Tri-Annual Singing!
February 21, 2026
7:00pm - 8:30pm
Category: Fornication
Subject: Fornication
Sermon: Sanctification and Sexuality
A sermon detailing God’s plan for human sexuality, the violations of that Pattern, and what God expects of His people.
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Abound More and More
“Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God” (1 Thessalonians 4:1).
The phrase “abound more and more” indicates an excess or overflow. In effect, that Christians, learning what God requires of us, should work to grow and grow in these things to the point that they are immeasurable. Abound in what? Anything that pleases God!
In the previous chapter Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to “abound in love to one another and to all” (3:12). After these words in (4:1), he includes as an aspect of pleasing God to be sanctified. This means to have a life that is characterized as righteous or holy.
Specifically, he writes, “that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor” (3). Such a call to purity and celibacy outside of marriage (cf. Hebrews 13:4) is mostly ignored in our day but has great importance placed upon it by God.
Any type of sexual activity outside of marriage between a man and woman is NOT abounding more and more in pleasing God!
God’s Plan for Sexuality
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). A simple statement, in this context indicating their need for avoiding fornication, and exercising self control.
For most, the sexual drive is very strong. This is how God designed men and women. The urge to procreate facilitates God’s instructions to mankind from the beginning to “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28).
However, God in his wisdom limited such an intimate thing to the marriage bed. “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4). Some wonder, if God does not want us to have sex, why did he make us this way? The answer is, He does want this for us, but He wants us to be blessed, not cursed by such actions.
If sex is limited to a healthy marriage, there is the assurance of love, faithfulness and protection. There is a wholesome environment for raising children in the “training and admonition of the Lord” (cf. Ephesians 6:4).
But fornication brings regret, disease, abortion, rejection, objectification, and a host of other untenable problems.
God’s way is best. Men may think that they can ignore His directives. But, they do so at their own physical and spiritual peril!
Sermon: The Will of God, Your Sanctification
A discussion of holiness as it relates to sexuality, taken from 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8.
Negative Examples
We contend that the examples we find in scripture serve to establish authority. When we see Christians in the New Testament engaged in an activity with God’s approval, we know the activity to be authorized by God. We can do it as well.
An example, Acts 20:7. The disciples ate the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week (Sunday). So, we are authorized to do the same.
Similarly, we are to learn from negative examples. Paul affirmed this in 1 Corinthians 10. He noted the sinful actions of the Israelites during their time in the Wilderness, saying, “But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness” (5). He then wrote, “Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted“ (6).
Four things are mentioned specifically: idolatry, fornication, tempting Christ and complaining.
Taking fornication as an example, we note that any sexual activity outside of marriage (heterosexual, as defined by God, cf. Genesis 2:22-24) is condemned (cf. Hebrews 13:4). As Paul wrote, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (12).
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The Bible View of Sexuality
We live in a promiscuous society. According to a 2008 survey reported by the Guttmacher Institute, 90% of single women between the ages of 20 and 44 are sexually experienced. 70% identified themselves as currently sexually active. Among teenagers for the past 15 years, the percentage of teenagers (15-19) who have had sex has remained fairly constant (44% of girls, 49% of boys, Resource Center for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention).
It should not be surprising that some churches are changing their teaching regarding premarital sex. One example of this is a recently published book by Bromleigh McCleneghan, a married mother of three, and “associate pastor for ministry with families” at the Union Church of Hinsdale in Illinois. The title of her book is, “Good Christian Sex”, with the subtitle, “Why Chastity Isn’t the Only Option—And Other Things the Bible Says About Sex.”
Sermon: The Wicked Bible Redux
In 1631, an edition of the KJV was published with an error in Exodus 20:14, reading, “Thou shalt commit adultery.” This edition is known as the “Wicked Bible.” In our time, the “Wicked Bible” has returned as men disregard what the Bible actually says.
When Should You Have Sex?
Today it is typical for couples in a monogamous relationship to engage in sexual activity as a part of that relationship. This has been so for some time, and it has even led to a change in the meaning of words. For example, no longer is a person single until he is married. He is single until he is in a monogamous relationship. Commitment is not seen in the positive answer to the question, “Will you marry me?”, but in the question, “Do you want to live with me?” A person is considered to be a cheater, not if they have had an extramarital affair, but if they have committed fornication with a person other than their “partner.” The list goes on and on.
To illustrate, I recently did an internet search of the question, “When should I have sex?” Though many sites cautioned against quick “hookups”, the reality is that many, especially in their 20’s, have sexual relations within the first couple of dates. In the advice I found online, the idea of limiting sex to a marital relationship was completely absent.
Immorality Rages
From 1920 until 1933 it was against the law in the United States to manufacture, sell or transport alcohol. This time was known as Prohibition , and it was a wildly unsuccessful experiment, as laws were continually broken, especially in urban areas. People wanted to drink alcohol, and rather than making a large segment of the population criminals, Prohibition was repealed.
Today, not only is the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol legal, it is big business. Only the most radical of religious conservatives hold to abstinence as a moral conviction. In fact, the manufacture and consumption of marijuana is also legal in Colorado, and nationally 53% of all Americans support its legalization. Among 18-34 year olds that number rises to 68%.
In the News: Are You “Single”?
Friday was Valentine’s Day. Some like it, and some don’t. Some view it as an opportunity to express their love for their spouses or “significant others”, and some think it to be a “made up” holiday designed by card companies, florists and confectioners as an excuse to rake in some extra money. To each his own.
What I noticed this Valentine’s Day, (and have noticed off an on for several years now), is the common use of the term “single” with regard to relationships. With the advent of MySpace, Facebook, and the changing attitudes of our society, the definition of “single” as it refers to relationships, has itself undergone a fundamental and rather unfortunate change.
Separating What God Has Joined
(Note: The following article is written by one of the members at West Side, Justin Carrell. I commend it to you. SC)
Matthew 19:3-9
“And the Pharisees came near to him, tempting him, and saying to him, ‘Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?’ And he answering said to them, ‘Did ye not read, that He who made them, from the beginning a male and a female made them, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they shall be–the two–for one flesh? So that they are no more two, but one flesh; what therefore God did join together, let no man put asunder.’ They said to him, ‘Why then did Moses command to give a roll of divorce, and to put her away?’ He said to them–‘Moses for your stiffness of heart did suffer you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it hath not been so. ‘And I say to you, that, whoever may put away his wife, if not for fornication, and may marry another, doth commit adultery; and he who did marry her that hath been put away, doth commit adultery.’” (Young’s Literal Translation)
I’ve heard this scripture debated more than any other. We debate baptism with those outside the body, but this we debate without and within. Below are two arguments recently put forward to me, and my response.
In the News: Olympian Promiscuity
One of the definitions of the term olympian is “surpassing all others in scope and effect” (American Heritage Dictionary). This definition certainly applies to the sexual appetites of the athletes in the Olympic Village this week in Vancouver. Continuing the trend of recent Olympiads in Sydney (70,000) and Beijing (100,000), Canadian officials ordered and distributed 100,000 condoms to athletes for the Vancouver Olympics. That averages to 14 for each athlete.
In explaining the hedonism of the Olympic athletes, former Olympic skier Picabo Street said, “It’s hundreds of auras, which does lead to a huge movement of energy. It’s not normal, resting energy. It’s jacked-up, hyped-up, on-the-brink-of-my-dream-coming-true, got-to-get-it, got-to-do-it energy, and it’s there all the time.”
In The News: Co-Ed Dorm Rooms
In the prim 1950s, college dorms were off-limits to members of the opposite sex. Then came the 1970s, when male and female students started crossing paths in coed dormitories. Now, to the astonishment of some Baby Boomer parents, a growing number of colleges are going even further: coed rooms.
At least two dozen schools, including Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania, Oberlin College, Clark University and the California Institute of Technology, allow some or all students to share a room with anyone they choose — including someone of the opposite sex. This spring, as students sign up for next year’s room, more schools are following suit, including Stanford University.
…Parents aren’t necessarily thrilled with boy-girl housing.
Debbie Feldman’s 20-year-old daughter, Samantha, is a sophomore at Oberlin in Ohio and plans to room with her platonic friend Grey Caspro, a straight guy, next year. Feldman said she was shocked when her daughter told her.
“When you have a male and female sharing such close quarters, I think it’s somewhat delusional to think there won’t be sexual tension,” the 52-year-old Feldman said. “Maybe this generation feels more comfortable walking around in their underwear. I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”
Still, Feldman said her daughter is partly in college to learn life lessons, and it’s her decision. Samantha said she assured her mom she thinks of Caspro as a brother.
“I’m really close to him, and I consider him one of my really good friends,” she said. “I really trust him. That trust makes it work.”
May, 3, 2008 ~ Associated Press
Analysis:
Young men and women who believe that they can live together, and not fall into temptation to sin sexually are most certainly (as mother Feldman in the article states) delusional. Such living arrangements ignore the dictates of the Spirit to “flee sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18); and to “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22).
AOTS: The Twisting of Liberty
AOTS Number 76
Too many in our permissive society twist the concept of liberty to mean a liscense to do whatever they want. As Christians, we must become slaves to Christ, and be responsible in our actions.
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In The News: Revealing Photos Are Becoming Passe?
Two decades after a nude photo scandal helped cost a Miss America her title, Americans may be adopting a more ho-hum attitude toward people who bare it all for the cameras.
Some experts say the Internet and more explicit TV are fostering a more relaxed response by Americans to public displays of bare flesh, even if many people profess to be more conservative.
Take, for example, the muted reaction to nude photos of 18-year-old Vanessa Hudgens, the star of Walt Disney Co.’s squeaky clean “High School Musical” franchise,
One day after the photos surfaced on the Web last Thursday, Hudgens issued an apology and family friendly Walt Disney Co. said it would continue negotiating her appearance in the third installment of the hugely popular series, one of the most popular programs in U.S. cable TV history.
While some expressed outrage, many fans pledged support on her MySpace page …
… Some lashed out at her critics.
“Quit moaning and if you have any kind of decent filtering on the computer, kids aren’t going to see it,” wrote one poster on a media blog Web site …
… It’s a far cry from the scandal in 1984 when Vanessa Williams, the first black woman named as Miss America, resigned after nude photos surfaced of her and another female model.
“I do think that general attitudes about nudity are becoming more relaxed, but these changes take time, which is why there’s still mixed responses,” said Paul Levinson, communication and media professor at Fordham University.“We as a society are finally growing up and it’s a healthy thing,” he said.
Sex and nudity are also more prevalent on television, especially cable stations. Last week’s opening episode of the HBO drama “Tell Me You Love Me,” contained at least half-a-dozen sex acts.
Sue Zeidler, Reuters
Analysis:
Two peculiar things about this story. First, there is no outrage being heard about the 18 year old’s sexual relationship with her boyfriend. While some are upset that she took a nude photo of herself that, without her consent, became public; no one is condemning her for taking nude photographs of herself for her boyfriend, or maintaining a sexual relationship with him. Such has become so commonplace in our time that it no longer even raises questions in the mind of most.
Continue reading “In The News: Revealing Photos Are Becoming Passe?”
