1 Thessalonians 4
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification:[b] that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body[c] in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;
THE SECRET THAT NOBODY SHARES
This is probably the hardest devotion, I have ever written, it is brutally honest. I pull no punches with myself and share openly with you.
Paul is writing to a young church, a church that is surrounded by sexual promiscuity and perversion. Sound familiar, we think we are bombarded by it today, but there were literally hundreds of temple prostitutes, sex was readily available and on show in this place.
Young men in those times could have their choice of the slaves in the household, sex was the norm in these places. It paraded itself on every street corner, it was brazen, it did not hide itself.
The words Paul speaks to the church here, apply directly to us, things haven’t changed, nowadays we have perversion all over the net.
Purity was God’s call to the church and it is his call to us today, we are called not to live like the world, but many believers, especially men are trapped in sexual impurity, fornication, pornography and other deviant behaviour.
In the epistles that Paul writes, most of the churches are set in places where pagan worship was the norm and where terrible sexual practices were rampant. The worship of temple prostitutes was rampant, young believers were exposed to all kinds of perversion. If you were a young man in these places and a Christian, you could have the pick of the servants to be your sexual pleasure, but like Joseph, you have to get out and run from these evil practices. Genesis 39 and Proverbs 7
Here is my confession, I too was in bondage to sexual impurity, even though I was going to church and being a good church member, I was trapped in bondage to a particular sin, it wasn’t porn by the way, if you wish to contact me, I will tell you
I grew up in a home, where sex was not talked about, when I asked about it, I was directed to a book, not the bible. I had no girlfriend till I was over 40 and this made me feel sexual inadequate. Everyone around me is getting married, what is wrong with me?
Things went from bad to worse, a failed marriage didn’t help, this thing was silently killing me, these things that I am sharing are silent killers to our Christian walk and witness.
If you have suffered from any kind of sexual deviance, there is hope for you and it starts with you coming to the foot of the cross, not once, but daily. Are you going to fail?, probably, it is about a daily dying to self.
How did I overcome this terrible sin:
To overcome this, we must come clean with the Lord, we must be like David in Psalms 32 and 51. We must openly confess our sin, before Him.
First of all, we need to acknowledge that these things, all sexual deviances are wrong in His sight. It is a sin against our body.. oh yes, we are abusing our body, but it is a sin against God and him alone, against you and you only have I sinned Psalm 51.
If you are involved in viewing porn, you need to burn all your porn material and wipe the drive of your computer clean, if married, then be honest, with your spouse, repent in front of them.
Secondly, we need to realise that there is mercy and forgiveness available for us, oh yeah there will be consequences because of your sin, but we need to be also reproved of our sin. Hiding these things only leads to more moral failure. If you need an accountability partner, then get one or even join a group. Talk it through with Godly men in your church and your pastor.
If you are a pastor, involved in such things as watching porn, you should examine yourself and ask, should I be in ministry?
I heard a sermon, which stated that 30% of all pastors are viewing porn at least once per month, 10% of women view porn once per month. The pulpit is infected with this, if you as members of a church know your pastor is committing this sinful lifestyle, he must be lovingly confronted.
Thirdly, God calls us to holiness, he calls us to a life of purity, the words to the Thessalonian church are still relevant today. Don’t you think that this church, had problems with sexual sin?. Paul spent time there, he knew the city, he knew the circumstances. But in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, we are to live as light and salt, and not to follow the world. 1 John 2:15-17
The devil constantly will seek to remind you of past sins, remember, once confessed and repented of, that sin is remembered no more, it is as far as the east is from the west, the devil has no right to remind you, he is a liar and what he tells you is false. Psalm 103
Do you know of people involved in this, you need to lovingly confront them, if they are true believers, then hopefully they will respond, if not go with others who will confront them and then if no response, expulsion from the church, may be necessary, as with the man in the Corinthian church.
Six years ago I went to a men’s conference, all these things were exposed and shared openly by men who were broken by the power of God’s word. One brother, who I thought I knew well, confessed in our small group, that he had been trapped for many years in these things, he then shared it with his girlfriend, now his wife and they are now very happily married, she was shaken by his confession, but choose to stand by him and love him.
We must be prepared to let the light of God’s word shine into our hearts, we must let his word constantly challenge us, especially in our secretive thought life Hebrews 4. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus says that looking with lust is wrong, even to look, the standards of the bible and God are sky high. Matthew 5:27-30.
You may be in bondage to these things and yet you say, I can’t let go of them, Desperate times call for desperate measures, look at what Jesus says in Matthew 5:29-30, not to literally cut off your hand, but if you are watching porn channels, then remove them from your computer/phone, cut the other woman out, if you have engaging in illegal sexual relations, this also means to young people, sexual relations before marriage is not acceptable. Purity is the key to blessing.
If your girlfriend/boyfriend wants to indulge in sexual relations, before marriage, you need to ditch him/her.
Remember that Jesus went through all these temptations and has defeated them, he has overcome all these things, you have the victory believer. Hebrews 2
There are many people trapped in bondage to a variety of sexual sin, is it easy to get out of, the short answer is No. Do I fall to the sin that once trapped me, sadly I have yes, but there is freedom and victory, it comes at a cost, but it is worth it.
There was victory for the Thessalonian church, look at what is said of these believers in Chapter 1 of this epistle, they were an example to the rest of the churches.
Let me say that thank God, I have never viewed porn, but many others have, let me tell you, there is victory.
In Revelation 2:18-29, we have the church in Thyatira, a church deeply involved in sexual sin, a church polluted by sexual sin. To this church, Jesus tells it that he sees everything, he has eyes like a flame of fire. God sees everything.
Remember the next time you click on that pornographic image, sleep around or get involved in something that is sexually immoral, that you are being watched by the one, who has the eyes of flaming fire.
If you are a believer, you need to stop and respond to God’s call for purity, there is no excuse, there is victory, but it does come at a cost, you may have to smash your computer hard drive, burn your books like the Ephesians did or even lose friends.
You need to clean house and this starts with open confession before God and then men and you need to put something, in its place. As I said above, that is God himself, only when he meets you can you find true release.
Feast your eyes on God and him alone, spend time with him, like I said in the first study on depression, it is only, we fall in love with Him, can we fall out of love with these disgusting and evil sexual practices, that being hurt to the heart of God, but praise his name, he does forgive and he does completely heal and restore.
I hope and pray that you are released from the secret that nobody shares and find your freedom in Christ.
God bless you
Keith