Chariot March 2005 - Norm Wakefield

Caution: This article is not intended for a younger audience, as it is dealing with the important issue of sexual purity. Please use wisdom accordingly in regard to whether or not your children or young adults read the article. Thank you!

Rising to the Call to Purity - Part 2

    Let's face it! Sin is deceitful. Perhaps there is no area where sin is more deceitful than in the area of impurity and immorality. The Psalmist declares that sin flatters the ungodly by telling him his sin won't be discovered and that God doesn't hate his sin. The ultimate result is a lack of fear of God in the heart (Psalm 36:1-2).

    The focus of our study in these articles on purity is 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8.

    For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

    We considered the positive commands of this passage last month. We discussed the relationship of holiness to our wives and purity. They are inseparable. This points to the tremendous truth that our relationship with our wives is governed by our relationship with God. We are holy to God, and as a result, treat our wives as holy. We also practice holiness toward our wives. In this Chariot article, I want to continue encouraging you to rise to the call of purity.

Holiness to Your Wife Should be Practiced Before You Are Married

    For those of you who are married, this news may seem like it has arrived too late. However, if you haven't determined to rise to the call of purity, you can be sure if you begin now, there will be reward both now and in eternity. Your marriage will be strengthened, it will impact the next generation, and you'll stand confidently before Christ at the judgment seat to be rewarded eternally.      

    For children and those who are single, the time to hear this call to purity is now. Consider the implications of Paul's word to young Timothy, a single man.

    Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers, the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity (1 Timothy 5:1-2).

    If during the teen years, a young man practices checking out the girls, rating them on a 1-10 scale, undressing them in his mind, and lusting after women through pornography and other media sources, do you think the appetite for constant sexual stimulation and gratification will come to a screeching halt after his wedding day? Many men have the tragic experience to testify that such is not the case. Young men are to maintain a holy attitude toward other women. To treat a woman as a sister is not to use her for impurity, but to practice purity as the Scripture explains.

Abstain From Sexual Immorality

    When we abstain from something, we hold ourselves back or refrain from the activity. In this case, the apostle gave the Lord Jesus' command to keep one's self away from sexual immorality. The word porneia refers to sexual activity outside the confines of a marriage relationship. This passage in 1 Thessalonians is specifically to single men. However, there's much to be gained for married men also.

    The sin may involve use of a prostitute (porne = prostitute) in a physical relationship or the use of pornography for sexual gratification. The term prostitute comes from two words meaning to put forth or to place before. It carries the idea of placing one's body for use in a debasing or dishonorable way - a way not intended by God. This is precisely what pornography is all about. The woman places her body before a man through the selected media and she is debased and dishonored by them as they use her body to satisfy lustful passion. Webster's Dictionary comments that the use of her body is a means of making a living: she is hired to do so by men.

    Most men probably don't get involved in porneia through actual physical contact with a prostitute. However, the immoral epidemic today involves men hiring the use of women who prostitute their bodies before a camera. In whatever way this sin occurs, it is not a sin in which Christian men are to participate. There's a price to be paid for this sin - and it's not paid only in currency.

    It's amazing how sin influences a man to wiggle around this clear command. Sin tells a man he won't get caught. It deceives him as to God's hatred of the sin. I've actually heard men excuse their use of pornography and looking lustfully at women as an exercise in appreciating the creation of God - an act of worship!? Some men will declare the use of pornography or viewing sexually explicit media as a matter of personal freedom. "It might be wrong for some, but if one's conscience allows it, then he may do it," they reason. This kind of reasoning hardens the conscience and fosters more sin. A young man's relationships with women prior to marriage should be free from sexual immorality. Also, Paul told the Thessalonians about the motivation of their search for a wife.       

Do Not Seek a Wife in Lustful Passion

    Paul understood the driving force behind sexual immorality: lustful passion in men. A man without Christ pursues a wife behind the powerful appetite of lust. Paul's way of describing a young man's search for a wife was illustrated in the phrase "possess his own vessel". We don't usually think of our wives as vessels. However, it helps when we realize that Paul understood a woman to be the glory of a man. She contained his glory like a vessel holds a substance within (1 Cor. 11:7). Peter refers to a wife as the weaker vessel (1 Peter 3:7). The wife will also bear the seed of the married couple until it comes forth as a child.

    God expects us to refrain from and keep ourselves apart from the lustful passions which drive all the men around us who do not know Jesus Christ and find their satisfaction in Him. Lustful passion refers to appetites. Men in the world develop an appetite for sexual gratification and stimulation. From the time they are in grade school, they are taught by adults that sex before marriage is acceptable - just be safe they are told. They are bombarded with sexual images and messages designed to ignite and fan the flame of lust. By the time a young man is in his early teens, the flame has become a raging fire consuming almost all of his thoughts. The only people in society who will march to a different drummer are believers in Jesus Christ.

    Jesus taught that lustful passion in a married man is the same as adultery - a sexual relationship with a woman other than your wife. Married men who do not control lustful passion will stand to give an account for each lustful look.

What Will You Say to Jesus in The Day of Judgment?

    I recommend you say what you have to say to Jesus now about your acts of lustful passion and not later! Men who believe in Jesus Christ need to remind each other of God's hatred for impurity. God has called us to purity. If we reckon with our sin before we come to stand before Jesus, we will surely find mercy. Proverbs 28:13 states, "He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion." However, if we continue to cover the sin of sexual immorality, excuse it, and provide for it; we will surely have nothing but a terrifying expectation of judgment as described by the writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 10:26-27). Let's face it. Who wants that?!?

    Rising to the call of purity means we practice purity and holiness in our relationship with our wives. Let's realize who we are: Sons of God with a loving heavenly Father having His Spirit to satisfy our emptiness here in this life. You are your wife's husband for life! You can't combat the lust and appetite for sexual pleasure by simply trying hard not to do it. You must find your satisfaction in Christ and in your wife. (If you haven't already listened to Beware the Wolf in the Equipping Men Series, I encourage you to do so. It is available at www.spiritofelijah.com. This message explains how to handle inappropriate sexual attraction).

    If you're single, then rising to the call of purity means practicing holiness toward your wife even before you know her! Keep yourself and your appetites for her, and not other women. As you look for a wife, do so with holiness and honor as the Scriptures above command, and you will not fear when you come to stand before Christ. Let's face it. That's exactly what we want!

New Resources for Your Family 

    This month we are continuing a special for those interested in the Equipping Men and Unshakable Faith video series. Also, we now have study guides for leaders and group participants available to download for all of Norm's series as well as the Equipped to Love book. Also, there is a new CD series for parents and teens, Teenagers 101, with a study guide available as well. All the messages in this series are available individually on CD and include:

*   Run to Win

*   Rethink the Way You Live

*   Preparing Your Teens for Life

*   I'm Old Enough to Make My Own Decisions, Part 1 and 2  

*   Preparing for Christ-Centered Relationships  

*   What About College?  

*   What's a Mom to Do With Teenage Sons?  

*   Passing on the Blessings  

Would you like to be on the Elijah Ministries Prayer Team?

    The backbone of Elijah Ministries is the prayer team who pray diligently for God to turn the hearts of men to Himself, their wives, and their children. Before I leave to speak, I send out a prayer team invitation to those who will intercede for God to work for His glory in us as a team for the Kingdom. Not only is it a blessing to those whom I speak and myself; but it is also a reminder to the team about the direction of their own hearts. If you would like to enter into the labor together with me, you may go to my website and click on "Prayer Team".

    If you haven't visited our website, www.spiritofelijah.com, please stop by sometime. You'll find:

*   Resources to equip you and your family

*   Previous Chariot articles

*   My speaking schedule

*   Free MP3 downloads  

*   Various pages translated and available in Spanish  

*   An online store to purchase resources and make tax-free contributions by credit card