Chapter 9, Part 7

Repent

“If My people who are called by my name will humble
themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from
their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and
forgive their sin and heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14

What does repent mean? Repent is to feel bad enough about our behavior to want to change it. The Spirit of God convicts us and we acknowledge our true nature. We accept that in and of ourselves we can do no good thing. Meaning, if you are in a fornicating relationship, you stop it. You do not try to justify it, you give it up. All those who are living together move out and get their own places, until marriage. There are people who are going to read this and know that God has been convicting them deep in their spirits about this very thing. Because of your selfish desires you have ignored it. How can you claim to represent the Living God and be living like this and expecting God to bless this union. The scriptures say that you are crucifying Christ all over again and putting Him to shame.[1] Christ has already died for you, so that you may overcome this and every other sin. It is not anything that you have earned it is something you accept. It is already done; either you accept it or you do not. It is like the teaching Christ gave to the young rich man. He told him to sell all that he had period. He did not try to coax him or convince him, He simply stated it and allowed him to choose.[2] So it is with us the Spirit simply convicts us and then it is up to us to choose.

True repentance comes when the damage to our relationship to God bothers us more than the damage to our relationship to men. Make no mistake sin damages my relationship with God. It puts a cloud between God and me. I can be of no value to God if I am living in sin. Many Christians today believe that they can be unfaithful to God in some areas of their lives and faithful in others. As if obeying God is something you can negotiate. The scriptures say “I desire faithfulness, not sacrifice, says the LORD”.[3] We have this foolish belief that because God needs us or loves us that we can do whatever we want and He still has to use and keep us. This thinking fails to understand that it is not our efforts that accomplishes anything. Consider all the great efforts of man to end hunger in the world or poverty. How are those great plans working out? It is God who does the accomplishing.

We miss true repentance when all we become is remorseful for being caught or for having made stupid mistakes and feeling disgusted. There is a point in everyones life sinner or saint when we realize that we do not do sin, but that we are sin. That we are born into a sinful nature and it is only the redemptive work of Christ that allows us to stand before our Creator. None of our efforts produce redemption, not even being sorry for our actions. We should get over our proper goodness and see ourselves as God sees us. When that state is reached you will want to be the opposite of what you were, but again by the grace of God.

“Come now let us reason together, “says the LORD, though your
sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they
are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing
and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.”
Isaiah 1:18

As the scripture says, God would like nothing better than to forgive us our sins and to renew His fellowship relationship with us. All He ask is that we acknowledge, confess, repent, and become willing to obey His Word. This deadly spiral that we are on can only be broken by the power of God. Only by the Spirit of God is sin overcome, we are not able to resist without help. This sin is so ingrained now in our culture and daily lives that only by the power of God will it end. So entrenched is the sin of fornication in our culture that we no longer even think twice when we hear of people living together without the benefit of marriage or when we see young unwed women with multiple children from different men. It has become commonplace in our community and there are few voices decrying this situation. Only God can forgive sin and renew our covenant relationship with Him. The Bible says, “that all of our righteousness is as filthy rags to God”.[4][5] We of ourselves cannot save ourselves, therefore all of our trust and faith must be in Christ. As Job stated, “I know that my redeemer lives and that in the end, He will stand on the earth.”

Repentance is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Throughout the teachings of Christ, the message was and to this day continues to be repent and receive the Kingdom of God.[6] Our repentance is completed when we acknowledge what God through Christ Jesus has done for us. Someone died in our place pure and simple and God wants us to acknowledge that fact and not skirt around the issue. We are not to believe that we were innocent or that our behavior was not that bad, but that someone took our place on the sacrificial altar. So much of the world’s daily message is in denying and refuting this simple fact. If we accept what God has done, there comes a responsibility. We should change, we must repent. God’s saving grace only makes sense in that He is able to take an evil man and change him into a righteous man. It makes no sense in the circumstance of taking an almost righteous or a good man and making him better.

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[1] Hebrews 5:6

[2] Mark 10:21

[3] Hosea 6:6

[4] Isaiah 64:6

[5] Job 19:25

[6] Matthew 4:17

Chapter 7 Part 9 & Chapter 8 Part 1 The Church

Children need our direction and our support. More than anything, they should have our time and our experiences. We should spend more time with them sharing how they might avoid our mistakes. We should have those who have fallen to come and share their consequences with the younger ones. Simply to show them that you can choose what you want, but these are the consequences. All we should do is present them with the truth and let them decide. No scare tactics or false promises, just give them the facts. I believe that if given the facts, the truth, our children will make the right decisions. The problem is that we hide those who have fallen and present a false sense of reality. People fall, we all do. Let the children see and talk to pregnant unwed mothers and talk to single parents. Let them see the struggles and hear first hand what awaits the choices they make. Let them see the results of fornication without moralizing, but in its pure form. It is funny how we use these techniques for the symptoms (drug/alcohol abuse, crime, and anger) but not for the true cause; fornication. We should be willing to try new approaches to break this cycle. The old ways are obviously not working.

CHAPTER 8

The Church*

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because
you have rejected knowledge. I also reject you from
being a priest for Me; Because you have forgotten
the law of your God. I also will forget your children.”
Hosea 4:6

I would be remiss if I did not make mention of what I believe has been one of the enablers of this epidemic of fornication. Unfortunately, it is the institution that should have helped to curb its effects. The church because of its failure to condemn sin has allowed the problem to escalate. Due to its public silence on this issue, many have taken that silence to mean there has been a change in God’s laws. In its efforts to embrace the world, some churches have forsaken the Word and the laws of God. The church was suppose to give the people knowledge of God and His commandments, instead the modern church has developed this doctrine of complete grace. In other words, they preach only part of the Gospel. They preach that Christ is savior, but not Lord. Yes, Christ died for our sins, but we must also obey Him. This complete grace is not the Gospel of Christ. The gospel of the early Church spoke of the Kingdom of God, that Kingdom has laws like every other kingdom. As citizens of this or any kingdom, we must obey its laws. It is that simple. Anyone preaching anything other than this should beware. Many of today’s mainstream churches preach this grace only gospel. It is easy and sounds nice. It is this preaching that allows this country to claim 90% believers in God, yet lead the world in all the sinful categories. We preach the dying, but not the living. The Bible says we serve the God of the living.[1] The church should set the example for the world, not the other way around. The modern church follows the lead of the world. True Christianity is not based on opinion polls or political correctness, it is based on the risen Christ. Is there any doubt that Jesus Christ left us with commandments? If so, why are we not teaching and obeying them? Has God suddenly for this age changed His mind after thousands of years? Has there been some new revelation that now discounts the commandments of God? The Bible that I read says, “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever.[2] The church has allowed itself to be corrupted by the world.

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* The term church is used to describe the mainstream church, there are many churches who are trying to follow the true teachings of Christ.

[1] Matthew 22:32

[2] Hebrews 13:8

Chapter 7 Part 2

Young Men

Now for the young men, I know that you are angry and that you have not received the guidance and legacy that you deserve. You did not ask to be brought into this fallen world with all of its injustice and seemingly endless obstacles or into this condition of fornication and sin. However, none the less you are here. For many of you the men who fathered you did not teach, lead, and guide you as they should have. Many of you may not even know who your fathers are or they refuse to have any contact with you. Some may not even acknowledge you as their sons, but it is not your fault. So often children can not understand or acknowledge that those who have been placed in a position to protect them sometimes fail. Therefore, many children blame themselves, which leads to self-hate, which in turn breeds self-destructive behavior. We put ourselves in positions of danger, because we feel as though no one cares anyway. There is one who cares and loves you and that is God. Though the world may disappoint you and everything appears to be against you, trust in Him who loves you. God has a special love for children, especially fatherless ones. The Bible says that in God the fatherless find mercy.[1] There are no words I can write to make right what has happened to many of you, but know this that God can and will heal you if you seek Him. He is the only One who can. If you continue down the road you are traveling on the results will be the penitentiary or death.

I remember for so much of my youth I thought if I just found the right woman, the right job, or the right amount of money I would be all right. What I have since learned is that it is not what is on the outside of me that brings me joy, but it is what or who is on the inside of me. What I needed on the inside was the Spirit of God living inside of my heart. There was a hole inside of me and no matter how much I tried to fill it with drugs, alcohol, money and every other manner of sin I could think of, nothing would fill it. That was because only one thing can fill it. God placed the hole there for a reason, only one thing can ever fill that void. That One is He who created you and the hole, God. Until we fill the hole with God nothing will ever satisfy us. The more you get the more you want. Have you ever noticed how no matter how much of anything we get it is never enough. I was never satisfied and neither will you be. All the money, cars, and women are passing they do not last. The pleasures of sin are only for a season.[2] The thing we must remember is that the game we are playing is a trap. The drug game looks like easy money, but look at the retirement plan. Most of the players end up locked up for a long time or dead.

“There is a way which seems right to a man,
but its ends are the ways of death.”
Proverbs 14:12

The things you desire seem like good things to pursue because they are constantly being displayed on television and in the movies. But think about it, what makes any of these people promoting these things any different from you? Nothing, they are being exalted by the world. The world loves its own. The “celebrities” are people who have given up certain things for their fame. When the fame fades they will be left with the consequences of their choices. This world is out to kill and destroy you. The ruler of this world is Satan, the devil. If you follow the world, you follow the devil. If your desires are the riches of this world, you desire the things of the devil. Do not make idols of the “celebrities” of this world; they are no more human or special than you are. Do not be misled they possess no power or anything greater than what you have. Seek after God; whose riches are not fleeting but eternal. Because you have chosen to go your own way and not chosen the way of the Lord, there are certain consequences. God gave us free will to choose our own path, but if we choose our own will then He allows the consequences to happen. Not to punish us, but to lead us back to Him. Because you have forgotten God and chosen to not believe, God has allowed certain things to happen.

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[1] Hosea 14:3

[2] Hebrews 11:25

Chapter 3 Part 4

6) Lack of respect

“…But a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.”
Proverbs 29:15

Another problem with fornication is that it causes us to lose respect for ourselves, our bodies, and the other person. You cannot respect others if you do not respect yourself. By fornicating you lose the sanctity of your own body. You profane the temple of the Holy Spirit. Your body becomes a tool against itself. When we can no longer resist our fleshly desires and become slaves to them, we lose respect for ourselves. We become disappointed in ourselves for our failure to withstand the onslaught of the flesh. Over the course of time, we become addicted to our pleasure and lose our identities. We become nothing more than instruments of gratification, losing our God given human dignity. God created us to be more than just sexual organs. We were designed to reflect the image of God on earth. I believe that we were created for a higher purpose than cheap sexual pleasure. Self-respect is gained through accomplishments of a higher level than the number of sexual partners or conquests we have. Men are not immune to this loss of respect. The more sexual partners we have the more of an object we become and the less respect we have for ourselves. When people become objects to us it does not matter who or what they are. It is no longer about them, it becomes about my selfish pleasure and me. There were times when I would be with someone that I not only did not know, but what I did know about her I did not like. That did not prevent me from having a sexual relationship. When our sexual desires become perverted it does not matter whom we are with, it only matters what we want. For some unknown reason many modern Christians believe they are entitled to some sort of exemption from God’s laws and God’s word. I think a lot of them are going to be in for a rude awakening. At some point in my life I came up with the mistaken idea that the rules did not apply to me. The laws of man and nature no longer held me in their limits. I was of course wrong and the results of my life bear witness to my error. I believed that I was smarter, cooler, slicker than everyone else so what happened to you would not happen to me. The laws of God apply to all, there are none who are exempt, none.

7) Deterioration of society

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.”
Isaiah 5:20

The Bible tells us woe to any society that does not obey God’s laws. The insidious nature of fornication is that it perverts God’s plan for the family. Without commitment between a man and a woman there is nothing holding together the fabric of the family or the fabric of society. God’s plan for us is more than momentary pleasure with no thought to the consequences. For a while now we have seen the signs of our society and community deteriorating. Our historical institutions are crumbling under the weight of this sinful epidemic. Crime in our community has reached new levels of savagery. It is no longer safe for children to pay outside or for old people to walk down the streets. Our community and neighborhoods have become war zones. Granted, society as a whole is falling apart, but it seems to be at an accelerated pace for us. The institutions that use to give us stability have not been able or willing to stem this tide of lawlessness. I believe the reason is their failure to address this crisis of fornication. I think that on further investigation many of our “so called” leaders may themselves be participating in this sinful activity. How many times have we heard on the news or read in the newspaper that some leader is confessing to having an illegitimate child from an illicit affair. It would be difficult for them to condemn what they themselves are guilty of committing. We have allowed society to dictate to us what is right and wrong and not relied on the word of God. Many black churches in particular and many modern churches as a whole have chosen their master and it does not appear to be God. If it were, they would not continue to condone through lack of condemnation, this problem. With no clear direction, it is no wonder our children are continuing down this slippery slope to hell. If I have been a fornicator and have not repented, how can I teach others not to do it with any conviction? It is like me telling my kids not to do drugs while puffing on a marijuana cigarette, kind of loses some weight. I do not know if our community can withstand another generation of angry children.