LOVE VS. LUST

1 THESSALONIANS 4:1-8

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 1 - 8

1 Finally then, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received from us how you must walk and please God—as you are doing —do so even more.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 1 - 8

2 For you know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 1 - 8

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

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 1 - 8

4 so that each of you knows how to control his own body in sanctification and honor,

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 1 - 8

5 not with lustful desires, like the Gentiles who don’t know God.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 1 - 8

6 This means one must not transgress against and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 1 - 8

7 For God has not called us to impurity but to sanctification.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 1 - 8

8 Therefore, the person who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who also gives you His Holy Spirit.

What is the main instruction of the passage?

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 1 - 3

1 Finally then, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received from us how you must walk and please God—as you are doing —do so even more.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 1 - 3

2 For you know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 1 - 3

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

M A IN IN STRU C TIO N :Abstain from sexual immorality = Obey God in your sex life

Human beings are sexual creatures.

BAD STRATEGY 1 :Pretend we don’t have sexual desires.

Human beings struggle with sexual desires.

BAD STRATEGY 2 :Pretend we don’t struggle with sexual desires.

How do we obey God in our sex lives?

1. Understand the importance of obeying God in your sex life.

a. It is God’s will for you to be sexually pure.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 3

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

b. Your sanctification requires you to be sexually pure.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 3 - 4

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

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 3 - 4

4 so that each of you knows how to control his own body in sanctification and honor.

c. Walking in your calling requires you to be sexually pure.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 7

7 For God has not called us to impurity but to sanctification.

d. Sexual impurity hurts your relationship with people.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 6

6 This means one must not transgress against and defraud his brother in this matter.

e. Sexual impurity hurts your relationship with God.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 8

8 Therefore, the person who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who also gives you His Holy Spirit.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 6

6 This means one must not transgress against and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you.

TRUTH:Sexual impurity will short circuit every aspect of your new life in Christ.

H O W D O W E O B E Y G O D I N O U R S E X L I V E S ?1. Understand the importance of

obeying God in your sex life.

H O W D O W E O B E Y G O D I N O U R S E X L I V E S ?1. Understand the importance of

obeying God in your sex life.2. Understand the purpose of sex

in your sex life.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 3

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

W H AT I S T H E P U R P O S E O F S E X ?a. Procreation

W H AT I S T H E P U R P O S E O F S E X ?a. Procreationb. Pleasure

P R O V E R B S 5 : 1 8 - 2 0

18 Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth,

P R O V E R B S 5 : 1 8 - 2 0

19 a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.

P R O V E R B S 5 : 1 8 - 2 0

20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?

Bruno Mars: Locked Out of Heaven

“Your sex takes me to paradise.”

Florida Georgia Line: H.O.L.Y.

“High On Loving You”

Fergie: Humps

“Love drunk off my hump.”

W H AT I S T H E P U R P O S E O F S E X ?a. Procreationb. Pleasurec. Permanence

Over the course of your life, sex will not be a neutral experience. It will either be a source of life and blessing or the source of much pain and destruction.

H O W D O W E O B E Y G O D I N O U R S E X L I V E S ?1. Understand the importance of

obeying God in your sex life.2. Understand the purpose of sex in

your sex life.3. Understand the nature of sexual sin.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 4 - 6

4 so that each of you knows how to control his own body in sanctification and honor,

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 4 - 6

5 not with lustful desires, like the Gentiles who don’t know God.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 6

6 This means one must not transgress against and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you.

T H E N AT U R E O F S E X U A L S I N I S B R O K E N R E L AT I O N S H I P S .

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 3

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

Porneia = Sexual Immorality

a . Mar i ta l S tab i l i t y

a . Mar i ta l S tab i l i t yb . STDs

a . Mar i ta l S tab i l i t yb . STDsc . Abor t ion

a . Mar i ta l S tab i l i t yb . STDsc . Abor t iond . Fa ther less Homes

a . Mar i ta l S tab i l i t yb . STDsc . Abor t iond . Fa ther less Homese . Sex Indus t ry

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 3 - 5

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

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 3 - 5

4 so that each of you knows how to control his own body in sanctification and honor,

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 4 : 3 - 5

5 not with lustful desires, like the Gentiles who don’t know God.

APPLICATION1. Single People: Believe God

in your sex lives.

APPLICATION1. Single People: believe God

in your sex lives.a. Believe God has your best

interest in mind.

A P P L I C AT I O N1. Single People: believe God in

your sex lives.a. Believe God has your best

interest in mind. b. Believe there is sexual freedom

in Christ.

P S A L M 8 4 : 1 1 - 1 211 For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord gives grace and glory; He does not withhold the good from those who live with integrity.

P S A L M 8 4 : 1 1 - 1 212 Happy is the person who trusts in You, Lord of Hosts!

APPLICATION2. Married People: Take sex

seriously.

1 C O R I N T H I A N S 7 : 3 - 53 A husband should fulfill his marital responsibility to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband.

1 C O R I N T H I A N S 7 : 3 - 54 A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does.

1 C O R I N T H I A N S 7 : 3 - 55 Do not deprive one another sexually —except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

You can have a good sex life and not a good marriage, but you cannot have a good marriage without a good sex life.