Bible Study - Ministering (6) - Ready When Pornography Controls - 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 - February 22, 2015

Bible Study – Ministering (6) – Ready When Pornography Controls – February 22, 2015

This is lesson six (6) and our final lesson in this series entitled “Ready: Ministering Life to Those in Crisis.”

Our focus scripture is 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8.

Help others to practice purity by walking the talk.

For the past several weeks we have studied various issues which appeal to human nature. Sex is a powerful social issue. Sex sells products including sex itself. Sex used as GOD intended is pure, wholesome, enjoyable and for procreation.

Back when our children were growing up our pediatrician told us that children were maturing faster, especially girls. He thought it was due to the hormones being fed to animals. Children’s bodies are maturing faster than their brains are maturing to handle their sexual development and the permissive society we live in.

When girls want to experiment usually they can find a young man willing to accommodate them. They consider attention and flattery as love but it is lust. The male sees their relationship as fleeting whereas the female considers their relationship lasting. The female set themselves up for a mighty fall and disappointment and possibly question their sexual prowess. 

The female may enjoy and desire more. Once values are compromised, often a number of emotional, physical and psychological things take place in both the male and female.

When a society has the young boys and the young girls wanting to grow up and experience adult things and our society gives opportunity, it is a dangerous combination.

Our focus this week is on pornography. Most any one can access porn quickly on the computer, television or literature. One can see all sorts of impossible sexual positions designed to entice but impossible to achieve except in the mind. The mind is the battlefield.

The number one message we need to come away with from this series of study is that there are all sorts of perversions, deviations and lures designed to place barriers between you and your relationship with CHRIST, thus GOD. All the sins the Apostle Paul mentions are designed to give you pleasure, prevent you from growing Spiritually and developing an intimate relationship with CHRIST, thus GOD.

GOD’S desire is for you to be perfected and made into the image of CHRIST.  This takes an act of the will. It is a choice we as humans make, especially Christians: “Here I am LORD take me as I am and make me into the Christian you want me to become.”

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:14-20:

14 God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. 15 Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not! 16 Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh. 17 But anyone joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18 Run from sexual immorality! “Every sin a person can commit is outside the body.” On the contrary, the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body. 19 Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.

Christians must realize that they have been made Holy by the shed blood of JESUS and are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. Christians have been sanctified or set aside to honor GOD and to obediently serve HIM on earth and in heaven.

Deviations of the flesh break barriers and open up other desires of the flesh through fantasies of the mind. Whether a person engages in illicit sex physically or in his or her mind, it breaks barriers of restraint and opens the potential for carrying out the desires of the flesh. So be careful of what you think.

JESUS put it will in Matthew 5:27-28:

27 “You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. 28 But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

GOD looks upon our hearts and GOD’S grace is sufficient to carry all Christians into eternity. JESUS lived a sinless life and GOD’S desire is that all Christians be made into HIS image and that is a process. GOD gives Christians HIS grace as they journey toward perfection.

GOD called the Apostle Paul to introduce the gospel of CHRIST to the Macedonians who lived in the upper part of ancient Greece. He first preached in Philippi and then traveled about 100 miles west to the city of Thessalonica. He established a church in Thessalonica but due to persecution Paul had to flee. Later, in Corinth, he wrote this first letter to the Christians in Thessalonica.

First he thanked them for being faithful in spreading the Gospel of CHRIST. Then he addressed a number of issues such as opposing false insinuations against Paul and his companions, clarifying questions regarding behavior – immoral sexual behavior, the way they treated each other and questions regarding the second coming of JESUS. A large portion of the Christians in Thessalonica were Gentile converts, thus likely coming from an anything goes background, particularly regarding sex.

Our focus scripture begins with Paul addressing GOD’S will. GOD’S will is an issue most Christians struggle with. In Matthew 16:24, JESUS told HIS disciples:

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.

Christians generally think of their cross as living with some burden upon earth but CHRIST was referring to the “cross” as the “will” of GOD for each Christian. Taking up your cross is a decision each Christian makes.

After salvation, Christians must first decide whether or not to do the will of GOD by taking up his cross and following HIM. Taking up the cross is committing oneself to obediently following the leadership and direction of the Holy Spirit. Coming to this decision point may not come until years after the instant of salvation. When it does, it may seem as a born-again or filling of the Holy Spirit experience but it is that moment when each Christians chooses to abandon self and trust fully in the leadership of CHRIST. It is often a “WOW Moment!”

Sometimes it all happens at the instant of salvation and sometimes it comes after we struggle with self. Often, we get the cart before the horse and say, “Okay LORD, I am all yours, now YOU follow me” but that IS NOT THE ORDER. WE ARE TO FOLLOW HIM. GOD allows us to travel that path until we see the need for us to follow HIM. It is all about bringing self under the control of the Holy Spirit and that means allowing the Holy Spirit to lead, guide and direct our lives.

At the instant of salvation, every Christian is born into GOD’S family through the miracle of rebirth. Every Christian is justified, made righteous and sanctified. So how can a Christian be sanctified at the instant of salvation if sanctification is an ongoing process?

Every Christian is set aside or sanctified for the purpose of doing the will of GOD but the choice is up to each Christian. First, a person decides whether or not to ask CHRIST to forgive him or her for their sins believing that CHRIST gave HIS life upon the cross to pay the sin debt in full for him or her. Salvation is just the beginning of a new life with GOD through CHRIST as GOD’S Sons or Daughters.

So what does this have to do with pornography? It is all about what we allow to come into our lives through the minds’ eye which are barriers to sanctification.

Let’s read 1 Thessalonians 4:3:

3 For this is God’s will, your • sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality,

As Christians, we need to do what we already know to do. GOD’S desire is for all Christians to know the will of GOD, which is to be sanctified. That means Christians are to abstain from all sorts of sins including sexual immorality. Immorality covers a wide range of wrong behaviors including sexual behaviors – premarital sex, homosexuality, adultery, bestiality, pornography, abuse, incest and so forth.

GOD’S will is for every Christian to be set aside for use by HIM, which is sanctification. Christians still have to exercise their will and say “NO” to the cravings of the flesh. This is easy to say but difficult to practice. Only the indwelling Holy Spirit can give us the strength to say no and mean it. Christians are to live in the world but not be a part of the world.

But GOD knows what rewards, both here upon earth and in heaven, awaits us when we are obedient to HIM. Satan wants us to think that GOD is preventing us from experiencing the pleasures of the earthly life. It all began in the Garden of Eden.

Let’s read 1 Thessalonians 4: 4-5:

4 so that each of you knows how to control his own body in sanctification and honor, 5 not with lustful desires, like the Gentiles who don’t know God.

Why is it GOD’S will that Christians “abstain from sexual immorality? It is “so that” they know how to control the desires of the flesh. Do you think JESUS had to control HIS earthly body? You bet! HE was tempted in all ways as we are tempted, yet without sin. Now, that is control. Since we cannot be perfect, is why HE had to give HIS sinless, perfect life to set free from sin and death, all who place their faith and trust in HIM.

Some Bible scholars interpret “body” as “vessel” or “wife.” I think if we, as Christians, control our own bodies in the sanctification process, other areas of our lives will fall into the right place including those who have a spouse.

A major area Christians have to control is their sexual appetite, as well as their appetites in general. The more we give into our cravings the more we lose control in other areas of our lives.

Controlling our sexual appetites is a good start in controlling our earthly bodies and to help us control other things that prevent us from allowing the sanctification process to perfect us and bring honor to CHRIST Who indwells us.

In essence, the sanctification of every Christian was finished on the cross by the shed blood of CHRIST but it is being perfected as he or she lives each day. Christians face powerful issues each day and make decisions based upon their freedom of choice. That freedom of choice needs to be based upon, “What would JESUS do.”

Later in life, a portion of men and women will face “mid-life crisis.” This is often referred to as “adult adolescence.” This is a time when the mind in adults goes a bit crazy. It is a time when those going through such a period in their lives to ask for help, especially help from their spouse if they are married or a qualified counselor.

When Christians allow cravings and lustful desires to enter their minds and lives, they block their relationship and fellowship with GOD. They become like those who don’t know GOD, which brings dishonor to HIM because of their lifestyle and thought life. Refer back to what JESUS said in Matthew 5:27-27 regarding our thought life.

Christians have the indwelling Holy Spirit to come to their aid when such thoughts come into their minds and such thoughts will come into our minds because we live in a sinful world. Being a Christian is a daily battle but we have to keep in mind 1 John 4:4:

4 You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the One (JESUS) who is in you is greater than the one (Satan) who is in the world.

When JESUS was tempted by Satan, HE fought him with scripture. That is why Christians must memorize or have scripture they can refer to as they walk each day with CHRIST. We are in a battlefield each day. We must remain ready and properly equipped for battle.

Let’s read 1 Thessalonians 4:6-8:

6 This means one must not transgress against and defraud his brother (brother or sister) in this (any) matter, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you. 7 For God has not called us to impurity but to sanctification. 8 Therefore, the person who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who also gives you His Holy Spirit.

At first glance, it seems that Paul has moved on to a new issue of business dealings. The word used for “brother” applies to male or female Christians. When Christians are ruled by lustful desires, be it sex, money, fame, etc., they place themselves in situations to hurt others and their witness for CHRIST. Christians are “called” to “sanctification” and NOT to impurity. Sin grieves the Holy Spirit.  

Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:30:

30 And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by Him for the day of •redemption.

The overarching message is that GOD has called Christians to sanctification. Christians are to walk the talk especially in choosing a marriage partner. Christians are not to choose a marriage partner like the Gentiles who base their selection on lust but upon purity and being equally yoked as one in CHRIST.

When people and especially Christians dabble in the things that GOD says are wrong, GOD is the avenger. Paul makes it clear that Christians must not “transgress against.” “Transgress against” means to “go beyond a boundary.” When we break a law or commandment of GOD it hurts both us, others around us and the Holy Spirit. Most often it is our family and our witness that suffers.

Pornography is an addiction that can be hidden because it is so accessible. It opens us to the onslaughts of Satan and his demons. It often only escalates over time until some of the fantasies of the mind are carried out in life and then destruction.

GOD calls HIS children to sanctification because the Holy Spirit indwells them and they are to honor their bodies by not defiling them.

When we choose to disobey GOD’S desire for Christians to be sanctified by doing the things HE abhors, we reject GOD and HIS plan and will for us.

The Good News is that GOD’S grace is sufficient to get Christians through the storms of life but we need to confess our sins to GOD and repent.

1 John 1:5-10:

5 Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. 6 If we say, “We have fellowship with Him,” yet we • walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say, “We don’t have any sin,” we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Christians are in a battle each day not with flesh and blood but the spirit world as Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:10-13:

10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. 12 For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. 13 This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.

We need to pray for each other and keep a careful eye on our thought life lest we fall into a lifestyle that is intent upon enslaving and killing our witness. Stay strong as Paul stated in Ephesians 6:14-18:

14 Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, 15 and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. 16 In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word. 18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the • saints.

Prayers for all! Blessings!!!