Moral Purity

[00:00:00] I greet you in Jesus' name this evening. It's a privilege to be with you all. I feel like I'm speaking to the choir. And it would seem like it would be unlikely that there would be people here that maybe would struggle with moral purity. But I trust that there are many of you here tonight [00:00:33] that this is the area that you don't struggle in. I know that is the case for at least one young man. He told me that last night and I was so happy to hear that. And I'm sure there's many more. And so if you're not struggling with moral purity, bless God and go help somebody else. because many people are struggling with it. Recently, I was talking to a Christian friend at work who he told me, I just met this man the other day, he told me they have seven children. [00:01:05] And then he told me the oldest two have moved out and they're living with women they are unmarried to. One of the couples, he said, has a child. And as he shared, I thought, there goes another statistic. Someone with a Christian background, someone who knows better, but has been seduced and overthrown by the lies of immorality. What we're talking about tonight, moral purity, is terribly important. And I just want to tell you, I know what it is to be in bondage to immorality. [00:01:40] But I also know what it is to be free. This subject is so important. In fact, I believe it is a salvation issue. And sometimes I think that Satan will take more people to hell through immorality than from any other sin. The world is full of it, and too often, even in the church. The church has been stained by it. But not only is sexual sin potentially damning, it is also terribly crippling. [00:02:16] Satan knows that if he can entangle Christians in immorality he can cause them to cease to be effective as a Christian in this world. As I thought about what I'm going to share tonight I've been thinking, you know the title is not the dangers of immorality The title is Moral Purity, right? That's the title. [00:02:49] And so I don't know if I'm going to hit the target right or not, but I'm just going to ask God that he will take it and plant some seed in your heart so that it will stir up a vision for the beauty of purity. It's so beautiful when you know you have nothing to hide. and it's and and you know they say it's not the the water around the ship that will sink the ship but it's the water that gets into the boat right and when immorality leaks into our life [00:03:22] suddenly we're crippled purity is so beautiful and not only beautiful it is possible and there might be one person here Tonight, that is maybe, maybe you're addicted to immorality. Or maybe you experienced what I did for so many years, this binge purge cycle. Like just not the truth. Oh, yeah, you could repent. Well, you got to have a degree in repenting. [00:03:54] But the outcome is inevitable and next week or the next week it's going to be falling off the bridge again And sometimes, I don't know if there's anyone here that ever experienced this But I experienced this where I almost believed it was not possible for me to really live in victory all the time But I can tell you tonight it is possible. By the grace of God, it is possible. And it is so beautiful. And if you can get a vision of the beauty of purity, from here you can jump anywhere on the chessboard and be effective. It's like the queen in chess, right? They can move in any direction. [00:04:54] In a world of ever-increasing immorality and debauchery, we can maintain moral purity. Philippians 2 verse 15 Ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke or without fault, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. Tonight I would like to highlight three areas. Number one is the standard. We want to just look at the standard. [00:05:27] What is God's standard for moral purity in his church? Number two, I call it the primacy, or that's kind of a big word, but I just mean the preeminence, the importance of purity and how it is such a target for the devil. The purity of the person is one of his primary targets, I believe. What is it about purity that makes this such a target of Satan? [00:06:00] And I want to ask you, why is it that if a soldier would go into battle, why would they, at least if they don't have anything else on, they're going to have a helmet on their head and a bulletproof vest? What are they protecting? They are protecting the most vital organs, right? It's the head and the heart, the most vital organs. And in the same way, I believe purity for Christians is one of our most vital organs. [00:06:30] If we take a hit on this organ, we will be crippled and potentially die. The death or the crippling of our faith, if we take a hit on purity, is sure to follow. So, here's my three areas. I start, yeah, digressing. The standard. Number one, what is the standard? Number two is the primacy. I just want to talk a little bit about why is this such a primary target, you know, for the devil? [00:07:07] And then you and I better have some primary defenses for this area of our lives. And number three, then, is the battle plan. Just some ideas of how we can gain and maintain the high ground morally. Recently, I was talking to a young man who said he wanted to be accountable about this issue. And I said, he's been struggling. And I said, man, I feel like a horrible mentor. What is the silver bullet? And it seems like there's not a silver bullet. [00:07:42] I don't have, you know, five easy steps to being morally pure 100% of the time. I have not found it that way. So I'm going to share with you some ideas of how we can gain and maintain the high ground morally. If you're here tonight and immorality is not your struggle, praise the Lord. Go light more fires like that. But if you are here tonight, and I would imagine in a group this size, there is at least one person, there's probably more than one. [00:08:20] You know what? It's not just these folks up here. It's men or women, and it's young or old. It's any gender and any age that this affects. But if you're here tonight and you do struggle with this, Now I want to tell you, you can absolutely be free from it. It's not going to be easy. But this is a battle that you can absolutely win with God's help. Though Satan wants you to believe that it is impossible. [00:08:53] Alright, the title again for our message is simply Moral Purity. I'm going to ask you to turn to Ephesians chapter 5. Now the text verse that was on your program says, 1st Timothy 5 verse 22 that's one single verse and I wanted to dig out of more verses is that okay committee I want to read this 1st Timothy 5 22 to you but but I want to draw most of our message tonight out of Ephesians chapter 5 [00:09:24] but 1st Timothy 5 verse 22 says neither be partakers of other men's sins keep thyself Keep thyself pure. That's what 1 Timothy 5.22 says. Keep thyself pure. All right, let's look at Ephesians 5. Begins by saying, Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children. Now, if you go back to chapter 4, this is where, well, I'm just going to turn to it a little bit. [00:10:00] It talks about how the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind. it says having the understanding darkened you know if there is a blindness there is a blind that's why people sin so many times sometimes it's because they know better right and they're doing it anyway but many times there is a blindness is the underlying root cause and therefore they live the way that they do and so this is how we were before we were Christians and he says in chapter four that we should put off the old man which grows corrupt and put on the new man and after [00:10:30] We put on the new man there's things to do and to not do and then we come to chapter 5 and it says be ye therefore followers of God as dear children we have put off the old man is that is that what you've done tonight you put off the old man and you have put on the new man and you're on this journey right of knowing Christ Jesus in the spirit and so you're following God stumbling sometimes but you're following God with all your heart as dear children you love doing this you love being a Christian all right you know what being a Christian is the hardest thing [00:11:06] I've ever done but it's the most rewarding thing I've ever done and walk in love verse 2 says this is talking about our motivation you know what when we become a Christian it seems like God starts peeling off layers of ugliness all out of our life right so much of what being a Christian is about is what is taken out of my life, perhaps just as much, maybe more, than what gets put into it. A lot of stuff needs to go out. All right, so the actions, you know, the immorality, the pornography has to go. [00:11:44] You know, if you're involved in some relationship, I don't think anyone would be here. Maybe there would be. That goes first. Then attitudes go after that. He purifies us on down to then the motive of why, it's not just what you're doing, but why you're doing it. And so the ultimate motivation at the bottom is love. And walk in love, he says. We're motivated now by love. And Christ is our example, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. [00:12:20] and more. So I think that immorality is, why is it so ugly? Why is it so sinful? Why is it so damaging? Why is it so shameful? It is a sin of selfishness at its core, I believe. Selfishness, you know, and selfishness, if you could peel back all the layers and look at it, it's so ugly. Christ was unselfish. And so this is our pattern. You know what? If you're going to You're going to be pure. You're going to walk in love. You're going to be pure. You're going to be unselfish, not taking advantage of other people for your own selfish pleasure. [00:12:58] But, verse 3, but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as become a saint. Here's the standard, folks. How much of it is okay? Like, I'm doing pretty good, right? Like, I'm doing, I'm batting 90%. Well, he says not once. Now, by the way, I just want to point out something here, a little Greek lesson, all right? This word, not once, comes from one Greek word, meidi, I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing it right. [00:13:34] And it means, it's used in the sense of continuing a prohibition, meaning, I told you no, and I mean, and this is for all time. No, not just today, but it's for the rest of your days too. And so actually, the number one is not part of this word. This word is used 55 times in the New Testament. Most of the time it's translated neither or not or nor yet. So to say, well, it means not once. Well, he's just saying no, don't stop it and stop it tomorrow too. [00:14:07] That's what he's saying. All right. Fornication, it says. I'm just going to give a couple of definitions here. What is fornication? This is from the Greek word pornea. That's where we get the word pornography from. And it's not just immorality between persons before they get married. It's not just that. It could include that. But it really includes all forms of immorality all nested together under one word, pornea. Unlawful sexual acts before or after marriage [00:14:42] And then it says uncleanness This, I think, would go more towards the thoughts The impurity, it says, this is what I got of, I think it was Vines or any lexicon The impurity of lustful, luxurious, reckless, wasteful living And I thought of the verses in, well, it's recorded in Matthew and Mark, I think, where Jesus said, you know, it's not the things on the outside of you that defile the person. But he says, from within, out of the heart, come fornications, adulteries, murders, you know, evil thoughts, foolishness, he says. [00:15:21] All these come out of the heart and they defile the man. so beyond the physical act or unclean desires and thoughts some of you have probably heard of Arthur Knisley who is an Anabaptist brother from Kansas who is working hard to try to help people in our own circles to deal with the consequences of immorality if they get trapped in it how many of you have heard who Arthur Knisley is? I'm just curious a few of you this is what he said speaking about thoughts [00:15:52] The way to know, speaking about what you're thinking about morally, you know, I was attracted to that guy. Was that sinful? Or, it's not wrong to be attracted. But at some point, our thoughts can become sinful, impure, right? This is what he said. The way to know if you're sinning is to ask, if I would do what I'm thinking, would it be sin? If the answer is yes, then even thinking about it is a sin. [00:16:25] Okay, so this is our, this is a state, is this a high standard? This is a very high standard. It's the actions and the thoughts. If it would be sin to do it, it's a sin to think it. And by the way, I believe that self-gratification is sinful. And the reason I think that is because it is done selfishly, shamefully, and in secrecy, right? [00:16:59] So let's just, let's not hang our hat on the thing of, well, I don't see a verse in the Bible about this. Well, then why do you feel so guilty about it? It's because, it's because it's sinful, it's selfish, and it's done in secret. you know all these sins in verse 3 fornication all uncleanness or covetousness they have something in common selfish he goes on in verse 4 neither filthiness so not the actions and the thoughts [00:17:34] and he says neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting which are not convenient but rather giving of thanks here i think he's talking about these seem all to have to do with Our speech, no dirty jokes, no double talk, no words that could be taken two different ways. I don't think any of you would do this. Do you know what? Sometimes our people do wrestle with this, with this subject, with this area. Okay, so I'm just going to give you what I have. No dirty jokes, no double talk, no suggestive stories. [00:18:05] And why? Let's go on to the next verse, verse 5. 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. This is a salvation issue. Now when I'm talking about immorality as a salvation issue, what I mean is unrepented, ongoing immorality. [00:18:37] I know what it is to struggle I know what it is to fall down and repent and get up again and I know that God forgives and cleanses us when we repent 70 times 7 God doesn't want us to be in the vicious cycle, right? He wants us to be in the victory cycle I hated the vicious cycle all. But what is damning is the unrepented and ongoing infidelity, immorality, whatever it is. [00:19:12] And he says very clearly right here, very clear. Those who indulge in these things, unrepented of and ongoing, have no inheritance. This will void your salvation, folks. Verse 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words You know, I don't think it's so much in the church That people try to talk their way into that it's okay Whatever they're doing, whatever form of immorality they're involved in [00:19:44] Many times they know better if they're in the church In our churches at least They know it But many times in the church in America, they think it's okay. They're involved in many different forms of immorality. There's divorce and remarriage. I read a statistic one time that said that most of the singles in the church in America are sleeping with one another. Wow. [00:20:17] They think it's okay, I guess. here you know what there that's that's well we want to get to that later when i talked about primacy you know we'll get to that later let no man deceive you with vain words people are being deceived they're giving in on this issue and it's causing them to be deceived let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things come at the wrath of god upon the children of disobedience. [00:20:47] Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Prove it by your walk that you have been changed. I want to read a few more verses. verse 10 verse 9 for the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth [00:21:23] this is if the if the spirit of God is living in you this is what it produces and it doesn't say purity in this verse but it includes that too the beauty of purity proving what is acceptable unto the Lord and verse 11 and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather Reprove them. Verse 12, it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. And so he has three, if you're a Christian tonight and you're walking in purity, he has three warnings for you. These verses do apply to you, okay? Verse 7, be not partakers with. If you are [00:22:00] living in the beauty of purity, be not partakers with them. Verse 7. Verse 11, have no fellowship of the unfruitful works of darkness. And verse 12, don't even be talking about it. Warn about it. But if you're walking in purity, you shouldn't be discussing this in an unprofitable way. Verse 13 and 14 yet. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light. [00:22:31] Another translation says, I believe all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light. The light, you know, immorality is a sin. I said this before, that is so often it's done behind closed doors. It is done in secrecy. But he's saying, bring it out into the light. They are made manifest by the light for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light [00:23:07] Victory is found in transparency, in honesty, in humility, and in seeking after Christ Bringing your life into the light, there's nothing to hide So, what is the standard? I guess I didn't answer the question. If you want to say not once, well, okay. I think the standard is that God's standard would be [00:23:40] that we would all be living in the victory cycle. That's what God's standard would be. And not the vicious cycle. All right, I want to look now at the second question, the primacy. Why is this an area that is such a prime target for Satan? And I said this already, but my number one reason that it is is because Satan knows that it is a damning sin. [00:24:16] It will jeopardize the salvation of a person. and there are three places in the New Testament where Paul lists lists of sins we read read one of them tonight in Ephesians 5 but there's another list in Galatians 5 and another list in 1st Corinthians 6 in fact I'll read those others to you just briefly 1st Corinthians 6 that's what he says lists of sins that if indulged in will cause you to not inherit the kingdom of God 1st Corinthians 6 verse 9 know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God [00:24:47] be not deceived and now notice which sins he mentions first neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate that means homosexuals nor abusers of themselves with mankind that's sodomites that's men homosexuals then he goes on nor thieves covetous drunkards and so on none of these he says shall inherit the kingdom of God Galatians 5 verse 19 the works of Notice which sins he mentions first. [00:25:21] Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness. All of these are sexual sins. And Ephesians 5 that we read, No whoremonger, unclean person, nor covetous man has any inheritance. Galatians 5 ends by saying, of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And so it seems like this sin is so addictive and it's probably been easy for the devil to, you know, [00:25:55] as much as the world just lives at the shallow end of the pool so many times, right? So driven by whatever fleshly appetites are at the top And this is one of the strongest ones Somebody said that the sexual desires of a person Are the second strongest instinct of a human being next to self-preservation So if you would get dumped out of a canoe and you couldn't swim And you're fighting and flailing your way to get back to the top [00:26:25] You don't know how to swim Strong instinct, this one is next to it And so it seems like Satan knows, since this is a damning sin, that he's making heyday, he's making havoc in this country, and sadly, too many times in the church. That's one reason why I think it is a primary area of attack, and why we need to have this as a primary area of defense. Okay, number two is, I think of immorality as a gateway sin [00:27:00] Some people say that immorality, you know, what's so bad about it, I'm not harming anyone And we're doing this consensually, you know, it's not murder But it seems like it is a gateway sin And what I mean by that, the body is the gateway to the faith of the person. Inside, and I'm talking about Christians now. Inside of the body of a Christian is the faith of the Christian, right? [00:27:35] If Satan can get you in the body, in the flesh, it's the gateway to the faith of the person. there's something about immorality that is different from all the other sins 1 Corinthians 6 verse 18 says flee fornication flee it every sin that a man doeth is without the body but he that committeth fornication and remember fornication is not just sleeping with somebody that you're not married to it is all the various forms of immorality [00:28:06] that's what it's pointing at he that commit a fornication sinneth against his own body i don't even understand that but i think of this this area it's like a perimeter issue we talked about being a soldier that would wear a helmet and a bulletproof vest and if this would be you know a battleground tonight we would have somebody posted around on the perimeter right this is a And when the perimeter is breached, the faith of the person becomes at risk, I believe. [00:28:39] This is what, I got this quote from a man who's taught about this. This is what he said. An old college pastor associate used a tactic when catching up with college students who were home from school. He'd ask them to grab coffee with him and to catch up on life. When he'd come to the state of their spiritual lives, they'd often hem and haw talking about the difficulties and doubts that they'd taken a little philosophy or maybe a science class or two and how it all started to shake the foundations. [00:29:15] At that point, he would look at them and ask one question. So who have you been sleeping with? Shocked, their faces would inevitably fall and say something along the lines of, How did you know? Or a real conversation would ensue. Keller pointed out that it is a pretty easy bet that when you have a kid coming home with questions about evolution or philosophy or some such issue, the prior issue is a troubled conscience. [00:29:48] When you're engaged in behavior you've been raised to believe is wrong, but is fun, more than that, powerfully enslaving, you want to find reasons to disbelieve your former moral convictions. Now I believe that, like I said, perhaps in our circles, if there are those that are trapped in immorality, their faith is still, they know it's wrong. And yet, there's at least two young men that I've personally interacted with. [00:30:26] And I can think of one right now that told me how he was angry at God about the struggles he was having. And a little alarm bell went off in my heart. because it seemed to me that not only was he not doing well morally but now his faith was, there was something wrong with the faith too because he was beginning to believe that God somehow was at fault and by causing him, or yeah, getting through that doorway of the flesh [00:31:01] it began to pound away on his faith. It would seem to me that Satan's target would be get to the faith and get to the fruit, okay? So the primacy, why is this such a target? Because it is a damning sin, and he's so easily ensnared people in it. Number two, it is a gateway sin. And number three, it is a fruit-bearing sin. See, faith is what you and I get out of God. [00:31:35] Fruit is what God gets out of us. And if Satan can't get to the faith, he wants to get to the fruit To where Christians become crippled because of immorality The fruit of a Christian To me, the fruit of a Christian is what God is getting out of your life God has invested faith in you He wants fruit out of you, right? John 15, the gardener goes there and he didn't look first to see if the branch was connected to the vine. [00:32:08] He looked first out at the end and said, you know, am I getting fruit? Fruit depends upon vibrancy and immorality cripples our vibrancy. I said that immorality is a gateway sin. but once again I just want to for those of you that are living a pure and upright life this is an area that maybe it is a temptation but you're doing well this is the one area what especially [00:32:43] that you've got buttoned up and you're doing well and you're guarding your heart and you're guarding the way you look at the guys and you're guarding what you're reading and you're you're you're investing yourself in the Lord this is this is this is so beautiful it's a gateway also right it is also a gateway to jumping anywhere on the chessboard and being effective guard it make this a primary area to guard and keep intact have a long-term vision right [00:33:13] somebody said there's the pain of discipline and there's a pain of regret which one would you rather have and i think it's the vision for what is out there for the fruit that god wants I have so many things to get out of my life that will help us even when our desire is inflamed to do something we're not supposed to. But if we have vision to be that man of God, that woman of God, it will carry you through when your desire is going the wrong way. Don't worry. Don't worry. Somebody said [00:33:51] that the triple A's have led to many casualties among us as far as pornography goes. Sadly, there has been there have been a lot of our own people that have fallen into pornography and other immoral sins. The triple A's are availability, affordability, and anonymity. You can do it without anyone knowing. [00:34:27] So what about a battle plan? I just have a few thoughts. And you can probably think of many more. I'll just give you what I have. And I kind of divided this, I call it a battle plan We are in a battle, right? And this is a primary area So let's talk about our perimeter and then move it in toward the center And so the first category I'm thinking of is the external controls that we put in our lives [00:34:59] Like if you just have unfiltered access to the internet and you're giving your children phones that have no blocks or anything on them You know, if you keep walking down the beach, your family is going to fall into sin. If you go to the beach every day and walk past a bunch of naked people, you're going to sin. All right. So you need to, you need some extra, it is in the heart. Yes, it is in the heart, but you need something more than in the heart. You need some external boundaries. And frankly, and I've walked with a number of people trying to help them. [00:35:35] They're struggling with immorality and almost always every failure has almost, in my experience, has almost always traced back to a phone. And so I'm just asking ourselves, are we really putting the boundaries in place that we should? Or are we just, you know, hoping this is going to work out? So I just want to make a few comments to us as parents, especially, and to any of us. [00:36:09] I mean, to block and screen all content input into your home, to reduce exposure, do our children see us? You know, some of your children don't have phones yet, but if they see mom and dad, oh, I wonder what the weather's like. You might be just looking at the weather, but if they see us just constantly pulling out our phones, what kind of example are we showing them? What kind of boundaries do you have in your home? No phones in the bedroom. No, there's a phone box. Yeah, we don't have that. I think probably we should. [00:36:44] And turn the ringer on. You can hear it when it rings. I tend to keep mine on silent, and then my wife says, hey, I tried to call you. Sorry, I didn't feel the buzz. Boundaries. I think I heard Brother Ron Miller tell me this. I think it was last year. Where's Brother Ron? There he is. He told me that, I don't know, somebody said that a child's first access to pornography is through mom's phone. Because some ladies, I guess, don't have some kind of a block or a lock on their phone. [00:37:17] And somebody stumbles onto something accidentally. So I'm just saying, in your own home, personally, I would like us to think about what could we do as a church, too. I would like us to think about that, but that's a little more tough sledding. You can do whatever you want in your own home. so put some boundaries in there to have a plan for how you're going to have boundaries in your home and the next thing I think about is relationships it is pretty hard to shepherd a a a teenager through puberty in this area if your relationship is kind of frosty so as parents um that's what I [00:37:56] put in my notes here develop and keep heart relationships with your children that aren't lost in youth and puberty. I think this is so hard, but it's something we need to, we just need, you know, the warmer, the better the relationship, the more likely they will listen to you when you speak into things that are hard. Talk to your children about purity. Talk to them about these things and the consequences of immorality. Be parents of integrity. Hold your children accountable. [00:38:27] and you know if children do fall into immorality it tends to breed a secrecy and a lying and an isolation so I think our the relationships that we have is part of our battle plan all right and number three I just want to mention that I think we have an amazing resource there is no app that will do this you know what you have you have an amazing resource and I wonder if we've We've tapped into it the way that we should. You have a brotherhood. And I have wondered with, see, the old way was, the old way the Mennonites did it was [00:39:03] abstinence, no television and no radio. We just didn't have it. And then we did it the new way. The new way was, okay, we're going to have some access with accountability. Is it working? Is it working? we're having a lot of casualties honestly we are and i just wonder i'm just throwing this out for food for you can take this home to your home church and chew on this but what if we would harness more of the resource we have in brotherhood and say okay this is not a church [00:39:38] standard but this is we think this is the best practice and as a brotherhood we are going to do some things together this is not just well my family do it this way brother john you can do it I wonder if we would have fewer casualties if we would lay down some of our individuality and say, let's we do this. I don't know. You tell me after the service what you think about that. In my opinion, you know, our exposure has gone way up, right? [00:40:13] We know who, what's that singer's name? Taylor Swift is. Some of us do. We know who some of the athletes are on the Olympics. We know who Joe Biden is. We know that he flubbed up in the debate, right? 30 years ago, we didn't know half this stuff. We, the pop culture, the access to it and our understanding of it is a lot closer. So I'm just saying, could we, if our exposure has went up so much more, could we also raise our accountability more too? [00:40:49] To match the level of exposure that we have? Maybe we would have better results. Alright, I have three more points and then I want to close. And this is more, I'm just thinking more, if you are, if this is an area that you struggle in. I'm just going to tell you three things that have helped me. And the first one is, if you struggle with this area or you're addicted to immorality or pornography or something like that, whatever it is, self-gratification. [00:41:23] Number one is, you need to take the humility pill. Okay, you got to take the humility pill. you have to you have to become transparent and you have to become accountable you will probably never get out of this ditch by yourself immorality is one of the most embarrassing and you know if I got upset at my children and raised my voice I would probably get a pat on the back from Brother Delwin for being honest about that I would tell him after church [00:41:54] I just had to confess that he would say brother thank you for being honest but but if i was immoral i would not want to tell him that if you want to go high if you want to get out of the ditch you have to go low take the humility pill and maybe for you if you're trapped in this maybe for you you're going to be delivered like paul on the road to damascus i did not find it that way and you know what the the people that i've worked [00:42:26] Maybe it's me. Maybe I just don't know how to help people. I probably don't. But for many people, it is a journey. They get rid of the pornography, then they get rid of the, you know, something else, and then it's something else, and it kind of comes off in stages. I don't like that. But it just seems like there's not, I haven't found the silver bullet yet. And if you know what it is, you tell me after church. it's a journey for most i think it's it is a journey out of this [00:43:02] god delivers you overnight hallelujah i pray praise the lord all right number two is if you're struggling or addicted is i title i call this point surrender your right to immoral pleasure. Surrender your right to the pleasure you feel like indulging in. Now, I'll try to explain this a little bit. This is something that I'm still trying to get a hold of in my own life. [00:43:34] And you know what? This works for any temptation. If you're sitting here tonight and say, this ain't my temptation, praise the Lord, but this will work for other temptations that you do have, okay? Surrender your right. Several years ago, I was leaving work, and I was really struggling with something. I think it was something I was discouraged about. I was upset. And I just was feeling these feelings of resentment just overwhelming me, just pushing in. [00:44:05] And I was trying to push them away, trying to push them away, and I just felt like it wasn't working. And so I began to pray. I jumped into my truck, and I began to pray. Oh God, just give me. Oh God, help me. I began to beg and plead God to give me something. And it seemed like God said to me, I did not hear an audible voice, but it seemed like the Lord said to me, no, you give me. Stop begging and pleading for stuff from me. No, you give me something. And the lesson that I took out of that was, give to God your right. Like for me at that point would [00:44:41] Lord, I have no right to be resentful. I feel like I have the right. I'm giving you this right right now. It's like giving God, God can do anything, but he wants the raw material that you're going to give him to work with it, okay? So I'm saying that if we can get a hold of that, I don't know if that makes sense, but it seems to me like the battle is more one, stop straining and pleading and begging and start surrendering. The battle is not won by getting, but in giving. [00:45:20] Giving to God, surrender your right to that thing that you're feeling. So many times we feel like, oh Lord, here comes a temptation, here it comes, oh help, please help, it's coming, it's getting stronger, help! And then bonk, right over the cliff we go. Straining and sweating and pleading. and more would be surrendering. Lord, I give to you, I don't have, I give to you the right to indulge in this. [00:45:58] And it seems like that is when the power of God comes in. I've had, I've had people text me and say, oh, pray for me. I'm feeling it right now. I'm feeling, and that's good. And yet I think prayer will not overthrow an unsurrendered heart. right so enter your heart first and then go ask for prayer all right last point and this remember I said about the perimeter and the external controls the internal control like you can develop this all of your life develop depth in Christ okay if this were the only point to make [00:46:31] in this whole sermon if you want to live a life of purity develop depth in Christ I believe this This is absolutely a depth issue. And the reason that we fall into immorality is because our depth is so shallow, it is not to the extent that it should be. So many times. That's really the issue. The depth is not right. Living in the shallows will absolutely leave you vulnerable to this temptation and to any other temptation. The shallows mentality says, what do I have to do to be a Christian? [00:47:03] Now, can I go play volleyball? When depth in Christ becomes all-consuming, moral strength begins improving. When depth in Christ becomes all-consuming, moral strength begins improving. If you develop internal control, you can win every time. All right, I need to close. Oh my, I need to close. In closing tonight, the battle for purity is one of the most important fights you can ever win with God's help. [00:47:46] Just as immorality is a gateway to the faith of the person, so purity is a gateway to the long-term usefulness and fruitfulness of the person. From here, with a foundation of purity, you can jump anywhere on the chessboard and be effective. Let's do this. Let's advance the kingdom of God with purity in a world that has gone mad with immorality. Paul said in Romans 13, Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. [00:48:18] Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. My testimony is this. I discovered immorality when I was about 11 years old. But I didn't develop a rhythm of regular, consistent victory until about age 40. [00:48:51] Oh, it got better. But living consistently in the victory cycle. But now this is a position that I prize highly and I guard jealously And you can do the same Only you don't need to wait till you're 40 You can do it right now by the grace of God With the help of others at age 22 or age 18 or whatever age you are If you're here tonight and you are addicted to sexual immorality you can be free [00:49:25] I thought about giving an invitation and I don't think I'm going to I'm just asking you if you do struggle tonight I'm asking you to to take the humility pill okay I'm asking you to talk to someone you can Satan wants us to believe we can't be free of this we just can't everyone else can but not me that's a lie Satan is the father of lies okay you can be free start the journey they The best time to start your 401k was 20 years ago. The second best time is today. So same way. If you're losing the battle on this, the best time to start is today. Talk to someone. Begin your journey to the beauty of a life of purity, faithfulness, and fruitfulness for Jesus' sake. May the Lord bless you.