Empty Pleasure

If God’s people would take their
Bibles and turn to first Corinthians chapter 6 First Corinthians chapter 6 I’m
not gonna have you turn here, but you might recall God’s prophet
Hosea That God when he wanted to send
a very severe message to Israel, dispatched his prophet to a very
unique mission. He sent him and commanded him
to take a wife of harlotry. And God did so as a living illustration
that this was exactly what the nation of Israel was doing spiritually. For the land, God says, commits
flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord. They were committing
spiritual adultery, were the nation of Israel. And in chapter
four, the word of the Lord came to Hosea in summary fashion. Verse 11 says, harlotry, wine,
new and new wine take away the understanding. My people consult
their wooden idol, their diviner’s wand informs them for a spirit
of harlotry has led them astray. They have played the harlot departing
from their God. And I tell you all of this because
in the case of the Corinthian church, they too were at least
flirting with the sin of spiritual adultery, both individually and
as a church. Given the assorted situation
that Paul detailed in chapter 5, the man who had his father’s
wife, and the Corinthian church was tolerating and enabling this
man’s sin, Paul begins to conclude his address on this matter here
in the middle of chapter 6, As we saw last Lord’s Day in verses
9 through 11, we saw that he deals directly with a lengthy
list of sordid sins. Explaining to the Corinthians
that a life besmirched by these sins was a sure indicator that
such a person was not bound for heaven. We refer to it as a peek
into the book of life. A consideration of who is, or
better still, who isn’t bound for heaven. If you’re in chapter
six, glance again at verse nine, if you would, because it’s important
to setting our context this morning for verses 12 through 20. Paul
begins with that probing question regarding the church’s knowledge.
Do you not know? This was not an untaught church. They knew, or at least they should
have known, but apparently they had forgotten some very key and
important principles. And so Paul probes, do you not
know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Paul doesn’t mince words here. As a general category, the unrighteous
are not heaven bound. But before a person might even
begin to formulate the question, who are the unrighteous? He presents
a detailed list in verses 11 and 10 and 11 just who he means
by the unrighteous. Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. It’s a sobering passage. And we took careful note of the
fact that Paul pleads with this troubled church not to be deceived. And that we will see more and
more was not only a possibility. In a very real way, the Corinthian
church was already showing signs of having been very much misled. Paul is being very gracious here
when he uses language like do you not know? And do not be deceived. because they very much were already
acting out of ignorance, being very much deceived. Nevertheless,
in verse 11, Paul graciously continues by remarking that. Such were some of you. You Corinthian believers used
to live just like those in that horrible list, defining the unrighteous. Until you came to faith in Christ,
you used to be that. You used to revel in those exact
sins. But the glorious news is, but
you were washed. But you were sanctified. But
you were justified. That strong, three-fold contrast,
but. Jesus Christ, by means of the
Holy Spirit, came into your life and you were changed, transformed. You were made new. What a blessed
reminder of God’s saving grace. That’s who they were. But that’s not who they are anymore. But we can almost imagine a man’s hands start to go up,
hiding in the way back row, ashamed even to lift up his head. As
he begins with a tentative stutter, But, but Paul, what if someone,
well, I have this friend. What if this friend, not me,
mind you, but what if someone happens to fall back into one
of those wretched sins that you mentioned? This is the great
question which I believe Paul moves to address at the close
of this chapter. What if, what if a believer is
to dabble in one of these sins. What happens when or if a believer
should fall? Or if a believer should even
be tempted with one of these sins? Verses 9 through 11 make
it clear that a life of sin described there prohibits such a person
from entry into heaven. But what about a Christian? What
about a Christian who stumbles in one of these areas? I want
to take it from verse Nine, if we could this morning. Verse
nine of chapter six, all the way down through verse 20. 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, nor thieves, nor
the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will
inherit the kingdom of God, and such were some of you. You were
washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God.
All things are lawful for me, but I will not, but not all things
are profitable. All things are lawful for me,
but I will not be mastered by anything. Food is for the stomach
and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both
of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord.
And the Lord is for the body. Now, God has not only raised
the Lord, but will also raise us up through his power. Do you
not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then
take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be. Or do you not
know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with
her? For he says the two shall become
one flesh. But the one who joins himself
to the Lord is one spirit with him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits
is outside the body. But the immoral man sins against
his own body. Or do you not know that your
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you
have from God? And that you are not your own. For you have been bought with
a price, therefore glorify God in your body. Now admittedly,
as dreadful as this scenario sounds, immorality, even to be
joined to a prostitute, is at least a temptation for some. And I would suggest a lot more
people than we may in our innocence believe. Adultery, relations
outside of a marriage, whether before, during, or after a marriage,
is a terribly common sin. And even to the lowest depths,
prostitution, which to us may seem unthinkable for a professing
Christian, I remember many years ago, a couple had been visiting our
church not very long, but they seemed to be settling in. And
the man asked if he would if he could talk to me. And he came
over and we began to talk and catch up and get to know one
another. And during the course of our conversation, he began
to talk about his marriage, which for the most part was good. They
liked one another. But there was just this one part
that wasn’t great. And he shared to my shock that
he had frequented some of these establishments in order to find
companionship. No doubt he could see the immediate
shock on my face, but he soon heard it from my mouth as well.
He left. We never saw them again. They were just gone. And I tell
you that to let you know that people, even people who profess
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ can be greatly deceived. Deceived
into thinking that they are within the bounds of propriety. This
man was deceived. Common adultery is much more
prevalent than the latter. And so Paul, as we will show,
is concerned about the Corinthian church. They thought they were
conducting themselves well. They thought that they were well
within the bounds of Christian propriety. But the reality was
they were flirting with worldly and ungodly practices that not
only would greatly harm the church, it would shame their savior,
and it would even bring to them physical harm. I want to look
this morning at empty pleasure, what I’ve entitled empty pleasure,
where Paul presents to us disturbing realities of immoral relations. The first of which is that illicit
relations, illicit liaisons are unsuitable for glory. Illicit
liaisons are unsuitable for glory. We find that in verses 12 through
14, but I’d like you to notice that the first thing that Paul
does is deal with the blame game. You know how that goes, right?
Well, Paul, you said such and such. You said it, and so that’s
what we’re doing. That’s what most commentators
believe is happening when Paul twice repeats that phrase, all
things are lawful, They’re quoting Paul in all likelihood, something
that Paul likely had said in their midst. It is, after all,
a biblical maxim. Paul does teach the concept of
Christian liberty, that salvation is not by law keeping, but by
grace through faith. Briefly, Paul says in Romans
8, too, that the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set
you free from the law of sin and death. There’s liberty. And so we’re freed from bondage
to the law for salvation. In Galatians 5.1, Paul says it
very succinctly. It was for freedom that Christ
set us free. There is Christian liberty. So
even if Paul had not said these words, these actual words in
their hearing, he doesn’t disagree with them. He takes them even
as his own, so much so that in chapter 10, he echoes these words
once again. All things are lawful, but not
all things are profitable, not all things edify. But that liberty
is not absolute. And Paul’s detailed teaching
on the subject can be found not only later in this letter, chapter
eight, but Paul deals extensively with the subject in Romans 14
and 15. You’re familiar with those chapters. Paul believes
in Christian liberty. And there were things in the
Jewish law that were what we would call gray areas that were
no longer morally forbidden. eating of certain things, observation
of certain rights, honoring particular days. For Paul, as for all Christians,
he could echo as true, all things are lawful. But not literally all things. There is context to that statement.
Murder would not be lawful. Theft would not be lawful. Paul
knows this. There are things that are in
themselves profane, sinful and therefore unlawful. And you see,
in their shrewd creativity, the Corinthians were using Paul’s
words to justify their sinful actions. Why, Paul, you did say
all things are lawful. They might even go so far as
to say with the affirmation of the sinful society around them,
That even gross immorality was not unlawful. It’s shrewd, very
crafty, but it won’t work. There’s also context to this
maxim. Elements that limit the scope
of so-called Christian liberty. And Paul says two things that
put it into immediate context here. The first thing he says
in verse 12 to curb this errant thinking is that not all things
are profitable. Not everything that we may do
leads to a positive end, and a wise man would avoid it. On
the contrary, some things are tremendously costly. The word
for profit is a business word, a commerce word, signifying to
gain in some respect. It was used to speak of a laborer’s
pay, echoing that simple proverb, in all labor there is profit. But the word came to mean, in
time, expedient. What is good or beneficial or
advantageous or liberating or helpful? Some things would be
what we call expeditious. It’s a good thing. The opposite
of this would be something that functions to the Christian as
an impediment, to roadblock in his way. And Paul is concerned
not only about the individuals in the Corinthian church, but
whoever else might be affected by their libertine behavior. His great principle of Romans
14 is that our liberty, if our liberty harms ourselves or someone
else, it must be relinquished. Set aside. For instance. Ice cream is a liberty. We are free to eat ice cream. But if we’re gulping down a half
gallon a day. Then we are abusing our liberty
not to mention our bodies. And Paul suggests right away
that not only are some things unprofitable, some things are
just an impediment to our spiritual walk. Gluttony is still a sin. And the price of the sin that
Paul will discuss here is tremendously high. The second thing that Paul
says about all things that are lawful is that not all things
are good masters. There’s a play on words here
in the original. All things are lawful, he might say, but I will
not allow anything to become law over me. We cannot become
slaves to those things which we are to master. As one pastor
said, the free must not become the fettered. Paul will not submit
and yield himself to anything but God himself. Sin is an evil
taskmaster. Why would any Christian place
himself under such authority? Paul is just getting started.
Verse 13, he reasons with them. Glance at verse 13, food is for
the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away
with both of them. It’s as simple as illustration
as it sounds. God has made food for the nourishment
of the body by way of the process of the stomach. And why does
he introduce that here? Because as axiomatic as this
statement was, that God had made both food and the stomach, people had begun to take the
position that the body was for the enjoyment of what Paul calls
here, immorality. I used to think that this was
just a young person’s mindset, something that young people thought
about wrongly and fell into because of it. This is a young person’s
mindset. Well, we might as well live together. We might as well enjoy ourselves. After all, it’s a natural part
of the human experience. That’s how the argument goes,
right? And I used to think it was just a young person’s mindset,
but I’ve heard it as well from older people who find themselves
at some point in life single again. And they’re out there
hitting the circuit, dating around. And the argument is, why wait?
I’m too old to wait. We’re supposed to enjoy life,
right? Food for the body and the body
for food. We understand that even as our tummies begin to
growl for a snack, God made these things, but they’re temporary.
I don’t know how to break this to you foodies, but God says
it right here that God will do away with both of them in heaven. His point is that while food
is for the stomach and the stomach for food, this argument does
not carry over with regard to the body and immorality. The
body is different than food, and in two very distinct ways. First, the body is not made for
immorality. Rather, the body is for the Lord,
and the Lord is for the body. The body, too, is just like food,
and the stomach has a God-given function, and it is not immorality. Second, unlike food in the stomach,
the body will not be done away with. It may come as a surprise
to you. Rather, it will be transformed
into a glorified state. And this, Paul says in verse
14, will happen at the resurrection. And as sure as our Savior is
risen, our bodies will be raised through his power. As Paul goes
on to explain to these believers in chapter 15, that Christ has
been raised from the dead as the first fruits. If Christ has
been raised, we will follow. For the Christian, the resurrection
of our bodies is as sure as Christ’s resurrection. Romans 8, 11 says,
he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life
to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you.
So the first of these disturbing realities with regard to immoral
relations is that such illicit liaisons are unsuitable entirely
for glory. That alone argues for a purified
use of our earthly bodies. That we ought to be entirely
circumspect and ought to avoid that sin like the plague itself. But there’s more bad news for
those who seek empty pleasure. We find that in verses 15 through
17. Not only are illicit liaisons
unsuitable for glory, illicit liaisons are Christ-shaming. Look at verse 15. Do you not
know that your bodies are members of Christ? One day our bodies
will be resurrected and transformed into a glorified state. But Paul
gives sound reasoning as to why immorality must be checked. It shames Christ. And his argument here is graphic
and clear. Verse 15, by arguing that Christians,
whether these Corinthians or we here today, Christians are
members of Christ. Paul once again challenges the
Corinthians ignorance. Do you not know? Do you not know
that your bodies are members of Christ? Please know Paul isn’t
talking about church membership here. Instead, he’s talking about
that which church membership represents. He’s talking about
union, connection, oneness with Christ. And he will go on to
tell these same readers in chapter 12, where he uses this word members
13 times. The believers are Christ’s body
and individually members of it. Speaking to husbands in Ephesians
chapter 5, Paul uses the metaphor of the husband-wife relationship,
remember? He uses that to speak of the church. His admonition
to him there is that husbands are to love their wives as their
own bodies. And he assumes that any man would
be desirous of caring for his own body, but he’s to love his
wife in like manner. And the husband’s great example
for this is Christ. who nourishes, Paul says, and
cherishes his bride. And he does so, Paul concludes,
because we are members of his body. The believer enjoys an
intimate spiritual union with Jesus Christ, their Savior. He
has redeemed us by his blood, and he has incorporated us into
his body. And with that, Paul proposes
the unthinkable. As a member of Christ’s body,
verse 15, shall I then take away the members of Christ and make
them members of a prostitute? These words are hard even to
say. They’re hard to hear, aren’t they? It’s unthinkable. The word here translated as prostitute
is just another form of the word translated in verse 13 and 18
as immorality. But money need not be exchanged
in order to sin in this way. The person may join in illicit
liaisons, that is, immorality before, during, or after a marriage. And to engage in this sin involves
a two-step process. Look at verse 15. Briefly there,
to take and to make. To take and to make, it’s a doubly
intentional act. to take away from Christ our
Savior and to make a member of a prostitute. This is just a
shocking image, and it’s intentionally so for Paul. Paul’s question
poses the unthinkable, to disconnect from Christ spiritually in order
to make union with the harlot physically. And so Paul cries
out in spiritual anguish, may it never be, God forbid, Perish
the thought, no way. A believer cannot possibly entertain
this idea. Paul is aghast at the idea, but
he must make his point. So we come to verse 16, where
he again asks, do you not know? Are you so ignorant of the facts
that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with
her? And as proof, Paul cites that
otherwise beautiful verse, Genesis 2, 24, the two shall become one
flesh, which speaks of the marriage union. And so this word joins. In our
verse is much more than just an association with someone.
It speaks of an intimate union. This was In this particular case,
there was no ceremony. There was no ring. There was
no cake. There were no vows. But the union
is akin to that of marriage. What a perversion of God’s institution. This is spiritual adultery. So the man who takes and makes
that is takes himself away from Christ and makes such a woman
his intimate companion. In dramatic contrast says that
the one who joins himself to the Lord, the Christian is one
spirit with him. Well, this is so unseemly. Let’s move on. And so any empty
pleasure entered into by a believer is shaming to Christ because
you have to withdraw from Christ to turn. To another human being
as another sinful human being. But if possible, it gets even
worse. It gets even worse. Because as we look at the empty
pleasures, the disturbing realities of these immoral relations, we
see not only that illicit liaisons are unsuitable for glory and
are Christ-shaming, but thirdly, illicit liaisons are destructively
rebellious. They’re destructively rebellious. We see that in verses 18 through
20, Paul’s final point. begins with a clarion call to
holiness, flee immorality. Now, just that wording will remind
the Bible student of Joseph. Remember, who was repeatedly
propositioned by his master Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife. And after his
sustained refusals, his only recourse was to flee, right?
Well, that is Paul’s strong and simple advice for someone in
a similar predicament, flee. We know right from wrong. We
know when some temptation is arising. We know when our heart
is being tugged to do wrong. That is not the time for bravery.
It is not the time for evangelism. It is not the time for justification. It’s the time to run like you’re
running from a burning building. Such a delicate predicament is
an exceedingly dangerous situation in which an individual finds
himself. Paul explains the danger in the
next line of verse 18, his first of three reasons to flee immorality. First reason, it’s a sin against
our own flesh. Every other sin that a man commits
is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his
own body. The person in such a dangerous
place is flirting with an offense against his own flesh, his own
body, says Paul. Other sins are oriented outside
of the physical body, and they affect only portions of the body,
if at all. But this sin affects the entire
body. Such conduct goes against the
fundamental nature of the husband-wife relationship, the God-given institution
of the family. No wonder Paul says in Romans
1, such injurious behavior calls down the wrath of God. It’s destructive
to the very design and purpose of marriage and family. So we
must flee immorality because it’s a sin against our own body,
but secondly, We must flee immorality because our body is designed
for nobler purposes. Look at it right there. Verse
19. Do you not know? Do you not know
that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,
whom you have from God? God has an infinitely better
purpose for us than the putrid mud and mire of immorality. Our body is a temple. which even
a non-Jew would have known as the dwelling place of God, a
place wherein God is glorified. Paul would later remind the Corinthians,
2 Corinthians 16, we are a temple of the living God. Those who
have placed their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation are indwelled
by the promised Holy Spirit. There’s a third. And final reason
that Paul provides here for fleeing immorality, we are under new
ownership. We, Paul says, are not our own. Our lives, our bodies no longer
belong to us to manage. We have been bought and that
with the highest possible price. Christ has bought us as so many
slaves, but not This is not the slavery of drudgery and misery.
This is the slavery of freedom in Christ. We’re bought and paid
for, and we can no longer do as we please. Look at verse 20. You have been bought with a price. We we know this, don’t we? We
know that we have been redeemed and not with perishable things,
as Peter says, like silver and gold, but with the precious blood,
the blood of an unblemished and spotless lamb, the lamb of God,
the blood of Christ. The truth is not only we as individuals,
but the entire body of believers, the church, as Paul says in Acts
20 to the Ephesian elders, he purchased the church with his
own blood. Christ bought you. What a motivation this is to
flee immorality and to pursue holiness. As Paul closes here,
therefore glorify God in your body. And this is a positively
stated conclusion. Glorifying God is not merely
the abstinence from immorality, but rather it is the endeavor
with everything in our being by the grace of God to take hold
of this grand opportunity to do all that we do to the glory
and excellence of him who called us.