Creflo Dollar - The Behavior and Character of the Last Day Society - Part 8
Let's go to 1 Corinthians 7, verse 8 through 9. 1 Corinthians 7, verses 8 through 9. Verse 8 and 9 says this, "I say therefore to the unmarried and the widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I". Now, Paul is talking here, so he's talking about it's good for them if they abide single, without being married like Paul was. He says, "But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn". And the implication here is to burn in lust. He says it's better for you to be married than to burn in lust.
Now, the Bible encourages a couple that is struggling with sexual temptation to marry rather than to burn with passion. Now, this is assuming, of course, that the couple is ready for marriage, and you're going through counseling. It doesn't mean because you are burning with lust, go ahead and get married. It means if you are burning with lust and passion for that person, go ahead and proceed within the process of preparing for marriage. It doesn't mean leave stuff out. Get marriage counseling, continue to get to know one another, all that kind of stuff. Proceed with your preparation for marriage. I know people who got married because they were burning with lust, and that didn't resolve the problem because that lust was bigger than the marriage because their motivation was just the lust, okay?
And so, he is saying to you, don't do this. Get married. That just shows you Paul is saying, like, there is no where where this is gonna be honorable except in marriage. And he wants you to begin to walk like that. But again today, "This is tomfoolery. I don't want to hear this. This is something that I don't agree with. I'm gonna keep doing what I want to do". I know, you're doing it right now. But I am saying that that is a doctrine of demons and most of the world has fallen for it. Galatians chapter 6, verses 7 through 8, Galatians chapter 6, verses 7 through 8. Verse 7 and 8 he says, "Be not deceived". Now, this is interesting. "God is not mocked. God is not mocked". The word "mock" means to pretend in order to deceive. When you mock, you're pretending in order to deceive. And he says, "Don't be deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap". Verse 8. "For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption".
God is not mocked. You can't pretend in order to deceive. You so to the flesh, you're gonna read from the flesh. Corruption, you see how plainly that goes against sinning against the body. "He that sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap," what? Life everlasting. So again, to pretend in order to deceive. Now, you cannot do that to God without consequences. He showed you right there. You can't mock God and there not be consequences. And you can't do that with marriage without consequences. And living together is literally a mockery or an imitation of marriage in that it does not require a public commitment or a lifetime vow of faithfulness. It's a mockery. Living together and cohabiting together, it's literally a mockery. You're trying to pretend in order to deceive. And the imitation of marriage in that it does not require a public commitment.
So, you're living together without a public commitment, which marriage requires. You're living together without a lifetime vow of faithfulness, which it requires. And so, you're pretending to be married. And there's no lifetime commitment. There's no public vow. And that's big. Come on. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, I got a lot to cover here. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 in the ESV. Let's read verse 2 through 6. He says, "For this is the will of God". He says, "Your sanctification is the will of God". Your separation unto him, that's the will of God. He said, "That you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust, like Gentiles who do not know God," or people who don't believe in God, who do not know God. That no one transgress and wrong his brother, in this manner, wrong his brother.
I want to show you what does it mean to wrong your brother. "No one transgress or wrong his brother in this matter, in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you before and solemnly warned of you". Now, to round someone in this particular verse here, it means to exceed the proper limits. Think about it. You're getting married, having sex in marriage, doing all the things that you do in marriage. You have exceeded the proper limits. Those are scheduled for marriage, not for shacking up. To take advantage means to defraud or to take more than you're entitled to. You're shacking up, you're cohabiting, and you're taking more than what you're entitled to. There are things you're not entitled to it outside the marriage institution. Sex is one of those things that you're not entitled to.
So, when you're married, you're entitled to it. But when you're not married, you're exceeding the limits, and you're taking advantage, and you're taking more than what you're entitled to. And when you live together, you exceed the limits God has set for us. We take more than we're entitled to. And that's what happens when you live together, you take more. And I tell you what, in a cohabiting situation, what happens is eventually when you're taking more than what you're entitled to, eventually there's a resistance gonna be there. "I ain't married to you". "You ain't got it done, Freddie"? "No, you do it. I ain't married to you". "All right, what happened to my item, whatever it was, my computer or something like that"? "Well, I got it". "That's mine. That's yours over here".
Now you're creating this selfishness that says "That's mine and that's yours" situation. "That's mine that's yours" situation and now if you ever do decide to get married, it's gonna be almost impossible to achieve oneness because you have trained yourself in "That's mine, that's yours". Wow. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 4. Hebrews 13 and verse 4, verse 4 says this, "Marriage is honourable in all," except for this generation. This generation, it's not honorable. And we use excuses like, "Well, we've seen so many marriages that were bad, so we just decided not to get married". I mean, listen, for you to make a decision to be single, that's fine, that's fine. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about for you to make a decision to pretend like you're married without the institution and the things that God had intended where marriage is concerned. I'm talking about the pretenders. I'm talking about somebody shacking up, racking up, stacking up. That's what I'm talking about. He said, "Marriage is honourable in all".
Now, how can the Word say marriage is honorable, and then you say it's not? Marriage is honorable. "I don't think it is". And that's the doctrine of demons. They taught people that marriage is not honorable. It is okay for you to just live together. That's what the... see, we don't even know demonic influence when we see it. He says, "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed".
Now notice, he brings this in because the bed was intended for marriage. He says, "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed is undefiled," when it's within the institution of marriage. "But whoremongers and adulterers God will judge". Listen to me carefully now. The marriage bed can only be kept pure when the sexual relationship is kept within the marriage. The marriage bed can only... see you're taking what was meant for the marriage and you're using it in your cohabiting. You're supposed to be having sex, cohabiting. It's supposed to be for marriage. It was created for marriage. The marriage bed is defiled when it is used in a cohabiting situation.
"Ain't nothing wrong with trying it out". Where'd you get that from? It's not in the Bible. You got it from the norms and values of the world. "Well, I want to know what I'm getting before I get married". Where'd you get that from? What are you doing? Where'd you get that from? I'm so glad I'm married and the reason why is 'cause I don't even know, I just gotta be honest with you, I don't even know, this is sad. I don't. Oh, God, how do I say this? I don't even know, I don't. You already know what I'm trying to say. You don't know what you're getting. I don't even know. I'm glad I'm married. I'm so glad I'm married. I'm so glad that I'm married. I know exactly what I got. I got exactly what I expected. Praise God.
But God forbid if something were to happen to my wife, I don't know. I just don't know. I don't know you. I don't know what you used to be, where you come from, what you changed, what happened. I don't know if them your eyelashes. I don't know if that's your, I don't know if that's a wig. I don't know if that's your real hair. I don't know if you got hips. I don't want to marry you and you start taking legs off, hips off, butt cheeks off. I don't know. I mean, the butt look good, then you touch it, it feel like concrete. I don't know what you're getting. I don't know what you're getting. Are those real? Have they been inflated? I don't know what I'm getting. I'm skurd. I'm skurd. I don't know what I'm getting. 'Cause you put makeup on, everybody look beautiful.
What am I getting when the makeup off? You talk nice while we out, but is it gonna turn ghetto fabulous when, you know, we get married. I mean, we wake up one morning you like, "You know, now hey, can you go get me... I need something to drink right now. I mean, you know, I'm", I'll be, ahh, what? What happened to your articulation? "Articulation, I ain't got time for that, man. You know, I gotta to the club tonight". The what? "The club, the club, you know, the club tonight". What? Or you marry this guy, you really like him, you love him, and there's one thing you don't know about it. He lazy. He's sorry. You made an appointment to get your hair fixed, he got an appointment at same place. You exfoliating and he joining you. Marriage is honorable in all and to have sex outside of the institution, defiles the bed. He's just simply talking about sex outside of marriage, defiles that bed. That bed is honorable, and that bed is something to be honored. But a whoremonger and an adulterer, God will judge.
Now, I want you to listen to this. I want to make sure I say this right. I wrote this down. He says, the marriage bed can only be kept pure, what? When the sexual relationship is kept within the marriage. So, why would you invite God's judgment into your partner's life? That's a lack of love right there. The guy that says, "I love you," and you invite God's judgment into your partner's life. Why rob them of God's blessing? That's what you're doing. You're robbing them of God's blessing, and you act like you just can't help it. You can help it. You can do it. Taffi and I did it. I mean, we didn't do it, but we were successful at honoring God by not having sex. I wanted to. I wanted to fall, but the institution, everything that I was taught and learned, the honor, the honor. I think we dated for, what, three years? The honor, the honor, the honor. That's a sign of the time, honorless society. No honor. The honor of waiting.
"Don't nobody do that no", I can hear people saying that online, "Don't nobody do that no more. That's old-fashioned". Honey, you need some of that old-fashioned right now today. You need some of that old-fashioned right now today. Now, right along here, somebody says, "But what about grace"? Would you please go to Titus? "What about grace"? You misunderstand this. When people do things wrong, Titus 2, verses 11 through 3. When people do things wrong, the first thing they do is say, "God loves me". Well, honey, God loved you when you were a crazy fool on your way to hell. What's that have to do with it? You can't be in the middle of living crazy and then say, "Well, God loves me" to make you feel better about what you're doing. Yeah, God's always loved you. God is love and nothing will interrupt his love for you. "But what about grace"? Grace is not your license or your permission to sin. Grace is your way out of it. Let me show you this right quick. He says, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation has appeared to all men".
So, here's what God has done for everybody in the world. Salvation is available for everybody in the whole world. But notice what this grace does. It teaches us, all right now, watch this. Grace doesn't teach the world. Grace only teaches us who are Christians. Those who are born again, grace teaches you who are saved. Grace doesn't teach those who are not saved. The only thing that grace made available to those who are not saved is the opportunity to get saved. Do you see that? Grace teaches us. Now, there are three things that grace teaches us. It teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. All right, so number one, grace teaches you how to deny ungodliness. Now, what is ungodliness? Ungodliness, most of you will start talking about all the acts of sin. "Oh, it's wickedness. It's lying and cheating and it's fornication, and that's ungodliness". I thank God that I'm committed to not stop growing. I used to think the same thing. I used to call all those things out as wickedness. But you know what ungodliness is? Ungodliness is a disregard for God. It means to disregard God. In other words, there is no submitting to what God thinks about this. There is no depending on God. There is no trusting God.
See, you can be perfect in not doing none of those acts of wickedness, and still be ungodly because you still disregard God in your life. You can keep all the Ten Commandments and still disregard God in your life, and you will still be considered ungodly because it's a disregard of God. And I say, oh, my God, I see that very clearly. God wants us to depend on him. God wants us to acknowledge him. God wants us to, what does he think about this? God wants us to give him the glory. God wants us to do all those things. And we're just so stuck on the cheaper. "Well, you did that, that's wicked, that's wicked, that's wicked, that's wicked". Not to say you should do those things, but ungodliness is more than those fruits of wickedness. The thing that causes you to get involved in those fruits of wickedness is you totally disregard him. And you can disregard him where marriage is concerned. You can be loving and kind and all those things, and disregard him where marriage is concerned and continue to live in a cohabiting situation.
And that is a disregard for God, which makes you ungodly, why? Because you disregard God. You disregard his Word. You disregard his path. And he says he's gonna teach you to deny disregarding God and start submitting to him, checking with him, giving him glory, allow him to help you and make you and supply for you. And worldly lusts. And then the second thing he teaches us is that we should live soberly, righteously, and godly. So, first thing he teaches us to deny disregarding God. The second thing he teaches us is "I want you to live a life", here's godliness. Godliness is the very opposite. "I want you to live a life regarding God. I want you to live a life where you're depending on God. I want you to live a life where you're acknowledging God. I want you to live a life where God is leading you and guiding you. I want you to live a life where his Word means something. I want you to live a life that's gonna be honorable to God". And the Bible says that grace is gonna teach you how to live a godly life where you regard God in everything that happens in your life and that you don't live a life in a cohabiting situation because you decide, "I don't regard God".
And that's what the world is today. This is a sign of the time. People are shacking up because they disregard God. "I'm not interested in sober living. I'm not interested in righteous living. I am not interested in godliness. Therefore, I will continue to disregard him. And while you're at it, Pastor Dollar, I disregard you today. I disregard your message today, and I am clicking off, bam, right now 'cause I disregard everything you're saying". Well, don't write me in a letter 'cause I'm not teaching this to see if I can get your agreement. I'm teaching the 'cause it's right. It's right. So, number one, number two. Now he teaches us a third thing. Look at verse 13. I've never put this in here. But he says, "The third thing I'm gonna teach you is to look for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearance of the great God our Saviour Jesus Christ". You know what he says? The grace of God will teach you to deny ungodliness. The grace of God will teach you how to live godly. And the grace of God will teach you how to live every life expecting the appearance of Jesus. What will that do to the stuff in your life when you wake up every day expecting the appearance of Jesus? And he said, "Grace is gonna teach you how to expect the appearance of Jesus".
I wake up every day now thinking about, man, is this today? Every sound that sounds like a trumpet, I look up because I'm like, "This is the day". And the more and more you start expecting his appearance, the lesser and lesser you're interested in not being ready for that appearance. And you know what I mean. You're ready because you saved, but you want to do all you can for the Lord before this thing's closed down, before we enter into eternity, before we step out of time into eternity. You don't want to meet Jesus with any regrets. You don't want to meet Jesus and see yourself sitting in the dome knowing you should have got saved, but you disregarded God. You disregarded the Word. You disregard the pastors. You've disregarded everything, and you chose the norms and the values of this present world.
You see, there's a great falling away that takes place, but it's not gonna be with us. We're gonna regard God. We're gonna regard him in everything. We're gonna regard him in everything. Every job we take, we're going to God, find out if it's okay. Every situation that happens, we're going to God and find out if it's okay. Every time that happens, we're gonna pray to God. And every time he does something for our life, we're gonna tell people about it. We're gonna give him the glory. We're gonna give him thanksgiving. We're gonna give him praise. We're gonna shout in our bathrooms when nobody else is around except me and you and God. This is what I'm talking about. It's regarding him. That's what grace has to say about it. He said the marriage is honorable in all, and the marriage bed is undefiled. Okay. "I live for you, Lord. Okay, maybe my flesh doesn't want to do that. Maybe everybody else is doing that. But Lord, I'm with you".