Passage

[Ezekiel 47: 1-5]
[1] Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar. [2] He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side. [3] When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles. [4] Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins. [5] Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded.

[Leviticus 18:29]
'For whoever does any of these abominations, those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people.


Introduction

This is the 10th session on God Measures Our Faith.
In this session, we will continue to learn about the fifth sin that deprives of salvation that is various forms of sexual misconduct.
In the past some of you might have lived lives involving sexual misconduct.
Some of you might still be living in pain, being unable to escape from such sins.
For those people, this message might be piercing or painful.
The word of God can be our bread and sweeter than the honey, but it can also become like a sharp sword.
Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
If the word of God feels like a sharp sword, that is when you should rejoice and give thanks.
Our God the Father is an excellent medical doctor.
Namely, He can remove all the elements that can threaten your lives, namely He can remove all kinds of sins from your heart.
He can wash away the sinful natures in the deepest part of your heart.
Our Lord has already paid the whole medical bill for us.
Through this message, I hope you will rely on this God and the Lord and be washed way down to your very marrow.
In doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will be set free from the pain of sins that only bring about agony and sorrow.


Main

Brothers and sisters,
Sexual misconduct consists of all the actions that are obscene.
In the last session we talked about the typical examples of sexual immorality concerning adultery and fornication.
Adultery occurs when someone who is married has a sexual relationship outside of their marriage.
Sexual immorality includes fornication, which is when unmarried/single persons have sexual relationships with each other.
The actual essence of sexual immorality is a relationship of a sexual nature between those who are not properly recognized as man and wife before God.
Some people nowadays consider unmarried love affairs (liaisons) as 'beautiful love'.
In the sight of God this is nothing but sexual misconduct, it is never beautiful love.
Today, I will talk about the three major types of sexual misconduct found in the Bible.
In the New Testament, God says we have committed adultery just by having lustful thoughts.
And if lustful thoughts become action, it is sexual misconduct whether it is trivial or serious.
On the contrary, in the Old Testament, the salvation was decided according to the deeds, so they had to have a clear standard.
In Leviticus and Deuteronomy, God clearly mentioned what kinds of deeds are sexual misconducts.
In Leviticus chapter 18 and 20, God listed all the lascivious and lustful practices and statutes that were found in Egypt and Canaan Land and prohibited them.
Leviticus 18:3-5 says, "You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD."
In other words, they were going to be put to death if they adopted the laws and statutes of Egypt or the Land of Canaan instead of keeping the law and statutes of God.
Egypt and Canaan Land in today's sense refer to outside the church, which is the world.
Here, Canaan Land of course refers to the land where the Gentiles were living before Israelites conquered it.
How corrupted and rotten this world is today!
The sins prohibited by God are so prevalent today.
We as children of God must not follow this trend of the world.
Then, what kinds of practices are the ones that are prohibited by God?
First, there is incest.
Leviticus 18:6 says, "None of you shall approach any blood relative of his to uncover nakedness; I am the LORD."
In the following verse 7, God prohibits them from uncovering the nakedness of the mother, step-mother, sister, grand-daughter, half sister, father's sister, mother's sister, uncle's wife, daughters-in-law, and sisters-in-law.
God said those who committed these sins must be put to death.
Leviticus 20:11 says, "If there is a man who lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death, their bloodguiltiness is upon them."
Leviticus 20:14 says, "If there is a man who marries a woman and her mother, it is immorality; both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there will be no immorality in your midst."
In the case of verse 14, in addition to incest, there is the sin of taking both the daughter and the mother, and thus the person had to be burned with fire.
Incest is a more evil act than ordinary adultery or fornication.
It destroys the marriage and family that God established, and furthermore it destroys the order in God's creation.
If you defile your family members or relatives sexually, it is ultimately to defile yourself.
You have the blood of your parents, brothers and sisters and children. Also, their spouses are one body with them, and they are your blood, too.
Even in the New Testament these sins are strictly prohibited.
1 Corinthians 5:5 says, "I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."
This means that kind of sin must not spread in the church, even by expelling such a person.
Also, if the church forsakes him, he might repent thoroughly and receive salvation. It is a way to give him a chance to repent, too.
If he is delivered over to Satan, he will suffer various tests and trials as a result of his sin, so he might come to repentance.
In other words, this means he can never receive salvation unless he repents and turns away.
If a leader or a worker in the church commits such a sin, he might not even be able to receive the spirit of repentance, which means he cannot repent.
Namely, this might constitute a sin leading to death and he cannot be saved.
Brothers and sisters,
Homosexuality is also one of the representative sexual misconducts mentioned in the Old Testament.
Leviticus 18:22 says, "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination."
Leviticus 20:13 says, "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them."
But today, the world is increasingly accepting what is strictly prohibited by God.
For example, those who stand for homosexuality say we must not condemn and discriminate against gays, but instead we have to accept their 'differences'. They say that they are social minorities who face discrimination because of their differences, and that we have to protect their human rights.
Governments of some European countries and some states in the US allow homosexual marriages.
Prior to June this past year, Washington DC along with four other states in the US allowed homosexual marriages.
And this past June, the state of New York passed a bill to allow homosexual marriage, thus the number increased to six states.
According to a recent news report, among 27 EU member countries, 17 countries guarantee the legal rights of homosexual couples as 'marriages' or 'union of citizens', and all 27 countries made laws prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals.
In Belgium where the EU headquarters is located, between 2003 and 2006 they legalized not only homosexual marriages but also adoption of children by homosexual couples.
The homosexual couples can not only marry, but also adopt children.
Some churches located in these areas tolerate or even approve of homosexuality within the church, too.
In some churches in the US and Europe, they appoint homosexual ministers or accept and acknowledge homosexual marriages.
But we must know that this action is to stand against God and an act defying the Bible.
Romans 1:26-27 says, "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error."
Some people claim that homosexuality is innate nature, and those people cannot really do anything about it.
Recently, rather than saying it is a problem, they say it is personal preference, and they have the right to form a family and seek happiness just like other people.
These people publicly reveal they are homosexual, and society is also more increasingly accepting them as natural.
The media such as TV and movies boost this kind of trend.
On the Internet, young students and young people have vast access to novels or comics that are about homosexuality.
They say a person seeking a homosexual partner can easily find one. We can see how corrupted this age is.
Of course, some people are born with the nature to prefer same sex, or they are bi-sexual.
In some cases, they cannot change it with their own freewill.
But if you get into the spiritual reason, in most cases it is a curse.
But it is more often the case that acquired aspects of preference contributes substantially to this kind of tendency.
Romans 1:26 says, "God gave them over to degrading passions", and Romans 1:27 says, "burned in their desire." As written, it is to follow shameful desire and a sin.
It is to go against the rules that God has established.
Genesis 1:27-28 says, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.""
Homosexuality is to destroy the order in the creation of God who made men and let them fill the earth.
Romans 1:27 latter half says, "Receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error." As said, it is a fearful sin that will result in punishment.
Namely, it is a sin that deprives of salvation.
1 Corinthians 6:9 says, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals"
As written, the homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Even if one is born with this kind of nature, they must not increase this tendency to commit works of the flesh.
It's because such an act will affect their salvation.
They have to change even this innate nature and choose the way to recover the holy image of God.
This is up to each one's choice.
Of course, according to the depth and size of one's sinful natures, it may take some time to recover the image of God.
But there is nothing that is impossible by the power of the Lord.
There are fathers of faith like the apostle Paul who gave his whole life to the spreading of the gospel, remaining un-married for the Lord.
As long as you believe in the almighty God, continually depend on the power of the blood of the Lord, and ask for the help of the Holy Spirit, then you can surely change into holy children of God.