“PURITY PRINCIPLES” Prov. 2:16-19; 5; 6:20-7:27
FBCF – 5/26/24
Jon Daniels
INTRO – The Bible:
- Hebrews 4:12 – “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17 – “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
- Matthew 24:35 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
- Isaiah 55:10-11 – “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
SERMON #1: PURITY PRINCIPLES
“Proverbs states its theme right at the books beginning: its goal is to describe & instill ‘wisdom’ in God’s people, a wisdom that is founded in the ‘fear of the Lord’ & that works out covenant life in the practical details of everyday situations & relationships…
“wisdom” – “The word can have the nuance of ‘skill’…‘skill in the art of godly living.’” (ESV Study Bible, p. 1130).
Are you & I “SKILLED in the art of godly living”?
- “I got skills!”
o On the athletic field & court
o In the woods (hunting) & on the lake (fishing, skiing, wakeboarding)
o In the kitchen
o With my musical instruments
But what about skills in the art of godly living? Like any skills you acquire, acquiring skills in the art of godly living is not easy, but it’s worth it.
- Takes commitment & dedication, & some folks just don’t want to be that committed & dedicated.
- It takes hard work & discipline, & some folks just don’t want to put in the work to discipline themselves.
- It takes a willingness to change – our thoughts, desires, ambitions, direction - & some folks just don’t want to change.
And when you get to the end of your life, you’ll be remembered as someone who was skilled in many different areas in life except the one that truly mattered – skill in the art of godly living.
The specific area of godly living that we are talking about today as we continue this “HomeWork” series in Proverbs is the area of sexual purity.
APPLICATION – “To live a life of purity, you must immerse yourself in the wisdom of Proverbs.”
Not going to give a “birds & the bees” talk but give some Biblical principles that you must build your life on – principles that you should share w/ your children as you teach them the unchanging truth of God in this critical area.
So WHY immerse yourself in the wisdom of Proverbs in the area of sexual purity?
IT WILL SAVE YOU FROM DESTRUCTION
- Proverbs 2:16-19; 5:5
IT WILL SHOW YOU THE UGLINESS OF SIN
- The progression of temptation – Proverbs 7:6-21
o “All at once…” – v. 22-23
IT WILL STRENGTHEN YOU & YOUR RELATIONSHIPS
When you see the stark reality of the devastation that sexual impurity brings to your life, you’ll find yourself drawing close to the Lord & your spouse again afresh & anew. You’ll realize what a blessing he/she is to you.
- Proverbs 5:15-20
Or if you’re single, you’ll realize your need to stay focused on Jesus & have godly friends who’ll hold you accountable & encourage you to stay pure & faithful to the Lord, even though the world is screaming at you from every direction.
- Proverbs 4:23-27 – “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”
So, this book – the Bible – speaks to EVERY ASPECT OF OUR LIFE. And in the middle of this book is the book of Proverbs that gives us so much practical advice on living out a Godly life. It’s all about LIFE – Life that God has given to us to be used for His glory alone.
- We’ve only got one shot at this.
- Pic of sign behind my desk: “Only one life, twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.” (C.T. Studd, missionary – late 1800’s-early 1900’s)
- Then all over the bookshelves around this sign are pics like these (show family pics).
- I only have one shot w/ this group of people, my family.
- I only have one shot w/ you, as pastor of this church FAMILY.
- I only have one shot to make much of Jesus!
Sitting in my office Friday morning praying & thinking about all that God is doing here at FBCF & praying & thinking about all that the enemy is TRYING to do here to hinder what God is doing here. Started writing in my journal (read it). IT'S ALL ABOUT JESUS! IT'S ALL ABOUT MAKING MUCH OF JESUS!
That’s it! That’s what life is all about! That’s what this church is all about! That’s our goal! HE’S our goal! We are on a trip together & that’s the destination – Making Much of JESUS is our destination.
But one thing I’ve discovered about traveling & going on trips: There can be disruptions, detours, delays.
- Monday – Singapore Airlines jet flying at 37k feet hit “clear air turbulence” – Sudden turbulence that shot unbuckled passengers out of their seats into the ceiling & slammed them back to floor. One man died, 83 others injured, many severe. Plane landed in Bangkok where ambulances were waiting to carry the injured to hospitals w/ gashes, broken bones, back & neck injuries, some severe enough to be taken into the ICU.
o “Clear air turbulence” – Everything is fine. Suddenly it’s not.
- Holy Land trip – turbulence over Atlantic Ocean. Lasted 30-45 mins. Overhead bins popping open. Bags falling out. People moaning & crying.
In both of those airplanes on both of those trips, there was a trained man sitting in the front, guiding the aircraft as best as he could. He’s the voice you hear – sometimes before turbulence if he know it’s coming – sometimes in the midst of the turbulence – sometimes after the turbulence (Singapore flight, he asked people w/ medical training to assist injured passengers). The voice of the pilot.
- He’s not alone – Has a copilot, crew, flight attendants, ground crews, mechanics, air traffic controllers – all working together.
- But he’s the voice that speaks into the turbulence.
o Calm – matter of fact – informed – steady
o “Folks, we are going to do our best to go around these storms, We may have to go through them & it’s going to get bumpy for a while. But our goal & our commitment is to get you to your destination."
So, again, I want to say to you, my church FAMILY: OUR DESTINATION IS MAKING MUCH OF JESUS! As your pastor, I am committed to doing everything I can to keep moving us toward that destination. I’m thankful that I’m not alone in this:
- Staff – deacons – ministry team members – LG teachers – choir members – instrumentalists – Refuge band & praise team members – broadcast ministry team members – mission team members – preschool ministry/children’s ministry/student ministry/men’s ministry/women’s ministry/EVERY church member – ALL of us working together to keep moving toward our destination of making much of Jesus.
- Turbulence will come – Change will come – Sin will happen – Consequences will happen – LIFE will happen – But we will keep moving toward our destination of making much of Jesus.
- The enemy will attack – Even while I’m saying these words to you, his demons & forces of evil are hearing the same words you are hearing & already scheming & planning to bring turbulence to try to scare us, to hurt us, to throw us off course, to make us crash – But we will stand against him in the power & authority of Jesus & the W of G & we will keep moving toward our destination of making much of Jesus.
o Mama & Tim (35 in worship) – “Amazing Grace” in a special service a few wks ago – sang it differently than traditional hymn. Former pastor – pastor emeritus – got upset & called the present pastor & said he needed to fire Tim, in spite of the fact that 4 people got saved (they’ve baptized 9 since first of year – baptizing 6 today).
o Mama: “You boys [my 2 brothers & me] better keep your eyes on Jesus b/c there’s a target on your backs. Satan hates what yall are doing.”
So, if you want to be a part of a church that is 100% committed to making much of JESUS, no matter what turbulence comes our way, then I invite you to step up today & commit to this journey that we are on together!
- For some of you, that means it’s time to finally officially join this church. It’s time! Quit waiting around! Come on today!
- For others, it means that you need to repent of your lack of commitment to this church even though you’re a member.
o Bunch of you out for Memorial Day today & are watching this service – If you’re on-board w/ us, put a comment in the comment section of the video.
- For others, it means that you need to give your life to JESUS & be saved today!
