David – A Man After God’s Heart: Study 14 – No Compromise

Your friends may freely indulge their sexual appetites, but this doesn’t give you license to do the same. Young couples have plenty of opportunities to be together. You may be respected members of your church, trusted to keep God’s standards wherever you go. But it‘s so easy to step into the danger areas.

Young People, Beware
Young man, you have no right to make demands upon a girl because you’ve taken her out a few times. Young woman, you have no right to dress provocatively to encourage a boy’s advances, and neither of you has the right to ruin each other’s future.

Do you really want God to use you? If you do, don’t play around. Don’t compromise. You cannot easily shake off the accompanying guilt, the sense of failure, and the knowledge that you have laid a landing strip for the devil in your life.

The Bible says, ‘The righteous are as bold as a lion’ (Prov. 28:1). Very often you are not bold, because you are neither righteous nor do you love righteousness. You are, rather, dabbling around on the edge, caught up in the uncleanness of your generation. But God wants you to be as bold as a lion, so cry out to him not to lead you into temptation but deliver you from evil, and help you be righteous.

Older People, Beware
If you’re older you must beware of thinking that only young people are vulnerable, that strong passions cease as the years pass. At the time of his adultery, David was about fifty years old!

Maybe you’re a man of mature years, going through a dull or difficult period in your marriage. A girl in the office is very warm and understanding. You’re flattered that she takes notice of you. You’re vulnerable; recognise it and keep away. Determine in your heart, ‘I will not yield to this temptation. I will not get even remotely involved in such sin. I will not spoil God’s plan for me.’ Beware of the terrifying power of lust, which like a strong magnet will pull you if you get anywhere near it.

Flee
Imagine coming across the story of David and Bathsheba for the first time. You’ve just read all about David’s mighty exploits, his amazing love for Saul and Jonathan, and his promotion to the throne. And now, here he is with another man’s wife. It shocks you. How could he do such a thing, this man after God’s own heart? How could he wreck the wonderful testimony of his life for the sake of a few moments of pleasure? Surely, if David fell, so can you.

The Bible tells us, ‘The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord… Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?’ (1 Cor. 6:13, 18, 19). Since God’s Holy Spirit lives in you, when you sin against your body, the Spirit is automatically included in your activity. You allow an unholy thing to desecrate the temple of God. You involve a holy and glorious God in your unholy action.

You are a new creation now, so live like it! God is in you, and he will help you. Therefore, honour him with your body.

Quote
‘What are some of the best preventative measures against sexual sin?

1. Daily time with God in his Word and a commitment to spiritual growth.
2. A commitment to the battle for winning the lost.
3. A committed accountability relationship with one or two others.
4. A deepening marriage relationship with your wife.
5. A constant guard in your thought life and actions.
6. Determined and continually renewed commitment that you will not enter into sexual sin.
7. Defensive prayer.’

Jerry White – Dangers Men Face by Jerry White © 1977, p. 86.