pastor's blog
Prayer Notes is an occasional Bible meditation from our pastor, Peter Comont, raising relevant topics for our consideration and prayer with a view to strengthening our commitment to Jesus Christ, the community of the church, and the peoples of East Oxford and the world.
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Friday 21st November 2008
Honour God with your body
Last Sunday we looked at 1 Corinthians 6:12-20. Some of the Corinthians were using prostitutes and Paul is horrified. But far from simply telling them not to do it, he helps them to see much more deeply why sexual immorality in general is an enslaving and impoverishing denial of our true purpose, nature and destiny as Christians.
He warned them that claims to freedom can hide enslavement and loss. Though in one sense “everything is permissible”(1 Cor 6:12), true Christian freedom refuses to enslaved by sex, or to endure the hidden losses of sexual immorality.
Paul also paints a vivid picture of a true attitude to our body as Christians.
- Our body’s purpose is to use it “for the Lord” ( 1 Cor 6:13b). Simply satisfying our superficial bodily needs without attention to this deeper more satisfying purpose, dehumanises us.
- Our body’s future is resurrection ( 1 Cor 6:14). Just as Christ was raised to renewed human bodily life, so too our bodies will be raised. We are presently training our bodies for resurrection life.
- Our body’s present status is that it is an organ of Christ ( 1 Cor 6:15). We are Christ’s hands and feet on earth. Sexual immorality in particular is terrible violation of that status.
So I want to echo Paul in calling you to “flee immorality” (1 Cor 6:18) and to “honour God with your body” (1 Cor 6:20). Here are some practical suggestions:
- I mentioned in the sermon that I subscribe to the internet service Covenant Eyes. For men especially, internet porn is a common temptation. Covenant Eyes enables us to be accountable to one or two trusted friends about how we use the internet.
- Beyond that look for one or two trusted friends to whom you can confess your sins ( James 5:16). For married couples a confessor outside the marriage is often helpful.
- Remember sex before marriage is a con. We are enslaved and reduced by it. One or other or both of the partners is deceiving themselves. Women convince themselves that he is really committed. Men convince themselves that this is just a bit of consensual pleasure. Too late they discover that the emotional, psychological, spiritual and often practical cost is far greater than the fleeting pleasure. Sex is for people who have formally committed to spend the rest of their life together.
- Women, remember that those lovely summer dresses do not always help men who are trying to be godly. Honouring God with your body does not require you to be dowdy, but have a heart for men who are struggling to fix their eyes on Christ!
- Single men, learn to treat “women as sisters with absolute purity” ( 1 Tim 5:1). I know it is hard but you need to learn to pursue friendship without leading women on or treating them as pariahs.
But more than anything learn to enjoy the truths that Paul sets before us. Learn to enjoy the deep satisfaction of using our bodies for Christ (Rom 12:1). Think long and hard about your resurrection future – there you will find intimacy, pleasure, delight, and bodily pleasure which far outweighs the fleeting pleasures of this world. Every sacrifice in this life will be overflowingly rewarded by resurrection pleasures in the next. Every legitimate bodily pleasure is a glorious anticipation of a future of unalloyed resurrection bliss. And learn to delight in the privilege of being the arms and legs and mouth of Christ. There is restraint, and even self-denial required but there is not loss.
There is a painful sweet delight in pursuing sexual purity. Everybody stumbles in it, and must seek the forgiveness and mercy of God. But everybody who pursues it in the way that Paul advocates finds that the very struggle brings them closer to God, deepens their yearning for heaven, and shapes them into richer deeper stronger people. The path to sexual purity is the path to true freedom and immense gain.
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| Tuesday 6 January |  | Buttercup Music | | music for toddlers
9:45am @ the church building | | First Tuesday | | prayer meeting
7:45pm @ the church building | | Wednesday 7 January | | Wednesday Night Thing | | for 14-18 year olds
7:15pm @ the church building | | Thursday 8 January | | Prayer Breakfast | | 7:00am @ the church building | | Sunflowers Toddler Group | | 10:00am @ the church building | | Friday 9 January | | Friday Night Thing | | for 11-14 year olds
7:15pm @ the church building | | Sunday 11 January | | Morning Celebration | | God's champion, (1 Samuel 17) Richard Brewster
10:30am @ SS Mary & John School | | Spurgeons Preachers Group | | 4:30pm @ the church building | | Evening Gathering | | What is sin? (Romans 1:18-32), Peter Comont
6:30pm @ the church building | | Tuesday 13 January | | Buttercup Music | | music for toddlers
9:45am @ the church building |
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