Alright, very good. As Brother Rob said, I have some experience. But you know what? That doesn't mean that much. That doesn't mean that much. Understanding the Word of God is what really is going to matter. Understanding the Word of God is what's really going to matter, what's really going to make the difference in our lives. Do we love God? Do we love His Word? or do we hate God and hate His Word? That's what is going to make the difference in our romantic relationships and our courtship relationships. That's what is going to make the primary difference is our love for God or otherwise. God has commanded us to be a peculiar people. 1 Peter 2 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. So today, as people who have been redeemed by God, we're going to look at a few key principles to govern our romantic relationships. I can't show you Every nitty gritty detail that's going to go into your courtship, young person. I can't show you every detail that's going to go into it. I can't show you exactly what you're going to need to do in exactly every circumstance. Nor can I show you parents exactly how to respond to every circumstance in your child's life. But the scriptures give us what I believe are some very important principles. from which we will be able to derive the applications, the timely applications in our own lives, which we need. We must rely on the scriptures. This sermon presupposes that God speaks to all issues of life and what God has said in command, principle and pattern is binding upon mankind and vital to the submissive life of faith. We're going to look at three principles. Yesterday, Brother Rob covered one of the principles very thoroughly, and that is the principle of the authority of fathers. Fathers have a vital role to play in the romantic relationships of their children. Fathers have a vital role to play in the romantic relationships of their children. I'd like to just briefly, briefly touch on that, since Brother Rob covered that so well yesterday, on the authority of the father. Deuteronomy chapter 7, Deuteronomy chapter 7, verses 2 to 4, are giving prescriptively what Brother Rob talked about from a descriptive passage. It says, And when the Lord your God gives them over to you, here he's talking to the children of Israel prior to the conquest of Canaan. When the Lord God gives these societies over to you and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons. For they would turn away your sons from following me to serve other gods. then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. We will suffer the consequences for our choices only. We'll suffer the consequences for our choices. Here, God is placing upon the fathers a grave responsibility. A grave responsibility. I believe Brother Rob covered that very well last night. He's given to us, as fathers, the grave responsibility to be leading out in this area of our family life, to be taking the leadership, the leadership role in this area of our family life. I'm going to refer again to this passage a little bit later in my third point, but my second point and the point I'm going to cover perhaps the most thoroughly is the principle of purity, the principle of purity. As Brother Rob mentioned last night, you have a responsibility in the area of the purity of your children. But young people, you also have a great responsibility in the area of purity. You have a great responsibility in this area. Purity is the governing principle in relationship between the genders. In relating with people of the opposite gender, purity must be the governing principle. If you'll look with me briefly at 1 Peter 5, Paul is instructing Peter in relationships within the church. What kind of relationship should he have with an older man? What kind of a relationship should he carry on with a younger man? With the older women? And then he speaks about what kind of relationship he should have with the younger women. We'll begin with verse 1. Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father. Younger men as brothers. So relate to these older men as if they were your father. Showing them honor. Don't rebuke them sharply. Exhort them. Encourage them. But don't rebuke them sharply. Younger men as brothers. Encourage them as you would brothers. More as a peer. Older women as mothers. Younger women as sisters. And then it says, all purity, in all purity. Purity is the primary principle here that we have to grab a hold of in relating with people of the opposite gender. And this is going to be something that you young people are facing, but you're going to face it the rest of your life. You're going to face it the rest of your life. This is not merely a principle for courtship or a principle for your youth. This is a principle that you will have to live out for the rest of your life. Something you will have to be guarding for the rest of your life. So it's a key factor in relationships between the genders. We need to remember as we think about purity that what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. In our day, impurity is sold as being maturity. Impurity is sold as being maturity. How often have you heard about a movie that contains impurity? And what do they say? They say it has mature themes. There's certain ways of dressing that people consider to be more mature, but which reflect impurity. In our day, impurity is being sold as maturity, and nothing could be farther from the truth. Nothing could be farther. from the truth. Purity and holiness go hand in hand. Holiness is the aspect about God that separates him from everything else. It says that God is separate from all that is evil, from all that is sinful, from all that is impure. Regarding holiness, regarding human holiness, Zodiatis says this, its fundamental idea is separation, consecration, devotion to the service of God, sharing in God's purity, and abstaining from Earth's defilement. Abstaining from Earth's defilement, sharing in God's purity. We're going to look briefly here at 1 Peter chapter 1. I'd like to cover some motivations for purity. And first of all, as I mentioned, our primary motivation must be love for God. That is the principal commandment. And out of that flows all of life. Out of that flows every aspect of our life. And we must allow the Scriptures to define for us what love for God looks like. We must allow the Scriptures to define for us what love for God looks like. Whoever has loved his brother has fulfilled the law. i.e., the law defines love, doesn't it? The law defines love. 1 Peter chapter 1, we begin at verse 13. Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. That is, he who called you is holy. You also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. And if you call on Him as Father, who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. Purity, first of all, my first point is that purity reflects God's nature, in verse 15. But if you call you as holy, be holy. God has revealed himself to us as the thrice holy God, hasn't he? Isaiah chapter 6, I'll never get tired of reading that passage. How Isaiah comes before the presence of God, where he's sucked into the presence of God in a vision. And he sees the holy God, and he recognizes The purity and the separateness of God, that God is different from Isaiah and different from the people that Isaiah dwells with. He says, Woe is me for I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell among people of unclean lips. That's going to be our response as we look at the holiness of God. We're going to see our own impurity. And our desire to be pure is going to be a desire out of love for God to reflect God's nature. Our desire for purity is going to be a desire born out of a love for God within us to reflect God's nature. If you don't love God, courtship is going to be for the birds. It's going to be crazy. But if you love God, you're going to love purity. If you love God, you are going to love purity, and you're going to desire that your life should reflect that purity, because it's a reflection of the holiness and the nature of God. My second point. Purity is subjection to God's commands. So, it reflects God's nature, it is subjection to God's commands, in verse 16. Since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. God repeatedly, throughout the book of Leviticus, and then on through the rest of the Bible. Hebrews, Leviticus, especially, have this emphasis. Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. Be different. Be separate. Don't be like the world. Don't desire that the world would press you into its mold, as Romans chapter 12 says. Don't let the world press you into its mold. Don't be conformed to the world, but be transformed. Be changed through the renewing of your mind. Be sanctified through the Scriptures. Purity reflects God's nature. Purity is subjection to God's commands. C, my third point, there will be a day of judgment, verse 17. And if you call on him as father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. Conduct yourselves with fear. There's a fear of God born out of a recognition that there is going to be a day of accountability. There is going to be a day of judgment. I am going to give accountability to God for what I have done. And not just for what other people see that I have done. Not just for how other people view me. I am going to give accountability to God based on how God sees me. Based on what God sees in me. Based on His law. What will that Day of Judgment look like for me? Here is a great motivation for repentance. Here is a great motivation to seek purity in our lives. So purity reflects God's nature. Purity is subjection to God's commands. Purity is motivated by the fact that there is going to be a Day of Judgment. And the fourth point. Your redemption was expensive. Your redemption was expensive. Verses 18 and 19, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways, the vain ways, the sinful ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver and gold. God did not pay for you with money. It wasn't something that worthless, but with the precious blood of Christ. like that of a lamb without spot or blemish. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God. So purity reflects God's nature. Purity is subjection to God's commands. There is going to be a day of judgment. You are going to give accountability, account to God for what you have done. For every thought, for every idle word, for everything. Your redemption was expensive. If you have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, if God has saved you, recognize your redemption was expensive. He didn't spend all that on you so that you could go on a fling of impurity. Okay, impurity is the narcotic of the soul. It dulls the conscience of the one it has deceived. Ephesians 4. Now this I say and testify in the Lord. Ephesians 4, 17-19 here. Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds, i.e., moral depravity. Don't walk, as the Gentiles do, in moral depravity. And this moral depravity is in their brains, it's in their minds. They're darkened in their understanding, alienated from God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardness of heart. They have become calloused, unable to feel, and given themselves over to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. Impurity will dull your senses. It'll dull your sensibilities. You won't see sin... If you're under the influence of impurity, you're not going to see sin in the same way you are if you're under the influence of God. If you're under the influence of impurity, you're not going to see sin in the same way you will if you're under the influence of God. This is the way of the adulteress, as far as chapter 30. She eats, and she wipes her mouth, and she says, I've done nothing wrong. Her impurity has twisted her way of thinking. She doesn't see life the way God sees it. She sees life from her own twisted perspective. And she thinks, I'm not hurting anyone. I'm not really hurting anybody. So therefore, it can't really be that bad. She eats, she wipes her mouth. Just imagine, get this picture in your mind of this woman wrapping her napkin around her two fingers, sticking her pinky finger up in the air and dabbing her mouth. And remember that, remember that picture. That's the way of the adulteress. She wipes her mouth and she says, I've done nothing wrong. Her mind is twisted. She's under the influence of impurity. I believe that one of the devil's greatest accomplishments in modern times is the mass introduction of impurity into the homes of millions and millions and millions of Americans through modern media. Now, I'm not saying that modern media is evil. I'm not saying that at all. But I believe that one of the devil's greatest accomplishments in modern times has been the mass introduction of impurity, desensitizing people to the evils of sin. Desensitizing people. to the wickedness that surrounds them by introducing into their lives, right there through their tube, all sorts of impurity and evil. When we sit there and veg in front of the tube, checking our brains and just... We're just brainwashing ourselves. We're brainwashing ourselves with impurity. How can we expect to to correctly analyze our romantic relationships if we are flooding our brains with impurity? How can we expect to carefully and correctly analyze our lives if we are just washing our brains with impurity? So, application. This gets practical. Obligation. Flee youthful lusts. That's 2 Timothy 2.22. And then 1 Peter 2.11. I read this at the beginning. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles, abstain from the passions of the flesh that wage war against your soul. We desire these godly romantic relationships. Because we desire to be fruitful, don't we? We desire to accomplish something. We desire the honor and glory of God. We desire spiritual fruit, don't we? That's the reason we're pursuing godly relationships. That's the reason we're saying no to ungodliness. That's the reason we're saying no to fleshly impurity. I urge you, abstain from these passions which war against the soul. If we are going to do this, we cannot be introducing into our souls, the impurity. Because those things wage war against our soul, it's going to be 100% counterproductive. We can't be one person part of the time, and another person the rest of the time. The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Christianity doesn't work. The evil always wins out. Get rid of impure influences in your life. Psalm chapter 1. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord." I challenge you to take this, to take purity very seriously, because God takes purity very seriously. In the words of Jesus Christ, from Matthew chapter 5, and hang on, when I say in the words of Jesus Christ, I'm not saying the rest of Scripture is not the words of Jesus Christ. But from the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus Christ is speaking to his disciples, he said this, If your right eye offends you, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body should be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members then that your whole body should go into hell. God takes purity very seriously, doesn't he? God takes purity very, very seriously. On an even more serious note, perhaps, don't flirt with impurity. I'm going to briefly read a passage here, Proverbs chapter 7. The Proverbs are so full, packed, full, of practical exhortations to us regarding the area of purity. And here, Solomon is warning us, in a solemn, solemn warning, my friends, against the dangers of impurity. And I'm saying, nip it in the bud before it even gets to the Proverbs chapter 7 stage. Verse 6, For at the window of my house I have looked out through my lattice, and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths a man lacking sense. Passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness, and behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart. She is loud and wayward. Notice these characteristics of the immoral woman. She's dressed like a prostitute, wily of heart, she's loud and wayward, her feet do not stay at home. Now in the street, now in the market, and at every corner she lies in wait. She teases him and kisses him, and with bold face, no shame at all, she says to him, I had to offer sacrifices. Today I have paid my vow. She makes this very religious sounding speech to him, this very religious sounding proposition. So now I have come to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you. I have spread my couch with coverings and colored linens from Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh. Let us drink our love till morning. Let us delight ourselves with love, etc., etc., etc. Verse 21. With much seductive speech she persuades him, and with her smooth talk she compels him. All at once he follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces his liver. As a bird rushes into a snare, he does not know that it will cost him his life. And now, O sons, listen to me and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Let not your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not stray into her paths. For many a victim she has laid low. Her house is the way of Sheol, going down to the chambers of death." This is written by Solomon. The Proverbs of Solomon. And this should be a very somber warning to each one of us, old and young alike, because Solomon was a man mightily used by God. He was the wisest man on earth. There was never a man wiser than him before him or after him. And yet Solomon fell to the trap of impurity. Solomon fell to the trap of impurity. Even the man who could, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, pin such an eloquent description of impurity, and of the dangers of impurity, and spell out for us so carefully what the cost will be. It will cost you your life! And it cost him his life. It cost him his life. Think that we are beyond the reach of impurity, because we are not. This is evidence, this is a somber warning to us. So guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life. Guard your heart, every one of you, young people, old people alike, guard your hearts with all diligence, for out of it flow the issues of life. So purity, purity. How can you expect to have A godly marriage relationship, starting out on the right foot, if you're starting out in the midst of impurity, if you're starting out bathing your mind in impurity, how can you expect to do that? You can't. You can't. This afternoon I'm going to share, this evening I'm going to share some examples from our lives, how God directed us in applications to apply this principle of purity. And some of the things that I believe are very important for a good courtship relationship. If we're starting out in purity, it's like we're starting out with our relationship upside down, and then we have to turn the whole thing back right side up after we get married, after we get converted. And that's fine if that's where we're at. If we're upside down, turn it right side up, turn it right side up. But you know what? If we can start out right side up, with a love for purity, with a love for God's holiness, with a love for God. It'll be a whole lot better. It'll be a whole lot better. OK, so the second point, the first point was the authority of the Father. The second point is purity. We've got to start out these relationships in purity. We've got to continue living these relationships in purity. And my third point is going to be the equal yoke. The equal yoke. This is a very important point, a very important point, and I see time and time again Christian young people, professing Christian young people, who are not paying attention to the clear mandates of Scripture regarding the equal yoke. Who are not paying attention to the clear mandates of Scripture regarding being equally yoked together with other believers. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 6. I'm gonna start with verse 14. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said, I will make my dwelling among them, and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore, go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing. Then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. Paul here is pulling a picture from the world of agriculture. The equal yoke. And in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses, on the inspiration of God's Spirit, writes about not yoking an ox with a donkey. You yoke an ox to a donkey, and it doesn't work. It doesn't work. You have to have two oxen yoked together. When you get married, you're yoked to this person that you're going to be married to for the rest of your life. I mean, you look over there, and Brother James was saying this morning, you're going to see that person's face every morning for the rest of your life. Every morning, for the rest of your life, you're going to be looking at this person. This person is going to have a profound impact in your life. This person is going to have a profound impact in your life. Young women, you are going to be discipled by your husbands. you are going to be discipled by your husband. And young men, you are charged by God, after you get married, to be the discipler of your wife. And that relationship doesn't work very well if one has faith and the other does not. That relationship doesn't work very well if one has faith and the other does not. It's like a donkey yoked together with an ox. And I don't know what's going to happen, but It's not going to be pretty. Now, if you're already married to an unbeliever, please understand, the scriptures have specific instructions for you also. To live, if you're a wife married to an unbelieving husband, to live in harmony with that unbelieving husband, if that unbelieving husband is willing to live with you. Live in subjection. But this is another case where we've got to start out the relationship right side up. Let's plan on starting our young marriage relationships right side up, kids, okay? So that we're not trying to do this missionary marriage thing. Missionary marriage, it isn't scriptural at all. As a matter of fact, I believe that missionary dating is just a mutation of the sin of Balaam. Missionary dating is just a mutation of the sin of Balaam. Do you remember the story of Balaam? Balaam was called by Balak, the king of Moab, I believe, to go and curse the people of Israel. The people of Israel were getting ready for their conquest in the book of Numbers. They're getting ready to conquest the land of Canaan. And the people of Canaan are scared. They are scared stiff, because here's this great multitude of people. that are coming to take away their land. They're going to kill them. They have orders to slaughter every single one of them. I'd be scared stiff too. And so Balak the king, he's saying, this is trouble. I need help. So he says, there's a prophet of God down in little ways away here let's call for him and bring him up here and he'll curse this people and maybe it'll have a big impact and so he calls up Balaam and you know the whole story about how Balaam's donkey talks to him and God tells Balaam not to go and Balaam he goes anyway and finally he gets up there and it's a it's a long story but to make a long story short he's forbidden by God to curse this people and instead he's told by God to bless them and so everywhere that Balak takes him he just blesses the people of Israel and Balak he gets pretty frustrated And so Balaam, he is a covetous man. He wants the money that Balak is going to give him for cursing the people. So he says, you know what, I can't really pronounce a curse against this people, but I'll tell you what you can do. You can introduce impurity into these people's lives through your lovely daughters and through your handsome men. And you can introduce idolatry into them and they'll They'll be corrupted from the inside out. I can't affect them from the outside, but here you have this great opportunity to rot them out from the inside. And that's exactly what happened. And God brought great judgment on the people of Israel because they fell for it. They fell for it. They bought into the lie of Balaam. They sinned with the people of Moab. And yes, the people of Moab had great responsibility in the matter. But you know what? God killed many of the people of Israel because of it. God judged them because of their impurity, because of being unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Unrighteous intermarriage has been a problem almost since the beginning of time. Unrighteous intermarriage has been a problem almost since the beginning of time. If you'll turn with me to Genesis Because it has been a problem for so long, let's not presume that we are immune to it. When man began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive, and they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, My spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh. His days shall be 120 years." Here's the first case of marriage between the sons of the covenant, the sons of the promise, and the ungodly. Matthew says this, the sons of God, that is the professors of religion who were called by the name of the Lord and called upon that name, married the daughters of men, that is those that were profane and strangers to God and godliness. The posterity of Seth did not keep by themselves as they ought to have done, but for the preservation of their own purity and in detestation of the apostasy. Okay, both, brother, both for their own purity and in detestation of the apostasy. They intermingled themselves with the excommunicated race of Cain. They took them wives of all that they chose. But what was amiss in these marriages? They chose only by the eye? They saw that they were fair, which was all they looked at. And they followed the choice which their own corrupt affections made. They took all they chose without advice and consideration. They proved of such bad consequences. That proved as such bad consequences to them. That which proved, I'm sorry, that which proved as such bad consequences to them was that they married strange wives who were unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Unrighteous intermarriage has been a problem since the beginning, almost the beginning of marriage, since many, many, just a few generations after the creation. This is disregard for God's design for the establishment of new homes. This is absolute blatant disregard for God's design for the establishment of new homes. Is God pleased with our actions here? No. What will the end result be? The end result will be judgment from God. The end result is going to be judgment from God. And as Brother Rob was sharing with us last night, God is going to hold us as fathers responsible for the yoking of our children. God is going to hold us as fathers responsible for who our children marry and how that intermarriage occurs. Do you remember in chapter 7, the first passage I read at the beginning, and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and defeats them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they will turn away your sons from following me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will destroy you quickly." Important application statement here. Fathers who will not take this God-given role seriously incur judgment from God on the whole of society. Fathers who will not take this role that God has given to them, seriously, incur the judgment of God on the whole of society. This is a very, very, very serious point. Yes, you young people have applications here also. Yes, there are some serious applications. You are not free to marry whoever you wish. And you fathers are not free to give your daughters to just whoever. And you fathers are not free to encourage your sons to marry whoever they wish. And I believe Brother Rob gave some good examples of how to analyze these relationships in light of Scripture. How to analyze this person that's a potential partner. How to analyze this whole situation. Realize. that if you will not take God's charge seriously, you're going to incur great judgment on your family, on the church, and on the whole society. Great judgment from God. Two fallacies that will lead us into the unequal yoke are reliance on human wisdom and moralism. Reliance on human wisdom and moralism. These are two things that are going to... that will... that may very well lead us into adopting a, or entering into, ungodly, unequal yoke marriage. Human wisdom says, human wisdom says, I will risk it. It can even portray itself in a very pious manner, and says, I will risk it for the sake of the gospel, missionary dating. The sin of veil just repackaged for today's culture. I developed a deep relationship with an individual who now I must marry. To not marry this individual would be a poor testimony. God wants us to do good to others, right? I would wrong this person by not marrying him or her, therefore turning him or her off to the gospel. Maybe if I take this risk, they'll be saved. If I don't take this risk, they'll be turned off to the gospel forever. What is that? That's pragmatism. That's reliance on human wisdom. We're commanded by the Scriptures, by the Lord, to trust in the Lord with all our hearts, and lean not on our own understanding. Take seriously the commands that God has given to us, and don't rely on our own wisdom to work things out. In all our ways, acknowledge Him, and He is going to direct our paths. He will direct our paths. That's His promise. So first of all, human wisdom. Missionary dating is a human wisdom thing. It's a human wisdom. It's following our own reasoning, our own rationale, our own, really our own morals. And number two, moralism. What is moralism? Moralism. Moralism is virtue without faith, character without conversion. It focuses on the outward applications while ignoring the inward realities. It focuses on outward applications while ignoring inward realities. Because of moralism, people that I'm acquainted with have married others who apparently had fine outward behavior, but inwardly were full of dead men's bones. We in our churches are at great risk for the sin of moralism. We are at great risk for the sin of moralism. are at great risk to make the same mistake, to become an unevil yoke because of moralism. Courtship convictions, without the rebirth, does not produce a Christ-centered home. Courtship convictions without the rebirth, without spiritual life, is not going to produce a Christ-centered home. It is hypocrisy. The skin of the truth stuffed with a lie. The skin of the truth stuffed with a lie. It looks good on the outside, but on the inside, there's nothing there. Have you ever, I'm sure many of you, maybe all of us, have gone to Cabela's. And we see these animals there. My daughters love to go to Cabela's, and they look at this, and they stand like this far from a lion. I mean, you're this far from a lion. But that's not really a lion. He just looks like a lion. Maybe his skin's real, but his eyes, his teeth, and his tongue are 100% artificial, and he's just a skin stretched tightly over a plastic mold. There's nothing in there. He's not a lion. He just looks like a lion. He can't growl. He just stands there and smiles at you. He's not really a lion. There's people who are like that also. They look spiritual. Maybe sometimes they act spiritual. In our young people, I'm sure that this exists. I mean, in my family, this exists, where maybe we're good on the outside here at church, but you know what? There's not true conversion in some of the lives in my household. There's not true conversion. We're at risk to have an unequal yoke marriage when we don't carefully examine both our faith and the faith of the person we are potentially going to marry. Therefore, if anyone in Christ is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold, the new has come. Genuine morality in a person's life is produced by being in Christ. genuine morality. When I say moralism, I'm not saying that I'm against morality in any way, shape, or form. I am 100% in favor of morality. But I'm against trusting our morality for the salvation of our souls. I'm against thinking that our morality is buying us our way to heaven. True morality is birthed out of the new birth. The new birth is the vital starting point. for the God honoring life. In 2 Peter chapter 1, Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power is granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affliction with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, of our Lord Jesus Christ, rather. Everything is birthed out of our faith, isn't it? Virtue, self-control, love, all these things come out of faith. All these things come out of our faith. All true virtue flows from faith. John MacArthur says this, you might be the most moral Pharisee in Israel. You might be the most moral rabbi. You might be the most moral civic, or cleric rather. You can take it from there. The most moral, self-righteous, clean living Mormon. And if you're going And you're going to hell with the prostitutes unless you've been reconciled to God through His Son, Jesus Christ. And if you've been reconciled to God through His Son, Jesus Christ, you've become a new creature. The old behaviors are replaced by new ones. So, a couple of application points regarding moralism and how that can affect our romantic relationships. Examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourself, my friend, to see if you are in the faith. 2 Corinthians 13. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves? That Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail to meet the test. Test yourselves. Test yourselves. Read the Scriptures. What does a true Christian look like? Study the Scriptures. What are the aspects, what are the characteristics of genuine saving faith? Study this out for yourself. Examine yourself. Look at yourself in the mirror of God's Word. Look at yourself in the mirror of God's Word. Parents, look at yourselves in the mirror of God's Word. How can you expect to analyze the faith of a potential partner for your child, if you don't even know if you have faith yourself? Examine yourself. Analyze your faith. come to the light. John 3, 19 and 20. This is the judgment. The light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God. Come to the light. Come to those accountable Christian relationships, the church, where the Word of God is being proclaimed, the light of the Word of God is being shined into your life, and you're in relationships with other people who can exhort you, admonish you, correct you, instruct you. Come to these relationships. Come to light. And if you don't come to light, if you don't open up to accountability, Realize that because you're hiding something, lest your deeds should be exposed. Lest your deeds should be exposed. We want to walk in righteousness, don't we? We want to walk in righteousness. And that's going to come about as we open ourselves up, confess our sins, repent of our sins, and pursue godly, accountable relationships. Young people, pursue godly, accountable relationships also. I encourage you. Pursue godly, accountable relationships. centered on the Word of God. Relationships centered on the Word of God. That's how we're going to start good and godly courtships. That's how we're going to start good and godly courtships. That's an application principle right there that I think will drastically change the outcome of our lives. It will drastically change the outcome of our lives. A lot of these things apply in the realm of courtship. A lot of them are a lot more gentle than that. They apply in every single aspect of our lives. Purity. We're going to be dealing with that for the rest of our lives, aren't we? We're going to be dealing with that for the rest of our lives. We're going to be fighting the lust of the flesh for the rest of our lives. Flee youthful lusts which war against your soul. Satan wants you to put on your penny loafers and hang around a while. God says, put on your Reeboks and run. Put on your Reeboks and run. Remember Joseph, he was confronted with an impure situation. He left his Reeboks and ran. He ran. And you know what? God blessed him because of it. God blessed him in huge ways. Joseph was a man with whom, that God was with him. That's repeated again and again and again. God was with Joseph, granting him this, that, and this. And you know what? A result of God's being with Joseph was his turning his back on what could have been, to the flesh, attractive, but to the spirit, poison. Spiritual poison. Many other men we have examples of in Scripture. who hung around, who hung around. Maybe we have an example of Solomon. Solomon's another example of a man who took on that unequal yoke. Do we think that we are so wise that we won't fall into the same traps as the wisest man on earth fell into? Are we so wise that we won't? I propose to you that no, we are not that wise. Yes, we must rely on the Word of God to establish for us right, wrong, love, and hatred. What do these things mean? So that we can make timely and correct applications in our life. So this is not a look at the small details of your relationships. This is a look at the big picture. This evening, I'm going to be sharing a little bit about my life. And it's not a perfect example. It's not a perfect example. I am not the perfect example. But God did lead us to make certain applications in our lives that I think are important in the area of purity and in the area of the equal yoke and a few other things there that I hope will be an encouragement to you. Let's go to prayer. Gracious Lord, we thank you, Father, for giving us your Word, Father. We thank you, God, for defining these things for us, Father. You have not left us to our own devices. You have not left us to the imaginations of our own hearts. But you, Lord, have laid out for us in your love what it looks like to walk with you, what it looks like to have faith, what it looks like to build godly, Christ-centered relationships. I pray, God, that we as fathers