The Quest for Today's Church, Part 2

Pray with me, would you please? Father, thank you for today and thank you for the opportunity you've given to us to study the Word of the Lord. We thank you, Lord, that you have put into print everything that we need to know about you and how we respond to you as our maker, as our master, as our King. We ask that today, Lord, as a church, we would truly be obedient to your Word, follow through on the things that you teach us, that we truly would seek to please our King. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

We are looking at the quest for today's church, the journey the church is on to make sure that in the church of Jesus Christ, the Word of God stands supreme, that it is paramount, that the worship of God is what God designed it to be, passionate, God-honoring, glorifying, that the will of God would be preeminent in the members of that church and that the ways of God would be prominent in that church. The working of God would be prevalent and, of course, we would understand that the witness of God would be potent and pleasant in that church because it's a church that seeks to honor and glorify the name of Christ.

And so the church is on a journey, a journey to make sure that God is lifted up, that God is honored. And that journey always begins with the leadership in the church because as the leaders go, so go the people. It's imperative to understand that integrity must permeate the leadership of the church, like integrity must permeate the leadership in your home. Everything centers around those who lead and how it is they have the character to lead. And that's why the Lord God put a premium on leadership in the church.

He put a premium on leadership in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament because people tend to follow their leaders. That's what they do. And we've been studying the life of Elijah and the life of Elisha in the Old Testament. When these prophets come on the scene, the whole nation is steeped into sin, immorality, idolatry. It's rampant all throughout Israel. And so these men come on the scene to turn the course of a nation. And we saw this past week with Elisha that the reason that those 42 young people were were slain by two female bears was because of the condition of Bethel, the city of God.

It used to be the city of God, but it had changed over the years because once Jeroboam became king over the northern tribes of Israel, he set up idol worship in Bethel and in Dan, the northest part, Bethel, the southern part of the land of Israel, and led Israel into sin. It all began with Solomon. And when Solomon disobeyed the word of the Lord and married foreign wives, his heart was turned away from God. When he died, the kingdom was divided, and immorality just ran all throughout the land. And all 19 kings of the northern kingdom were wicked kings, and they led the nation into sin.

And so Bethel, which used to be called the house of God, God called it in Hosea 4 verse number 15, Beth-Avon, which means the house of deceit or the house of wickedness. They had taken his house and made it a place of sin, just like when he came to the earth and he he cleansed the temple in John chapter 2 because Zio for his father's house consumed him. He said, you've made my father's house a den of iniquity. He cleansed it. But at the end of his ministry, when he cleansed the temple a second time, he said to Israel, your house is left to you desolate because it's no longer his father's house.

Because his father's house was a place of worship. It was now their house because it was a place of iniquity, a place of sin. And that was because the religious establishment led Israel into sin. So it's imperative to understand that God says, I want from my leaders integrity, holiness, godliness, to lead my people closer to me.

And so when God gives the characteristics for those who who lead in the church, he says in the first Timothy 3 and Titus 1 that they must be above reproach.

They must be blameless. That they must not have any act or habit or attitude of life that turns people away from godliness. That turns people away from the truth because there's something you can hold to the character that moves people away from God, not closer to God. And the reason that is, is because God says, I want the people of my church to be blameless.

We talked about that last week where where the position of the believer, the believer is that he is blameless before God. The promise of the believer that one day he will be perfectly blameless before God. But in the meantime, we pray that we would be blameless. That we pursue blamelessness. That we practice blamelessness because that's the ultimate pleasure of the believer to live a life that's honoring and glorifying to God. If the leaders don't lead that way, they can't set the example for the people of God.

That's why Peter says over in in 1st Peter, 1st Peter chapter 4, these words to help us understand the importance of leadership. I'm sorry, 1st Peter chapter 5. He says, therefore exhort the elders among you as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker also the glory that is to be revealed. Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion but voluntarily according to the will of God and not for assorted gain but with eagerness. Nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge but proving to be examples to the flock.

Leaders are to be examples. They are to be models. It's like it's like fathers in the home. They are to be examples. They are to be models that their children can follow. They are to set the standard for for the children. That's why when we do a baby dedication we have that white rose and we talk about that white rose that stands above all the other roses because it it stands for the the father, the husband who leads with integrity. That's always been the way God wants it. He wants the the lips and the life of the man to match.

That they are equal so that the children have the example to follow because children by nature follow our examples. So it's imperative that in the home the father leads properly because the church is like a family. It's the family of God and so when you come into the church those who lead in the church must lead exemplary lives. Not perfect lives because no one is perfect but modeling biblical responses to imperfection so people know how to respond to God when he convicts him and when he calls them to repentance and so it's imperative that we as a church journey in the direction so that we have men who lead that are examples that others can follow.

That's why back in Psalm 26 the psalmist said this, vindicate me O Lord for I have walked in my integrity and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Examine me O Lord and try me. Test my mind and my heart for your loving kindness is before my eyes and I have walked in your truth. I do not sit with deceitful men nor will I go with pretenders. I hate the assembly of evildoers and I will not sit with the wicked. I shall wash my hands in innocence and I will go about your altar O Lord that I might proclaim with the voice of Thanksgiving and declare all your wonders.

O Lord I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells. Do not take my soul away along with sinners nor my life with men of bloodshed and whose hands is a wicked scheme and whose right hand is full of bribes but as for me I shall walk in my integrity. Redeem me and be gracious to me. My foot stands on a level place in the congregations. I shall bless the Lord. The psalmist was concerned about his lifestyle. He was concerned about how it is he he portrayed God to his family into an unbelieving world and that he would not associate with people who would move him away from that kind of lifestyle because he was committed to set an example, a model for others to follow.

My friends, this is so important in the church because you need to have integrity that permeates the leadership of your church. That's the journey. That's the quest for every church. It begins at the top. It begins with those who lead. That should be the same for our families as well. As husbands, as fathers, we should be men of integrity. We should be able to live with a clear conscience before our wives and before our children that we can set an example and be like the Apostle Paul and say, follow me as I follow Christ.

That they will have a model to look to and to follow and to emulate. Point number two is this. Not only is there to be an integrity that permeates the leadership, there needs to be a purity that protects the fellowship. A purity that protects the fellowship. The protection that we have comes from our commitment to live pure and holy lives. The Lord said, be holy for I the Lord your God am holy. In fact, the Bible says that the Lord is holy, holy, holy.

To exemplify the fact that that is the supreme aspect of who he is. That means that the Lord God is separate from any of his creatures and separate from any corruption. To understand holiness, you must understand that it means separateness. And our Lord God is completely separate from his creation. He's not like us. The Lord said, you thought that I was like you, but I'm not. Because he is perfect. He is infinite. He is eternal. And so he is separate from his creation, but he's also separate from any corruption.

And so the Lord makes this admonition in the book of Leviticus that he wants us to be holy like he is holy. He wants us to be separate like he himself is separate. Because the protection for the church stems from our commitment to live pure and holy lives. So important to understand. Purity is our protection. So if integrity permeates the leadership, then purity needs to be central in the fellowship. Because that's what protects us. And we are to emulate God. We are to follow our God who is a holy God.

He is so pure, so clean, so clear that we should want to be like him. The Bible tells us in the book of 1st Samuel chapter 2, there is no one holy like the Lord. There's no one separate like he is. No one who is separate from creation, nor separate from corruption, like our Lord is. It says in Isaiah 6 verse number 3, the seraphim called out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. In Revelation chapter 4, the four living creatures say something similar. Holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. In Exodus chapter 15 verse number 11, that song of Moses speaks to the fact that God is majestic in his holiness.

Psalm 47 verse number 8 says that God sits on his holy throne. Psalm 111 verse number 9 says, holy and awesome is his name. 1st Samuel 6 20 says, who is able to stand before the Lord because he is a holy God. Our God is a holy God. And because he is a holy God, he demands from his people that they be like him, that they too be holy as he himself is holy. Christ said it a little differently, but the same, the same meaning. Matthew 5 48b perfect as your, as your father in heaven is perfect. See, God is a standard.

No one else is your standard. God is your standard. And because he is a holy God, he sets a holy standard. And he expects and demands that his children seek that standard. We need to be holy. So we need to ask ourselves, are we that kind of people? Because that kind of purity is that which protects the church. It protects the fellowship. The problem is, is that we're sinners. The problem is that there is none good. No, not one. The problem is as, as it says in Proverbs chapter 20 verse number nine, who can say I have cleansed my heart and I am pure from my sin.

Who can say that answer? Nobody can because God is the cleansing agent. But because we are sinners, the exhortation to be holy becomes more and more profound because we are to seek to be like our God. So if integrity permeates the leadership, purity is that which protects the fellowship. The question comes for you and me is how do I pursue that purity? How do I seek to be holy as God is holy? The Bible says that we are to be holy as God is holy in all of our conduct.

Not just in parts of our conduct. We like to be holy on Sundays because we're in church. We like to be holy when, when we're with our family. But when you're alone, are you holy? When you're at work, are you holy? When you're by yourself, are you holy? You see, we want to be holy in some aspects of our life, not all aspects of our life. We want to give certain things to God, keep certain things back from God as if we can keep them from God. But that's our mentality. So when Peter says in first Peter chapter one verses 15 and 16, be holy as the Lord your God is holy in all your conduct, he says look in every aspect of your life, in every, every venture of your life, in every characteristic of your life, in every compartment of your heart, be holy.

Be separate from everybody else. Be, be separate from all sin. Be that kind of that's why we talked about last week what manner of people ought you to be, what other worldly kind of people ought you to be, what from another dimension. Because we're characterized by, by aliens and strangers in a foreign land. We should seek to be different. We should seek to be as holy as God himself is holy. So how do we do that? How do we live pure and holy lives when there's so much temptation around us? When there's so much sinful conduct around us?

When there is, when it's so easy to fall into sin? How is it I am to pursue a, a pure and holy life? Let me give you some, some principles.

Let me give you six of them okay? That will help you understand how this happens. And just let you know there is no secret formula. Okay? There's, there's no key that I'm going to give you that's going to unlock the mystery of some secret formula that will all of a sudden cause you to be squeaky clean and pure before God. No. There are simple biblical principles that, that God gives us in his word that will help us if we are obedient to this, to live pure and holy lives. So, so what I'm going to tell you is, is not some secret mystery or what I'm going to tell you is not something that's going to be like rocket science and be so hard to follow that you can't do it.

No, it's gonna be very simple biblical principles outlined in scripture that will help you live a pure and holy life that will ultimately protect us as a church. Okay? Because we know that Ecclesiastes 19 says that one sinner destroys much good. Right? We know that from, from Achan in Joshua chapter 7 when God told Israel not to take anything from Jericho because it's under the ban. It's set aside for me and no one else. And, and Achan did and, and it caused a heap of Achan for the whole nation of Israel because they, they lost the battle.

And they couldn't find out there was one man who sinned. And once they found that man they, they stoned him and, and burned him and his family by the way because of his sin it caused Israel to lose in battle. See, God demands holiness and we forget that, you forget, I forget that, that our sin, my sin, your sin leaves us unprotected. It, it, it hurts all of us. We think that we can, we can sin solo but, but nobody does sin solo. It affects everything. And I, I, I hope I, I can help you understand that today.

Okay? So here we go. Six principles. Principle number one is this. All right? A pure life. Okay, here it is. Ready? It's reproduced by obedience. It's reproduced by obedience. A pure life is not reproduced by disobedience. Right? It can only be reproduced by obedience. That's why the Bible says this in Psalm 119, very familiar verses.

Verse number 9, 10, 11. How can a young man keep his way pure? That's the answer, that's the question, right? By keeping it according to your word. There's the answer. So how can somebody be pure? By, by heeding God's holy word. With all my heart I have sought you. Do not let me wander from your commandments.

So the psalmist says, look, I have sought you with all my heart. Don't let me wander away from your commandments because that's how a young man keeps his way pure.

Then he says, your word I have treasured in my heart that I may not sin against you. So the psalmist knows that once he treasures the word of God in his heart, he will not sin against God. See the problem with you and me is that we have other treasures. We have something more valuable to us than the word of God. And whenever something rises above the value of the word of God, then we hold that dearer to us than God's word and we are more prone to live impure lives, not pure lives. So we must treasure the word of God in our hearts.

The psalmist makes that very clear. Listen to what Paul says in, in the book of Romans, the sixth chapter. Romans, the sixth chapter. He makes it very clear when he says this in verse number 16 of Romans 6. Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey? Either of sin resulted in death or of obedience resulted in righteousness. But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed.

And having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you present your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness resulting in sanctification, resulting in holiness, resulting in purity. Submit the members of your body as slaves of righteousness. In other words, we as believers have been bought with a price. We've been purchased by God from the slave market of sin.

He's our master, so we present everything to him because he is the king. And when we are obedient to what his word says, then what happens is that purity is reproduced. But not only do we present ourselves personally to God, but we present ourselves corporately to God. Look what the Bible says over in Galatians chapter 6.

Galatians chapter 6 verse number 1. Paul says this. Galatians 6 verse number 1. Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness, each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another's burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to one another.

For each one will bear his own load. In other words, we are to bear one another's burdens. And when we see another brother who has fallen to sin, we who are spiritual are to restore that one. We who are committed to God and walking with God are to go help that brother up, hold that brother up, that we might help that brother or sister from falling to sin. So in other words, our response to God in terms of living pure and holy lives is reproduced by obedience. Not just obedience personally, but obedience corporately.

We have responsibility to one another, to go to one another, help that person. That's what Matthew 18 was all about. That when your brother sins, you go to your brother, right? The very first instruction that God gives to the church was before the church was ever born.

The church was born in Acts 2. But in Matthew 18, the Lord gives instructions for the church. Because the first order of business for the church is that it be holy, it be pure.

Because purity protects the fellowship. So if a brother sins, you go to your brother. If he repents or she repents, you've won your brother. If they don't repent, you go with two or three. If they repent, you've won your brother. If not, you go and you take it to the church. And the church goes after that brother. That that brother might repent or that sister might turn from their sin. If they repent, you've won your brother. What have you won your brother to? You've won them to a pure and holy relationship with the Living God and with the Church of God.

They've been reconciled to God. And then the Lord would go on to say, if they don't respond to the church, then you treat them as a tax gatherer, as a Gentile, a heathen. And the Lord would go on to say that he is with us in the process. Because if you say someone's been released from their sins, they're released. But if you say to someone they're still bound in their sin, they're still bound in their sin. Because where two or three are gathered together, Christ says, in my name, there I am in the midst of them.

In other words, Christ gives a promise that when you are actively involved in dealing with another brother in their sin, I am right with you every step of the way. Because he's a pure God. He's a holy God. And so purity protects the fellowship. But purity is reproduced by obedience. My personal obedience to God, to treasure his word in my heart, that I might not sin against God. Because that's the only way a man of God can keep his way pure. And corporately, by by going to my brother. You see, the reason we don't do that is because it requires personal accountability.

The reason we don't like to go to our brother and talk to him about a sin, because we don't want somebody come to us talk to us about our sin. See? And so we just refrain from being obedient to the Word of God. And therefore we don't reproduce obedience in the church. And the church becomes more impure instead of purer as it relates to Christ. And so it's imperative that we understand our responsibility to one another. The church is at its best, and the church best represents Christ when it's concerned about the purity of the members of the church.

That they will stop at nothing to make sure that the members of the church live wholly pure lives. Because you see, there's a self-accountability in there, right? That means that I have to be living a pure life. That's why Christ says in Matthew 7, that whole exhortation about, judge not lest you be judged.

In other words, when you go to your brother, he says, before you smoke the beam, or take the speck of sawdust out of your brother's eye, smoke the beam out of your own eye. God never condoned non-confrontation. God always condoned confronting a sinning brother. Christ's whole ministry was a ministry of confrontation. So if his whole ministry centered around confronting those who lived in sin, why would he then expect us not to do that as a church of Christ that represents him? The bottom line is, is that you got to deal with the beam in your own eye.

Deal with your own self first. Deal with your own sin first. Then you are free to deal with the smaller sin in the life of your brother or your sister. So purity is always reproduced by obedience. That's where it begins. Number two, purity requires making tough decisions.

Purity requires making tough decisions. It's reproduced by obedience, but it's not always easy to be obedient, right? That's why sin is so tempting. So it requires, it requires me as an individual to make tough decisions. That's why Paul says in 2nd Timothy chapter 2, verse number 19, these words, nevertheless the firm foundation of God stands having this seal. The Lord knows those who are his and everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness. Verse 22, now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace and those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

In other words, we are to be those who pursue the right things, not the wrong things. But it requires making life's difficult decisions. That's why Christ says in the book of Matthew, the fifth chapter, these words.

He says, you've heard that it was said you should not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you. For it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you. For it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

What does that mean? And why did he use the right eye versus the left eye? And the right hand versus the left hand? What is Christ saying? He's saying, look, you have to take drastic measures. You have to take the most difficult measures. You have to go overboard to make sure you reproduce obedience. To do that, there is this mortification process that takes place that requires you to make the most difficult decisions you will ever make. And maybe part of that decision is you're in a relationship with the person that's a wrong relationship.

You've got to cut it off. You just can't ease your way out of it. You have to cut it off. Why? Because it's causing you to fall into sin. Maybe it's a certain hobby that you have. Or maybe it's something that you're doing that's causing you. What drastic measure? Is there a measure so drastic that you won't take so you continue in sin? Or is there a tactic that is so way out there that no matter how hard it is, you will get rid of it because you want to live a pure life, a holy life. You see, the reason we don't take drastic measures is because we want to hold on to our sin.

We like it so much that we just don't want to cut it off. We're not willing to take our computer and throw it away because that would be too drastic of a measure. I don't know how many women I've talked to over the years who can't get their husbands off the internet looking at pornography. And I tell them throw it away. Well, I can't do that. I need it for work. Do you know how bad you need it for work? Why do you have a secret password? Why don't you have the same password your wife has? Why don't you let your wife look at what you're looking at?

Let her view your history so that you have nothing to hide. Take the drastic measures. Do whatever it takes because one sinner destroys much good. But see, we don't want to take the drastic measures because I really love my sin more than I want to admit. So how badly do you want to live a pure life? Because that purity protects the fellowship. So it's reproduced by obedience, but it requires making the tough decision. Do you think Joseph had an easy decision when he was a ruler in Potiphar's house and Potiphar's wife came after him and said lie with me?

And no one else was around. Do you think it was easy for Joseph? No, but he knew that he could not do this thing and sin against his God. So he ran. And in his obedience, he was still put in prison. But he wasn't going to compromise. How about a guy like Moses? The Bible says in the book of Hebrews, the 11th chapter, by faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking for the reward.

By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is unseen. He chose to suffer ill treatment. He chose the path of difficulty because he would stop at nothing to live the life that his God wanted him to live. How about you? How about us? Where are we in that whole scenario? So a pure life is reproduced by obedience. A pure life requires making life's most difficult decisions, whether it's not doing a certain activity or not being around certain people or making sure that I do whatever it takes so that I don't engage in that kind of behavior anymore.

What will I do to make sure I live a pure and holy life? Number three, a pure life not only is reproduced by obedience, not only requires making a tough decision, but always results in looking forward to Christ's return.

A pure life results in always looking forward to Christ's return. That's why over in first John chapter three, these words are spoken.

See how great a love the father has bestowed upon us that we should be called children of God. And such we are for this reason the world does not know us because it did not know him. Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when he appears we will be like him because we will see him just as he is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself just as he is pure. In other words, my hope is fixed on the return of the king. And when my hope is fixed above and not below, I set my affections above and not below.

I store up treasures in heaven, not treasures on earth. And the result is a pure life. Because I am totally focused on God, his throne, his glory, his person, his coming again. Knowing that Jesus can come at any moment to take me home to be with him is a self-purifying kind of belief because I know that Christ is coming. And so therefore it always results in looking forward to the return of the king. See, we look forward to many things, but most of us don't wake up looking forward today that this could be the day that Jesus comes again or tomorrow or the next day.

But that's why a pure life is reproduced by obedience, by obeying what the word of the Lord says. And it's easier to make a difficult decision if I'm looking toward eternity and I'm not looking here on earth. If I'm looking toward that which lasts forever instead of that just that which lasts for a short period of time. So that's why those in Hebrews, a great hall of faith, they are there because they desired a better country. They desired a better land. They're there because they kept looking forward to the promises of God.

They kept looking forward to what the hope that they had in their hearts were because of the promise of God's word. And the writer of Hebrews says, if they had desired to go back, they would have missed the blessing, but they kept looking forward to the coming of all the promises given to them in scripture from the Lord God of Israel. A pure life is reproduced by obedience. It requires making a tough decision, life's most difficult decision. It results in looking forward to his return and reveals my commitment to glorify God.

A pure life reveals my commitment to glorify God. First Corinthians chapter six, Paul says this, do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one with her?

For he says the two shall become one flesh, but the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with him. Flee immorality, either every other sin, excuse me, that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy spirit who was in you, whom you have from God and that you are not your own for you have been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body. Paul, in the context of, of, of, of sexual immorality is talking about the fact that listen, you, you need to reveal your commitment to glorify God, to honor him, to put him on display.

If you're involved in immoral behavior, you're not putting God on display. You're putting your sin on display. You're putting yourself on display. So put God on display, glorify his name. You've been bought with the price. Therefore magnify his name and a pure life reveals my commitment that I want to glorify God. Listen to impure life reveals what commitment it reveals. My commitment to me, my commitment to my pleasures, my sinful behavior, my commitment to doing my own thing, my commitment to my will, not my commitment to God's will or his word or his pleasures, but my own.

And therefore, because I've been bought with the price, my pursuit is to glorify God in my body. And so therefore a pure life reveals my commitment to, to glorify God. And then next, a pure life recognizes the consequences of sin. A pure life truly recognizes the consequences of sin. You see so many times we want to put the consequences in the back of our mind, but Galatians six, seven and eight, the law of the harvest is true for righteousness as well as unrighteousness. Be not deceived. God is not mocked for whatsoever man sows that shall he also reap.

He who sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the spirit shall the spirit reap life everlasting. There, we said this on Wednesday night, there is no if clause, there is no unless clause in Galatians six, seven and eight. Unless you do this, no, no, the law of the harvest is across the board. Whatever a man sows, that's what he reaps. You sow sin, you reap sin. You sow immorality, you reap immorality and the consequences of that immorality. It just happens. So therefore, the one committed to a pure life recognizes those consequences, which in and of themselves puts the fear of God in me.

And so many times we forget the consequences. Let's just take, let's just take sexual sin for, for example, because it runs rampant through the church, not just any church, all churches, all people. That's why Romans one speaks so much against it. That's why the book of Proverbs speaks so much against it. Sexual sin just runs rampant in people's lives. And yet we forget about the consequences of that sin. That's why, that's why Paul says every sin that a man commits, he commits outside his body, but there's one sin that affects the inner part of a man's body, only one.

And that is sexual immorality. Every other sin that you commit only affects you externally, but there's one sin that you commit that affects you not just externally, but internally as well. It affects your emotions. It affects your mentality. It affects everything inside of you. And that's why the book of Proverbs speaks so strong against it. Proverbs chapter five, verse number 20, for why should you, my son be exhilarated with an adulterous and embrace the bosom of foreigner for the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord.

And he watches all his paths. His own iniquities will capture the wicked and he will be held with the cords of his sin. He will die for lack of instruction. And in the greatness of his folly, he will go astray. It speaks of the spiritual defeat that happens in the life of someone who loves the Lord, but engages in sexual sin outside of marriage. That's why in the book of Hebrews, the writer says very clearly that the marriage bed is undefiled, but fornicators and adulterers, God will judge. There's something unique about the marriage bed because God designed sexual intimacy within the realm of your marriage.

But outside of that, God says he would judge the fornicator. He will judge the adulterer. He does do that. And so we must realize that. Remember David, when he sinned with Bathsheba in Psalm 32, he says, how, how God's hand was heavy upon him, how it drained the vitality of his life, his energy. He was completely spent physically, mentally, emotionally, because he had not confessed his sin to God. And he was overwhelmed by the pressure. He was overwhelmed by the conviction. He was overwhelmed by the guilt.

That's why he says, blessed is he whose sins are forgiven, whose transgressions the Lord does not impute to that individual. Why? Because they weigh heavy on you. That's why he says, I drenched my couch with tears because of a sin with Bathsheba. He was the king of Israel, but yet the conviction was so profound. It was so deep. It was so harsh on his inner body. It affected him greatly. And so I'd love if I had time to go into that more in detail. Maybe I will next week, but it's just, it's just so important to understand that the pure life recognizes the consequences of sin.

You know, why does God record on the pages of scripture, the effects of immorality so graphically in scripture? Why does God do that? Why does God put David's sin on display for everybody to see? Why did God say that as a result of your sin, even though he confessed to sin, the sword will never leave your family. It'll never leave. And after David's sin with Bathsheba, yes, he was Israel's greatest king, but his family was in turmoil the rest of his life. It was never the same again. Why? Because of the consequences of sexual sin.

It just is so profoundly harsh on the people around you. It affects everybody. And so the person who wants to live a pure life doesn't just understand that it's reproduced by obedience, but are recognizing the consequences of sin because they're, they're so spelled out in, in, in scripture. You just read the old Testament, read the old Testament and see what God says, read the new Testament, understand what God has given to us.

But let me give you one more principle before I close this morning. A pure life is always rewarded by God. It just is. Recognize the consequences of sin. Realize that you must take the most drastic measures possible to make sure you don't fall into temptation. Understand that it's reproduced by obedience, but understand this, a pure life is always rewarded by God. Joseph's life was rewarded by God. Yes, he stood for truth, and yes, he honored the Lord. But the Bible says in Genesis chapter 39, and the Lord was with him, and the Lord was with him for different occasions, and the Lord was with him, and the Lord caused everything that Joseph touched to prosper because he was obedient.

He ran from sexual sin. He ran from temptation, and he paid a horrible price in prison because he was obedient to God. But God used Joseph in prison because he was with him there and made everyone, everyone see how great he was. And then when he came out of prison, he was the leader, not just in Israel, but he truly was the leader in Egypt as well because he lived a pure and holy life, and God rewarded that. That's why 1 Samuel 2 says, he who honors me, I will honor. You honor me. You put me first.

You glorify my name. You seek to be obedient to me, and I will honor you. The purity that protects every single person in this fellowship is the quest for today's church. Let me pray with you.

Father, thank you for today. Thank you for a chance to be in your word as brief as it was. May we learn from your word today, and may we follow your commands. You've made them very clear. You have not missed words. And while we have yet to cover everything in detail, we know, Lord, that we've covered today those things you want us to hear and learn from. May we be obedient to you. May you be pleased with us because our commitment truly is to glorify your name above all else. We pray in the name of our soon coming King, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.