the way through this book, and many of the passages will actually go back. And especially as you look at this, I think there's actually, I forgot to write it down, but there's actually, they call it the Law of the Corinthians here as we read the book. chapter 6 chapter 8 and chapter 12 I believe it is and they comes out very strongly with repeating and so we're going to actually be repeating a lot that what's going to be said even in the future sometimes you think well we're going to talk about this again I don't have to pay attention I would encourage you to That if you could say right now, whatever you're doing, whether it's checking your emails, or looking something up online, or following some sports or something like that, you put it aside. and really kind of focus on the scripture and some of the things that might be said today, because I do believe that even in the title of the message, hopefully cable's able to get that up there, sometimes it's a bear, but it is the idea that we are to really understand that morality matters. You could even say it in the sense that it's not just about morality matters, but even the thoughts that come to us, the idea of managing your morality. It's important as believers. And it's important to see, and so Paul addresses this in this passage. But it's not going to stop there, because it will continue on in the Scriptures. He's going to deal with relationships. He's going to deal with marriage. He's going to deal later on with foods that can be eaten, and understanding of foods, and some of the things even as you go. So some of this is somewhat of an introduction. It's a little different in the sense as we go to chapter 6 and we pick up in verse 12. It's a little different than what we saw in 5 and the beginning of 6. Because the Apostle Paul could actually say, I have heard. It's been told of me. Well, the Apostle Paul goes even a little farther than this. He knows these people in the areas of a relationship. And he draws some attention that really in a sense that we say was part of this church, but it's also part of every one of our lives. And that is a concept when it comes to understanding morality. And the warning that goes out to really the topic of immorality. And so that's what we're looking at even today as we go to this passage. As we go there, it is with this understanding that your morality matters, and there's multiple reasons in it. Some of them, in a sense, that you'd say, well, that is a no-brainer. And others that you look at, and you would say, this is a theological point to understand. Because when you think about theology, theology drives us. understanding theology and proper theology drives us, drives us to the right actions, drives us to the right conclusions, and drives us to even a ministry or a life that we all want to have when it comes to glorifying God. And so when I think of this, there is really a few things here in this passage, and I got to get this to turn that move here. Let me see if I can do this. My fingers don't always. want to activate the pads. I don't know why, but I want to kind of start out with a thought that as we go into this, that I don't necessarily believe that this is all what Paul's doing here, but I know that in college, while I sat in college, we kind of studied some things in it, but one of the things you notice as we start this passage, there is a concept that's out here that we have to kind of look at, and as you look at it, it's kind of critical to kind of picture. One of it might be done in this way. And it is with this. I think I did bring them. Let me get them. Melissa, I'd like you to take these two balls, and as you have them sitting there, and I want to just kind of put into this thought that knowing the difference. When we look at this passage, we do have a theory that comes into here, and maybe the understanding of people, and even in this time and this culture. And one of the things is a thought of understanding between what would be, in a sense, the real world. Who lives in the real world? I live in the real world. What about you? Who lives in what we'd say the ideal world? the thought of the ideal world. And you say, well, what do you mean, Pastor? Well, I'll use Melissa for this in a way. I said, Melissa, I wouldn't mind if you would help me in a way, but if you could take those two balls and stack them on top of each other and let them rest on top of each other. I had someone tell me if we had superglue, it would work. You know, but I think even if you had superglue, well, yeah, rest it up against your coffee cup. When you look at this, it is this whole idea, you can't, you think of taking two bottles and putting them together and stacking them. You'd say in the real world, you can't do that. But in the ideal world, you can, can't you? You say, what do you mean by that? You mean, let's say, well, she's got a pen, she's got a paper, and I would like you to stack two balls on top of each other with your paper and your pen. Can you do that? And not only that, you could stack another and another and another and another, and it would be, you know, maybe 100. That would be the ideal world. And when you think of this ideal world, it is kind of set up in the areas of understanding that there's two categories. And sometimes in this two categories, as you think of this, it is this whole part that, yes, in the thought of the real world, you can't do. There's things you can't do. There's things that can't be done. There's things that are, in a sense, that are bad, that they just don't work. In the ideal world, you find that everything's perfect. Can you imagine the government making for us laws that would be perfect, that worked? Well, it only happens in the ideal world. Driving a car that does not break, a marriage that doesn't have to be fixed, only in an ideal world, but not in a real world. And when you think of what is here, there's a difference in these two worlds. And sure, on a piece of paper in the ideal world, anything can happen. But in the real world, you will notice it is not true. There's difficulties in life. There's different perceptions. And I will say that one of the things, if you look at this, it's like kind of one of those points that this chapter and even the next chapter may have some impact on the thought here of what we would see is there was a philosopher whose name was Plato. He lived from the ages of 427 BC to 347 BC. And he came up with this concept and he had this patonic dualism. It was the idea here that he said that there's two worlds, one real and one that would be ideal. One was called the upper, one was called the lower. And when you think of the lower world, it was the idea of the mind, everyone's mind or the mind that everyone has is perfect. And yet the ideal world was one of those places that you could see You know, that it was a matter of corrupt. Corrupts, problems, struggles, all of this. And yet, when you think of the areas of the reality, it was set before us. And so, even in this, Plato set out with a frustration with these two concepts. And so, to put them together, it was the idea that he set up this concept of dualism. And oftentimes we don't even realize how much that impacts us today. Now there's more that's gone on in philosophers to define what dualism is and different ones. But he became so frustrated that he said that in these two worlds, the upper and the lower, our mind, we can live in the ideal world. And in our bodies, we can actually live in the real world. And the results of this very pessimistic person ultimately concluded that the real world was the idea that everything in itself here was imperfect. Everything was not perfect, and yet everything in the ideal was perfect. And so this escaped into the idea that the mind was the reality of reality and yet the area of our ideals, idealism or ideas, and yet the body was the thought of what we'd say what is real. So to kind of deal with this problem. He wanted to try to encourage the thought of living in a real world and Everything about it. So because of that we find that this philosopher several different times came out with These these theories or this thought that everything is bad and when it comes to the world that's down, and yet everything is good is what's up. And so it took on a theory that the Epicureans did, and they did this with the idea that there was the upper world and the lower world, and so the lower world was really the fact that because the body's bad, you just do everything you want. The idea here would be is that we would see it as they would drink and they would eat, drink, and be merry. And that's the way that they would actually pursue their living. Government, as you think about even the governments and the churches, they were not going to be perfect. They never were going to be, and so because of that they have their flaws. And so the thought is that we'll just wake up and we'll live tomorrow, and we'll eat and drink and be merry. You know, and one of the things you find in this is they oftentimes laid aside the idea to this lie that whatever they did, it didn't matter. Because as long as in their mind they understood that they were perfect, And yet it went even farther to that later on, to a place that the ascetics came along, and they wanted to conquer this. And when they wanted to conquer this, they wanted to subdue this real world. And when they wanted to subdue it, they wanted to do what was right in spite. And so what they did, and so even the idea of instead of eating and drinking to be merry, they went ahead and they forbid marriage, they forbid certain foods, And they were part of these, you know, establishing the monasteries today and the idea that later on goes on in chapter 4 that a Christian really ought not to be married. And so it set out kind of the thoughts that here. And so maybe Paul is going to address a little bit here when it comes to the culture and the area rounding the understanding. And yet if the idea here is this ascetic life, when you think of it, that they were going to actually sudo it. They're going to make it real. In other words, they were going to actually set out and punish this real world. And as they punished it, they were going to do it in spite. And so they wouldn't have anything to do with women, that would take care of all their problems, and that they would actually sustain from certain foods that were bad foods. And yet, it's interesting, the Apostle Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter 4, and when you look at that, he speaks of the doctrine of demons. To abstain from marriage and abstain from certain foods that God has given that was good. And so this kind of establishes something to kind of perceive in this passage. Because it went even farther than that, because then even the Epkint, I think it's E. Epkint's agnosticism became, in a sense, it wasn't full blown, but that it came to the idea of their mind. And that is, I think, their teaching, it was just this. if I can get here. It was this, that in the mind, knowledge was going to be just as they lived in the ideal world. But in their body, they were going to run and they were going to just do nothing with the idea of the spirit. They were going to not acknowledge that the spirit has anything to do with the body. And because of that, their mind was going to be continued to be that they were great people. They were great. But in their body, they were going to rip it up. They were going to live it up. And they were going to live as though there's no distinction between the two. It's interesting that sometimes we say that I trusted Christ as Savior. He saved my soul. And sometimes we look and understand the scripture uses soul and mind together. But one of the things you see in here is that, yes, there might be a little bit farther to go with that because he ties not only the thought of the soul and even as we speak of the Spirit, but our bodies together. God didn't just save our soul, he also saved our body. And so this becomes kind of a prominent thing that within Christianity they took on this philosophy that as long as they were good in their mind, they could do whatever they want. And it still falls even pray today, not only as we see at the church at Corinth, but also even in churches today. And so when you think of the part here, Paul gives to us in chapter six in verse 12, he starts off with this. He says, all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but not all things are to be dominated by anything. Food is meant for the stomach and stomach for for the food and God will destroy both one or the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the body, the Lord, excuse me, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord, and he will also raise up us by his power. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank you as we look to you this morning. Take these words that are here and through the writing of Paul and help us to see the application and even the applying of truth to our own lives. And even to see the effects of the wrong thinking, of the wrong philosophy, of the conclusions that we may come to, to justify our behavior. Lord, we just ask that as you give to us your word, that it would be a one that would bring light to our path, and Lord, that's meaning to our life, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Paul makes two assertions One of the things he says here, this is not a statement in here, if you notice. It doesn't start out saying, I had heard. I heard this. I heard that there was one sleeping with his father's wife. I had heard, as we looked at last week. One that has... my mind went blank. And so here he actually comes out, he makes assertion because he's not really looking at just to pinpoint these two things, but really the root problem that they have. And the root problem even in the areas of their thoughts and the understanding of morality. and to think of even immorality, the concept of idolatry that sets in to the areas of our belief and our functions as believers. And so he introduces to us here, even in these things, he makes this statement. Some believe this to be one of these cliches or a statement that's made that lots of times was just thrown out there that really, in a sense, all things are lawful for me. In other words, you could just do whatever you wanted to. And even the Apostle Paul says, look, there's no separation in food and there's nothing, you can eat whatever you want. He's not associating that with this. But it is a matter of saying here that, yes, here all things are lawful. In other words, you could be a believer and you could trust Christ as Savior. And trusting Christ as Savior, does that mean because you sin and you choose to sin that you're going to go to hell? No. Sometimes we think, because my sin in that way doesn't send me to hell, I can do whatever I want to do. And we can justify it. But yet, he wants to build here these assertions. And one of the things you notice in the assertions is that Christians have a newfound freedom. It's a newfound freedom. We're not underneath the law. We're not underneath the ties to the law. We have a freedom. And even in it, he says here, he says, all things are lawful for me. And so, yes, there is a freedom. But he also relates this freedom when it comes to the areas of orientation. That when it comes to what we do, you know, what are we doing? As you're doing those things that are actually, as you look at scripture, that are beneficial. So can we do whatever we want? A lot of times people think they can do whatever they want, and in morality you think you can do. It's like, well, it really doesn't affect anybody else. And yet here, saying, look, morality matters. Morality matters in such a way that it is really based on you can do whatever you want. All things are lawful, but here's the determining factor. But is everything and all things beneficial? So it becomes a principle that is given to us here. So he gives us this assertion. The beneficial here is that from doing these things, we have to evaluate the concept of whether or not they will enslave us. Will they enslave us? Will they actually dominate our life? So he makes this assertion. He not only makes that one, but you also find that he makes this one too. Lordship of Christ lays claim on the Christian body. In other words, that it's destined, it's destined, your body, the Lordship of Christ. Do you know that the Spirit of God is given to us, given to the believers for a specific reason? Some want to get kind of into some of the different things that the Spirit of God does, but one of the things He's given to us for, that the Scripture says, is to seal us until the day of redemption, until the day of resurrection. The Spirit's given to us. In other words, what He's saying is the Lordship of Christ lays even on the effect of a human body, your body. Christ has this lordship over your body. You cannot do whatever you want to do. You can do everything you want to do if it's beneficial. If it's beneficial. But the lordship of Christ brings us to a place that even the body is destined for resurrection. Jesus Christ didn't just save my soul. He's going to raise the body and we will see that as it comes. And it's important to kind of recognize these because Christians are free to do in their body whatever they please as long as it's beneficial. Beneficial here in the scripture. be not only beneficial to them, but even unto the Lord. The idea that he's stealing in these verses, he's got something to say to these individuals. And whatever their thinking might be, whatever type of culture they come out of, he wants them to be on the right track because morality matters. And managing it is essential. And so here We are to be dedicated to the Lord. These are the opening declarations he makes. After he just got done talking about two things that were actually spoken to him, and he goes ahead and goes a little farther. I told those on Wednesday. Sometimes as a pastor, people will say, well, Pastor, I know that you meant me in the service today. You were talking about me. And I have to say, sometimes to that, I don't want to stand there and say, no, I wasn't talking to you. No, that would be a lie, for one. But the truth is, the Apostle Paul has assessed what has happened here. It is obvious before him, and he's making an assertion, and he's applying it to them all. He's not just addressing the one, but he's addressing everyone. And in it, it's the idea that he is actually very real in the life of these people, of what they need to redirect their thinking, to redirect their thoughts, their pattern of life. Sometimes in the world, we're pushed in this concept that, oh, you know, it doesn't really matter. Certain things do matter. Matter of fact, in this passage, the immorality here and the thoughts that is brought to us is one of the highest disdains you put before the Lord. And this was actually the thought of even as he associates the immorality of one actually paying for a prostitute for sex. And you say, what? Yes, pain. You know, when you go through here, you see that he gives us this argument, and it is with the idea, yes, that all things are permissible, but is it beneficial? Is it actually unto the Lord and for the Lord? And so his first argument really is this whole part in verse 15 with this thought that it contends for the Christian body as the organ of the body of Christ. If I was to rip my finger off, if I could, I'd look for a finger that was detached from something. We've got enough horror stuff going on because Halloween's around the corner that I could probably hand over to Bill and give to Bill. And then I'd have to show him I only have this. You know, that it is part of mine. But the thing is, is sometimes we think of this and we say, well, you know, he's talking about in this, he says this claim here is that he's contending that the Christian body and its organs, like these 10 little members, these 10 little members are mine, but yet at the same time, they belong to Christ. And if I was to rip one up and give it over to Bill, I have just done harm not only to myself and the body, but I also did harm to the areas of the body of Christ. in this relationship. And so to make that even a little further in it, it comes to this idea that my actions, my behavior, when it comes to even understanding this morality concept here, that your morality matters, is because when you dismember your own body, you dismember the body of Christ. And when we talk about the body of Christ, sometimes you look and say, well, yeah, Christ's body. No, that's not just talking about Christ's body. We went back earlier on, and when he said, you are the temple of God, he was speaking to not just you individually, but he spoke to the whole church itself. So in other words, the whole concept behind this is, as he's building this argument, is that this attachment to the body is that attachment that it's not just about you. In other words, when you rip your finger off and you do something with it that is not beneficial, and you give it to somebody that should not have it, you have brought not only harm to yourself, But you've brought harm to the body of Christ. And you could say, well, that's Christ. But no, that's actually talking about the church itself, the believers. Believers, you're bringing harm. So when you're involved in immorality, you've got into this immorality God says it isn't just only about you it becomes about the body of Christ and we're not just talking about Jesus and the idea that it is Jesus body but it is the body that would be called the church today it affects the church So he builds an argument. And the argument is that he says here, he contends that the Christian body is an organism, and of this body is the body of Christ. And every relationship in the life of it affects the union with Christ. So sometimes when you think, well, I'm just going to do what I'm going to do, just remember, Christians, You may feel or seem to think that you have the right to do whatever you want to do. Just remember where that came from. It comes out of poor theology. Because your actions and your behavior actually has an effect on other people. Isn't that right, Chris? Would you like to come and share with us what I heard this morning today? And this is heartbreaking. And sometimes you read articles, you hear the report, the email comes, and the text message, hey, did you hear this? And you think, oh, it's so sad. But it's more than just sad. So pastor and I spoke before the service, we did not. orchestrate this. This was where we were always going to go this morning, right? This is chapter six. I preached the beginning of chapter six last week, passes on chapter six this week. But we spoke before the service about an issue of sin in the broader church that took place this week. Not sin here in the body of Oasis, but sin in the evangelical community that was brought to light. Most of you know I went to Bible college at the Masters University in Southern California. I still connect with most of the thought leaders that come out of that university. I still listen to their leadership. I follow a lot of their professors. their deans, and a lot of my friends, the few that I still keep in contact with from college those years ago, most of them went on, that are in the pulpit, went on to the Master's Seminary. We have someone that goes to our Bible study on Wednesday night, Deacon Waterman, is attending right now the Master's University through an online program that they offer. One of the people that works for the university and the seminary is someone that I've looked up to in my preaching ministry. They're a person that I would consider very profound in how they have instructed people how to preach. That's been their calling card as a Christian, was teaching others specifically how do you effectively preach the Word of God. They're not known as an evangelizer, or as necessarily the encourager, or maybe the missionary of a foreign country. Their calling card, what they dedicated their life to, was teaching others how to preach the Word of God. They're on the board of a number of ministries that benefits Oasis Church here. When we went through the Book of John, the Gospel of John, we read a book called Lessons from the Upper Room. It's put out by Ligonier Ministries. This person's on the board of Ligonier Ministries. He's a leader at Ligonier Ministries. Has published almost 30 of their own books, some of them through Ligonier. They were on the board of Dallas Theological Seminary, Reformed Theological Seminary. They were the dean of the Doctorate of Ministry program at the Master's Seminary. There's a lot of pastors here in Phoenix that have directly sat under the tutelage and guidance and authority of this person. And this week they've been removed from all ministry positions. They've stepped down from their head pastorship role at their church in Dallas, which is one of the largest churches in Texas. They've been removed from all positions at their seminaries. They've been removed from Ligonier Ministries because they journeyed into sin and they committed sins that disqualified them from the type of impact that they had had for decades. Now, we've been talking about church discipline, we've been talking about the role of the church, and we've been encouraging us at Oasis to say, you've gotta have this global mindset because you have to understand that what you do isn't just about you. What I do isn't just about me, what Pastor Benner does just isn't even about Pastor. But we are part of one body. Now this person obviously had an outsized role in the global church. But each of us has a role in the body. And so I talked to Pastor Ben this morning and I said, hey, I want to bring this up. This is what we've been talking about. This is where the rubber meets the road. He had already titled his message Morality Matters and this is just an outsized example of a moral failure. and the impact that it's having throughout the church, literally around the world. Because one man failed. Now I wanna say this, and I'm not gonna have you go and Google who this is, I'll tell you, it's Dr. Steve Lawson. I've mentioned Dr. Steve Lawson in my messages in the last few months. I usually, before I preach, once I'm done, I've prepared my message, I usually go and watch a message by Dr. Lawson. Just about every time. Jess, my wife, that's maybe one of her favorite podcasts is his podcast simply called The Bible Study. He leads it from a coffee shop in Dallas. I'm not going to have any new sermons from Dr. Lawson to watch. My wife's not going to have any new Bible study episodes. We're not going to receive any more books. Because morality matters. Morality matters. I do want to say this, as we've talked about church systems, we're talking about the idea of morality. How we respond matters. How the church responds matters. We're going to take communion today. Dr. Lawson's probably not taking communion today. His church is hurting. His wife is hurting, his children are hurting, because morality matters. We can come on a Sunday morning and hear a message about morality, but when you see it in the church, we want to make sure it's real for you. Now, I also want to say this about sexual sin. Sexual sin is, as pastors preaching and will continue to preach this morning, the most devious of sins. And he's going to get into that and I won't steal his thunder. But I want to encourage you. Another person that I listen to from time to time, I'll be honest, not nearly as much as I've listened to Dr. Lawson. But he responded and he said this. He said the strongest man in the Bible succumbed to sexual sin. That was Samson. The godliest man in the Bible failed in sexual sin, that was David. The wisest man in the Bible failed to sexual sin, that was Solomon. And we can still learn from their teaching. We can still learn from their example. They're still called heroes of the faith in the Bible. Sexual sin can take down even those who seem to be heroes of the faith. We pray that when this does happen, that that person's restored, that they be brought back in repentance to the body. But there is damage that's done, there's consequences for it. So pastor's gonna continue in his message. Hopefully that makes it a little more real and immediate for you this morning. Thank you, Chris. And it is with just that, too, to be real. You know, there's several things when it comes to understanding. Sometimes we can't understand. That doesn't take away the teacher or the representative when they taught and they were teaching. What it does stand out for is the reality is that this is something we manage. And we manage daily. It's not just something you've done once. Lots of times you say, well, I received Jesus Christ as my Savior. I've trusted Him as my personal Savior. Yes, that was once. But this is a long-term action that we take upon ourselves. Managing our morality. It has to be a key factor for all believers. And sadly, sometimes those that get so busy and are so wrapped up in religious activities, they themselves Forget even what we would see as what the Apostle Paul says is to manage these things to understand them Even when he makes these statements, I mean these are as we look at this first part He is dealing with this that it is this These assertions that he's making He starts off with this whole part. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes, all things are permissible to me But We have to be able to answer the questions and are they beneficial? I've struggled with that in my life. I will tell you that. It's wonderful. Yesterday we did some disc golfing, a couple of the young men, me included, and we were doing and afterwards there was this conversation about let's go get some food. There's nothing wrong with the food. I mean, I had an omelet filled with some vegetables and some other bacon. Heavenly food, right? And potatoes and stuff like that. There's nothing wrong with eating that. It was beneficial. Because we were all hungry and we had spent a good couple hours outside. It was beneficial. There was a certain point where I look back and it's like, well, I probably would have ordered something different and bigger. But I have to ask the question sometimes, is this beneficial? When you go to certain places, when you're doing, is it beneficial? You know, we struggle with the areas of oftentimes the mind in our weight. We eat because we're under stress. We eat because we have in the areas of maybe a desire for pleasure. And yet, how do you accomplish taking on eating? Eating's not bad. It doesn't mean you have to spend 35 days fasting. You don't want to go 40 because you'll die. But you think, oh, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna rid myself of food. Is it really beneficial? Is it beneficial for someone that has a medical problem that they fast? Because sometimes we say, well, you're not spiritual if you don't fast. But is it beneficial? It's not probably a good thing. But is it something that could be good? It sure can be. And it ought to be a principle that becomes part of our life. And we look into this with the thought that, is it beneficial for me? Is it for the good, the ultimate good? Because this sets the concept of managing a topic that he's going to get to. And then once again, even coming into this place, does it lay under the Lordship of Christ? If you know and understand that when you die, that you're going to be present with the Lord, and now we're not just talking about your soul, we're talking about your body, all of you. And that he has such a concern for all of you, every part of you, that he would actually say that he contends for the body. We'll even look later, when it comes to the end of this chapter, that he talks about the fact that you've been purchased by his blood. He contends for that. It's the Lordship of Christ. I don't like saying sometimes, well, you need to make him the Lord of your life. I think you need to make sure you understand that He has lordship over you. In other words, it's not about what you think is good for you. It ought to be what Christ counts what's good for you, what is beneficial, what is good. Because we come up with all kinds of theories. Just like when you look at Paul dealing with Timothy, and he tells Timothy, the doctrine of demons, of evil, Abstain from marriage. Okay. Watch out for that meat. Of course, meat there doesn't just mean red meat. Just so you know, we're not just talking about red meat. We're talking about food, good food. You know, and I hear people sometimes say that abstaining And it's like, well, be careful, because you may be pulling into the category of what is the philosophy of what we see the agnostics were doing. We will go ahead and deny ourselves of certain things that we may gain control over what is real. And we think that we're trying to actually control, in a sense, maybe the world or even ourselves, but we fail. I will only eat sugar on Sunday. So I only eat sugar on Sunday. And I rifle it in there. And I put it in my body. Sugar hype. But I won't eat it the rest of my week. Why not just manage your life underneath what's beneficial for you in this moment, this period of time? Because it is not. Just like when we listen to Chris's report to us. It's not something you just do once. It becomes a regular behavior. And I think it's something to spend time on. When you think of the understanding of morality, it does matter. And we take the concerns to it, and we see it. And so even with that lordship, and then even to the place of actually the idea of dedicating. In other words, opening up our dedication that they are actually going even further. And he does this. in these verses, he gives to us this one that would go on, and he says it in this way. He gives it with this idea. He says that it makes a case for all sexual relationships. In other words, when he goes down through here, he's going to build on it with this case for sexual relationships. What is so important about understanding sexual relationships? The importance is that one is that thought that we become union, or one in union. In other words, union with Christ. Not only union with Christ, but also with each other. So morality matters not only to our relationship with Christ, but to each other, because we become one. I take my finger and I give it to Bill. Now Bill has my finger. And it's like, Bill, give my finger back. Thank you, Bill. It's not natural to go beyond the understanding of what he teaches, this union. In other words, the thought of here, even as we go into the passage, he's going to talk about this application with the understanding of what's holy and that which is unholy. Don't make the union together. The unholy union with a prostitute. That's what he's dealing with here. He uses this. And yes, probably in this category, it is with a man and a woman in that correlation. And yes, it is in the language that way, is the idea of a man with a woman. But I'll have to tell you, today we're in a culture that prostitutes are not just women. also could be men, and they are men even for hire to a woman. And so we think of this and we say, well, this was just a man's problem. It was not a man's problem. It is everyone's problem. It is the area of morality and setting in it and understanding immorality in itself. And what does immorality do? It sets up one of the most disgusting things that we can see. That often something that is unholy is being attached to what is holy. Entering into that relationship. And going forward with that relationship, the areas of the male with the prostitute, is actually attributing Christ to that unholy act. It becomes one of those moments that we're looking at in Scripture that this is probably one of these moments that you see, I don't want to say disgusting, but it's with great disdain. is what's being brought to us here. The Apostle Paul is addressing them with this, and the idea that it represents the areas of power, and this power is that power of chaos and death. Don't you know that the body will be raised? It doesn't just die, and it's no longer actually dealt with. It is gone. The mind is what is what's real, and it's going to go to heaven. No, the body is part of all of this. And as we see oftentimes in Scripture, those actions or those behavior of immorality has actually taken down people and taken down nations. And what has it brought? Chaos and death. And so to manage the areas of our morality or this part here, it is a violation of a direct union with Christ. That yes, I have. Yes, you have. But we all have it together. All of us. And so even as Chris said, it affects so many people. Yes. his wife, his family, his church, people who sat underneath the teaching. Your actions affect not only you, but it'll affect the others around you, and it will affect the body of Christ. Never take it as though it does not matter, and just live your life. any way you please. The problem with when people enter into an immoral setting is, yes, the church oftentimes has to set them apart from them in a sense that they cannot have the responsibilities they had before or even in the areas of the fellowship they had before until there's a repentance and a reestablishing in that body. But yet, when you think of this, oftentimes, that's why when you think of people and their relationships, and if they're in this situation that we see, oftentimes it represents an immorality. They want nothing, in a sense, to do with the Christian, the church, unless we change our thinking. And yet you cannot change, and you should not change, the doctrine you have. within our church. That doesn't mean we don't love on people around us that maybe have been involved in some ways of immorality. We're called to go into a world. We're not called to be left to our own just small group. But in our small group, there's no doubt that there ought to be a truth that stands out before us. And that truth, Paul brings to us, is morality matters. It will deal with so many things because when morality matters, you will have less idols in our life. So Paul brings to us this. And so I was thinking this morning, I was going to go a little farther, but we're going to stop here with the fact that it'd be a good time to have communion this morning. And we'll build on this next week. We'll finish right to the end of the chapter, sorry. But we'll go down through and see that Paul gives to us these lessons. He makes these implications. He gives to us these, and he said these before, first thing. But then he turns around and he gives to us, in a sense, a question, and then he answers the question. And yet the question is technically not a question that you can say, it's question the fact of, well, should I do this or should I not do this? It's a question set up with something that you should already know. Why? Because of this relationship you have, not only with one another, but with the body of Christ, and then you personally with Christ. If we hear the teaching,