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'An Independent Baptist Church' Temptation and Sexual Purity Probably one of the most common sins that can affect more people, one in which everyone of us is vulnerable..... a sin that has broken more homes, ruined more dreams, caused more heartache, and shows no respect of persons, is the sin of sexual impurity. ANYONE CAN FALL PREY TO TEMPTATION TO SEXUAL SIN The Bible is full of examples of great men and women, who in a moment of passion, ended up paying a terribly high price for their indiscretions. What about David, Samson, Solomon....and the list goes on and on..... Erwin Lutzer says in his book, "LIVING WITH YOUR PASSIONS" (A Call To Sexual Purity)" that one seminary professor advises his ministerial students to select a second profession as a back-up because many of them will have to leave the ministry because of infidelity. Each of know respected husbands and wives that we would never predict would fall to immorality and are shocked to find out they have done so. Sexual impurity can happen to anyone of us..... Sexual sin is much like a tornado or hurricane.....can happen so quickly and just a few moments of time can cause so much aftermath and devastation & destruction... If this lesson can help ONE PERSON today to stay pure, I feel the message is worthwhile.... Conclusion: We will never be serious about parting with sexual sin until we know how much it grieves God and that it is an actual affront to Him! Genesis 39:9 "......how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" Marital Intimacy is a wonderful thing.... Hebrews 13:4 "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled" But like all good things created for God's Glory, Satan has perverted and corrupted what is good, and tries to convince us that God's way is not best, and he tries to get us to go outside God's rules and guidelines and the boundaries He has set..... When we do this, there will be consequences... BIBLE REASONS & EMOTIONAL REASONS TO REMAIN SEXUALLY PURE UNTIL MARRIAGE AND THEN FAITHFUL TO YOUR MATE ONCE YOU ARE MARRIED 1. THE BIBLE SAYS WE SHOULD NOT BE SEXUALLY IMMORAL. Acts 15:20 "But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication...." The word 'fornicate' in the Bible means sexual intercourse other than between a husband and his wife. God has set these boundaries...and to go outside these boundaries grieves the Lord and He will hold us responsible for our actions. 2. TO HAVE A CLEAR CONSCIENCE AND NO WORRIES.. Proverbs 6:32-33
"But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth
it destroyeth his own soul. How many young people have come to me with their conscience bothering them tremendously? Pressing guilt? How many of us...here in this room....look back at the worry and grief caused by actions of indiscretion? Reason prayers not answered? Many will take this burden into their marriage and unless Jesus steps in, it will affect their future happiness in marriage. 3. TO KEEP A GOOD REPUTATION Ephesians 5:3 "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;" 1 Timothy 4:12 "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." How many respectable men and women, through a moment of crossing God's boundaries, have brought untold shame to themselves and reproach to the Christian name? I beg young people...older folk here today....keep yourself pure... 4. TO GROW AS A CHRISTIAN AND BE HOLY AS JESUS WANTS 1 THESS 4:3-5 "For
this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from
fornication: 5. TO BE ADMIRED AND RESPECTED BY OTHERS. 1 Peter 3:16-17
"Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of
evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in
Christ. 6. TO TEST THE COMMITMENT OF THE OTHER PERSON. If the other person leaves you just because you wanted to stay pure , he or she is not worth having! 7. TO BE CLEARHEADED WHEN YOU ARE MAKING IMPORTANT DECISIONS... ....Especially about dating and marriage..... How many feel pressure to marry a person because they became intimate, and now after the fact, the person knows this other person is not the person they should marry.....there is pressure to marry since they already become intimate.... 8. TO SAVE YOURSELF FOR GOD'S BEST.
HEALTH & EMOTIONAL REASONS TO REMAIN SEXUALLY PURE UNTIL MARRIAGE AND AFTER YOU ARE MARRIED (Sources - Centers for Disease Control and New England Journal of Medicine) 1. To Avoid Pregnancy until marriage. Nearly 1 million teen pregnancies are reported annually. (Source: Centers for Disease Control). Bill O'Reilly recently reported that 7 out of every 10 babies born to Black women are brought into a home with no daddy present....7 out of 10 babies born out of wedlock! You must ask yourself.....If I would get pregnant, am I ready for the responsibilities of a baby? Am I ready to get married at this time in my life? 2. To Avoid sexually transmitted diseases (STD's). In the 1970's, only two STD's were common, and both were curable. Now 25 STD's have been identified, and several are incurable. Incurable STD's include genital herpes, human papilloma virus (HPV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), otherwise known as the AIDS virus. No drug can cure these diseases. Genital herpes, HPV, and syphilis can be transmitted by skin-to-skin contact, and condoms provide very little protection. 3. To avoid death by fatal sexually transmitted diseases, such as AIDS. Aids causes more than 16,000 deaths annually and is now considered an epidemic. (Ibid) 4. To avoid cervical cancer, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and infertility. HPV is the cause of 90% of all cervical cancer. Gonorrhea and chlamydia cause pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility. 5. Abstinence is the only 100% reliable method of prevention. No birth control method--not even condoms--will guarantee safety from pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease! The whole safe-sex program is a lie to our kids! It is NOT safe! Every method has a failure rate. In laboratory tests, condoms fail 3% of the time. In actual use, studies show that first-year condom users experience a 15% failure rate! That is 1 in 7 uses a failure occurs! 6. You cannot tell who has a sexually transmitted disease. Nearly 1 in 5 adolescents and adults with sexual experience has an STD. 3 Million cases are reported among teens each year. It is estimated that 1 in 10 teenage girls has chlamydia---and she doesn't even know it, because 75% of women have no symptoms. 7. To increase your chance of a happy, lasting marriage. People who have sex before marriage andthose who live with their partners before marriage have a greaterchance of getting divorced. (Journal of Marriage and the Family)
HOW TO REMAIN SEXUALLY PURE WHEN AND AVOID SEXUAL TEMPTATION 1. HAVE A GAME PLAN! SATAN IS OUT TO DESTROY YOUR TESTIMONY FOR THE LORD! 1 Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom
he may devour:" 2. DETERMINE AHEAD OF TIME, YOU ARE GOING TO SAVE YOURSELF FOR MARRIAGE AND REMAIN PURE AFTER MARRIAGE. Col. 3:1-5 "If ye
then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
3. REALIZE NO ONE IS TOO STRONG ON THEIR OWN TO WITHSTAND SEXUAL TEMPTATION 1 Cor. 10:10
"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Let me state categorically, according this Scripture, that if you truly want to remain sexually pure and keep yourself for the one person God has for you, you can certainly do that! 4. WATCH AND PREPARE AHEAD OF TIME FOR TEMPTATION Matt 26:41 "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Oh, the power of prayer ahead of time!! Mothers, pray for your daughters1 Daddy, pray for your son! 5. BE SMART, NOT STUPID..... Matt. 10:16 "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."
A. Consequences in this life...right now to me? Did I want to go to college? Am I Ready for marriage right now? If you are married, consider how you would look your mate in the eye? Your children? Your colleagues and co-workers? Your friends at church you have influenced to live for the Lord... B. Consequences in the life to come......loss of Reward! 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
" Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not
deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate,
nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 6. WATCH IDLE TALK AND IDLE TIME....PLACES YOU SHOULDN'T BE....TOUCHING THAT SHOULDN'T BE Certain topics of discussion should be off limits! There is something that really bothers me today - there is a familiarity and casualness about sex-related topics that is so common today... People think nothing of talking about sexual matters in almost every setting.... TV shows today...a lot of what people watch on TV today is trash... Long gone are the days of Andy Griffith and Little House on the Prairie.... Name one TV program that presents a normal happy marriage of a husband and wife with obedient children...Instead of Father knows best...we have the Osbournes........We've went from Leave it to Beaver to Beavis and Butthead Parents OUR TEENS have it so much more difficult than we ever had it... Most of the popular music on the radio....is simply trash... Young people, never talk about your intimate desires with someone of the opposite sex... Same goes for you married folk at work! Being alone with SOMEONE shouldn't be alone with.... You married folk here today, you should never have lunch alone with that person who is not your husband or wife.... There should be no reason for touching that is out of line.....rubbing or massaging shoulders...... Business trips alone with co-worker or boss? No. Talking about your marriage problems to this person.....No 7. WATCH WHAT YOU WEAR AND YOUR ACTIONS Prov 7: 7-10 And
beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of
understanding, Ladies, does the way you dress go beyond just looking nice, and actually cause others to lust.... Nothing wrong with looking nice...... 8. BEWARE OF FLIRTING... BEWARE OF YOUR ACTIONS... Proverbs 6:27-30 "27
Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? 9. WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A PLACE YOU SHOULDN'T BE....RUN FOR YOUR LIFE.... What did Joseph do when Potiphar's wife tried to seduce him...? 1 Thess. 5:22 "Abstain from all appearance of evil." 1 Corinthians 6:18,19
"Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he
that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 10. RESIST TEMPTATION BY HAVING GOD'S WORD MEMORIZED IN YOUR HEART... Pick verse ahead of time and memorize them.....and repeat them when you are tempted and the devil will flee! This is the method Jesus used when He was tempted! Matthew 4:1-11 "Then
was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Notice Jesus used the Word of God to resist Satan! James 4:7,8
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from
you. 11. REALIZE THE TIMES IN LIFE WE ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO TEMPTATION Notice there are 3 particular areas that we are most vulnerable to temptation.... A. WHEN WE ARE AT A LOW POINT IN OUR LIFE....Down & Discouraged, right after a failure, rejected....$ problems, poverty, tired, physically ill....mentally burdened.. (See Matt. 4:2) B. WHEN WE ARE PROSPEROUS & SUCCESSFUL Deut. 8:11-14 "Beware
that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his
judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: C. WHEN WE HAVE WORLDLY GLORY AND FAME (Recall Matthew 4:8-9) Keep these in mind....
11. WALK CLOSE TO THE LORD Luke 8:13 "They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. Stay faithful in church, serving the Lord, Studying God's Word, etc.. IF YOU ARE NOT MARRIED, DETERMINE TO KEEP YOURSELF FOR THE ONE YOU ARE TO MARRY... BUT IF YOU ARE MARRIED.... 12. WORK HARD TO KEEP REGULAR INTIMACY WITH YOUR SPOUSE 1 Corinthians 7:2-5
"Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let
every woman have her own husband. You will have to work at this......kids will have homework, you will be tired and beat...there will be housework, laundry if you both have jobs outside the home.... Like Dr. Laura Schlesinger says, "You may be tired and think of 1000 reasons not to be intimate with your spouse, but you will be glad afterwards that you took the time...." Married Couples....don't stay
mad at each other......get it settled...if you have to be the one to settle
it....do it... 13. NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN WHAT IF I HAVE FAILED? What if your mate has failed? 1. GOD CAN FORGIVE....WE CAN AND MUST TOO. ....we must forgive ourselves.. 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." ....we must forgive our mate if it was a one-time failure and the mate has remained faithful since and is really trying keep the marriage intact and has sought God's Forgiveness.... I have seen some mates hold the event as a sword over their mate's head for rest of the marriage.... 2. REALIZE GOD CAN BRING HAPPINESS AGAIN. Some people call this new start "second-time virginity"...You can treat yourself with respect and expect others to do the same... Remember, those who would criticize are certainly not perfect themselves...... God can restore the happiness in that marriage in a way that would be considered a miracle! God promises to bandage your broken heart if you let Him! 3. YOU ARE NOT DISQUALIFIED FROM BEING USED BY GOD History is full of Christians who made unwise choices about this subject. God still used them. He can still use you...and will...if you let Him. Someday, He may use your hurt, pain, suffering, and confusion to comfort and encourage others!
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