Q&A
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Our God and Father, we just give thanks for your graciousness to us in these question answer meetings. We just give thanks for the the desire to understand and learn and know more of thy ways. And we just think of the questions before us today, some about our practical living in in this world and and how to keep separate from it and how to be separated.
To to the Lord Jesus and Father. We just ask for help and discernment to answer these questions.
And and that there would be a desire to understand and to to practice.
A life of purity and, and the life of godliness. And, and Father, we just commit this day into your hand. We pray for those who be traveling, some starting to go back to their homes and we just give thanks that they're able to be with us Father, and we just ask for a blessing for each one. We, we just commit this day into your hand. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Here we have 4 questions. We'll have to move through them.
We have an hour to do this. This question is.
There seems to be many standards regarding displays of affection between young unmarried men and women. What does the Bible have to say on the subject?
So this is a.
Question about the public displays of affection between unmarried men and women. What does the Bible have to say on the subject?
The question is as many standards regarding displays of affection.
I guess a display of affection would be in public, but there's all I think we could also include.
Displays of affection in private, which is probably a little more.
Challenging.
We had a little bit in the question yesterday about.
The physical relationships and dating and and so forth.
We talked about limits.
The reason for limits is because.
A man and a woman want to have a physical relationship.
And it starts by perhaps holding hands, putting an arm around the person.
And it progresses through the through the physical.
Steps.
Towards a closer relationship and.
We talked about.
A limit setting a limit putting a line in the sand and don't cross over that.
And we can set our limits.
But the limits aren't real real helpful when there's emotions involved. And there's a verse in Galatians.
Galatians, chapter 3.
Now limit limits are good.
But we can't depend on limits, and this verse here in Galatians 3 pretty much tells us that setting a limit.
Isn't really a good idea.
Although it could be a good idea.
Verse three says, are you so foolish? This is talking to Christians, you've begun in the spirit. Are you now made perfect by the flesh? And so if we set a limit, that's that's our flesh.
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That's going to be energized to try to stop ourselves from being fleshly.
And so we need to be careful about limits. Are we really need to guard our hearts rather than setting physical limits to guard our hearts towards that person that we want to be with?
Talks about standards.
I have my my standards for the camp.
If you're not married, I don't want any physical relationship. Holding hands, giving back rubs.
Whatever, I don't want any physical contact between those who aren't married.
And that's my standards. I I can't force that on you unless you're at my camp.
But others may have some more to say.
For my standards.
First Corinthians 7/1, right?
Yeah, yeah. First Corinthians 71. It's been on the the touch football.
Sign in the in the dining room.
Is not good for a man to touch a woman?
Yeah, it's open to that passage.
It is not good for a man to touch a woman. So young people, especially you young men, God has made us.
To respond.
Visually.
And you, young women, God has made you to respond by touch.
And God has made.
Hope I can say this, I want to say this with as much love to you as I can.
Displays of affection are leading somewhere, and God has made that as a beautiful thing.
Between you and your wife or you and your husband?
It tells us in Hebrews 13.
Verse 3, verse four, Marriage is honorable in all, and the better defiled. God has ordained that and it's a beautiful thing, but it's reserved.
For your marriage.
Now turn over to Ecclesiastes.
Chapter 10.
In verse 8.
The second-half of Mercedes whoso breaketh in hedge.
A serpent shall bite him.
Young people.
I want you to hear me say this with as much tenderness as I can.
God has your good and your blessing and heart.
But he has set intimacy to be reserved for marriage.
You can spoil what God has for your blessing by not leaving.
God has placed the hedge here. Don't break the heads.
There are Jim, correct me if I'm wrong on this. Fornication has as part of its cost a very there's a sure how to say this.
I think we should look at the Scripture, go ahead. And then when you're done, there's a cost personally to your body, to your emotions. I remember when I was quite young, a brother that I valued a lot took some of us aside and he said, fellas, intimacy is like a river.
So I like the fly fish. OK, So don't let me describe this scene to you. There's a river. It's flowing nicely.
Trickling along, it's within its banks and there is beauty and enjoyment. But when that river gets outside of its banks, what happens?
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Disease destruction.
Regret and so.
God has given us in First Corinthians 7.
The remedy How do we keep the river in its banks?
It's good for a man not to touch a woman. That's going to lead. It's very, very, very hard to stop.
The progression, you might be able to stop it today, but over two or three months or a year, it goes a little more, a little more. Suddenly the rivers out of its banks and there's remorse and regret. And God has your blessing at heart. Trust Him.
I I really want to just tell you that with as much tenderness as I can.
God is not telling you this because He's a restrictive God that wants to inflict pain in your life. He's telling you this because He loves you and He has made something for you. That's blessing. But don't break the hedge. So before we look at the scripture that Bernie's referring to in connection with his thought, I want to say this too.
Connection with public display and that is remember.
That what you do in public, you're going to go further in private. If you don't do something in public, you're not likely to do it in private. And so I think it's a very good safeguard as we've had. And just just remember that little principle. If if you don't go across a certain line, if there's a certain line while others are watching, that's a safeguard for what you're going to do when.
Desire, and I'll just say this in this regard too, as relationships are forming, don't put yourself then in a vulnerable situation, in a situation that can lead. If you will allow me, I'm going to speak very, very plainly for a moment. There's nothing makes my soul cringe more than to be in a home where there's a young man or a young lady who's going with someone.
And you find they've gone up to their bedroom to look at the computer. You're putting yourself in a bad situation. You're making provision for the flesh. Stay in a place where there's a safeguard. Someone always there, someone coming and going in the background. Don't say I know how far to go and I can draw the line and keep that line drawn.
Again, I think we had in a previous meeting. Peter thought he knew how far to go. Though all deny thee, yet will not I deny thee, You might say, well, others.
Others will do it, but I won't do it. Be careful. Let him that thinketh he standeth. Take heed lest he fall.
Now on one more comment before I read this portion in Proverbs. Just so we're very clear, fornication and adultery are sexual activity outside the marriage tie. And God absolutely in His word, prohibits it. Not to make life hard, not to make life difficult. But as Bernie has said, it is for the blessing of man on the earth.
And God has a plan. And do you think it isn't a happy plan?
God has our blessing in view and another reason it's such a serious thing to have sexual activity outside the marriage tie is because it spoils the type of Christ in the church. You know, it's beautiful that with Rebecca, Isaac and Rebecca, who are one of the most beautiful pictures of Christ in the church. In the Old Testament, we never read of Isaac taking another wife.
That interesting never read of him taking another wife and so God has this standard, but I want to, in connection with what Bernie alluded to, read in Proverbs chapter 6 to show how serious it is to engage in that which we have been talking about.
Proverbs chapter 6 and I'll begin reading at verse 31 or verse 30. Men do not despise a thief if he still dissatisfies soul when he is hungry.
But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold. He shall give all the substance of his house. OK, that's one thing. That's a crime. Theft is a crime. But he says there's excuses and remedies and so on. But now notice verse 32. But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding. He that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. This is what I want to notice.
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A wound and dishonor shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
Every other sin that a man does is without the body, the New Testament tells us. But he that sinneth with a woman wrong if his so sinneth against his own body. And it's very interesting here that when it talks about adultery or fornication, he says not a scar but a wound. A wound in Scripture, you'll find, is something that doesn't heal.
And I when a person commits.
Sexual acts outside the marriage type, it is something that remains on that person, a mark that remains before God on that persons body for the rest of their life. Now there may be restoration and God is greater than our sin and greater than our failure. But here I'm going to give you 2 Old Testament examples of what we have here. One is Abraham.
Abraham acted without the sanction of God in what he did.
And Ishmael was born, and I have just been in the Middle East, and you can see that there though Abraham was happily restored to the Lord, there have been consequences because Ishmael and his descendants are still the enemies of the people of God to this day.
When David sinned with Bathsheba, David was happily restored to the Lord and used as a king in Israel for the blessing of God's people. But God told him, a sword shall never depart from your house forever. There wasn't a consequence. Not only that Dave, Abraham, and David had to bear for the rest of their lives, but it had consequences on generations to come.
And again, it is so serious because it spoils God's.
Picture of Christ in the church and it is completely prohibited by God's word, by Scripture.
And I just said, conclude my remarks by repeating what I said earlier. How you act in public is going to carry over how you act in private. And remember, whatever distance you go in public, you're probably going to go further in private, in private.
Be very, very careful. God has a plan for our lives. It's a happy, it's a blessed plan.
When we simply follow His word.
Two other verses that were helped to meet one of the young fellows that works for me just asked me about.
A relationship with a young sister that he's interested in, he doesn't, he said. It just doesn't come to the assembly. But he's a believer and I referred him to First Timothy 5.
Versus one and two.
I'll just read them. Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father, and the younger men as brethren, the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters, with all purity.
I just encouraged him to.
Treat this young woman as if it was his sister in a sense that he would be pure and maintain that purity. And as what's been said about marriages was very helpful, but I believe that before that there needs to be this purity that's maintained and maintained before the war in the fear of the Lord.
Well, here we go.
Three more questions.
Some of them are connected to the same.
Theme of but I'll read this one, society says that such things as *********** sex before marriage, homosexuality, et cetera are OK. How do we safeguard ourselves and young people against those things? So I'll just add that to the conversation too. It's kind of goes along similarly.
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Question just asked now rejoice it in the Lord always may be occupied with the Lord constantly. All these other distractions were not being in the forefront and actually diversity. Repeat the song rejoice in the Lord.
As a single man of 51, I'm happy to speak about only bunk price. I get sidetracked. Other things will come into play. I don't want to get sidetracked.
So I try to remember this verse, rejoice in the Lord, be occupied with Christ, be occupied with Christ. You're not going to be occupied by these things of the world and what what they're doing.
You're not going to fall into that trap.
I just received an e-mail.
Yesterday from brother Daniel Kabagi in in Malawi and he had some sad news that a brother there that we regarded quite well.
He's a leading brother in one of the assemblies.
Well, his, his son, they, they don't have Internet, they don't have the ***********.
And all of that they just have they just take a second wife or a third wife or fourth wife.
And this brother condoned his son to take a third wife, and he paid the dowries for her and.
That brother had to be put well. Both of them have to be put out of the fellowship because of of this.
So when a man takes a second life, that's adultery. It's fornication, adultery. He needs to be put away.
From among yourselves as a wicked person.
And.
But we tend to think that *********** maybe isn't so bad as the actual act, but it's a step towards that, that actual act.
And so.
Well, I just forget the verse I was going to turn to.
Oh yeah, Matthew. Go to Matthew chapter 5.
Matthew 5 and verse 28.
But I say unto you, Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her in his heart.
When we are looking at *********** or you're looking at another woman.
Maybe you haven't committed the act of of sexual intercourse.
But when you're looking at the ***********.
Does something to your brain and to your heart and your and you're looking at that picture with lust in your heart and you maybe act out the adultery even though it's not adultery in itself.
And so we think, oh, that's OK.
Other people think, well, I can't, I'm not supposed to have sex or be occupied with a woman. And so they take out their sexual frustration and they turn to homosexuality. And that the question here is how how do we guard ourselves from from these things coming in the *********** sex before marriage.
Homosexuality.
The government is trying to promote homosexuality all throughout the world.
Russia is taking the country of Russia is taking a stance against homosexuality and they're being castigated for it by America and by many other countries for not allowing homosexuality. And so it's such a prevalent thing even in Malawi they're they're allowed.
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Other Western countries are giving them money sponsorship.
But only if they allow homosexuality in their in their countries and these countries, they don't want it, but they want the money, so they allow it. And so how do we with with it being so prevalent in this world? It's all around us. We know people who.
Are friends, our brothers, our sisters, our children.
They're turning to a life of homosexuality.
We know quite a number of them.
How do we safeguard our hearts? I think it's all part of a similar question as we had over the last couple days. Maybe someone else has some thoughts and verses. Turn back to First Corinthians 6 please.
In verse 19.
This is a.
This is a test for a hearts here.
1St Corinthians 6 verse 19 What?
Here's the question. No ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you.
Which you have of God, and ye are not your own. We are bought with a price.
Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are gods if you don't know the Lord Jesus as your Savior today.
This doesn't apply to you. You haven't been bought with the price. But if you're a Christian young people today.
Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Think about that. So.
Let's let's role play for a minute.
Jim and I decide that, Jim, I hope this is OK, that you're angry into this. Jim and I decide, you know, we're saved. We can't be lost. We're going to we're in a city. And and let me just say as an aside, especially you young men, your company puts you on an airplane. You travel to another city. Be careful.
Be careful. I have been in situations and continue to find situations where you know you're with people that you, your coworkers and they say, all right, here we go, we're going to this place of that. Don't do it. And by the way, fly your flag early. The first time you tell them why you're not going, they're not going to ask you a second time. Don't make up some excuse as well.
I get it today. So tell them you belong to the Lord Jesus and you can't do that.
They won't ask you a second time. But anyway, be careful young people. But so Jim and I are going to this place, okay?
We ask ourselves if the Lord Jesus were walking in trio with us physically right now when we walk into this place.
No, we wouldn't.
Well, they'll do it. It's a good test. The Lord indwells you as a believer. Don't forget that. You know if you're going to hear both will look at something. Young men, ask yourself if would I show this to Christ?
No. Then don't forget there's a, there's a, there's a blessed path. It's a, it's a good recalibration tool, if you will, to say. And you know, sometimes I think we get.
Tell us and we're exposed to it and it becomes less shocking, if you will.
The thought yeah, well, it's all over the place though. Ask yourself.
Did I do this with Christ?
He'll do it. So I just want to encourage you. It's a good way to stay.
Calibrated in the face of evil to remember who you belong to and who isn't dwelling your heart. It's the Holy Spirit and.
And again, I just say, especially you young men, you know the verse that says.
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God has raised from the dead, thou shalt be saved. You know I found in my life young people.
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If you confess the Lord Jesus, you're not only going to be saved from your sins, but you're going to be saved from a whole lot of trouble too. You know, to tell somebody the tempter.
I can't do that, and the reason is I belong to the Lord Jesus.
They're not going to ask you again. They're going to get it. So the Word of God is the solution. And I just want to encourage you, young men and women, remember who you are. I want to give a little antidote in that connection because the problem is as we go to school.
Or work, or wherever we operate in our day-to-day life. If we're not careful, we become desensitized.
If I can speak very plainly again for a moment, I believe that television has done more to desensitize the believer than perhaps any other modern invention. Now, I know there's the Internet and so on, but.
What? What?
Came before the Internet was television. I'm going to tell you a little story that to illustrate what I'm saying.
When I was growing up, my grandmother lived across the field from us and on the other side of my grandmother, my Uncle Berwick and his family lived. So we were one big happy family living on a section of the old Highland farm. Neither my dad or my Uncle Berwick had a television, however, my grandmother had a little black and white television that got a couple of channels and after school we would often run across the field.
And have hot chocolate and brown bread at grandma's. And we would watch some of those little shows after school. I'm not saying that was good. But now let's jump ahead 30 years. My wife was brought up, wasn't brought up in a Christian home. So she was brought up with television. We jumped ahead 30 years. Now we were in a home where there was television. The children came home from school.
The television was turned on. I'm not talking about 11:00 at night, I'm talking about 3:00 in the afternoon.
My wife and I couldn't believe what they were watching. Why? Because we hadn't seen it regularly for some 30 years.
And when we talked about it in our room a little later, we concluded.
That we were shocked because.
What we watched back then and what they were watching now, things had been introduced so slowly and insidiously over 30 years that it was like the frog boiling in the water. They didn't even know how bad it was. And we want to be very careful that we don't get desensitized now. What is the antidote? I want to read you some verses in the 119th song.
While you're turning to that, if you make a note, you can jot it down. But in Lamentations chapter, I'll just give you the verse chapter 3 and verse 51, verse 51, the verse that's there that says mine. I affecteth my heart because of all the daughters of the city. You know, what we look at is going to affect our hearts. What we look at is eventually going to get down.
Here and what's in our hearts is going to affect what we do. But I want to read you some verses in the 119th Psalm that I suggest are the antidote, and Bernie alluded to it first. I'm going to start at verse 33. Teach me, oh Lord, the way of Thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep Thy law.
You observe it with? Yeah, I shall observe it with my whole heart. I'll just stop there a minute, you know?
God wants is wholeheartedness, and if your whole heart is full of Christ, there isn't room for anything else. Fill a glass to the brim, there's no room for anything else. Fill a cup with wheat, there's no room for the chaff. And then he says, make me to go in the path of thy commandments. Wherein do I delight? So when there's an understanding of the word of God and there has to be a knowledge and an understanding.
And then a desire to go in that path, he says in verse 36, Incline mind, heart unto thy testimonies.
And not to the not to covetousness. And now notice this turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity.
And quicken thou me in thy wayness, and so on. In other words, what the psalmist is saying here, establish me in the Word of God, give me that desire to walk in it, And in the midst of that, keep me from looking at that which is going to affect my heart and leave me in a bad path. And we have to. I want to give you one more verse.
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In Rome at the end of Romans one, I think it is.
Because it goes along with the comments.
You say, well, what's so bad about just watching it? I'm not going to do it. I'm just going to watch it. See what God says in this chapter. He condemns sexual activity outside the marriage tie. He condemns sexual relationship between women. He condemns sexual relationship between men. And now notice what he says at the end of the chapter.
Verse 32 Who knoweth, who knoweth the judgment of God, and they which commit such things are worthy of death.
But he doesn't stop there. He says not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. You sit down and watch this on the television or the Internet or any other source. You're not actually committing it yourself, you say, but you're having pleasure in those that are doing it.
Yeah, I'm going to speak very plainly. You watch the soap opera.
He said I wouldn't do that, men and women living together, men with men, women with whatever. So I wouldn't do that. But you're having pleasure in those that are doing it. And you know what? You're worthy of death. God says it's an abomination. It's bad not only to take up with it yourself, but to take pleasure and watch and enjoy.
Those that are doing the very thing that God condemns.
Is not only the watching, but there's also the there's a lot of novels and books that are, are very immoral. They have more immoral content and overtones and undertones and, and they can be very ****** and they can, they can take your heart and your body and your soul away from following Christ. Now with the question, I, I don't don't think we really answered the question.
I think the question is how do we safeguard ourselves, our children and the young people against those things?
We spoke about things we shouldn't do.
Nelson brought in about rejoicing in the Lord, being filled with the Spirit and following him. And but the parent perhaps is full of the Spirit and full of following Christ. How do they safeguard their children who are not full of the Spirit? You can't dump the Spirit into the kid.
And say, OK, you're full of spirit now you follow Christ. No, there's some. I think the question is what?
Precautionary measures can we take to safeguard ourselves and our our children from getting involved in these things before it becomes a problem Or if there is a problem, how do we safeguard to prevent it from following again? Perhaps like I don't understand how these things are work, but some sort of a block on on websites on the computer. Are there practical things that anybody has done or tried or can recommend?
That might, that might be a help. Perhaps putting a computer, not allowing any access on the computer in in private should be done in the public air arena in the home or but when we have smartphones, it's it's very difficult to legislate smartphones, but are there any other practical things that we can suggest?
And then I think we need to to progress on to the next question, which?
Has similar thoughts.
Thinking of more of the question, how to safeguard, listening to the warnings and so on. And that's wonderful. We need those. And there are safeguards for not to make provision for the flesh, are we? But we can't do it in a legalistic way or it won't have the right fruit in our life.
And I'd like to look at relations.
Chapter 6.
#7 it says, be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap, for he that soweth to his flesh shall have the flesh, flesh reap. Corruption. But he got sold to the spiritual of the Spirit. Reek wife ever at lasting. And let us not be weary and well doing, for in due season we will, we shall reap.
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Not as it, as we have therefore opportunity, let us do good, and so on. There is more said in this subject on the positive about sewing to the Spirit and reaping life everlasting than there is about sowing to the flesh. It's there, but there's more about the Spirit. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 4.
And verse 12.
Says the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword.
Piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and is A and the joint of moral and is a determiner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. That's wonderful to somebody who's walking in the fellowship of the Lord Jesus, that's wonderful and.
We often hear this scripture and in Galatians as a scripture to speak to the heart and conscience, and it's rightfully so if it is needed in that way. But also don't forget the Word of God can be used as a safeguard. I'll give you an example.
In in the first part of the comments of the relationship between a young man and a young lady, we have over and over again in the song of Psalm and where it says my sister.
My spouse and I would just lay that out as a word, especially for the young man.
If you are interested in someone, know her as a sister. Keep that relationship as a sister until she's your spouse and young lady. Seek to be in that relationship with your friend that the Lord has given you if it is so, and maintain a sister relationship with him until.
You have marriage and so have a scripture.
If there's a weakness, get a scripture that you can hide in your heart. Just one verse. Have one verse that you use as a safeguard. Then you don't get into legality. Yes, it's true. I do know of somebody who had to get rid of their laptop and they did it and it was to the salvation of their weakness.
OK, that's fine. That's wonderful. If you have to do that to make no provision for the flesh, please do it.
But if you don't fill that void with something of the word of God, something of the leading and guidance of the Spirit of God in your heart and life, it's legality. So have a verse of Scripture, something you can bank on, something to strengthen and encourage you in the right step. Hang on to that verse for that chapter, that portion, that line of thoughts. But I'm just suggesting, especially for the young people have.
A verse, A portion of a verse. The Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword.
If I might suggest one verse that I just noticed here in first John chapter one.
First John, chapter one.
We'll start your first age.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in US.
It's very easy to say why. I'm not doing anything very bad, not totally wrong, not entirely evil.
It's not that bad deceiving ourselves if we say that we have no Sinner, we receive ourselves if you say that television shows isn't that bad.
Or that music isn't too awful. It's got a nice.
Acoustic rhythm or something to it, but I'll make the lyrics aren't quite that great receiving ourselves.
And then just going up to verse 7. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son from all sins.
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Try not to put yourself in those situations.
Parents, monitor the television that your children are watching.
Just because it has a general audience rate doesn't mean that it's generally good for anybody.
There are safeguards you can put on computers on the.
Different kind of fire boxes on the routers and things that you can adjust to different settings to prevent certain websites coming on. Be very careful, You can Google a common word and get really surprised with the results you get.
Really have to.
Watch yourselves and watch what our children are doing because there will be a time when there isn't a safeguard in place, a man safeguard where they're at a friend's house or they're at school or those things are quite readily available and it'll be quite a shock to them when they see it.
So we really have to pray for them that they will know when there is something wrong, but they know the difference between right and wrong and sin and good.
I mentioned this earlier in the week but I I want to say it again.
Verse 9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way, or a young woman cleanse his way?
What's the answer? By taking heed thereto, according to thy word?
Fill your hearts, young people, with the word.
And there is.
Pleasing. I just. I won't say anything more about it. Think about that verse. Meditate on it. It's the remedy.
So there is a responsibility of parents to protect and to provide. We need to protect our families. We may need to do some of those safeguard things to protect our families.
But we ourselves, you yourself, you need that purpose of heart.
Daniel, he purposed himself in his heart not to defile himself with the King's meat. We're talking about Satan is the king of this world. He's the God of this world.
And his meat is all this filth that we've been talking about. You need to purpose in your heart not to defy yourself with the King's meat, with Satan's lures that he has to take us away.
From Christianity. I'm going to read the next question. It kind of goes along the same lines. It's a little different.
But I think we should interject this one also into the discussion. What are practical ways of separating ourselves from the world?
And I think separating from the world and separating to the Lord.
So I'll just put that question out too.
You know, just say something in connection with the world that I think is helpful to distinguish when you read the word of God, and that is that the world is taken up in three different contexts. And it was helpful for me to see it that and I'll put it, I'll start three things with P that will perhaps help you to help us to remember what I'm saying. Sometimes when you have the world, it's the planet, It's the physical globe on which we live. Christ Jesus came into the world.
Save sinners, that is, as a man in incarnation, He came to this planet physically and he walked on planet Earth. So sometimes when you read the word world, it has to do with the physical planet on which we live. Sometimes it has to do with the people that inhabit this planet. So sometimes it's the planet, sometimes it's the people. God so loved the world. He didn't love a planet. If I can speak carefully, He loved the people on this planet.
And so sometimes the world is referred to in that way, but sometimes it's the program.
There's a system of things that has been set up on the planet Earth.
By Satan, of which Satan is the is the God of this world religiously and he's the Prince of this world politically and there's a great there are great religious and political programs being propagated on planet earth that are swallowing up the people of this planet, but they are not according to the word of God and that is when we talk about separation from the world that's what we.
00:50:05
Talking about and remember that separation is not isolation. The the monks that cloistered themselves in monasteries hundreds of years ago, they thought separation was isolation and that it would be pious and godly to go up on the mountain and build a monastery and a nunnery or whatever and completely isolate themselves. We are here to be a testimony on planet Earth.
To the people and will never be a testimony if we don't walk circumspectly, but not in isolation. Now having said that, it's the program that we're it's all that Satan is head of that we are to separate from like to read a well known portion in the first song.
Psalm 51 Psalm one verse one. Blessed is the man. Want you to notice three things here that walketh not in the council of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. This is not isolation from the world. This is going through the world in separation. And there's three things here. First of all, blessed is the man that walketh.
Not in the Council of the ungodly. We often talk of our walk through this world.
We have a walk through this world, but we want to be careful that we walk in separation from the Council of the Ungodly. The Council of the Ungodly is come and join us in this run for political office, come down to the casino with us, get involved in this and that and get involved in the betterment of this world and all this kind of thing. You know Peter and I want to parallel this again with Peter.
Peter, it says he followed a far off.
You know, he followed the Lord, but he followed afar off. Part of his heart was open for something else other than the Lord. He wasn't like Caleb, of whom we read. He wholly followed the Lord then, it says in our verse. And nor standeth in the way of sinners. You know, in one of the Gospels it tells us that Peter stood.
At the door when they took the Lord Jesus into the hall at his trial.
He stood at the door, and he stood at the thought, went in and stood at the fire with those who had no love.
For his Lord he associated with those who really wanted the Lord Jesus condemned wanted to get rid of this world he stood get him out of this world. He stood in an association that was wrong and defiling and then it says in our verse nor sitteth in the way of the scornful and the next thing you read about Peter is he sat down with those who had no.
With his Lord for his Lord.
And it led to him denying the Lord three times with those in curses. You know, John followed the Lord too, and he went a certain distance. He went, I think, to the door as well, but he never went in. He maintained a degree of separation. John, who had been leaning on the Lord's bosom, appreciating the Lord's love in a deeper way than all the other apostles.
Who was closest to the Lord? Jesus refers to himself five times in his gospel as the disciple whom Jesus loved. He maintained a degree of separation, not isolation, but separation, and it preserved him from the sad end that Peter had. Peter was restored, true, but if he had maintained that level of separation, he like he would have been like John, who never denied the Lord.
The last verse of Romans, chapter 13. We referred to it often this morning.
Romans 13.
In verse 14, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. Now there's two things in this verse. There's a positive and there's a negative and those two things are important I think with every question we've had so far this morning.
Here we have the pudding on of something, and I think Bernie mentioned that earlier.
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Fly your flag early, you said. Very important.
Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ. Get out in front of our friends in the world.
And we're at work, whoever it is, and tell them that we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and it just saves all kinds of trouble right off the bat.
We often think about just the second part of this verse and it's important, but without the first part, it's not going to work.
And you find these things together often in scripture. Sometimes the negative dispersed, other times the positive is first. For instance, in the last verse of First Thessalonians of Lawrence says you turn to God from idols.
Living and true God and weep for Son from heaven. So they turn to God the positive, the important and their brother here was bringing out about rejoice in the Lord.
It's essential that we do that, but the other has to go with it, and they're always together. A little earlier in this chapter, we have.
Verse 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness.
And let us put on the armor of light here. The negative is first, then the positive second, but they're together.
And if we take up the one without the other, it's not going to work.
And so we need to be very careful to put out of our lives those things that are the idols, the the temptations, the snares. But together with that, it's vital that we take that which God has given for us to be occupied with that power of our new life. And I just wanted to say a little bit more about the negative side for a minute.
I think the positive is essential and.
Hopefully we dwell on that more, but.
You know this says make no provision for the flesh to fulfill their luster up separation from the world or the things that we had before it.
That always starts.
Breaking, separation, going into that, whatever it is, the world with the lust thereof, it always starts with this town. A small step, and we talk about a slippery slow post.
The other day, forgive me for bringing up again, but we talk about a slippery slope, and in the world, when they talk about logic, they call that a fallacy.
Because they don't like that they want to deny the nature of man with the word of God doesn't call that a fallacy, it calls it what it is.
Just turned for one moment to James chapter one, so see the slippery slope laid right out there.
James chapter one verse 14 Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own loss and enticed.
Then when lost hath conceived, it brings forth sin, or gives birth to sin.
Darby has and sin, when it is finished, brings forth that. So here's the loss. Just a little step, whatever it was, you know, making that click on the computer or, you know, maybe going a little too far with touching the things that we've been talking about here. But it goes on, it grows and eventually gives birth to sin and so.
We don't want to take that first step instead.
Whenever we're tempted, we want, like our brother to said, you know, it's good to have that verse to be a safeguard, but we want to turn positively to the Lord and think about those things that are right and rejoice in the Lord. I think that's where the power is.
The Lord Jesus was our blessed example. There's one element that He has left with us when He has gone back into the glory. First Timothy, chapter 3.
And verse 16 Speaking of the Lord Jesus.
Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. This little expression right here justified in the Spirit.
The Lord Jesus never did anything to grave the Spirit. He never did anything to break the fellowship with God by.
Agreed to spirit by the Spirit of God being greed as I speak of the Lord Jesus as a man on earth and we also have the Spirit of God and in seeking not to grieve the Spirit of God.
01:00:15
That would safeguard us as well as far as the question of worldliness and things of this world. And I think that it's good to mention too, just, well, personal reference. We live out in the country, spend a lot of time outdoors. We love it out there. My boy and I were out at the river catfishing and I said to him, Lane, do you know the difference between?
Worldly mindedness and earthly mindedness.
And we can talk a lot about not being worldly minded believers and being separate to the Lord and these things. But I think we also have to be careful not to be earthly minded and get too comfortable down here. That's when these things that we've been talking about as temptations slide in so easily and these steps come along.
Time is going and there's.
Some brothers who haven't had a chance to get a word in edgewise. Does anybody else have comments on the subject before we move to the last question?
Tim mentioned that we go through, you know, one thing leads to another from my own practical experience, because I've been guilty of that.
James well known verse Confess your faults 1 to another.
When we find ourselves going down that path, we need to not only stop it, a lot of us stop it. Pray to God, say I hope I never do that again. I don't want to do it again. We need to confess it, and not just to.
A blog to someone who matters, to someone who is painful to confess to.
Because that will lead to healing and.
Lead to stoppage of those kinds of behavior. So a lot of us make a mistake and I hope I never do that again.
Or I pray and open up to the confession is extremely important.
One other just thought. A few weeks ago I went to Barnes and Noble with all the kids. My I got four kids. They were busy. My 10 year old had 20 bucks to spend.
He.
He's a great reader, he's fast, he got his books. I was worried about the two year old pulling stuff off the shelf, all that kind of thing. Anyway, he showed me the authors, he showed me the titles and said, OK, that's fine.
We pay for them. Probably by the time we got home, 60 minutes, he probably read three of the books, and he's fast. Anyway, we got home and my wife, who was blessed to have a father who read every book that she had taken home to the library before she ever got the chance to read it, she said something like, you know, Paul, I wish you paid a little more attention. I said, well, these are authors. I recognize he already has these authors at home.
That doesn't matter.
I would encourage you to.
Read your children's books. You know I don't like the books he has and I'm not a fast reader. I don't want to do that, but I shouldn't put that burden on my wife.
If we're not, I think what we're hearing here is if we're not actively thinking about these things, if we're not actively participating in our children's lives and constantly thinking about it because the target is constantly moving.
We're not doing that and we're losing.
Lott moved his family to Sodom. We all know that was a big mistake. But what Sodom is is constantly changing. Right now, I send my kids to public school. I think it's OK to maybe a day my school district is different than yours. And maybe a day when I realize that's on them, I can't do it anymore. Maybe a day when I realized, you know, I can't. It couldn't be a doctor anymore.
It's constantly changing. There was a time when I was a teenager you just didn't go on certain stores and you could stay away from Coronado Test. That's not true anymore.
There may be a day where every milk box has a naked woman on it. You know, it's constantly changing.
Back to the book of Proverbs.
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Proverbs, chapter 4.
Verse 23.
You know the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Keep thy heart with all diligence.
Or out of it are the issues of life. Verse 25.
Let thine eyes look right on. Let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet.
Let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand, nor to the left.
Remove by foot from evil.
OK. Last question.
Just we're kind of at a time, but this is the last question, this last question answer meeting. So we'll just take a few couple minutes on this if anyone has a comment to make about this. Practically, how does a Christian maintain the spiritual high or rush from a week like this that we've been having here at the camp? How do we maintain this spiritual high?
Sorry guys, I can only handle 10 days.
When we go home, we spend as much time in the work. God is when we spend when we're at camp.
If we're feeding on the world for five hours a day when we go home, can you expect to maintain that spiritual high?
I think that's very good and the the way it's possible for a Christian today to be filled with the Spirit and the way we are filled with the Spirit is to keep in the close to the Lord.
And how do we keep close to the Lord? We read the Word and we pray.
We keep the conscious sense of His presence with us and that is what is going to keep a person filled with the Spirit. And what God wants in our lives is not just spiritual highs. And I'm not saying we don't have those sometimes, but He wants consistency in our lives. You know, it's easy to come to these meetings, get spoon fed and encouraged.
It's easy, isn't it, too, when you're with a cabin of boys or girls, young people, to get up in the morning and read your Bible?
And to have a little time of prayer because the others are watching you and so on. But are you going to maintain that consistency when you go home from here, home from a conference, home from a young people's weekend? He doesn't want us in that sense to come down from the mountain. Yes, there's reality. The disciples had to come down from the Mount of Transfiguration and there was a man with a with demons, and they couldn't even cast him out. That was reality.
We're not home yet, the kingdoms not yet, but we can maintain that spiritual level of enjoyment of Christ every day by, as you say, prayer and the word of God and walking in the conscious sense of the Lords presence with us.
Remember, not a Sprint. So don't, I wouldn't recommend to go home and say well I'm going to get up at 5:00 in the morning and what happened? I know there's a brother who was super encouraged to me. He was getting up like 3 hours early and then a month later I said well how are things going? He says well I'm not enough at 5:00.
Or 6.
And then a few months later, how you doing? Well, I'm not getting up at six. I'm getting up just before I go to work. Well, it's it's not a Sprint. It would be better to start slow and work up.
Don't say, well, I'm going to go, I'm going to read my Bible. It may be good if you could, but don't start it along, you know, reading your Bible in the morning for a whole bunch of time and then you're going to get burned out. I remember being in a race.
I know I took off and I was right in front and I had a rush and I went and I went down several hills and it was great. And then all of a sudden I got tired and I just saw people passing me left and right and I just got so discouraged. Finally finished the race, but I learned it's not a Sprint.
01:10:21
Be better off, just start slow and work your way up.
Appreciate what you just mentioned today that you were checking up on that individual through the courses few months it sounds like. I think that's really helpful to it. It is an individual relationship, individual faithfulness.
Appreciate what brother Mark?
Mentioned about asking his son how he was doing when they were fishing. We do need to check up on each other and our families.
Our children, our brethren, young people, you know, before you ask about the ball game or whatever, maybe you could ask about how they're doing with the Lord.
So many distractions, and I hope you're not all going to the movies too often. There's a lot of things that, you know, we say we're separate from the world, but we do sure keep our eyes on how the world is doing.
It's real. It's a real battle.
The word of God is a wonderful thing to pursue and.
The Armor of God is going to put on a keeping tabs on each other. I guess. Mainly the thought I have. I'm not real good at communicating. I need to work on that myself and our own family.
It's real. It would be wonderful thing that of course we need to walk the Lord ourselves before we can ask, you know, perhaps how others are doing with the Lord. But try to we can try to make that more of a priority than than.
And some of the other things that jump into our heads about I even don't even know the newest tournament terminology, but game boards and all those things that you know, have you gotten the newest? Don't even know what they're called. People play with them playing the games and their their thumbs. You know, if you're talking about that all the time, you're talking about that first, they were really not being much help to each other spiritually.
Keep her each other on or to encourage each other to stay on the path.
And I suppose even if you talk about what goes on Facebook.
And you know, what? Are we throwing up on Facebook? Is that really beneficial to anybody or is it really defiantly? There's a lot, there's a lot going on.
Again, I'm not that familiar with those things.
But, and so it's a more important, you know, forms of communication and it's wonderful to be trying to communicate. We need to work hard on.
Communicating and current each other and encouraging each other.
Continue in the past phase not to get distracted.
Thank you everyone for the questions and and the answers. Appreciate everybody being with us during these past week and a half. I guess we're out of time.
You're saying number 76 in the back?
Jesus, I'm no more than five.
01:15:52
To my journey.
I cry.
And fall in love.
My Lord.
So.
I give you the light.
Appreciate.
Yeah.
Our God.
Give thanks for this time we've had this morning over your word. And Father, we just pray for some of these ones who have been mentioned earlier, Chihuahua who's been struggling with his health. Father, we asked for strength and encouragement for him. We just give thanks that his sickness has brought glory to the Lord through the salvation of his Father. Father, we pray for Bill Shane we had prayed for a few days ago. We just asked for continued.
Wisdom for the doctors to find out what his problem is. And Father, we pray especially for each of the young people here and the families and the parents and and help us.
Father to be able to.
Live in the Spirit.
And to set aside the things of the flesh and the world. We know it's not easy. That's it's, it's ever present. Father, we just ask for strength to, to follow thee. We just ask this. Oh, we just pray for those who are traveling home. There's a few people leaving over the next couple days. And you ask for your mercies and and blessing for each one.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.