It's the Greek word. Poinea, it means all sexual activity with another individual. outside of the scope. of a monogamous Marriage between a man and a woman. Whether it's premarital, extramarital, bringing somebody extra in the bed, marital.
Sex with the same gender person, it covers it all. The lies we believe and the truths we sometimes don't on today's Destined for Victory featuring Pastor Paul Shepard. You know, a lot of Christians have begun to buy into some of the world's ideas about sex and marriage, and the cost has been a heavy one. Today, we open up the pages of Scripture to offer some straight talk about sex, both inside and outside the marriage relationship. Online, you'll find us at pastorpaul.net.
or you can listen to any of our recent messages on demand, including today's. That's pastor Paul.net.
Now, from our teaching series, Straight Talk for Singles, Here's Pastor Paul's Destined for Victory message: Act like a Christian lady, think like a Christian man. See, grace will forgive all sin. Thank God for grace. When you're under the BLUD! Thank God for grace.
If it weren't for grace, God, I mean what this Room would really be without grace My eyes shut it and says. All of us with thou grace. No forgiveness. Just wrong all the time. Thank God for grace.
But let me quickly say: grace is not permission. to stay in your mess. Grace forgives, but grace also seeks to transform. God says, I love you. I love you so much, I died for your sins before you knew you were a sinner who needed to be saved.
But now that you are under the blood, the blood is supposed to walk you into a brand new life. And so I must say You who are in the cookie business, who are single. God calls you to confess it, repent, and forsake it. Because repentance means to change your mind and your direction. Repentance is when I say, okay, Lord, I'm wrong.
And I receive your grace and your forgiveness, and I believe you now to give me the power to turn and to move in the right direction. Don't talk about you wrong and you plan to be wrong next weekend, too. And I'm going to really be wrong next month because we're going on a cruise together, and then I'm going to really be wrong. I'm going to give God a whole bunch. To forgive me up.
No. You're turning grace into disgrace.
So, if you're shacking, repent and get married or move out. And you know the word is working. This word is working. Let it work for you. It's working.
I'm counseling people. They're hearing it. God is speaking to them. I'm just not standing up here talking. I'm anointed, and the anointing is penetrating people's lives.
I sat with a couple recently. They came living together, and the word penetrated. I'm going to show you how powerful the word is. The word penetrated the man first. And he said to his living gal, we got to stop this.
What man you know? It's the power. Of the word of God. That'll make a man look at a girl and say, We got to cut this out and get this done right.
Now let's go on and set this date. And we sitting in there getting it straight. Planning the date. They said, Pastor, we want you to be part of. I said, All right, come on.
Let's look at this calendar, get it done. And the brother said, Now, let's not take too long. See, he got that conviction, that word, but he said, Lord, Lord, you got to work with me. The word will work. If you're working.
You don't come up in the king's house. You just got to know me. You just got to understand me. God doesn't have to understand you, He died for you. And he's got the power to bring you in line with his will.
Uh yeah so No cookies. It sounds weird in today. No cookies till you're married.
Sounds weird, but let it sound weird. Let your friends, let your relatives, let your coworkers laugh at you. You asked in them. I mean, ain't they saying, isn't this something this world we live in? Abstinence is a bad word.
They mock People. Who say they're absent? Look on a talk show. Let somebody be sitting up on the panel, four heathens, one person sitting there saying, I'm saving myself till marriage, and they all go jump that one person. Yeah.
Cause Darkness doesn't like it when light shows up. The Bible said men love darkness rather than light.
Well, I mean, that's just not practical for people these days. They are mocking, they tell you, don't even teach young folk to be obstinate. They said they're not going to do it, and all you're doing is setting them up for unwanted pregnancies. And they make us feel bad because we're telling young folk: save yourself till marriage. And all the so-called experts saying they're not going to do it.
So, all you're doing is leaving them unprotected. You need to be telling them to protect themselves. I'm saying protect yourself. Protect yourself 100% from pregnancy by not doing it. I can guarantee you you won't have a baby out of wedlock.
Because there was one immaculate conception in the history of mankind that came so Jesus would save us from our sins. Everybody else who's pregnant, we know what happened.
Somebody drove over. Said I feel like some Oreos So we just got to be prepared to sound weird. We got to be prepared to sound weird. And I'm telling you, God's plan. is for us to get it right.
Let me just walk you through the scripture.
Well, where's that in the Bible? See, because I just believe that I've had folk come to me now. I have been in this word all of my life. First, because I was a preacher kid, so I heard it when I was a pew baby. Long before I got saved, I heard the word.
Just growing up in church. Got saved in my teens. And been in it ever since then. And people come to me.
Well, see I don't see in the Bible. I think as long as you are committed in your heart to somebody. I don't see anything in the Bible. That says I could We can't have sexual relations. And so I said to one person, I said, Well, it's all over the Bible, so where are you looking?
Well, no, no, no. I see the word fornication, but I think that means, well, there's our problem. There's our problem, what you think. The Bible says the heart. is deceitfully wicked.
Your heart wants to believe that fornication doesn't mean what you're doing.
So you come up with a nice convenient Definition. That is not what you're doing.
Well, I think fornication means when you're having sex and there is really no connection in your heart, or when you're forcing yourself on somebody. I think that's what fornication means. Like, okay, so now When did you study Greek?
Okay, I have. Woman tell you what it means.
Well yeah. I said, all right, the word fornication in the New Testament. It's translated sexual immorality and then IV. But if you look at the King James, it's called fornication. It's the Greek word.
Poinea.
So you know what that means? No. Porn, P-O-R-N. E-I-A. You get it?
Okay, it has something to do with. I say yes.
Okay, here's what the Greek word means: it means all sexual activity with another individual. outside of the scope. Of a monogamous Marriage between a man and a woman. That one term covers it all. Whether it's premarital, extramarital.
Bringing somebody extra in the bed, marital. Sex with the same gender person, it covers it all. Said, then there's some other more specific terms like adultery. Or the scriptures that talk specifically about homosexuality. I said, well, when you see that Greek word, Poinea.
It means if you're having sexual relations with a person. And it doesn't have to be missionary position sexual relations. Let me help y'all. Because I'm telling you the stuff I hear.
So let me just help you. It doesn't have to be.
Well, what is sexual relations? Remember last time we heard that in our? National Psyche. It means what you're doing. That's what it means.
So it doesn't have to be lay down. traditional What you doing? Yeah, maybe Etc. All poinea. All of it.
If you pulling down what should be pulled up. Poinea.
If you unzip in, what ought to stay zipped? Poinea.
If you're on your knees and you're not praying. Y'all, the ones came. I didn't tell you you had to come. Still ahead, the second half of today's Destined for Victory message with Pastor Paul Shepard. You'll be glad to know that we archive all of our recent messages, including today's, at our website, Pastor Paul.net.
That's Pastor Paul.net. You can also listen and subscribe to the Destined for Victory podcast at Spotify, at Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. For almost fifteen years now, Destined for Victory has brought timeless truth for a victorious life to people all over the world, and we have listening friends and partners like you to thank. You're the ones who provide all of our financial support, and we're so grateful for all you've done. To give your generous gift now, please visit PastorPaul.net or call 855-339-5500.
In order to have God's grace wipe away your mistakes, you have to admit you need it. Second half of today's Destined for Victory message: Act like a Christian lady, think like a Christian man, starts now. We gotta get it straight. Because we got a bunch of foolishness we're trying to justify. Instead of saying I've been wrong I need to get right.
Soon as you say that, there's grace. There's blood that'll cover your sin. And the Bible said it covers it so well, God doesn't even remember it anymore. Isn't that good news all The stuff we've all done, but when we got to the blood. For real, it's so covered, God said.
What are you talking about? You still remember it, but God said I don't. Oh my, my, my, my, my. You still remember it, God said, I don't. You walking around still, oh, I can't believe I stooped that low.
God says, stoop, man, what are you talking about? That's how thoroughly the blood has covered. Your sin.
So don't get under condemnation. If you've been wrong and it's under the blood, There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And if you're ready to get right today and get it. Under the blood, and you can leave here with your sin wiped away eternally. And this is not going to be a church that reminds people of where they came from.
That's called the spirit of the Pharisee. The worst folk in the world to deal with are Christian Pharisees. Who wants to always remind you of what you did? And they don't know that the only reason they end the kingdom in the first place. Is because the same blood that covered yours is covering their current self-righteousness.
Whenever you run into somebody who wants to remind you of your past. Tell them you need to read your Bibles. Because your Bible will tell you that God forgot it. If God forgot, what are you doing remembering? Don't let anybody jam you up over where you've been.
Tell him, thank God for the blood.
So let me just give you these scripture references with this word. Pornea in it. 1 Corinthians 6:18, just going to run through them real quick. Flee from sexual immorality, just that first sentence. That's it.
There's the word. Poinea.
What's it mean? Everything you're doing sexually with another person outside of a marital relationship. Galatians 5:19. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious. What's the first one?
Sexual immorality. Same word, there it is. Fornication if you have uh King James. Ephesians 5, verse 3. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality.
There's the word again. Verse 5 of Ephesians 5. For of this you can be sure, no immoral Impure or greedy person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. What does that mean? That means God is serious.
He's not going to have us living all kinds of raggedy and thinking we're going to heaven. That's what it means.
Not turning righteousness into disgrace and presumption. Colossians 3, verse 5. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. What's the first thing? Sexual immorality.
Put it to death. God said, kill it. Kill it. Kill that pain. Pattern in your life.
of doing what you feel like doing. cause you feel like what my hormones today It's just one of them days. That doesn't mean your your body is giving you permission to sin. It means your body wants to sin and you have to tell it what it can't do. First Thessalonians 4.
Verses 3 through 7. I want to read this whole passage. 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 3 through 7. It is God's will that you should be sanctified. that you should avoid sexual immorality.
That each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen who do not know God. Notice what he's saying. He's saying it's a matter of control. In other words, God's not going to zap you. He said, control yourself.
He'll give you the power to do what he's telling you to do, but don't look for some heavenly. thing to come over you. He said, No, control yourself. Control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust, like the heathen who do not know God. Verse 6.
And that. and that in this matter 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. Notice that one of the things he said in there is: he said, when you are sinning sexually with another person, you are wronging your brother.
or sister. You're taking advantage. of them You're using them. to help you sin. And from a biblical standpoint, it says you're doing wrong by them.
But they consented. That doesn't mean you're not doing wrong. Just mean both of y'all agreeing to do wrong. to God and to each other. And once you repent and have that new heart.
And that new mind, you will realize you wronged them.
So you need to Get it straight. God is serious about this stuff. The world is very. Nonchalant, but God is very serious.
So in the kingdom The cookie jar stays shut. That's God's plan. He said, but Pastor, I know I had a rough day and I slipped up and, you know, we had some Mrs. Fields. I'm sitting here and I'm feeling bad now.
That's good. That's a good sign. That's a good sign. You're feeling convicted. That's good.
The people I have to pray real hard for y'all that's sitting here filing your nails. I wish he'd get on to something else because if he thinks I'm stopping this over what he got to say, he got nothing out here. Y'all the ones that keep me praying. Because I'm praying, I'm travailing till Christ be born in you. Because I know if you keep that attitude, you're gonna bust hell wide open.
And so I'm praying, all you go smug, huh? He just don't know. No, you don't know. And if you don't get it straight, one day you will know. Because God's not playing and He's not making you the exception to the rule.
What is a rough message? One more point, and then I'm done with this part of the series. We can move on to some other aspects. of straight talk to singles. Number three, Marriage requires personal growth and appropriate change.
In one chapter, Steve talks about mamma's boys. In another, he talks about strong, independent women. And throughout the book, he talks about men who haven't. been required by the women in their lives to commit.
So, about all of those themes. I simply want to say marriage requires personal growth and appropriate change, meaning.
Some of us have to get our heads straight on.
So we can know why we should get married, and then when we start down that path. We will be making the changes and doing the personal growing necessary to make marriage work. Genesis chapter 2, verses 21 through 25.
So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. And while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs, closed it up. Closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God. Made a woman from the rib he had taken out of man, and he brought her to the man.
The man said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man. For this reason, watch this verse, shall a man leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked and felt no shame. People are not ready to get married until they understand that the Bible says to do this God's way, you have to leave.
your father and mother and cleave to your wife. A lot of people get married, but they don't cleave. And you can't cleave until you first leave. And there are lots of different things, frankly. This passage talks about leaving your parents, but frankly, there are a lot of things that singles won't ever be successfully married until they leave.
The first is parents, because that's what the text specifically says. And so let me speak to those who are tied too much to your family of origin, whether it's a mama's boy, or whether it's a girl too tied to her daddy or her parents or whatever, whatever the family dynamics are, your family of origin cannot be more important than your marriage and you being the will of God. I said it can't be more important than your marriage. When I marry you, I'm not marrying into your family dysfunction. I'm called to leave my mama and daddy, and I'm leaving yours too.
You gotta get it straight. Because there's a whole lot of folk who want you to marry them and then bring you into their family drama. And you got to sit up there and watch them act stupid for the rest of your life. The devil is a liar. Leave.
Doesn't mean you don't go to family barbecues and stuff like that. It just means your heart has been given to your spouse. And you love and appreciate your parents and your siblings and your extended family. You love and appreciate them, but don't you ever make me. Me choose between y'all and my spouse because you're going to lose every single time.
That's the will of God. I said it's the will of God. I ain't saying that's what y'all do, I'm saying that's the will of God. I realize that a lot of y'all just brought your husband and your wife into your stuff.
Well, I knew my mama before I knew you. Yeah. That's just a matter of chronology. That's all that is. We're just talking time, years, the order of events.
We're not talking priorities. I knew my mama, of course, longer than I knew my wife. You got to. That's the only way you get here. But the Bible says once you take a wife.
Mama has to take us back. Yeah. To the wife. You always honor her. But she can't compete with wife because she's supposed to lose if she does that.
So some of you guys got to get your head straight on right. You had a mama. She worked herself out of a job, hopefully, and if you're not fully baked, that's your fault. Go somewhere and get finished bacon. Thanks so much for joining us for today's Destined for Victory message: Act like a Christian lady, think like a Christian man.
This message is part of our teaching series, Straight Talk for Singles. Look for it online at pastorpaul.net. Let me ask you, how is your faith life going? Is it maturing and growing the way you had hoped, or has it become stagnant? In our new booklet, Grown Up Faith, you'll be challenged to move beyond any childish habits you may have formed and begin to embrace the kind of maturity that honors God and blesses your life in the process.
This practical biblical guide will help you stop living on impulse and start living with greater wisdom and purpose. Again, that's Grown Up Faith, our thank you gift today for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. You can give by phone by calling 855-339-5500. That's 855-339-5500 or visit Pastor Paul dot net to make a safe and secure donation online. You can also mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California, 94538.
Psalm 34:17 says that when the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.
So if you need prayer today, our ministry team would be happy to join you. Use the contact feature at the top of our homepage, pastorpaul.net, and share your prayer request with us. That's pastorpaul.net. There are some people who don't care what God thinks, people who don't care about what the Bible teaches. And if that's the case, you're going to be hard pressed as a child of God to spend quality time in a dating relationship with someone who, by their lifestyle, opposes your values.
That's tomorrow in our message Straight Talk About Dating. Until then remember. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
