After a one week hiatus due to the lock-in, we're back with part 3 of the Purity series! Oh, yeah! If you forgot what the first two parts were about, refresh your memory here:
Without further adieu, let's get into part three!
As you probably know by now, we are using 1 Corinthians 6:15-20 as our theme verse for this series:
Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.” But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.
Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
Matthew 5:27-28 is another important verse for this series.
You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Purity starts in your heart!
Finally, Proverbs 4:23:
Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life.
Tonight we are talking about how we win this battle for purity. How do we defeat the pressure of the world and our bodies? First off, everybody fights the same enemy. Even Jesus was tempted in every way. Do not think that your situation makes victory impossible – you can win this battle! But why do some win the battle consistently and some lose consistently?
A.C. Green played NBA basketball during the '80s, '90s and early 2000s. He was famous for two things. Playing the most consecutive games, and for being a virgin his entire NBA career. He was a Christian and didn't have sex until he got married in 2002. With women literally throwing themselves at him, he won the battle. If A.C. Green can win the battle, you can too! Victory is possible!
So how do we win, too? We'll start discovering this in Judges 16:4-21 (click to read).
What does Sampson losing his strength have to do with purity? So often men & women are in relationships where one party is trying to get the other to do something that they know is wrong. It works both ways, boys and girls both do it. They use the same tactic as Delilah – nagging, pouting, whining. Sampson chose to stay as close as he could to the danger zone because he thought he was “in love”. He put himself in a position of weakness where the battle grew more and more hard until he could not defeat it. Instead of fighting the battle, he played games with it. And lost.
In Genesis 39:2-12 we see a man in a similar predicament as Sampson, though not because of any mistake he had made. In fact, Joseph followed the same strategy that Paul lays out in 1 Corinthians. He ran from sexual sin! He didn't play around with it, he got out of the situation fast. The best strategy to win this battle is to run from sexual sin. Don't even go there!
Lust, impurity sexual sin – they are traps! Next time you find a bear trap in the woods, I would recommend not playing with it. It's dangerous! Sexual sin is just as dangerous.
The best way to avoid a trap is to know that it's there and walk around it. Lust is a trap! Don't be like Sampson, hanging around, poking the trap with sticks, putting your foot in it. There is a reason why God says to run from sexual sin. Get off the computer, turn off the TV, throw that book away, end that relationship. Get away from the trap! Sampson should have dumped Delilah! Don't make the same mistake he did.
Some real world strategies for avoiding the trap:
1. Leave! If you find yourself in a situation that is testing your purity, get away from it.
2. Put up a guard. Don't allow things that will tempt you to control you. Don't have a computer in your room. If you need to get rid of your phone, get rid of your phone.
3. Predecision. Decide beforehand to have lines that you will not cross. Decide before you are in the midst of temptation. You decide where your level of temptation is going to be.
3 questions to ask before beginning a relationship:
1. Who? Does this person represent who I'm looking for in life? Is he/she called to the same things you're called to in life? These are critical questions to ask before you get involved.
2. Why? Why are we dating? Why are we together? What is the end goal of the relationship? If you're 12, why are you dating since you certainly won't be getting married this decade?
3. How? How are you going to keep the relationship pure? Here's a little hint: Spending lots of time alone together is not a good starting point.
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