Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / Equipped 2026: Youth: "Strength in the Face of Sexual Pressure" by Corey Sawyers

Transcript

Equipped 2026: Youth: "Strength in the Face of Sexual Pressure" by Corey Sawyers · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

0:00
Good morning. Good morning. Morning. I want you to fall asleep before we get started.
0:07
I am thankful to be here and thankful to be a part of this series of lessons.
0:15
I have been very blessed to be able to learn so much from Genesis and so many Godly men.
0:23
I was actually, when I looked at the schedule of who all was speaking this hour,
0:28
I was really figuring no one would be here because there are so many good sessions going on.
0:33
I was hoping we could go somewhere else.
0:35
I am thankful that you are here.
0:37
I am worried about this group up here in the couch.
0:39
They may slow off a little bit here in a minute.
0:42
I am thankful you are here. I am thankful to be in the barn.
0:45
I hate to brag, but I am from the country, so I have spent a lot of time in barns.
0:50
I feel comfortable here.
0:52
I know you look at me and the gray hair in my beard and you think,
0:56
Man, that guy is so old.
0:58
I went to school in the late 1900s, if you can believe it or not.
1:02
I have raised three boys in the process of raising another one.
1:07
I know a little bit about some stuff that we can talk about hopefully and certainly from God's Word.
1:14
The schedule actually said Genesis 37, but 39 is where we are going to be at.
1:19
We will turn over to Genesis chapter 39.
1:21
We will start with a little bit of a quiz right off the bat.
1:25
Who is the strongest man in the Bible?
1:29
Samson, right?
1:31
Samson is the strongest man in the Bible.
1:33
Who is the wisest man in the Bible?
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Jesus.
1:37
Well, outside of Jesus, who is the wisest man in the Bible?
1:40
Solomon.
1:41
Solomon, that is right.
1:43
Who is the godliest man in the Bible?
1:45
Jesus.
1:46
Let's ask Jesus.
1:48
David.
1:49
David has the God's own heart, right?
1:51
You know how many times I have told this to my three boys?
1:56
All three of those, the strongest man, the wisest man, the godliest man,
2:01
you know what they all had in common?
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They struggled with sexual temptation.
2:07
They all struggled with women issues.
2:10
And I would tell my boys, you're not the strongest, you're not the wisest,
2:13
you're not the godliest.
2:15
So you're probably going to have some problems, too.
2:17
And reality is that it all is.
2:20
I was talking with my friend Brad Toy.
2:23
We went to school together at Bear Valley many years ago.
2:26
And he was asking, he says, is this just for teens?
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I said, actually, no, it's not just for teens.
2:31
And it's not really just for sexual temptation, what we're going to talk about.
2:34
But it's really going to fit into a lot of things.
2:37
Now, I'll tell you a story.
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I remember one time a tale about this worker at a factory.
2:44
He's leaving the factory one day, and the security guard stops him
2:48
because he's pushing a wheelbarrow with a box in the wheelbarrow.
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And he says, the security guard says, wait a minute.
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What have you got in the box?
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He said, you saw this.
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You saw this all this.
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And he said, well, I don't have a chance.
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He opens up the box and runs his fingers and says, you saw this.
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And he says, all right, I'm going to let you go.
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The next day, the same guy comes out.
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He's got a wheelbarrow.
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He's got a box in it.
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And the security guard says, what's in the box?
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And he says, it's just sawdust.
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He just can't tell what's in it.
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He says, I don't know.
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He opened up the box.
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And he runs his hands through it.
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It's just sawdust.
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He says, well, you guys, we didn't see the same thing happen Thursday.
3:25
The same thing happened Friday.
3:27
It was the same guy with a wheelbarrow with a box.
3:30
He said, what you got in the box?
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He said, nothing, just sawdust.
3:34
And he said, listen, you've been doing this all week.
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And I can't help but think that you're trying to sneak something out of here.
3:39
You're trying to steal something.
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I'll tell you what, if you'll just be honest with me, then I won't say anything.
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I'll just tell you the truth.
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If you don't say anything about what I'm doing, the security officer said, no.
3:52
He said, just tell me what it is you're sneaking.
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The guy said, wheelbarrows.
3:56
So sometimes we're looking at one thing and maybe it's something different.
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That's kind of the idea, I think, with what we're going to talk about today,
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with having the strength in the face of sexual pressure.
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Maybe you're thinking about one thing in particular.
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There's lots of different ways that we have sexual pressure.
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Obviously, the physical relationships between others.
4:20
There's even more, though, now in the sense of what's available online, on the Internet, on apps,
4:27
conversations that you have.
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There's so many different ways that Satan tries to tempt us with sexual pressure.
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The idea behind what we're going to try to look at today from Genesis 39 is one that,
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how can we figure out a way that we can stand up in that
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and do the kind of things that God wants us to do,
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to not do the things that God doesn't want us to do,
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and to be the kind of people that He wants us to be.
4:57
When I tried to get back over to Genesis 39, I said,
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you know, your phone is probably like mine.
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It's got one of those little things that pops up every now and again
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that tells you your weekly report.
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Have you all seen that on your phone?
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It tells you how many hours.
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I think it's from the devil because it plays with my mind a little bit.
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It'll pop up your weekly report, and I'll look at it,
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and it'll say you spent six hours a day on your phone last week,
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and I'm thinking, that can't be right.
5:30
Six hours a day?
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I've got a job.
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I've got family.
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I go to school.
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I've got a life.
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I can't have spent 42 hours on my phone.
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And then you start doing the math, and you think, yeah.
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Because not only does it tell you how many hours you spent on your phone,
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it tells you where you spent your time on your phone.
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Apps that you went to and websites that you went to
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and those types of things, the late-night scrolling,
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all of those kinds of things.
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And, in other words, it reveals to you where your life is spent
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when nobody else is watching.
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And if our phone is keeping up with it,
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it thinks it's important enough to keep up with where we're spending our time
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when no one is watching,
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don't you think that God does?
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And don't you think that we should?
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Because in those times that maybe we're not paying attention
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or we're not focused,
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that's when we're really showing who we are,
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when we're being formed to who we are.
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Genesis Chapter 31 or Chapter 39, rather,
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it's not about a public failure.
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It's about a private moment.
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There's no crowd.
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There's no accountability.
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There's no one around except for Joseph and a decision,
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a decision that was made in private,
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but a decision that was made in private
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that shows what his character,
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the decisions he had already made about himself,
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truly was.
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And isn't that true for all of us?
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That the decisions that we make in private
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is what really shows our character,
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the decisions that we've already made in the past.
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See, the battle that we face
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where we're talking about sexual pressure
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or any other kind of pressure,
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and I forgot to hit my button there about the screen time,
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but the pressure that we face when it comes to this,
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so many different things,
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it's not necessarily things that are public things.
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Some of the biggest spiritual battles that we'll have to face
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aren't made at church.
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They're not made with the youth group.
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They happen when we're alone.
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And the reality is,
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today, you don't have to go looking for temptation.
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It knows your phone number, don't it?
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Joseph didn't have a phone,
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but Joseph had something equally as powerful.
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He had opportunity, he had privacy,
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and he had no accountability.
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So if you look in Genesis chapter 39,
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let's set up the context first.
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Verses 1 through 7 kind of sets up the context,
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and after that, we're going to talk about
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three different points, three different decisions
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that we need to make,
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and at the end, we'll get some good news.
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But in Genesis chapter 39, verses 1 through 7,
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you've got Joseph's already been sold into slavery by his brothers.
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He's been sold and brought to this Egyptian master
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that now he's working in his household,
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and he does a good job,
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and his master trusts him
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and puts him over things in the household.
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But the problem is,
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if you notice at the very end of verse 7,
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it says that Joseph is a good-looking guy.
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And because of that, Potiphar, his master's wife,
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begins to make advances towards him.
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And Joseph isn't just a random example.
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He's a contrast to everything that we've seen before
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in the book of Genesis.
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Genesis is a book full of people
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who didn't handle sexual pressure or temptation very well.
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By the time you get to Genesis 39,
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you're not expecting purity.
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You're expecting another failure.
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And that's what makes Joseph stand out so much.
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He could be described like a lot of you teens
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in the barn here this morning.
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He's young. He's alone.
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He's successful. He's trusted.
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Joseph isn't weak and isolated.
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He's strong and unsupervised.
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And that's where temptation often hits us the hardest.
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When we're alone,
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when we maybe feel like we're strong enough to handle it
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and don't have the accountability that we should.
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And what we find in the story of Joseph
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is that strength is choosing God in private.
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Strength that we need to face this sexual pressure
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is found in making the right decisions
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before we ever get into the moment.
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And what I want to do again
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is talk about three decisions
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that you need to make this morning.
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And then at the end of the lesson,
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we'll give you some good news.
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First of all,
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the first decision that we need to make
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from verses eight and nine
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is you need to decide who you belong to.
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You need to decide who you belong to.
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Genesis chapter 39 beginning in verse eight says,
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but he refused,
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this is Joseph refusing Potiphar's wife's advances,
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said to his master's wife,
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behold, because of me,
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my master has no concern about anything in the house.
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And he's put everything that he has in my charge.
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He's not greater in this house than I am
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nor has he kept back anything from me
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except you because you are his wife.
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How then can I do this great wickedness
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and sin against God?
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Notice that Joseph's reasoning
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of why he can't commit this sin
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is identity based.
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How can I sin against God?
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Don't miss that.
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He doesn't say I might get caught.
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He doesn't say it would ruin my career
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or it would ruin my reputation.
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He says this would be against God.
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And the reality is
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is that your awareness of God
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determines your response to sin.
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We've got to make our relationship with God
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the foundation of our lives
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and our decisions,
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not rules,
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not reputation.
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And don't misunderstand what I'm saying.
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God gives us rules that he expects us to live by.
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And God wants us to do the right thing
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and to refuse the wrong things.
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But if all we're doing is trying to be a rule keeper
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and I get it, I'm a rule keeper.
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I want some kind of rigidity in my life
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that tells me do this and don't do that.
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But if all we're doing is trying to meet the rules,
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the obligations of the rules
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or keep a good reputation in front of everybody,
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the point is going to come in our life
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and that doesn't matter as much to us.
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It's not about rules or reputation.
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It's about relationship.
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That's what we have to have
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in order to stay faithful and true to God.
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Have you ever noticed how people act differently
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when they have something different on?
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Like you put on a jersey
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or suddenly you're a different person
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or when you're little,
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maybe you put on that Superman shirt
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and suddenly you felt stronger
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or you got the new shoes on
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and you think you can run faster or whatever it is.
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Take a guy on an average Saturday
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that is normally a calm and reserved and polite guy
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and you put a Tennessee jersey on him
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on a Saturday afternoon
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and suddenly he's hollering at 19-year-olds on television
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like he's the defensive coordinator.
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Or even in your life,
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you put on your school uniform
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or your team stuff
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or school colors
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or maybe a shirt from your youth group or whatever
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and all of a sudden you're not just representing yourself anymore,
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you're representing something bigger.
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And because of that,
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there are certain places you won't go.
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There are certain things you won't say.
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There are certain actions that you won't do.
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Reactions that you won't make.
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Not that you can't do them,
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but you don't do them.
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You could,
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but you realize there's something bigger
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and more important that you're representing
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than just yourself.
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My boys used to leave the house and I would tell them,
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don't forget who you are and whose you are.
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That's exactly what's happening
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in Genesis chapter 39.
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Joseph doesn't say, I might get caught.
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Joseph says, how can I do this
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and sin against God?
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In other words, how can I do this
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because that's not who I am.
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I'm a child of God.
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I'm a son of God.
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Joseph had already made the decision
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of who he belonged to.
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So the decision that he had to make in that moment
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was already made.
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Sometimes we think, well,
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I'm just going to live my life
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and not think about those kind of things.
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And when I get in the moment,
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then I'll rise to the moment.
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But my experience has been in my own life
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and in others,
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is that we don't usually rise to the moment,
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but every moment we fall to our identity.
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Who we are determines what we do.
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Whose we are determines what we do.
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And if your identity is just,
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I'm just trying to stay out of trouble,
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you're probably not going to last.
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But if your identity is, I belong to God,
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then even when nobody's watching,
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you'll know who you represent.
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In Genesis already, in chapter 38,
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Judah acted on impulse.
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But in Genesis 39,
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Joseph acts on identity.
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You'll only say no to temptation
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when you've already said yes to God.
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Strength is choosing God in private.
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Decision number two,
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you've got to decide what you do with temptation
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before you get into the moment of temptation.
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You've got to decide what you do with temptation.
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Notice beginning in verse 10,
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it says,
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And as she spoke to Joseph day after day,
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he would not listen to her,
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to lie beside her,
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to be with her.
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But one day,
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when he went into the house to do his work,
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and none of the men in the house
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were there in the house,
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she called him by his garment,
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saying,
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Lie with me.
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But he left his garment in her hand
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and fled and got out of the house.
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Notice it says that she approached him
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day after day.
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This wasn't one moment.
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It was pressure over time.
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And that's the way that Satan works.
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It's not just one moment
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we've got to be aware of and watch out for.
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Satan is constantly,
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you know,
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you stay in the book of Job
15:51
and one of the things you find out,
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we probably learn more about Satan in the book of Job
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than anywhere else in the Bible.
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How persistent he is.
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He's got this bulldog mentality.
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This doesn't work,
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well, I'll throw something else at Job.
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This doesn't work,
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I'll throw something else at him.
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That's the way God,
16:05
what Satan works on you
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to try to pull you away from God
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a little bit over time.
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Notice also, though,
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it says that Joseph would not listen to her.
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He would not entertain her.
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He would not pay attention.
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Sometimes our problem is
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that we want to get just as close to the guardrail,
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just as close to the edge as we can
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and think that we won't fall.
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But notice also what it says about Joseph.
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It says he fled and got out of the house.
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Joseph ran.
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He didn't pray more.
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He didn't study more.
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Don't misunderstand me.
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You need to pray and you need to study.
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I'm not saying that.
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But there comes times
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when we try to over-spiritualize things
16:52
that if I'm just involved with this
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kind of like a weighted balance
16:56
that if I do this much,
16:57
that teeter-totter will drop to my side.
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There's times when we just need to give away.
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It wasn't that he prayed harder
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or studied more.
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He ran faster.
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He ran away from it.
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I've noticed something about boys
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because I raised boys
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and maybe it's true of girls I guess,
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but I know the experiences with boys
17:20
that when they're playing a game
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and you're playing a first-person game
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and your character is about to die,
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the health bar is flashing red,
17:30
the alarm sounds are going off,
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everything on the screen is telling you to get out.
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But instead of running, what do you do?
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You're like, no, one more hit
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and the big boss and I win.
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One more, I can make it, I can make it.
17:46
And then what happens?
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You die every time, right?
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And the crazy thing is
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you knew exactly what to do.
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The game is telling you,
17:54
the screen is telling you,
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your instincts are telling you
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that what you need to do is get.
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But you stayed
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because you thought you could handle it.
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Genesis 39 is the opposite of that.
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Joseph doesn't stay and fight.
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Joseph doesn't say, I've got this.
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Joseph doesn't say, I can handle the pressure.
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Joseph says, I've got to get.
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If you stay, you're already losing.
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I'm behind on my slides again,
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but day after day,
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he says no until he realizes
18:30
I've got to get going.
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Strength is choosing God
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whenever we're in those private moments,
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making sure that we understand
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that it's the staying that really hurts us,
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that really gets us.
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Sometimes our problem isn't
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that we're losing because we're weak,
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because we don't have enough strength.
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Sometimes we're losing
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because we're staying too long.
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We're staying in the conversation.
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We're staying in the app.
19:05
We're staying in the moment.
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We're staying in the text thread.
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We're staying in the house.
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We're staying in the car.
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We're staying in the situation
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that we know we don't need to be in.
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As I thought about
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what to talk to you teens about today,
19:20
I thought there's probably nothing
19:21
that I'm going to tell you
19:22
about sexual temptation
19:24
that you don't already know.
19:26
Because we know what we need to do
19:28
and we know when we're in the danger zone,
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but if we know we need to get out of there,
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we need to get out of there.
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Joseph doesn't prove his strength by staying.
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He proves it by leaving.
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So how do we handle sexual pressure?
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We leave.
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We close the app.
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We walk away.
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We don't linger in the situation
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that we know we don't need to be in.
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See, in Genesis,
19:56
we've already seen Eve
19:58
stay and talk in Genesis 3
20:00
when she should have just walked away.
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But Joseph refused and fled.
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If you stay, you're already losing.
20:11
It's kind of like there was a...
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I thought I had a slide up here,
20:13
but obviously I don't.
20:14
There was a test that was done
20:17
at a facility that was done back in the 1960s
20:20
and it was repeated recently
20:22
and they actually filmed it.
20:24
You can go to YouTube and find videos
20:26
about the marshmallow test.
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And what they would do
20:29
is they had a big, empty room
20:30
kind of like this.
20:31
They had one table
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and they would put a marshmallow on the table
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and they would bring these little children in
20:37
one by one,
20:38
sit them in a chair at the table
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and they would show them this marshmallow
20:43
and say, here's the deal.
20:44
You can eat this marshmallow
20:46
or if you don't eat it,
20:48
when I come back,
20:49
you can get two marshmallows.
20:52
And the adult would leave the room.
20:55
And they had cameras hidden.
20:57
The child thought that they were alone
20:59
and one child after another.
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It's crazy to watch all the different things
21:02
that they do.
21:03
You know, they sit there
21:04
and some of them would turn their chair away from it.
21:07
They're kind of looking over their shoulder
21:09
and some of them would kind of reach
21:10
and they'd pull.
21:11
Some of them would sit on their hands,
21:13
you know.
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But guess what every child did?
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They ate the marshmallow.
21:20
You know what none of them did?
21:23
Got up and walked out of the room.
21:26
If they got up and walked out of the room,
21:28
would they have been tempted to eat the marshmallow?
21:30
Of course not.
21:32
And as cute or as silly or as funny
21:35
as that might sound for young children,
21:37
sometimes as we mature and grow,
21:39
we kind of do the same thing.
21:41
I can sit in the room
21:42
and it won't bother me.
21:44
I can be in the situation or in the app
21:46
or with people or whatever
21:48
and think it's not going to affect me.
21:50
I'm strong enough to handle it.
21:53
But Joseph shows us
21:54
that strength is choosing God in prayer.
21:58
Decision number three.
21:59
You've got to decide whose you are.
22:01
You've got to decide
22:02
what you're going to do with temptation.
22:03
And decision number three,
22:04
you've got to decide
22:05
what matters more than comfort.
22:08
I just got through listening to a session.
22:10
My friend Keith Kessargen
22:12
preached about suffering and trials
22:16
and why we have them in this life.
22:20
And the reality is that we do.
22:23
If you notice what happens here
22:24
in verses 13 through 20,
22:26
and we're not going to go through all this,
22:28
but I know you, young people,
22:30
you've probably heard sermons
22:31
where along the line
22:33
you've got a preacher or a teacher
22:35
or an elder or whatever
22:36
that gets up in front of you
22:37
and says,
22:38
now, if you just choose God's way,
22:40
everything will come out all right.
22:42
Have you heard that before?
22:43
We do that sometimes.
22:46
And I think this is where
22:47
a lot of youth lessons fail
22:49
is we don't help you to see
22:51
that sometimes you've got to count the cost.
22:54
We're not going to go through
22:55
all these verse by verse for time's sake,
22:57
but if you notice what happens to Joseph,
23:00
verses 13 through 15,
23:02
Potiphar's wife makes false accusations
23:06
about Joseph.
23:08
And then in verses 17 through 19,
23:11
there's more false accusations
23:13
made about Joseph.
23:15
And then in verse 19,
23:17
King Potiphar's anger is raised against Joseph.
23:22
And then look at verse 20.
23:24
It says,
23:25
And Joseph's master took him
23:26
and put him into the prison,
23:28
the place where the king's prisoners were confined,
23:31
and he was there in prison.
23:33
So verse 20,
23:34
false imprisonment for Joseph.
23:38
Doing the right thing
23:40
costs Joseph more
23:42
than the wrong thing might have.
23:45
Let that sink in for just a minute.
23:48
But I know all of you teens
23:50
are smart enough
23:51
that you already know that.
23:53
When we preachers say something like,
23:55
just do good and everything will be alright,
23:58
you know,
23:59
you're quietly thinking,
24:01
well, in real life,
24:02
it doesn't work that way all the time, does it?
24:06
It's like if you've ever been
24:07
in a group chat
24:09
with a bunch of your friends or whatnot
24:12
and things start going sideways a little bit.
24:17
It starts normal with memes and jokes
24:20
and whatever is going on
24:21
that you're talking about.
24:23
And then somebody posts something
24:25
or says something
24:26
or shares something
24:27
that they probably shouldn't have.
24:29
And at that moment,
24:30
you've got a decision that you can make.
24:32
You can either just go along with it
24:34
or you can tell them,
24:37
you know,
24:38
we probably shouldn't be sharing that.
24:39
We probably shouldn't be talking about that.
24:41
We probably shouldn't be discussing
24:43
that particular thing.
24:44
This isn't right.
24:46
And you can quietly
24:47
back out of that group chat or whatever,
24:50
but here's what you already know.
24:52
If you do the right thing in that moment,
24:54
it usually doesn't go well for you.
24:59
Now you're that person.
25:02
Now they're texting about you
25:05
in another chat
25:08
with everyone else.
25:09
Now you're not getting invited to stuff.
25:13
Now things are just awkward.
25:17
That's Genesis chapter 39.
25:20
Joseph does exactly what is expected of him by God.
25:25
Joseph does exactly what God would want him to do
25:29
and it costs him everything in that moment.
25:32
It costs him his reputation.
25:34
It costs him his position.
25:36
It costs him his freedom.
25:39
Doing the right thing costs Joseph more in the moment
25:44
than what doing the wrong thing would have.
25:47
And doing the right thing
25:49
may cost you more in the moment,
25:53
but doing wrong will cost you more later on.
25:57
Some of you already know that thing
26:00
because you've tried to do what's right
26:02
and it didn't make your life easier.
26:05
It made it harder.
26:07
And the temptation for us then is to think,
26:09
well, what's the point?
26:11
What's the point of doing right
26:13
if bad things are going to happen,
26:15
if I get punished for doing the right things?
26:17
Genesis chapter 39 answers that question.
26:21
The point is not what you keep.
26:23
The point is who you become.
26:26
Joseph lost his coat,
26:28
but he didn't lose his character.
26:30
You may lose a relationship.
26:33
You may lose a reputation.
26:35
You may lose a moment of popularity.
26:38
Purity may cost you something now,
26:41
but compromise will cost you more later.
26:46
There's the martial artist.
26:48
Strength is choosing God in private.
26:51
Now let's talk about some good news.
26:54
Here's some good news.
26:56
Notice in verses 21 through 23,
27:00
doing right cost Joseph.
27:02
His coat is gone.
27:04
His freedom is gone,
27:05
but notice what 21 through 23 says.
27:07
But the Lord was with Joseph
27:08
and showed him steadfast love
27:10
and gave him favor in the sight
27:11
of the keeper of the prison.
27:12
And the keeper of the prison
27:13
put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners
27:16
who were in the prison.
27:17
Whatever was done there,
27:18
he was the one who did it.
27:20
The keeper of the prison
27:21
paid no attention to anything
27:22
that was in Joseph's charge
27:24
because the Lord was with him
27:26
and whatever he did,
27:27
the Lord made it succeed.
27:30
Catch that again.
27:31
It says that the Lord was with Joseph.
27:35
In fact, if you go back to chapter 37
27:37
and all the trouble that Joseph
27:39
goes through with his brothers,
27:40
chapter 39,
27:41
all the trouble he goes through with Potiphar
27:43
and while he's in Egypt,
27:45
one of the things you'll notice
27:46
as you study chapters 37 and 39 of Genesis
27:49
is that over and over,
27:50
this phrase is repeated.
27:52
The Lord was with him.
27:53
The Lord was with him.
27:55
The Lord was with Joseph.
27:56
The Lord was with Joseph.
27:57
Over and over again.
27:59
It didn't feel like that to us
28:01
while we're reading it.
28:03
When we see what Joseph is dealing with,
28:06
he refuses sin,
28:08
he honors God,
28:09
and instead of being rewarded,
28:11
he's sold into slavery.
28:14
Instead of being rewarded,
28:15
he's falsely accused
28:17
and thrown into prison.
28:20
Sometimes doing right
28:23
doesn't lead to an immediate reward.
28:27
It leads to resistance.
28:29
Faithfulness doesn't guarantee fairness.
28:34
And yet,
28:36
the Lord was with him.
28:39
Did you know you can be in God's will
28:41
and still be in prison?
28:44
That's what Joseph chose.
28:46
But even then,
28:48
if you look at the text,
28:49
verse 21,
28:50
God gives him favor.
28:52
Verses 22-23,
28:53
God gives him responsibility.
28:56
The prison didn't cancel God's presence
29:01
in Joseph's life.
29:02
You can lose a lot of things doing right,
29:04
but you won't lose God's presence doing right.
29:09
But think about the good company
29:11
that Joseph is in.
29:13
Joseph resisted
29:15
and was falsely accused.
29:18
Jesus was perfectly pure
29:21
and condemned.
29:23
Joseph points us to someone
29:26
who is a greater,
29:28
who didn't just resist sin
29:30
but died for our sins.
29:34
The reality is
29:35
that some of you today
29:38
are fighting temptation
29:42
maybe on a daily basis.
29:45
Some of you are dealing with regret.
29:48
And you need to know
29:49
that failure isn't final with God.
29:52
That strength isn't being never tempted.
29:55
Strength is choosing again and again
29:58
who you belong to
30:00
when no one else is watching.
30:03
So let me give you a few suggestions
30:05
for just a few moments
30:06
on some things.
30:07
There's some parents in here.
30:09
There's some ministers in here.
30:10
There's an elder in here.
30:11
And I want to talk about things
30:13
that we can all do together
30:14
to help give strength to our young people.
30:17
First of all,
30:18
we sometimes have this,
30:21
because it's awkward to talk about sex,
30:23
because it's awkward to talk about sin,
30:26
we don't want to talk about it.
30:28
And the problem with that is
30:29
is that we've not talked about it so much.
30:32
Even when we do want to talk about it,
30:34
we'll say sometimes in the Bible class today
30:36
we're going to talk about sex.
30:38
You know, we have to lower our voices
30:40
when we say it
30:41
because we've made sex become something
30:43
that's not,
30:45
we're not able to talk about
30:47
and that means that the world
30:49
has gotten to frame the conversation.
30:51
Sex isn't something that's dirty.
30:53
It's not something that's evil.
30:54
It's something that God gave
30:56
as something for a husband and a wife
30:59
to share together.
31:01
But because we haven't talked about it,
31:03
we've let the world frame the conversation.
31:05
We need to learn to talk about it.
31:07
We need to learn to have conversations
31:10
with mamas and daddies and teens
31:13
and ministers and teens
31:15
and elders and parents and whatever.
31:17
We need to talk about it.
31:19
Number two, we need to provide
31:20
positive home life.
31:21
This isn't just a preacher
31:22
trying to be preachy.
31:24
Did you know the Center for Disease Control
31:26
says that teenagers
31:28
that are in a home environment
31:29
that is positive
31:30
are far less likely
31:32
to be sexually active
31:34
before they're married.
31:36
It's not just biblical.
31:38
It's been proven by science
31:40
which of course is proving
31:42
that the Bible comes from God.
31:43
But the reality is
31:44
is that when in our homes
31:46
we provide for our children
31:48
encouragement and love,
31:50
discipline,
31:52
when we show them a good example
31:55
of what it means
31:56
to be in right relationships
31:57
with each other,
31:58
then that's not something
32:00
that teens tend to turn to
32:02
quite as much.
32:03
Provide positive home life.
32:04
Number three, monitor media choices.
32:07
Whatever we put into our brains
32:11
is going to affect us.
32:12
And so what we watch,
32:13
the websites we go to,
32:15
the movies,
32:16
the television shows we watch,
32:17
the music we listen to,
32:18
if it's saturated with sex,
32:20
and I don't have to tell you
32:21
that our culture right now
32:23
is saturated with sex,
32:25
but if we're constantly
32:27
looking at things online
32:28
that we shouldn't,
32:29
if we're constantly
32:30
watching things on television
32:31
or the movies we shouldn't,
32:33
then we're going to be
32:34
thinking about those things.
32:36
This isn't just
32:37
Mama and Daddy being a fuddy-duddy
32:39
or the preacher and the elders
32:41
wanting to rob you
32:42
from having fun.
32:43
It's the fact that
32:44
what we're looking at
32:45
is going to affect us,
32:47
and that includes social media.
32:50
You get on Instagram
32:51
or you get on Facebook,
32:52
and again,
32:53
you don't have to go
32:54
looking for it.
32:55
Things will just pop up,
32:56
but you can set parameters
32:58
for how that goes.
32:59
Number four,
33:00
keep busy and good.
33:02
You've heard maybe that
33:03
an out of line
33:04
is the devil's workshop.
33:05
It is.
33:07
And if we're putting ourselves
33:10
in situations
33:11
when we're alone
33:12
with someone of the opposite sex
33:13
with nothing else to do
33:14
than temptation,
33:15
that's when it's going
33:16
to creep in.
33:17
Be involved in good things.
33:19
Go with people
33:20
to places
33:21
that you ought to be at.
33:22
Go and serve
33:23
and worship
33:24
and love
33:25
and do the kind of things
33:26
that God wants us to do,
33:27
and as we're doing
33:28
the good things,
33:29
we find less time
33:30
to be involved in the bad.
33:32
Study God's design.
33:35
Study the book of Proverbs
33:37
and all of the passions
33:39
particularly in the first 10 chapters
33:41
when he's giving
33:42
those long speeches
33:43
to his son
33:44
about the importance
33:45
of being pure.
33:47
Study the song of songs,
33:48
and I know that there are some
33:50
that have different interpretations
33:52
of the song of songs,
33:53
but I take a literal view
33:54
that God's talking
33:55
about a man and a woman
33:57
and the relationship,
33:58
the beauty of wedded love.
34:00
Talk about what God
34:01
intends for that.
34:02
Study God's design about it.
34:04
And then a reminder
34:05
for both the older ones
34:07
and the younger ones.
34:08
Sometimes when you're young
34:10
and your parents want to talk
34:11
about relationships or sex
34:13
or the websites
34:14
or your phone number,
34:15
our response sometimes is
34:17
that's none of your business.
34:21
Or maybe even as parents
34:23
and elders and ministers
34:24
sometimes we say,
34:25
well, that's none of my business.
34:27
So a reminder for us all,
34:29
it is your parents' business.
34:32
It is our business, parents.
34:36
What our children are living
34:38
and where they're going
34:39
and what they're involved in.
34:40
And we need to help them
34:41
to make right decisions.
34:44
But for today,
34:45
I hope you remember
34:46
these three decisions.
34:48
Decide who you belong to
34:50
before you ever get in the moment.
34:52
Decide that I belong to God.
34:54
Decide what you're going to do
34:55
with temptation.
34:56
And then decide
34:57
what matters more to you
34:59
than comfort.
35:01
One of my very best friends
35:02
is named Jamie Smith.
35:04
Jamie is an elder now
35:06
at a congregation close to us.
35:09
But Jamie and I grew up
35:10
in Grand Central Tennessee
35:11
hunting and fishing together
35:12
and playing ball together
35:13
and going to school together.
35:15
And I was in his wedding
35:17
and he was in my wedding
35:19
and we've just been
35:20
close through the years.
35:21
One of the things that's funny
35:22
that happened to Jamie
35:24
was his wife, Dina,
35:26
who's a precious, godly woman.
35:28
But she was in a class beneath us
35:33
and he got to talking to her
35:35
and called her a few times
35:36
and finally he asked her
35:38
out on a date
35:39
and she accepted,
35:40
much to our surprise.
35:42
And she went on this date with him.
35:45
Jamie goes to her house.
35:47
He walks up to the front door
35:49
and knocks on the door.
35:50
He meets her mom and her daddy.
35:52
They walk back to his truck
35:54
and as soon as they got in his truck,
35:56
he said,
35:57
she didn't buckle her seatbelt or nothing.
35:58
He said,
35:59
she turned in her seat toward me
36:00
and she said,
36:01
we need to get something clear here.
36:03
I'm a Christian.
36:04
I'm a child of God.
36:06
Serving God is the most important thing in my life.
36:09
My relationship is the most important thing to him.
36:12
I am not having sex until I get married
36:15
and if you don't like any of that,
36:16
you need to tell me right now
36:17
because I'm going in the house.
36:18
Jamie said,
36:19
I didn't know what to say.
36:21
I said,
36:22
we're just going to go eat
36:23
and go to the movies.
36:24
We're not going to get up.
36:25
But she said,
36:27
I'm not saying you need to necessarily do it.
36:29
You may scare someone off,
36:31
but it's good to already make up your mind.
36:34
Know who you are.
36:35
Know what you're going to do with temptation
36:37
before you get there
36:38
and realize that yes,
36:39
it may make me uncomfortable
36:41
and it may put me in some situations
36:43
that I didn't necessarily want to be in,
36:44
but I'm going to do what God wants me to do.
36:49
Of course,
36:50
what Jamie said was,
36:51
when she told me all that,
36:52
she was afraid she was going to run me off.
36:54
And that's why it made me fall for her even quicker.
36:59
See,
37:00
sexual temptation
37:01
and any kind of temptation is there
37:03
and it's real.
37:05
And honestly,
37:06
all of us that are adults
37:07
would tell you,
37:09
we would not want to be in your shoes today.
37:12
There's no new thing under the sun,
37:14
but it's sure a lot more easily accessible
37:17
and it's sure pushed down our throats a lot more.
37:20
And those of you giving up a Saturday morning
37:23
to be here to study God's Word,
37:26
tell so much about your heart already.
37:29
What we want you to do
37:30
is we want you to be God's children
37:33
and understand how much He loves you
37:35
and cares for you.
37:36
And if you're dealing with temptation,
37:39
know that there's people,
37:40
there's elders and there's ministers
37:42
and there's preachers
37:43
and there's your parents
37:45
that want to help you.
37:47
Surround yourself by good and godly people
37:49
in a youth group
37:50
that will encourage you.
37:52
But if you're dealing with guilt,
37:55
then understand that
37:57
that doesn't mean that God's done with you either.
38:00
God still loves you
38:02
and He's willing for you to come back to Him.
38:05
And our goal is,
38:06
hopefully through this lesson
38:07
and all these lessons,
38:08
is to encourage you
38:09
to not only build your relationship with the Lord,
38:12
but know that you've got people around you
38:14
that want to help you
38:15
with what we know
38:17
is a very difficult thing
38:19
that you're dealing with,
38:20
the pressure of sexual sin.
38:22
It's not about having the strength in the moment.
38:25
It's about having the strength beforehand
38:27
to make the right decisions
38:29
of who you are and where you're going to be.
38:31
I appreciate your patience.