Description
SEXUAL REVOLUTION
Heaven on Earth
Ed Young
September 24, 2006
Sex is between the ears before it’s between the legs. When you think about sex, do you think about God at the same time? If you don’t, I don’t think you’re really thinking. If you do connect God and sex in the same thought process, I believe you’re thinking right.
The goal of this series called Sexual Revolution is for us to think right. I’ll say it once again. Sex is between the ears before it’s between the legs. We’ve got to think right. We’re not thinking right when it comes to sex. Our culture ambushes us with all these sexual ideas and thoughts. We drive down the freeway and see a billboard; we channel-surf and see a commercial. It’s on the internet, with clothing, everywhere we turn. The world is saying, “Do it! Do it! And do it some more! Do it with whomever! Whenever! Whatever! However!”
And now and then, we’ll stumble into church, and the church will whisper, “Don’t do it. Don’t even think about it. If you do it, you’re going to hell!”
Talk about some confusing messages. Talk about some weird vibes. Do we deny the fact that we’re sexual? Do we pretend like we don’t have these urges? Or, are we enslaved to our desires? Do we say, “I can’t help myself? I’m just a person with these desires, with these urges, and I’ve got to go for it. I’ve got to do it with whomever, whenever, and however”?
If you have your Bibles, turn to Genesis 1. I’ll read verses 26 and 27, because today we’re going to find out the way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel determines the way you act. The way you think determines the way you feel; the way you feel determines how you behave.
Genesis 1:26-27, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
The goal of Genesis 1 is for us to be fully human. That’s huge to download that. That’s God’s goal—for us to be fully alive, to hit on all cylinders, to experience an abundant life. That’s what Genesis 1 is driving at. The goal is for us to be fully human.
When Adam and Eve were in the Garden, they didn’t run behind some bushes and make love for the first time, and then emerge and say, “Hey God! Guess what we did? It’s incredible! Guess what we discovered?”
And God didn’t say, “Whoa! You can do that? The parts fit? I had no idea!”
It didn’t happen that way. Sex begins in heaven. God thought it up. He’s the designer. Our God is pro-sex. Sex is primarily for pleasure and secondarily for procreation. If you have a problem with us talking about it in church, you, my friend, have a problem with God. It’s time to get the bed back in church and the church back in the bed. But for far too long, we’ve taken the bed out of the church and kicked the church (like Chuck Norris does) out of the bed.
Why do we have this weird vibe? Why do we get all nervous and tense when we talk about sex—especially in church? I can tell a lot of you are wigged because this bed is on stage. Some of you are saying, “Wow! That statement you made, Ed, I’m not sure about that. Sex starts between the ears before it goes between the legs? I’m not sure about that. I just don’t like that. I have a problem with that. I have a push-back to that.”
Well we’re going to talk about why you feel that way over the next few moments, because it’s not right thinking. We need to connect God and sex. Every time we think about sex, we should think about God. And if we’re doing that, we’re thinking right. Because the way we think determines the way we feel; the way we feel determines the way we act. God wants us to have big sex. That’s what God wants. Not little sex, but big sex. Are you having big sex or small sex?
Just wait for a second, okay? Just hold on, I’ll be back, okay?
[Ed runs back stage and comes out with a dog bed.]
Really, the choice is up to you, because our culture is all about small sex. Our world says, “It’s just sex,” and a lot of people are crawling into bed and we’re just having small sex.
“Oh, man, I’m really having sex. Oh, I’m discovering what sex is all about.”
And we move from bed to bed, from bed to bed, from bed to bed to bed. “Oh, I’m really feeling it!”
What’s the goal of Genesis 1? It’s for us to be fully human. We’re not animals. Say it with me. We’re not animals. We’re not animals. But our culture says, “You know what? We’re animals.”
So the choice is up to you and me. We either have big sex or small sex. We can have sex in the marriage bed; one man, one woman reflective of the nature and character of God, worshipping through sexual intercourse, mirroring the Trinity. Or we can have little sex and do it the way culture says.
A man’s organs are on the outside. He’s made for penetration. A woman’s organs are internal. She’s made for response, to receive that. We’re made like God. God wants his love to penetrate your heart and soul and my heart and soul, and also we’re made to receive God’s love.
Thus, in the act of marriage, you have a life-uniting act and a life-uniting covenant. That’s where we can really be free and discover the depth and the mystery of sex.
But you can, if you want to, have small sex. Because the world says, “Oh, man, get a piece of that. Jump in bed with that. Do it whenever, whomever, however. It’ll be awesome!”
Is it really awesome? Some of you are saying, “Well, yeah, it’s awesome,” because you’re sleeping in the dog bed and you think you’ve beat the odds. You think you have found it. You think it’s nirvana with all the thrills and chills and ecstasy. But maybe, just maybe, you’re signing up for something you didn’t plan on. And we’re going to unpack that and talk about that today. We’re not animals, are we?
Sex is something we are before it’s something we do. The first question ever asked about me or about you was a sexual question. “Is it a boy or a girl?” That’s a sexual question. Sex is something we are before it’s something we do. Whenever we hear the word “sex,” we think about sexual intercourse. It’s hilarious.
I talked to somebody the other day and they were filling out this application. It had a space that said “sex.” And this person said, “What am I supposed to put? Yes, please? Or, once in Vegas? I don’t know.” Some of you will get that later.
RIGHT THINKING LEADS TO RIGHT LIVING
Sex is for the marriage bed. It’s a life-uniting act in a life-uniting covenant. Right thinking leads to right living.
Here’s what a father said to his son in Proverbs. And I’m going to warn you, this is pretty explicit. But again, if you have a problem, don’t send me email. I don’t read email anyway. Try some knee-mail and talk to God about it, because some of you got some funk on you. You’ve got some stuff on you that keeps you all nervous and freaky when anybody talks about sex—especially in church. And I’m going to tell you why you think that way in a second.
Proverbs 5:15-23, “Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?” (Is he talking about what I’m thinking he’s talking about? Yeah!) “Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love. Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man’s wife? For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD, and He examines all his paths. The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.”
Here’s what a husband and wife were talking about on their wedding night. Again, this is in the Bible. I’m just reading God’s Word—the B-I-B-L-E, that’s the book for me. That’s the sexual book for me.
Song of Solomon 4:11-15, “Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon. You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.” (He’s talking about her virginity. It’s not his literal sister; it’s his bride.) “Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices. You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.”
Wow!
Song of Solomon 5:1, “Eat, O friends, and drink; drink your fill, O lovers.”
1 Corinthians 7:5, “Do not deprive each other….”
Some of you are so tense, it’s hilarious. You talk about sex and people freak. The sexual nerve is woven into everything that we are, because remember? We’re fully physical and fully spiritual. We’re not animals. Animals are just physical. They’re not spiritual. We’re not angels. Angels are just spiritual. We’ve got to be fully human. And when we take sex outside the marriage bed—when we go from big sex to small sex—we’re stripping away our humanity, and we’re becoming dogs in doggy beds.
Well, why are Christians so weird about sex? Let’s do some church history. It’s time for church history. Do you remember Plato? A lot of us have this platonic layer over our lives. I’m not talkin’ about platonic stuff like in When Harry Met Sally—can men be friends with women? Not that. I’m talking about the philosopher, Plato. Plato said something very interesting. Plato basically said, “The soul is good; the body is bad.”
Well, enter the 4th century theologian, Augustine, one of the greatest Christians to ever live. Augustine had some sexual problems and issues prior to becoming a Christian. He took some Plato into his theological writings.
Then, later on, enter the great reformer, Martin Luther. Martin Luther also drug in some anti-sex stuff from Augustine and Plato, and he wrote about it.
Thus, you have the church perpetuating it, whispering, “Sex is bad.” And that’s why the church has gone wild saying, “Whoa! Sex is just a result of the fall. Sex is just for making babies.”
Here’s the problem. It’s wrong! And a lot of us have a layer of Plato on us. Get the Plato off! Just do that for a second, [Ed brushes down the sleeves of his shirt] get it off. Because a lot of you still have that mindset, “ I’m not sure about sex.” Get over it! It’s not biblical. Augustine’s thoughts on sex were not biblical. They weren’t. Plato, of course, was not biblical. And Martin Luther, when it came to sex, was not biblical. God had given us sex prior to the fall, prior to sin. It’s a good thing because it’s a God thing. We, though, have a decision. Big sex or small sex? Am I going to be fully human, or fully animal?
The world tells me, “I’m an animal! I can’t control it. I’ve got to just go with my urges, with my desires. I’ll do it whomever, whenever, however.” That’s what the world says.
I love a fire, don’t you? We have a fireplace in our family room, and it is the real deal. I’m talking old school. You know, bring the logs in, and let’s start it. That’s fun. I like a fire. A fire in a fireplace can warm you. And sometimes in Texas, if it’s just borderline cold, we’ll just crank the air down just to have a fire. It’s romantic. It’s intimate. It’s all about community. You can make S’mores on it. I love a fire.
What can happen, though, if you don’t manage the fire? If the fire gets out of the fireplace, one errant spark hitting the right piece of carpet, or piece of paper, or whatever, can burn your house down.
See this bed? This marital bed is a fireplace. Marital sex is hot! That’s what God wants it to be—hot! It can warm. It’s a place of intimacy and community. You can even make S’mores on it, it’s so hot. One spark, though; one errant flame, and we move from here (the big bed) to here (the dog bed). It’s your choice.
Now a lot of you can look on this stage and you can say, “I could litter this stage with dog beds. I’ve bought the lie, Ed. I’ve slept with whomever, whenever, however. Is God big enough to forgive me? Will God cleanse me? Can God change me?”
And the answer is yes! Yes, he can. God wants you and wants me to have big sex. He wants us to see our sexuality against the matrix of his creation—the beginning, the turning, and the rescue. God wants to rescue our sexuality, to show us what it means to be fully masculine or fully feminine. Whether we get married one day or whether we remain single the rest of our lives, God wants us to see our sexuality as something massive and something big. Matter matters. Remember, we’re fully physical and also fully spiritual. That’s why, when someone says, “Well, Ed, that’s just my spiritual life,” I say, “Like there’s another one?” As a believer, everything we do, say, touch, and feel should be an act of worship. Big sex, small sex. Fully human or fully animal.
Romans 12. Read this chapter today, because this chapter is all about a revolution. What’s a revolution, a sexual revolution? It means a sudden change for the better. And that’s what Romans 12 talks to us about. Let me read the first two verses, because these two verses really summarize how we can think right. Because the way I think determines the way I feel; the way I feel determines the way I act. If I think like a dog, I’m going to act like a dog, and I’m going to behave like a dog. If I think like a child of God, I’m going to feel like a child of God, and I’m going to act like a child of God.
Romans 12:1, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God…”
In the Old Testament they took animals, killed animals, cut them in half and put them on the altar. The writer here says, “No, don’t do that! God’s after a living sacrifice.”
We’re not animals. Humans aren’t hounds. We’re different. So, we can crawl up on the altar, crawl in the offering plate and say, “God, I yield everything to you, even my sexuality.” Have you said that? Have you said that? God wants it. You’ve got to trust him. You’re made to live, and I’m made to live—to have big sex.
And then the Bible says, “…this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Is this unbelievable? I offer myself as a living sacrifice, and my life is holy and pleasing to God, even my sexuality. And then it says this is my spiritual act of worship. That’s why sex in the marriage bed is an act of worship.
Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world…” In the literal language, the word “conform” means don’t allow the world to squeeze you into its mold. That’s what it means in the original language.
That reminds me of something that is going to really age me. How many of you remember those toys called Creepy Crawlers? Mattel made them. Back in the day, they made toys that could kill you. There were some dangerous toys! Creepy Crawlers—you had this ooey gooey stuff and these molds made out of lead. You squeezed the ooey gooey stuff into these molds, and the molds were like centipedes, crickets, and all these weird-looking insects. You would squirt this ooey gooey stuff in the mold, then you would get some boiling water and put the mold in the boiling water, and you would see the ooey gooey stuff get all rubbery and hard. Then you’d take it out of the water. It would cool down. You’d get a fork or knife and kind of peel it, and wow! It was awesome! The centipede, you know? The cricket? You could use them to scare girls! I loved Creepy Crawlers.
Don’t allow the world to squeeze you into a doggy bed. Because if you stay here, [Ed us lying in the dog bed] man, you’re going to live like a Creepy Crawler. How bad is that? Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.
[the verse continues] “…do not conform any longer to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
How many of you guys remember transformers? Okay, now we’re getting young. If we think right, we’re gonna feel right; if we feel right we’re going to act right.
Talk to a diver or a gymnast. How many divers or gymnasts do we have here? They’ll say, “It’s all about the head. Where the head goes, the body will follow.” Am I goin’ too fast?
Well, where my head goes (remember sex is between the ears before it’s between the legs), my body will follow. Where my head goes, my body will follow. Where’s your head? What are you thinking about? How are you thinking? Are you connecting sex and God? That’s right thinking. God doesn’t have to connect it. He’s God. He knows. But how about you? We’ve got to renew our minds.
Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- His good, pleasing and perfect will.”
We’ve got to think right. “God, teach us to think,”—what a good prayer—“like you think.” Boy, wouldn’t that be amazing every day? “God, teach us to think like you think. God, give me the ability to involve myself in things that renew my mind.”
Well, what in the world renews my mind? What are some things I can involve myself in that will renew my mind? Well, we’ve got to put the bed back in church and the church back in the bed. The Bible says, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church.”
I’d better involve myself in the church. That’s a command of Scripture. I need to hang around people who will encourage me, who will challenge me, who will hold me accountable, who will pray for me, who will love me, who will affirm me. We’ve got to have the church. We’ve gotta put the church back in the bed. We’ve gotta be involved in things that renew our mind.
How about the Bible? The Bibles says that it can renew our mind. It’s the Word of God.
How about prayer?
How about relationships and friendships? Ask yourself if the people you are running with, the people you’re hanging with, are renewing your mind or not. Are they big sex people, big bed people? Or are they Creepy Crawler people?
You know what? Some of you are saying, “Man I’m having all this good sex. It is great! I’m in the dog bed. Ed, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
This [the bed] is a fireplace. One spark and you’ll get torched. You may not have been torched seriously yet. You may not have been burned yet. And I wish I could tell you there’s a good chance you will not get burned. But I’m going to tell you, you will get burned. Some of the time? No! ALL of the time. So, if you want to get torched and charred and totally incinerated, go for it! Do it with whomever, whenever, whatever, however. Go for it! The choice is up to you. But, God gives us this sexual advice for our best interest.
He wants the best for your life and mine. And I could’ve taken a number of approaches when I began this series. I could have tried to hammer you. I could have yelled at the top of my lungs, “Fornication and adultery are tearing up the foundation of our nation!” And some people would have cheered, “Come on, show us some love here, brother! Yeah!” Because some people like to feel good about feeling bad. I could’ve made you feel really bad.
Or, I could’ve taken all these statistics and just overloaded your brain with statistical data, percentages and studies about sexuality. And you’d go into sensory overload. But I’m not into the anger or guilt approach. I’m not into the statistical approach.
Or, I could’ve just told you a bunch of horror stories. I could’ve just scared you. I know so many stories. I’ve talked to junior high students and high school students over the years. I’ve talked to married adults. I’ve talked to great-looking people and ugly people, fat people, large people, rich people, poor people—and I could tell you all these stories.
And those techniques would work for a couple of weeks. Guilt and fear are pretty good motivators for about fourteen days. But after that, we’d be right back to it. That’s not my vibe! That’s not who I am. That’s not what I’m called to do.
I’m into your spiritual health. I’m into your spiritual journey. I’m into all of us thinking right about this God-given gift called sex, because I know that Scripture tells me when I think right, I’m going to feel right; when I feel right, I will act right. Then I’ll hit on all cylinders.
In Matthew 6, Jesus told his disciples the pattern of prayer. Jesus said in verses 9-11, “Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be they name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
On earth as it is in heaven. Now as believers, we can bring heaven to earth. We can bring there to here by thinking right, feeling right, and acting right. We can bring heaven to earth through our sexuality. It could be an act of worship. What a responsibility! Isn’t that just something that’s really cool?
The other day, I talked to a guy who had done something. When I asked him, “Man, why’d you do that?” He said, “For the hell of it!”
Well, that’s weird. For the hell of it? What was he saying? He was saying, “I can bring hell to earth.”
As a believer, I can bring heaven to earth. But also, I can bring hell to earth. Pornography, for example, is an assault on Genesis 1. Pornography says we’re animals. Pornography has one basic presupposition—people are products, objects to be stripped, to be used and abused. That’s why there’s guilt, torment, pain. That’s why it screams for more and more. That’s why, as you keep going, you have rape and child pornography. It’s bringing hell to earth.
So we have a choice. We can either think right or we can think wrong. Where’s your head? Sex is between the ears before it’s between the legs. That is where the sexual revolution begins.
[Ed leads in a closing prayer.]