A reminder that the
core of wisdom lies not in the democratic collection of our opinions but in our
relationship with the living God.
Proverbs is a collection of wisdom sayings. Some in
black here, are discourses, others, in blue here, are two liner pithy catch
phrases. If you want a copy of proverb a day, ask. Today’s is
Sunday, 11 Dec 05
Proverbs10:14
Wise men
store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.
Today we are going to read some of a large section
about the hazards of sex drive. Time will not allow us to complete the look
through but ch 8-9 are in a similar vein to what we have already looked at.
Read it for yourself.
Chapters 5-7 has four distinct passages, three of
which are on the subject of sex, the second is about other vices.
So
lets read ch 5
Chapter
5 introduces ‘the stranger’ Let’s be clear. All the characterisations in
Proverbs are woman, wisdom, folly and here seduction. This is not sexist. Men
are just as much responsible and culpable as women. Solomon is not passing the
buck, he is creating a new character to contrast with wisdom and set alongside
folly.
In ch. 5 she is sex drive is seen as a deadly threat,
something to avoid and one way of doing that , if you are married, is to
remember that Go created sex for you to enjoy with your own wife. Finally there
is a reminder that sin is acted out in front of God. Sex drive becomes a
deathtrap.
Ch 6:1-19 is a series of warnings of various things,
including going surety. Read it and consider its wisdom.
What follows begins by reminding us of good positive
teaching and goes on to give examples of the hazards: its playing with fire,
like theft; self-destructive and is likely to lead to you being on the
receiving end of justified anger.
Ch 7 is like an eye witness report of how we are
duped, seduced and fall into sexual sin, like any other sin.
It is a sober fact
that our society is riddled with sin of all kinds and sexual sin in particular.
We live in times as evil as they can be. Everywhere you turn the 10 commands
are blatantly ignored and held to ridicule. Read about
prostitution.
The
TV in your living room offers the sort of entertainment most of the human race
would be appalled by. Violence, greed, sexual sin and perversion are all there
as soon as the 9pm threshold passes or before if you don’t show it. Come 11pm
and censorship is the excuse for showing it rather than restraint. And you can
pay for more if you want. But the Internet is even more dangerous. Only two or
three clicks and you can have access to trumpeted images of sin and perversion. So how does the man or woman
of God live in these days?
Hang on, you may say, I have never committed
adultery or at least I’m not tempted at present. Or I am a woman so this can’t
apply. What happens in my private viewing is none of your affair. I’m not
hurting anyone.
Jesus said a very
sobering thing about adultery.
Matthew 5 verse 27 - 30 (NIV)
"You
have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.‘ But I tell you that
anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her
in his heart.
If
your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better
for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into
hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go
into hell.
Like many scriptures this one touches at the heart of our gospel which
is not that the world needs changing but that the human heart needs transplant
surgery.
Unfortunately, I
would be foolish to thing we are above this problem. It is a pandemic of
society and it infects all of us. And even here this morning there are some who
are addicted. God knows whether I am
talking to you.
So what do I do about it?
First, we are able to assert
our wills to avoid evil.
Job 31 verse 1 (NIV)
“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look
lustfully at a girl.” This is a call for commitment to holiness and action to
be ‘pure in heart.’
But I’m already trapped? Our gospel is one of
a way of escape.
1 Corinthians 10 verse 13 (NIV)
No temptation has seized you except what is
common to man.
And God is faithful;
he will not let you be tempted beyond what you
can bear.
But when you are tempted, he will also provide
a way out so that you can stand up under it.
the steps begin, as always, with admitting your sin, repenting of it
which is not just feeling uncomfortable about but seriously wanting to be free
from it. Then we need to bring our sin to Jesus and accept his forgiveness. Yes
he also bore the punishment and guilt of
your adulterous thoughts on the cross and you are free in him from them.
But also you need to take steps to avoid sin. Jesus may seem over the top but
he is saying that if temptation is getting the better of you , your spiritual
wellbeing is more important than your entertainment, where you walk or even
where you work. On the subject of the internet, use the settings that are built into software. A helpful way of dealing with internet pornography is making
yourself accountable to someone else. You can do that through Covenant Eyes which sets up a form of spyware so
that a friend or relation is sent a list of all the websites you visit. It’s
title comes from Job 31:1.
In the context of this week, a few thoughts
about other sexual matters.
First the new Homosexual Partnership business.
I want to make a few things clear. We hold
that having homosexual feelings and believing you are homosexual by nature is
not a sin. But when that felling gives birth to homosexual acts it is a
perversion. It is no different to a man and woman having sex outside of
marriage. It is not God’s way.
Secondly, this does not lead us to be
judgemental about non-Christians. If a homosexual couple attends this meeting,
they would be as welcome as any other. Our first concern is to introduce them
to Jesus and let the Holy Spirit give new life and salvation. They are to acdcepted as every person was by
Jesus. Who ‘came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.
However, if someone in a homosexual
relationship comes and claims to be a Christian we respond quite differently.
If they have become part of the kingdom of God then his rule in their lives
will mean that they will repent of their sin and end the partnership. We will
not welcome practicing homosexuals to take communion, we will not baptize them
or admit them to membership.
This is not homophobic because we treat all
alike. So when we consider heterosexual partnerships, we have similar
discipline. If people come and get involved
in our activities we accept them as they are. We do not tut and fuss about
their adultery. We want them first to come to Christ and receive his salvation.
But if you are a Christian we must speak plainly.
Adultery is having sexual relations
with anyone with whom you have not entered into a commitment before God and
publicly. And adultery is a sin and like every other sin is to be condemned,
repented of and forgiveness found. To make it clear, marriage is when a man and
a woman are united before God. It is a lifelong commitment and is requires a
public act which involves legal registration.
so Heterosexual sin is treated similarly to
Homosexual sin.
We
say having friends of the opposite sex is not sin, it is actually healthy.
Adultery
is sin
Non-Christians
are not to be ‘judged’ by us
Among
Christians we do not recognise Heterosexual
partnerships, only legal marriage.
•
Not welcome to take communion
•
Not baptise
•
Not admit to membership
One
rider I must add here. In the case of one partner coming to Christ and the
other not, particularly where children are involved, we do not insist on
marriage. We accept the principle that the Christian should not leave the relationship
unless the non-Christian partner seeks it. This is in line with 1Corinthians
7:12-24
In a sense to
sum up what we have considered here. Proverbs warns at great length against the
mis-appropriation of Sex Drive. Paul in
Romans shows that the consequwence of turning your back on God’s wisdom is that
we begin to worship the created no the creator.
Romans 1:22-26
Writing to Titus, Paul turns
our thinking to the positive and therefore I want to end here. It is not the
NO, NO, NO that we should be absorbed with but the YES YES YES to godliness.
The battle in my mind is to set my mind on the Spirit not dwell on the flesh.
Titus 2:11-14
Finally, whatever your sin,
Admit it, repent of it, turn away, take steps to avoid it, make yourself
accountable to others, and most of all accept God’s forgiveness. He invited you
to a feast, his body and blood given for you, that you might live in the
freedom that comes from the Spirit.