In the sermon 'Perverted Love' by Carl Provost, the speaker delves into Ephesians chapter 5 to explore the concept of biblical love versus what he terms 'perverted love.' Provost asserts that the church is increasingly accepting behaviors that deviate from biblical teachings, particularly in relation to fornication, uncleanness, and covetousness. These behaviors are described as forms of perverted love, contrasting sharply with the self-sacrificial love demonstrated by Christ. The sermon highlights a shift in cultural norms, especially concerning sexual morality within the church, and discusses the influence of popular culture and media in shaping these views. Provost emphasizes the importance of adhering to biblical teachings, maintaining purity, and avoiding associations that might lead believers astray. He critiques the acceptance of homosexuality and promiscuity as normal, warning of the spiritual dangers associated with such lifestyles. The sermon concludes with a call for Christians to live as children of light, displaying Christ-like love and avoiding the corruption of worldly influences.

Please turn with me and your copy of God's Word to Ephesians chapter 5. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children, and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling sabre. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetedness, let it not be once named among you as becomeeth saints, neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

Be not ye therefore partakers with them. Heavenly Father, we come before you, for Father, we recognize in your Word that you've given us, that there is great wisdom, and that when we depart from your Word, Father, the judgment comes upon your people. And Father, I pray that as we come to your Word today that you would teach us and show us what you have for us in your Word. We pray in your Son Christ Jesus' name. Amen.

Politico did an article a few years ago titled Evangelicals are changing their minds on gay marriage. I just want to read a small section of this article for you. It says, Amy Tinscher is an evangelical Christian who plays bass in the band at her suburban Ohio church where She and her fellow congregants firmly believe the words we adhere to are those in the Bible. But last summer, without telling her husband and two kids exactly what she was doing, she boarded a plane for a conference in Kansas whose purpose many evangelicals would plainly consider heretical. Tintra was one of the 50 people flown from around the country and the world, Canada, China, Nigeria, and South Korea to a four-day Bible boot camp dedicated to discussing and embracing gay relationships.

The gathering was organized by Matthew Vines, who by then was enjoying the modest fame for a 2012 YouTube video in which Vines, looking even younger than his 21 years, delivered an hour-long lecture arguing that the Bible does not, in fact, condemn all same-sex relationships. It says the video has gone viral, racking up more than 730, 000 views to date. Vines on the cover of New York Times Sunday Style section, and it also helped him to raise $100, 000 for his conference, which he launched the Reformation Project, a nationwide network of pro-gay evangelicals committed to ending their church's longstanding hostility towards gay people. Now it goes on to talk about how things have changed within the evangelical world in the last ten years to the point that 50 to 60 percent of evangelicals are now in favor of gay marriage. Now I just read that article because I think it gives us a pulse or a sense of the condition of the church in America today.

As We see this departure from God's Word. And this acceptance of things that God's Word clearly condemns. The title of my sermon today is, Perverted Love. In chapter 4 we looked at this whole concept of putting off and putting on. We put off the things of the flesh and we put on the things of Christ.

And now when we look at the text we recognize that these chapters and verses that we have are given to us by somebody much later came along and added them to the text in order to help us to divide the text up. And that often times the chapter breaks are not particularly in the best place, breaking up sections. So we need to recognize that even when we switch chapters that we're still reading a letter that was written as a whole. And chapter 5 starts with, be ye therefore followers of God. And when you see that word therefore you recognize that he is answering an argument that he made and he made this argument about how we are to put off things of the flesh and to put on the things of Christ and that we are children of God and that we are to be long-suffering with one another, tender-hearted towards one another.

And he goes on to talk about that we do this as followers of God, as those who are children of God, those who bear the mark of Christ, and we are to walk in love as Christ Jesus had loved us and have given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling saber. And what it points out to us, as we discussed last week in the sermon, was what love truly is. And what love truly is is what we see on the cross. Christ Jesus came And He self-sacrificially gave Himself for us. See, that's not the picture of love that's painted by the world.

That's not the picture of love that's promoted by the world. And one of the reasons that we have seen this change within our churches today is because the church as a whole is believing the lie of the world and of Satan and has accepted this perverted love in place of a biblical love. The text today, we'll look at verses three through seven. We'll look at perverted love, perverted speech, and perverted company. Proverted speech and perverted company.

Verse 3, it says, but fornication and uncleanness and covetousness, let it not once be named among you as become its saints. Fornication, we're gonna look at these three terms there, Fornication, uncleanness, and covetousness. Fornication, pornea, that's the word behind this in Greek. Recognize it, it's where we get our word pornography from. But the word means every kind of sexual sin.

And probably speaking more particularly to any type of promiscuousness. See, this is what the world holds up as their standard of love. If they say they love someone in a relationship their standard of love is a self-serving kind of fornication And in fact the world promotes this. Everywhere we look and what we read and what we watch, the billboards around us, you can't escape it in this nation. It presents the idea that if you truly love somebody you fornicate with them.

That is the world's view of love. In fact, our culture teaches that if it feels good, do it. Now, Scripture teaches us that Sin is pleasurable at first. And if that wasn't the case, it wouldn't be a temptation for us. But we know that as Proverbs 9 teaches us, that a woman who entices a man, an immoral woman, with words and temptations, it says that those are temporary pleasures that lead to death.

And so these, this perverted love of the world speaks to people's desires. It speaks to their lust. It speaks to them and their wants and it entices them and at first it pleasures them but it leads to destruction and death. The word promiscuity is a word that really has no more meaning today in our culture. What does it mean to be promiscuous?

That's just what the standard is now. And in fact if you will talk to any of the youth leaders in the evangelical church today, you will not only find that promiscuity is rampant within that group, but that it's accepted, It's expected. They no longer expect purity in the young people. In fact, purity is now unique. Those who claim or make covenant with themselves that they're going to keep themselves pure.

Those who put on purity rings. The reason why they do this is because it's no longer the standard. It's now the exception. And you are considered exceptional if you hold to God's law, if you hold to His word and teaching in these things. But we also see that it's not just among all the different types of sexual sin that we find within heterosexual relationships, but it's also uncleanness.

Now this word can also be interpreted filth or sexual impurity. In fact, Paul in Romans 1.24 directly ties this word to homosexuality. So how do we come to a time in our nation where something that is considered filthy, sexual impurity is not only accepted but it is celebrated and paraded on our streets and now accepted by the evangelical community. How do we come to that? See, we see that even within what we would consider some of our most conservative evangelicals, people like Al Mohler, Russell Moore, the Religious Liberties and Ethics Commission have changed their stance.

Al Mohler apologized for his former stance of trying to get homosexuals to change their desires, Saying that their desires were sinful. He now accepts that they're made this way, but he still holds that to actually act on those desires is wrong. But he no longer holds to this idea of changing their desires. He's given in to popular culture and popular psychology and what has been taught about these people. He is failing to recognize that it is the sin in the heart that must be addressed.

And that they must be changed. They can't just live a celibate lifestyle, but yet still have those sinful desires. For those sinful desires come out in the person. They show that they are fruit of unrighteousness in that person and there must be a regenerating work not only in their actions but in their thoughts as well. So what has been used to change people's opinion about homosexual behavior?

It's this perverted view of love in the culture. In fact, it's what we hear all the time. If two people love one another, who am I to judge them? Who am I to tell them that they can't get married? And so this view of the world's perverted view of love is held up as the standard, not God's Word.

And we say, I have no right to judge that person. And therefore, if they love one another, they should be able to get married. We also see it's the covetousness. Now covetousness is a love for things rather than people. But I believe in the context of this passage is also a form of perverted love here, not only in a love for things, but we know that this is also applied to adultery.

We are told, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. And the understanding here is that one who is not satisfied with what God has provided him and a husband or a wife. That one who is not satisfied with what God has provided as a good thing, a gift from God. For we are told that it is good for a man and woman to get married. And it says of a single man, if he finds himself burning with a desire, it is better to get married.

This is a gift from God that He's given us to protect us from this temptation. And what we have here is one who is not satisfied with what God has provided for him. This is a person who is living according to this perverted love. They are selfish and self-centered. This is clearly seen in the divorce rate in the church today.

We are told that the divorce rate is at, last time I saw it, it might be even more now, is at 50%. And it's not any different in the church than it is in the culture. Why are half of our marriages ending in divorce? It's because they have the wrong view of love. They are not self-sacrificing themselves to each other.

They are not loving their spouse as Christ loved the church. They have a selfish, perverted idea of love. It's only self-seeking. It's only what my spouse can do for me. And they come to this relationship, and when they get to this point where they no longer find themselves in love, and they'll say, I no longer love my husband or my wife, And I want a divorce.

Clearly showing that they hold to a perverted love because they are commanded to love their spouse. It's not a feeling, it's not this perverted love that the world teaches where if that lust isn't there, if that attraction that the world presents isn't there, that you no longer love them. It's a command. We are commanded to love our spouse. Just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it.

It's a self-sacrificing love. It's a selfless love. Now these three things we see here in this perverted love, this fornication and uncleanness and covetousness, it says, let it not be once named among you as becomeeth saints. Not be once named among you. See, this is not speaking of a sinlessness.

This is not speaking of that at no time in the history of the church that if you're truly regenerate, should you ever have these things named. But what this speaking of here, and I think that last phrase is important there, as becomeeth saints, It's saying that these things shouldn't be accepted. These things should be clearly seen as sin to be repented of and to turn from, and we should hold our brothers and sisters accountable. We should encourage them in faithfulness to their wives. We should encourage our young people to purity.

We should teach our children God's Word and what God's Word teaches. We should do what's necessary to protect their purity. But when we change the standard, when we say that it's just the way things are now and we're going to accept it, that's what God's Word is speaking of here. That is not what becomes a saint. And when you go to churches around here today and you find out how many people are considered members in good standing who are fornicators, living together unmarried, but yet they're in leadership positions in the church.

That is not becoming of saints. That is not holding people to account of God's Word. And that is When the church becomes worldly and accepts the world's view of love rather than God's view of love. So how do we come to this point? How did this happen?

I mean if you don't have to go that far back, even in the history of this nation, to see, and most of us are old enough to remember, to see a major change and a shift in this. Now a lot of it started happening back in the 20s, in the 30s, in the 40s, and especially in the 60s. And we've seen a lot happen since the 90s. Where did it start? In the church.

See, Satan is wise and tempting people and twisting the truth. And we are told here in this second point that we are not to have perverted speech. Verse four says, neither filthiness, no foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. Now the word here, neither filthiness, The word there can also be translated obscenity. It's any talk that is degrading or disgraceful.

Things that should not be mentioned. You know, I remember being a young child and that my grandfather, and I'm still not even sure of the thinking behind this, but I remember that you could not say the word pregnant back then. If somebody was pregnant, you would say they were with child. And there was just a sensitivity to this idea, and especially you would never talk about somebody who was with child outside of wedlock. That was a complete shame to the family.

And that's the way things used to be. You didn't talk about certain things. In 1967 on the Ed Sullivan show, the rock band Jim Morrison had a popular song And they asked him to not say the word hire. Now he was speaking of it in the sense of a high from drugs or alcohol. But they asked him because this is a family show not to say it.

And it was controversial because when he got up on stage on a live television show, he said it anyway. And we think now where television is at today. This is that breakdown of words that were one time considered an obscenity that are now considered commonplace. See, the envelope has progressively been pushed until there's almost no topic of disgraceful behavior that's not celebrated today. Now there's still a list of words they're not allowed to say on certain television programs unless you have cable, But they figured out all kinds of ways to say those same things without using that list of words.

And oftentimes to a much greater detail than if they were to use those words that were banned. All types of vulgarity now above synity are on the media, on the radio around us. It also says foolish talking. Now this is a different, This is a talking that's kind of a low speech. It's morologia.

The first part of that word is where we get a word moron. And the second part is where we get a word word. So it's words of a moron. And what this is saying is this is vulgar speech of a moronic nature. This is somebody who has a gutter mouth, or somebody who speaks of a drunkard, who has no control, and somebody who has, that shows his lack of intellectual intelligence by the way that he speaks.

And so he speaks of vulgar things and it just come pours out of his mouth. And these are those who foolishly speak of sexual perversions and things among their families and among others. See, these are people that the depravity of their heart is actually revealed in the depravity of their speech. And we all know people like this. Even when they're around people that they know are offended by this, They'll make an effort sometimes to try to control it, but they can't, it just pours out of them.

Because that's what's truly in their hearts. And then this third, here is coarse jesting. Now this is a high speech. Now what this is speaking of is different than the foolish talking, is this is someone who's quick-witted. Someone who can quickly turn something into a coarseness.

They hear a play of words or something, and they can quickly always turn everything to something dirty. Oftentimes in our modern-day comedians, they're good at this. This is where they find their niche for comedy, is that they can turn things to the profane, to the dirty. They're very quick-witted. They can take things that happen in everyday life and put a twist on it.

And today's culture, with this idea of perverted love, finds these things humorous. In fact, there have been those that have built empires upon this. In fact, Howard Stern and his radio show where he's considered a shock jock, that means he's going to say things that are going to shock you, he was this kind of a person. And to the point he would say things and He was always getting in trouble for radio because he was always pushing the envelope, crossing the line and getting fined. And then eventually he was banned and had to go to a cable station.

He was immediately picked up because this type of talk, people desired to hear it and people were willing to spend money to hear it. And he's still out there today. And now that he's on cable radio, there is no limit to what he can talk about. Talk about. See TV today and radio has contributed to this acceptance of a sinful lifestyle, this sinful lifestyle that leads to damnation.

If you think about it, if you know anything about the progression of acceptance of homosexuality and their connection with Hollywood, It started off as maybe one show here or there that had a homosexual character on it. Now you would be hard pressed to find a show that did not have a homosexual on it. In fact, these homosexuals are usually the ones who have their life together. It's promoted as a better lifestyle now. Far from the days of my three sons, our father knows best.

Even shows like the Love Connection that have been resurrected, those who used to just promote promiscuity and bringing together two people to date, now bring together homosexual couples on live television that's aired for free. Reality shows where they discuss promiscuous behavior and oftentimes tabloids covering what's going on behind the scenes in these shows. This is the culture that we're in, and this far too often is the culture of the church. This is also the language of all secular clubs and fraternities, this course jesting. In fact, during the election of our current president, somebody brought up a recording of something that was said in the locker room.

And it was just played off as, oh that's just locker room talk. Well what they're actually saying there is there is a type of talk in the locker room that it's acceptable. And if anybody here has ever played sports, they know exactly what they were talking about. This is that coarse jesting amongst guys or a fraternity or a club that not only is accepted, it's expected, and it becomes a status symbol. That guy who is the most coarse oftentimes is the most popular.

And this is the situation that many of our young adults find themselves when they first go to college. If they go to college, I'm just saying. And that's why I think we have such a pressure to accept these as normal. And whether you go to college or not, you hit the workforce and it's the same thing. You will be young people, you will be shocked the first time you're in the work environment and you hear how some people talk.

This is commonplace in our culture. See, this behavior is celebrated, encouraged, and it becomes a status symbol. And the young people who do not succumb to this type of behavior, will be mocked. They will be ostracized. They will be seen as prudes, shunned.

And so when we teach our children how to speak rightly, And when we teach our children what God's Word teaches about love and purity, we need to also teach them that they will be persecuted because of this. That the world will hate them because they take this stand. We say that these things here, it says, which are not convenient. Verse 4, it says, neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. Now that's kind of a light interpretation of that word, not convenient.

It's basically saying these things are not right. These things are not becoming of a Christian. That these things should not be found within the church. They shouldn't be commonplace. And far too often they are.

And it says, how do we combat this? It's by giving thanks, but rather giving of thanks. See, giving of thanks is an expression of unselfishness. The person who lives for perverted love is selfish and believes that he deserves every good thing he receives. But when we recognize that everything that we have, everything that we are, is because of Christ Jesus and His giving of Himself for us on the cross.

It puts things in perspective. And we recognize that if we're going to be imitators of God, we must love like Christ loved. We must be unselfish, giving of ourselves. See, we should be thankful for the grace of God and not getting what we deserve. We should be thankful for Scripture and the conviction of the Holy Spirit that brings conviction in our heart over sin.

We should be thankful for our spouse. We should, as God's Word teaches, be satisfied with the wife of our youth. Thankful that he was providing for us physically and mentally by giving us companionship. Young people you should be thankful that God has placed over you authorities who protect you with parents, and a church, and elders. Be thankful that God is teaching you His Word so that you understand what true love is, And you understand what God's Word teaches about purity.

Be thankful for parents who protect your purity and help you find a godly husband or wife. Don't see the protection that God has given and put in place in families as oppressive. But be thankful for it. Recognize that those things are put there because there is a great temptation in this world. And there will be those who will attempt to lead you astray, knowing that what they're doing is wrong, but they will encourage you in any way.

So how do we avoid the temptation of perverted love? We stay away from perverted company. Now this one I think is one of the areas that I know many of us have convictions in this but I see this is one of the areas that parents most go wrong with their kids probably in the larger evangelical church is this idea of perverted company and where corruption comes from. It says, For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." First of all, he says, for this ye know. He's pointing out that if you are regenerate, and you've been saved from this lifestyle, then I shouldn't be having to tell you this.

You know that these people who live like this will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Now it's not speaking again of those who sin. It's speaking of those that this is their lifestyle. Whoremonger. This is a person who lives a lifestyle of sleeping around.

They carry it around as a badge of pride. There is no shame in it to them anymore. At one time that was considered shameful. Nowadays it's celebrated. You become, if you're in college, you become celebrated, looked up to if you're a whoremonger.

No unclean person. There again, this is the homosexual. Now this is speaking of relationships, and it's saying that we are not to be partakers with them. We are not to be those who accept their lifestyle as being okay. And if you take this stand you will find yourself persecuted for it.

For those who recognize The perverted company perverts. I was speaking with somebody here recently and they have a daughter who's in public school and she's having some pretty big struggles right now. She was homeschooled most of her life and she went to public school towards the end. And just in talking with her, many of her friends are homosexuals. And she's very accepting of their lifestyle.

And she's now questioning her faith. I've spent a lot of time up at the university just north of here. And many professed believers are up there, and they have completely accepted the homosexual lifestyle as being accepted completely and not even against God's Word. And they're friends with these people and they no longer understand or have a high view of God's Word. They're questioning God's Word where it speaks to these areas of homosexuality.

Nor covetous man. This is the man that is not satisfied with his wife, whether physically or emotionally. And he's always looking at or talking to another man's wife or another woman's husband. And it says, these are all idolaters. These are those who worship their own sexuality.

They serve their own pleasures. What Association do we have with these people? What do we have in common with them? And it says, they have not any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. These are those who are truly unbelievers.

Now, I'm not speaking against loving sinners, for we are told that we are to love sinners and share the gospel with them. Share with them the only hope that they have, is that Christ Jesus unselfishly died on the cross for sinners. And if they trust in faith in the work of Christ Jesus, if they confess their sins, that their sins can be forgiven in Christ Jesus. And we're told that Jesus was a friend of sinners, but the friend of sinners that he's talking about there are those who recognize that they were sinners. Those who had been saved by their faith in Christ Jesus knowing that their only hope was in Him.

He goes on to say, it says, Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things come with the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. There are those who will say, do not judge. God doesn't judge these people. Just love them. But God's Word says that wrath will come upon them.

And we already see it even in all the diseases that are even today associated with living a promiscuous lifestyle or living a homosexual lifestyle. In fact, the homosexual's life is greatly shortened from the expected normal lifespan of heterosexuals. It's unhealthy. And that's just the judgment we see upon the earth. It's not, which is nowhere in comparison to being damned to hell.

Be not ye therefore partakers with them. Paul says it a different way in 1st Corinthians 533, do not be deceived, evil company corrupts good habits. So what do we take from this passage? We need to recognize that the only way that we can truly walk in the light, as we will talk about next week. The only way we can truly walk in the light is when we practice this Unselfish love self-sacrificial love towards one another When we're willing to be long-suffering with one another encourage one another Love as Christ loved And we don't buy into the world's perverted ideas of love.

And that we share with the world what God's Word teaches and about the only hope that they have and that they are sinners and that apart from Christ there is no hope. But yet we are different. We stand out. For they are of darkness and we are of the light. Therefore that means we should be shining forth the light of Christ Jesus.

And the only way we can do that is when we live as children of the light and we are separate from the world and that we are not therefore partakers with them. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before you and we thank you for the word that you've given us Father, that we have clearly been called to be set apart from this world. To be those who are light bearers, those who clearly display the love of Christ to others, by loving self-sacrificially, by exceeming others higher than ourselves. And Father, I pray that we as we reach out with the hope of the Gospel, that We're not perverted by bad company, but yet we see your gospel transform those into good company.

And Father, we come before you and we pray in Christ Jesus' name. Amen.