New Perceptions

Roommates, Bad Dates, and Soul Mates Part 2 of 3

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: NP

Program Code: NP190907S


00:11 >> Let's begin with a word of prayer.
00:16 Let's bow our heads. Father in Heaven, we are so
00:19 grateful to come into Your house to praise You this morning as
00:23 Your church, and we just pray that You will fill our hearts
00:28 with Your Spirit and that You will accept our praise because
00:31 You're worthy of it all. In Jesus' name, amen.
00:39 [ "Nothing but the Blood" begins ]
02:01 "This is all my hope."
02:42 "For the blood."
02:59 "It's enough."
03:13 Let's sing that one more time -- The blood of Jesus is enough.
03:37 It's so good to hear you sing together "The blood of Jesus is enough."
03:41 That is kind of what pulls us all together as believers in Christ, amen?
03:46 The blood of Jesus is enough. You know, that song, "Nothing but the Blood of Jesus" --
03:50 sometimes we live out lives as if we're the ones that make it all happen, but really it's
03:57 nothing but blood of Jesus. Or maybe you're here today and you're overwhelmed by the
04:02 mistakes of your past. You're wondering if you can be forgiven.
04:05 You're wondering how you can move forward. Well, the refrain that we sang
04:09 at the end -- "The blood of Jesus is enough." And so we can worship God
04:15 because of that incredible blood, and we can give Him all the praise.
04:24 [ "I Then Shall Live" begins ] "I will give."
04:48 I invite you to stand with me as we sing this song.
04:50 Stand with me.
06:42 One more time -- "I will give."
08:27 I'm not sure what's on your mind this morning, what is, you know, weighing you down or lifting you
08:32 up, but if you want to bring something before the throne of God and say, "God, I'm gonna
08:38 wait for you. I'm gonna let you, um, guide and lead in this situation," I'm
08:45 gonna invite you to bring that to the front, symbolically laying it at His feet as we
08:49 continue to sing this song.
08:54 "So put your hope in God."
11:12 >> Alright, good morning, boys and girls. Nice to see you on this
11:17 beautiful Sabbath day. Ah, you're looking sharp today, looking very fine.
11:24 Okay, how many in here know what a GPS is? Anybody hear of a GPS?
11:31 What's a GPS? >> It's a map.
11:34 >> It's a map. And where does it -- where does
11:36 it show up?
11:37 On your parents' cell phone or sometimes even in the car -- a GPS.
11:42 So, Mother Colleen -- 'cause that's her name, Colleen -- Mother Colleen says, "Hey, kids.
11:48 Yo, yo, yo, kids? Shh, shh. Kids, are you strapped up? Put your seat belts on.
11:53 I don't want anybody riding in this car -- we're gonna go out to the airport.
11:56 We're gonna pick Daddy up. You know he's looking forward to seeing you."
12:00 And it's quite a drive, 'cause I've been to Denver, and it's a long ways out to
12:03 Denver International Airport, so Mom says, "Okay, strapped in, let's go!"
12:07 And so she knows the way to the airport, but when she's about halfway there, all of a sudden,
12:12 the car right in front of her stops. There go the taillights.
12:16 She slams on her brakes. The cars behind her slam on their brakes.
12:19 Oh, no. There's some kind of traffic going on here.
12:23 Can you kids see out the window? Can you tell -- how far does this traffic stretch?
12:29 Everybody's trying to look out the windows as far as the eye can see.
12:33 Ah, we're gonna be late picking Daddy up. Ah, "Oh, I've got the GPS.
12:37 That's what I'm gonna do." So she got on her GPS, Google Maps, sure enough.
12:43 There was -- There was -- unusually so at this time of the day -- there is a huge traffic
12:49 jam, but Google Maps asked a question -- [Whispering] "Would you like --
12:53 Would you like to -- [ Normal voice ] Would you like to go on a short cut?"
12:57 "Oh," she said, "I want to go on a short cut." So she hit the short cut.
13:01 Oh! It's just the next exit. It says we'll cut the time in half.
13:04 Okay, kids, shh, shh, shh. Make sure I get the next exit. And they all yelled out, "There
13:09 it is, Mommy! There it is!" "Okay," she said.
13:10 "I'm turning my car off, let these other cars stay," and she turned her car off, come to find
13:15 out there were a whole bunch of other cars that turned off with their Google Map instructions.
13:20 Oh, they go down the ramp. "Ooh, this is -- this --" Shh, shh.
13:24 "This is out in the country. Oh, this is farmland here." And pretty soon she's on a bumpy
13:31 road, and all of a sudden, the road starts turning to mud. She says, "This can't be right."
13:38 That's what the Google Map says, so she kept driving, and all the cars behind her and in front of
13:43 her -- all the cars are driving down that bumpy, muddy road. Days of rain have turned this
13:49 farm field -- uh-oh! -- into pure mud, and the car in front got stuck.
13:58 Oh, pfft. The car in front got stuck, and the car behind it said, "Come
14:02 on, keep going. Just... [ Imitates engine whirring ] Spin your tires. Just get out.
14:09 The car moved through the mud. The next car came up to it. Stuck.
14:13 Soon -- I got to see a picture of this. Soon, 100 cars are stuck because
14:18 there's no way to back up. Look at them in the mud. They're in the mud.
14:23 Now, let's see the next picture, the back-up. It's a narrow little road.
14:26 Nobody can turn their car around -- 100 cars got lost because they trusted Google Map.
14:34 [ Laughter ] What's up with that? Apparently, a map is not always
14:40 perfect. Oh, I need another map. I need another GPS.
14:44 Here it is. Here is my map right here. Anybody know what this GPS is?
14:49 >> The Bible. >> God's powerful scriptures. Yo, this is God's map.
14:56 Do you think -- Who do you think this map leads us to? Who do you think this map leads
15:01 us to? >> God. >> Oh, it leads us to God.
15:04 It leads us to Jesus. Jesus says if you'll follow the map, you won't get stuck.
15:09 You won't get lost. You will always make it to me. Oh, ho.
15:16 Do you have one of these maps at home? You know, with Mommy and Daddy,
15:19 starting out the day, it doesn't hurt at all to start out using the map -- using the map -- and
15:27 saying, "Jesus, lead us straight to you today." Mm-hmm.
15:32 Now, who would like to thank Jesus for being the destination that we are all headed for?
15:38 You want to have a prayer? Hey, sissy, you jumped up. Come on.
15:41 You got cowboy boots just like from Denver. Come here.
15:44 Nice to have you. What's your name? >> Lissiah.
15:47 >> Lindsay? >> Lissiah. >> Lissiah. Lissiah.
15:50 Oh, I love that name, Lissiah. Lissiah's gonna pray. She's gonna thank Jesus for
15:55 being our destination, if we just stay on this map. Lissiah?
16:01 Let's close our eyes and fold our hands with Lissiah. >> Dear Jesus, thank you for the
16:07 Sabbath, and thank you. Amen. >> Amen, thank you, Jesus.
16:12 Alright, thank you, Lissiah. And thank you, boys and a girls, as you go quietly and reverently
16:17 back. You just say, "Jesus, I'm keeping my eyes on Your map to
16:22 find You every day." God bless you. Happy Sabbath to you.
16:45 >> ♪ In the morning when I rise ♪ ♪ In the morning when I rise
16:58 ♪ In the morning when I rise ♪ Give me Jesus ♪ Give me Jesus
17:16 ♪ Give me Jesus ♪ You may have all this world ♪ Give me Jesus
17:48 ♪ Dark midnight was my cry ♪ Dark midnight was my cry ♪ Dark midnight was my cry
18:05 ♪ Give me Jesus ♪ Give me Jesus ♪ Give me Jesus
18:21 ♪ You may have all of this world ♪ ♪ Give me Jesus
18:51 ♪ Oh, when I comes to die ♪ Oh, when I comes to die ♪ Oh, when I comes to die
19:11 ♪ Give me Jesus ♪ Give me Jesus ♪ Nobody but Jesus
19:29 ♪ You may have all of this world ♪ ♪ Give me Jesus
19:48 ♪ Nobody but Jesus ♪ You may have all of this world ♪
20:02 ♪ Give me Jesus
20:18 >> A writer named Gregory Boyd scribbled this line in one of his books, and it just has stuck
20:23 in my brain. "My life is Christ. Nothing else really matters."
20:32 And I think that's what Benie was saying, and we were resonating.
20:39 Give us Jesus. Oh, God, what a beautiful prayer.
20:45 That's who we want. It's not what we want. That's who we want.
20:50 In the few moments we have left, would You give us Jesus, please? We pray in his name, amen.
20:59 Okay, speaking of bad dates, have you ever heard this
21:03 proverb? I have no idea who composed it.
21:08 It might've been Confucius. I don't know, Benjamin Franklin.
21:11 Doesn't matter. But the proverb goes like this.
21:15 "Why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free?"
21:22 You say, "Dwight, what's up with that proverb? We're not a bunch of farmers or
21:25 agriculturalists. We don't care about buying and selling cows, and we're not
21:28 interested in milk right now." Let me put that proverb on the screen for you.
21:34 I want you to look at it. "Why the cow, if you can get the milk for free?"
21:43 Hmm. You ever wish you could go on Ancestry.com and find out who
21:51 your past -- who's in your past, I mean, really, truly in your past.
21:54 I see those commercials on TV, and I'm saying, "Oh, I'd love to try that."
22:01 You know what I'd really love to do? I'd love to type in the salient
22:04 information and find out Jesus' past. Wouldn't you like to do
22:07 Ancestors.com on Jesus? That'd be perfect. Turns out that's exactly what
22:13 God did once upon a time. He did an Ancestors.com on Jesus, and guess what.
22:17 It's the one chapter nobody wants to read in the whole Bible because it's the begets.
22:22 It's the old King James begets. Begets, begets. And yet, tucked away in that
22:28 family tree -- you got to check this out -- tucked away in that family tree, you would not
22:32 believe who's hanging in there. This is His tree, Jesus' tree. Come on, let's check it out
22:38 together. We'll do an Ancestors.com with Jesus.
22:40 Open your Bible, please, to the Gospel of Matthew, the first Gospel of the New Testament.
22:45 Matthew, Chapter 1. Matthew 1:1. You didn't bring a Bible, grab
22:51 the pew Bible in front of you. This is -- This is -- This is worth seeing.
22:55 Check it out. What's the page number for the pew Bible?
22:59 Page 649. Okay, let's go. Matthew 1:1. I'll be in the
23:02 New International Version. "This is the genealogy," alright?
23:05 This is the Ancestor.com. This is the family tree of Jesus.
23:09 Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham." 'Cause, you know, you have to be
23:14 related to David, and you have to be related to Abraham if you're somebody in the community
23:19 of Israel. Okay, so, let's go. Come on. Get on with it.
23:22 "Abraham --" verse 2 -- "Abraham was the father of Isaac." Wait a minute.
23:26 Hit the pause button right there. Are you talking about the
23:29 Abraham -- Are you talking about the Abraham that, uh, you know, kept trying to have kids with
23:34 his wife, that kept trying to have kids, trying to have kids, gets nothing, nothing, nothing,
23:38 and then finally she says, "You know what? I have this pretty little
23:40 Egyptian hand maid -- a little slave girl. Why don't you go to bed with
23:43 her?" You talking about that Abraham that had a little twinkle in his
23:46 eye and said, "I'll take you up on that offer, wife"? Yeah, that's the one I'm talking
23:51 about. Abraham ends up with two first-borns because Sarah, his
23:57 wife, finally has a first-born. But do you want to talk about dysfunction?
24:02 Those two first-borns -- that would be Ishmael, the father of the Arabs, and that would be
24:07 Isaac, the other first-born, the father of the Jews. We have been living with that
24:11 dysfunction for ever and ever amen. I thought this was gonna be a
24:17 perfect family tree. Well, that's just one bad beginning.
24:19 I think it strengthens out after that. "Abraham was the father of
24:22 Isaac, and Isaac was the father of Jacob." Hey, wait a minute.
24:26 You talking about that Jacob that ran away from home 'cause he got his brothers so ticked
24:30 off the brothers were gonna kill him? Yeah, that's the one.
24:32 Esau was gonna kill him, so he runs away. This is the Jacob that runs to
24:36 his uncle far, far away, Uncle Laban, and he says -- he sees the beautiful sisters.
24:39 "Whoo, you got some great sisters, Uncle Laban. I'll take, uh --
24:43 I'll take, uh -- I'll the younger one. I'll take Rachel, please."
24:46 He says, "Fine, you want Rachel? Seven years -- that's all it'll cost you.
24:49 Seven years working for me, buddy, and you got the sweetest girl on Earth."
24:52 He works seven years and then it's his wedding night, but they didn't have electricity back
24:56 then, so the bedroom was dark when he went into it and didn't realize it wasn't Rachel in the
25:00 bedroom, it was Leah. The older sister. Woke up in the next morning and
25:04 said, "I am so ticked off." He says, "It's a little custom. We do this.
25:08 Give me seven more years, and I'll give you the other one." Can you believe it?
25:12 This is Jacob who has two wives, and both wives, by the way, come to him and say, "I'm having a
25:16 hard time having babies now, so would you please take my little handmaiden?"
25:19 He ends up with two more handmaidens. We're talking about four wives
25:23 and 12 boys and one girl. Twelve sons. Oh, talking about a bad date.
25:30 Man, Jacob had a bad, bad date. It probably gets better as we go.
25:35 Okay, so what is this? Jacob -- Jacob -- Jacob -- Isaac was the father of Jacob.
25:39 Okay. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
25:42 Judah -- oh, "Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar.
25:47 Hit the pause button right there. Are you talking about -- is this
25:49 the Judah that Jesus was the -- was the tribe of Judah -- Judah -- this is that Judah?
25:55 That's that Judah. No, you can't tell me the Messiah is coming from the tribe
26:00 of Judah. I'm telling you, boy, that's exactly what's happening here
26:03 because -- sad story -- Judah's wife died. He's very lonely.
26:09 He says, "I'll deal with this loneliness because I see a prostitute on the side of the
26:12 road, and I'll get that girl, and I'll sleep with her." He sleeps with her, not knowing
26:16 that she had set this thing up. She's his daughter-in-law, and he has two babies to the
26:22 prostitute, babies that should've been his grandsons but turn out to be his sons.
26:27 Now, that's a bad date. That's the definition of a bad date.
26:32 The Messiah -- This is the Messiah's family tree. This is the blood that flowed in
26:37 Jesus. He has all this blood in Him. Well, surely it gets better now.
26:40 Oh, yeah, right. Drop down to verse 5. Salmon -- some of you are saying
26:44 "salmon" -- no, that's a fish. Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was --" what's that --
26:50 what's that -- what's that next name? Rahab.
26:53 Now we got a real live prostitute on our hands, because she was the madam whore of
26:57 Jericho, and she hid the two Israelite spies. You remember that?
27:02 Now, she gets saved. Her family gets saved, and she marries -- get this.
27:06 She marries into the family tree of the Messiah. So Jesus has Rahab the
27:10 prostitute's blood rolling through his veins. Oh, my, drop down to verse 6.
27:17 "And Jesse was the father of King David." Oh, wow, at last we got to the
27:20 king. "Jesse was the father of King David."
27:22 Oh, and by the way, "David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife."
27:27 "Had been." Are you talking about -- Are you talking -- Is this the
27:31 David and Bathsheba thing? Yeah, this is the David and Bathsheba thing.
27:34 You're exactly right. He impregnates her while her husband is working for him in
27:37 the army. He comes back. He says, "I got to kill this
27:40 man. She's told me she's pregnant." This is that David.
27:45 He kills the Pagan husband who is more faithful than he, takes the wife, figures nobody knows,
27:52 and then God says, "Oops, I saw it all." You can't hide your sex life
27:58 from God. He saw it. Yeah, this is -- this is -- this
28:04 is David and Bathsheba. But a-a-a -- a child or two later, guess who gets born --
28:09 Solomon. Oh, alas, alas, we have somebody on this family tree that's gonna
28:13 stand up. The wisest man who ever lived. Who doesn't love the story of
28:17 Solomon? Solomon does very well until, you know what?
28:20 Are there any dads here? Let me tell you something, Pops. Your little boy is watching you
28:25 like a hawk. Everything you do now, he will do later.
28:28 However you live now, he will do later. He won't wait 'til what you do
28:31 later is what he copies. He will copy you now. He is getting it on the hard
28:34 disk, and Solomon turns out just like his daddy. Ends up -- get this -- Ends up
28:40 with 700 wives -- no, I'm serious -- and 300 concubines.
28:48 You know what a concubine is? She's only for sex. Okay?
28:53 Reminds me of the little boy who came home from vacation Bible school and said, "Mommy, we
28:56 learned all about King Solomon today. King Solomon and his 300
29:00 porcupines." [ Laughter ] Well, I tell you what.
29:05 It was a prickly, sticky mess by the time Solomon was through. I mean, porcupines...
29:10 Yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, there they are -- seven bad dates, and
29:14 we're not even through the Messiah's family tree. We did an Ancestor.com.
29:17 What's the point of this, Dwight? Why are you telling us this?
29:20 Here's why I'm telling you this. See this book? Between the covers of this book
29:24 you cannot find one family without dysfunction. Not one.
29:27 I dare you to try. We have to know something about the details of their family --
29:31 not just a name in the genealogy. Not one.
29:34 Guess what -- Misery loves company. We got great company.
29:38 Jesus married into a family tree that is filled with dysfunction, and if you do a little bit of
29:44 the calculations, you're gonna find out that these seven bad dates all had to do with sex.
29:50 Can you imagine that? The Messiah chose -- because, lookit, who in the universe has
29:55 ever been able to choose his own family before he was born? This guy's the only one that
30:00 ever had a chance to choose, and so what did God choose? He chose a family tree with
30:04 seven bad dates already in it. What's the good news about that? The good news about that is that
30:09 that bad blood was flowing in the Messiah's veins. He knows sexual -- sexual --
30:19 sexual dysfunction. He knows all about it. Which is why we're not
30:24 surprised, are we, that, when Jesus makes two statements about sex -- count them, two
30:30 statements about sex -- these are gonna be -- these are gonna be -- these are gonna be
30:35 explosive to the max. I'm gonna share them with you. Two statements Jesus makes about
30:41 sex. Pull out your study guide. There's -- Pastor Ben just
30:44 talked about it a moment ago. You see that card that has the connect card at the bottom?
30:47 Yeah, if you didn't get a study guide, put your hands up. Our famous and friendly ushers,
30:53 Ryan and Rick, will hand it to you, so just put your -- put your hand up.
30:56 If you're up in the balcony, put your hand up. You're watching on
30:59 television right now or you're live streaming, put the title slide up, please.
31:03 There you will see our website at the bottom --
31:06 www.newperceptions.tv. That's where you're going.
31:09 Live streaming, of course, you're already at that site.
31:12 Make sure you get this little miniseries --
31:14 Roommates, Bad Dates, and Soulmates.
31:17 This is part 2, okay? This is part 2.
31:20 So you click on part 2. It'll say Study Guide.
31:23 Question mark, you want it? Click there, you got it.
31:25 Then you'll have the same study guide we're gonna fill in right
31:28 now. Okay, Jesus makes two -- count
31:30 them, two -- radical statements about sex.
31:34 Here comes Jesus&Sex #1 -- You see that in your study guide?
31:38 Jesus&Sex #1 -- God invented it. I'm just telling you.
31:44 God invented sex. Of course he did. God invented it.
31:49 You know, some people think -- Some people think that God is just one big killjoy.
31:53 Takes away the one thing we enjoy -- sex. "He's always trying to find a
31:56 way to take sex away from me." He's not trying to take sex away from you.
32:00 He's the one -- He's the one who invented it. And Jesus says I want to tell
32:04 you about when he did it. Open your Bible. Let's stay in Matthew.
32:07 We're not going anywhere else but in Matthew, so go to Matthew chapter 19.
32:10 So, you're in 1, so just go a few pages over to Matthew chapter 19.
32:14 My words here in verse 4 are in red. That -- These are the
32:17 "Jesus speaking" words. Alright, so this is Matthew -- This is Matthew chapter 19,
32:22 verse 4, Jesus speaking. "'Haven't you read,' Jesus replied, 'that at the beginning,
32:30 the Creator made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason, a man will leave his
32:36 father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?
32:40 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined
32:46 together, let no one separate.'" Isn't it intriguing that Jesus uses this one-flesh language,
32:53 which turns out to be this -- this -- this provocatively beautiful way to describe the
32:59 gift of sex that the Creator personally designed for the human race?
33:04 I got some news for you. Angels don't have sex. Angels can't have sex.
33:13 They weren't made the way you and I were made. The Creator said, "No, I got my
33:17 fingerprints all over this one, buddy." One flesh -- that's my way of
33:22 describing this high-octane gift that I have placed in your life."
33:26 So, we -- we humans are designed to leave father and mother and all the other significant others
33:31 that we've had in our lives. Just say goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.
33:33 Not gonna abandon them, but now we come to one other human being.
33:39 Man comes to a woman. A husband comes to a wife. And in that union, one flesh.
33:50 It's like your stuck. Just pew. Magnets.
33:55 One flesh. And what God puts together -- Oh, no, no, no, no!
33:59 Don't try to take that apart. Put it back. Keep it together.
34:03 Whoa, that's pretty radical. Brigham Young did an interesting study of 2,035 married people
34:09 with findings that inform these -- jot these down. There are four ways that married
34:18 people experience life. Put it on the screen. Let's do it.
34:21 There are four ways that married people experience life. Guess what, married people have
34:24 better sex. The research is there. They just -- you can go look it
34:27 up. Google Brigham Young University. They have better sex, alright?
34:31 Number two -- they have better stability. Their relationship is stable.
34:34 It holds on in the midst of storm. Number three -- they have better
34:38 satisfaction. They're happy with what they have.
34:40 Number four -- they have better communication. They communicate better than
34:44 people who are not married. People who are not married can have sex, but they don't have --
34:48 they don't have the best, best, best, best. No. Why?
34:50 Because this thing was designed. This was designed. I got to show you this.
34:58 God -- God created marriage to be a fortress. Put on the screen, please, my
35:05 favorite castle in the whole world -- Neuschwanstein. That's the Disneyland castle.
35:10 We took our kids there. Not to Disneyland. That's in, uh, Austria.
35:14 That's the castle. When you think of a fortress or a castle, that's what I think
35:18 of. God says, "Guess what, guys? Hey, that's marriage.
35:22 I have put high-octane marriage inside the protective walls of the castle.
35:31 High-octane sex, high-octane marriage inside protected walls. Work within these walls, and
35:39 you'll be fine. It works the best. You stay within the walls.
35:45 Whoa. Here's -- Here's a Canadian writer named Mike Mason.
35:48 If you ever get ahold of this book, buy it on the spot. "The Mystery of Marriage:
35:52 As Iron Sharpens Iron." Alright, Mason's words on the screen --
35:57 "Is there any other activity at all which an adult man and woman may engage in together, apart
36:04 from worship," he writes, that is actually "more childlike, more clean and pure, more
36:10 natural and wholesome and unequivocally right than" is "the act of love making?"
36:15 He asks. Surely, -- now, fill it in -- "Surely sex is the deepest
36:21 communion that is possible between human beings." End quote.
36:26 Why, 'cause it has God's fingerprints all over it. It'll be better, better, better,
36:30 better, better. You do it my way, better, better, better, better, better.
36:33 That's the point. No wonder. God protects his gift of sex
36:39 within the fortress of marriage. By the way, which explains Jesus' bombshell warning in the
36:46 second sex statement. Let's just write the -- write it down first.
36:50 Jesus&Sex #1 -- God invented it. Now, come on. Jesus&Sex #2 --
36:55 We have dented it. You ever buy a car that's new to you?
36:59 It may not be new to the production line 'cause it's, like, five years old, but it's a
37:04 new car for you, and when you buy that new car, you know every scratch.
37:07 You know every little, you know, malformation on it, but from this point on, nothing's gonna
37:12 happen to this car. I bought a '61 Volkswagen when I was in college.
37:16 '61 Volkswagen -- had 100,000 miles on it. I drove it out to my home in
37:19 Oregon from Tennessee where I was going to school, and in Oregon, I had that car spray
37:23 painted candy-apple red. Oh, ho, ho. I drove that car all the way
37:29 back from -- from Portland, Oregon, to Chattanooga, Tennessee.
37:34 Not a scratch on it. I made sure. The second day I am back on
37:38 campus -- I tell you the truth -- a married upperclassman slams into my rear -- right rear
37:47 fender. I'm sure I did not cry visible tears, but I was weeping in my
37:53 heart. This was my -- This was my car. This was my baby.
37:58 This is my life, and now look what you've done to it. How do you think God feels when
38:03 the enemy of the human race says, "I'll take care of that sex business."
38:08 Pew! How do you like that? Pew! How do you like that? [ Grunts ]
38:13 By the time you got this jalopy half hanging together just thumping down the road out of
38:19 kilter... Yeah, we dented it. God invented it.
38:28 We dented it alright. By the way, if I were the Devil --
38:33 you can be thankful I'm not -- and I knew as he very well does that sex is this breathtakingly
38:41 beautiful gift from the Creator uniquely for the human race, I would do everything in my
38:47 diabolical power to accomplish these two objectives -- Objective number one --
38:51 I'm gonna make certain that there is no longer any hint of the Creator in the ways humans
38:57 engage in sex. I'm gonna throw that manual away that came out of that garden,
39:01 and I'm gonna -- I'm gonna rip it apart -- dent it, explode it, nuke it -- so that you won't
39:06 even recognize it. You know why he's so mad at sex? There are two gifts in the
39:10 Garden -- sex and Sabbath, and he's going after both the S's with a vengeance.
39:16 He's after sex. Why? "Because if I can destroy sex,
39:19 then there's no fingerprints of the Creator, and if there are no
39:21 fingerprints of the Creator, then there's no -- nobody
39:23 believes in the Sabbath anyway because, why, there's no
39:26 creation." So he has two objectives --
39:29 number one, "I'm gonna destroy that.
39:31 I'm gonna destroy every semblance of a representation of
39:35 the Creator." And number two, if I were the
39:38 Devil, I would so confuse human sexuality that the divine
39:42 blueprint for sex and marriage would be annihilated from the
39:45 face of the Earth, and I would that -- I would put that on
39:48 every billboard I could think of.
39:50 I'd put that in the Internet and every pop-up ad I can think of. I'd put that in the video game,
39:54 every video game I can think of. I'd put that in every Hollywood movie that ever gets produced.
39:59 I would put in my version of sex and destroy any evidence that there's a Creator who has a
40:06 blueprint and a master plan. I would just destroy it. Oh, my.
40:11 Talking about an over-sexed age in which we all live, as one writer put it, this is a
40:16 pornified world. It is, isn't it? Somebody's been working
40:22 overtime. I'm not surprised. Jesus' two bombshell statements
40:27 about marriage. I'm not surprised. You said, "Dwight, where's that
40:31 second one?" Okay, I'll show it to you. Just go back to Matthew
40:33 chapter 5. This is the profound Sermon on the Mount.
40:37 Everybody knows the Sermon on the Mount. Go back to Matthew chapter 5.
40:41 Red letters here for sure. Jesus speaking. Verse 27 -- "You have heard that
40:45 it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who
40:50 looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
40:56 Now, this is in the form of a man looking at a woman. Guess what, you can turn it
40:59 around. You can have a woman looking at a man with lust.
41:03 You can have a man looking at a man with lust. You can have a woman looking at
41:06 a woman with lust. "I'm just warning you," Jesus says.
41:11 "If you lust after that person, you'll kill yourself." Wow.
41:24 Yep. Has the De-- Ha-- How has the Devil deceived us so
41:29 that lust becomes a springboard for sex? Let me give you three -- three
41:34 kinds of sex today. Put it on the screen, and you will jot these down.
41:37 How has the Devil done this? How has he -- How has he dented this gift?
41:42 Pornographic sex -- jot this down, please -- pornographic sex is sex without marriage.
41:48 It's usually with yourself. Alright, don't act like you're surprised.
41:52 You know exactly what I'm talking about. Number two -- premarital sex is
41:57 sex before marriage. That's sex with someone else. Number three -- extramarital sex
42:04 is sex outside of marriage. That's sex with someone who isn't your spouse.
42:09 And all three of them -- get this -- pornographic sex, premarital sex, and extramarital
42:15 sex are triggered by this thing called lust. That's what Jesus calls it.
42:19 Lust. "Hey, Dwight, what's the definition of lust?"
42:21 Glad you asked. Put it on the screen. Simply put, lust is "I gotta
42:25 have it now." You know when you're really hungry?
42:28 I mean you've gone -- you've missed a meal today and you just would think you're going crazy?
42:31 I can't -- I'm about to die. When your stomach is growling, what's that stomach saying?
42:36 "Just feed me. Feed me. If you feed me, I'll quit growling," right?
42:40 That's what lust is. It's a growling deep within the system.
42:43 "I've got to have this. I gotta have it now. I'm not waiting.
42:45 I'm not waiting. I don't care what the Book says. I have to have it now."
42:51 Yeah, that's lust. And that's what Jesus is warning us away from.
42:56 Jennifer Schwirzer, in her wonderful book, "13 Weeks to Love" -- and I'm
43:00 gonna see if we can bring her to this campus -- tells about what they call the
43:04 Coolidge effect. You ever heard about the Coolidge effect?
43:06 I hadn't heard about it, either, until I read. It's named after the American
43:09 President Calvin Coolidge. Everybody's heard of Calvin Coolidge.
43:12 Now, here's the Coolidge effect. One day, Mrs. Coolidge -- that would be his wife -- observed a
43:16 rooster copulating all day. I don't have to explain that word to you.
43:20 You know what it means. Okay. She turns to the farmer, and she
43:24 asked the farmer to tell her husband the secret to this. The President overhears and
43:32 quickly asks the farmer, "Uh, does the rooster do this with the same hen?"
43:37 The farmer said, "No, no, he's got to have a different hen every time."
43:41 And the President said, "Would you please inform that to Mrs. Coolidge?"
43:48 Now, she writes, describing that moment, "The point of this story..." see it on the screen,
43:53 "...is that sexuality, especially male sexuality," fellas, "tends to be
43:58 novelty-driven." What are you talking about? Keep reading.
44:01 "Male rats will copulate, then tire and stop sexual activity until scientists drop a new
44:06 female rat into the cage, when suddenly the male feels his mojo return."
44:11 [ Scattered laughter ] "He will continue to copulate with each partner until he
44:17 literally dies of exhaustion." Mercy. "Clearly, this novelty-driven
44:24 sexuality moves in the opposite direction from God's plan of long-term faithfulness to one
44:29 partner." Hence Jesus' warning. What did Jesus say?
44:32 "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman --" anyone who looks at a man "lustfully has
44:38 already committed adultery with her --" with him in that heart. What's he warning us away from?
44:46 How does the proverb go? Put it up, please, for us. Why buy the cow if you can get
44:51 the milk for free? Do you get the proverb now? Why should I go through any kind
44:57 of commitment? I can get the milk just like that.
45:00 Netflix chillin'. Just like that. Huh.
45:13 Too bad the wisest man who ever lived didn't follow his own council.
45:17 This was before the 700 wives that he wrote this and the 300, uh, concubines.
45:23 This is King Solomon on the screen. Proverbs 6, verse 25, 27, and
45:26 32... "Do not lust in your heart after her" or his "beauty or let her"
45:31 or him "captivate you with her" or his "eyes. Can a man scoop fire into his
45:37 lap without his clothes being burned? "But a man who commits
45:40 adultery --" that's sex outside of God's fortress of marriage -- a man or woman "who commits
45:45 adultery has no sense. Whoever does so destroys himself."
45:49 She destroys herself. End quote. And there's some of you right
45:53 now who are saying, "You know what? I know that. I know that.
45:59 There's no hope for me. Do you know -- Do you know my story?
46:03 No, I don't. There's no hope for me. It's too late.
46:08 I got some great news for you, sir, madame, great news. It's not too late.
46:13 It's not too late. You know why I know? Because there are two family
46:16 trees -- count them -- one, two. We've already seen one. Bad blood, bad dates flowing
46:20 through that family tree. The Messiah -- The Messiah's blood is bad blood, bad dates,
46:26 but there's a second family tree, which is why He came. To heal the first family tree.
46:33 And they nailed Him up to the second tree. They nailed Him up, and that has
46:37 now become the family tree for every sexual sinner in the world -- you and me and all the
46:42 rest of them. You got it? That family tree -- family tree
46:47 number two -- is your assurance that you can turn this baby around.
46:54 You can write a new chapter, and the gift of that life -- we sang about the blood a moment ago --
47:01 the gift of that life assures you -- spotless. Wow, somewhere in the Bible, it
47:08 reads, "And the Lord has laid on him --" the man on the center cross -- "He has laid on him the
47:12 inequity of us all." Somewhere else it reads, "By his wounds we are healed."
47:17 Get this. Bad blood and bad dates can be healed by saving blood that
47:23 flows from the Messiah of the universe. The King, the rightful King for
47:29 this planet. It's not too late. It is not too late at all.
47:37 This good news is ready for you to embrace now. But before you do, or while
47:43 you're doing it, I want to invite my three college friends to come on up here.
47:48 Students here at Andrews University. They're gonna help me now.
47:53 They joined me last week. They'll join me next week. We got the best coming last as
47:58 we wrap it up next week. But, uh, we're talking about William, Rebecca, and Alex.
48:02 I introduced them to you last week. So, guys, we've been -- we've
48:06 been, uh -- we've been talking about this. We've been studying, and, in
48:08 fact, William, you were the one that was assigned to actually study sexuality for us.
48:16 We gotta -- We gotta really bring this down to where the rubber meets the road.
48:19 Let's not -- I got a study here that we were gonna look at together -- 26 different
48:23 research studies that prove that premarital sex will never reach the bar of marital sex.
48:30 God's fingerprints all over those, but, um, I'm gonna skip that.
48:35 Alex, when we were chatting earlier this week, I liked that some of the practical stuff
48:42 that, uh, you got through your folks just kind of watching life.
48:47 Tell us about this 11:00 thing. >> Yeah, so, it's something my mom taught me, and I truly
48:52 discovered that it was helpful to me and that I've learned by is nothing good ever happens
48:57 after 11:00, and that philosophy of being with other people, of somebody that you're attracted
49:04 to or stuff like that, 'cause it just puts you in a situation where there's too many chances
49:09 to take -- to make too many wrong mistakes. There's been studies done here
49:13 at Andrews, other places, that the majority of times that people have sex or, um, have a
49:19 situation that puts them in the opportunity are by circumstances and by just happening, and so
49:27 it's really important that we put ourselves in the right location.
49:31 The other thing that's really important is that we surround ourselves with people that will
49:34 help promote good relationships with the opposite sex. In the Bible,
49:39 in 1 Corinthians 15:33, it says... "Don't be misled.
49:50 Bad company corrupts good character." And 34 -- "Come back to your
49:54 senses as you ought and stop sinning, for there are some who are ignorant of God.
50:00 I say this to your shame." So we really need to surround ourselves with people that are
50:07 gonna help us be the best that we possibly can and be smart about the decisions that we make
50:12 so that we don't have long-term consequences. >> That was great.
50:17 Yeah, glad you found that one. Uh, birds of a feather flock together.
50:24 And we can set ourselves up for temptation, can't we? Yeah, go to a club and spend,
50:29 you know -- you date at a club. Just get a little Netflix or whatever.
50:33 Chill around. Just -- it happens just like that, yeah.
50:37 Alex, thank you. So, William, you're the guy that did the research here.
50:45 You guys are Gen Z-ers, okay? We got a lot of Gen Z-ers sitting right here.
50:49 So, you've somehow been able to steer through this thing. This is landmines everywhere.
50:54 Landmine. [ Imitates explosion ] So, just speak as a Gen Z-er to us now.
51:00 What -- What -- How do you avoid these sexual landmines?
51:03 >> Yeah, of course. A big part is communication, and maybe we all know, maybe we
51:10 don't know, but the majority of our communication actually comes from our body language, and I'll
51:15 give you an example. I got my brother Marcos up here in the front.
51:18 You can ask him. If a girl came up to him, maybe tease him a little bit, bit her
51:23 lip, what is he gonna get from that? Just think about it.
51:28 Think about how you -- how you act, how your interactions are. Now, that's a radical example,
51:32 and it's not just girls. It's guys, too. Where are your eyes going when
51:35 you're talking to someone? Are you looking at her eyes? Are you looking at her butt?
51:40 Hmm, where are you putting your hands? Think about what you're thinking
51:44 about. People sense that. It comes through.
51:47 So, a question, maybe, you can ask yourself is what is your body saying?
51:53 >> That's good. I like that. Yeah, what is she thinking your body is saying?
51:59 >> Yeah. >> Yeah, or he, yeah. Uh, Rebecca...uh...
52:05 and I just popped this on you this morning, but here you are, a Gen Z young woman...
52:14 and... the truth is, girls get sucked in -- "I gotta hang with this
52:18 guy. I don't want to lose him," and they roll over.
52:21 They roll over. "Okay, you want this? You want your milk without
52:24 buying the cow? I'll give you the milk." Uh, what would you say to girls
52:30 that might be just caught on the edge of that? Any council for them?
52:38 >> Well, personally, I think that God is writing a story for all of us, and, especially love
52:43 stories, and He's -- whether it's someone special or out there, He's writing that story,
52:47 and a lot of the times, we do have options, and it's a beautiful thing about our walk
52:51 with God, too, is He gives us free will, but not everything that's being handed to us is
52:55 where we're supposed to go, so just because we have a couple of good guys that we think would be
53:00 good friends, maybe they're just supposed to be friends, and so, for me, one ground thing that I
53:05 think about is just how do I see myself? And the world teaches us a lot
53:11 of the times to -- to love ourselves and to love ourselves and put ourselves before other
53:17 people, but I think what's more important is to think about how God sees us, and as a young
53:22 woman, that is how -- who am I as a daughter of God, and how am I being seen?
53:27 And so, in my relationship with other people, whether it be a different individual and a
53:32 special individual, whoever they may be, it's who am I as a daughter of God, and how can
53:38 that character flow into the next person, and, also, on the topic of if there are some of us
53:44 that have been walking this path and, you know, we want to turn back, and we don't know where to
53:48 go, I think there's always hope for that. >> Don't give up. Don't give up.
53:54 In fact, let's talk about that just as a wrap for the four of us.
53:58 Okay, so a friend that has crashed and burned sexually. Alright, crashed and burned,
54:03 comes to you just totally distraught. What kind of council are you
54:07 gonna give? Okay, so, what does that -- that friend do?
54:11 What would you recommend? Rebecca, I want to go back to you, because David crashed and
54:18 burned. There is absolutely no question David was the biggest
54:20 crash-and-burn sexually that the world knows from scriptures, it's that famous.
54:25 Give some -- Give some hope. >> I mentioned just a second ago about free will, and I think
54:30 that free will not only applies in the choices that we make towards making decisions on what
54:35 is good and what is not, but it also still applies in making decisions towards
54:39 walking back to him.
54:41 And so there's a verse that I want to share with everyone
54:43 here, and, in fact, it is from King David.
54:45 In Psalm 51:7 -- verse 7, 9, and 10, it says, "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean.
54:52 Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." Verse 9 says, "Hide your face
54:57 from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O
55:02 God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
55:06 >> It strikes me, William, and Rebecca, and Alex, that's really
55:10 describing spiritual virginity. >> Mm-hmm.
55:13 >> In other words, "I'm gonna do it all.
55:15 I'm gonna start over with you. I can't take the scars away, but
55:17 God can turn our scars into stars, so let's not give up
55:21 just 'cause we have scars.
55:22 But I can give you a new virginity. If any woman is in Christ, she's
55:26 a new creation. Create in me a clean heart." That text is so critical.
55:30 People that are listening right now or watching right really need to hear that.
55:34 They need to just know that God says, "We can build again." Now, once God does that
55:40 rebuilding -- final comment, Will -- once God does that rebuilding, what do I do so that
55:45 I don't go into those landmines again? >> That's a great question, and
55:52 it's answered in Psalm 119, verse 1. This is what it says.
55:59 It asks a question. "How can a young person stay pure?"
56:03 And the response is actually in the verse. It says, "By obeying Your Word,"
56:07 and it's a daily thing that you have to do. The days you don't feel like it
56:11 is the days you have to do it the most. You wake up, first thing you
56:15 say -- "God, please, give me this -- this will to get into Your Word, to learn You, to
56:22 learn how to You are, to become in a relationship with You." And that's the secret to it all.
56:28 >> GPS. What we were talking with the kids a moment ago -- GPS.
56:31 You stay here. You're not gonna go down into that muck and be stuck.
56:35 Stay with me. Yeah. Good council, guys.
56:38 >> One more thing, actually -- Psalm 32:5 -- just to show you how much this works.
56:46 David was in a place of guilt, and he prayed. The moment he confessed his
56:51 sins -- you guys can check it out, Psalm 32:5 -- it says at the moment that he confessed his
56:55 sins, his guilt was no more. Pshh, washed away. And it works.
57:00 >> Yeah. >> It's a fact. >> Will, Rebecca, Alex, God
57:02 bless you. Thank you for -- for sharing with us.
57:06 [ Applause ] Yeah, you may, yeah, of course.
57:14 >> I want to take an extra moment to thank you for joining
57:17 us in worship today. It's by the continued support
57:19 from viewers like you that we're able to bring this program.
57:22 Today I want to invite you, though, to share with us how
57:24 this ministry has blessed you. I get inspiring notes, e-mails,
57:28 from viewers literally all over the world telling me, "Look,
57:30 Dwight, God has been blessing me this way.
57:32 He's been doing this." I would love to hear from you,
57:34 as well. Just visit our website --
57:36 you know it -- newperceptions.tv,
57:39 and click on the "contact" link at the top of the page.
57:42 Send me a note. Let me know what God has been
57:43 doing right now in your life. Once again, thank you for being
57:48 with us today. I hope you'll join us right here
57:50 next time, and until then, may the God of grace journey
57:53 with you every step of the way.
57:59 ♪♪ ♪♪
58:19 ♪♪


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Revised 2021-07-14