Living Within God's Boundaries

If you'd like to find in your Bibles, I'm going to read a passage of scripture from First Thessalonians, if you'd like to find that in your scriptures. Past several weeks we've been talking about what the church calls seven deadly sins, things that destroy your life, things that destroy your life spiritually and physically. Many of these are simply the way we think. We think about things in the wrong way, the way contrary to what God wants us to think, they're destructive and dangerous for us. But there's others that kind of combine the way we think and our body. Not only can you be addicted in your mind to certain things that you want and they're so focused that you can't get away from them, but your body also has the ability to crave things that drive your nature and your choices and your actions. So that's true for the sin of gluttony. You can think about food for so much and so strong that you won't eat it. But when you get used to eating certain things, they kind of get hold of you and you want them and you want more and more and more, your body just can't seem to say no. So there's a physical and a mental connection to some sins like the sin of gluttony. The sin of lust is one of those also in the same way. Just like our bodies were made to have food, but God said, I want you to build boundaries outside of which you don't eat, drink, or take drugs for. So in the same way, he said, there are boundaries that I have for your sexual behavior. These boundaries in which is acceptable for you, but unacceptable for me in other areas. So we have a physical thing. If you're a man, you look at someone, you say, that person's attractive to me. You say, this person I'd really like to meet, this person I'd like to get to know, maybe even a person I'd like to have sex with. So that thought comes to your mind. All of us have those times in which we see another person that seems attractive to us. Men, women, both see that. God has given us that ability. He's actually made us so that's a part of our nature. Because he made us to want to be attractive to someone, so we join with them, and we are married to them, commit to them, and live a life with them. This is a part of the human nature God has given us all. So it's not a sin to have that thought in your mind or to think that kind of thing. It's a part of God's actual creation. He made us male and female. The Bible says something very strange about that, commit what God has done. It says when he created men and women, he created them in his image. So that there's a way in which women are like God that we're not as men, and a way that men are like God in which women aren't. And when we're together to form a union, we have a greater connection and similarity to God than we do individually. It's a wonderful, miraculous thing that God does. But it's difficult sometimes for us to separate what lust is from the regular activities of life. I think I could explain it this way. If you went into somebody's house and you went to the bathroom and passed through their bedroom and you saw laying on the dresser some money, and you were having a hard time and there was some money laying there, and you thought, boy, that would sure help me out and I could take that money and pay some bills that I have that are facing me, some things that I really need to do, and you think about it, and then you remember God says you're not to steal. What you've experienced is temptation. Your eyes behold something or see something. You think about how beneficial it would be to you. You think about how much you would enjoy it, how much you need it, and then you remember that God has placed a barrier in your life with regard to taking something that belongs to another person. If you've made a promise to God to let him control your life, that's a barrier that you've come up against. And when you come against that barrier, you have a choice to make. Am I going to violate what God tells me is the right thing to do, or am I going to head and abide by his instructions and commands to me? The temptation is there. What you do with it is the barrier or line between rebelling against God or submitting to his authority. If you see the money and you think that sure would be nice to have, nobody's around, you look around, everybody's, not anybody else in the room, nobody's going to see you, everybody's downstairs or in another part of the house a long way away, and you think I could take this and no one would ever know, and boy it would be so beneficial to me. So you, then after that thought, you look around to see if you won't get caught, and you have a book or something in your hand and you lay it on the money and then you look around to make sure no one's looking and you pick up the book and you get the money with it and you've stolen it. You've violated a command of God. Now there's two stages here. One is what you think in temptation and the other is what you do. There's two stages to the doing. One is to see the money and begin to plan as to how you're going to get it so no one will find out. When you've crossed over that barrier, that is you know God says you're not to steal, but you go ahead and make the plans, you've already broken the commandment. You've made up in your mind that if you could, you would steal the money. So you've become guilty of violating this command of God. Now if nobody catches you and you reach over and steal the money and you take it out of the room, you've also committed the same violation of God's command. So when you compare this to the command that he gives us, that we're not to commit adultery or that we're not to lust, the same principle comes true. You see someone and you say that's a beautiful person for a man, a beautiful person, really looks like a nice person I'd like to get to know better, I'd like to have sex with that person, the temptation comes to you. Every person in the world has those temptations. Even Jesus had that temptation. Is that uncomfortable for you? It's not a sin. The Bible says Jesus was tempted in all matters just like we are. So we know if he's tempted in all matters like we are that that is one of the temptations that he faced, but he never yielded to it. The boundary that God gave him, he stayed within it. So you might have the temptation when you see another person to think of them in terms of a sexual relationship, but it's not necessarily a sin to do that. I had a young man, we were doing a Bible study and I don't think I know exactly what it was, but he saw me one Sunday morning, stopped me before I came in here and he said, I don't know that I can be a Christian. I said, why? And he said, it's just too hard. I was going through the week, you know, and he said, I just couldn't stop, I'd see a pretty girl and I'd think about her and I'd think how beautiful she looked and how wonderful she was. I can't ever live the rest of my life without thinking of women and how beautiful they are and how much I'd like to have them for a wife or to be able to have sex with them. I said, well, what did you do when you thought about it? Did you try to make an arrangement for sex with them? He said, oh no, I didn't do that. I said, well, what you've experienced is temptation. You have not experienced the sin of lust. The lust has two dimensions, as I say. What God is concerned about is making sure that we know what the barriers are. And like eating, within the area of sexuality, to keep within the boundaries that God has set for us. That's what he asks us to do. The sin of lust is a powerful force in all of our natures, every one of us. Just like eating or hunger is a powerful force in all of us. But God expects us to live within the boundaries that he's set for us. Whenever we commit ourselves to him to be the Lord of our lives, he expects us to accept the boundaries that he's given to us. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, Paul is talking to the church there. He says, finally brothers, this is Noah talking to the church, the people who are one in Christ with him. We instructed you how to live in order to please God. What he's saying is, I've told you the boundaries that you're to live within. I've told you what displeases God, I've told you what pleases God. I expect you to learn because these boundaries are real, as in fact you are living. He says, I know you've taken that to heart and now you're doing it. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do more and more. It is to grow in your submission to the instructions of what God says is proper and what he says is not. You know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. Instructions that come from God are more important than instructions that come from people. Sometimes we sort of fudge on the things that God tells us to do and we make our own rules. Instead of the rules of God, we sort of back off and we make rules that we think would help God a lot more than his own rules. But the rules in the scripture are the binding rules by which we live. It is God's will that you should be holy. Now what he's talking about is living within the boundaries that God gave was going to be difficult for the people at Thessalonica and all of those who he's writing letters to because most of them lived in communities where pagan worship rituals were common. Many of them had temples in which prostitution was a normal accepted way of worshiping the gods that they served and worshipped. So whenever people in those communities turned to Christ and began to live by the boundaries that God gave them, it meant that they could no longer participate in the worship that everyone else in the community participated in. And everybody thought was acceptable. And everybody thought was the right thing to do for their community. So they were set apart as a group of people who were not participating in the things that everyone else was participating in. Our land has been a place where many communities, you could live in those places and many of the things that the Bible says are outside the boundaries of God were also illegal. I grew up in a town like that, it was illegal to sell beer, to drink beer, to buy beer. It was also illegal to dance. So I had a girly community in which the boundaries were very clear, plain, but over the years we've seen as our society has less and less surrender to God that those boundaries are no longer clear and marked. So the call comes to us to be more careful, to be holy, to make the choices that God tells us are important. For example, in our community they outlawed dancing because they thought it was immoral, but the scripture does not outlaw that. We can make boundaries that are false ones. So we listen to the scriptures. But the boundaries that God gives us are clear and plain and required. So what Paul is focusing on is you are going to be holy when you do this. Because the word holy simply means to be set apart or separate, different. And when you live by the standards or policies or boundaries that God gives us, you're going to be different than your neighbors around you. You're going to be different than the people where you work. Your talk is going to be different. Your lifestyle is going to be different. Your behavior is going to be different. Because you have boundaries in your life that the rest of the people around you do not have. Because you've said to God, I give my life to you and I will live in submission and obedience to you. So the boundaries you have will separate you. So you should be holy and you should avoid sexual immorality. In their community, what God called immoral, they called worship. So you are to see immorality by God's standard and not by the community in which you find yourself. And more and more people in our world, in our part of the country, think of immorality as an acceptable behavior. Less and less is it seen as something that is embarrassing or something that is out of bounds. So you're going to find yourself not trying to make other people live by the boundaries of God, but making your own body submissive to the boundaries that God has set for you. That each of you should learn to control your own body. The Bible gives us a clear indication that the Spirit of God gives us control over our body. I know that people engage in things. When you yield to the temptations that come to you and you begin to practice certain kinds of sins, you think of the fact that I can't quit this. It is impossible for me to live within the boundaries of God, but we can. It's just a matter of seeing this in a serious fashion. All of you have known people that may have smoked and they go to the doctor and he says you've got lung cancer and they put them in the hospital and they're able to quit. And before they didn't think they could. But once you think I'm going to die if I do this, it helps you. So people that have diabetes also come to this and say, you know, I used to love sweets, but when you come to realize if I eat this I'm going to die, it gives you a willpower you never had before. You draw a boundary for yourself. A young man stopped me and said he couldn't ever be a Christian because of this. He knew that the boundary was there and he wasn't willing to cross it. But I've had other men tell me I can't stop what I'm doing. I need sex and every time I see a woman that appeals to me, I'm just going to have sex with her. I can't stop it. Well, he can. I remember talking to a guy and said, well, you can't do this. He said, no, I can't. I said, I've seen your mother. She's very attractive. I've seen your sister. She's very attractive. Did you ever have sex with either one of them? He said, that's terrible. Who would ever do that? I said, you see, you've drawn a boundary in your mind that you will not cross. What God wants you to do is to draw the same detestable boundary with other people other than your wife so that you will feel just as disgusted with the idea. And you can draw the boundary. That's what he says. Each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is wholly unhonorable. What you're doing is setting aside your body to say, this body belongs to God and I will not make it wicked by doing wicked things. And make it honorable so that God looks at it and sees that you have honor to his commands for you. Not in passionate lust like the heathen. When you see the heathen out there, they're driven by their bodies, not by the principles of God. So don't be like them because they don't know God. And this is the matter that no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life, a life designed to fit within the boundaries of God, set apart from the world. That's what it means to be holy. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. So when you don't accept the boundaries within which you are to live, you are rejecting the authority of God himself. That's what the sin is. Now I would say that the same is really true even in a marital relationship. Because what you're looking at is the relationship that's focused not on satisfying yourself or self-centeredness, but you're really looking at the issue of how I should treat another person or what love demands. I want to turn to Colossians, if you would, in your Bibles. Colossians chapter 3, beginning with verse 1, Paul is addressing the same issue. He says, many of these churches that he came to make were in communities where immorality was widely accepted and widely practiced. So over and over again in his letters, he has to deal with how do you live in an immoral society and still live in obedience to God. He says, verse 1 of chapter 3 of Colossians, since then you have been raised with Christ. Now this raised with Christ symbolizes something. You've been buried in the water, or you were dead in your trespasses and sin, and now you've been cleansed from your trespasses and you've been forgiven. So you've been raised from this spiritual death to a spiritual life. Now once that's happened, set your hearts on things above. Set your ideas or your goals on what God says and not what the community around you says. Where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above and not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When you come to Christ, what you say to him is, I give you my life, I no longer am in control of it. So you're giving up control is a way he's talking about dying, like you give up control of your body and you die and you're buried in a grave. So spiritually you give up control of your body to Christ and you're there buried or hidden in Christ. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory. And then in verse five of chapter three, put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. These temptations that we have, stop at the boundary line. Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, the word that we're talking about today, evil desires, greed, which is idolatry, because of these, the wrath of God is coming. When you step over the line, you become a rebellion against God. Then the wrath of God comes to those that are doing that. You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived, but now you must rid yourself of all such things as these. And he has another list, anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language from your lips. When God takes control of our life, he makes sure that there are changes that need to be made. Do not lie to each other, since you've taken off your old self with its practices and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew or circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian or Scythian or slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all. So no longer do we have the human connections that we have, but now there's a spiritual and now the conclusion, he says in verse 12. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, we've now given our life to Christ and we're set apart from the rest of the world and God has focused his attention on us and he's living his life in our behalf. That's what love means, denying himself and taking care of us. Clothe yourself with these qualities, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you might have against one another. Forgive as the Lord has forgiven. And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Now he uses the word love in this situation to describe the relationship that God has with people and when he comes into our life, becomes the guideline for our relationships with each other. Love in the Bible, as it's described in John chapter 3, God loved the world so much he gave his only son for us. Love in the Bible is self-denying, sacrificial service to another person. And whenever you say to a person, I love you, the Christian brother or sister or husband or wife who are Christians, you're saying, I give my life to you to deny my own desires and interest and I will sacrifice in your behalf to make sure that you get whatever you need. Self-denying, sacrificial service to another person. This is what love means in the Bible. So the word love here stands in sharp contrast to lust. Lust means I see something I want, I want to take it whatever the consequences might be because it satisfies me. I don't think about God and what he wants me to do. I don't think about my family and what happens to them. I don't even think about this person. I just want what I want, the way I want it, when I want it. Lust is a very powerful, forceful way of self-centeredness. And it can even happen in marriage. One partner can be completely irresponsible with regard to the other partner to whom they're married. Not considerate with regard to sex, not considerate with regard to money, not considerate with regard to their feelings. So we can even have in a relationship that's perfectly legal a violation of the principle God sets out for us. You're not to live your life simply gratifying your human sexual desires and needs or your human desires and needs at all. Instead, the boundary I set for you is the boundary of love. The boundary that says you are to think more of the other person's feelings, more of the other person's needs, than you do your own. He noticed, he says, that all of these things are bound up in this one single principle. Whatever you do, whether in word or do, do in the name of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God through him. You do it in the name of the Lord. And over all these virtues, put on love, and that's how you do it in the name of the Lord. Which binds us all together in perfect unity. The unity that comes to us in the church is the result of saying, I don't have to have my way, but I must do what God tells me to do. The unity that comes in our families comes whenever we say, all of us, I don't have to have my way, but I have to do what God lets us know that he wants us to do. So that our consideration, even if I know what God wants me to do, and I'm determined to do it, I can begin to sin when I try to make my wife do what I think God wants her to do. If I do that, then I become the person between her and God. I must say to her, this is what I think God wants us to do. I know she's surrendered her life to Christ. I want you to ask God's direction about this. And we won't even make a decision until we come together as one. Because her respect for me and my respect for her causes us not to want to make the other person do anything contrary to their will, or their desire, or their need. Lust is a powerful force that says I must have what I want when I want it the way I want it, and I disregard other people around me. He tells us all of these sins that he's listed, anger, resentment, as well as the lust, are all satisfied when we do one thing. When we say, God, here is my boundary, I will never make anyone do something that is contrary to what they think you want them to do. That's my boundary. Even though I may have the power, physically or financially, I'm not going to use it. I'm going to say, God, let this person know what you want, let me know what you want, and if I respect that person and they me, we will not have a barrier between us, but we will eventually come to see a common direction. Love heals all human relationship problems. That's what the scripture says. It heals it because what it focuses on is, what does God want? Not what do I want, but what does God want? What is he trying to tell me? What is he trying to get me to do? And when we all decide that, whether it's a family or a church, we're at one together. And when we're at one together, there's unity that comes from it. All of the sin that we have in our lives comes because we put our own needs and desires ahead of the clear, plain instructions of God. Love binds us together with God and together with each other. And it would eliminate the problem of lust. So when you think about what God wants for your life, the primary ingredient is, is Jesus Christ the deciding factor in the decision and choices that I make? In my relationships with family, relationships with friends, relationships in the church. Today we've come to celebrate the Lord's Supper. It is a time in which we celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ is the Lord of our lives. Here's the pattern. You come to recognize that you need something different in your life, and you look at your life and you see how you've violated not only the many of the seven sins, but multiplied them over. And you come to recognize a disaster that's coming in your life or the emptiness that's there and you come to God and say, take my life, I give it to you. From now on, you rule me. That's what the Lord does in those moments. He gives us His presence and His power. And then He is the Lord of our lives. We come to celebrate this meal, not because it's food for the lunch hour, but because it reminds us of the boundaries that God has set in our life. My boundaries, Father, are the rules that you've left for me. And when I think of crossing one of those boundaries, it is horribly, terribly painful to me. I can't imagine crossing the boundaries you've set for me. I want you to be the Lord of every part of my life. The Lord's Supper is for those people who have surrendered their lives to the authority of Christ. So if you look in your life at a time in which you've said to God, take my life, I've lived by my human nature, making the best choices I can, but from now on in my life, I'm going to live according to what you tell me is the right thing, then you're a candidate for this. If you've been buried in the water to show that your old life has passed and your new life has started, then that's an example of following the pattern that God has given you. I want to ask those who are going to serve the Lord's Supper if you would come, please. This supper was given to the followers of Christ. We don't know about their church they went to or what the domination, they didn't have those back then, so that was not as important as the fact that they had said to God, my life now belongs to you. Paul left instructions about what we were to do with this. The bread, he said, I received from the Lord, but I also passed on to you. The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread. You guys take the bread, please. On the night he was betrayed, he took the bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Go ahead. So you take this bread. Jesus tells us it's to remind us of his physical body. Why do you give your life to Christ? Because he has given his life for you. And then when he died on the cross, to provide a means whereby you could say, I've now been forgiven of my sins, because Jesus has paid the price for my sins. Then you live with freedom from the guilt and shame that sin comes in your life to hold. And when you say, Jesus Christ is my Lord, you're saying, I've made a promise to live according to what he says is the right thing to do. And therefore, you've established the boundaries that God wants you to live within. So hold a piece of bread in your hand and look at it and remind yourself that you've made a promise to God to live within the boundaries that God says are proper for you. You might ask him, what are the ways in which I ignore the boundaries you've given me? What are the ways that I've been tempted, but when I remember that you've made boundaries for me, I stop short and say, no, God, I will live as you direct me. The bread has been given to us to remind us that Jesus gave his body on the cross, that we might be free from our human nature that controls us and free to live as he directs us. Take this bread in remembrance of what he's done and in remembrance of the promise that you've made to him. And when he'd given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, after the supper, he took the cup, guys, take the cups. As he passed the cup out to you, it has red in it to remind us of the blood. After this cup, in the same way, after the supper, he took the cup saying, go ahead, this cup is a new covenant in my blood. Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me, whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. This cup is the new covenant, he says, in my blood. The covenant is a contract, contract where one party promises one thing and the other person also makes a promise. When you give your life to Christ, what God promises you, I will forgive your sins and from this moment on, I will guide your life. I will provide your needs. I will protect you. And when your life is over, your life will have a great impact on the world around you. That's the covenant. The covenant or contract is usually offered by some person and they sign it. And then the other person who's accepting the contract, they also sign it. It's signed by two parties. Jesus said this blood is to remind us that on the cross he signed the contract with us. If you receive me as your Lord and Savior, I will guide your life so that you'll make the right choices. I will provide the needs that you have. I will protect you from being destroyed and I will make your life an influence to the people around you. Those are his promises. And when you said to Jesus, I now take you as my Lord and my Savior, he says, OK, now you sign this contract yourself. And so we remind ourselves of the time we signed the contract when we said, as you gave your life for me, so I give my life to you. And this red represents the blood of our life given to him. And the blood we've received in our life for his forgiveness. You take it, remembering the contract you have made with God. Would you stand please for prayer? You kept your side of this contract, God. You sent your son into the world. He lived a sinless life to show us how to live. He died on the cross, shed his blood that he might pay for the sins of all of us. And then he came to us and said, would you follow me? Would you deny yourself, take up your cross and live as I tell you to live? And we said to you, yes, Lord, we will do that. We will no longer live controlled by our human nature, but by your spirit. We will no longer live doing the things that are easy, but we'll make tough choices to be obedient to you. Lord, as you have served us, so we will serve you and serve each other. We have renewed our contract with you today. And we ask if we step over the lines that you've given us, that the alarm of your Holy Spirit would ring loud, clear, and plain. That we might step back inside the boundaries that we promised to keep. In the name of Jesus, we pray, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Jehovah Jireh, my provider, his grace is sufficient for me, for me, for me. Jehovah Jireh.