True Love Waits
“Questions People Ask”
It’s
not common that you’ll find it. It’s not popular if you say it. The
“in” crowd does not believe it. A preacher will be criticized if he
reminds you of it. I don’t mind that at all, so here it is:
God’s plan for sex includes 1 man and 1 woman, within the marriage relationship.
$450
million will be spent this year on sex-ed, most of it centering on what
has become known as “safe sex”. There is no sex safer than sex within
God’s plan!
The world’s version of safe sex is not based in morality at all. Their theme is: “if you can’t be good, then be careful”.
God’s version of safe sex is abstinence until marriage, I Pet. 2:11
Biblical morality is scorned, ridiculed, laughed at, belittled, called archaic, and old-fashioned.
Entertainment:
Rarely in daytime TV will you see lovers who are married to each other.
(evening sit coms as well) If it’s not pre-marital sex it’s
extra-marital sex…
…and I’m wondering, why depict it at all? How
many remember when TV didn’t speak of such things, much less show them!
(separate beds)
Advertising: Sex is the #1 seller of everything from beer to perfume to jeans, toothpaste, and breakfast cereal.
“appeal to mankind’s baser instincts”
In
the ‘60’s, Hugh Hefner of Playboy said, “sex is a normal function of
the body, it is a desire that man shares w/ the animals, just like
sleeping or eating, therefore it is not wrong to satisfy these normal
desires”.
Society has swallowed that philosophy, hook, line, and
sinker. “Just throw off all your inhibitions, and if it feels good, do
it.”
As kids we are taught evolution in the classroom…and now we
acting like it. If you tell a teenager that they are an animal for long
enough, he will eventually prove you right!
Josh McDowell is one of christianity’s foremost experts on teenagers. His research shows that in evangelical church circles:
65% of teens have had some kind of sexual experience before the age of 18. 43% say they have actually gone all the way.
He asked them where they learned their values in this area, and 73% said, “from the movies.”
The
good news is that of the 35% who had no experience, the vast majority
said the reason was because of a commitment they have made to God.
I’m
thankful tonite for a handful of teens who say tonite, from this day
forward, I will abstain until marriage…I will live by God’s plan.
A Senator in Washington once said, “today’s teens are just hormone hurricanes, and you can’t stop a hurricane.”
I’m
thankful for a power greater than a hurricane, He’s the Creator of that
hurricane, He’s the One that kept my wife and myself pure for each
other, He’s our powerful God.
We’ve allowed Sex to become a dirty
word. What should be a beautiful picture of love, marriage, and home,
it’s now associated w/ words like
perversion/aids/prostitution/lesbianism/homosexuality.
When Disney a couple of years ago decided to embrace same sex partners, we knew how bad it is becoming.
Ted Kennedy wants same sex marriage recognized/ Sen. Barney Frank/feminist movement/gay lobbyists..
…but God Almighty will never recognize it as anything other than an abomination!
Society
is learning the hard way that there is a penalty for sexual immorality.
But rather than coming back to God’s standards, and obeying God’s
laws, society says, “let’s see what we can do to alter the consequences
of our actions.”
Abortion: unwanted pregnancy? Just do away w/ the consequences!
Don’t let anyone get in the way of you having a good time!
3 Words:
SEXUALITY/IMMORALITY/PURITY
1. Sexuality
Sex
is not a dirty word. Teenagers: your generation did not discover sex.
God originated it for the benefit of all, within His guidelines.
Parents:
Don’t make faces at me for using the word sex. Your kids are hearing
lies about it every day and tonite they hear the truth.
Older
folks: Don’t look so holy at me for talking about God’s gift of
sex…you’re here because of it. (Only 1 virgin birth and you’re not it!)
Heb. 13:4 (on screen) “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled.”
Listen
carefully: When a man and a woman enter into a marriage contract, the
seal of that covenant is their union physically. To give away your
virginity before marriage is far more serious than you ever thought
possible…as you give away the seal to your marriage contract.
Someday
you will fall in love for real with someone and marry them, and you
will wish with all your heart to give them the most wonderful gift you
ever could, your purity, but I remind you tonite you can only give that
gift away one time!
Married couples: Just as the physical union
w/in marriage seals the covenant of marriage, union outside of your
marriage w/ anyone else is what breaks the covenant.
Sex is not a
physical act alone. There is a spiritual and emotional dimension to
sex. If you leave them out, then you lower it to the level of animals.
That’s
what the pornography industry is doing. Making women into things,
objects to be used. “Playboy Bunnies” “Penthouse Pets” Just animals.
Nevermind that you have feelings and a soul and a heart.
Any
blurring of the sexual distinction is wrong. Guys are carrying purses
and girls are carrying footballs. Girls are wearing guys clothes and
guys are decorating themselves up like women.
My wife and I drive
around town and have to ask each other, is that a male or female? Is
it a Mr., and Mrs., or a mistake? The girl walks like Tarzan, the guy
is walking like Jane, and they both smell like Cheetah!
Like the
preacher who stood before the couple at their wedding and couldn’t tell
bride from groom, he said, “will whatever you are take whatever that is
to become whatever you’re gonna be!”
God made us different for a reason, and any blurring of that difference is wrong.
2. Immorality
We looked earlier at Heb. 13:4…here’s the rest of the verse: “but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge!”
I Thess. 4:3 “for this is the will of God…that ye should abstain from fornication.” (pre-marital sex)
Let’s build together an ice cream sundae:
Bowl—intellectual union
Ice cream—emotional union (like turns to love)
Toppings—spiritual union (share goals and dreams)
Whipped Cream—physical union after marriage
Here’s the danger: if you enter into the physical relationship before marriage, the other 3 parts stop growing immediately!
All you have is the whipped cream…not in love…but in lust!
5 Dangers of pre-marital sex:
1. Counterfeit love
Relationships based on sex do not last!
Start w/ physical and then find out you don’t even like each
other. You never grew together intellectually, emotionally, or spiritually!
You stand there w/ nothing but a handful of whipped cream, and it gets old, and you throw it away too!
But…if you start the physical after marriage, the other 3 parts just
keep on growing! Then you have more than a sexual partner, you have a
best friend who really loves you.
Real love is patient, pure, and unselfish.
Girls, when that guy says, “I just can’t wait”, you’ll know he doesn’t
love you. When he says, “If you really love me, you’ll prove it!”, you
take it as an insult and slap him so hard his brains ring like church
bells on a cold morning!
2. Emotional consequences
Young ladies:
Studies show a direct corrolation between pre-marital sex and personal emotion problems…
Fear/guilt/anxiety/loss of self-respect
Guilt is the most destructive emotion we can have.
It robs you of sleep, peace, joy, self-worth, and fellowship w/ God.
It leaves you shattered, uncertain, and unproductive.
And you lose that “glow” that always accompanies sexual purity.
Hear this ladies, and I’ll tell you how men think…
…there’s something mysterious about the unknown. There’s something very attractive about the unknown.
9
times out of ten, once you reveal yourself to him, once the mystery is
gone, so is he…he’ll drop you like a hot rock! And that won’t feel like
just another break-up, it will feel like a divorce.
3. Physical consequences
Wages of sin is still death!
Drunkard—in danger of scirosis of liver
Smoker—cancer in the lungs
Glutton—cardiovascular disease
Sexually
impure—in danger of diseases w/ no cures. There are 7 diseases besides
aids which have no cure, and all carry long-term consequences, and all
are spread around thru a crowd of people willing to have sex outside of
the protection of marriage!
You say, he’s only willing to be w/
me, she’s only willing to be with me. Not! If they’re willing to do it
w/ you then they’ll do it w/ others and probably already have.
When you go to bed w/ someone, you go to bed with their entire sexual history, and w/ everyone who THOSE people had been with.
The wages of sin is still death.
4. Marital consequences
I’ve
counseled w/ people who say, “it’s ok for she and I to do this, because
we know we’re gonna get married.” No, it’s not ok. Why?
Because God said it’s not ok…who are you to rewrite the rules?
You may not marry them!
The average teen falls in love 10 times before they get married.
Even
if you do marry them, you have reduced your chances for a happy
marriage because you have chipped away at the foundation of trust. In
the back of your mind you will always know that the person you married
was capable of immorality. They were willing to sin w/ you before
marriage and they’re capable of sinning against you now that you are
married.
5. Spiritual consequences
But, Bro. Jerry, don’t you believe that God forgives? YES I DO!
But forgiveness and consequences are 2 different animals. (ill.—line)
We think that both exist on the same line, that the closer we get to forgiveness the further we move from consequences…not so!
David
sinned w/ Bathsheba, then committed murder…and in 2 incredible passages
of scripture we see an awesome forgiveness that David requested and
received but let me ask you, were there consequences still?
Yes. God said, David, you will live in a valley of tears the rest of your life. The sword will not depart from your house.
He buried a baby that died. Then one of his sons raped his daughter. And God said it was direct results of his sin.
3. Purity
How can I stay pure?
1. Protect your mind
The eye-gate and the ear-gate are so important…the pathways to the mind.
II Pet. 2:14 (on screen) “eyes full of adultery”
Once upon a time a boy was born to Christian parents, he was active in church in the youth group. His name was Ted Bundy!
One day his g’pa introduced him to soft-core porn. After a few years
it was no longer enough, so he moved on to hard-core porn. After a
while, it was no longer stimulating, so he began to see prostitutes.
Then he began raping prostitutes. Then he started killing them. He was
caught and executed.
Men, protect your eyes. The Bible says, “I will set no wicked thing before my eyes.” Claim that verse.
Job said, “I have made a covenant w/ my eyes, why then should I THINK upon a maid?”
Get
away from music whose theme is predominantly lust and sex. (difference
between the sex spoken of in rock music and country music is one is
easier to understand!)
2. Don’t accommodate sin
If you can’t walk into the video store and stay pure, then don’t walk in!
If you can’t flip around the channels w/out looking for something dirty to look at then cut it off!
If you can’t be alone together in that car then don’t be.
“Make no provision for the flesh.”
3. Decide in advance
Make a pre-determined decision to stay pure, and that you won’t date anyone who hasn’t made the same commitment.
Words of a fool: “He’ll change after we’re married.”
Ill—Africa,
boys playing w/ shiny rocks, throwing them, pounding them together/man
noticed and was intrigued/upon closer examination he realized they were
diamonds/boys showed him where they found them and that day one of the
largest diamond mines in africa was discovered.
“You have no idea how valuable your purity is…protect it w/ a vengeance.”
“It’s too late for me, preacher.” (already given it away)
Good
news! One day a woman was brought to Jesus, taken in the very act of
adultery. She expected to be condemned, but Jesus said, I don’t condemn
you, go and sin no more!
Can’t change the past, but the future is unwritten!
By: Jerry Shirley
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