It turns me in the word of God to Ephesians chapter five. We're in the practical portion of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians. He's been talking to us about our anger, about our bitterness, about the words that we use, and now he's talking to us about sexual immorality. I'd like to read from Ephesians five, just three. I'll go three through eight. Paul speaking to Christians who have had this marvelous work of grace worked in their lives and he says this, but sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness or foolish talk or crude joking which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them. For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Dear Heavenly Father, we pray that you would write this word, not only upon our minds, but also upon our hearts, that we might take heed, that we might receive the warnings, that we might walk as saints, that we might walk as the children of light. For we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. God gives good gifts to his people. God gives good gifts to all. And every good and perfect gift comes down from above from the Father of lights. But Satan, one of the things that he does is he twists God's good gifts, or he offers counterfeits for them. He corrupts them. He corrupts God's good gifts and twists them to evil. He substitutes his own poisonous imitation of God's good gift. And he tries to convince us that it's the real thing. In fact, he tries to convince us that his version is actually better. And unfortunately many times we believe him. Yet they are ultimately, and many have already experienced this, they are ultimately empty, unfulfilling, and destructive. The road to damnation is paved with Satan's poor imitations. So temptation really is being lured away from God's best, from God's good gifts, and to be satisfied with Satan's poor substitutes. Now that can be generally spoken about a lot of sins, but the sin that we're going to talk about is sexual immorality. But I wanted to start with this. Sex is good. Sex is a blessing from God. In fact, sex itself is God's idea. Sometimes in the church, in the evangelical church, we tend to speak about sex very rarely. And when we do speak about it, we say, it's bad. Don't do it. Stay away from it. But in marriage, it is God's idea. It is God's blessing. And we ought to, I think even the text says this, we ought to be thankful for it. The thing that we are warned against is Satan's poor substitutes. They shouldn't become acceptable to us. The text says that this kind of immorality is not to be even named in the church. But it often is. It's not to be acceptable among the saints, but it often is. In fact, this church has been scarred by this in the past. Perhaps many of you in your own Christian life have either been scarred by it or have seen others that have been. It's far too frequent in the church and it is tremendously destructive. But it is not the unforgivable sin. There is healing and there is restoration. There is forgiveness even for this sin. But we are warned to flee from ill morality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside his body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? You have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body. And if you struggle with sin and with temptation in this area, and most people do, There is help and there is wisdom and there is forgiveness. There is restoration in Christ. He can and he will save you from that sin. You are not trapped in it. You are not alone. And we as the people of God, we are committing, I suppose, not to shun you as you seek recovery, as you seek God's wisdom, as you seek to walk as the children of light. But you must see it as sin. We can't have compassion on you while you are still sinning, while you want to embrace that sin and continue in it. But if you see it as sin, if you see it as Satan's poisonous off-brand, there is forgiveness, there is help. But sex is the act of marriage. And it is a glorious good thing in marriage, and it is worth waiting for. It is worth preserving God's best because God has designed this blessing and this joy in marriage and only for marriage. But the text begins with sexual immorality. The original word is pornea. You probably understand what that word means. It means sexual aberration of any kind. It could be sex outside of marriage, it could be sex before marriage, it could be any kind of sexual perversion. Homosexual sex, self-sex, virtual sex, phone sex, and unfortunately the list could go on and on and on. These things are wrong, they're harmful, they're sin, they are offending God, they are hurting your own body. And they are destroying, or at least hindering, your future marriage, maybe even your present marriage. So you need to stop and don't buy into the many excuses that Satan has offered you for these things. It is immoral and it needs to stop. It should not even be named among us as is proper among saints. God designed sex to be an act of marriage. It is the culmination of a spiritual and emotional and committed union of male and female for life. Those who are made in the image of God, it is supposed to lead to a lifelong bond and done rightly, it produces life and it enhances life and it produces children and grandchildren. It's a wonderful thing. It is a glorious gift and it is a great blessing in marriage, but it is a crippling scourge outside of marriage. And our culture is very good nowadays at urging us to accept deviancy and perversions of many kinds. Well, adultery is kind of exciting and there really aren't many consequences, really. Two consenting adults can do anything they want, right? Regardless of their gender, regardless of their age, regardless of commitments, regardless of consequences. Hollywood is actively portraying many kinds of deviancy as normal and as acceptable, as good and right. And if you don't accept them, you are the backwoods bigot. Who are you to tell them what to do, they tell us, even while they're telling us exactly what to do. We, the culture says, we will tolerate anything except restrictions on our desires. They will tolerate sin, but they won't tolerate truth. And if you speak truth to their sin, they won't tolerate you. It's the way the culture is. People say, well, they were born that way. I was born with a tendency to sin too. Well, we should just have compassion. They really can't help themselves. But sexual immorality itself is not defined by the culture. It's not defined by you or I. It's defined by God himself. and it is not even to be named among the people of God. Impurity is his next word. This is, I take it, the thought life that leads to the sexual immorality. When you entertain sinful thoughts or nurture sinful desires that can increase the temptation. our thoughts, our flirting, our pornography, our sexual fantasy that's encouraged by novels and by movies, perhaps, or simply just talking dirty with your friends. These are all impurity, and they need to stop. This word for impurity here, it covers a larger range than just sexual impurity, but I think the context here sort of demands it, and it's mostly used for it. And I had looked up statistics once. Did you know that 70% of young people aged like 18 to 24, they visit a pornographic site every month? And there are many men in their 20s and 30s that abuse pornography regularly, two-thirds of all men. And do you know that 20% of all video rentals are pornographic in nature? So we can say pretty clearly from those statistics that this is a problem in the world. But Paul isn't talking to the world, he's talking to the church, because this is also a problem in the church. And that's why Paul speaks of it. This isn't even to be named among saints, but it often is. There's a problem with the internet. It's easy. There's private access to anything and to any temptation. But then it seems to move on to something else. He says, sexual immorality and impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you. This covetousness is really greed, wanting more, desiring something more. Sexual immorality itself is always an expression of self-will and of self-indulgence and of self-centeredness. It really is greed. I want more. But sex is the act of marriage, and it is to be other-focused, and it is to be God-glorifying. But greed is always wanting more. Greed is needing more, coveting something that you don't have. It is thinking in your own mind that you deserve more. It is eventually getting to the point where you demand more. So greed is merely increasing self-indulgence instead of self-giving love, which was God's design. It is not even to be named among you. You are a saint. Don't do it and don't be associated with it. You, as the people of God, as the children of light, you were separated for something better. You were separated for something that was according to God's original design. If you get 80% off at Walmart, why would you shop at Target? If you have God's best, why would you settle for something less? We mistakenly believe that the grass is always greener on the other side, that there's something that we don't have that might be really good. That if we can just go beyond God's boundaries, He is restricting our freedom, isn't He? Isn't God really out to get us? And wasn't that the first temptation? And God is just repeating it in this realm. And we sometimes believe the words of Satan. Well, we were separated for something better. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead expose them, for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret." And Paul again, I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people. I did not at all mean with the immoral people of the world. or with the covetous or swindlers or idolaters, for then you'd have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person or covetous or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or a swindler, not even to eat with such a one. So serious is this and many other sins, but sexual sin is not to have an acceptable place in the Christian life or even in the Christian community. And this will be an increasing challenge in our culture today, because they have come to accept almost all kinds of sexual deviancy. And we are looked upon as backwards bigots, as... Well, I don't want to go into what they say. But for us to take a stand upon what God said is going to be increasingly out of the range of cultural acceptability, to be able to call sin, sin. We, as the people of God, and that's who this text is addressed to, we as the people of God are not to allow this sin to take root in our hearts or in our community. We are, if we need to, to turn off the internet. We are to avert our eyes. We are to stop indulging in fantasy. It is self-indulgence and it is killing you. It is stealing your joy. It is hurting your family. It is hurting your church. It is hurting your witness. And I could go on and on and on. Stop. Confess. Get help. And get right. Filthiness is the next word. I take again this meaning in the context. It's filthy sexual talk. Talking about sex in a lewd manner. And it must stop. Next word. Silly talk or Morologia. It's like moron talk. That's really what it literally means. It's stupid talk. You know, when girls are nervous, they twist their hair and they giggle. And guys, when they're nervous, they say really stupid things. You can always tell when they're nervous. But nervous talk about sex sometimes only feeds our curiosity. Silly talk about sex doesn't honor your spouse. I don't have a spouse yet. Still doesn't honor your spouse. Don't cheapen sex in that way. Don't dishonor God in that way. With, he goes on to say, crude joking or coarse jesting which are not fitting. Things can be easily twisted. We can become really adept at double entendre, at double meanings. We can say one thing and mean another, and it sort of is a funny way to joke about sex. Suggestive sexual innuendo. We should not talk like this. We should not joke about sex. We should not joke about sexual deviancy even. There are some people who are caught in these types of sins. They are caught in Satan's substitutes. And sometimes we as the people of God, the best we can do is laugh at them. And we make a joke about it. When they are rightly understood, they're in bondage to sin. And in one sense, we have the key. We should not be joking about them. We should be delivering them. These people are trapped and we joke about it, or they're struggling with temptation and we joke about it. We shouldn't. But notice what the text says right here in the middle. There'll be no filthiness or foolish talk or crude joking which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. Why does he put thanksgiving right in the middle here? What does he mean? What are we to be thankful for? Again, I think in the context, we need to be thankful for God's gift of sex. Now, it could be broader than that, and many other things are included, and it is true that the cure to greedy self-indulgence is gratitude, or maybe we could put it this way, contentment with what you have. Or if I could put it this way, it is contentment with God's best. You already have the best. Why would you go looking somewhere else? Gratitude. Gratitude is the cure for greed. Being content with what you have. Being content, that's just, being thrilled with what you have. Be grateful for God's gift of a spouse. Be grateful for the act of marriage. Be content with the wife of your youth. We need to learn to see and to appreciate God's good gifts. How many of you thank God for the sun rising in the morning? Well, of course it was gonna rise. God did that. God is so constantly faithful that we take his blessings for granted, and one of the blessings that God has given us is marriage, and we need to be thankful for it. I saw a comic not too long ago about a teenager walking with a nine-year-old, just walking through the forest. It's kind of boring. I've been through the forest a million times, but to see the forest through the eyes of a nine-year-old, Wow, look at this, this is fantastic. Can we roll over this log and see what's underneath? To see the world through eyes like for the first time, to see the faithfulness of God in so many different ways, we need to develop our gratitude, gratitude for all of God's good gifts. We need to thank God for marriage and the act of marriage. Because to forget gratitude is to breed greed. To forget gratitude is to breed greed. If we are not content with the good gifts that God has already given us, why do we think if he gives us more we will be content? To want more and to wonder, maybe I'm missing something. Maybe the grass is greener on the other side. It isn't. Sex is God's idea. It's good. It is to be fully and freely enjoyed in the context of a loving, committed marriage between a husband and a wife. And there it is a glorious, good thing. And Paul would have us guard that treasure. He would have us preserve it. So don't cheapen or demean this tremendous gift by joking about it, by obsessing about it, by running outside the boundaries with adultery or fornication or looseness or immodesty. And don't learn from Hollywood what sex and love are. They're not going to teach you the right stuff. But it is to be celebrated in marriage and it is to be condemned outside of marriage because it is Satan's poor unfulfilling substitute. And then Paul takes off the gloves. Notice what he says in verses 5 and 6. And he's speaking to the church. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance of the kingdom of God and of Christ. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Paul is giving a stern and a serious warning to the church. This is serious and it needs to stop. This could damn your soul it is so serious. And we need to see it that way. We need to heed the warnings that Paul, that Scripture gives to us. Persistent, unrepentant actions, really of any kind, reveal one who has no inheritance among the children of light. But you, he says, are saints, and it isn't to be true of you. It isn't to be known upon you. You are to repent, and you are to resist, and you are to find restoration. But those who indulge in sexual sin and refuse to repent have no place in the kingdom of God. This is a strong and this is a purposeful warning to the church, to the people of God. This is a call to repentance. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God and such were some of you. But you are washed and you are sanctified but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the spirit of your God. I wish I forewarned you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. So let no one deceive you with empty words. It's only natural. I was born this way, really, and I had these desires when I was born. You know, everybody does it anyway, right? What's wrong if I do it? You know, I really like the music. I don't really listen to the lewd lyrics or anything, but the music is great. Well, God, he's a God of grace, and he'll forgive my self-indulgence, won't he? So I can continue to do it. Well, this sin doesn't really hurt anybody, so I can continue. Most people, you know, don't think this is wrong. You know, actually, I need this sin. I sort of earned this sin. I deserve this sin. In fact, this sin enables me to stop from doing something worse, so this is a good thing. How can it be wrong when it feels so right? I just love this sin, and you know, this sin actually helps me, and I just can't live without it. What does the scripture say? The wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience. Sort of, it's like a razor that cuts through all the excuses. This is wrong, this is sin, this is God speaking to his people, this is God speaking to his children. Don't do it. Don't go there. Don't live on that dead-end street. You need to be restored, you need to be delivered, you need to come out of that. The wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience. If you look at the word, it's actually present tense. Some people say this is a future present, and it's true that the wrath of God will ultimately come, but also when we are indulging in sin of any kind, the wrath of God can be visited on us now. The discipline, the chastisement, if you want to call it that, can be visited upon us today in the present, comes in the here and now. I have known, and perhaps you have too, Christians who have fallen in this area. And you have seen the devastating effects that this sin can have. That these kinds of sins can have. I have known Christians who have fallen in this area in the past and some have repented. Not all, some. I have seen some shed buckets of tears. And they, those repentant brothers and sisters in Christ who sought restoration, they don't take this sin lightly anymore. And we shouldn't either. How can we fight for joy in this area? How can we preserve God's best? How can we resist the temptation that is ever increasing in our culture to go a different way, to explore, to experiment, or to sin? The Scripture says here that we are the children of light. We don't belong to ourselves. We belong to God, and God actually has something better in store for us. God has given us grace to walk with him, to resist temptation really because we see the temptation for what it is. We learn to hate sin because we see it for what it is. It isn't fun. It isn't enjoyable. It isn't just a temporary pleasure. It is soul-damning sin. And we need to see it that way. Why? Because the Scriptures see it that way. And we are the children of light. You know, any fool can get into sin. But no fool can get out without God's help. And God does give help. The price has already been paid. The road to deliverance has already been paved. We can be delivered from this sin. We don't have to remain in it any longer. That's what the gospel is all about. You couldn't do it, so Christ did it on your behalf. He obeyed on your behalf, and He paid the penalty for that sin. It is gone. It can be forgiven. But you must see it as sin, and you must confess it. And you must fall at the feet of the Savior and say, I need you. I can't do this without you. I can't be delivered without you. Because God promises not only to forgive us our sins, but to deliver us from the power of sin as well. But we can't do this on our own. Many times we get entangled in these kinds of sin and we can't get out. Why? Because, well, we got in according to the flesh and we're trying to get out according to the flesh. You can't get out according to the flesh. You get out according to Spirit. You need the Spirit of God to deliver you, to help you, to forgive you, to strengthen you. So this, in Christ, these sins don't have an inevitable power over you. Perhaps Satan has convinced you that it has. This is just who I am, I can't change. I tried a thousand times. God can deliver you. What can't God do? So the law of God isn't to kill joy. Christian morality isn't to steal your pleasure. In fact, Paul and all the Christian scriptures are striving to preserve it. Sex and marriage is a wonderful thing. It's a gift from God. There is nothing better than sex and marriage, nothing. You don't have to try everything once to see. And it is worth waiting for, and it is worth preserving, and it is worth enjoying. So rejoice in God's good gifts. And don't accept Satan's substitutes, his cheap and his empty counterfeits. Rejoice in God's good gifts. Defend them. Preserve them. Wait for them. Treasure them. And enjoy them. Amen. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you that you know what is best and that you know what is right and you have given us good things. Help us, Lord, to hear your voice and not to succumb to temptation. I pray, Lord, that you would be with your people here who may be entangled in these kinds of sins, that you would come alongside them to deliver them, that they would see them as sin, that they would continue to fight against them, that they would not be entangled in poor excuses for continuing. Lord, we do pray that you would grant deliverance, that you would grant forgiveness. We pray, Lord, that you would preserve us for what is best. And we thank you, Lord, for your good gifts, and we pray that we would treasure them and that we would defend them. So pray, Lord, that you would be honored in your church as we, as the children of light, walk with you and as we walk in godly marriages. For we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.