Title: Flee Don’t Flirt
Place: BLCC
Date: 11/5/17
Text: 1 Corinthians 6.18-20
CT: We are to honor God with our bodies.
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FAS: In Spanish, it's called el camino de la muerte, which translated into English means "road of death." In 1995, the Inter-American Development Bank called it the "world's most dangerous road."
Found in Bolivia, this dirt and rock route stretches 38 to 43 miles, depending on the source, and descends from La Paz (at 12,000 feet) down to the beautiful rain forest town of Coroico at the edge of the basin of the Amazon River.
Why so dangerous? An average of 26 vehicles fall off this road each year; and 200 to 300 people lose their lives on it annually. Steep hillsides, cliffs, and drop offs with no guardrails present hazards, and the road in places has room for only one vehicle. Rain and fog complicate the trip, along with muddy surfaces and loose rocks sliding down hillsides. On July 24, 1983, over 100 passengers were killed when a bus veered over the edge and crashed into a canyon.
But, despite the danger, the road has become an increasingly popular tourist attraction since the early 1990s.
Graham Gori, "Thrills on the Highway of Death," Associated Press (11-24-02)
Are we drawn to the dangerous in our lives? Do we walk as close to the edge as possible? Do we need guardrails to keep us in line with where we ought to go?
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We have been doing a study on guardrails in our Sunday school class. Guardrails are important. They keep us from going too far and being hurt. We are familiar with the guardrails on the roads but what about in our lives. We need guardrails to keep us from going too far in our morality, our finances and any other aspect of our life. A guardrail is a personal boundary that stops us from going too far.
Last time I preached I dealt with money. We cannot let our money or our stuff master us. We learned we are to give, save and live. We give 10 % to church, save 10 % and live on the last 80 %. If you are a Christian we are to do this out of obedience to God.
The thing is culture baits us to go as far as we want to and then chastises and punishes us when we go too far. Most of our regrets come from sex or money. When people come to me for help it is usually about sex or money. Today I am going to deal with sexual immorality.
In life we are baited to live as close as we can to the edge. We need guardrails that trigger red flags and whistles to keep us from going too far in the wrong direction that would lead to our demise. Especially in our moral life.
What we are going to look at today is important. If we as a culture would deal with this issue properly it would affect every issue in life. Little boys and girls would be put to bed by mommy and daddy every night and not be split up and shared every other weekend. Every area of our life that there is a desire we need guardrails but in our sexual and intimate relations we need steel clad guardrails. You can recover from just about any other disaster in your life. You can recover from bankruptcy. You can recover from failing out of school or being fired. But, in our sexual tendencies there is a difference.
There is something we all know even if we don’t know how to talk about it. Sex is not just physical. When you step across the line for sexual relations we carry the consequences on us for the rest of our lives. We know better but we don’t always do better. In this area we need strong guardrails. You may think I am being too conservative but hold on. Lets go to scripture and see what God has to say about this. Our culture would be better off. I would be better off. We all would be better off if we paid close attention to this scripture and followed what it said. [Screen 3]
1 Corinthians 6.18, Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.
It says flee. It doesn’t say just hang on the edge. It says to stay away from sexual immorality at all cost. You may say oh my gosh, this is just what I would expect you to say. But hold on. If you were married wouldn’t you want your spouse to do this? Wouldn’t you want your kids to do this? This is what you want your little sister to do. This is what you want your best friends to do. This is what you want all the people you care about to do. You are just not so sure about yourself. When we look at others we know the trouble they could be headed for. But what about yourself, do you flee or do you flirt.
We are baited to the edge. We are pulled to the edge. We are told to go ahead and do what you want. But then when you do culture chastises you. You feel awful. You have been used by culture’s baiting.
Just walk through the mall. What are we selling to young girls? Compare this to what some of you are old enough to remember what women wore 50 years ago. What we are marketing to young girls, too much today, is what a prostitute would have worn back then. We bait them and then we chastise them when they become pregnant.
There is something on the other side of the guardrail, if you have them that are not good. There is stuff on the Internet that draws men to watch things that cause them terrible problems. When we as men walk though the mall, turn on the TV or heaven forbid surf the web we are baited to such a degree that so many fall prey.
All of us entertain our selves with an affair. We watch TV and there is usually something about an affair. Face it, when is the last time you saw a movie with a married couple getting it on. Really though, who would want to see that.
Let’s get real. We entertain ourselves with this. We are baited to the edge and then we are chastised when we take part.
What do we do? Do we stop watching TV and going to the mall? Do we boycott the Internet and anything that may be detrimental for us? Well that is up to you but what we really need is guardrails that will enflame our conscience whenever we hit them before we go over the edge.
Now if you are a Christian there is even more at stake here. We are called to not take part in sexual immorality.
Lets look at the next scripture. [Screen 4]
1 Corinthians 6.19, Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
Did you know that? Your body is a temple. Think about that the next time you look in the mirror. The Holy Spirit is in you. Your body is sacred. Even if you are not a Christian your body is sacred.
But if you are a Christian it is certain. You received the Holy Spirit from God at baptism. [Screen 5]
1 Corinthians 6.19-20 You are not your own; you were bought at a price.
You are not your own. You have been purchased. When Jesus died on the cross he paid the price for your sin. You are cleansed from all your sin by the act of Jesus Christ. You don’t have to do what your desires call you to do. You are under another Master, God, and he will control your actions if you follow Him. You have been purchased. You are owned by God. [Screen 6]
1 Corinthians 6.20, Therefore honor God with your bodies.
Therefore honor God with your bodies.
This is all in the context of sexual immorality.
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
You need to get up every morning and tell God this is your body and I want to do everything I do to honor you. And He will say, Flee from sexual immorality, do not flirt with it.
You have to have guardrails that will protect you from going over the edge into a zone of no return.
This decision you have to make. By not making it you make it. You have to answer the question…Am I going to honor God with what I do with my body.
Pastor Andy Stanley recently gathered with about 250 singles to answer questions on the topic of love, sex, and dating. Attendees were asked to write their questions on cards and turn them into the moderator ahead of time. The most pointed question of the night came from a middle-aged gentleman. His card read, "I'm divorced. Why save sex for marriage?" Here's Stanley's reply:
Good question. Your direct question deserves a direct answer. If all there is to life is this life, if you are merely a predator and women are prey, if sex is just physical and disconnected from the concept of permanency, exclusivity, and relationship, then I can't think of a reason not to have sex with as many women as you can convince to hop into bed with you."
Stanley commented: "That's not exactly the answer they were expecting from their pastor. My answer was particularly disturbing to women in the audience. Heck, it was particularly disturbing to me." Stanley continued:
But if there's more to this life than what meets the eye … if there is a God in whose image you've been made and in whose image every woman you've met has been made, if sex is a creation that was created with a purpose and if part of that purpose is to enhance the expression of intimacy between two people … and if that fragile, wonderful, delicate experience we term intimacy can be damaged or broken through abuse, then your sexual conduct matters a great deal. So you have to decide what you believe. Not just about sex. About everything. Once you decide, the answer to your important question will be clear. Perhaps uncomfortably clear.
Andy Stanley, The New Rules for Love, Sex, and Dating (Zondervan, 2014), pp. 137-138
I am going to give you some guardrails Andy Stanley came up with for married and single people.
As I give them I want you ask two questions:
1. What do you want for the person you marry and your children and your grandchildren? If there is any duplicity or hypocrisy in your answer you need to work on it.
2. Lets say two years from now you find yourself with some addiction to porn, unwanted pregnancy, girlfriend pregnant, inappropriate behavior of some kind. Will you pray…..
I know you will. You will say at least “OH GOD”
God will say that is a start. He will probably say remember when Jim was talking about those guardrails you needed to put up. Did you do it?
This is your opportunity to make a change if it is needed. Don’t wait because even in the waiting you answer the question of honoring God.
This is how you flee from sexual immorality.
Here are some guardrails for married people. [Screen 7]
1.Don’t travel alone with a member of the opposite sex.
Just not a good thing to do. May seem innocent but it lends to awkward situations. This is a guardrail that keeps you from going further. [Screen 8]
2. Don’t eat out alone with opposite sex. If it happens by accident make a call to your spouse. [Screen 9]
3. Don’t hire cute members of the opposite sex just because they need your help. Don’t deceive yourself. They need help but not from you. [Screen 10]
4.Don’t confide or counsel someone of the opposite sex. They will get too close to you and it could start a bad situation. Don’t do it.
Are these too conservative? These are from Andy Stanley’s experiences and I tend to agree with him in my own experiences. Not to extreme when you realize how dangerous the world is in this area. These guardrails will keep you from going across certain lines we all know exist.
Single People: [Screen 11]
1. Gouge out your eyes with a spoon. No but there is a scripture that does deal with this. Matthew 18.9, And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. [Screen 12]
2. Apply same guidelines to married people. [Screen 13]
3. No sleepovers. [Screen 14]
4. Take a relationship break. If the area you are in sees dating as going out to have sex you need a break and let God rearrange what you’re thinking. This can be done. May take a year. That is what Stanley recommends. He sees it as you getting ready to be the person your future companion will need.
Are these extreme? Some you may thinks so. I don’t.
This is the way you are going to have an extremely out of the ordinary great marriage. There is something really big about a good marriage. It is exclusivity.
It is when you sing to one another the old song, “I Only Have Eyes For You.”
You know where that begins.
It begins with guardrails.
It begins with standards that are maybe only relevant for you. Don’t depend on culture. Culture, remember is baiting you to cross the lines that bring your downfall and ruin your marriage.
What would expect your heavenly Father to say? [Screen 15]
Flee from sexual immorality. I live in you. I want you to honor me with your body.
Then God will honor you in your relationships.
God is the Creator. He created sex. He will honor your relationship if you honor Him.
This will require some strong guardrails in your life.
Don’t travel where there are no guardrails like our “road of death” we talked about at the start of this sermon. Maintain your guardrails. [Screen 16]
Honor God.
Bibliography: Stanley, Andy; Guardrails Avoiding Regrets In Your Life; Zondervan, North Point Resources, 2011,
