• Review of last week

  • Secular application?

  • Those who hunger and thirst

  • The merciful

• Beatitudes, continued

  • Pure in heart – filled (Matthew 5:8)

    • II Timothy 2:22

    • Titus 1:15 – If you are pure in heart, everything around you is pure.

    • Acts 15:9

    • I Peter 1:22-23

    • I Corinthians 5:7 – A little impurity cause the whole to be impure.

  • Peacemakers – sons of God (Matthew 5:9)

    • What kind of peace? Peace with God.

    • Acts 8:1-5

    • Colossians 1:19-20 – Jesus’ blood brought peace to the world by allowing us to be reconciled to God.

    • James 3:17-18 – Description of the peace between God and man.

    • Isaiah 52:7

    • Romans 10:15 – Those who spread the gospel help men to find peace with God.

  • Persecuted – rejoice (Matthew 5:10-12)

    • Romans 8:35-39 – We are the only thing that can separate us from God. We should consider ourselves already dead for Christ, just as soldiers going in to physical battle must consider themselves already dead.

    • Reactions – Acts 9:22-25; 22:25-29; Matthew 10:22-23

      • Paul wasn’t asking for persecution, but he was not afraid of it. It also was not wrong for Paul to escape persecution when he could. We must endure persecution, but that does not mean we have to stand and take it if there’s a way out.

    • Desire it? – I Timothy 2:1-4

    • Why rejoice? John 15:20

      • Persecution will eventually find us, just as it found Jesus.

Put on … purity (continued)

• Romans 13:12-14
• I Corinthians 5:1 – We need to admit how much of a temptation and problem this is, even among religious people.

Sex is a gift from God!

• The Bible not only warns against sex and sensuality outside of marriage but exalts them within marriage (Genesis 2:24; Proverbs 5:15-20; Song of Solomon; I Corinthians 7:2-5; Hebrews 13:4). Will a marriage be everything that God intends without a sexual relationship?
• I Corinthians 6:16
• What happens if we raise our kids to think that all sex is dirty or undesirable?

Let us behave properly

• Actions

  • Proverbs 5:1-8

  • Proverbs 7:6-10, 21-23

  • We need to listen to God’s wisdom!

• Purity starts in the mind.

  • Matthew 5:27-28; 15:19; Exodus 20:17

Make no provision for the flesh

• Eyes

  • II Samuel 11:2 – David should have gotten off the roof!

  • Acts 13:22 – It’s not only habitually wicked, dirty men who commit sexual sin. David was a man after God’s own heart!

• Speech

  • Genesis 39:7, 10; Proverbs 2:16; 5:3; 7:5, 21

Introduction

• I Peter 5:8
• John 8:44
• The devil lies to deceive us!

“You are all there is.”

• (Pressure to think that believing in God doesn’t make sense.)
• Proverbs 1:20-29
• Psalms 139:13
• Romans 1:18-20 – This is an example of the design argument for the existence of God. The design we see implies the existence of a designer. If a bionic arm is obviously designed, how much more so a human arm?
• Psalm 139:14
• II Timothy 1:12
• Many important scientists were Christians, including Galileo Galilei, Johannes Keppler, Isaac Newton, and Michael Faraday. Science and religion are not irreconcilable.

“You are what matters most.”

• (Center life around humans instead of God.)
• Matthew 22:34-40
• Matthew 16:24
• Genesis 3:1-6 – Satan appealed to Eve’s desires. It is literally the oldest trick in the book!

“You can do whatever you want.”

• (Sow confusion about right and wrong, truth and error.)
• Isaiah 5:20-21
• Romans 1:25
• God exists. He is above man, and He makes the rules.
• Romans 1:29
• Acts 4:12 – Jesus is the way. There is no other religion that leads to heaven.
• Genesis 1:27 – God creates us male and female. It is not man’s choice, as transgender rights advocates would have us believe.

Conclusion

• I Peter 5:8-10

• Review of last week

  • Love God, love your neighbor

  • Sermon on the mount

    • Beatitudes

      • Poor in spirit

      • They that mourn

      • The meek

• Beatitudes, continued

  • Room for practical application

    • Only as practicality

    • Not meant for physical application

    • Spiritual – church vs. empires

  • Hunger and thirst – filled (Matthew 5:6)

    • Romans 1:16-17; John 6:35; Psalms 42:1-2; 63:1; 107:8-9

  • Merciful – obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7)

    • Willing to forgive

      • Matthew 6:14-15; 18:21-35

      • II Peter 3:9

      • James 2:13

    • Bring others to God’s mercy – Ephesians 2:4-7; Acts 8:30-35

Sin distorts, deceives, destroys, and dominates

• Luke 4:10-11 – Distorts God’s law
• Genesis 3:1-6 – Deceives us into thinking we can get away with sin.
• Romans 3:23 – Destroys our relationship with God.
• Dominates us where one sin may turn into two and lead us down the path of the wicked.

Will it give Satan a foothold?

• David: II Samuel 11:1-4

  • David had multiple changes to say no.

    • v1 – Didn’t go to war.

    • v2 – When he saw her bathing.

    • v3 – When he inquired.

    • v4 – When she arrived.

• Joseph: Genesis 39:6-12

  • Joseph said no immediately and repeatedly.

  • When she cornered him, he resisted.

  • He FLED!

• The repercussions

  • David: II Samuel 11:5-15; 12:19

    • Deceived Uriah into thinking that Bathsheba’s child is his own.

    • Murdered Uriah to cover up the sin of fornication.

    • The death of David and Bathsheba’s child.

  • Joseph: Genesis 41:37-41

    • Went to prison.

    • Interpreted the dreams of the baker and cupbearer.

    • Interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and because the second most powerful man in Egypt.

Will it bring reproach upon me?

• I Timothy 3:1-2

  • Reproach – not arrested, blameless, unrebukable

  • Blameless

• When people look at us, they should see someone worthy of the benefit of the doubt.

• How to be blameless?

  • Psalms 119:1-8 – Follow the law of God

Are we asking the question wrongly?

• Minimum requirement

  • How much can I put in and be pleasing to God?

  • Will 70% work?

  • What’s the least I have to do?

• Maximum permission

  • How much can I get out of the world and still be pleasing to God?

• Two examples

  • Daniel: Daniel 1:8-21

    • Didn’t want to risk eating and contaminating his body with the king’s food.

    • Gave the minimum to the king and gave everything to God.

  • Israelite man: Numbers 15:32-36

    • No work on the Sabbath

    • How do you define work?

    • A man was gathering wood.

    • What happened to him?

    • The presumptuous sin.

    • What’s his mindset?

    • What does it mean to be presumptuous?

What attitude should we have?

• To glorify God

  • I Corinthians 10:31

  • I Peter 1:14-15

  • Colossians 3:17

• We need to draw lines, so we do not allow our minds to become corrupt.

  • II Corinthians 10:3-5

  • Matthew 5:27-28

  • James 1:12-15

Summary