it means when somebody says, well, your body's a temple, so you better, you know, eat those green things. That's not what the scriptures talking about. When the scripture whenever the scripture says that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit is always in the context of sexual immorality.

[00:20:08] And that is a Christian person. There's your your body, it's saying, is a place where the spirit of the living God comes in and dwells. And what is he known as? We're gonna use one word to describe the spirit of the living God that dwells inside of you. We call him the Holy Spirit is what we call. We're going to claim that the Holy Spirit is in dwelling me. I'm a temple of the spirit of the living God. And yet I'm going to go and conduct myself in sexual immorality, taking someone who's in Christ and now committing sin.

[00:20:44] Says flee from that goes on to say this. Do you not know that your body is a temple or a spirit within you? And you have him from God. You are not your own. You were bought with the price. So glorify God in your body.

[00:21:02] It's what it says.

[00:21:05] This is a possible reality for every Christian person to experience abstinence from sexual immorality. It is a command from God and you find out what you really think about God as to how you keep his commands.

[00:21:23] Do you know him?

[00:21:24] Do you have his Holy Spirit within you? Because if you do, when you see sexual morality tempting you, you will flee and turn the other way. Now, we're not against sex here at this church. We're against sexual morality and all the married people, said a man. Right. This is a good thing that God has given to us between a husband and a wife. OK.

[00:21:48] There's a great place for fire and it's in the fire place, my friend. So let's put that down for point number one. OK, let's keep the fire in the fireplace. That's what we want to do here at CompassHB Bible Church. OK, let's keep the fire where it belongs. God gave us a good gift and he gave it to us to enjoy. He gave us actually this marriage. A monogamous marriage is the way to enjoy maximum sexual fulfillment in this life. And God has blessed us with that. And we should see it for what it is and appreciate it and not defile that marriage bed.

[00:22:28] But we should have honor about it and we should be so afraid of anything outside of that marriage because we will know how the fire can burn.

[00:22:37] See, some of us have been burned by this fire.

[00:22:42] I want you to imagine with me, winter. Can you imagine that with me for a second? Right. What many people are experiencing at this time of year. Right.

[00:22:52] Snow falling down. Right. Cold outside. You got mittens on, right. You got a thing, a hot cocoa there.

[00:23:00] And you're with your family and you're watching the movie Frozen. Can you imagine this setting with me? Right. And it's your your daughters, maybe their worth. If you got a daughter, that's why you're watching this movie for the hundredth time. Right. And here comes. All laugh So cute. You could cuddle. But when it gets warm, he turns into a snow man. Right. And you're watching this movie with this animated character.

[00:23:26] And and you put a little fire in the fireplace that just gives you that sense of heat. And your spouse maybe leans in kind of having a nice family moment later that night, you go to bed and you wake up in the middle of the night and something's burning and you smell smoke.

[00:23:46] And so you run down the hall and you burst into your daughter's room and there she is. And she's got the lighter that you left out. And she's got some of the firewood there on her floor and she's lit a fire right there in her bedroom. And now the floor's catching fire and it's getting on the curtains.

[00:24:02] And she's like, Daddy, it was so nice when we had a fire. I just thought I would do it here in my room. And you're thinking, why would you burn our whole house down?

[00:24:10] Say. And how many houses have been burnt down? When people have taken the fire out of the fireplace. And it's become something that cannot be controlled. And it's wreaked a lot of havoc and it's destroyed a lot of homes. And the command is my friends. Let's all stay away from that. Please, for your own good, for the glory of God.

[00:24:38] Let us decide here today that we want to be the people who abstain from sexual morality because along with the command comes a strong warning. Look back at Verse S Aloni in Chapter four and look at what it says. There is no veil on these threats here.

[00:24:55] This is a strong promise. And it says this in verse six that no one man, the goal is that no one at this church would transgress and wrong his brother, that no one here would cause somebody else here to stumble and sexual sin. Why?

[00:25:13] Why do we want to be so careful about this sin? Because the Lord is in a Benja and all these things.

[00:25:21] In fact, we told you this beforehand. And here's how we told you. We solemnly and it's a little bit serious. We solemnly warned you. And God has not called you Christian to be impure. He's called you to be holy. And therefore, if you reject this command, you're not rejecting man, you're not rejecting me. You're rejecting God, him self, because he has warned you. He has threatened you. You are not going to get away with it.

[00:25:47] That's what he says. Every single person who commits the sin of sexual morality will be judged for what they have done. That's what the Bible clearly says when it says the Lord is avenger here.

[00:26:02] It's the same word used where it says that the government bears the sword, like the government can punish people when they commit crimes and it can enact justice. God has given the government that authority. Well, here's very clear. If America is going to no longer enforce any laws about sexual morality in our nation, don't be deceived, my friends. God will enforce his law.

[00:26:27] That's what the word says. And no one.

[00:26:32] Who commits this kind of sin will ever get away with it?

[00:26:37] God will be the judge on this one. I mean, that's a strong statement.

[00:26:43] That judgment is surely coming. This is the kind of thing we don't even hear talked about in churches these days, that there is surely a wrath of God that is coming on the sons of disobedience. And what's the number one reason that the Bible gives? Why the wrath of God is coming? Sexual morality.

[00:27:02] God is not OK with it. God's not okay with it even a little bit. In fact, if there's one word that he could use to describe himself as to how he feels about sexual sin outside of marriage.

[00:27:12] It's a venger as the word he wants to use to introduce himself to us. The Avenger.

[00:27:21] And if you play with the fire, you will get burned and if you think you're getting away with it. Now the Avenger is coming to Proverbs Chapter six Proverbs Chapter six is a great warning.

[00:27:33] It's from a father to a young man. Wouldn't it be great if fathers in America were warning their young men to abstinence is the only way stay away from sexual immorality? And there's this warning in three chapters in the Book of Proverbs. Chapter five. Chapter six. Chapter seven. They're all warning young men don't give in to the immoral woman. Don't even look at her. Don't let her capture you with her beauty. Stay far away from her. It looks nice, but it leads to death. That's what the proverbs say. And here's just a picture to go along with our analogy today. Proverbs chapter six, verse 27. Here's a question. Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?

[00:28:22] You got a lot of fire right here by your chest and think it's not going to burn you.

[00:28:27] Verse 28. Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? Think you could play with fire and get away with it? Not get burned? Well, no, you can't. And so is he who goes into his neighbor's wife. None who touches her will go.

[00:28:44] What does it say there? Unpunished. One of the promises that's very clear in scripture that doesn't make its way into the Bibles promises for your Lifebook is that God promises to judge sexual immorality. He has the authority, he's made the command, and he promises that that is going to happen. So let me ask you, how serious should we take the temptation of sexual sin in our life?

[00:29:16] Is this something that's kind of like not that big of a deal because I'm covered by grace? Is this something that's like, yeah, this is a moderate importance? I should be I should you know, I should feel kind of bad and I should try to stop. Or is this like like red light, like highest state of alert?

[00:29:33] Like, the last thing I would ever want to do against my God is commit some kind of immorality outside of marriage. That would be a sin against him.

[00:29:44] Where is it for you? How seriously do you take staying away from this?

[00:29:51] So many people are like, this is how I hear people talk about it at church. Well, David Saint.

[00:29:55] And he was a man after God's own heart. I mean, if you heard somebody say it like that. Like what David did. It's a world. Does anybody read the rest of the story, what happened to David after that?

[00:30:09] I mean, does anybody, Reid, have the baby that was born right there, died because of Davidson?

[00:30:15] How? Because David had multiple wives and because his many different sons and daughters couldn't get along. That one of his sons raped one of his daughters and one of his sons, took some of his concubines and had sex with them on the top of the palace in front of the entire city. Because David sinned.

[00:30:36] And he was a man after God's own heart and God went after his own man. The Lord is an avenger in these things, and if we're not afraid, then we don't know God.

[00:30:47] See? He doesn't take it lightly. And he wants you to take it as seriously as you can.

[00:30:55] Throw me to Matthew, Chapter five. Let's see what Jesus Christ, our Lord taught us on this matter.

[00:31:00] What would Jesus Christ want his disciples to know when it comes to the sin of of sexual morality? We know that one of the Ten Commandments is thou shall not commit adultery. What is Jesus's commentary on that commandment? We have it here in Matthew, chapter five, verse 27 in the in the Sermon on the Mount.

[00:31:20] Closest, most complete thing we have to an actual sermon from Jesus Christ. Here's what he says in Matthew. Chapter five, verse 27. He's going to now expositor for us, one of the Ten Commandments. You shall not commit adultery.

[00:31:35] You've heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you.

[00:31:40] Let me clarify to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

[00:31:52] I mean, here's the real standard we're not talking about. Did you actually go all the way with so-and-so? No, the standard is in your heart. Jesus says it's in your intent. It could just be a look. But if that's what you're thinking about, if that's what you want, then you're already in sin before only God. Jesus Christ.

[00:32:10] That's what he says.

[00:32:12] It's a look, he says, when you're driving down the road, when you're cooking channels on the TV, when you're browsing the Internet.

[00:32:19] A look could be seen.

[00:32:22] So how seriously should we take it, verse twenty nine?

[00:32:25] Well, if you're right, I cause you to sin, tear it out and throw it away, for it is better that you lose one of your members the night your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, will cut it off and throw it away. But it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. What is the fire that's gonna burn? Whereas this fire, this passion, this lust of sexual morality, where does the fire ultimately take you?

[00:32:55] It takes you to the lake of fire is where it ultimately goes.

[00:32:58] And Jesus makes it very clear that you cannot get your sexual morality under control if you cannot abstain. The consequence of that of even a look.

[00:33:08] Jesus Christ says the consequence of that is eternal hell. That's what he says.

[00:33:15] Now, I think Jesus is using a metaphor here, I don't think he's actually encouraging us to rip out our eyeballs and to cut off our hands because otherwise we'd have a lot of interesting looking people here at church this morning. OK.

[00:33:30] But I think he's saying wherever the sun comes in, in your life, whatever the avenue of temptation is, you've got to be done with it right there.

[00:33:39] You've got to cut it off.

[00:33:41] Know if anybody's heard that story of A they made it into a movie, I didn't see it because it sounded gross, but it was called one hundred and twenty seven hours.

[00:33:48] This guy who was like rock climbing and he got caught under a rock that fell on him and his arm was stuck. And he was there for a hundred and twenty seven hours trapped by this boulder on his arm. And he was starting he could tell he was starting to die because his water was long gone, his food was long gone, and he's just wasting away. And he gets out some kind of thing that he's got in his backpack. And it's not even a sharp thing. And he starts to soar through his arm.

[00:34:20] To save his life. That's what Jesus is saying.

[00:34:25] There is a relationship that tempts you sex to be in sexual immorality. Cut it off.

[00:34:31] If there's some way on the computer you're tempted for sexual morality. Cut it off. Where does the temptation come to you? Eliminate the source of temptation.

[00:34:42] That's what Jesus is saying.

[00:34:44] In order for many people, the source of temptation is coming today. It's right here on their smartphone, my friends.

[00:34:52] Many people are carrying their sign around with them right on their pocket.

[00:34:58] When I was doing youth, I did youth ministry all for a long time before we started this church. I can not tell you. Unfortunately, I spent a lot of my time talking with young men about the sin of sexual immorality. I mean, it's rampant among the young people of America right now, the fact that they're not being told abstinence is a major problem and they are suffering for it.

[00:35:22] And I won't forget this one time I got a text in the middle of the night from one of the guys in our youth group and he said, Pastor Bobby, I really need to talk to you. He's sending me this text at 12, 30 at night.

[00:35:34] And I'm like, what's wrong? And he's like, Dude, that sermon really messed me up today. I mean, that sermon a just ruined me.

[00:35:43] And this guy I had met with him earlier that day and he had been applying for student leadership in our youth group.

[00:35:50] He seemed like the clean cut church kid. And I just preached a sermon on faith conversions from Acts Chapter eight and how this guy, Simon the Magician, got baptized. But he wasn't really saved. And watch out because you can think you're saved because you come to church and you claim Jesus. But if you still have seen in your life is the ongoing pattern and habit, you're not saved.

[00:36:14] Then a guy said that Surman messed me up, man, because I've got sin going on in my life. And I said, hey, it's twelve, thirty in the morning. Let's talk about this first thing tomorrow. And so we met there at the church and he's like, I'm wondering if I'm a Christian. And I said, well, maybe that's a good thing for us to talk about.

[00:36:30] Let's go to first, John. And we just sat there for a long time reading first John together and talking about how it just makes it black and white. You're either in the light or the darkness.

[00:36:39] You either obey or you disobey, either hate or you love. You're either of the world or you love God. Which one are you?

[00:36:47] And he was kind of like, well, I think I kind of do this, but then I kind of over here and and then it became clear that he can't get along with his family. And then it became clear that he gets angry a lot. And then it became clear that really on the down low and nobody has to know at it about it. He looks at pornography on his phone almost every day.

[00:37:07] He's just enslaved a sexual morality. And it's like, well, if that's been the pattern of your life and you just told me yesterday, you got saved like three years ago. And here you are just still living in that sense. How can these things be, my friend? And this guy that I knew pretty well. Our conversation took a took a very weird turn. And I said, how do you look at pornography? It's like on my iPad, my iPod. I said, do you have your iPod with you today? And he literally, like, hunched up like this. I said, why don't you give me your iPod right now? And he turned into Gollum from Lord of the Rings.

[00:37:47] I don't know if you've ever seen that before.

[00:37:51] It's like my my own.

[00:37:56] My pressure.

[00:37:58] That's literally what just happened, except it wasn't funny. OK. It's like this guy's my bro. We're a church. Like every day, and now we're finally for the first time having our first real conversation we've ever had in our life.

[00:38:14] And he won't give me his iPod.

[00:38:17] I'm like, bro. It's pretty clear what's going on here. Do you want to repent of your sin today? But you want to walk out of this store and keep on saying. Which one is it going to be? And he had to think it over and we had to open up the scripture and we had to get into it together. And eventually he handed me his iPod and he walked out of that room that day with a bird gone. And he became a new person. I got to watch him start to really live for Jesus Christ. And I took that iPod and I opened my desk drawer and I added it to the host of the collection of other devices that young people are looking at pornography on that that I kept in that drawer. There's a collection of them. On my last day that I worked at that church, I opened Detroit and there they were. And this guy, he showed up and he had a hammer and he said, can I have my iPod back? And we went in the parking lot and he destroyed that iPod. And we praise the Lord. I mean, I'm telling you right now, if you don't kill your son, it will kill you. It will take you down to hell.

[00:39:33] It's not worth it. My friends.

[00:39:37] If you've got sin that you're hanging on to in your life and it's a secret. I came here today to solemnly warn you. You got a turn from that send me Jesus Christ could not make it any more clear. Did he make it any more clear right here? Look, my friends are look at your phone just once a day, just a little bit of it. That's all it takes for the fires of hell. He says it again in Matthew 18. Look at Matthew, Chapter 18 with me.

[00:40:05] Liquidy says right here, and this is this is the part where if you transgress or wrong, your brother. Hey, I'm here to warn you, if you're even just thinking about sexual morality by yourself. And I'm here to warn you for your own soul. But here's now a double warning.

[00:40:21] Man, if you're causing somebody else to sin sexually, if you bring somebody else into this sin with you. Well, here's what Jesus has to say to that. Matthew, 18, verse five. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me. But whoever causes one of these little ones, he's talking about the children of his father in heaven. Those who are supposed to be holy like God is only if you cause one of the Jesus is people who believe in me to sin. It would be better for him, this person who causes another Christian to sin. It would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world for temptations to sin. Virt is necessary that temptations come. But woe to the one by whom the temptation comes.

[00:41:14] And if your hand or your foot causes you to Sandman, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. If your eye causes you to st-, tear it out and throw it away, it is better for you to enter life with one eye.

[00:41:33] Then, with two eyes to be thrown into the hall of fire.

[00:41:37] Better to go without a computer. Better to go without a smartphone. Better to get a new job and lose wages and have an affair with someone in your office.

[00:41:49] Say, yes, we will, where should I? Where should I move past or where should I live? Well, I don't know exactly where God wants you to live, but I know if one of your neighbors is causing you to stumble and tempting you to have an affair, it might be time to move. I know if you're living with someone and you're committing sexual morality with them, it's time to get married or it's time to start finding somewhere else to sleep at night. That I can tell you, is God's will. I can't tell you what house to live in. But I could tell you if there's something about that house, if there's something about that job, if there's something about that commute that causes you to stumble, then end it today.

[00:42:24] Cut it off and throw it away and be done with it and let the burden of your sin, the guilt and the shame.

[00:42:31] Let it be gone, my friends. And experienced the forgiveness that is in Jesus Christ. That's what he's saying here. Catch what he's as he paint a very vivid picture.

[00:42:44] If you cause somebody else one of Jesus his people to sin because of sexual morality, it would be better for you to have a millstone around your neck and to be thrown into the sea.

[00:42:58] Now, I actually brought pictures of what that would look like. My friends, I had the privilege of going to Israel. That's a milestone right there. That's my friend, Pastor Papeete. He's gonna come and preach here at our church in a few weeks. And that's a pretty big stone to put around your neck, a little bigger than modern jewelry we're wearing these days. Okay.

[00:43:18] And then here is me, a younger version of myself on a boat on the Sea of Galilee, on a little wooden boat there. Let me tell you, when you're on the Sea of Galilee, there's one thing that you think about the Sea of Galilee. When you kind of rock in there on this lake, there's one thing you think this lake is deep.

[00:43:35] That's what you think. You just get on the water and you're like it has a presence to it. Like it goes way down. Do you see what Jesus Hassan? It would be better for you to have that stone around your neck and to get pushed off that boat and to go all the way down to the bottom, kicking and screaming, trying to get back to the surface. It would be better to die like that. Then the judgment that is coming on those who caused someone else to sexualize.

[00:44:05] That's a threat, my friend.

[00:44:07] That's a threat from Jesus Christ to you today. And he is saying, stay away from my people.

[00:44:14] Stay away from the little ones that I have called out to be holy saints. Don't cause anybody else to stumble. In fact, don't even stumble yourself.

[00:44:24] This is the word from the Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:44:29] This is how you. Let's just put this down for point number two, if you play with fire, you will get burned. That's what we're here to say. If you play with fire, you will get burned. There's no way out. You're not going to get away with it.

[00:44:40] Everybody who's living that lifestyle is going to be judged by God if you continue in that pattern of sin. There is no sacrifice that remains, but just a fearful expectation of judgment. And you have been solemnly warned here today. Now that that's the truth. And I got to say what the Bible said. That's what we do here at CompassHB Bible Church.

[00:45:06] We're giving you a solemn warning. That judgment is coming upon everyone who is sexually immoral. But let me just. Can I can I throw in some good news here?

[00:45:14] There's no judgment here today, my friend. You're in the sin of sexual morality. Nobody here is gonna judge you. Who here could cast the first stone?

[00:45:24] This isn't a place of judgment, this is a place of forgiveness. That's why we gather here today to celebrate that Jesus Christ has paid for your sin. And if you will, humble yourself and come to him and confess your sin, he is faithful and just to forgive you, your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

[00:45:43] Today isn't the day of judgment. Today is the day of salvation right here in this place.

[00:45:50] That judgment is coming, but not today. Today there is hope for you. Today could be the last day. There you have that guilt that you have that shame.

[00:46:02] That you carry around that secret, that pain from the past that you can't let go of. It could be gone today, gone forever. Turn with me to Psalm 32 and David. And the consequences of his sin and the adultery that he committed. And he tried to cover it up. And he writes to us a song about the blessing it is to be forgiven by God.

[00:46:26] Look at Psalm 32 and everyone, if you're in sin here this morning or if this has brought up hard memories to think about of things that you have done in your past. Well, here's a good word from a man who experienced sin, but also the blessing of forgiveness. Psalm 32, verse one. Plus, it is the one whose transgression is forgiven. Whose sin is cover happy. Blessed is the man against the law whom the Lord counts no iniquity and whose spirit there is no deceit. Now, I know many of us could have sent a man to a being in the sin of sexual immorality in our some time in our life. But is anybody ready to say a man to being forgiven? Do you know the blessing here today? Say. And is it great to know that you can stand before God and you will not be judged because there is no condemnation in Jesus Christ and all of your sin has been paid in full? That's what we offer here today. Say we offer that to you here this morning. We offer that to every citizen of America and everyone on this planet that, hey, you can know this happiness right here come to God.

[00:47:41] And he is gracious, he is merciful, and he is ready to forgive thousands who come to him. Well, I know means clearing the guilty.

[00:47:49] But if you come to him to look what it says here.

[00:47:52] Verse three, when I kept silent, I didn't want to come to the Lord. I didn't want to confess. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. It's like my inside was falling apart for day and night.

[00:48:05] Your hand was heavy upon me with some of us have known the conviction of the Lord heavy upon. Some of us might be feeling that here this morning. And my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

[00:48:20] But then I did something.

[00:48:22] Bold. Something different. I acknowledged my sin to you. And I did not cover my iniquity. I didn't try to hide it. I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord. And you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

[00:48:39] This is Amazing Grace. Who can believe this? Therefore, let everyone who is godly. Offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found. Surely in the rush of great waters and the judgment to come, they shall not reach him. Hey, well, you have a chance here this morning. You can get forgiveness here today. And then don't hide your sin, no, God, let God be a hiding place for you. You preserve me from trouble, you surround me with shouts of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Don't be here this morning like a horse or a mule. Stubborn without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle. Or it will not stay near you. Don't harden your heart and turn away to God because many are the sorrows of the wicked. Don't turn away from God. There's only sorrow there.

[00:49:29] But steadfast love surrounds the one who trust in the Lord.

[00:49:33] So be glad in the role, Lord, and rejoice so righteous and shout for joy all you upright in heart. Well, who's the righteous, who's the upright and heart? How did we get that way?

[00:49:44] We confessed our sin and we met the forgiveness of God. And now he calls us Saints Holy Ones.

[00:49:53] And we're not here to judge anybody at this church. We're building this church on former people who committed sexual morality and adulterers. They might have handed you a bulletin when you came in here today.

[00:50:05] They might have told you where to park your car. There's no there's no righteous people here in and of themselves are just forgiving. People here at this church declared righteous because they put their faith in Jesus Christ, the only one who is righteous. And now we can walk in his ways. Tell me to First Corinthians, Chapter six. And you can see here the story of a of our church. I don't know if the Thessalonians Church was getting caught up in sexual sin. I know he clearly commands them to stay away from this church in First Corinthians, Chapter six, if you turn in there with me. This church was let in. Sexual morality in. Before we get to Chapter six, look at chapter five, verse one. Look what it says, says it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you like scandal, shock, horror of horrors.

[00:51:04] I'm hearing that there's sex outside of marriage going on within the Saints.

[00:51:10] Shocking is. And he says this is not to be tolerated.

[00:51:15] Just a little bit of this will ruin the entire church. And he says, hey, I'm not telling you to stay away from the sexually a moral of this world. No, we welcome them in and we preach them the gospel. But if you're going to claim the name of Jesus Christ here this morning. Well, then there's no sexual morality accepted there.

[00:51:33] And he starts to say, hey, we're going gonna have to not associate with sexually immoral people. People at the church who give in to this sin, that's gonna be a test for us. We're a new church. It's the first time we've ever really talked about sexual morality just like this. Out in the open, this is gonna be a test for our church.

[00:51:52] This kind of sin is going to creep in. It's going to creep in maybe with your friend at your home fellowship group. And we're going to show what we really believe about God, whether we're gonna confront it as sin or whether we're going to tolerate it.

[00:52:04] See? So many churches today are corrupt because of sexual morality.

[00:52:10] How many of know of us have even known someone in leadership of a church who has been found to be sexually immoral? How many people's faith have been destroyed by bad examples by fallen saints?

[00:52:23] There's going to be a real test for us. This church was falling apart.

[00:52:27] But look, here's the hope. Here's what he says. This is glorious. Good news. In First Corinthians six, verse nine, he confronts their sin, but then he gives them this promise. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? You can be here at church, but do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters, nor adulterers nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards. Nor reviles, nor swindlers. If that's your pattern, that's your habit. If that's your lifestyle, you will not inherit the kingdom of God not getting in.

[00:53:05] And then here's the good news. Verse eleven and such were some of you.

[00:53:11] But you were washed, you were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And by the spirit of our God. Such were many of us here at CompassHB HB. People sinning against a holy God. Looking, thinking, acting on sex outside of marriage and now look at what God has done with some of you, it's amazing. It's amazing to see what it can the power when you put your faith in Jesus Christ and he washes you in.

[00:53:45] I mean, do we really believe that when Jesus Christ shed his blood for your Senate paid for at all, do you really believe that when you come to Christ and he cleanses you from righteousness, he can really change you from the inside out and he can make you pure from within?

[00:54:03] And then it says you were washed, you were sanctified. See, that's how we become saints were set apart. Yeah, we used to be over here.

[00:54:09] And now he brings us and gives us a new manner of life, new habits, new patterns, the ability to say no and to not give into temptation. And then it says you were justified.

[00:54:22] And isn't that going to be an awesome day when when you or or I when we stand before Jesus Christ and we see him and all of his holiness and I'm going to be intimidated when I see Jesus Christ His Holiness, I'm going to be like, whoa. And I'm probably going to think of sins that I have done when I see in his presence. And to know that he is going to declare me not guilty. To know that he will say, I am righteous in the presence of a holy God in a place I don't belong.

[00:54:54] To be my friends. Well, that's my entire life right there. But I've been defined now not by any sin. I've been defined by Jesus Christ.

[00:55:07] And I'm washed and I'm sanctified. And I've been declared righteous in the presence of a holy God. And here's how I got there. I just acknowledged.

[00:55:18] What was true about me? That, I assume.

[00:55:24] We're going to come now into the presence of God by taking communion, we thought this might be a great thing to remember right here, right now. That it's only by the blood of Jesus Christ that we have in that cup. And it's only by the body of Jesus Christ. That we have in that bread that you and I can no forgiveness of sins. And I hope that if you do know that forgiveness, that this will be a time of worship for you right now to praise Jesus Christ, to remember that it's because of his sacrifice, that all of your sin has been washed away.

[00:55:56] And there should be no shame. There should be no guilt, as you should, bound out of here like a person with the new life of Jesus Christ. And if you're a brother or sister in that temptation is creeping in and you're not fleeing from it. You're not abstaining from it.

[00:56:12] Now is the time for you to confess your sin before God and make sure that you're right with him. We are going to give you a moment to do that right now. But I know I'm speaking to some people here in this room. Some of my fellow Americans who've grown up in this.

[00:56:30] Culture where we don't talk about abstinence. And we think it's OK to do what we want to do.

[00:56:38] And if you've been living that way when you came in here today, I would encourage you don't don't take this communion instead of getting this little cup and this piece of bread. Don't take that no common. Confess your sins to Jesus Christ. Don't get the symbol. Get the real thing right now. That's what I would encourage you to do.

[00:56:56] All you have to do. If his hand is pressing upon you, if your bones are wasting away, all you have to do is acknowledge your sin to God.

[00:57:07] Please ask him to save you. Please find his mercy is sweet and his forgiveness is complete. My friends, there's an offer of forgiveness on the table right now. Please take it. I beg you, I beg you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to turn from your sin and put your trust in him. So please, everyone, about your heads and spend some time praising the Lord, confessing your sin, whatever it is that you need to do, and we'll take communion together here in a minute.