1 00:00:05,318 --> 00:00:09,687 This comes from Alvarina. 2 00:00:09,687 --> 00:00:11,154 And she asks this question: 3 00:00:11,154 --> 00:00:15,050 "If I broke up with my boyfriend 4 00:00:15,050 --> 00:00:18,670 because he stopped being a Christian, 5 00:00:18,670 --> 00:00:20,981 is it ok to wait for him 6 00:00:20,981 --> 00:00:24,459 till he comes back to Christ, 7 00:00:24,459 --> 00:00:29,051 or do I have to move on?" 8 00:00:29,051 --> 00:00:33,676 It sounds kind of high school, right? 9 00:00:33,676 --> 00:00:35,530 "If I broke up with my boyfriend 10 00:00:35,530 --> 00:00:37,255 because he stopped being a Christian 11 00:00:37,255 --> 00:00:38,640 is it ok to wait for him 12 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:40,313 till he comes back to Christ, 13 00:00:40,313 --> 00:00:42,569 or do I have to move on?" 14 00:00:42,569 --> 00:00:45,955 When I hear a question like that, 15 00:00:45,955 --> 00:00:51,231 my first thing is not yes or no. 16 00:00:51,231 --> 00:00:53,468 My first thought is, 17 00:00:53,468 --> 00:00:57,315 where is this girl going to church? 18 00:00:57,315 --> 00:01:00,016 What kind of pastor is she sitting under? 19 00:01:00,016 --> 00:01:02,095 Is she going to church? 20 00:01:02,095 --> 00:01:04,507 If she is, what is she getting taught? 21 00:01:04,507 --> 00:01:06,291 Who are her parents? 22 00:01:06,291 --> 00:01:08,649 What are her parents allowing her to do? 23 00:01:08,649 --> 00:01:10,453 What are they teaching her? 24 00:01:10,453 --> 00:01:14,234 Those are the first questions that come into my mind. 25 00:01:14,234 --> 00:01:16,107 "If I broke up with my boyfriend 26 00:01:16,107 --> 00:01:18,278 because he stopped being a Christian, 27 00:01:18,278 --> 00:01:20,068 is it ok to wait for him 28 00:01:20,068 --> 00:01:22,025 till he comes back to Christ, 29 00:01:22,025 --> 00:01:24,084 or do I have to move on?" 30 00:01:24,084 --> 00:01:27,690 I mean, in that question, 31 00:01:27,690 --> 00:01:30,553 she kind of sees Christianity as something 32 00:01:30,553 --> 00:01:33,594 you pop in and pop out of. 33 00:01:33,594 --> 00:01:36,538 Well, he's a Christian, and then... 34 00:01:36,538 --> 00:01:38,125 he stopped being a Christian. 35 00:01:38,125 --> 00:01:40,630 And maybe he'll just pop back in 36 00:01:40,630 --> 00:01:42,783 and he'll become a Christian again. 37 00:01:42,783 --> 00:01:45,074 And so, should I wait for him? 38 00:01:45,074 --> 00:01:47,003 You get the picture of what's going on. 39 00:01:47,003 --> 00:01:48,979 But what is it to be a Christian? 40 00:01:48,979 --> 00:01:52,556 I think if this was a young lady 41 00:01:52,556 --> 00:01:53,688 in the church, 42 00:01:53,688 --> 00:01:55,666 and she sat down with me, 43 00:01:55,666 --> 00:01:56,619 she'd just come 44 00:01:56,619 --> 00:01:58,011 or her family had moved here 45 00:01:58,011 --> 00:01:59,826 or however - she came with a friend. 46 00:01:59,826 --> 00:02:01,428 And she asked this question. 47 00:02:01,428 --> 00:02:03,487 You know, the first thing 48 00:02:03,487 --> 00:02:06,782 I would want to ask Alvarina is 49 00:02:06,782 --> 00:02:09,335 do you have a good idea 50 00:02:09,335 --> 00:02:12,046 about what it is to be a Christian? 51 00:02:12,046 --> 00:02:16,207 Because the thing that came to my mind 52 00:02:16,207 --> 00:02:20,712 is being a Christian is miraculous. 53 00:02:20,712 --> 00:02:22,449 It's supernatural. 54 00:02:22,449 --> 00:02:24,071 It's a mighty work of God. 55 00:02:24,071 --> 00:02:26,350 And it's permanent. 56 00:02:26,350 --> 00:02:28,575 I mean, truly being a Christian is permanent. 57 00:02:28,575 --> 00:02:30,412 This "you're in, you're out" 58 00:02:30,412 --> 00:02:32,705 and we know people can make 59 00:02:32,705 --> 00:02:33,795 false professions, 60 00:02:33,795 --> 00:02:36,133 and we know people can come face to face with truth. 61 00:02:36,133 --> 00:02:38,237 And we know people can claim to be a Christian today 62 00:02:38,237 --> 00:02:39,720 and make shipwreck tomorrow. 63 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:41,235 But one of the things that you see 64 00:02:41,235 --> 00:02:43,049 in Scripture is to once have been 65 00:02:43,049 --> 00:02:45,096 in that light and depart from it 66 00:02:45,096 --> 00:02:49,260 is extremely dangerous. 67 00:02:49,260 --> 00:02:51,035 It's like the seed that comes up 68 00:02:51,035 --> 00:02:52,224 and the persecution comes 69 00:02:52,224 --> 00:02:53,513 and away it goes. 70 00:02:53,513 --> 00:02:55,164 Making shipwreck of the faith. 71 00:02:55,164 --> 00:02:56,614 They were there and they're not there. 72 00:02:56,614 --> 00:02:58,035 Demas never comes back again. 73 00:02:58,035 --> 00:02:59,749 Judas never comes back again. 74 00:02:59,749 --> 00:03:01,269 There's a point of no return 75 00:03:01,269 --> 00:03:02,735 as we see in Hebrews 6. 76 00:03:02,735 --> 00:03:04,875 All these things about this flippant view 77 00:03:04,875 --> 00:03:07,246 of Christian - you're in, you're out, you're exposed to the truth, 78 00:03:07,246 --> 00:03:08,418 you're back and forth, 79 00:03:08,418 --> 00:03:09,885 you claim to be a Christian, 80 00:03:09,885 --> 00:03:12,044 you're not a Christian. 81 00:03:12,044 --> 00:03:16,385 It's kind of missing the supernatural 82 00:03:16,385 --> 00:03:18,967 flavor of what Christianity's all about. 83 00:03:18,967 --> 00:03:21,044 I mean as I'm thinking about it, 84 00:03:21,044 --> 00:03:23,859 a series of texts start coming 85 00:03:23,859 --> 00:03:25,184 through my mind 86 00:03:25,184 --> 00:03:30,134 just about Christianity. 87 00:03:30,134 --> 00:03:32,802 The first thing I think of is that text 88 00:03:32,802 --> 00:03:34,205 right out of Jonah; 89 00:03:34,205 --> 00:03:35,910 salvation is of the Lord, 90 00:03:35,910 --> 00:03:37,173 it's not something men do, 91 00:03:37,173 --> 00:03:38,737 it's not just this decision. 92 00:03:38,737 --> 00:03:40,842 Yes, men make decisions, 93 00:03:40,842 --> 00:03:45,008 but it's not basically, ultimately 94 00:03:45,008 --> 00:03:48,120 at the level of decisions of mankind. 95 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:49,500 It's at the decision of God. 96 00:03:49,500 --> 00:03:51,603 Salvation is of the Lord. 97 00:03:51,603 --> 00:03:56,251 And you've got, of course, John 1:12-13, 98 00:03:56,251 --> 00:04:01,055 that says that we were born of God, 99 00:04:01,055 --> 00:04:04,332 not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, 100 00:04:04,332 --> 00:04:06,141 nor of the will of man, but of God. 101 00:04:06,141 --> 00:04:07,875 This is something that God does. 102 00:04:07,875 --> 00:04:10,779 A text very much like it in Romans 9. 103 00:04:10,779 --> 00:04:11,651 He says to Moses, 104 00:04:11,651 --> 00:04:13,892 I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy; 105 00:04:13,892 --> 00:04:16,370 I will have compassion upon whom I will have compassion. 106 00:04:16,370 --> 00:04:18,207 So that it depends not on human will 107 00:04:18,207 --> 00:04:21,457 or exertion, but on God who has mercy. 108 00:04:21,457 --> 00:04:24,091 I thought of Hebrews 7. 109 00:04:24,091 --> 00:04:26,128 Christ saving to the uttermost. 110 00:04:26,128 --> 00:04:28,085 This picture of Christianity: 111 00:04:28,085 --> 00:04:30,090 Well, we're kind of in, we're kind of out, 112 00:04:30,090 --> 00:04:31,867 we're in, we're out, we're in... 113 00:04:31,867 --> 00:04:33,506 back and forth. 114 00:04:33,506 --> 00:04:35,540 Being saved to the uttermost, 115 00:04:35,540 --> 00:04:37,347 that's complete; that's permanent. 116 00:04:37,347 --> 00:04:39,175 He says eternal life. 117 00:04:39,175 --> 00:04:41,636 I give them eternal life. 118 00:04:41,636 --> 00:04:44,081 He says all that the Father gives Me, 119 00:04:44,081 --> 00:04:46,179 where is that, John 6:39? 120 00:04:46,179 --> 00:04:47,676 All that the Father gives Me, 121 00:04:47,676 --> 00:04:49,677 He says He's not going to lose any of them. 122 00:04:49,677 --> 00:04:51,563 And He says He's going to raise them up 123 00:04:51,563 --> 00:04:52,617 in the last day. 124 00:04:52,617 --> 00:04:54,687 He says He gives them eternal life. 125 00:04:54,687 --> 00:04:56,935 Where is that? John 3:36. 126 00:04:56,935 --> 00:04:59,553 If you believe in the Son, 127 00:04:59,553 --> 00:05:01,441 you have eternal life. 128 00:05:01,441 --> 00:05:02,803 Eternal life is eternal. 129 00:05:02,803 --> 00:05:03,798 It doesn't go away. 130 00:05:03,798 --> 00:05:05,971 Now we know men make shipwreck 131 00:05:05,971 --> 00:05:06,835 of the faith. 132 00:05:06,835 --> 00:05:09,049 We know people take Christianity 133 00:05:09,049 --> 00:05:10,499 in a flippant way, 134 00:05:10,499 --> 00:05:11,928 we know they do that. 135 00:05:11,928 --> 00:05:16,212 But that's what's going on here. 136 00:05:16,212 --> 00:05:19,446 True Christianity is permanent. 137 00:05:19,446 --> 00:05:24,041 True Christianity doesn't go away. 138 00:05:24,041 --> 00:05:26,620 I thought of the text in 2 Corinthians 139 00:05:26,620 --> 00:05:29,722 about being a new creation. 140 00:05:29,722 --> 00:05:32,196 When you're a new creation, you're a new creation, 141 00:05:32,196 --> 00:05:33,708 and you don't get uncreated. 142 00:05:33,708 --> 00:05:36,207 When God creates something, 143 00:05:36,207 --> 00:05:37,355 it's created. 144 00:05:37,355 --> 00:05:38,875 It doesn't stop being created. 145 00:05:38,875 --> 00:05:40,218 It doesn't go into oblivion. 146 00:05:40,218 --> 00:05:41,759 It's not like He created today, 147 00:05:41,759 --> 00:05:43,626 and then you're not created tomorrow, 148 00:05:43,626 --> 00:05:44,971 and then you can come back 149 00:05:44,971 --> 00:05:46,029 and be created again, 150 00:05:46,029 --> 00:05:47,396 and you're just going back and forth 151 00:05:47,396 --> 00:05:49,368 in and out of being this new creation. 152 00:05:49,368 --> 00:05:52,033 None of that. 153 00:05:52,033 --> 00:05:54,243 And so, I was thinking, 154 00:05:54,243 --> 00:05:56,776 if I actually sat down with this young lady, 155 00:05:56,776 --> 00:05:58,643 I'd be saying, 156 00:05:58,643 --> 00:06:00,861 have you even been taught 157 00:06:00,861 --> 00:06:02,355 what true Christianity is? 158 00:06:02,355 --> 00:06:04,032 The radical nature; 159 00:06:04,032 --> 00:06:06,301 the miraculous, the mighty nature, 160 00:06:06,301 --> 00:06:08,524 the permanent nature of what it is 161 00:06:08,524 --> 00:06:09,903 to be a true Christian, 162 00:06:09,903 --> 00:06:14,400 and have you experienced this yourself? 163 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:18,016 Are you viewing Christianity 164 00:06:18,016 --> 00:06:19,182 the way you are 165 00:06:19,182 --> 00:06:22,435 because perhaps you're not even aware 166 00:06:22,435 --> 00:06:26,178 yourself of what this looks like. 167 00:06:26,178 --> 00:06:30,197 But then I thought, too, 168 00:06:30,197 --> 00:06:32,195 she uses this term, 169 00:06:32,195 --> 00:06:36,220 "broke up with my boyfriend." 170 00:06:36,220 --> 00:06:40,922 "Broke up with my boyfriend." 171 00:06:40,922 --> 00:06:43,507 What do you guys think about that terminology? 172 00:06:43,507 --> 00:06:48,615 What do you think about a girl breaking up with her boyfriend? 173 00:06:48,615 --> 00:06:54,839 You got any thoughts, Abraham? 174 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:56,935 You start thinking, 175 00:06:56,935 --> 00:06:59,833 think about the relationships 176 00:06:59,833 --> 00:07:01,920 between a man and a woman 177 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,250 in Scripture. 178 00:07:04,250 --> 00:07:11,883 I find three God-condoned, 179 00:07:11,883 --> 00:07:14,295 appropriate relationships 180 00:07:14,295 --> 00:07:16,011 between men and women. 181 00:07:16,011 --> 00:07:18,921 Can you tell me what they are? 182 00:07:18,921 --> 00:07:22,811 Marriage. 183 00:07:22,811 --> 00:07:27,033 You won't find courtship in there. 184 00:07:27,033 --> 00:07:29,058 What do you find? 185 00:07:29,058 --> 00:07:30,642 Betrothal. 186 00:07:30,642 --> 00:07:32,817 Betrothal's in the Bible. 187 00:07:32,817 --> 00:07:33,905 And then what else? 188 00:07:33,905 --> 00:07:40,441 What's the third relationship? 189 00:07:40,441 --> 00:07:45,698 (from the room) Father and daughter? 190 00:07:45,698 --> 00:07:49,930 Tim: I'm just talking about a man and a woman. 191 00:07:49,930 --> 00:07:51,859 Obviously, there's brother/sister, 192 00:07:51,859 --> 00:07:53,191 father/daughter, 193 00:07:53,191 --> 00:07:55,038 there's all those relationships, 194 00:07:55,038 --> 00:07:59,014 but I mean, father/daughter 195 00:07:59,014 --> 00:08:00,838 would fall into this category, 196 00:08:00,838 --> 00:08:03,510 but young men and young women here, 197 00:08:03,510 --> 00:08:05,399 it's appropriate for you to be married, 198 00:08:05,399 --> 00:08:08,613 it's appropriate, perhaps, for you to be in a betrothal 199 00:08:08,613 --> 00:08:10,151 where you're headed to marriage, 200 00:08:10,151 --> 00:08:13,344 and what would be the third that's appropriate? 201 00:08:13,344 --> 00:08:15,640 Yeah, you live together in the same world, 202 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:18,121 or in the same church or in the same society 203 00:08:18,121 --> 00:08:20,092 and you're pure. 204 00:08:20,092 --> 00:08:24,616 Those are the three God-condoned relationships 205 00:08:24,616 --> 00:08:27,204 between a man and a woman. 206 00:08:27,204 --> 00:08:31,056 And you think about marriage. 207 00:08:31,056 --> 00:08:34,564 Marriage. 208 00:08:34,564 --> 00:08:37,552 When we're talking about intimacy, 209 00:08:37,552 --> 00:08:39,052 there is no other place 210 00:08:39,052 --> 00:08:41,143 where intimacy is condoned in Scripture, 211 00:08:41,143 --> 00:08:42,919 other than marriage. 212 00:08:42,919 --> 00:08:43,920 Proverbs 5:18 213 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:45,334 Let your fountain be blessed; 214 00:08:45,334 --> 00:08:46,980 rejoice in the wife of your youth; 215 00:08:46,980 --> 00:08:48,456 a lovely deer, a graceful doe, 216 00:08:48,456 --> 00:08:50,333 let her breasts fill you at all times 217 00:08:50,333 --> 00:08:51,219 with delight, 218 00:08:51,219 --> 00:08:52,856 be intoxicated always in her love. 219 00:08:52,856 --> 00:08:54,927 You've got 1 Corinthians 7:2, 220 00:08:54,927 --> 00:08:57,149 because of temptation to sexual immorality, 221 00:08:57,149 --> 00:09:00,087 each man should have his own wife 222 00:09:00,087 --> 00:09:01,653 and each woman her own husband. 223 00:09:01,653 --> 00:09:03,435 You've got Hebrews 13:4, 224 00:09:03,435 --> 00:09:06,049 let marriage be held in honor among all 225 00:09:06,049 --> 00:09:08,635 and let the marriage bed be undefiled, 226 00:09:08,635 --> 00:09:11,616 for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 227 00:09:11,616 --> 00:09:15,002 Clearly, the author of Hebrews is saying this: 228 00:09:15,002 --> 00:09:17,652 The marriage bed is the only place 229 00:09:17,652 --> 00:09:20,053 of intimacy condoned by God. 230 00:09:20,053 --> 00:09:22,803 Everything else falls into that category 231 00:09:22,803 --> 00:09:25,835 of being that which is sexually immoral 232 00:09:25,835 --> 00:09:28,329 and adulterous and those that God is going to judge. 233 00:09:28,329 --> 00:09:30,921 Now, we see betrothal in Scripture 234 00:09:30,921 --> 00:09:33,325 which might be akin to engagement 235 00:09:33,325 --> 00:09:34,508 in our time. 236 00:09:34,508 --> 00:09:35,293 Why? 237 00:09:35,293 --> 00:09:36,917 Both of them involve a commitment 238 00:09:36,917 --> 00:09:39,976 and both of them are headed to marriage. 239 00:09:39,976 --> 00:09:42,767 And both of them are to be 240 00:09:42,767 --> 00:09:44,373 radically pure, 241 00:09:44,373 --> 00:09:46,231 because only the marriage bed 242 00:09:46,231 --> 00:09:49,686 is the place where God allows that intimacy. 243 00:09:49,686 --> 00:09:51,775 And God is very serious about that. 244 00:09:51,775 --> 00:09:55,070 We can look at Joseph in the New Testament 245 00:09:55,070 --> 00:09:56,674 acting as a righteous man 246 00:09:56,674 --> 00:09:58,150 and he's ready to put Mary away 247 00:09:58,150 --> 00:10:00,792 because of some perceived infidelity 248 00:10:00,792 --> 00:10:02,851 on his part when they were in 249 00:10:02,851 --> 00:10:04,146 this betrothal period. 250 00:10:04,146 --> 00:10:05,087 But under Moses, 251 00:10:05,087 --> 00:10:08,009 it was very pronounced. 252 00:10:08,009 --> 00:10:09,975 Deuteronomy 22:23 253 00:10:09,975 --> 00:10:12,370 If there is a betrothed virgin 254 00:10:12,370 --> 00:10:13,979 and a man meets her in the city 255 00:10:13,979 --> 00:10:15,832 and lies with her, then you shall bring 256 00:10:15,832 --> 00:10:17,737 them both out to the gate of that city, 257 00:10:17,737 --> 00:10:19,989 and you shall stone them to death 258 00:10:19,989 --> 00:10:21,329 with stones. 259 00:10:21,329 --> 00:10:23,036 The young woman because she did not 260 00:10:23,036 --> 00:10:24,998 cry for help, though she was in the city; 261 00:10:24,998 --> 00:10:26,915 and the man, because he violated 262 00:10:26,915 --> 00:10:28,162 his neighbor's wife. 263 00:10:28,162 --> 00:10:30,467 So you shall purge the evil from your midst. 264 00:10:30,467 --> 00:10:32,561 If in the open country, a man meets 265 00:10:32,561 --> 00:10:34,020 a young woman who is betrothed 266 00:10:34,020 --> 00:10:35,942 and the man seizes her and lies with her 267 00:10:35,942 --> 00:10:37,780 then only the man who lay with her 268 00:10:37,780 --> 00:10:40,363 shall die. 269 00:10:40,363 --> 00:10:44,733 This betrothal period - it even inter-uses 270 00:10:44,733 --> 00:10:46,227 betrothal and marriage, 271 00:10:46,227 --> 00:10:47,912 because it was something that you 272 00:10:47,912 --> 00:10:49,832 actually had to have a divorce to break. 273 00:10:49,832 --> 00:10:51,037 It was that permanent. 274 00:10:51,037 --> 00:10:53,338 Our engagments, although they involve 275 00:10:53,338 --> 00:10:55,507 a token of that pledge 276 00:10:55,507 --> 00:10:56,929 in a ring typically, 277 00:10:56,929 --> 00:10:58,792 and there's a commitment, 278 00:10:58,792 --> 00:11:00,679 and usually when there's an engagement 279 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:02,150 there's a marriage date set. 280 00:11:02,150 --> 00:11:04,676 But we don't count it as binding 281 00:11:04,676 --> 00:11:05,753 in our society. 282 00:11:05,753 --> 00:11:11,163 But nevertheless, it's a period of commitment. 283 00:11:11,163 --> 00:11:12,977 Marriage is the goal. 284 00:11:12,977 --> 00:11:15,488 And absolute purity is to be maintained. 285 00:11:15,488 --> 00:11:18,042 The other one is where you're just 286 00:11:18,042 --> 00:11:21,110 existing side-by-side. 287 00:11:21,110 --> 00:11:21,955 You're friends. 288 00:11:21,955 --> 00:11:23,511 Or maybe you're not friends. 289 00:11:23,511 --> 00:11:25,231 Maybe it's a father/daughter; 290 00:11:25,231 --> 00:11:27,370 maybe it's a brother/sister; whatever. 291 00:11:27,370 --> 00:11:32,408 Every other relationship is single 292 00:11:32,408 --> 00:11:38,421 and pursuing purity. 293 00:11:38,421 --> 00:11:39,764 I guess one of the parties 294 00:11:39,764 --> 00:11:41,898 or both of the parties could be married, 295 00:11:41,898 --> 00:11:46,176 but we're talking about the specific 296 00:11:46,176 --> 00:11:48,639 relationship between any man 297 00:11:48,639 --> 00:11:52,558 and any woman. 298 00:11:52,558 --> 00:11:55,332 What we're doing is we're answering 299 00:11:55,332 --> 00:11:58,128 the question that this young lady has posed. 300 00:11:58,128 --> 00:12:00,341 And look, she's talking about 301 00:12:00,341 --> 00:12:02,127 "if I broke up with my boyfriend..." 302 00:12:02,127 --> 00:12:04,353 what does breaking up with a boyfriend 303 00:12:04,353 --> 00:12:05,487 even look like? 304 00:12:05,487 --> 00:12:07,712 Well, it's a very worldly terminology. 305 00:12:07,712 --> 00:12:10,081 It's the idea of dating, boyfriends, 306 00:12:10,081 --> 00:12:13,713 going out, casual dating, going steady, 307 00:12:13,713 --> 00:12:14,687 whatever. 308 00:12:14,687 --> 00:12:17,317 There's lots of different ways that it's said today. 309 00:12:17,317 --> 00:12:19,896 But it's this idea that I specifically 310 00:12:19,896 --> 00:12:22,802 have a relationship with this person over here 311 00:12:22,802 --> 00:12:24,245 with no commitment. 312 00:12:24,245 --> 00:12:26,255 It's not headed towards marriage. 313 00:12:26,255 --> 00:12:28,209 We're not married. 314 00:12:28,209 --> 00:12:30,805 We're not getting married. 315 00:12:30,805 --> 00:12:34,396 Why do they do that? 316 00:12:34,396 --> 00:12:36,300 What do they want? 317 00:12:36,300 --> 00:12:38,804 Well, they want something from the other 318 00:12:38,804 --> 00:12:41,953 person without commitment. 319 00:12:41,953 --> 00:12:44,631 That's basically what is wanted. 320 00:12:44,631 --> 00:12:46,417 Typically, in our society today, 321 00:12:46,417 --> 00:12:49,371 it runs into enjoying the fullness 322 00:12:49,371 --> 00:12:52,086 of all the intimacy that is had in marriage 323 00:12:52,086 --> 00:12:54,655 and it's just done without any commitment. 324 00:12:54,655 --> 00:12:55,869 It's done in high school, 325 00:12:55,869 --> 00:12:57,313 it's done in middle school. 326 00:12:57,313 --> 00:12:59,439 And what Scripture says 327 00:12:59,439 --> 00:13:03,755 is you have this spoken to Timothy, 328 00:13:03,755 --> 00:13:05,249 "do not rebuke an older man," 329 00:13:05,249 --> 00:13:07,516 in 1 Timothy 5:1-2. 330 00:13:07,516 --> 00:13:08,973 "Do not rebuke an older man, 331 00:13:08,973 --> 00:13:10,905 but encourage him as you would a father; 332 00:13:10,905 --> 00:13:12,470 younger men as brothers; 333 00:13:12,470 --> 00:13:13,837 older women as mothers." 334 00:13:13,837 --> 00:13:15,380 And Timothy, this is how you're 335 00:13:15,380 --> 00:13:16,469 supposed to deal - 336 00:13:16,469 --> 00:13:17,775 Timothy is a young man; 337 00:13:17,775 --> 00:13:19,776 this is how you deal with young women. 338 00:13:19,776 --> 00:13:20,630 How? 339 00:13:20,630 --> 00:13:23,190 In all purity. 340 00:13:23,190 --> 00:13:24,621 You want a blanket statement 341 00:13:24,621 --> 00:13:26,120 from the apostle as to how 342 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:27,383 young men and young women 343 00:13:27,383 --> 00:13:29,404 who are not engaged 344 00:13:29,404 --> 00:13:30,809 and headed towards marriage; 345 00:13:30,809 --> 00:13:32,351 who are not in marriage. 346 00:13:32,351 --> 00:13:34,190 Well, even if you are engaged, 347 00:13:34,190 --> 00:13:36,858 but this is the kind of summary statement. 348 00:13:36,858 --> 00:13:38,283 Purity, purity, purity. 349 00:13:38,283 --> 00:13:40,484 All purity. 350 00:13:40,484 --> 00:13:41,543 1 Timothy 2:22 351 00:13:41,543 --> 00:13:43,278 "So flee youthful passions; 352 00:13:43,278 --> 00:13:45,648 pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace 353 00:13:45,648 --> 00:13:47,434 along with those who call on the Lord 354 00:13:47,434 --> 00:13:48,533 from a pure heart." 355 00:13:48,533 --> 00:13:50,988 Of course, you have 1 Corinthians 6:18 356 00:13:50,988 --> 00:13:53,871 that says, "Flee from sexual immorality." 357 00:13:53,871 --> 00:13:57,460 And so, my point to Alvarina, 358 00:13:57,460 --> 00:14:00,283 listen, it's like she's saying this: 359 00:14:00,283 --> 00:14:04,077 "Well, I thought this guy was a Christian, 360 00:14:04,077 --> 00:14:06,278 and I had to break up with him 361 00:14:06,278 --> 00:14:08,363 because he stopped being a Christian. 362 00:14:08,363 --> 00:14:11,097 Is it ok for me to wait for him 363 00:14:11,097 --> 00:14:12,289 to come back to Christ?" 364 00:14:12,289 --> 00:14:13,323 To do what? 365 00:14:13,323 --> 00:14:16,072 Well, so that she can go out with him again. 366 00:14:16,072 --> 00:14:17,519 Or do I have to move on? 367 00:14:17,519 --> 00:14:18,698 Move on to what? 368 00:14:18,698 --> 00:14:20,024 Some other guy 369 00:14:20,024 --> 00:14:21,930 that professes to be a Christian. 370 00:14:21,930 --> 00:14:24,828 She really needs a pastor, 371 00:14:24,828 --> 00:14:26,317 she needs a father or mother 372 00:14:26,317 --> 00:14:28,079 in her life that's telling her, 373 00:14:28,079 --> 00:14:31,350 look, this isn't even an acceptable 374 00:14:31,350 --> 00:14:34,791 kind of relationship before the Lord. 375 00:14:34,791 --> 00:14:36,458 The Lord wants purity. 376 00:14:36,458 --> 00:14:39,214 What in the world kind of relationship are you getting into 377 00:14:39,214 --> 00:14:41,350 and why are you getting into it? What does it mean? 378 00:14:41,350 --> 00:14:43,998 You go out on dates? 379 00:14:43,998 --> 00:14:46,071 It's totally inappropriate. 380 00:14:46,071 --> 00:14:48,379 It's not specified in Scripture. 381 00:14:48,379 --> 00:14:49,797 There's no such recognized 382 00:14:49,797 --> 00:14:53,601 relationships like this that God gives to us. 383 00:14:53,601 --> 00:14:55,503 The only one where any kind of intimacy 384 00:14:55,503 --> 00:14:58,063 is accepted in Scripture is the marriage bed 385 00:14:58,063 --> 00:14:59,774 and everything else is to be kept 386 00:14:59,774 --> 00:15:01,488 absolutely pure. 387 00:15:01,488 --> 00:15:03,455 Everything else. 388 00:15:03,455 --> 00:15:05,719 And so, there needs to be a fleeing 389 00:15:05,719 --> 00:15:07,114 from youthful passions, 390 00:15:07,114 --> 00:15:09,568 a fleeing from sexual immorality, 391 00:15:09,568 --> 00:15:11,510 and certainly, we know it, 392 00:15:11,510 --> 00:15:15,452 you can be blind and you understand, 393 00:15:15,452 --> 00:15:18,104 that all this casual dating that's going on 394 00:15:18,104 --> 00:15:18,978 in our world, 395 00:15:18,978 --> 00:15:20,767 all this going out and going steady, 396 00:15:20,767 --> 00:15:23,231 and having this girlfriend/boyfriend stuff. 397 00:15:23,231 --> 00:15:27,390 Even down into probably elementary schools now 398 00:15:27,390 --> 00:15:30,545 it's leading to all manner of sexual immorality, 399 00:15:30,545 --> 00:15:32,898 and all sorts of wickedness. 400 00:15:32,898 --> 00:15:35,670 It's done for a reason. 401 00:15:35,670 --> 00:15:37,301 And most of us here were lost 402 00:15:37,301 --> 00:15:39,066 and are first generation Christians. 403 00:15:39,066 --> 00:15:41,745 We were lost when we were in elementary school 404 00:15:41,745 --> 00:15:43,552 and middle school and high school, 405 00:15:43,552 --> 00:15:45,505 and we know exactly what it's all about. 406 00:15:45,505 --> 00:15:49,034 We know. 407 00:15:49,034 --> 00:15:52,534 And I hope we don't have any parents 408 00:15:52,534 --> 00:15:54,649 in this church that would ever condone 409 00:15:54,649 --> 00:15:57,720 that kind of relationship between 410 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:00,756 young people. 411 00:16:00,756 --> 00:16:03,121 So anyway, that's basically how I would 412 00:16:03,121 --> 00:16:08,049 answer Alvarina if I was able to sit with her 413 00:16:08,049 --> 00:16:11,194 face to face. 414 00:16:11,194 --> 00:16:13,627 God wants a commitment in relationships. 415 00:16:13,627 --> 00:16:14,713 Why? 416 00:16:14,713 --> 00:16:17,664 Because ultimately what this leads to is marriage, 417 00:16:17,664 --> 00:16:18,555 which is what? 418 00:16:18,555 --> 00:16:19,839 It's a foreshadowing of 419 00:16:19,839 --> 00:16:23,872 the relationship between Jesus Christ and the church. 420 00:16:23,872 --> 00:16:31,287 And our Lord has relationship with people 421 00:16:31,287 --> 00:16:34,509 by way of covenant. 422 00:16:34,509 --> 00:16:36,569 He's committed. 423 00:16:36,569 --> 00:16:38,931 He's all out committed to that relationship. 424 00:16:38,931 --> 00:16:43,196 And that's the only kind that is 425 00:16:43,196 --> 00:16:46,038 honoring to God. 426 00:16:46,038 --> 00:16:51,408 Everything else is dishonoring.