THE STYLISH LUST-FILLED CHURCH

1 Timothy 3:15

 

I.INTRO.

A.one of the greatest enemies of the Christian family today is the stylish lust-fill Church

1.it is a by-product of the apostate hour in which we live

2.why do so many children, who come from Christian homes, never serve the Lord, when they leave home

B.we are often reminded in the NT that Christian are not to live for the fulfillment of their lusts                    - Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:5-6; Titus 2:12

1.the desires of the flesh and eyes are not from God, and will pass away with this sinful world                  - 1 John 2:16-17

a)here lust or desire includes not only sexual desire, but also other vices such as materialism

b)desire or lust is the beginning of all sin, and results in death - James 1:14-15

C.children are born with certain natural desires such as food and drink

1.they are not born with a desire for certain music or designer clothes, etc

2.these are things that are learned from the environment in which they are raised

3.our children are born with a sin nature, and a desire to go their own way - Prov 22:15, 23:13-14, Matt 7:13

4.one of the great failures in the modern Christian home is in not training our children to live for and serve God, and not to go their own way

a)we cannot train our children in the way that is good and right, if we do not understand that we are not to live for our own lusts

b)unfortunately, this is where the problem lies in many Christian homes today

c)many parents live for the lusts of the flesh; therefore, their children do so as well

5.the Bible tells us that we all have our own special lusts - Ephesians 2:3 [fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind]

a)these are things that I like and want; mine may be different from yours

b)we all practiced these lust in times past, fulfilling the desires of our flesh and of our mind

c)we all have our own "desires of the flesh and mind;" which are lust styled after our own desires; thus “stylish lusts”

II.THE SHALLOW SPIRITUALITY WITHIN THE CONTEMPORARY CHURCH AND CHRISTIANS IS VERY EVIDENT IN THIS APOSTATE AGE

A.leaders in many churches today seek to find out what people want in a church, and then give it to them

1.this is exactly the opposite of what the scripture tells us the church is to be - 1 Timothy 3:15

2.today, the contemporary Christian can have the desires of their mind right from their church, this is why they could be referred to as "The Stylish Lust-filled Church"

a)they design the music, the activities, and the church service to appeal to the flesh; rather than instructing them in what the Bible teaches

b)the fear today is that if we do not give the people what they like, then the people will not come to the church

c)this is sadly true in many instances

B.it takes work to teach true spirituality, and to encourage people to live a life that is honoring and pleasing to God

1.it is a lot easier to entertain people, and make them feel good, rather than to teach them the truth

a)"The Stylish Lust-filled Church" will let people hear what they want to hear, and how they want to hear it

b)this is the mark of an apostate age, and it is destroying our families, our lives, and our churches

c)this philosophy has taken our country by storm

2.the "Stylish Lust-filled Church" has shallow preaching (if any), is extremely activity oriented, and gives people what they want

3.the problem with "The Stylish Lust-filled Church" is that it does not give people what they need

a)"The Stylish Lust-filled Church" leads people down the wrong path

b)this kind of church leads people down a path of compromise, rebellion, worldliness, immorality, divorce, and lustful sin - 2 Timothy 3:5

(1)we need to turn away from this kind of church

(2)the "Stylish Lust-filled Church" has no power except fleshly power

4.they may have big crowds because they make people feel good, and they like it

a)they like their flesh to be entertained, thrilled, exalted, and excited

b)this kind of church is correctly describe in 2 Timothy 3:1-6

C.where does this "Stylish Lust-filled Church" path lead - 2Timothy 3:5-6

1.the "Stylish Lust-filled Church" only produces more of the same, people living for the lusts of the flesh

2.the Bible tells us what we are to do with such a church, "from such turn away"

a)we are to turn away from them because there is no real spiritual power there

b)sadly, many professed believers have been deceived into believing they have a relationship with God, when in reality they have no spiritual power, and are only living for their own lusts

c)this is the reason for so many train wrecks taking place in our churches, lives, and homes today       - Galatians 6:7-8

III.WE MUST NOT GO DOWN THE PATH THAT HAS NO POWER AND LEADS TO DESTRUCTION, THINKING WE REALLY HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

A.the "Stylish Lust-filled Church" will ultimately climax in the one world apostate church - Rev 3:14-18

1.what we see today is the forerunner of the one world apostate church

2.we must understand the only way to deal with our lusts is to really have an intimate, personal, passionate, relationship with the Savior

3.we need to understand that a real relationship with God comes from the heart, a right heart

4.because our heart is deceitful, we must guard our heart - Jeremiah 17:9; Proverbs 4:23

B.how can we keep ourselves from the error of the "Stylish Lust-filled Church"

1.ask God to search our heart, and make it plain what lusts we may be allowing to rule in our life, and then to lead us in His way - Psalms 139:23-24

2.we need to confess our sin, agree with God about our lust, and then turn from it - 1 John 1:9, Galatians 5:16-17

3.confessing only gives us fellowship, but that is not enough, we need to build an intimate, personal, passionate relationship with God

a)our life needs to have a real spiritual relationship; not a fleshly, lust-filled relationship that has no power

b)we need to spend time with God alone in His Word, and seek His face

c)we need to tell Him all that is on our heart

d)we must desire a holy life and ask God to make our life holy

4.we need to be in a church that truly desires to help us build a intimate, personal, passionate relationship with the Savior, so that we can have spiritual power in our life

a)this is the power that will affect our family for Christ

b)if we have a real relationship with the Savior, we will naturally desire to give that relationship to our children - Proverbs 23:26, Proverbs 22:6

C.the "Stylish Lust-filled Church" is a miserable spiritual failure

1.it leads people down the path of no spiritual power, and its end is the destruction of our spiritual life, home, and family; but it feels pretty good going there

2.many professing Christians and Pastors have been deceived by the apostasy of our day

3.the "Stylish Lust-filled Church" is a church of destruction, and not of real spiritual life

4.the "Stylish Lust-filled Church" is a church where sound doctrine does not mean anything

a)it is a church that appeals to the desires of the flesh, where the worship of God has been thrown out for the worship of the flesh

b)it is a church that worships music, activities, and externals; rather than God

D.are you a "Stylish Lust-filled Christian;" are you in a "Stylish Lust-filled Church;” if so, BEWARE