1 Corinthians 6:12-20
God is very clear on His commandment to flee fornication. In order to flee fornication, we need to know what it is and why we need to run from it as fast as we possibly can.
1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
Flee fornication. When you commit fornication, you’re sinning against your own body. So, what is fornication?
The Definition of Fornication
The first definition of fornication is the voluntary sexual intercourse between two unmarried persons or two persons not married to each other. And the second definition is idolatry or the worship of idols or excessive adoration, reverence, and devotion to something that isn’t God.
You are fornicating if you are having a sexual relationship with someone and you are not married. You are fornicating if you are worshipping idols, or you are putting other things above God. And both of these are closely related.
For example, God commands you to get married. And you think within yourself, “It’s better if I don’t get married because of this, because of that, or because of this.” You are making yourself out to know more than God. You put yourself and your thoughts above God.
If you’ve ever thought that way, and we all have before, but let’s say you’re still thinking that way right now, I want you to hear this Scripture.
Isaiah 55:6-7
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isaiah 55:8-9
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
You’re going to hear God’s way today. If you haven’t been doing things according to God’s way, it’s time to change that. “Let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him.” You need God’s mercy. Our ways, what we think is better, is not better.
His thoughts or higher than ours. Far greater. His ways are higher than our ways. Far higher. He knows better. So, please, I beseech you or beg you to get this fixed in your life. I am going to teach you what God says in the Bible. You need to be wise, hear God’s words to you, and immediately fix it.
Search the Scriptures for Fornication
When we search the Scriptures, we find four words related to fornication. You can see the results from searching through the Bible right here.
We find the words fornication, fornications, fornicators, and fornicator in the King James Bible. We only use the King James Version of the Bible here. We find 44 matches in 40 verses in the entire Bible.
We see 5 matches in the Old Testament and 35 matches in the New Testament. The Book of Revelation has the most with 10 matches followed by 1 Corinthians with 9 matches. We’re going to the first occurrence of the word fornication in the entire Bible.
The First Occurrence of the Word Fornication in the Bible
2 Chronicles 21:4-6
Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel. 5 Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD.
The first king related to the word fornication within the entire Bible is Jehoram. He is the son of Jehoshaphat a good king of Judah. But this son of Jehoshaphat takes a daughter of the evil king Ahab to wife. “And he wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord.”
You need to take a close look at your life, and you need to see if you’re doing evil according to God’s word. Watch what Jehoram does here.
2 Chronicles 21:11
Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto.
He made high places of worship. He caused the people to commit fornication. He compelled them to commit fornication. He urged them to do so. This world urges you to commit fornication. The music, the TV, the internet, the people, the celebrities, all urging you to commit fornication as if it’s a good thing.
Go out to the bars and find anyone you want to go home with for a night. They say it’s a good thing. They compel you to do these things. So called friends urge you to go with them. This is what king Jehoram was doing. Watch what happens here.
Compelling Others to Fornicate is Wicked
2 Chronicles 21:12-13
And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself:
Notice that God sends writing from a prophet or a preacher of God’s words. I’m reading the word of God to you right now. Look at verse 13 again. Fornication is related to whoredom.
Jehoram made the people commit fornication. Jehoram caused them to go a whoring, the Bible says. Whoredom is related to fornication according to the Bible. Like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab.
There are many more Scriptures related to the word whore. We see whore, whoredom, whoredoms, whoremonger, whoremongers, whores, whore’s, whoring, whorish. If we search the Scriptures for that, we see many more Scriptures. We see 99 matches in 82 more verses.
Genesis 38:24
And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.
God is very serious about these things. The world downplays everything as if it’s all okay. God is not okay with it. The man, Judah, was not Tamar’s husband. She is with child by whoredom. The definition of whoredom is lewdness or lust. It’s fornication. It’s that relationship outside of marriage. It’s also related to idolatry and is closely related to fornication.
Here’s What Happened Due to Fornication
Because Jehoram caused the people to commit fornication, watch what happens to him in this next Scripture.
2 Chronicles 21:14-16
Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods: 15 And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day. 16 Moreover the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians:
2 Chronicles 21:17-18
And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons. 18 And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.
Is that what you want out there? God smote Jehoram in his bowels or intestines with an incurable disease. It would never be cured.
2 Chronicles 21:19
And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.
Remember, this is the first set of Scripture in the Bible that uses the word fornication. You can see how serious God is about this great sin. It’s a horrible sin, and we need to get it right today. His bowels fell out by reason of sickness. So, why is this sin of fornication such a great sin? Why do you need to FLEE FORNICATION! God commands you to run from it.
Flee or Run As Fast as You Can From Fornication
Flee means to run with rapidity as from danger. To attempt escape. To hasten from danger or expected evil. Evil from God is coming for you. Why am I preaching this? TO HELP YOU!!! Flee means to depart, to leave, to hasten away, to avoid, to keep a great distance from. Stay away from fornication. Don’t even get close to it. Why is this sin so bad?
1 Corinthians 6:12-13
All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. 13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
Don’t be brought under the power of any lusts of the flesh. Meat will be destroyed. The belly will be destroyed. Your body, God says, is not for fornication. Don’t even go there. Your body is for who according to verse 13 right there? “Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.”
1 Corinthians 6:14-16
And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. 15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
If you are saved now, God says that your bodies are the members of Christ. Are you then going to take the members of Christ, YOUR BODY IS HIS NOW, and make them members of an harlot or a woman that you are not married to? GOD FORBID.
If you are joined to a woman that is not your wife, you are becoming one flesh with that woman. And you are committing great sin. It’s tome to get married.
Get Married and Appease God’s Wrath Against You
1 Corinthians 6:17-20
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
You have the Spirit of God within you now. Flee fornication. You sin against your own body. And, now, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you. You are not your own. God bought you with a great price, His Son Jesus Christ. You are His.
Hey, because of all this, instead of fornicating, instead of doing evil, do it right. Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. God says it’s a good thing to get married. Why not? My wedding was one of the best days of my life. My wife is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Marriage is great. Why not?
God is for marriage. He’s against fornication. Why in the world would you want to fornicate. God will be against you. I promise you don’t want that. That’s the one thing you don’t want.
1 Corinthians 7:1-3
Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. 3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
To avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife. And let every woman have her own husband. My wife is mine and no one else. I am hers and no one else. We do good to each other. Not evil. We look out for each other. We love each other. We help each other. We avoid fornication by marrying.
Marriage is Once for Life
It’s natural for a man to want a woman and a woman to want a man. But it’s not good unless you are married. And you are to marry once for life. And you are not to divorce unless it’s for the cause of fornication.
1 Corinthians 7:9
But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.
When the Bible says burn, it means burn in lust one to another. You are not to have a sexual relationship until you are married. And until you are married, it is good for a man not to touch a woman and burn in lust one towards another.
And to show you how serious God is about fornication, I’ll give you a few more examples here from the Bible about punishments received because of fornication.
1 Corinthians 10:6-8
Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
23,000 lost their life.
Numbers 25:1-5
And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 3 And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. 4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel. 5 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal-peor.
We see whoredom. If that doesn’t scare you about fornication, let me read you the next set of Scripture. You might say, “Well, that’s the Old Testament.” Just remember in Malachi 3 verse 6, God says, “For I am the Lord, I change not.” So we go to the very end of the New Testament in the Book of Revelation. This is written to a church just as we are a church.
This is the New Testament Scripture from Jesus Christ
Revelation 2:20-21
Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. 21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
God is against us if we allow fornication in any way within this church. We need to get it fixed as fast as possible.
Jezebel was teaching and seducing saved servants of God to commit fornication. God gave her space and time to repent. We are to give people space and time to repent of this sin. Once you know the truth, it’s time to get it fixed immediately. She repented not. And what happens? Let’s see. The Bible tells us.
Revelation 2:22
Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
God says that He will cast her and those that commit adultery with her into great tribulation except they repent. God is giving you time to get it fixed. It’s time to get it fixed. If not, God says GREAT TRIBULATION or great troubles like you’ve never seen. But that’s not all.
Revelation 2:23
And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
The Penalty for Fornication Might be Death
Hey, that’s scary. If you want to go against God when you know something is evil such as fornication or a sexual relationship outside of marriage because you think God is okay with it when He’s not, He says: “And I will kill her children with death.” That’s Jesus Christ speaking.
He owns life. He can take it. He says, “I kill and I make alive.” He is the owner of life.
This is a great warning to you today from God’s words. God says, “I will give unto every one of you according to your works.” Yes, we are saved. Yes, we have everlasting life. But please know today and understand that you will get paid for what you do whether good or evil.
Do evil and get evil. Do good and get good. It’s your choice. Fornication or marriage. Evil or good. Do you want to please God or make God angry? It’s your choice. Make the right choice and get things right today. Flee fornication. Get away from it as fast as you can.
Let’s pray.
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