In the dictionary D.N. Ushakova
PURITY, purity, plural. no, female 1. abstract noun to pure in 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10 and 11 values. Cleanliness of the room. Purity of soul. Purity of intentions. Purity of colors. Purity of the breed. Purity of style. 2. Pure state, pure appearance of something (according to the listed meanings of the word “pure”). Maintain cleanliness. Moral purity. “Your secluded house is not made of gold – it captivates with its purity and lightness.” Zhukovsky. “You consciously rejected worldly pleasures; You kept it clean." Nekrasov. “When Comrade Lenin left us, he bequeathed to us to hold high and keep in purity the great title of party member.” Stalin (from a speech at the Second Congress of Soviets USSR). • To be clean (colloquial) - without hiding anything, frankly.
“But to be honest, in protecting the interests of peace and peaceful labor for the peoples of the USSR, we truly believe only in our own strength.” Molotov. I explained everything to her as it is, to be honest.
Sexual purity, part one
Sexual purity, part one [ 27:26 | 25.11 MB ] Play Now Listen (69)
Peace to you, dear listeners and readers of our sermons! Let us reflect with you today on a topic that is rarely discussed in congregations. Why? Because in today's spiritually immature congregations, preachers are afraid to speak on this topic.
First, this topic needs to be explained in detail, based on God's plan for the creation of people. This question should be presented to the listeners in such a way that they do not have any misunderstanding, so that they understand more deeply God's essence and His intention in creating people.
Our topic today is called “Sexual Purity.” Don't let this name scare you. God wants us to understand this issue more deeply, because Satan has perverted the sexual issue from the beginning, and perverted it in his favor in order to lead people into the most terrible sins through sex.
Satan seeks to prove to God that His creation is imperfect. Even among believers, Satan has great success in this matter today. And not only among young people, but also among some older believers, who, perhaps, before repentance, also abused sexual intemperance.
Such believers suffer greatly from the burden of fornication, even if it is committed in their thoughts. They are embarrassed to admit this to the older brothers in the congregation, so that a soul-pastoral prayer can be performed over them and these demons of debauchery can be bound by the blood of Jesus.
Because they themselves cannot cope with this problem of burden. Therefore, today’s topic “Sexual Purity” is extremely important and relevant for a wide range of believers. Therefore, first of all, all believers should have a legitimate question:
How can we help people on the path to sexual purity?
To do this, as we consider this topic, we will refer to the following passages of Scripture. (Gen.1:26-27; 1Cor.7:1-4; 2Cor.5:14-15; Eph.5:25).
To focus your attention on the fact that this topic is indeed very important and relevant, I tell you at the very beginning that behind the issue of sex we are considering today is Satan himself, along with his demons.
In God's Creation, among people, Satan and his demons did a lot of evil, they did so much evil that God had to destroy the whole world through a flood to put an end to the corrupting work of Satan and his demons among people.
We read about this in the book of Genesis 6:1-8: “When people began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 then the sons of God (these are the fallen angels) saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful, and took them as wives, which one chose?
3 And the Lord said, My Spirit will not forever be despised by men; because they are flesh; let their days be a hundred and twenty years. 4 At that time there were giants on the earth, especially from the time when the sons of God began to come in to the daughters of men,
and they began to give birth to them: these are strong, glorious people from ancient times (a mixture of spirit and flesh). 5 And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually; 6 And the Lord repented that he had created man on earth, and was grieved in His heart.
7 And the Lord said, “I will destroy from the face of the earth man whom I have created (and with them all the giants), from man to cattle, and the creeping thing, and the birds of the air I will destroy, for I have repented that I made them.” 8 But Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord.”
Of course, today God no longer allows fallen angels to reveal themselves to men in the flesh and marry the daughters of men. Demons, being free, allow themselves all sorts of liberties in relation to people, but God strictly forbade them to continue mass debauchery of the daughters of men, as before the flood.
Unfortunately, in our congregations and in our families today there is very little talk about the subject of sex. This is due to shame, which does not stop even in front of one’s own family. As we will see below, this shame is or is caused by many misconceptions about sex.
Ideas that we have adopted from this world. Ultimately, our incorrect behavior, or our attitude towards this issue, does not help to prevent these many false ideas about sex from continuing to fill our heads, and especially the heads of our younger generation.
If you and I do not consider this topic from the point of view of the Bible, and, therefore, from the point of view of truthfulness, then this world will continue to fill this empty space that we have lost sight of. Therefore, you should all know that the Word of God is not silent on this topic.
On the contrary, God is the author, the inventor of sex. Therefore, in essence, sex must be something good, pure, holy, like our Creator Himself, because in relation to all of His Creation God said in the book of Genesis 1:31:
“And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning: the sixth day.”
I think you understand that there is a hidden message about sex in this verse if God said that all of His creation is “very good.” But if you, more than your aspirations, don’t see this in relation to sex, then you will understand this below.
Since the sexual relationship between husband and wife is clearly a feature of the essence that God has given us, then God Himself is the only source of all wisdom and truth regarding this topic.
From this it follows that we should study this issue well and know God’s will in His Word regarding this topic, and thereby glorify God in the most proper way.
As I mentioned above, regarding our topic, this world has filled our heads with all sorts of false messages. And these false, most of all sinful, ideas about sex are the source of much shame and confusion that fill our heads, and partly our meetings.
If we talk about this topic, we must do so thoughtfully. We must be clear in our conversation and in our expressions, but at the same time not create room for temptation. In this topic there is also no place for idle talk and ridicule, or false humor, as we read in Eph. 5:3-5:
“But fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness must not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints. 4 Likewise, foul language and idle talk and ridicule are not becoming for you, but on the contrary, thanksgiving is; 5 For know this, that no fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous person, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
But this also does not mean that we do not make enough use of the wealth that the Word of God offers regarding this topic.
Further, when considering this topic, we must constantly remember that in various circumstances we are dealing with people who have committed, are committing or have experienced great abuse in the sexual field.
But sex is something absolutely pure, invented by God for His glorification. Since sex refers to God's original intention in creating man, let us turn to the Word of God, to the Inventor of sex.
- God created man in His image as the crown of His creation. I read from the book of Genesis 1:27-28: “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said to them:
be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Have you noticed that God said something very important to people: “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” This is God's far-reaching intention for the meaning of sex!
- 2. “Image,” both at that time and today, meant and means, first of all, not an external reflection, not in the sense of some statue, for God is a spirit, but something that depicts the main features of the essence of some individual.
- 3. We, all children of God, share to a certain extent the essence of God, our Creator. Like God, we have: will, mind, feelings, we can love, we can plan, we can take responsibility, we can have communication,
We can forgive, we can be long-suffering, we can be creative. We can show mercy. All this is included in the type of God in which He created man.
- 4. Being created in His image is not an end in itself, in the sense that God wanted to glorify man.
How can we help people on the path to sexual purity? (Gen.1:26-27; 1Cor.7:1-4; 2Cor.5:14-15; Eph.5:25) To understand this relationship, let’s take two excursions:
In the entire universe there is only one highest goal - the glorification of God. In its essence, this goal is not anything narcissistic or selfish, because there is no higher Being, and God, as the highest Being, is truly worthy of being prayed to.
Let me give you a few examples on this matter:
1 Corinthians 10:31: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:15: “And Christ died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again for them.”
Rev. 4:11: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and by Thy will they exist and were created.”
Rev.5:12-13: “who said with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” 13 And every creature that is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and everything that is in them, I heard saying: To him that sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”
Therefore, everything that God created, He created for His glorification, as we read in Eph. 3:9-11: “and to reveal to everyone what is the dispensation of the mystery, which was hidden from eternity in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ,
10 so that now through the church the manifold wisdom of God may be made known to the principalities and powers in heaven, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He fulfilled in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Therefore, man's highest goal is not his deliverance. And if the deliverance of man really were the highest goal of man, and the main task of our Lord Jesus, then Adam, immediately after his creation, would really have no meaning in life. But this clearly contradicts the analysis of Scripture.
The style of the narrative element that we see in Gen. 1:26 in changing the singular to the plural suggests that God creates different people (like the Trinity) to show:
how people in marriage in their diversity become one whole, just as the Trinity is one whole: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father...” (John 14:9), “that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in unto you, that they also may be one in us” (John 17:21).
The Holy Spirit desires to glorify the Son, and the Son desires to glorify the Father. In the Trinity there is an infinite, inseparable relationship of love, which all people, and even we children of God, unfortunately, very rarely reflect on.
However, let us return to Genesis 1:26, where we see a change from the singular to the plural: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea.”
“Let us create man...” is singular.
“and let them rule...” – plural.
We see an essential feature of God’s essence in the fact that He greatly values relationship, or rather, communication. Already from the past eternity He enjoys the perfect relationship in the Trinity. Perfect unity is in essence independent of the differences of these three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Therefore, a person is such a being that depends on his relationships. In the relationship between man and woman, between husband and wife, this unselfish and self-sacrificing love, in which God from eternity is in the Trinity, must be reflected in the unity of husband and wife.
Because of this, as we will see below, God introduced sex for His glorification and as a means of worship! To reflect the essence of God and the unity in the Trinity, our Creator created man as male and female.
God created man in His image so that we, created in this image and living in this image, would glorify Him. If we reflect God, it brings honor and glory to Him. Therefore, God is busy transforming us into the image of His Son after being born again.
As we read in Romans 8:29: “For those whom He foreknew (before the foundation of the world) He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
And also in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “But we all with open face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
And in Col. 1:26-28: “the mystery which was hidden for ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His saints, 27 to whom God was pleased to show what is the riches of glory in this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory,
28 whom we preach, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”
Therefore, the sanctification of man is not an end in itself of God, but He is more aimed at our change, at our transformation into the image of His Son, in order to glorify Himself in this way.
By the way, this also includes the fact that God created man as a sexual being. In the light of the creative thinking according to which God created man, it becomes clear that in the matter of sex, man must justify his creation by God.
Our sex is a gift from our heavenly Father to husband and wife so that through their intimacy they express God's desired unity. Therefore, sex serves to glorify God. Our sex has never been and was never intended by God to be an end in itself.
Perhaps the clearest passage of Scripture regarding the meaning of sex was given to us by God through the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:2-11: “But to avoid fornication, let each one have his own wife, and each one have her own husband. 3 The husband show his wife due favor; likewise is a wife to her husband.
4 The wife has no authority over her own body, but the husband does; Likewise, the husband has no power over his body, but the wife does. 5 Do not deviate from each other, except by agreement, for a time, to practice fasting and prayer, and then be together again, so that Satan does not tempt you with your intemperance.
6 However, I said this as permission, and not as a command. 7 For I desire that all men should be as I am; but everyone has his own gift from God, one this way, the other another. 8 But to the unmarried and to the widows I say: It is good for them to remain as I do.
9 But if they cannot abstain, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to become inflamed. 10 But to those who are married, I command not I, but the Lord: the wife must not divorce her husband, 11 but if she divorces, she must remain single, or be reconciled with her husband, and the husband must not leave his wife.”
It is important that we understand that in this instructive passage of Scripture, in which Paul speaks in a special way about the sexual relationship between husband and wife, in no way is it talking about new knowledge, about new teaching, or generally about the personal opinion of the apostle Pavel.
Circumstances in Corinth, and therefore in the young Christian congregation in that city, had become so degenerate that Paul saw himself forced to impart a fundamental understanding to the Corinthians regarding sex as well. Although the question existed already from the moment God created man.
Let's finish this today, we'll continue next time.
Reinhold Reinhardt
Preacher, evangelist. Born on 08/04/1931 in the family of an employee, in the village of Novaya Gololobovka in the former German Autonomous Republic of the Volga Germans. Since 1980, he moved to Germany, to the city of Frankfurt on Main. For many years he was involved in organizing the construction of houses of worship in Ukraine and Russia. Since 1995, evangelizing among children in Ukraine, with his wife Lena.
Posted by Reinhold Reinhardt Mar 21, 2020 in Sermons, Sermon Texts | No comments yet
A scientific approach to cleanliness
How often should you wash your apartment, according to scientists? A little extra motivation for cleaning. Did you know that we have more bacteria at home than in the trash can at the entrance? Surprise! For many years, it was believed that heating food in the microwave was enough to kill bacteria. However, recent research suggests otherwise. The microwave does not provide any antibacterial effect. Moreover, it must be washed at least once a week and general cleaning done once a month. In general, the advice we gave earlier remains relevant - wipe the microwave after each cooking - there will be fewer bacteria, and general cleaning will be quick and easy.
Try a very simple and effective method: mix half-and-half water and white wine vinegar and heat until steam appears on the glass. Then wipe everything with a sponge. It is believed that the toilet is the dirtiest part of the bathroom. However, according to the Center for Hygiene and Home Health at Simmons College, in the bathroom itself there are about 26% of bacteria that cause skin infections, but in the trash can only 6%. So if cleaning your bathroom after every use still doesn't excite you, at a minimum, clean your toilet and tub once a week.
But with bed linen things are more positive. Despite the fact that every time we go to bed we come into contact with dust mites, we can change our bed linen less often than once every three days. Scientists say that if you don't shower after work, wash your bed in hot water once a week or even two. Many of us unfairly bypass the refrigerator, getting to it from time to time. Meanwhile, for example, in the compartment for storing salad and vegetables, a high bacterial background can accumulate, 750 times higher than safe. Therefore, wash it at least once a month.
If you eat at the computer, then your keyboard is a real warm bed for bacteria. And there's five times more bacteria there than on a toilet seat. Some individuals never wipe their keyboard at all. Every Friday, spray your keyboard and mouse with a disinfectant spray; the space between the buttons can be wiped with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol.
Get protective covers for your pillows and mattress. Wash them regularly; the pillows themselves should be washed once every three months. It's all about field mites, bacteria, well, you already understood. Scientists recommend changing pillows every three years or more often. We already wrote in the article about fighting dust that wet cleaning is preferable to dry cleaning. Having vacuumed the carpet once again, do not stop there, take it out to breathe, shake it thoroughly, or better yet, wash it. Another option is to steam clean your carpet once every six months or year.
