Devotion to Purity

[music] [Speaker 3] Churches and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly homefront. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 1] That’s the reason why the Lord is admonishing us from that text, that you should do what? I beg you. He’s a begging. So we are here to join the host of great men that have written this Bible that the Lord has inspired to also beg you, as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. And who is a sojourner? A stranger, a person that does not have his permanent abode where he traveled to. We are all sojourners. We are all pilgrims. You are on a journey. You are on a mission. God had a purpose for bringing you here. That’s the reason why you are being admonished to do what? To abstain from fleshly lusts which war against your soul. As we continue, we’re talking about devotion to purity. When we are looking at purity, God is pure. I have a few minutes, so I’m just going to go point, point, point. If you want to talk about this, 30 minutes won’t do that. But the Lord will help us. He knows where your needs are. Be rest assured, he’s here to do you good. When we are talking about purity, there’s no language of purity in the world. The only where you talk about a pure purity is in God. Why? The Bible made us to realize in 1 John 2:15-17, let me quickly read that place. He said, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." That is the state of this world you are in, as stranger and pilgrims, in purity. This world is reserved for judgment. This world is reserved for fire. And you, you are here as stranger to fulfill a purpose in this world. In this world, the Bible talks about that. That’s the reason why he admonishes us that you should set your treasure on things above so that where there is no thief, there is no moth, there is no rust. That is the state of the world. This world is reserved for fire. You can imagine when something is reserved for fire, what are those things reserved for fire? They are things like your dustbin. I saw some heap of trash at the gate there. They are reserved for fire. It would be foolishness for anybody to now go and say, "These things that are reserved for fire, they are the things I want to begin to run after." That is the state of anyone who run after the world and the things of the world. The Lord is calling you to devotion to purity. How do you achieve that in this perverse world, world that is full of evil? He said anyone who loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. And if God's love is not in you, that means you’re an abominable thing to God. When someone is an abomination to God, will such a person be with God at the end of the day? No. We are not supposed to live in according to the pattern of this world because we don't want to be abominable to God. How do you keep yourself pure in this perverse world? The first thing I would emphasize here, just like my story. I tried all I could. We were going to church. I followed my parents to church. They would beat me. They gave me instruction. There are rules, there are ethics, values of my family, but I just couldn’t follow. I just find it difficult. I was not able. Why? Because of the nature of sin in me. I want to beg you here, that nature has been taken care of by somebody. You need to do nothing for you to be delivered from that hold of sin. Jesus has done it. If you have not come to Jesus at any time, because it has to be deliberate. It’s not a thing that you get by being born again or being a child of a pastor. Even if your daddy is even Jesus, you must even by the standard and the precept of God, you must still call the Lord Jesus to be your Lord. Without you surrendering your life to Christ, without Jesus coming into your heart, being your Lord, without you turning away from evil and saying, "Lord Jesus, I turn to you," just like what I did. I just believed the gospel. I obeyed the teaching that day. It was like what? And I believed the word of God. They said, "What will I do?" They said, "Surrender your life to Christ." I prayed the sinner's prayer. I said, "Lord Jesus, I turn my heart over to you. I turn from all my evil way. Jesus, I have been in charge of this life so far. Even if I have achieved anything, honestly, it would have been a waste because they are abominable to God as long as it is not in line with what God have provided for salvation. They are still going to be waste." I asked Jesus into my heart. From that day, I believed in him. They congratulated me. "Congratulations, that is the best decision you can take in life." I want to tell you here, your devotion to purity start from there. What did I say? [Speaker 2] Your devotion to purity start from there. [Speaker 1] Yes. Your being a child of God is the most superior honor you can ever have on Earth because the monarch of the heaven and of Earth is your father, and he had paid the price. Let me give you something. Let me tell you something. Nobody will go to hell first because he’s a sinner. Hell is reserved for Devil, but you will not go there because you’re a sinner. You go there because first, you rejected the provision of God for salvation. He said because they do not believe, they were condemned already. That is the first thing. If you don’t accept Jesus, that is the first thing. Your sin, leave that. Just accept Jesus. He knows how to handle, he knows how to work everything you need to do the right thing is in that Christ Jesus. That’s the first thing to devotion to purity: surrender your life to Jesus. Call him to be your Lord and Savior. Hand your life by faith. As you are taking that decision sincerely in your heart, I congratulate you because your name will be written in the Book of Life and it will be expunged from the book of destruction because that is the word of God. Praise the Lord. [Speaker 2] Hallelujah. [Speaker 1] Did you get that? That is the first thing when you are to be devoted to purity. I don’t want us to gloss over that. We’ll come to that. You will talk to Jesus in your heart and ask him to come into your heart if you have not done so. Praise the Lord. Having done that, I put here is that you are also created for the ultimate relationship with God. That is what we lost in Eden. We got it back in Christ. When you surrender your life to Christ, you have a relationship. And relationship is the key. Tell your neighbor, "Relationship with God is the key." [Speaker 2] Relationship with God is the key. [Speaker 1] Because that is the first thing. When God created man, the Godhead said, "Let us make man in our own image." The essence is for relationship. If you must keep yourself pure, if you must be devoted to purity, that relationship is very important. How do you have that relationship? Let’s look at somebody’s life. Remember the life of David, the life of Joseph. Bible talk about David being a man after God’s own heart. It was by relationship. If you go and study the life of David, even when he was still a young boy, tending the flock of his father, he was a man of God’s presence. He would take his harp, singing. Have you gone through the Book of Psalm? All those things are song, music, fellowship with God. You must have that fellowship. You must have that relationship. Look at Joseph too. These people, they carved a niche for themselves. When we come to Christianity, we all have a level playground even if we are all children of God. But what will make you to stand out is the extent to which you have fellowship with God. Just like what we are here now. All of you, you are all students. But I’m very sure there are some people that are exceptional, maybe the best student in one class. Go and ask the person. The person carve a niche for him or herself, doing the extra to keep that position. When it comes to your life being pure, you go the extra in your walk with God. I have something here. Let me quickly talk about that. One of the extra thing you will do is about your lifestyle. It’s about your lifestyle. When you are talking about devotion to purity, it’s about your lifestyle. Some of us are sleeping. siesta maybe is not yet. Don’t worry. You will soon go and sleep for the long one at night. When we are talking about your lifestyle, we are still talking about what? Devotion to purity. This relationship we are talking about, do you know the reason why it’s very important? If you don’t have that intimate relationship with Jesus, it will affect your lifestyle. You can’t be on the fence. Some other thing will be taking your attention. But when you have a fellowship in studying, in learning about God, just like you gathered today—and not only when you are here, when you are alone in your room—your determination, setting out time to know the Lord. When you do all that, it will mold your lifestyle. And that will help us. Let me give you the example of somebody. I have a story here. Will you listen to me carefully? I call the story Iguana story. Iguana story. Say it. [Speaker 2] Iguana story. [Speaker 1] How many of us know iguana? That creature that looks like lizard but very big. Good. Let’s listen to this story. This story is to make us see the effect of our lifestyle. A few years ago—this is the story of a man—he got two iguanas. I satisfied an unfulfilled childhood urge by adopting a pair of baby iguanas. Do you know what he call their name? He called one Liberty and Justice. What was their name? [Speaker 2] Liberty and Justice. [Speaker 1] These two iguanas were about the same age and size when they arrived at their new home. Where was their home? The person that bought them. God bless you. Like any good father of two, I did my best to treat them equally. No partiality. They scampered around the same 55-gallon aquarium. The man put them in an aquarium. Drunk from the same water dish. Soaked in warmth from the same hot rock and heat lamp. A vital light shone on both. In short, my lethargic pouch share an identical environment. They were open to the same environment, the same kind of feeding and so on. There was just one noticeable difference in their lifestyle. In their what? [Speaker 2] Lifestyle. [Speaker 1] That is the difference. He called the difference diet. Will you say diet? You know what diet is. The kind of food you eat. While Liberty consumed fruits, vegetables, and various form of proteins, Justice was a picky eater with a meager appetite. Consequently, after a while, Liberty grew bigger and stronger, a rich-colored muscular animal. But lacking proper nutrition, Justice became lethargic. Liberty bigger, stronger, Justice became lethargic. Why? Because of lack of proper nutrition. She got thinner and assumed a pale shade of green. You know when you say somebody is pale in our own human being, we say there’s no blood. Because of the kind of diet this Justice had, she became pale. From that point on, if Liberty wanted bask on the hot rock, he commandeered it. Why? Why was he able to do that? Because bigger, muscular. If he chose to drink, Justice had to get out of his way. It was only a matter of time before Justice’s poor diet, aggravated by Liberty’s bullying, and that led to death of Justice. So sad. This left just one healthy iguana to rule the aquarium. That is the lesson for us. Children, my children, are you listening? It is a very great lesson for your lifestyle from this. This story tells us that it illustrate the inner conflict facing all of us as Christians. Within each of us dwell two natures. Two what? You know them? The flesh and the spirit. They share the same environment, the same body and senses. Like reptilian roommates, these two nature become territorial in us, even adversarial. Each want to rule the aquarium of our heart. Your flesh and your spirit. They want to rule the aquarium of our heart and mind. The one that eats best will be the one that thrives. Is that not? You remember that of our iguanas. The one that eat best rule the aquarium. What is ruling the aquarium of your heart? Is it the flesh that is eating best? Who are you feeding? Is it your spirit man? Are you feeding your spirit man? How do you feed your spirit man? Bible say, "Let the word of God dwell in you richly in all wisdom." Bible say you should feed on the word of God. That is how you feed your spirit. How do you feed your body? A lot. And the enemy is so smart, he has bombarded us with a lot of things to feed our flesh. And in the feeding of our flesh, our purity is being taken away. What happened? Our lesson. The one that eats best will be the one that thrives. But keep in mind that the dietary preference of the spirit and the flesh are quite different. The spirit is nourished by the reading of the word of God, by studying, by praying, by fellowship with God’s children, by the association you keep. How is the flesh nourished? The flesh is nourished by appetite for junk's food. What are they? Movies. Scenes of sexual nature. You know when you watch movies, scenes, different scene in movie of sexual nature. They are the things that your flesh wants. Violent video games. Television program filled with profanity. Those are the food for the flesh. Perversity, graphic violence, song celebrating rebellion, drug use, casual sex, skewed theology. Now think about this. You have both nature at work within you. Which one are you feeding? The one that you feed more will be the one that control your life, don’t forget. Will be the one that will control the aquarium of your heart. As one prosper and grow to dominance, the other withers. Which hungry nature are you feeding? That is what the Lord is telling you this evening. Devotion to purity. Make sure you feed yourself with the word of God. Because what you listen to, what is your media like? I want to beg you, run from music, video, many of these social media things you give yourself to. Run from those ones that will starve your spirit. Nurture the one that is nurtured well will control your life. If your life is being controlled by the flesh, we saw here the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. First John. And he told us what? Anyone who does this, are we there? Did you read it together the other time? "Do not love the world." I think it’s 1 John 2:15 to 17. Yes. "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." So if you feed your life with all that, what will happen to the love of the Father? It will be choked off. The life of purity will be choked off. At the end of the day, what will happen to such a life? That life will die. It is not only when you die physically and they bury somebody that is death. The most terrible death is the one that you are dead to God. Feed your spirit with the word of God. Do you understand? Feed your spirit and not the flesh. Run away from all those things. Run away, run away. Praise the Lord. [Speaker 2] Hallelujah. [Speaker 1] I also have another thing for you here. When we are talking of devotion to purity, what again are you supposed to do? Choose the Christian worldview. Choose the Christian worldview. Yes, there are several worldviews in this world. When we are talking of worldview, we are talking of how you see yourself. A worldview provides answers: how you see your life, the most basic question of life, how you answer such questions. Choose the Christian worldview. Say it to somebody. [Speaker 2] Choose the Christian worldview. [Speaker 1] Just like I said, we have several worldviews. But I can assure you, the worldview that will make your life pure is the Christian worldview. Colossians 2:8 and 9 said, "Beware lest anyone cheat you..." Read it. Colossians 2:8 and 9. Open to the place. Colossians 2:8 to 9. Colossians 2:8 to 9. "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit." That is the worldview. "According to the tradition of men." That is another kind of worldview. "According to the basic principles of this world." That is a kind of worldview. "Not according to Christ." Is that in your Bible? [Speaker 2] Yes ma’am. [Speaker 1] Not according to Christ. If you must be devoted to purity and your life be pure, giving glory to God, you must go after the worldview that is according to Christ. Because it is in this worldview that you will be made complete. He said who is the head of Christ, and you are complete in him, who is the head of all principalities and power. It is only the Christ worldview, the Christian worldview that only have true answer and good direction for your life. That’s the reason why we talk about: what do you feed? Which nature are you feeding? Are you feeding your flesh or your spirit? When you go after the worldview that is not of Christ, you will be feeding your flesh. You go after all these immoral songs, you go after songs that insult Christ. Do you know one dangerous thing about media? All those things you hear, you listen to. Do you know they affect you? Media products affect your thoughts, it affects your wills and emotion critically. In fact, they are the things that define you. All those things you listen to, you watch, on social media—the kind of film, the kind of song, what you read—they are media products, you will be the product of what you take in. Those things, they are the one that will form your life. So if the worldview are not Christ’s view, it’s the lifestyle you have been following. We don’t need a prophet to tell us what your life will become. It can never be a life that will be pure. That is the reason why you have to run! Run from music, run from film, run from the kind of chat, friendship, association that will not be helpful for your spirit. Praise the Lord. [Speaker 2] Hallelujah. [Speaker 1] What was the last point I called out for you? The point: be the Christian worldview. Don’t follow the worldview. There are several views today in this world. But the Christian worldview and the roadmap for that Christian worldview is the Bible. Do you have your Bible there? [Speaker 2] Yes ma’am. [Speaker 1] That is the roadmap. It’s just like you want to go to a place you have never been before, and they give you Google Map. Google Map shows you, "This is where we go." You just did not follow that map. Or even advance, I remember if you want to use commercial transport, there is a map there they will give you that will lead you to where you are going. And you just say, "What are they saying? Me, I know where I’m going," you just go. Will you not get lost? That is why many people are lost in impurity. Because you are following a wrong roadmap. Your roadmap that will help you to be devoted to purity is what? The Bible. It is in the Bible you know the Christian worldview. It is in the Bible you know what to do or not to do. That is the reason why you must embrace the Bible. It must be your very close friend. You must always read word of God, meditate on it. Praise the Lord. [Speaker 2] Hallelujah. [Speaker 1] So follow the Christian roadmap which is the Bible. Then I also talk here about your association. Your association. Who are your friends? You have to be careful about your friend. Who are the people you work with? If you work with the wrong person, somebody that does not share the same value, the same worldview, that has another roadmap apart from the Bible, and that is your friend. What is likely to happen? You will lose your focus. That person will take the original from you and give you his life to run. You will be running his life, his own agenda. Is that what you want? No. When we look at the life of Daniel, the three Hebrew men, boys in the Bible. Bible talk about their association. If you're a Bible student, maybe you go and just because of the life of Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, Abednego, go and check, go and read about their life. You will see that this people, this kind of association helped them to be focused. This association helps them in danger. Remember when the king planned to kill all the magicians that were not able to interpret his dream, not only to interpret, the king wanted them to say the dream and also to interpret. When those other magicians were disturbed looking for what to do and Daniel got wind of the information. What did he do? He went back to his friends and said, "Come, this is what happened." And they went back to the king and said, "Please give us time." When Daniel went back to the king and requested for more time, he now went with his friends. They prayed, they planned together, they strategized: "What are we going to do?" That is an association that is helpful. That is a kind of association that will keep you pure, that will help you to get to the top. What kind of friend do you have? Is it the one that is working with you to fulfill your God-given vision, or the one that is taking you far away from them? First tell yourself, "I will not be a destiny destroyer." Say it to yourself. [Speaker 2] I will not be a destiny destroyer. [Speaker 1] Do you know why I ask you to say that? Because you are a friend of somebody. If you are not good, you are not correct, whosoever associate with you will not be correct. Many a times we pray, "God, deliver me from destiny destroyer." Ask yourself, "Am I one in the life of that my friend? In the association, among my friends, what am I contributing to their purity?" For you to have a devotion to purity, your life being set apart, not being bastardized by all the things I’ve mentioned, all the immorality, all the wrong diet we have through social media, so many interaction we have today, you must mind who you are first, then who you associate with. But peradventure, you are somebody that your life is that you are only nurturing your hungry nature is the flesh. And you are giving the nature all the food, junk’s. What are the junk's foods I mentioned that are going to bring us to impurity? They are movies of sexual nature. Violent video games. Television program filled with profanity. Graphic violence, song celebrating rebellion, drug use, casual sex, skewed theology. When you see those things, for you to stay pure, what should you do to them? Run. Somebody ran in the Bible. And the person was a youth like you. Who was that? [Speaker 2] Joseph. [Speaker 1] He ran. You run, you run, you run. Run away, turn away from all those things because they are not going to keep you pure. They are going to re-conform you. They will turn you to something God has not intended for your life. And that will not be your portion in Jesus’ name. We have seen our media, be careful of media products. They affect your thoughts, wills and emotion. They affect you seriously. And we also learned from this iguana. Don’t forget that you are sojourners and pilgrims. Don’t be deceived by the worldview. Follow after Christ view. What we call it: Christian view. Whose roadmap is the Bible. Praise the Lord. [Speaker 2] Hallelujah. [Speaker 1] Before we pray, I don’t know if we have anyone here that you have not at any time taken this decision. You must make up your mind. Jesus don’t force himself on anybody. He said, "I’m at the door knocking. If you hear me, open, I will come in." And it’s for your own good. Devil will force himself on you. In fact, there are times Devil had invited you to come and see things that belong to him. You thought you just want to look and go, but you descubrir discover that as you look you couldn’t go again. And that is the Devil for you. When it comes to the Lord Jesus, he wants a relationship. So as you bow down your head this afternoon, I want you to bow down your head if you have not at any time consciously ask Jesus because you need him. You need him to stay pure. You need him to work in his steps. You need this devotion from him. No one can help you. I want you to bow down your head and speak. Call the Lord Jesus deliberately. Say, "Lord Jesus, I think I’m ready. Come into my heart." Call him, call him. No matter the debt, no matter how far you have gone from him, no matter how far, when you call him, he will come. He’s always there. He’s the only way, the truth and the life. He’s the only help you have to stay pure. Tell the Lord Jesus that, "Lord Jesus, I turn away from my evil ways. I turn away, I turn away, I turn to the Lord. I turn to you. You have made every provision available for my salvation, for my purity. Here am I, Lord Jesus, I open, come in. Come into my heart. I surrender my life to you. Come into my heart. Come and be the Lord of my soul. Come and be the Lord, take your place. I want to feed you. Come and feed my spirit." Because as you read the word of God, being mixed with the presence and the spirit of God in you, it will make your soul rich. Are you taking that decision? Are you praying? Are you calling? Maybe you want me to join you in prayer. Or you want me to stay connected with you so that I can identify you. If you know you have taken that decision, can you raise your hand? Can you raise your hand? Okay. I acknowledge you. You will also meet me so that I can pray with you. So that I can pray with you, so that I can also get connected with you. Now I want us to pray. Put down your hands. I want us to pray if you are also there. Maybe you have taken this decision at a time, but you are not sure where you are now. Maybe probably you have been feeding the wrong nature. You have been feeding the flesh. And that one has grown muscular. It has even put the spirit to... it has not only quenched, it has killed the spirit. Call upon the Lord Jesus today and say, "Lord, I change my diet. I change my diet. I want to stay pure. I change my style to the study of the word, I change my diet to fellowship with you. I change my diet to correct spiritual things. I turn away from every pollution, everything that I have been eating, every wrong way of life, every movie, every sexual immoral film, every violent movie, every of these graphic things, perversity, rebellion that have been celebrating in my what I watch, in what I listen to. I turn away from them. I turn away, Lord Jesus, I turn away. I turn away, I’m no longer feed my flesh. I no longer feed my flesh." Call upon the Lord and say, "Lord Jesus, please have mercy upon me. I want my spirit to be fed. I want to begin to feed my spirit. I want to begin to feed my spirit. Feed my spirit. This spirit must not die. Bring me alive, bring me alive, bring me alive. Bring me alive, bring me alive." The Justice that the other one had killed, but Lord, you are the resurrection and the life. Bring me alive, bring me alive. Lord, bring me alive, call upon God: "Bring me alive, bring me alive." Are you taking that decision? Don’t think you are joking. God is here to help you, he’s nurturing you, he’s releasing grace and strength upon your life. As long as you are making up your mind, he’s much more ready and he said he’s going to carry you. Oh, Lord, thank you because you will do so. We give all the glory, Lord. Father, in the name of Jesus. Jehovah, we lift up your children. Thank you for those ones that have surrendered their life to you, that have asked you to be the Lord and Savior of their soul, that have turned away from their evil ways and turned to the Lord. Oh, Father, you said even if our sin is as red as scarlet, you shall make it as white as wool. Oh, thank you because you will wash them clean. We pray, Lord Jehovah God, the strength to go in this newness of life. The strength to go as sin no more. Grant unto them in the name of Jesus. We lift up everyone of them that are just surrendering to Christ, and those that have given their life to Christ and one way or the other maybe they've been feeding the wrong nature. They have been feeding the flesh. And that one has grown muscular. It has even put the spirit to... it has not only quenched, it has killed the spirit. Lord, I ask even this evening, they have turned a new leaf. They have made up their mind no longer to feed the wrong nature, to change their diet. Oh, Lord, to the diet of the spirit, so that the flesh will not kill them. We pray, Lord God Almighty, strengthen this commitment in them in the name of Jesus. Oh, Lord, undertake for them in this decision in the mighty name of Jesus. Lord, we pray you carry them. Oh, Lord, remind them. Lord, write it upon the tablet of their heart. Oh, Lord, we pray Holy Spirit that you will always remind us of all things that we have been taught. Remind them at every junction so that they will always take the right decision in the name of Jesus. And we pray they will stay pure in the mighty name of Jesus. They will be devoted to purity in the mighty name of Jesus. They will no longer lust after the things of this world. When they flash at you, you do what? You flee, you run, so that you can stay pure. And the Lord will keep you pure in Jesus’ name. Amen. Praise the Lord. [Speaker 2] Hallelujah. [Speaker 3] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in reaching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God’s word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission help. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class, every Monday, 5:00 PM; Adolescents and Singles club, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; Marriage forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; Family life seminars, regular school outreaches, and every day counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Very Joy filling station along Idjare Road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk; familytentministry01@gmail.com; www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are: 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you.