1. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our We settle for far too little… Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. ~ C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,1965), pp. 1-2.

3. The Why the apostles said to abstain from it in Acts 15

4. The Decision by James and others Acts 15:19-21 19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

5. Why did the apostles include this sin? What’s the big deal?

6. Acts 15:21 21 For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath. hints that Leviticus 17 and 18 were the passages that James is referring to

7. Why did the apostles include this sin? What’s the big deal? Ephesians 5:3 3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.

8. Why did the apostles include this sin? What’s the big deal? 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God.

9. Why did the apostles include this sin? What’s the big deal? 1 Corinthians 6:13b-20 13b The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

10. Why did the apostles include this sin? What’s the big deal? 1 Corinthians 6:13b-20 18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

11. What is the purpose of sex? What was God thinking?

12. What is the purpose of sex? What was God thinking? Genesis 1:26-27 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

13. What is the purpose of sex? What was God thinking? Genesis 2:15-25 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

14. What is the purpose of sex? What was God thinking? Genesis 2:15-25 18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

15. What is the purpose of sex? What was God thinking? Genesis 2:15-25 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

16. What is the purpose of sex? What was God thinking? Genesis 2:15-25 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman’, for she was taken out of man.” 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

17. Summary of our observations

18. 1. Sexuality is a gift from God, not something bad!

19. Summary of our observations 1. Sexuality is a gift from God, not something bad! Proverbs 5:18-19 (from The Message) 18 Bless your fresh-flowing fountain! Enjoy the wife you married as a young man! 19 Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose—don’t ever quit taking delight in her body. Never take her love for granted!

20. Summary of our observations 2. We were created, by God, for loving relationships

21. Summary of our observations 2. We were created, by God, for loving relationships a. First and foremost (and not to be filled any other way) is our relationship with Jesus. We are never to use sexuality (moral or immoral) as a substitute for our relationship with Jesus Christ.

22. Summary of our observations 2. We were created, by God, for loving relationships a.First and foremost (and not to be filled any other way) is our relationship with Jesus. We are never to use sexuality (moral or immoral) as a substitute for our relationship with Jesus Christ. b.If God leads us into marriage, then sex is a beautiful metaphor of that intimate relationship.

23. Summary of our observations 3. God created sex to be in the confines of a life time, permanent relationship (leave, cleave, one-flesh)! God is a genius! He created sexuality, and designed us to fully enjoy it. However, it is to be an expression of a total nakedness in EVERY area of life, not just physical.

24. Summary of our observations 4.God wants us to experience sex without shame.

25. Summary of our observations 4. God wants us to experience sex without shame. Therefore, he has commanded that we abstain from any forms of sexual immorality.

26. Summary of our observations 5. There is something about sexual immorality that uniquely causes relational pain when misused.

27. Summary of our observations 5. There is something about sexual immorality that uniquely causes relational pain when misused. God is NOT a killjoy! His command is for our ultimate joy. Waiting makes it sweeter!