Passion for Purity

Thank you, worship team. Thank you, musicians. You may return to your seat. And as you're returning, I want you to hug three people. Come on, hug three people. And as you're returning to your seat, I I do want to throw one rule out there at you. Do not sit next to your boyfriend or girlfriend. I'm just going to give you a moment. just go ahead and you can decide who needs to move, but do not I'm doing this for your benefit. Do not sit next to your boyfriend or girlfriend. So good to see you. You may be seated. So good to see every single one of you at Strong Tower Youth Camp this year and so glad you're here in Mville and at First Apostolic. I do I want to begin just want to begin by giving honor uh to my pastor and my first lady uh who are the pastor and first lady of this church here. Do you love the carpenters? Don't you appreciate the vision? the vision of this great man and this great woman uh not only for this church but for this organization and for Strong Tower Youth Camp. Uh thankful for our general student ministries president uh President Zack Hammond and Sister Lauren Hammond. Do we love our youth president? Also our camp coordinator and everything you see here this week has uh their fingerprints upon it. and uh so thankful for their love for our students. I'm so thankful that my my daughters are growing up in their youth group and it it gives me peace of mind to know uh the leadership of he and sister Lauren. Uh thankful for every camp speaker, preacher, singer, musician. Aren't you thankful for what we've already heard this week? Uh both in preaching in the sessions, the two sessions. Amen. the ministry uh of yesterday and last night, the night before. Uh thankful, so thankful for uh the Whitley's this morning, and what we heard on dating. Aren't you thankful to hear good godly wisdom? I was talking to to Pastor Tim Hammond. I said, "Now, my session is going to be a little bit spicier than their session, so uh you better buckle up a little bit." But, uh, they gave you good dating advice in the terms of compatibility and who you need to be looking for. And, uh, I'm just going to just going to keep right on in that vein and we're going to we're just going to keep on moving, but it's going to get a it's going to get a little spicier if that's okay. Well, you know, the good thing about teaching on this kind of topic is your audience kind of feels compelled to get with you because if they don't get with you, somebody might think something. You know what I'm saying? Some somebody might might be thinking that something's going wrong in their life. So, I I I'm I know that we're going to have a good time. But but thank you to all of our to all of our Strong Tower students. Uh Strong Tower camp students, you've been here. How many How many have been here? How many this is your first year? Let me just see your hand if this is your first year. Oh man, that's awesome. How many is How many is this your second year? Strong tower. Okay, good. We still got a lot of newbies. What about How many have been here five years or more? All right. What about 10 years or more? Come on. I know I'm talking to more college age students, maybe. What about 15 years or more? Now, I'm just kind of hitting pastors and I see you Keith Wall. I see Cheshire. I see. I see. Y'all, I I don't know. Uh, Pastor Hammond, what are we at? We're almost at 20 years, aren't we? We're getting close. 20 years. I I don't know if there's if there's anything any event that has probably affected more young people, at least in this in this region, than Strong Tower Youth Camp. And I am so thankful. Thank you pastors that are here for for bringing your young people, youth pastors. Thank you for being here. And all the What about the chaperons? Thank God for our chaperrons that are in the house that are that are like putting like tape and like band-aids and stuff on the doors so they know if you've come out. Yeah. I'm thankful. I'm thankful for our chaperrons. I I give honor to my wife Fallon, to my three beautiful daughters, Paris, Windsor, and London. I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful to be uh married to a woman of God. And uh Brother Nate, Sister Ashley, uh when they were speaking this morning along with Pastor Zach, um I just got to thinking, God, God has blessed me. God has has blessed me uh to give me a help me. And I like how how brother Nate said. He said, "I wasn't just looking for somebody that complimented my ministry. I was want somebody to minister alongside me." And I'm thankful for family. Thank you. Amen. You You by far. I heard a one said I heard a preacher get up and said that his wife was the wind beneath his wings. And I thought, man, I sure wouldn't want to go home. I wouldn't want to go home with your wife this afternoon. Listen, my wife is not the wind beneath my wife. Woo! She's everything to me. And she is somebody, Amen, that I thank God. I pray for daily and thank God for daily uh who keeps me in line. Listen, young men, let me just tell y'all to start right off. You better marry somebody that can keep you in line. Some of you guys are like, "Yeah, I ain't going to marry anything like that." Listen, that's your best friend. Your your best friend is to marry somebody. The best thing that could happen to you is to marry somebody that disagrees with you when you get negative. This is not in my notes. I'm just I'm just throwing this out there. I thank God for a wife who straightens me out when I get crooked. Come on. Who helps me listen? Okay, I'm preaching a little bit. You might have to be married for about five years to really get that. But I promise you in our in our session today, passion for purity. I'm going to resist the temptation uh to preach. And listen, I want to after hearing brother David Jennings, my God, Brother Nathan Thornton, all these guys get up here and just just rip everything inside of me wants to just get up here and preach. But I want to speak to you. I was I was talking to brother Garnett and we were talking about, you know, when Abraham when he was begging God for Sodom, God said, "I'm going to destroy it. I'm going to burn it. I'm going to annihilate everything that's living inside of it." Abraham began to beg God. Said, "Listen, what if there's 50? What if there's 50 righteous in the city?" God said, "You know what? If there's 50," he said, "I'll save the city." Abraham got to thinking. He's like, "Okay, what about 45? What if there's 45 righteous in the city?" And God said, "If there's 45 righteous, I'll save the city." He said, "Well, 40, 30, 20." They got all the way down to 10. God said, "If there's 10 righteous, listen, I I got to think this morning. I was praying this morning as I was studying. And I said, "God, I if I could just get 50 students to listen to what's being said today in this session and what I'm about to preach right now, if I if I could just get 45, if 40, if 30, if 20, if I could just get 10 students to take seriously what I'm about to teach right here. I I don't have to preach. I just want you to I want to communicate with you and help you to understand. Please, it's going to it's going to empower you. The rest of your life, your anointing, everything about you will change if you could take this to heart. What's about to be preached on the topic of passion? Bishop Bonner, Bishop Bonner, he tells a story. He tells a story of of of his of his of his father. He said, uh, he said, "My father," he said, "I was dating a girl." This was years and years ago. Bishop Bonner, he said, "I was dating a girl." He said, "And this girl was not the right girl to date." And as I was dating her, my father, he said one day, he said, "You know what I want you to do? I want you to pick up a shovel and follow me into the backyard." He said, "I want you to dig a hole right here in the backyard." He said, "Because if you marry that girl you're dating, you might as well bury your ministry right here because you will never have a ministry dating or marrying that girl." And so what I want to do today is I'm begging I'm begging God, God, please just just I if I could, Pastor Thorne, if I could just get one I if I could just get one student just to say, you know what, I'm going to take this to heart and I'm going to have a passion like never before for purity. I'll feel like I'm successful this morning. If you will turn in your Bibles and just remain, if you will remain seated because I I'm going to execute through this. You're not going to want to stand as long as we're going to read. But 1 Corinthians 6 and 18, it says this. It says, "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that committh fornication sinnth against his own body." Y'all see that? Fornication impacts your spiritual, emotional, and physical health. There's a lot of sins that you can perform that will affect other people. If you lie to somebody, if you cheat somebody, if you gossip about somebody, you're sinning outside of yourself. But if you commit fornication, it's a sin that will jack you up. mind, body, soul, and spirit gets messed up when it comes to fornication. Every sin that a man doeth without the body, but he that committh fornication sinnth against his own body. It goes on to say, "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price? Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are both gods. And then I want to go into another scripture. Look with me in First Kings 11:4 because this is the main character of what I want to teach about today. Solomon. It simply says this, "For it came to pass when Solomon was old that his wives turned away his heart." Everyone say heart. after other gods. And his heart, everyone say heart, was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. You see, when the Bible refers to a man's heart, it's referring to a man's character. One more, one more passage. This this is a long one, but this is probably one of my favorite passages in all the Bible. Psalm chapter 51. Here is the heart of David, the character of David after he had made a mistake of fornicating with another man's wife. It says, "Have mercy upon me, oh God, according to thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions." This is David's character. He said, "Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I will sharpen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desireest truth. In the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. David says, this is a psalm. He says, purge me with hissome and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. He said, "Hide my face from my sin and blot out mine iniquities. Create in me," I love this verse, "create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy spirit from me." He says, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit." But look at verse 13. He says, "Then after all this, then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee." So before I I go too far on this topic, I I want to really get real with you because in a camp this size, some of you have already made sexual purity choices that you regret. Maybe you cross some lines and or you might even be stuck in an addiction even today that you feel is impossible to get out of. And if that's you today, this session isn't isn't on the schedule to judge you or to shame you. It's about hope and it's about helping you course correct. It's about getting you off the slippery slope. And then let me tell you something. We're going to we're going to we're going to blow the devil's mind because when we get off the slippery slope, then David says, "I will teach transgressors thy ways. I I'm going to teach other people that fell off the same cliff that I fell off. I I'm going to help them. I'm going to help those." Oh my God. I love how he says it. Sinners shall be converted unto thee. You ought to be backing me up. If you've made mistakes in your life, if you've lost purity in your life, you ought to be the one that's backing me the most this morning. You ought to be able to say, "God, help other people not walk down the same path that I walked down and not make the same mistakes that I made." Because everybody in this place has a testimony either what God has kept you from or what God has brought you through. And I believe that both testimonies can help a sinner be converted. Amen. And I for sure haven't come to insult your intelligence today. And I believe every person in this room knows right from wrong. You you you know good from evil. I I don't have to list I don't have to list 100 don'ts and start telling you well don't place your hands here and don't go there and don't get in this back seat and and whatever you do don't find yourself on a dark dead end alleyway and and whatever you do don't touch her here don't touch them there I I don't have to list a hundred don'ts matter of fact I went ahead just for the fun of it I went ahead and printed out 100 don'ts I began just to list don'ts that I could preach. Matter of fact, I was going to preach some of these and then I began to think, man, these kids are well too educated in the word of God. Don't lie to get out of trouble. We're talking about your character. Don't cheat on school tests. Don't gossip about friends and classmates. Don't curse or use crude language. Don't judge others. Don't be a hypocrite. Don't be lazy with your responsibilities. Don't ignore your conscience when it warns you. Don't disrespect your parents or guardians. Don't bully and tease others. Don't don't ghost friends who need you. Now, see, a lot of people when you think of purity, you just think of sexual purity. But purity goes a whole lot farther than just sexual acts or abstinence from sexual acts. Purity is who you are. It's your character. It's who you are behind closed doors. It's it's how you rationalize things. It's it's how you you you feel about your friends and your your family members. It's it's how you treat people, your character. It's it's who you are. And so if I want you to see anything today, we're going to get into sexual purity. We're gonna we're going to talk about that. We're going to talk about that. But oh, purity is so much more than just about sex. Uh it's so much more than just about hormones. It's all about your heart. It's who we are when nobody's watching. It's it's who we are when your pastor's not around and your youth pastor's not around. It's who you are even when your parents aren't around. And so I want to bring King Solomon's story to your attention because he started off so humble. He was blessed by God. However, he allowed his character to slip into carnality that led him into gross sexual perversion. His life proved that without a pure heart, sexual purity is a losing battle. He was he was of all people. He was King David's son. He started out right in 1 Corinthians uh 3 and3. He loved God. The Bible says he walked in all his ways. God said, "Hey, what do you want?" He didn't ask for riches and power. You know the story. He didn't ask for riches and power. He humbly asked for wisdom to lead God's people. God was so impressed by his request that he not only gave him wisdom, but he gave him wealth, right? He gave him honor. And in first kings chapter 4, it says that Solomon's wisdom was unmatched. Kings and queens would come just to hear him speak. He he wrote the book of Proverbs, the book of Song of Solomon. He had the wisdom to build the greatest temple that was ever built for God. His heart was pure. His character was strong. But then his heart began to slip. In first kings chap 11 we find that he began to love many foreign women. And when I say many foreign women the bible records that he married 700 women. In addition to that he had 300 concubines. And a concubine was just was was simply a secondary wife who you would marry for pleasure or status. Sexual addiction addictions and perversion. Listen, that's nothing new. That's not a 21st century issue. These were introduced to mankind way back way back in the book in the book of second Kings. These were introduced even before even in Genesis sexual impurity began. But we see with Solomon, this Solomon, oh my god, some of you think that pornography sites, uh, some of you think that that texting on on on Apple and Android devices is where things got real perverted. Oh, no, no, no. We have a man in the Bible who had a thousand women who lived in his palace talking about Listen, I I know that our news is making a big deal about P. Diddy. But let me say let me tell you something. P. Diddy what he's done is nothing new. What he's gone around the debauchery that he has done and in the news and he's in he's in the courts and we're hearing all kinds of of this witness and that witness and it it's horrible. It's gross. It's nasty. We're not going to talk about it today. But I want you to know it didn't start with P. Diddy. It didn't start with it didn't start Oh my god. We we we we think today that that the world is worse than it's ever been. All these things there were all kinds of sexual gods and sexual idols all throughout the Bible. Matter of fact, that's why God told the people of God, "You can't marry into foreign nations. You You can't be looking over the fence." That That's why Samson, when he began to date Philistines, it was a big deal. It wasn't just because they had a different culture. It's because they worshiped all kinds of weird gods and and all kinds of weird philosophies. Same thing with Pastor Nate and Sister Ashley when they're start talking about dating in the faith. It does matter who you date. If Solomon, if he would have married good women right there, huh? Good women right there in his own kingdom. All of these ideas that he came up with. Matter of fact, Pastor Tim Hammond was talking to me before service today. He said Solomon is known for more writing on witchcraft than he's known for writings in the Bible. Because when his heart turned evil, Sat Sat the Satanistic the the whole religion. They have more writings from Solomon than we have. I'm talking about the wisest man in the Bible outside of Jesus Christ. The satanic church has more writings of his than we do. Because when you allow your heart, when you allow your character to fall, when you start dating outside the faith, when you marry outside the faith, and my God, when you have a thousand women that live in your palace and they all bring different gods into your life, what does that do to you? It messes up the way you think. And where once we had an humble man of God who became a king that God was impressed with. Now we have a king who has nothing but fleshly carnal desires. Not going to talk about what was happening inside his kingdom or inside his palace. God only knows what was happening there. But purity is all about the heart. It's not just about hormones. And that's what I want to get across today. Proverbs 4:23. Here's what he says. Uh, even Solomon said, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." And you better believe that Solomon knew what he was talking about. Because even as he was writing this, I got to believe that he was thinking in the back of his mind, "This is not who I used to be. I better start warning people because if you don't guard your heart, it's going to lead you down a path you don't want to go down." Solomon's carnal heart. It led him to lasciviousness, which is the dark side of temptation. Lasciviousness is the voice that whispers, "Nobody will know. Nobody will ever find out." Lasciviousness is unrestricted, shameless sexual desires. Come on, y'all listening to me. This This is It's going to get heavier than this. From the Greek word esgia, it means excessively flaunting sin without re remorse and defiling not just your body but your spirit. Lasciviousness. You see, I used to think that boys had lust and girls had lasciviousness. I did. I I thought, okay, you know, boys, I got to find the Well, I got to find a girlfriend. I thought the girls if you had lasciviousness you would dress in a way to attract boys to you. That that's what I thought the that's what I I grew up thinking that but that's not what lasciv lascivious means because guys can be just as lascivious as girls are. Girls can be just as lascivious as guys are. It includes lustful thoughts, provocative behavior, using your body in ways to get the opposite sexes attention. It's obsessing over sexual content. It opposes self-control, purity, and holiness. Mark 7 and 21, put this on on the screen because I I want you to see this. Mark 7 and 21 says, "For from within, out of the heart of men," or it could say women, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, moves on to lasciviousness. All these evil things come from within and defile man. Another translation says, "For from within, out of a person's heart, character come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, lustful desires, all these vile things come from within, for they defile you." We listen, we got to fight lasciviousness. 2 Timothy 2:22 says, "Flee also youthful lust, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, that's love, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." You see what it says there? It says you got to follow these things with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. That's saying you got to date pure people. You see, Solomon's impure choices. It all started in his mind. Your thoughts are your mission control. You got to guard them or lascivious ones will break in and take the good thoughts away. Let me tell you a story about a girl named Sharon. Sharon was awesome. Sharon, she made good grades in school. Matter of fact, she made phenomenal grades in school. She was a she was a super kind lady. She volunteered at her church, but she began to crush on a guy. She began to daydream about coffee shop dates. And nothing wrong with that. She would she would even daydream about romantic candle lit dinners. Nothing wrong with that. But her thoughts became to turn a little more spicy and and steamy, imaginary scenes began to float through her mind. And and she knew they were wrong. and she would zone out in class and she would begin to justify her thinking and her thoughts. She would begin to say, "Oh, it's just in my head. It's nothing physical." But lascivious spirits began to attach themselves to her. And she began to envision this guy and and began to envision him as a sexual object instead of as a as a boyfriend. She she began to see him as a sexual object. And what would cause this spirit to attract or to attach itself to her? Come to find out, she was binge watching the Bachelorette, a reality show. She was she was binge watching shows like The Housewives of Atlanta and The Housewives of New York City, The Housewives of Beverly Hills. Trashy shows that. Let me tell you something. what you allow into your eyes, what you allow into the window of your soul, you say, "Well, it's not going to affect me. It's not going to hurt me. I can watch it. I can forget about it. I can overlook. I can mute through the cuss words and I can fast forward through the dirty scenes." Oh my god. Spirits can jump out of that television. Spirits can jump out of your cell phone. It can attach themselves to you. Lascivious spirits. Oh my god. You think it's okay because nobody saw you watching it because you deleted your history. You think that it's okay, but those spirits attach themselves to you. And you wonder why you start looking at ladies as objects of sexual pleasure instead of women of God. It's because those sexual spirits have attracted and attached themselves to you. You may be seated and none of that is reality. Come on, get a life that's not reality. You got cameras. You You got cameramen. You got producers. You got all kinds of people walking around. Nothing that's happening in those shows is reality. Get a life. Naked and afraid. You know how many camera shots are being taken of that one person by themselves? Those two people by themsel. Come on. We got to listen. Listen. Some people they just believe everything they see. They believe everything they hear. The real housewives. What? What is that garbage getting into your mind? False reality, that's an oxymoron. False reality. Philippians 4:8 says, "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of a good report, if there be any virtue, that means that they show high moral standards and if there be any praise." Come on, think on those things. Sexual purity is directly it's tied to character. It's about your heart. A student can't think they're going to tell lies or cheat on tests or talk trashy or cuss a little, talk bad about other girls in the youth group because maybe they're less fortunate than you or or maybe they're better looking than you. You can't think that you're going to bully people and then all of a sudden spiritually you have spiritual stamina when it comes to sexual temptation. I guarantee you if you struggle with those things that I just mentioned right here, you don't have any kind of sexual purity. You you lie to your parents or you cheat on your boyfriend. Let me just go out on a limb here. Just because you walk down an aisle and put a ring on your finger does not change your character. You cheat on your girlfriend, think that's cute. Cheat on your boyfriend, think that's cute. You think you're going to be faithful to your husband, faithful to your wife? I I've never I've never understood girls that have boys that cheat on them and they just go right back to that boy over and over again. You You think just cuz you wear a white dress up here and he's in a black tuxedo, you you think somehow he all that cheating is just going to end? That's character. It's who they are. I ain't talking about compatibility. I'm talking just basic character. I I don't care what pew they sit on. I don't care how good of a twostep they have when the shout music plays. Character. I know I look mad. I'm sorry. I'm going to smile when I talk to Mariana. I'm not mad. I promise you. I'm trying to help somebody. See, Solomon had much more than just sexual issues. He worshiped all kinds of stuff. But it all began when he began to marry the wrong women. The same spirits jumped on Solomon from all those wives. They can jump on you by the people you date. You better be careful who you date. I know it may start off casual and it and it might seem innocent, but you better date people that honor purity. I'm not going to be a lot longer, I promise you. But I feel like I need to help somebody figure out if your significant other truly honors purity. It's about to get good. Cuz see, you might have a passion for purity, but the boy that you like, does he have a passion for purity? I know he's cute. I know he's athletic. I know he looks apostolic, but is he real apostolic or is he just a counterfeit? Because counterfeits look a whole lot like the real thing. Maybe we ought to produce a reality show called The Real Apostolic of Strong Tower. I know she looks all doalled up in that Sunday dress and that strong tower Wednesday night dress. I know. I know. But does the beauty of her character match the beauty of her dress? Is she 24/7 apostolic or is she just Instagram apostolic? years ago, a comedian out of Atlanta coined a statement that everybody in the South can relate to. He said, "You might be a redneck if you know you have an apostolic counterfeit if your boyfriend or girlfriend says everybody else is doing it. There's a new term for a player. Let me tell you something. Don't date a player. The girls like that one. This new term for player is serial dater. A serial A serial dater dates girls or dates guys just for the physical relationship. They bully their way into private areas, then get bored and dump the person for the next popular catch. And and this is listen, just because you're doing it doesn't mean that everybody's doing it. Cuz a lot of people, listen, a lot of people get into this whole mentality just because you struggle with a sin, you struggle with character, that everybody struggles with character. It's easy to get into that mentality. I cheat on tests, therefore probably everybody cheats on tests. I lie to my parents. Probably all my friends lie to their parents. But that's not the case. These serial daters, we need to treat them like serial killers. Get out of the car. I just began I began to look up. I began to research celebrities who waited until they were married and and were pure, had virginity, had their virginity until they were married. You're going to recognize some of these names. You're not going to recognize some of these names. Kurt Cameron was a virgin until age 20 when he was married. Kevin Jonas, one of the Jonas brothers, virgin until age 22. Rebecca St. James was a virgin until age 33 when she was married. Timbo, virgin, waited till marriage. Iron Man AC Green waited until the age of 38. Zack Henson waited until marriage. Tina Fay, she breaks it. She was a virgin until age 24. Beyonce, virgin until age 23. Everybody's not doing it. You're watching too many television shows. You're you're watching too many movies you ought not be watching. Everybody doesn't go on the first date and end up in a hotel room. That's not reality. It's not truth. It's a lie. It's false. The devil would have us want to normalize sexual impurity, normalize pornography. I'll just I Pastor Hammond, we've talked about this and I don't want to step on any toes, but I'm so sick of hearing sessions on pornography. Get a group of men up here that struggle with pornography and make everybody feel like everybody has a struggle with pornography. It normalizes it to where you have somebody that doesn't struggle with it and think, "Well, should I be struggling with it?" I'm going to move on quickly. You know you have an apostolic counterfeit. If your boyfriend or girlfriend says, "My sexual urge is so strong, I have no choice." This is mainly for the guys. I want to clear up a myth. Sex is not a physical need. It's not water. It's not food. It's not shelter. Nobody ever died of abstinence. Nobody. Nobody ever got sick, went to the hospital, and called Pastor Carpenter and said, "Pastor Carpenter, I'm in the hospital. Can you can you make a hospital call today? I'm sick with abstinence." You know, you have an apostolic counterfeit. If your boyfriend or girlfriend says, "Fornation won't affect us as long as nobody finds out about it." Listen, each one of you have a very fragile gift from God called intimacy. It's reserved for one man or one woman. It's reserved for your husband or for your wife. And that one person that God has made for you to have sex with. or much pure way to say it is to be intimate with because that s word it has a bad reputation. So let's just use the word intimacy. Intimacy is much more than just a sexual act. It's a bonding of souls between one man and one woman. It's a God thing. It's beautiful. You were made for it. Purity while dating paves the way to intimacy in your marriage. And we're going to talk about this more in a few minutes. But let me say, if you're not pure while dating, you break that fragile gift of intimacy. I'm going to come back to that. You know you have an apostolic counterfeit if your boyfriend or girlfriend says, "I know we can't go all the way, but we can at least sex." Sexing is fornication. Pornography is fornication. Anything that is sexual that happens outside of marriage is fornication. We didn't go all the way. It doesn't matter. It's fornication, any sexual act outside of marriage. But let let me give you analogy. Pornography is kind of like it's kind of like smoking at the time. Light up that cigarette seems okay, but it wrecks your future. However, unlike smoking, you got stained teeth, got bad breath, you can whiten your teeth, you can get a tic tac. But pornography, it doesn't leave because it's not physical. It's spiritual. It's a killer of intimacy in marriage. Just like smoking kills your lungs. And maybe you don't realize it at the time. The US Army during World War II, they gave out smokes, cigarettes, by the carton full packs of cigarettes to our US soldiers, thinking they were doing them a favor, thinking they're doing something good for them, not realizing that some 20 years after the war, everybody was dying of lung cancer. We kill that whole generation by giving them cigarettes, thinking that it's something that's going to calm their nerves on the battlefield. And what I I want you to realize is that with pornography, with sexing, with anything where you're looking at images, watching videos, spirits of lasciviousness are are are attaching themselves to you. I know that right now you might not think it's doing anything to you. And I know right now you can clear history. And I know right now nobody knows about it. Nobody can see it on you. They can't even tell if nobody catches you doing it. Nobody knows about it. But it's all about your wedding day. It's all about after you get married. It's all about when that when that intimacy when that when that when that Oh, God gave us such a gift. When it's broken, when it's ruined, when it's lost. Come on. I know this is not popular, but you got to hear it. It's not just because your mom and dad are trying to keep you from having fun. Mom and dad, man, won't let me go out past 10 o'clock. Won't let me ride in a car alone with him. Won't let us go on a date by ourselves. It's not because they're trying to keep you from having fun. They're trying to protect you. They want your marriage to mean something. Pornography has serious side effects. It's a school of learning. Looking at naked pictures, elude acts of sex teaches your mind three things. A real body is not good enough. One body is not good enough. And your wife's body is not good enough. It's a school of learning. It's a school of thought. It teaches your mind. So don't let that boy ask for a picture of you. It's going to mess you up. Just one more. I'm almost finished. You know you have an apostolic counterfeit. If your boyfriend or girlfriend says, "Let's get in the back seat and see what happens." We can stop before we go too far. You know how many people I've counseledled where that was said to a girl, maybe even said to a guy, "We won't go too far. We'll stop." No, you can't. The guy or girl who makes that statement, they know very well that if they can get you in the right position at the right time with the right perfume or the right cologne, with the right song playing on the radio, you won't be able to say no. And even if you say no, maybe they don't say no. You've got to have a made of mind before you get into that predicament, before that temptation hits you. That's why in a few moments, Pastor Hammond is going to come up here and we're going to make a decision today. What we're not going to do tomorrow, we're not going to wait till tomorrow to make the decision. We're going to make a decision today. Just like Pastor Nate, Sister Ashley said it. You got to know where your limits and where your boundaries are before you get into a situation. You can't think that all of a sudden you're going to stop and everything's going to be okay. But I end with the verse I began with in 1 Corinthians 6:18. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that committh fornication sinnth against his own body. And so I want to conclude with a parable. older ears, you're going to know exactly what I'm talking about. Everybody, just be real still. We're not gonna even have music right now, so just be real still. Younger ears are going to think that I'm talking about a car. But I've been sharing this same parable for about 20 years now. I I remember 20 years ago, I I did the youth camp circuit back when I was young, back when I was youth president. I remember going to Mississippi and Louisiana and Georgia, Texas, West Texas, New Mexico. I preached a series on a passion for purity and I used this same parable and it still it still listens today. Some of you going to get it, some of you are not. If you don't get it, it's okay. But I want you to imagine a 14 boy a 14-year-old boy named Ethan. Ethan's dad has promised him a cherry red 1963 Corvette Stingray for his 15th birthday. Sleek, shiny rims, leather interior, engine that purr like a puma. His dad parks it in the garage, covers it up, and says, "Son, this is yours, but you got to wait until your 15th birthday. Don't touch it. Don't even get close to it." Ethan is thrilled, but he's a little antsy. And a year seems like forever. He tried to be good, but one day alone. Come on, lean into this. He peaks under the cover and the red paint sparkled and his jaw dropped. But that wasn't enough. He had to pull the cover back just a little bit more. He had to touch the metal each time. He wanted just a little bit more. He wanted to see just a little bit more. And soon he pulled and peeled the entire cover off the car to admire the beautiful curves. Looking was enough. Touching the exterior wasn't enough. He had to sit inside. He turned the key ever so slightly and the dashboard began to glow like a spaceship. He said to himself, he thought to himself, "I'm just going to sit here. I'm just going to admire the interior." But then he couldn't stop himself and he turned the key all the way and the engine came to life and the feeling of the power he felt sitting in the driver's seat was unimaginable. He had to take it around the block just for a quick spin. His parents, after all, were out of town and they would never know. The problem is he had never driven before and so he hit a curb. He curved the tire and he scraped the bumper and as he was back in the car back into the parking spot that his dad had parked at the original parking place, the side of the car scraped up against his dad's tool cabinet inside the garage. and he panicked and he threw the cover back over the car and he hoped that nobody would notice the car. The days leading up to his 15th birthday felt like months. And on his birthday, you got to you got to imagine this with me, his proud father sang happy birthday to him and threw back the cover only to unveil a dented, scratched up car. Ethan's heart sank. The gift was ruined by his impatient choices. What should have been the most amazing birthday. What should have been the most unam amazing day of his life became a day that was filled with shame and regret. Purity, oh listen to me, young person. Purity is like this marked up car. Like this banged up, scratched up dentened car. Oh, if we're not careful, what was meant by God to be the most beautiful gift of intimacy on a wedding night can be the most ugly thing. It could be something that's filled with shame. It could be the hardest night of your life. If you haven't uncovered the car yet, congratulations. Thank God for you. And I'm here to preach. I hope I scare you. I hope I put fear inside of you. I hope I wake you up to realize it's worth having that beautiful car on your wedding day. However, if you have not stayed pure, I don't want you to feel condemnation. This message is not about shame. It's about restoration. It's about taking what's damaged and restoring it back to good character. I chose Oh, give me that other car back. I chose a cherry red. Oh, this car. This car is 63 years old. I'm sorry. It's a 1963. It's 62 years old. And any car that's 62 years old does not look like that. It's been restored. And so hope is not lost for anybody who's messed up, who's gone too far because there's still restoration for you. There's still, listen, there's power. There's power of grace. There's there's a there's a God of mercy uh that sees you and says, uh I can restore you back. Uh I can make you Listen, you may not drive the same way. There might be some things uh in life, in your marriage that don't feel the same way they should have felt, but you can still be restored back to a beautiful thing. God can still put a marriage and keep a marriage and make a marriage beautiful. So, I don't want you to give up. But my challenge to you is this. You got to say, "From this day forward, I'm going to do whatever it takes to have that." Because whatever I do, I don't want a wife. Uh I don't want a bride that's discouraged. I don't want her disappointed. Or some of you ladies, you don't want to marry a good young man who's disappointed because he gets something that doesn't look like that. Stand your feet with me. We're about to bring you a challenge that if you will start right now. Pastor Ham is about to step up here and we're going to make a decision today. If you're single, this is for you. If you're not married, this is for you. Matthew 5:8 said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Because God blesses those whose hearts are pure. You're going to Oh my God. When it talks about seeing God, that's not just a visual thing. That's having God working in your life. It's having God working in your marriage, in your relationship. It's having God uh putting his stamp of approval upon you, upon your relationship, who the girl is that you're dating, the guy that you're dating. Live with a passion for purity right now. Come on. It's not too late. Do it right now. We've had so many Pastor H. Come on. We've had so many couples in our church who have who have called me and said, "Pastor Ericson, our wedding day is coming up and we want you to have a special part in our wedding." I told you I've been doing this for over 20 years now. We've been signing Passion for Purity cards for over 20 years and there's nothing that brings me more joy than to stand before a bride and a groom. and they both hand me oh a tattered up passion for purity card that they've had in their wallet for the last five years of their dating life. They'll hand them over to me. They'll say, "Brother Ericson, I'm sorry. This thing's all torn up and all tattered up, but I still got it. And it's still worth as much as it was worth the day I signed it." And I begin to tell the crowd, "Oh, I love this part." I begin to tell the crowd, the audience, the family, and the friends that are there. I begin to tell them, "Listen, this purity card is worth more than a brand new car. It's worth more than a brand new house. It's worth more than some kind of inheritance that a grandparent could leave a new couple that's getting married." This card right here is proof of two young people who said, "I believe it's worth the wait. I believe that my bride or my groom is worth waiting on. I believe that our wedding night is worth our marriage life is worth waiting for. I feel that my character I've kept it pure. I've kept it holy. And because of that, we're going to have a wonderful wedding. Would you bow your heads in this place for just a moment? Would you begin to pray, receive the word of the Lord? Lord, we thank you for what we've heard today. I thank you that it's not only what your word is every time we open it and that is revelational, God, but I know that this word is relevant to this room right now, God. It's relevant to every young person, Lord. I feel your presence in this room and I know it's confirmation to the scripture that's been read, everything that we know, God, that applies to us this season of our life. I thank you for the word of the Lord this morning. Jesus name. Before we move forward, I want to just emphasize two things before I've got some of our our our youth pastors and they're going to help hand these cards out. And it's just simply a card that you're going to be given the opportunity to sign the back of and make a commitment because we believe we've been doing this for quite some time. And I know there's some of the local churches here that do this within your own youth group. Biblically, you don't receive a promise or give a promise without preparation. You don't get the Holy Ghost without preparation. You repent, then you get there's preparation always precedes a promise. And our world is saturated with people that are promising things at an altar they're not prepared to keep. Statistics and rates are through the roof because people can give empty promises with no preparation. That's why what good is his spirit without repentance? It'll be gone tomorrow. Preparation always precedes promise. So why do this this morning? Why take all this time? Why get down into the the the real things that are, you know, that this is a topic you'll you'll pack out the youth night when you start talking about these type of things. This is what you really want to talk about. And we're not scared to talk about it because this is part of the preparation of one of the biggest decisions you'll ever make in your life, and that is who you're going to marry. And this this exchange, having this card, being able to make this exchange. I I I want you to understand making this commitment is such a huge preparation today. So, one more time, I'm going to read this verse and we're going to pray. They're going to hand these cards out and we're going to have they're going to have some Sharpies we're going to put up here. You're going to come to this altar, going to sign, and then we're going to pray a consecrating prayer this morning. Flee youthful lust. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body. But he that committh fornication fornication sinnth against his own body. Paul said it's like one that beats against the air. But even in this sense, Paul says it's even worse than that. It's like punching yourself in the face. You can be idol and just be swinging and doing nothing. But he said when you come to when it comes to fornication, you're literally damaging yourself. But the next part is what gets me. And this is where I've sat behind a desk and sat and and and stood in rooms where it it just it puzzles me that Paul uses this word in verse 19 is so powerful to me. He says, "What? What?" I've had kids come in and I I know all the things that they have access to and all the times we prayed and all the sermons they've heard and they just fell into something and I'm like, "What? Wh why what surely not? Because Paul after he says that he says, "What do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? Do you not know that he paid for your he bought you? He died for you." Yes. So Paul says, "Don't war against your soul. Don't war against your body because he's paid for. You are bought with a price." So Paul's whole thing is if you remember who you are, you won't trade it. If you remember who you are, that's what we're doing this morning. We're rededicating. We remind you that Esau, don't you trade it for that morsel of meat. Don't you trade it for that momentary evening. Don't you trade it for that. You're able to say, "Hey, I've got this card in my pocket. I've got this reminder. I've got this thing in my heart that I signed this at Strong Tower You Camp in 2025." And this is just a reminder that I am bought with a price. I am more than this moment. I'm more than some temporary pleasure. I've got a purpose and God has a plan in my life. So, right now, with that thought on your mind, I want you to close your eyes. I just want you to lift your hands and I want you to think God died for me that I am the temple of the Holy Ghost. Most of you have the presence of God. And I want you to pray right now in the name of Jesus that you you own that idea. You allow that to just saturate your mind right now. Lord, I thank you that you died for me. I thank you for forgiveness. Pray that prayer of preparation. God, wash my mind. God, cleanse me of anything I've looked at. God, cleanse me of anything I've done. God, cleanse me of anything that's not pleasing to you. Come on, pray that prayer of preparation right now. Anything you've done in your past, anything you've thought about, anything you've looked at, anything you may have went too far. And right now, I pray that you'd prepare for this consecrated moment, this covenant moment that we're about to have here in just a second. Come on, God. Wash me. Come on, pray that prayer. David said, "Create in me a clean heart, oh God. Lord, renew in me a right spirit. Lord, if there's anything within me, God, I pray that you would try me now. God, see my heart right now, Lord, if there be any wicked thing in me, if there be any thought, God, forgive us, oh God. Forgive us, oh God. Forgive us, oh God. The moment you feel like you prayed that repented prayer, I wish you'd step out of the aisle and you would get one of these cards from one of these youth pastors. They'll hand them to you and you can make your way to this altar and you'll find a Sharpie. And all I'm asking you to do this morning is to sign your name on the back of that card saying that I agree and I'm going to read this to you as you're signing it. You're coming forward. And once you've signed it, if you'll step out of the way so others can come. My signature means that I will accept no substitutes. I'll accept no lies. I'll accept no imitations for real love from this day forward. I promise to protect my heart and my body for my future spouse for for for better for worse for richer for poor in sickness and in health. For I forsake all others and my hormones for the person that I one day will marry. Come on. You're signing that right now. And as you sign that, I wish you'd step to the side and I wish you'd begin to pray. And you're going to now pray a different prayer. You're going to pray an accepting prayer. Pray a prayer of of covenant. Say, "God, this is who I'm going to be. I am who you say I am. I'm not who this world says I am. I'm not I'm not a part of this world. I'm in it, but I'm not of it." Come on. As you sign that, I wish you'd lift that card unto heaven. And begin to pray out loud. Begin to lift up your voice and begin to pray a consecrated prayer. God, I give myself to you, God. I surrender my time. I surrender my talent. I surrender my treasure. God, I believe who you say that I am, oh God, for I am bought with a price, and I will honor you with my body. God, I will honor you with my heart. I will honor you with my emotions. I will honor you with every part of me, oh God. Come on, that's it, young man. Make that commitment. Come on, that's it, young lady. Make that commitment. As you sign that card and you lift your hands, there ought to be some emotions that overwhelm you. There ought to be some tears that flow from your eyes. And this is me preparing for one of the biggest decisions of my life. God, I make this commitment to you from this day forward. God, from this day forward, I make this commitment that I am prepared to make a promise. Oh God, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, I just want you. Oh, I'm caught up in your presence, God. I just want to sit here at your feet. I'm caught up in this holy moment. I never want to leave. No, I'm not here for the blessings. Jesus, you don't owe me anything. More than anything I Jesus name. Jesus name. In Jesus name. I just want you. I love you Jesus. Come on. With every hand lifted across the congregation, our students, our parents, our leaders, our pastors, Lord, help us, God. Empower this generation with your spirit. We can't do any of it without the Holy Ghost. Come on, every hand lifted high as you can right now. Lord, we we consecrate ourselves to you, Lord. For if you're going to do wonders among us tomorrow, we've got to consecrate ourselves today. Lord create in us oh God pure heart oh God pure heart oh God I'm sorry and I forgot that you're enough take me back to where we started I open up my heart to you oh I'm caught up in your presence, Jesus. I just want to sit here at your feet. I'm caught up in this holy moment. I never want to leave. Oh, I'm not here for blessings. I'm just pouring it out, Lord. Jesus, you don't owe me anything. More than anything that you can do, I just want you. Some of you are already doing it, but I want to emphasize this, and I I know we're taking a little bit of time, but I think it's well worth it. Some of you are already beginning to pray with each other. Groomsmen and bridesmaids are not just something that stand beside you in a nice dress and a nice suit with some flowers, throw you a party. The origination of that all had to do with purity. It was people that the groom would surround himself with men who had the same values and the bride would surround herself with women that had the same values. And it was all the way up until that moment where they were going to make this covenant vow that they were to protect them from anything that would cause there to be any impurities before this moment of covenant. The best thing you can do is find young men who have the same convictions. The same young ladies that have the same convictions. I'm not going to date them. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to go there. I'm not going to put myself. And so, right now, I know many of you, you've got some of you girls, you filled it out in a journal somewhere. You know where you're going to have it. You know what you're going to wear. You know, you got everything but one thing figured out. And that who the that's who the guy is, right? You know what girls are going to stand by you. You know all those things. But you better make sure whoever you surround yourself with is headed the same direction. And that is heaven. So, I want you as youth groups, as friends, guys, find you some groomsmen. Girls, find you some bridesmaids right now. And I want you to yoke up with them. We're going to make a collective conscience. We're going to make a collective culture today to say, "Hey, I I I'm not compromising anything. It doesn't matter how long it seems like the delay is, or I may not have all the questions the questions answered, but I'm going to stand for what's right. I've made this covenant with God. Nothing's going to cause me to compromise this. Come on, young man. Let's Let's bind together. Come on, young ladies. Let's bind together that I'm going to fight for purity. I'm going to be passionate about holiness. I'm going to be passionate about standing for the things that are true and holy and right. In the name of Jesus, we ask you today, God, strengthen this generation to stand. Strengthen these young ladies to stand for the beauty of holiness. Strengthen these young men to lift up holy hands without wrath, without doubt, God, that we're unashamed of you and who you are, oh God. For we are bought with a price. For we are bought with a price. And we want to glorify you, Lord. We want to honor you with our bodies, Lord. We want to honor you with all that we are. Come on. That's it, young man. That's it, young lady. Pour your heart out. Pray for your friends. Pray for your brothers. Pray for your sisters right now. Lord, help us. Help us, God. Help us, God. Help us, God. I'll stand for you. Hearts are one. Lord, we want you in our lives. be the center of our youth groups, oh God. Be the center of our youth groups, oh God. Lord, be the center of our relationships, oh God. Lord, let us see, God, nothing else. Nothing else. Nothing else to do, Lord. I just want you. Nothing else. else. Nothing else. Nothing else will do. I just want you and you alone. Nothing else. Nothing else. Nothing else. Nothing else. Oh, nothing else, nothing else will do. I just want to you nothing else. Nothing else. Nothing else. Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls to one another. Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift ourselves to another. Oh, give us clean hands. Give us pure heart. Jesus name. Let us not lift our souls to come on. Let this be our closing prayer. God let us be let us be a generation that seeks your face. Oh God. Come on with your hands lifted. Oh God let us be cease your face. of things. Oh God a shaker. Oh God, let us be a generation that sings. See your face. Oh God of change. God let us be a generation that seeks seeks your face. Seeks your face. Oh God of change. Oh Jesus, we thank you. Jesus, we thank you. As a confirmation to everything that you've heard and everything that you prayed and everything that you've committed to the Lord this morning, would you clap your hands into the Lord? Would you give him a shout of praise? Lord, we thank you. God, you're so good to us. God, you're so good to us. We bless you today.