Fornication

Q: What does the Bible say about fornication?

Fornication, according to the Bible, refers to sexual relations outside of the marriage covenant, which God established as a holy act. The Bible speaks of fornication in terms of engaging in sexual relationships outside of the sacred bond of marriage. In 1 Corinthians 10:8, the apostle Paul warns us against committing fornication, highlighting that it led to severe consequences for the Israelites. This sin is not just physical but also represents a deeper spiritual reality: an abandonment of the covenant relationship with God. The act of sexual intimacy is preserved for the context of marriage, where it is a holy union signifying the relationship between Christ and His Church (Ephesians 5:31-32). Therefore, intermingling with anything outside of God's ordained structures, including fornication, invites God's judgment and ultimately leads to spiritual and relational ruin.

Q: How do we know that fornication is a sin?

Fornication is classified as a sin in Scripture, and its consequences are clearly warned against by both Paul and other biblical authors. Fornication is clearly identified as a sin in the Bible based on various passages, such as Hebrews 13:4, which states that 'marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.' This establishes that God views sexual relationships outside of marriage as defilement. Additionally, Paul cautions the Corinthians against fornication in 1 Corinthians 6:18, urging believers to 'flee fornication' due to its potency to corrupt not only individual lives but the community of faith as well. Furthermore, the gravity of physical fornication foreshadows spiritual fornication, where reliance on anything other than God's covenant places believers in jeopardy of divine judgment.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to avoid fornication?

Avoiding fornication is crucial for Christians because it preserves not only personal holiness but also the integrity of the Church as the body of Christ. It is imperative for Christians to avoid fornication due to its destructive consequences both spiritually and relationally. Engaging in sexual immorality undermines the sanctity of the marriage covenant designed by God and distorts the picture of Christ's relationship with the Church (Ephesians 5:31-32). Moreover, fornication can lead believers to spiritual dullness, where one might seek comfort outside of God's grace and covenant. The act of entanglement with sin also puts oneself at risk of divine judgment, as Paul illustrates in 1 Corinthians 10:8 by reciting the consequences experienced by the Israelites. Thus, abstaining from fornication is essential for maintaining faithfulness to God and reflecting His holiness in the world.

Q: Can a believer commit fornication?

Yes, a believer can commit fornication, as evidenced in Scriptures, but true repentance is essential for restoration. Believers are not immune to the temptation of fornication, as the examples of biblical figures like David illustrate. Despite being a man after God’s own heart, David fell into sexual sin and faced severe repercussions (2 Samuel 11). This highlights that while believers can indeed commit fornication, it is not characteristic of genuine faith if one remains unrepentant. 1 John 1:9 reaffirms that God is faithful to forgive those who sincerely confess their sins. Thus, while believers can fall into sin, it is critical to recognize the importance of returning to the covenant of grace and seeking restoration through Christ for forgiveness and renewal.

Q: What is spiritual fornication?

Spiritual fornication refers to seeking assurance, comfort, or salvation outside of one's covenant relationship with God. Spiritual fornication is a metaphorical concept in Scripture that denotes the betrayal of one's covenant relationship with God. Just as physical fornication involves engaging in intimacy outside of marriage, spiritual fornication involves seeking solace or salvation in anything other than God's grace and Christ's work. Paul warns about this in 2 Corinthians 11:2-3, where he expresses concern that believers might stray from the 'simplicity that is in Christ.' The metaphor extends into the Old Testament, where Israel is often portrayed as being unfaithful to God by worshiping other idols (Exodus 34:15). This illustrates how spiritual treachery can manifest when believers compromise their fidelity to God, leading to dire consequences both personally and communally.

Would you turn to 1 Corinthians
chapter 10? We've been here the last several
weeks. Let's read verse 12 once again. Wherefore, let him that thinketh
he standeth take heed, lest he fall. And he is speaking not
of an individual or private. I don't know how to say that
people talk about falling into sin. Well, I don't. I don't know
that that's a very scriptural way to say something. I don't
know how to say it, but he's he's not talking about it. a
fall into sin, an action. He's talking about leaving the
gospel. That's what he's talking about
when he talks about. Let him that thinks he stand, take heed,
lest he fall, lest he fall from the gospel. And in this 10th
chapter of 1 Corinthians, he uses five different events from
the Old Testament to tell us something about what happens
to somebody when they fall from the gospel. And the verse of
Scripture I want us to look at tonight is verse 8 of 1 Corinthians
chapter 10, where he says, Neither let us commit fornication, as
some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Now, I've entitled this message,
Fornication. What is fornication? The Greek word is where we get
the word pornography from, pornea. It is sex outside of the marriage
covenant. That's what is meant by fornication,
the intimate act of marriage outside of the marriage covenant.
Adultery is breaking the marriage covenant and fornication is the
intimate act of marriage without being in the marriage covenant. Now, the intimate act between
a man and a woman in marriage is a gift from God. God invented it. It's not dirty. It's not sinful. It's holy. In the bonds of marriage, the
two become one flesh. That's what the scripture says.
Marriage has to do with union. the two people becoming one flesh,
and it pictures the relationship that exists between Christ and
His Church. Let's look at a familiar scripture
in Ephesians chapter 5. The Bible has such a high view
of marriage because of what it pictures. Verse 31, For this
cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined
unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh." And that's what
this intimate act of marriage represents, union. This is a
great mystery, Paul says, but I speak concerning Christ and
the church. This is the subject matter, Christ and the church. Now, this is only for people
who have entered into the covenant of marriage and are committed
to each other for life. There is not genuine love involved. Not really. There's not genuine
love involved where this intimate act is done outside the bonds
of marriage because there's not a true commitment to each other.
There's a commitment, a lifelong commitment, and it's a great
sin. that will bring on God's judgment,
this thing of fornication, this thing of this act outside of
marriage. I just read that passage of Scripture
in Hebrews chapter 13, verse four. Marriage is honorable and
all. And the dead is undefiled, but
whoremongers and adulterers, God will judge. Now, somebody may ask, can a
believer commit this sin? Yes. The only sin a believer
can't commit is the sin against the Holy Spirit. David is an
example of that himself. He was a believer, but what sorrow
he brought on himself and upon his family through the commission
of this act of Bathsheba. Now you look, even in our days,
our day at the broken homes, at the ruined lives that have
come as a result of this sin. You think of the tragedy this
brought into people's lives. It has brought so much heartache
and so much tragedy, and it's just not worth it. Now, if you're
married, you'll ruin your life and the lives of others if you
indulge in this sin. And if you're not married, wait. This is God's way and it is the
right way. Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter
1 or chapter 6, verse 18, flee fornication, run from it, run
from it. But did you know that most of
the references in the scripture to fornication? They're metaphorical. I'm not
talking away from, I'm not taking away from the enormity of this
physical sin. May God deliver us from this.
But most of the references to this sin in the scripture are
metaphors regarding spiritual fornication and spiritual adultery. And I want to show you a few
of these in the Old Testament and the New Testament. You'll see
what I'm saying. So turn to Exodus 34. Verse 15. Well, let's begin in verse 13, Exodus
34, but you should destroy their altars. Break their images and
cut down their groves, for thou shalt worship no other God, for
the Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God. Lest thou make
a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring
after their gods. Did you catch that? He's not
talking about a physical act at this time. He's talking about
spiritual adultery. They go whoring after their gods
and do sacrifice unto their gods. And one call thee, and thou eat
of his sacrifice, and thou take of their daughters unto thy sons,
and their daughters go a-whoring after their gods, and make thy
sons go a-whoring after their gods. Thou shalt make thee no
molten gods. Look in Leviticus chapter 17. And they shall no more offer
their sacrifices unto devils after whom they have gone a whoring.
This shall be a statute forever unto them throughout their generations. Leviticus chapter 20, verses
4 and 5. And if the people of the land
do in any way hide their eyes from the man which he giveth
of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not, then I'll set my
face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him
off, and all that go a-whoring after him to commit whoredom
with Molech, which is a false god, from among their people."
Deuteronomy chapter 31. And I'm just giving you a sampling
of many scriptures with regard to this. Verse 16, And the Lord said unto
Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people
will rise up and go a-whoring after the gods of the strangers
of the land, whether they be among them, and will forsake
me and break my covenant which I have made with them. Psalm
73. One other scripture in the Old
Testament, then we're going to look at a few in the New Testament. Psalm 73. Verse 27. For lo, they that are far from
thee shall perish, and thou hast destroyed all them that go a
whoring from thee and turn over to the book of Revelation. Chapter
14. This is talking about Babylon.
It's not talking about an individual person. This is talking about
Babylon, which represents man's religion, verse eight. And there
follows another angel saying Babylon is fallen, is fallen,
the great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine
of the wrath of her fornication. Look in chapter 17, verse two. Talking about Babylon once again.
Verse 1, And there came one of the seven angels, which had the
seven vows, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither,
I will show thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth
upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed
fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have made her drunk
with the wine of her fornication. Look down in verse 4. And the
woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color and decked with
gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in
her hand full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. Chapter 18, verse 3. For all nations have drunk of
the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of
the earth have committed fornication with her and the merchants of
the earth and so on. Chapter 19, verse 2. True and
righteous are his judgments, for he hath judged the great
whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath
avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. Now, you can see
from these scriptures that I read that quite often when the Bible
is talking about this issue of fornication, it's talking about
spiritual fornication. Now, what is spiritual fornication?
That's a good question, isn't it? What is spiritual fornication? Well, what is physical fornication?
It's the intimate act outside of the marriage covenant. And
spiritual fornication, spiritual adultery, going on whoring after
other gods is what the scripture calls it. is when one seeks to
find solace, seeks to find comfort, seeks to find assurance, seeks
to find salvation outside of the covenant, outside of the
covenant of grace, that marriage covenant between God and His
people that's made for Christ's sake. Now, the Lord Jesus is
my husband. He's entered into covenant with
me. He's my husband. And this is
what is known as the covenant of grace. Do you remember what
David said in 2 Samuel 23, chapter 5? He said, although my house
be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting
covenant. And he's talking about eternal
election, when God's people were chosen in Christ before time
began, and everything that was needed and required for their
salvation, God looked to Christ for. That's the blessings of
this covenant. I love thinking of the covenant
of grace. Everything that God requires of me, He looked to
His Son for in this covenant. All I need is found in this covenant.
Here's what David said. He said, Although my house be
not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, and sure, and this is all my salvation. And it's all my design. And I
want to ask you, is this all your salvation? Is all your salvation found in
this glorious covenant that God made with Christ before time
began? When He agreed as the surety of His people to represent
them, everything I need for salvation, He agreed to accomplish for me.
And when He became my surety in this covenant, everything
God required of me, He looked to Christ for. Now, is that good
news to you? Is that something you like? This
is all my salvation. And you know what? It's all my
desire, just like David's. I don't desire to stand before
God in any other way but in this glorious covenant. And fornication,
spiritual fornication and spiritual adultery is looking for assurance. It's looking for pleasure. It's
looking for salvation. It's looking for comfort outside
of this covenant that's being spoken of. Now, Paul refers to something
that took place in Numbers chapter 25, where he says 23,000 people
were killed Because of this sin. Twenty three
thousand, look it back in our text in First Corinthians, Chapter
10. He says in verse eight, neither
let us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell
in one day, three and twenty thousand. I turn over the numbers.
Twenty five. This is what he's referring to.
Numbers, Chapter 25. Now, this is right after the
story of Balaam, and this is very significant. We're going
to come back to that in a minute, but this is right after those
three chapters that are devoted to the story of Balaam. Now,
in chapter 25, verse 1, And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people
began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. He's talking
about physical fornication there. The people began to commit whoredom
with the daughters of Moab. And look down in verse nine.
Now, the Lord sent a plague upon the people because of this. And
those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. Now, did you catch that? Paul
mentioned twenty three thousand. And when Moses is writing, he
mentions twenty four thousand. Somebody says, aha, a discrepancy
in the scripture. This proves that it's not really
the Word of God, does it? Does it? Well, Moses said 24,000. He said that. Paul said 23,000.
Did 23,000 die? Well, if 24,000 died, 23,000
sure died. No doubt about that. Now, why did the Lord put it
this way? Why, you know, the Lord's the
author of this. And he's the one who put it this
way. And really, this is not wrong.
Remember in the different, for instance, in the two accounts
of blind Bartimaeus, one time it says there was one blind man
that came to the Lord and the other time it says there's two. Well,
when one blind man came, that's the truth. I didn't tell two
came, but one did come. There were 23,000 that died.
Somebody says, well, it almost seems like the Lord puts that
there purposely to trick people. I'm not too sure that I believe
that's what's going on here. You know, the Lord will give
you enough rope to hang yourself if that's what you're looking
for. He will. If somebody wants to take something
like that and say, well, that proves the Bible is not the word
of God. It does not. Twenty three thousand people
did die. But that doesn't prove the Bible is not the word of
God. And that's no discrepancy. That's the truth. That's the
truth. Just like two people were the blind came to Christ outside
of Jericho. Well, one did too. One did also. So so don't so don't get stuck
on that. Maybe I didn't spend too much
time on it. Back to Numbers 25, let's stay in Numbers 25, verse
1. And Israel abode in Shittim,
and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of
Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifice of their gods,
and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel
joined himself unto Baal Peor, and the anger of the Lord was
kindled against Israel. And because of that, the Lord
sent this plague among the children of Israel, and 24,000 people
died as a result of this plague. Now, how did this happen? What
happened here? Why did they do this? I mean,
after all the Lord had done for them and after all the Lord had
shown, why did they go to the daughters of Moab? Why does this
happen? Well, we don't really need to
speculate because the Bible tells us exactly why it happened. Turn
over to Numbers chapter 31. Numbers 31. Beginning in verse 13. And Moses and Eliezer, the priest,
and all the princes of the congregation went forth to meet them without
the camp. And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host.
He was mad. And with the captains over thousands and captains over
hundreds that came from the battle. And Moses said unto them, Have
you saved all them in a lie? Behold, these caused the children
of Israel through the counsel of Balaam. to commit trespass
against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague
among the congregation of the Lord. Now, here we find out why
they did this. Balaam counseled them to do this. Now, you know the story of Balaam.
Balaam is the prototype. He's the prototype of a false
prophet. If you want to know what a false
prophet is, Carefully read the writings of Balaam, everything
he says. You can read about him in Numbers
22 through 24. Now, first, let me show you from
the New Testament that he is the arch false prophet. This
isn't just my opinion. Turn with me to 2 Peter, Chapter
2. I'm going to ask you to look
at a lot of scriptures for the next few moments. 2 Peter, Chapter
2. Verse 14. Peter speaks of those having
eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, beguiling
unstable souls, a heart they've exercised with covetous practices,
cursed children which have forsaken the right way and are gone astray,
following the way of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the
wages of unrighteousness. Turn with me to the book of Jude. Verse 11. Woe unto them, for
they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the
error of Balaam for reward. Look in Revelation Chapter 2. These are the words of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And he says to the church at
Pergamos, but I have a few things against thee because thou hast
them there that hold the doctrine of Balaam. who taught Balaam
to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat
things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. He
taught them to do this. So Balaam is the chief prototype
of what a false prophet is. Now, what about Balaam? Why is
that? What did he have to say? Now,
turn back to Numbers 22. I want to read some scriptures
regarding Balaam. Now, here's what is being referred
to. Verse 1, And the children of
Israel sat in forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab, on this
side of Jordan, by Jericho. And Baleth, the son of Zipporah,
saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was
sore afraid of the people, because there were many. And Moab was
distressed. This is talking about the nation of Moab, because of
the children of Israel. They thought, We're in trouble.
They're going to get us. They're going to defeat us. We can't stand
up before them. And Moab said unto the elders
of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about
us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balaam
the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. He
sent messengers therefore unto Balaam. the son of Beor to Pithor,
which is by the river of the land of the children of the people,
to call him, saying, Behold, there's a people come out from
Egypt. Behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide
over against me. Come now, therefore, I pray thee,
curse me, this people, for they're too mighty for me. I can't beat
them. Peradventure, I shall prevail, to talk of if you curse them,
that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land.
For I want that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom
thou curses is cursed. And the elders of Moab and the
elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in
their hand. They had a bunch of money, a bunch of gold. They
were going to pay him whatever it took to get him to curse these
people. And they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words
of Balak. And he said unto them, Lawd, hear this night, and I
bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak unto me. And
the princes of Moab abode with Balaam. And God came into Balaam
and said, What men are these with thee? And Balaam said unto
God, Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, is sent unto me,
saying, Behold, there's a people come out of Egypt, which covereth
the face of the earth. Come now, therefore, curse them. Peradventure,
I shall be able to overcome them and drive them out. And God said
unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go within. And that's a command,
isn't it? Thou shalt not go within. Thou
shalt not curse the people. For they are blessed. And if
God blesses a people, they are blessed, aren't they? And Balaam rose up in the morning
and said unto the princes of Balak, Get ye unto your land,
for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you. And
the princes of Moab rose up and they went unto Balak and said,
Balaam refuses to come with us. So Balaam said yet again, princes,
more and more honourable than they. And they came to Balaam
and said to him, Thus sayeth Balaam to the son of Zippor,
Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me, for
I promote thee unto a very great honour, and I'll do whatsoever
thou sayest unto me. Come therefore, I pray thee,
curse me, this people. And Balaam answered and said
unto the servants of Balaam, If Balaam would give me houses
full of silver and gold, I can't go beyond the word of the Lord
my God to do less or more. That sounds awful honourable,
doesn't it? He said, I can't go an inch beyond what God says. And God already told him, I'm
not going to let those people be cursed. They're blessed. And
look what Balaam says now. Now, therefore, I pray you, he
says to them, tarry ye also here this night that I may know what
the Lord will say unto me more. In other words, I am not satisfied
with what he says. I want to find out if he'll change
his mind. And what it is, this man was
controlled by covetousness. He thought maybe he'll change
his mind and maybe he'll make some more money out of this.
He was controlled by covetousness. Now, on three different occasions
during these three chapters, Balak told Balaam, And he took
him to other places to see if the Lord would curse him there,
and he wouldn't. And you remember the story about
Balaam's ass, how the Lord was angry with Balaam for going.
Now, the Lord said, don't go. He went anyway, and he had the
ass to warn him. There was an angel standing to
smite him and kill him for going. But all he wanted to do is he
wanted to leave the door open so maybe he could get something
out of him. Now, everything Balaam said was
good. And this is what is so interesting about this man. And
this is what's so scary. If you read Numbers 22 through
24, you find me one thing that Balaam says that you disagree
with. You won't find one thing. Everything he said was right
on the money. How can he be a false prophet
then? Now we know he is from what the Bible says. I read those
three passages of scripture in the New Testament. We know he's
a false prophet, yet everything he says is right on the money.
Well, what's the problem with him then? It's not what he said,
it's what he left out. It's what he did not say. He left out that which is essential. And that's what makes him such
a dangerous false prophet. I tell you what, let me give
you this warning about a false prophet. I mean, if he just comes
out with obvious error, it's no problem, is it? You can see
that. The danger of the false prophet is when everything he
says is right on the money. But he leaves out that which
is necessary. Balaam was a man controlled by
covetousness. So what he did, he wasn't going
to come out and curse the children of Israel, but he counseled Balak. And we know that from that passage
of Scripture I read in Numbers chapter 31. Here's what you need
to do. You need to get your people with the Moabites and you get
the cultures together. You get the people together,
let them mix. And you know what happened as
a result of that? They ended up joining up with the women
from Moabite and they ended up sacrificing to their gods. Now, what is the doctrine of
Balaam? The doctrine of Balaam is the spirit of compromise. It's the spirit of toleration
with that which is false. If you and I tolerate that which
is false and compromise our principles, we will end up joining ourselves
to a false God just like Israel did. It's called spiritual fornication. Now let me take this, turn to
2 Corinthians chapter 11. This will tell you what spiritual
fornication is. 2nd Corinthians chapter 11. And
I fear this. I fear this for me. I fear this for you. And
Paul there feared this. Look here in 2nd Corinthians
chapter 11. He says in verse 2, For I am
jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I have espoused
you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin
to Christ. But I fear. lest by any means,
as the serpent begot he through his subtlety, through his deceit,
so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. Now, you want to know what spiritual
adultery is and spiritual fornication? Well, let's talk about this thing
of the simplicity that's in Christ. You know what that word means,
simplicity? It means the singularity. It means the onlyness. Single as opposed to double.
Simple as opposed to compound. There are compound elements and
there are simple elements. Compound are made of two or more
things. He speaks of the onlyness, the simplicity of Christ. Now,
what in the world does that mean? Well, Christ is simple in the
sense that He's God. He's God. But what this is talking
about more than anything else, Christ only. is my salvation. Christ's righteousness is the
only righteousness I know anything about. His righteousness. This Bible, this book that we're
studying right now, really does only have one message. And that
message is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's the only message.
There are no other messages. What about people that preach
other messages, and they're all preaching the message of this
book? This book has only one message, Christ and Him crucified.
Paul said, I've determined not to know anything among you save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I have one reason for assurance. Now, I've got assurance of my
salvation, and here's why I have assurance. Because what Christ
did is enough to make me perfect before God. I have assurance
that His precious blood washed away all my sins. I have assurance
that His perfect righteousness is enough to make me pure and
perfect before God. He's the only object of my faith.
It's not Christ and anything. He only is everything in my faith. I trust him and him alone. Now,
this is what the onlyness of Christ is all about. And Paul
said, I fear about you being corrupted from the simplicity,
the onlyness of Christ. Now, I love those five watchwords
of the Reformation. Scriptures alone. Christ alone. Grace alone. Faith alone and
the glory of God alone. The Scriptures alone. It's not
the Scriptures and what our church believes or what our preacher
believes or what our denominational distinctions are. Scriptures
alone. Christ alone is everything in
my salvation. Not Christ and anything. Christ
alone. God's grace alone is everything
in my salvation. From election to glorification
and everything in between. It's grace alone. It's faith
alone, not faith and. It's not faith alone. Salvation is not received by
doing, but by believing. Faith alone. The glory of God
alone is the only motive. You believe that? I believe there
are some people who really believe that. Scriptures alone. Grace alone. Christ alone. Faith
alone. The glory of God alone. This book only has one message.
And oh, the simplicity of Christ! Here's another way to say the
simplicity of Christ. Colossians 3.11 says it this way, Christ
is all. He's all in my salvation. He is all in my salvation. Everything
God requires of me, He looks to Christ for. He's all in our
doctrine. You know, any doctrine divorced
from Jesus Christ blighting, killing thing. He's all in our
doctrine. I don't care if you're talking
about justification or election or redemption, whatever you're
talking about, sanctification. He is the sum and substance of
it all. He is all in our assurance. He's all in our motivation. And to not see that is to commit
spiritual adultery. Now, go back to Numbers chapter
25. The story's not over. You see what they did? Numbers
chapter 25. And Israel joined himself, verse
3, unto Baal Peor. And the anger of the Lord was
kindled against Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord
against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned
away from Israel. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay
ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal Peor. And behold,
one of the children of Israel came, and brought unto his brethren
a Midianite woman, a woman from Moab, in the sight of Moses,
and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who
were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation."
They were so upset over what had happened. And when Phineas,
the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he
rose up from among the congregation and he took a javelin in his
hand and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust
both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through
her belly, So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
And those that died in the plague were 20 and 4,000. And the Lord
spake unto Moses, saying, Phinehas. And I wonder which one of us
thought, isn't that severe? Isn't that kind of harsh? I mean,
good grief, I mean, he brings in this molest woman and Phineas
takes a spear and thrusts it through the man that brought
her in and he thrusts it through the woman's belly and kills them
both. That's pretty intense. You've got to admit, isn't that
harsh? But look what the Lord says about this action. Now,
we have our opinion, but look what God says. Verse 10. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest,
hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while
he was zealous for my sake among them. that I consumed not the
children of Israel in my jealousy. Wherefore, say, Behold, I give
unto him my covenant of peace, and he shall have it, and his
seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood,
because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for
the children of Israel." As a matter of fact, the psalmist talks about
Phinehas stopping judgment through this action. Now, somebody that commits spiritual
adultery, And we see what that is, is being corrupted from the
simplicity that's in Christ. Physical adultery is not far
behind. I mean, one's going to go with the other. But when I
see Phineas in his zeal for the glory of God, away with this
lukewarm, tolerant of that which is false attitude. There's no
zeal for God in that. You see that? There's no zeal
for his glory. And when I tolerate that, which
is contrary to his gospel under the guise of a loving spirit,
I don't want to judge him. I'm committing spiritual adultery. That's what the Bible says. Phineas
is commended for this action. Now, can a believer fall into
this? Can a believer fall into spiritual adultery and spiritual
fornication? Well, let me ask another question. Can a believer
fall into physical adultery and fornication? Yes, they can. Yes,
they can. Now. Let's say. Let's say I would leave my wife. And shack up with some woman.
And then I saw the error of my ways and I'd come back and ask
Lynn, please forgive me. Please forgive me. I believe she would. I hope she
would. I believe she would. You ought to forgive. You ought
to forgive. But what if I said I'm not leaving
that relationship? Should she forgive me? Should
she receive me then? Well, you know she shouldn't.
Not if I say, well, I'm saved. I'm saved by grace, but I'm staying
right where I'm at. Well, of course she's not going
to receive me. And she shouldn't. It would be
wrong for her to do so. Now, let's take that the other
way. Can a believer commit this spiritual adultery and fornication?
Well, how many times have you been guilty of it? I mean, if
we even ask a question like that, we're showing how ignorant we
are. Every one of us have been spiritual adulterers and spiritual
fornicators and so on. Every one of us have been guilty
of that. And we ask the Lord for forgiveness.
Lord, have mercy, forgive me. Forgive me. But if somebody stays
there and won't leave, there's no forgiveness for that. There
is no forgiveness. If someone will not leave that
which is contrary to the gospel and they stay right there, well,
they prove by that the Lord's never done anything for them. Now, how do I close this message? Well, let him that standeth take
heed lest he fall. Take heed. Lord, deliver me. Deliver me from this in the physical
aspect. Deliver me from this in the spiritual
aspect. Deliver me from fornication. Paul said, let us not commit
fornication as some of them did and fell in that day 23,000.
Oh, how we need the mercy of the Lord to preserve us. And what a husband we have. What a husband we have. To be unfaithful to Him? That's unconscionable, isn't
it? To be unfaithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. May God give us
grace. May this be the very prayer of
my heart and your heart. Lord, enable me more than anything
else I'm asking. Enable me to be faithful. I want to be a chaste virgin
unto the Lord Jesus Christ. And I am scared to death for
myself and for you, of being corrupted from the simplicity,
the singleness

Fornication

What does the Bible say about fornication?

How do we know that fornication is a sin?

Why is it important for Christians to avoid fornication?

Can a believer commit fornication?

What is spiritual fornication?

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Fornication

What does the Bible say about fornication?

How do we know that fornication is a sin?

Why is it important for Christians to avoid fornication?

Can a believer commit fornication?

What is spiritual fornication?

Sermon Transcript

About Todd Nibert

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