[Music] if you read the Bible you'll notice that a lot of the time when talking about Sin we are told to put to death the sins of the flesh or we're told to resist the devil and he will flee from you we're told to pray always lest we fall into temptation or in the Old Testament we're told do not do not commit adultery do not worship idols do not kill however one sin in the Bible is addressed differently to the rest we're told to deal with sexual sin differently because the Bible doesn't tell us to
resist sexual sin doesn't tell us to pray and fast when it comes to sexual sin it doesn't just say Do not commit sexual sin no the Bible says flee it says flee sexual immorality now think of it this way people flee from a war zone people flee from danger people flee from dangerous and life-threatening situations in the Bible in First Corinthians 6 verse 18 says flee sexual immorality every sin that a man does is outside the body but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body now let me tell you a few reasons
why I believe that sexual sin is so dangerous that the Bible doesn't even bother to tell us to pray about sexual sin or to resist it the first reason that I believe sexual sin is dangerously powerful is because this kind of sin will put you in bondage it makes you a slave and it pulls at you and pulls at you until it's almost like an addiction the longer you entertain it the longer you're in it the more you become a slave to it I can think of no other case to illustrate this than in Samson's
story in Judges 13 to 16. God called Samson to deliver his people from the Philistines however he had a weakness for sexual sin repeatedly he gets off track of his mission and derailed by his relationship with Philistine women judges 14 verse 3 says it plainly then his father and mother said to him is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren or among all my people that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines Samson said to his father get her for me for she pleases me well Samson was completely ruled
by his passions and desires they became his undoing he ended up powerless blind and rotting in a jail cell rather than fulfilling the purpose God had called him to engaging in sexual sin will derail you from God's purpose in your life secondly sexual sin is dangerously powerful because it's the type of sin that will distort your thinking and reasoning men and women leave their spouses and children and responsibilities all because they've fallen in sexual sin men and women neglect their families or live double lives because of sexual sin sin that clouds your judgment how many
pastors have genuinely had a calling on their lives but somewhere along the line they got caught in the snare of sexual sin do you see what I mean when the Bible tells you to flee from sexual immorality it's because this sin this level of Temptation can bring down even the strongest among us if we're not careful this is not to say you cannot overcome through Jesus Christ and clean your life up no Jesus Christ can set you free from sexual immorality Jesus Christ can rescue you and strengthen you when you're tempted but you see we
must be wise and flee at the first sign of any kind of sexual Temptation coming our way now another reason why we have to flee sexual immoralities because sexual sin is separation from God the Apostle Paul tells us that the wages of sin is death Ultimate Death is separation from Jesus Christ if we are actively engaged in sin we are actively separating ourselves from God and if we are actively separating ourselves from God we are actively walking into death I don't know about you but I want to walk into life not death or a few
minutes of pleasure worth an eternity of pain are a few casual relationships worth your Eternal relationship with God no there is no greater state of being than being in the presence of God I encourage you let us rid ourselves of the sins of the Flesh and throw ourselves into a life that is led by the Holy Spirit a life of Purity a life of obedience to the word of God the final reason I want to touch on Regarding why sexual sin is dangerously powerful is because you are opening spiritual doors with another person and more
often than not you don't know what lies behind those doors so what does this mean well when we engage in sexual sin we engage in sin against our own bodies sexuality is spiritual it was designed by God as a spiritual tie between a husband and wife therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh the Bible says even when it's distorted this principle still holds true for non-marital sexual behavior when you join with another person you still are united as one flesh and
there was a spiritual time mate when you do this you open yourself up spiritually and the point here is that you don't know where the other person has been you don't know what Spirits they've United themselves with that are now United with you when you lay down with them you don't know what you're opening yourself up to we tend to think that God was being repressive and cruel in limiting sexual behavior when in fact he was trying to protect us from powers and principalities the rulers of the darkness of this age and spiritual hosts of
wickedness in the Heavenly places and the question I have is why won't we heed God's warning today beloved let us turn away from those things which God has forbidden and run to the things that he has approved God has not given us these rules to be harsh and cruel he has given them because he is trying to spare us trouble heartache and pain let us take heed of God's word and flee from sexual immorality let us repent and seek to be washed by the blood of Jesus Christ let us live in Purity chasing Holiness and
chasing Jesus so I would like to encourage you not only to search and listen to the voice of God but to work out your salvation with fear and trembling because when it comes to your salvation there is a choice to be made there is a path to be chosen the broad Road or the narrow road the path of holiness where you carry your cross and forsake the pleasures of this world or the way of the world it's time for you to work out your salvation it's time to decide will you walk on the narrow road
where only few choose to travel the road where you follow Jesus Christ or will you walk on the broad Road where you always have your way the road where it's all about you and what you want it's all about your feelings and your way you decide the pleasures of this world or the discipline of righteousness the pursuit of money power material things or the pursuit of godliness you decide in fact you decide how to spend your time and what you get involved in does it glorify God does it increase your faith does it challenge you
to walk right in the sight of God [Music] work out your salvation Saints you can decide to be diligent in prayer diligent in Reading God's word diligent in growing the inner Spirit man you decide every moment that you are alive you are making decisions a decision whether or not to prioritize God a decision whether or not you meditate on God's word daily a decision to believe and say though the situation stands in my way I will believe God for a way out though I am going through a hard time I will still Worship the Lord
although I am under pressure God is still good these are all decisions decisions that you have to make in this life but above all the most important decision you have to make is about your salvation you cannot serve two masters at once you cannot serve the Kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of darkness at the same time [Music] there is no one foot in and one foot out with this decision and for your salvation you have to make a decision you have to decide that it is eternal life that you want and there is only
one who is the way the truth and the life and that one is Jesus Christ [Music] when the Bible says be still and know that I am God it's really telling you to stop everything you're doing stop worrying stop fighting stop resisting and start yielding to God start listening to God you see when you spend time getting to know the Lord when you spend time in the presence of Jesus Christ you will truly be transformed and I encourage you to desire and hunger for these types of Rich Encounters in the presence of God because it's
only in those one-to-one intimate encounters that each of us can get a personal revelation of who God truly is it's only in those one-to-one intimate encounters that each of us can be empowered and filled with Courage the courage to face the world and stand up for Christ the courage to stand up to the devil and declare that Jesus Christ is Lord God is firmly in control God is all-knowing God is Almighty Isaiah 45 22-23 says look to me and be saved all you ends of the Earth for I am God and there is no other
I have sworn by myself the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not return that to me every knee shall bow every tongue shall take an oath in those moments where we are still before God we need to realize just how Mighty God is just how powerful God is the Bible tells us there is no one and nothing that can be compared to God we need to remember this nothing and no one is worthy to be competing for the number one spot of your heart God should be first [Music] God speaks
and when he speaks it could be through his word it could be through his holy spirit it could be that still Small Voice that burns in the depths of your heart with this in mind have you thought maybe just maybe in the middle of all that you're facing in the middle of all that you're going through God is speaking to you God speaks by his spirit his Spirit speaks Through the Bible prayer circumstances and his people so these troubling times these challenges you face they sometimes come in our lives to remind us of one important
thing we need God we need to get on our knees and build a relationship with him we need him in every part of our lives if you are looking for answers if you are searching for Direction Psalm 119 verse 105 says your word is a lamp to my feet and a like to my path meaning that God speaks and gives us direction through his word but what's he saying I believe he is saying that he wants us to come to the knowledge of Salvation and recognize that Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the
life he wants us to be his Witnesses in a world desperate for answers he wants us to live holy and righteous lives he wants us to worship Him in spirit and in truth too often we question God's ability to change things we question God and his plans and purposes but how often do we question ourselves are we listening to what God is saying God operates in the realm of faith and he's waiting for us his people his children to believe and trust him Philippians 1 verse 6 says being confident of this very thing that he
who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ Amplified version says I am convinced and confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will continue to perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus the time of his return take a moment and consider what does the bible mean when it says this very thing what is this very thing why should we be confident of it why is this very thing so important that it's associated with the beginning of a
good work that will be completed until the day of Jesus Saints I believe that when the Bible talks about this very thing it's talking about your salvation and the reason I believe this is because when you are saved and when you accept Jesus Christ into your heart you don't automatically become detached from your flesh you don't automatically become this perfect person who never gets angry or upset that's not the case you need to work on your salvation by seeking more of Jesus Christ by meditating on his word by pursuing a closer relationship with him by
yielding to the Holy Spirit foreign [Music] [Music]