1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 - The Trap of Pornography

Opening thought:  It was an ordinary weekday morning when Caroline first noticed how much pornography was taking over her life. With 15 minutes before she was to leave for a job interview, she opened up her laptop to print off an extra copy of her resume and there onscreen was a grab she’d saved from a pornsite.

“I remember the feeling of being sucked in, really wanting that two-minute fix, that numbness I got when I used porn,” says Caroline. “I was stressed out, and I risked being late for my interview, but I pressed play anyway and fast-forwarded it to the bit I wanted. It took two minutes.” But the relief was to be short-lived. “Afterwards I just hated myself for giving in and getting off on images that treated women like pieces of meat. But I kept going back.”

Caroline, a 21-year-old English graduate, just finished seeing a therapist to help get her porn habit under control. Caroline started watching porn out of curiosity in her mid-teens, and she and her friends used it as a graphic form of sex education. She saw nothing wrong with it, particularly as she was raised in a generation of girls for whom it was seen as hip and liberated to enjoy watching sex. According to President of Morality in Media, Patrick Trueman, the average age in which children first view pornographic material is now 11 years old.[1]

Then, as she entered a depressed job market after university, it became a form of escape, a default she turned to whenever she felt anxious or bored. “I’d be stuck at home in front of my laptop on my own all day. I’d wake up with all these ideas for the day – and end up surfing for porn, trying to distract myself, eating and then going back for more porn. No one would ever have known. But I didn’t get much done. It was like a constant battle between my sexual urges and my self-control. I’d think to myself: ‘It’s not doing any harm.’ But then I started to loathe myself for giving in and wasting so much time on it.” Caroline is not alone.

We usually think of men being in bondage to pornography, but these days women are the fastest growing group of new addicts. Women are watching – and enjoying – porn more and more, and some are finding it hard to stop. At Quit Porn Addiction, the UK’s main porn counseling service, almost one in three clients are women struggling with their own porn use. Two years ago, there were none. While more than six out of 10 women say they view web porn, one study in 2006 by the Internet Filter Review found that 17% of women describe themselves as “addicted”.[2]

And that is just the women. We all know that men have had an issue with images since the time of Job. We must be careful with statistics, but a 2003 survey from Internet Filter Review reported that 47 percent of Christians admit pornography is a major problem in their homes. Chuck Colson has called Internet pornography “Spiritual Crack Cocaine,” because of how quickly people can become addicted to it and because of how destructive it is to the human soul.

Today’s is not a pleasant subject, especially in mixed company, but if I am going to be a responsible pastor, I cannot ignore help but warn you and your family about pornography and try to give you some help to deal with it.

In our current legal and social environment, we cannot depend upon the government for restraint. We must face the reality that pornography will affect virtually every family in some way. Dr. Jason Carroll and his colleagues published a widely cited paper in the Journal of Adolescent Research that brings to light the scope of this problem. According to this paper, which reviewed data from five universities, 87 percent of college males and 31 percent of females view pornography. This data crosses all religious, educational, and social barriers.

Contextual Notes:

Thessalonica was the capital city of Macedonia, within sight of Mount Olympus, the legendary home of the Greek pantheon. With a population of over 200,000 in the first century, it was a (tax)-free city, a reward for helping Augustus gain the emperor=s mantle. Thus, Thessalonica was the largest commercial center in southeast Europe, a coastal city on the Egnation Way, the main road from Rome to the East.  Because of the city=s importance in business, there was a large Jewish population there.  Many Gentiles, frustrated with paganism, had begun attending synagogue as AGod-fearers,@ attracted to the simpler monotheism of Judaism.  Most of the Thessalonian Christians were Gentiles who had come out of idolatry (1 Thessalonians 1:9; 2:14-16). Their religious background included practices that involved gross immorality that involved the sex trafficking of women, and underage girls and boys for use by paying male customers.

Of the many truths Paul was preaching was the Return of Christ.  The Thessalonians had many questions, perhaps because of the hasty departure of Paul. The entirety of both epistles to the Thessalonians is about the Parousia, the Second Coming of Christ.

Outline of 1 Thessalonians

1.           The Model Church (1 Thessalonians 1)  (See 1 Thess. 1:7; 2 Cor. 8:1-5)

2.           The Model Discipler, Paul (1 Thessalonians 2)

3.           The Model Brother, Timothy (1 Thessalonians 3)

4.           The Model Work, Pleasing God (1 Thessalonians 4:1-12)

5.           The Lord=s Return (1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11)

6.           The Best Encouragement (1 Thessalonians 5:12-28)

In chapter 4, Paul begins the last section of his letter (“Finally,” 4:1) by reminding the believers to live to please God (4:1-2), to separate from immorality (4:3-8), love each other more than they do now (4:9-10) and do honest work (4:11-12). Why? Because Christ is coming back and will not forget any of those who have already died (4:13-17), for reunion awaits in the presence of Christ (4:18).

Key Truth: Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 to warn believers that sexual immorality entices a believer to give up self-control, to take advantage of others and be impure, taking one’s honor, bringing punishment, and insulting our Lord.

All the eye candy you need.

Key Application: Today I want to show you what God’s Word says about the trap of pornography.

Pray and Read:  1 Thessalonians 4:3-8

Sermon Points:

1.   Pornography entices you to give up self-control, thus stealing your honor (1 Thess. 4:3-5)

2.   Pornography entices you to take advantage of others, thus ordering your punishment (1 Thess. 4:6)

3.   Pornography entices you to be impure, thus insulting your Savior (1 Thess. 4:7-8)

Exposition:   Note well,

1.   PORNOGRAPHY ENTICES YOU TO GIVE UP SELF-CONTROL, THUS STEALING YOUR HONOR (1 THESS. 4:3-5)

a.   The Greek porneias here encompasses all sex sins which holiness demands the Christian reject. Resisting the temptation enables us to develop self-control. God is holy and those who belong to Him should be holy.

b.   There is some modest language here that makes the text perhaps a little cloudy but clear on its general meaning. Lit. “to have/possess/gain control of his vessel/instrument/body” (1 Thess. 4:4; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Cor. 7:34; Heb. 12:14). Vessel could be his own body or, as in rabbinical literature, his wife, living with her in honor and holiness.

c.   1 Thess. 4:5 – Christian behavior is contrasted with the heathens’ (Jer. 10:25; Psalm 79:6; Rom. 1:18-25), marked with passionate lust (1 Thess 2:17) implying active and violent.

d.   APPLICATION: The one who masters his body through the power of the Holy Spirit has real freedom. The person who is driven by his glands acts like an animal rather than a human being, and loses touch with his real self by indulging in sexual sin.

2.   PORNOGRAPHY ENTICES YOU TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OTHERS, THUS ORDERING YOUR PUNISHMENT (1 THESS. 4:6)

a.   Believers should not take advantage of others or abuse them for one’s own satisfaction (1 Cor. 6:15, 19).

b.   Pornography has become the sex education venue for the majority of the next generation, an internet candy store, and it teaches that sex is physically and emotionally harmless, with no negative consequences. Men and women are mere visual drugs to be used and discarded, and sex is solely for personal pleasure. The truth, of course, it that those who actually perform sexually to make the pornography are consumed and discarded by pornographers; they are "throwaway people," as Dr. C. Everett Koop called them.

c.   APPLICATION: How do you think pornographers get their subjects? Normal women and men do not start off in life wanting to be filmed for porn on the internet or videos or magazines. Many of those have been sexually trafficked and are being forced under threat of murder to do the things they do. My wife and I worked with UN CIVPOL sexually trafficking girls from North Africa in Liberia, and they had to act happy or they would disappear. All sexual looseness including pornography represents an act of injustice to someone other than the two parties concerned. Even adultery is an obvious violation of the rights of another person (not involved), but the same principle applies to pre-marital promiscuity, for the impure person cannot bring to the marriage a virginity which is due your spouse. Pornography, even though often by yourself, is a violation of the person you are watching, who is often trafficked and forced to look like she likes what she is doing.

3.   PORNOGRAPHY ENTICES YOU TO BE IMPURE, THUS INSULTING YOUR SAVIOR (1 THESS. 4:7-8)

a.   Three reasons are given here to encourage purity. First, God’s judgment (1 Thess. 4:6), now and in the last Day (2 Cor. 5:10). Second, God has a moral purpose in effectually calling a person (1 Thess. 4:7). Third, impurity contemptuously ignores the indwelling of the Holy Spirit whom God gives (continuously) to the believer, who died for and redeemed him (1 Thess. 4:8).

b.   APPLICATION:  Let me warn you about curiosity. Pornography will not teach you anything. It is fantasy. Let me warn that using pornography almost always leads to action in some form or another. Neurologists now tell us that pornography destroys relationships, scar your mind. Donald L. Hilton, Jr., in an article entitled, “Slave Master: How Pornography Drugs & Changes Your Brain,” Salvo 13 (Summer 2010), “Biologically the brain is affected by pornography and other sexual addictions… On the outside is the cerebral cortex, a layer of nerve cells that carry conscious, volitional thought. In the front, over the eyes, are the frontal lobes. These areas are important in judgment, and, if the brain were a car, the frontal lobes would be the brakes. These lobes have important connections to the pleasure pathways, so pleasure can be controlled. In the center of the brain is the nucleus accumbens. This almond-sized area is a key pleasure reward center, and when activated by dopamine and other neurotransmitters, it causes us to value and desire pleasure rewards. Dopamine is essential for humans to desire and value appropriate pleasure in life. It helps incentivize us to eat, procreate, or to win a game. Overuse of the dopamine reward system causes addiction.  Compulsive use decreases the amount of dopamine in the pleasure areas available for use, and the dopamine-producing cells and receptors and the frontal lobe of the brain atrophy, or shrink, resetting of "pleasure thermostat" to a "new normal."

c.   In this addictive state, the person must act out in addiction to boost the dopamine levels just to feel normal. As desensitization continues, stronger and stronger stimuli are required to boost the dopamine. In the case of narcotic addiction, the addicted person must increase the amount of the drug to get the same high. In pornography addiction, progressively more shocking images are required to stimulate the person. As the frontal lobe shrinks, there is a decline in the brain’s judgment and causes the person to become impaired in his ability to process the consequences of acting out in addiction. Addiction scientists and neurosurgeons have noted a similarity in the behavior of addicted persons to the behavior of patients with frontal brain damage. These patients thoughtlessly engage in activities with little regard to the consequences. They are compulsive, becoming fixated on certain objects or behaviors, and have to have them, no matter what. They have sudden and unpredictable mood swings, and exhibit impaired judgment.

d.   A study published in 2007 of persons exhibiting severe sexual addiction produced almost identical results to the cocaine, methamphetamine, and obesity studies. (Encouragingly, two studies also show a return to more normal frontal lobe volumes with time in recovery.) This damage, as well as frontal lobe damage, can be shown with brain scans, such as functional MRI, PET, and SPECT scans. Dr. Norman Doidge, a neurologist at Columbia, in his book The Brain That Changes Itself, describes how pornography causes re-wiring of the neural circuits. He notes that in a study of men viewing internet pornography, the men looked “uncannily" like rats pushing the lever to receive cocaine in the experimental Skinner boxes. Like the addicted rats, the men were desperately seeking the next fix, clicking the mouse just as the rats pushed the lever.

e.   Oxytocin and vasopressin are other important hormones in the brain with regard to physically performing sexually. Studies show that oxytocin is also important in increasing trust in humans, in emotional bonding between sexual mates, and in parental bonding. We are wired to bond to the object of our sexuality. A frequent side effect is that it also dramatically reduces their capacity to love (e.g., it results in a marked dissociation of sex from friendship, affection, caring, and other normal healthy emotions and traits which help marital relationships). Their sexual side becomes in a sense dehumanized. Many of them develop an "alien ego state" (or dark side), whose core is antisocial lust devoid of most values.

f.    Pornographers promise healthy pleasure, but what they often deliver is addiction, and an eventual decrease in pleasure. “Porn impotence," where the man experiences sexuality preferentially with porn instead of a woman, is a real and growing phenomenon. As fisherman know, it is important to keep the drag loose just after hooking the fish, when it still has a lot of fight. As the fish tires, though, we tighten the drag and increase the resistance. In this way the fish is reeled into the boat and netted. Similarly, pornography is a triple hook, consisting of affects on the brain’s frontal lobe, dopamine downgrading, and oxytocin/vasopressin bonding. Each of these hooks is powerful, and they are synergistic. Pornography sets its hooks very quickly and deeply, and as the addiction progresses, it progressively tightens the dopamine drag until there is no more play in the line. The person is drawn ever closer to the boat, and the waiting net.

g.   Pornography is the fabric used to weave a tapestry of sexual permissiveness that undermines the very foundation of society. Biologically, it destroys the ability of a population to sustain itself. The author Tom Wolfe said, "The bigger pornography gets, the lower the birthrate becomes." In the 1950s every country now in the European Union had a fertility rate above the 2.1 needed to sustain a population. Now none of them do, and several are at or near the 1.3 rate called the "lowest low fertility," from which it is virtually impossible to recover. It was in the late 1960s and early 1970s that this decline began, which corresponds precisely with the dawning of the sexual revolution. There is a direct correlation between the growing cultural dominance of the sexual revolution and the diminishing birthrate, and while causation may not be proven, it is strongly supported by the effect of pornography.[3]

1. Spiritual components: The real reason porn is so destructive and so easily brings a person into captivity is that it uses multiple strategies to enslave a person, and each are defiling in their application. It is hard to know how to fight something when you do not know what you are fighting or what their strategy is. What you need to know is that once you start trafficking in porn, you are dealing directly with demonic forces and personalities.
2. First and most obvious, it uses immorality, which the Bible says is defiling and which is a generational sin. And 1 Cor. 6:19 tells us that sexual sin is not just a sin done to another person, it is a sin done to one’s own self. Several places in the first eight chapters of Proverbs make it clear that immorality has a strategy to kill, to destroy.
3. Second, it is an addiction, which is also generational in nature and defiling to oneself as well. Addictions are hard to break because most people do not realize an important strategy that they use to bring down a person. Addictions such as, say, nicotine, are able to stay around because there is the bondage to the nicotine, but back of it is a general bondage of addiction. That bondage to addiction is also generational, so you see addiction move through a family, but the addictions don’t all have to be the same. It might be alcohol with one person, work with another, gambling with another, eating with another, exercise with another, pornography with another. If you do not break and remove the bondage to addiction in your prayer time, another addiction will develop, either the same one or another.
4. Third, it uses guilt. We are talking profound guilt that keeps you from telling anyone, guilt that makes you keep the sin a secret. Guilt that communicates threats if you tell anyone. Guilt that cripples your ability to spend time with the Lord so that He can cleanse you. Guilt that turns you away from prayer and reading of Scripture in the presence of Jesus where your freedom lies. The enemy knows the Scripture, too, and twists its authority, that a cord of three strands, immorality, addictions, and guilt, is not easily broken (Eccles. 4:12).
5. How do you know if you are in spiritual bondage to porn? The issue boils down to control. Can you control yourself in this area? If you ran across something disgusting once on a google search, then that’s one thing, but if you go looking for it, using the yellow pages or the search engines, then you probably have an issue. If you find yourself like the woman in the introduction, needing to get a quick 2 minute fix before heading out, then you have a problem. If you have a favorite porn site, if you go looking for it regularly online, if you visit the video stores on 301, if have been using your phone for sexting, if you have a PO box you use to receive magazines or videos, if you have images or videos saved on your computer or your phone in a secret place, if you have the deluxe channel lineup so that you can watch certain channels late at night, if you are plagued with images about porn while doing regular things like brushing your teeth, balancing your checkbook, changing the oil, listening to this sermon, then you have a problem. If you want to break free from these defiling things, listen carefully.
6. Here is the way to overcome enslavement to porn. I say all the following assuming that you have already trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior and belong to him. If you don’t, then you must commit your life to Christ and his eternal safety before any of this other is durable.

                    i.    First of all, you need to confess your sin to the Lord, your spouse, and/or someone you trust like an accountability partner. James 5:16 tells us to confess our sins to each another and pray for one another in order to receive healing. 1 John 1:9 tells us that if we will confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

                  ii.    Second, you need to renounce your sin, turning away from it, and committing to leave it. Jesus called on people to repent for the kingdom of heaven is near (Mark 1:15). You must make a commitment to leave porn behind. Then there are other practical steps to take after you do the third thing. The third thing is what some might call a little strange, but if you don’t do it, you will find that you only cleaned the house but did not throw out your vandals, and if you don’t throw your vandals out, they will tear your house up again, perhaps worse the next time.

                iii.    The third thing you must do is, on the basis of your confession and repentance, you must command them to leave, not ask, but command them. If you are in Christ, then you have spiritual authority over the devil. Perhaps asking someone to pray with you would be good. I will be happy to pray with you. If you don’t want to come to me, I can connect you to another counselor in another town. Command pornography to leave you. Command lust to leave you. Command addictions to leave you. If you have confessed, repented, and renounced and then command them, “By the authority of Jesus Christ who bought me, I command you to leave me now, and I forbid you to return,” they must leave. At this point you have improved your situation by giving yourself back the control to make a decision about temptation on your own without the influence of enslaving beings.

7. Now you can dismiss what I’ve said as some kind of hocus pocus if you want. Fine with me. I have done heavy duty prayer ministry with people as needed for 15 years. You go study the Scripture on the subject of deliverance ministry and pray with people and see what conclusions you come to. Then I won’t have to stand here and argue my point.
8. Now it is time to be practical. Put the computer in a public place. Cancel your PO box and TV and mailing subscriptions. Throw out, destroy, delete all the videos and images you have hidden in a closet, a drawer, or a file. Give your spouse or your parents complete access to your computer, your smartphone, and reading and viewing material. Install software like Covenant Eyes or BSecure online to let them or an accountable friend get an email each month with every website you have visited that month so they can trace your steps online.
9. Be grace-filled b/c of devastating guilt. There is freedom from your debilitating guilt. Romans 8:1 says that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The blood of Jesus washes away all the guilt. Spend some time in the Scripture. Pray Psalm 51. Let the grace of Christ wash you clean from the guilt.
10. Power of the Gospel will wash and make you whiter than snow. It is only the power of the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross that can overcome this bondage.

Invitation: While we must continue to fight the good fight legally and societally, we are way beyond avoidance as our only defense. Pornography wants you, it wants your husband or wife, it wants your son and daughter, your grandchildren, and your in-laws. It doesn’t share well, and it doesn’t leave easily. It is a cruel master, and seeks more slaves. Won't you run to Christ now?

---

[1] http://www.pornharms.com/

[2] http://www.sexuallyconfidentwife.com/blog/2011/07/why-more-and-more-women-are-using-pornography/

[3] This article is a must-read. Donald L. Hilton, Jr., in Salvo 13 (Summer 2010), http://www.salvomag.com/new/articles/salvo13/13hilton.php

The Church’s Ministry of Worship

Part of a series on the ministries of the church.

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47

Worship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is a third important part of what the Church is and does. In Acts 2, authentic worship is marked by two things: reverential awe before a holy God (“then fear came upon every soul and many signs and wonders were done,” Acts 2:43; worship in Spirit, John 4:24) and joyful praise (“they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,” Acts 2:46; worship in truth, John 4:24). Biblical worship is God exalting, Christ-centered, and Holy Spirit empowered. Worship also involves people, both believers and non-believers; therefore, planning well-rounded worship services every week is a demanding task. Worship should include several dimensions.

1.      The Glory dimension (Isaiah 42:12; Rev 5:13). We ascribe to God his worth and glory through songs that exalt God, through remembering his work through the Lord’s Supper, through reading his Word, through prayers which praise his name, seek his face, ask his blessing, and intercede on others’ behalf, through giving our offerings of time and treasure, and through obedience to him through responding to his invitation.

2.      The Teaching dimension (Colossians 3:16a). We worship through reading, preaching, and teaching the Word of God, through songs sung to one another (Ephesians 5:19) and the Lord.

3.      The Encouragement dimension (1 Thess 5:14). Worship should edify, exhort, rebuke, and encourage us to strengthen our walk with Christ, to be obedient to his call, and to give of ourselves in time and monies to serve and build up others in tangible ways.

4.      The Evangelism dimension (1 Peter 2:9). Worship involves responding in obedience to the invitation of the gospel. While every sermon text may not be strongly focused on a gospel presentation each week, there should be the opportunity for individuals to respond to the invitation of the Good News of Jesus Christ at every practical opportunity.

Elements of Worship

The New Testament provides no set order of worship. That has allowed for cultural and preferential variety in different times and places, but there also seems to be continuity across history and cultures. The early church was ethnically Jewish, and therefore it included corporate worship patterns from Judaism including songs of praise, prayers, and the public reading of Scripture. Justin Martyr’s (110-165 A.D.) First Apology is the oldest record outside of the Bible of the ancient Christian order and time of congregational worship.

 'On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succors [give assistance to] the orphans and widows, and those who, through sickness or any other cause are in want, and those who are in bonds, and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead.'

One new element drawn from the Passover meal which the Lord Jesus instituted was the Lord’s Supper. Within a few centuries it became the central part of worship up to the Reformation (16^th Century) when preaching took center stage. The Lord’s Supper is the only act of worship which has specific instructions (1 Cor. 11:23-32), and both the Supper and baptism are acts of worshiped that should be practiced regularly.

Music in Worship. (Colossians 3:16b; Ephesians 5:19). Before the Reformation, the only singing in the Catholic Church that was permitted was of choirs. The people were not allowed to sing. After the Reformation, singing was a hotly debated topic among Protestants. The disagreement was whether to sing the Psalms as the Anglican Church continues to do today or to sing the newer hymns by Isaac Watts. The influential British Baptist Benjamin Keach, who pastored the church later led by Charles Spurgeon, argued strongly for hymn singing in the late 1600s, and it has become central in worship now for centuries. Then later there were disagreements over whether it was OK to bring worldly instruments from the saloons into the church and play them, what some people called the devil’s instruments – organs and pianos. Today the hymns are fighting the contemporary worship songs, but the lesson is that musical styles change while the message and the Person worshiped remains the same. A good criteria for musical style is Philippians 4:8.

Public Reading of Scripture (1 Timothy 4:13). Paul encouraged Timothy to make the public reading of Scripture an important part of worship. Alas, in many of our churches the reading of Scripture has become as haphazard and unthought-of as public prayer, and we have suffered for it. Reading of Scripture should occupy a larger and more intentional part of the worship of churches that believe in the inerrancy of Scripture. Our worship in song should be punctuated with Scripture reading as well. Our public prayer should be done in better ways that reflect Scripture.

The Regulative Principle or the Normative Principle?  What about skits, drama, artistic dance, or video clips in worship? Are they appropriate? Some say they are not on the basis of the regulative principle of Scripture. This idea comes from the Westminster Confession and thus the Second London/Philadelphia Confession that God should not be worshiped in any way “not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures.” Mark Dever recommends that we could adopt the following worship grid: read the Bible, preach the Bible, pray the Bible, sing the Bible, and see the Bible (in the ordinances) – that everything in worship be guided by biblical principles.

Others see by way of the normative principle of Scripture: whatever is not prohibited is acceptable, i.e., the mature use of common sense (Galatians 5:1). Should we worship on Sunday morning or Sunday evening? Does the Bible say we should not meet to pray on Wednesday nights? Does the Bible say we should not build a gymnasium and host evangelistic basketball leagues? Does the Bible say we should not have video projection? Does the Bible say we should not have Sunday School? Does the Bible say we should not have mission boards?

I am endebted to John Hammet at Southeastern Seminary for much of this material.

Related articles

• House of Prayer or Den of Thieves? (genebrooks.blogspot.com)
• How to stop hearing from God (genebrooks.blogspot.com)
• Are you making disciples? 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 (genebrooks.blogspot.com)
• Ephesians 2:11-22 - From Racism to Reconciliation (genebrooks.blogspot.com)
• Deficit Reduction (genebrooks.blogspot.com)
• Luke 2:21-40 - The Presentation of Jesus (genebrooks.blogspot.com)

The Church's Ministry of Fellowship

Part of a series on the ministries of the church.

2. FELLOWSHIP

a.      The Acts 2 church devoted themselves to fellowship with each other (koinonia). Koinonia means to have things in common with others. Fellowship was central for the early church. Every ministry of the church is related to fellowship. No fellowship – no ministry. There are at least 43 specific “one another” commands which can only be obeyed in fellowship. The Lord’s Supper takes place within the context of fellowship and if one’s relationships are not in good shape, the Scripture advises a believer not to participate until those relationships are corrected and made whole (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). Teaching can take place only within the context of fellowship. Much of what the growing disciple absorbs is more caught than taught, and that only takes place in fellowship.

b.      For fellowship to develop, the church must create contexts in which people get to know each other and have a chance to share their needs and lives deeply. The Holy Spirit makes that heart connection and makes us aware of our commonalities with other believers. We must be in tune with the Spirit for genuine fellowship (1 John 1:7). The large group meeting is designed for worship – the focus is our relationship with God. The small group meeting is designed for fellowship – the focus is our relationships with each other. Sunday School classes are usually too short. Service together is a powerful way to develop fellowship. Relationships develop in the choir, in small group Bible studies, and prayer groups. Groups who go together on mission trips or even serve together on a committee tend to build relationships. Even healthy evangelism means developing a relationship with someone to love them into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. The key element is time – time to develop relationships and trust in one another.

c.       Obstacles to fellowship include our consumer society, our inbred individualism, the decline of commitment to church membership, and the pace of life, but fellowship is central to the life and health of a church. Megachurches usually know their size is a detriment to fellowship, and they actually do a better job with fellowship through emphasizing small groups. The newer emerging, contemporary churches also have a strong emphasis on community and fellowship since many come from non-Christian and broken family backgrounds. Traditional and family churches are the poorest in providing fellowship because, to be blunt, they are the poorest at loving people different from themselves.

d.      “One Another” Commands of Scripture

1.      Accept one another (Rom 15:7)

2.      Admonish (correct or instruct) one another (Rom 15:14; Col 3:16)

3.      Agree with each other (1 Cor 1:10)

4.      Be at peace with each other (Mark 9:50)

5.      Be devoted to one another (Rom 12:10)

6.      Be humble toward one another (1Pet 5:5)

7.      Be joined to one another (Rom 12:5)

8.      Be kind to one another (Eph 4:31-32)

9.      Be patient with one another (Eph 4:2)

10.  Bear one another burdens (Gal 6:2)

11.  Bear with one another (Col 3:13)

12.  Build up one another (Rom 14:19; 1Thess 5:11)

13.  Care for one another (1Cor 12:25)

14.  Carry one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2)

15.  Confess your sins to one another (James 5:16)

16.  Counsel one another (Rom 15:14)

17.  Do not bite, devour and destroy one another: Do not fight with one another (Gal 5:15)

18.  Do not envy one another (Gal 5:25-26)

19.  Do not grumble and complain against one another (James 5:9)

20.  Do not judge one another (Rom 14:13)

21.  Do not lie to one another (Col 3:9-10)

22.  Do not provoke (challenge) one another (Gal 5:25-26)

23.  Do not speak evil of one another (James 4:11)

24.  Encourage (exhort, correct, comfort) one another (1Thess 5:11; Heb 3:12-13)

25.  Fellowship with one another (1John 1:7)

26.  Forgive one another (Eph 4:31-32; Col 3:12-13)

27.  Greet one another (Romans 16:16; I Cor 16:20; 2 Cor 13:12; I Pet 5:14)

28.  Honor one another (Rom 12:10)

29.  Have equal concern for one another (I Cor 12:24-25)

30.  Live in harmony with one another (Rom 12:16)

31.  Love one another (John 13:34-35; 15:12,17; Rom 12:9-10; 13:8; Gal 5:14; I Thess 3:11-12; 4:9-10; James 2:8; I Pet 1:22; 3:8; I John 3:11,23; 4:7, 11, 12, 21; 2 John 5)

32.  Minister gifts to one another (1Pet 4:10)

33.  Offer hospitality to one another (1Pet 4:9)

34.  Practice hospitality with one another (I Pet 4:7-10)

35.  Pray for one another (James 5:16)

36.  Rejoice with one another (Rom 12:15)

37.  Serve one another (Gal 5:13-14)

38.  Sing to one another (Eph 5:18-20; Col 3:16)

39.  Spur one another on (Heb 10:24)

40.  Submit (willingly complying with decisions, instructions or wishes of others) to one another (Eph 5:21)

41.  Teach, admonish each other (Col 3:16)

42.  Wait for one another (1Cor 11:33)

43.  Weep with one another (Rom 12:15)

Related articles

• Acts 2:42-47 - God's Institution of the Church (genebrooks.blogspot.com)
• The Church's Ministry of Teaching (genebrooks.blogspot.com)

The Church's Ministry of Teaching

What do churches do? What is their raison d’être, their reason for being? If we go by what we see some doing, then we might get the idea that churches are social clubs or perhaps social service societies or maybe coffee shops or political action committees. Some churches appear to be no more than historical societies or self-appointed courts of judgmental opinion, a giant food court or perhaps simply a pitifully planned local talent show.

The Bible says that the church exists to glorify God. It glorifies God by taking the Good News to the world (Matthew 28:18-20) and building up believers in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16). The church has five ministries, all outlined in Acts 2:42-47, and these ministries give us a picture of what the church is supposed to be and do. The five ministries are teaching, fellowship, worship (“breaking of bread and prayer”), service (“they gave to anyone as he had need”), and evangelism/missions (“And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”)

1.      TEACHING

a.      The importance of teaching the Bible is demonstrated in that it is the primary activity of the early church in Acts 2:42. They devoted themselves to the Apostle’s teaching first. Teaching is one of the two components mentioned in discipling the nations in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). The spiritual gift of teaching is found in all three major lists of spiritual gifts (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; and Ephesians 4). It is specifically linked to the gift of pastor in Ephesians 4:11 and is one of the two gifts required of elder-pastors (1 Timothy 3:2; 5:18; Titus 1:9). 

b.      The emphasis on teaching in Acts 2:42 is on making disciples of Jesus among the nations, “teaching them to obey whatsoever things I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19). We often direct teaching to the mind alone, but the Great Commission commands us to “teach them to obey.” Here we find profound weaknesses in our churches.  We must teach toward life transformation (Romans 12:1-2) and not just for information.

c.       The context of teaching in the church is from large group to one-on-one. Teaching, or making disciples, begins with pastoral ministry, but it doesn’t end there. No one can be adequately disciple by sitting in an auditorium listening to a 30-40 minute sermon once a week. There must be individual and group discipleship and training, new member classes, strong Sunday Schools, insightful Bible Studies, and life-giving small groups. Teaching should even take place in the midst of the conversations of believers (Colossians 3:16). Here is another weakness in our churches. We are often haphazard in our approach to teaching. There are classes and courses, all with different topics, everyone choosing what they want, even some fads, with little oversight or design to move people toward maturity in Christ in both knowledge and skills. Even Lifeway curriculum is weak here. Only one (the least popular) takes a ‘whole Bible’ approach to the Scripture, teaching both the easy and hard passages, but its goal is simply a survey of the material, not life transformation.

d.      The content of teaching in Acts 2:42 is the Apostle’s teaching, viz., the Apostle’s understanding (hermeneutic) of the Bible. We study God’s Word because it is His inerrant Word. Specifically, the very early church had only the Old Testament as their Bible, but when New Testament books began to be written, they were immediately recognized as canon and incorporated into the teaching of the churches. The Apostle’s teaching was what Jesus had taught them. Their writings in the New Testament teach us the way the Apostles read and interpreted the Old Testament based on the revelation of Jesus.

I am indebted for much of this material to John Hammett at Southeastern Seminary.

Related articles

• An Invitation to Study Old Testament at Southeastern (betweenthetimes.com)
• An Invitation to Study New Testament at Southeastern (betweenthetimes.com)

SC Secession Flags

Here's a page I happened upon of South Carolina Secession and Battle Flags. 

Unfortunately they are missing the Laurens Briars flag given April 14, 1861, and now at the SC Confederate Relic Room at the State Museum. 

The Laurens Briars became Company G, Third Regiment, SC Volunteers, CSA. 

Pictured here is the SC flag hoisted over Fort Sumter after the battle April 15, 1861. 

Check out the Stoddard Family Letters from Laurens County, SC.

Proverbs 5-7 - The Trap of Adultery

Proverbs 5:1-23; 6:20-7:27

Opening thought: 

God’s Word makes it clear that marriage is a commitment for life to one person of the opposite sex who has been chosen as a mate (Exod. 20:14; Matt. 19:5; Heb. 13:4; 1 Cor. 7:3-4). Sad to say, but unfaithfulness on the part of both spouses has become epidemic, but adultery is both forbidden and condemned in God’s Word. In 1 Corinthians 6:18, the Bible says, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.” Adultery is sin, but it is also a symptom that all is not well in a marriage. There are no easy solutions in dealing with the problem of adultery. But God can work the miracle of the new birth for the non-Christian and spiritual renewal for his own who have fallen into sin.

Contextual Notes:

The book of Proverbs is such a wise book that it is sometimes difficult to preach! That is, it is above the pay grade of the preacher who handles it. That’s my disclaimer.

Despite the depth and breadth of the book, I think it is safe to say that Proverbs is about wisdom. The first eight chapters form a section within the book, and Chapter 1 is a warning to embrace Wisdom and nothing else. Chapters 2 and 3 give us the benefits of Wisdom, while chapter 4 says Wisdom of the Lord is supreme (Prov. 4:7), and in chapter 8, Wisdom calls out, inviting the reader to embrace her. But chapters 5-7 focus on the anti-hero of Wisdom. They warn the young man addressed in its poetic lines against adultery with the first half of chapter 6 being a warning against financial debt.

Here are two chapters and a half devoted to teaching against adultery. It is written as an extended object lesson, presented dramatically. Ironically, the author of many of the Proverbs, Solomon, was himself the son of an adulterer and adulteress and he himself struggled with a lust problem.

Key Truth: Solomon wrote Proverbs 5:1-23; 6:20-7:27 to warn hearers of the dangers of being unfaithful to one’s marriage vows.

Key Application: Today I want to show you what God’s Word says about adultery.

Key Verse: Proverbs 6:32

Pray and Read:  Proverbs 5:1-23; 6:20-7:27 by sermon point

Sermon Points:

1.   Adultery is a trap of regret, loss, and disgrace (5:1-23)

2.   Adultery is a trap of self-destruction, shame, and revenge (6:20-35)

3.   Adultery is a trap of smooth seduction at the cost of one’s life (7:1-27)

Exposition:   Note well,

1.   ADULTERY IS A TRAP OF REGRET, LOSS, AND DISGRACE (5:1-23)

a.   When you leave your partner, and ignore your covenant, you invite a spirit of death.  (Prov. 2:16-19). Broken covenant defiles the land (Isaiah 24:4-6).

b.   Consequences are spelled out: bitterness and invitation to a spirit of death (Prov. 5:3-6; Heb. 12:15-16), loss of reputation (Prov. 5:9), loss of wealth (Prov. 5:10), depression (Prov. 5:11), bad conscience (Prov. 5:12-13), and public disgrace (Prov. 5:14-17). Job tells us that adultery opens the door to a spirit of death and uproots the harvest (Job 31:9-12).

c.   ILLUSTRATION: Billy Graham: "How many homes are broken because of men and women who are unfaithful!  What sin is committed every day at this point.  God will not hold you guiltless!  There is a day of reckoning. 'Be sure your sin will find you out' (Numbers 32:23). They will find you out in your own family life here in your relationship with your mate; they will find you out in the life to come."

d.   Prov. 5:15-20 – By contrast are the joys of marriage. Here is a figure of speech:  water = life; your treasure (business) is out in the public arena (Numbers 32:23).

e.   APPLICATION:  That cute smile, that strong hug might seem like what you need, but it will end for you in regret, in loss of your wealth, all you’ve worked for, your reputation, and more, perhaps your family, and you will find disgrace every time you leave the house.

2.   ADULTERY IS A TRAP OF SELF-DESTRUCTION, SHAME, AND REVENGE (6:20-35)

a.   Prov. 6:22-23: These commands are a lamp and light (Psalm 119:105) and therefore inspired Scripture, inerrant and authoritative.

b.   Prov. 6:24-29: Adultery reduces you to an object to devour (consume) (1 Peter 5:8). Eyes (Prov. 6:25): lit. “eyelashes” Jesus taught that lust is a sin, not just the first step that direction (Matt. 5:27-28; Mark 7:21; James 1:14-15). This kind of sin will burn you (Prov. 6:27-28) and bring punishment (Prov. 6:29).

c.   Prov. 6:30-30-35: There is no condoning of theft but a comparison of how bad adultery is with 7X restitution, much more than the 120% required by the Law (Exod. 22:1). Disgrace (Prov. 6:30, 33), fury and revenge of the other spouse (Prov. 6:34-35) and punishment.

d.   APPLICATION: Adultery is a trap. You will find yourself destroying yourself. You will find shame. You will find that people hate you and will work against you with revenge in their hearts.

3.   ADULTERY IS A TRAP OF SMOOTH SEDUCTION AT THE COST OF ONE’S LIFE (7:1-27)

a.   Prov. 7:4: Solomon encourages a close relationship with wisdom (sister, kinsman).

b.   Prov. 7:6-7: Notice that each time, the one getting involved with adultery is described as lacking judgment. He is not wise. He is a simpleton, literally “lacking of heart.”

c.   Prov. 7:8-9: Notice the progression toward sin. First, he separates from others, going alone down the street near her corner. Second, it was twilight, and the dark is symbolically setting in. Third, he is aimless while his seductress is not. He is not wise to the situation while his enemy knows exactly the goal she wants for him.

d.   Prov. 7:10: The “lacking of heart” meets the “cunning of heart.”

e.   Adultery is a trap that leads to the grave (Proverbs 7:10-27, especially verses 22-27). Prov. 7:23: “little knowing it will cost him his life” – see Prov. 6:34-35. Adultery was punishable under the Law by death (Deut. 22:22).

f.    ILLUSTRATION: 1 Cor. 6:12-20 – Paul speaks to this issue.

g.   APPLICATION: God calls the one who has fallen into adultery to stop it. Your first responsibility is to confess your sin to the Lord and to your spouse. Seek God’s forgiveness and your spouse’s forgiveness. Then you need to repent of your sin, turning away from your sin. Come to your pastor for encouragement and counseling. Begin praying with your spouse and reading Scripture.

h.   If you have been cheated on, then you feel betrayed, rejected, and hurt. Even though only one person may have been unfaithful, both persons contributed to it. No one is immune from sin in a relationship. Ask the Lord how you may have contributed to my mate’s infidelity.

                  i.     Forgiveness – Things can never be worked out unless there is forgiveness. That can be very difficult, but a way can be found. Those involved must ask for God’s grace and wisdom to face the reality of the situation. The true extent of their mutual love and concern will be most evident at this point.

                ii.    Communication – As a couple you must make a determined effort to communicate with each other in order to discuss freely all the facets of the issue. Now is the time to correct a problem with a lack of communication.

i.    Your marriage may be in the crosshairs of adultery. It hasn’t happened, but it easily could. What steps do you take to stop it? What problems may be contributing to the danger of adultery in your marriage? Conflict with in-laws? Work schedules or absences from home? Lack of communication? Talking past each other? A need to better understand what makes a good marriage, according to the Bible?

j.    What should the church do about adultery among its own? The church has a responsibility to seek the holiness of its members and to love its members into a position of holiness. It is not those persons’ own personal business. It is the business of the church because they are members. Because they are part of Christ’s Church, they have put themselves in a position of submission to the love, concern, and care of the church.

Invitation:

There is HOPE -- There is forgiveness in Jesus Christ
    John 8:7-11 -- The woman caught in adultery, Jesus acknowledges her sin and challenges her future. 

1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Related articles

• Adultery Nation (betweenthetimes.com)