No Compromise

By Terry Virgo

Your friends may freely indulge their sexual appetites, but this doesn’t give you license to do the same. Young couples have plenty of opportunities to be together. You may be respected members of your church, trusted to keep God’s standards wherever you go. But it‘s so easy to step into the danger areas.

Young People, Beware
Young man, you have no right to make demands upon a girl because you’ve taken her out a few times. Young woman, you have no right to dress provocatively to encourage a boy’s advances, and neither of you has the right to ruin each other’s future.

Do you really want God to use you? If you do, don’t play around. Don’t compromise. You cannot easily shake off the accompanying guilt, the sense of failure, and the knowledge that you have laid a landing strip for the devil in your life.

The Bible says, ‘The righteous are as bold as a lion’ (Prov. 28:1). Very often you are not bold, because you are neither righteous nor do you love righteousness. You are, rather, dabbling around on the edge, caught up in the uncleanness of your generation. But God wants you to be as bold as a lion, so cry out to him not to lead you into temptation but deliver you from evil, and help you be righteous.

Older People, Beware
If you’re older you must beware of thinking that only young people are vulnerable, that strong passions cease as the years pass. At the time of his adultery, David was about fifty years old!

Maybe you’re a man of mature years, going through a dull or difficult period in your marriage. A girl in the office is very warm and understanding. You’re flattered that she takes notice of you. You’re vulnerable; recognize it and keep away. Determine in your heart, ‘I will not yield to this temptation. I will not get even remotely involved in such sin. I will not spoil God’s plan for me.’ Beware of the terrifying power of lust, which like a strong magnet will pull you if you get anywhere near it.

Flee
Imagine coming across the story of David and Bathsheba for the first time. You’ve just read all about David’s mighty exploits, his amazing love for Saul and Jonathan, and his promotion to the throne. And now, here he is with another man’s wife. It shocks you. How could he do such a thing, this man after God’s own heart? How could he wreck the wonderful testimony of his life for the sake of a few moments of pleasure? Surely, if David fell, so can you.

The Bible tells us, ‘The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord… Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?’ (1 Cor. 6:13, 18, 19). Since God’s Holy Spirit lives in you, when you sin against your body, the Spirit is automatically included in your activity. You allow an unholy thing to desecrate the temple of God. You involve a holy and glorious God in your unholy action.

You are a new creation now, so live like it! God is in you, and he will help you. Therefore, honor him with your body.

HT: Terry Virgo

Lust’s Devastating Power

By Terry Virgo

Lust has terrifying power. Normally you’d ask yourself, ‘What about the repercussions of this? What if I go ahead and do the thing I shouldn’t?’ But when lust is fanned into flame, all rational thoughts vanish. Gone are the concerns, ‘What about my wife, my children, my career, my relationship with God, this woman’s husband, her reputation?’ These things no longer matter. Lust crashes in like a great tidal wave and sweeps all responsible thinking aside. It fills the emotions and emotions rob the mind of its control. Suddenly you must have satisfaction – now. Lust urges you to live for now. It forces your mind to yield and compels your will to obey. The wave knocks you off your feet. All resolutions to live a godly life are swept aside. David, a man who loved God, was overwhelmed as lust prevailed.

David: A Product of His Generation?

But you need not fall. You have the power to overcome this enemy. God would urge you, ‘Live a clean life, young man, young woman. I want you free of those unclean habits. I don’t want you away from the battle, lying in bed, letting your imagination run wild and then finding yourself overwhelmed with passion.’ Young Christian couples, what standards are you settling for? Boyfriend, girlfriend – perhaps not engaged, but very fond of one another – what are your standards? How do you conduct yourselves when nobody else is around? Does God approve of what you are doing?

Some people have argued in defence of David. ‘We mustn’t be too hard on him,’ they say. ‘He was in a unique position. He was a despotic king in an oriental society. Other kings living at that time wouldn’t have thought twice about taking a woman. Bathsheba was not particularly at fault, either. How could she be expected to resist the will of this great monarch? Surely he could have whatever he wanted, so if he wanted Bathsheba, he would have her. We must make allowances for the culture of the day. David was, to some degree, a product of his age, and we must understand that before we judge him for his conduct.'

David: A Man After God’s Heart

But David was not a mere product of his generation, he was the ‘man after God’s heart’. I once read an alarming Gallup survey indicating that 52% of regular churchgoers between the ages of thirteen and eighteen didn’t consider premarital sex wrong. The poll pointed out that this was 10% below the national average. But you are not called to be 10% better than the world. You are meant to be as different as light and darkness!

God sees the moral landslide that’s taken place in the last few decades. He watches as young people are seduced, abused, corrupted. They carry the guilt and shame around with them, yet many young Christians argue, ‘Everyone’s doing it.’ They accept the world’s standard that as soon as they have been going out for a short time they should give rein to their sexual impulses.

‘All the other oriental kings did it,’ say David’s defenders. ‘Everyone else does it’ – is that your excuse? Do you adopt worldly standards and merely follow everybody else? Does God’s Word tell you that you are free to play around like this? Never! David was not just another oriental king, a product of his age. He was God’s chosen man. All the other kings, in their ungodliness, could do whatever they liked, but David had much higher standards to keep. So have you.

[This is an extract from Bible Insight Study 91. Click here for the full study.

HT: Terry Virgo