Sermons found for the topic Purity

Staying Pure in an X-Rated World - Various

(This particular sermon was a “tag team” effort where I preached the first part, and Pastor Bob Boerman preached the last part. I have added a conclusion beginning with the section called “Rise and Walk.")“The moment sex ceases to be a servant it becomes a tyrant.” G. K. Chesterton“There are two basic facts about sex: it is very good and it is very dangerous.” Margaret Thatcher“Purity i More

Create in Me a Clean Heart: A Serious Call to Sexual Purity

I received an email from a young lady I have never met. She happens to live in a country on the other side of the world. Because she reads my weblog, she felt like she could write and share her heart with me. This is part of what she had to say:I think you might be surprised, but I’ve something personal to share to you. I came from a Christian family and knew Jesus at a very young age. Then I got involved with a guy and we star More

The Tragedy of Open-Minded Christianity - Revelation 2:12-17

Christians are narrow-minded about God’s truth. We believe something the chattering classes find incredible. We believe that God has spoken in his Word and that his Word is to be obeyed, not debated. More

Sleeping With the Enemy - Revelation 2:18-29

You can have the cheap thrills of the world and feel sick to your stomach the next morning. Or you can have Jesus now, a new life now, forgiveness now, real pleasure now, and you will one day rise to shine like the Morning Star. More

The Church Christ Prefers - Revelation 3:7-13

Jesus wants his churches to be motivated by love, founded on the truth, strong under pressure, and unashamed of his name. More

How Do You Measure Success? - 2 Corinthians 3:1-3

God measures our success in terms of lives changed. He’s evidently not that impressed by the size of our budget or by the stained glass in our sanctuary. The One who hung the stars in space doesn’t really care how many books we’ve written or how much money we make or whether or not we see our name in lights. More

Choose Life! - Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Whoever occupies the Oval Office for the next four years will make decisions that will guide our nation far into the future. Which way will we go? How should we make up our minds? This sermon argues that we should “choose life” by taking our Christian convictions with us into the voting booth. More

Sleeping Together and Christ’s Global Cause

Why shouldn’t two adult Christians who happen to be divorced and have fallen in love—why shouldn’t they sleep together? That’s the question a man asked in an email. Here is my answer. More

Inner Beauty - 1 Peter 3:1-6

What is inner beauty that lasts and how do we get it? In today’s quest for physical beauty amidst a burgeoning population of aging Boomers who are finding it difficult to reconcile the ravages of time on their bodies, surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures are seeing explosive growth in this country. This craze is not particular only to celebrities and socialites but now includes the rest of society who can afford the cost of the procedures. We all w More

The ABC’s of Wisdom: Building Character with Solomon - Purity

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Purity: Staying Clean In A Dirty World - Proverbs 5

This sermon is different, unusual, in that it is directed only to men. In 16 years as a pastor I have never directed a sermon only to to men, but I am this time. My heart has been heavily burdened on this subject. As I thought and prayed about this sermon Tuesday afternoon as I was driving back from the Billy Graham Center, I felt an overwhelming sense from the Lord that I should address my remarks to men. I hope women gather somethi More

The Tragedy of Double Vision - Matthew 5:8

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” This beatitude stands alone. It is unlike all the others. In many ways, this is the most unexpected thing Jesus ever said. It is not difficult to believe—like Blessed are the meek. It is not difficult to apply—like Blessed are the persecuted.Instead, this beatitude is difficult to understand. Our problem is simple: We do not know precisely wha More

Abstain! - 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

"For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thessalonians 4:3 New King James Version).There are not many things from which the Bible tells us to abstain. The word itself is used only 7 times in the New Testament—3 times in the book of Acts referring to temporary restrictions, once in 1 Timothy referring to false doctrine, and once in 1 Peter. The other two times More

Why God Makes It Hard When It Ought to be Easy - 2 Samuel 2-3

2 Samuel 2-3 tell the story of David’s long struggle to become king over all Israel. His life is a pattern of how God deals with his children. It is God’s plan to vindicate us slowly, bless us openly, surprise us occasionally, and test us continually. God intends to develop our character, and to do that adversity is essential. More

Think On These Things - Philippians 4:8-9

Here is God’s prescription for believers trapped in unhealthy living: Think On These Things! Focus on the good, the pure, the true, the holy, the right, the lovely. Find those things that elevate the mind and think on them! Enthrone Christ as the Lord of your mind and your life will be transformed. More

Does Jesus Live in Oak Park? - Galatians 5:19-26

"Perfect what you have begun, and grant me what you have made me long for.” Prayer of Anselm of CanterburyThis week I was reading a massive book by Donald L. Miller called City of the Century. Subtitled “The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America,” it traces Chicago from its earliest days as a desolate fur-trading outpost to its emergence as a world-class city by 1900. One of the last chapters is called “If More

Adultery in My Heart - Exodus 20:14

This is easily the most difficult sermon to preach in this series. It is also the hardest Commandment to deal with fairly. Perhaps I can illustrate. A few years ago a writer introduced a chapter entitled “The Devil and Sex” with these words: “To the adolescents among my readers who have turned to this chapter first.” And there one is, young or old, caught red-handed, eyes riveted … Sure, you turned More

Forward-Leaning Defense

“There is no victory at bargain basement prices.” General Dwight Eisenhower“World War IV began in a long string of terrorist attacks, whose real nature went unrecognized until on September 11, 2001, huge billows of black smoke curled above New York City, Washington, D.C., and a field near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.” So begins More

You Gotta Serve Somebody - Romans 6:15-23

We’ll call him Bill, but it doesn’t matter. He’s been a Christian for three or four or five years. Although he comes to church, he’s not very faithful and he doesn’t seem very interested in growing in his walk with Christ. In fact, as you think about Bill and as you observe his life, it seems to you that he’s involved in some activities that really drag him down as a Christian. When you mention tha More

The Life God Blesses - II Timothy 2:14-26

Almost five years ago we started sending free copies of my books to prisoners across America. Through a partnership with Prison Fellowship, we have distributed tens of thousands of copies of Keep Believing, What a Christian Believes, and An Anchor for the Soul. The response has been overwhelming. To date we have received well over 10,000 letters from prisoners. The letters have come from almost every prison in every state. If you sta More

The Curse on Canaan And the Problem of Racism - Genesis 9:18-29

It has been a long time since I addressed the topic of racism from the pulpit. The last time I devoted an entire sermon to this issue was in March, 1994. I am returning to that topic today because it is impossible to talk about Genesis 9:18-29 without considering the problem of racism. However, if you come to this text with no prior history and no preconceptions, you may wonder about the connection between this strange story of drunk More

Is Marriage Really Made in Heaven? - Genesis 2:18-25; Hebrews 13:4

Since this is the first sermon in the God Speaks Today series, I thought we should answer a few key questions up front: More

Famine in the Promised Land - Genesis 12:10-20

"Smart people sometimes do some very stupid things.” A few years ago Jim Warren shared a statement with me that a friend had shared with him. It goes like this. “When hard times come, we always have two choices. We can be a student or we can be a victim.” A moment’s thought will show the wisdom of those words. –A victim says, “Why did this happen to me?” –A student says, “Wh More

Spiritual Warfare 101 - Genesis 14 / Hebrews 7

On Friday a friend called and asked how my week had gone. After I told him, he said, “You won’t believe what’s happened to me this week.” First of all, he owed thousands of dollars in income tax that he hadn’t expected to pay. On top of that he had one catastrophe after another at work. Personnel problems, contractors who botched up major jobs, long-time customers who decided to take their business s More

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions About The Christian Life - Chapter 7

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The ABC’s of Wisdom: Building Character with Solomon - Courage

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The ABC’s of Wisdom: Building Character with Solomon - Heart

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The ABC’s of Wisdom: Building Character with Solomon - Obedience

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The ABC’s of Wisdom: Building Character with Solomon - Passion

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The ABC’s of Wisdom: Building Character with Solomon - Temptation

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Something New Under the Sun: Ancient Wisdom for Contemporary Living - 11. MONEY, SEX AND POWER

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Beyond Your Dreams - Ephesians 3:14-21

Pray boldly for spiritual strength, teaches Paul. God is faithful and we can trust Him. He is more than able to do even more than we ask.. Through prayer, we are filled with the Holy Spirit and grow spiritually, understanding the height, breadth, length and depth of Christ’s love for us. More

Do You Know What Time It Is? - Romans 13:11-14

Christians, do you know what time it is? The Apostle Paul tells us it’s time to wake up, put off the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. In light of the return of Christ, and the lateness of the hour, how should we then live? More

Renewing Your Passion - II Timothy 1

Today we are beginning a summer series from the little book of II Timothy. People sometimes wonder how pastors choose what to preach on. In this case, I feel like I didn’t choose II Timothy; II Timothy chose me. Last fall as we were finishing up our trip on the “Bible Bus,” we came to II Timothy. Even though I had read the book before, the power of its message grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. It seemed to say, More

A Tale of Two Brothers - Genesis 25:17-34

Several years ago Dr. Kevin Leman wrote The Birth Order Book. You may be familiar with that book because Dr. Leman is a well-known Christian psychologist and has been on Dr. Dobson’s radio program a number of times. The thesis of The Birth Order Book is very simple: When you are dealing with your children, it is important to understand that their personality, their temperament and their outlook on life is greatly shaped by w More

Obadiah: A Good Man in a Hard Place - 1 Kings 18:1-15

Ahab was angry and that wasn’t good news. It wasn’t just that he was having a bad day or a bad week or even a bad month. For Ahab things had gone bad for the last three years. That’s a long stretch of bad luck, and it was bound to make a man grouchy, nervous, tense, upset, uptight, irritable, frustrated, and prone to losing his temper. You didn’t want to be around the king when he was in a bad mood, which was More

Snake Eyes - Genesis 3:1-7

“The literal Genesis record of supernatural creation is the foundation of the true gospel, the true doctrine of Christ, true evangelism, genuine saving faith, and of all the key aspects of biblical Christianity.” “All truth–in every area of life–finds its beginning in the Genesis record of creation and the other events of primeval history. That’s why God placed it first in the Bible.”“O More

Behind Closed Doors - Hebrews 13:4

There are times when a writer knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that he doesn’t have to worry about getting the reader’s attention. Certain subjects require no gimmicks, tricks or elaborate introductions. Some subjects–there are only a few–call forth such universal interest that nothing special is needed. This is one of those times and this is one of those subjects. I have no doubt that everyone will read More

Len Hoppe—A Friend Remembered

I can’t remember the first time I met him. I know it must have happened the first time I visited Calvary, months before I became the pastor, but the precise moment has passed from my memory. That little fact doesn’t matter because you never simply “met” Len Hoppe. You encountered him. And when you encountered him, you never forgot it. Not the first time, anyway. And I do remember the first time I encountered L More

Curing the Itch Mites

Ray: How many of you know what itch mites are? We had never heard of them until two months ago. Marlene: We learned all about itch mites when we hosted a wedding reception in Chicago for Mark and Vanessa who had gotten married in California two weeks earlier. Some friends offered to let us have the reception in their backyard, a large area with some beautiful oak trees. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm with a just little breeze. More

Why Good People Won't Go to Heaven - Romans 10:1-4

I’d like to talk to you about who goes to heaven. We all know that the Bible teaches the reality of heaven and the reality of hell. Jesus himself spoke of both places many times. All of us, I’m sure, would like to go to heaven if we could. Even if you are not a Christian, I’m sure if given a choice, you would choose heaven, whatever it is and wherever it is. I begin with a very simple observation. Not everyone More

No Place for Pride - Romans 11:17-24

Tell them, Pastor Ray, tell them that nothing matters except Christ. The young people need to know this before it’s too late.” So said my friend Jim Johnsen on my visit with him in the hospital shortly before he died. “Nothing matters except Christ.” We all know it’s true. Why does it take sickness or tragedy for us to believe it? We spend our days and weeks and years chasing the pot of gold at the More

The God We Hardly Know

David Mains caught me off guard with his question. “If you had to grade your congregation on their knowledge of the Holy Spirit, what grade would you give them?”Up until that moment, the interview had gone well. David and his daughter Melissa had thrown me fast pitches right over the center of the plate and I had proceeded to knock them out of the park. Suddenly, I was at a loss for words. But the one thing you can’ More

Samson and the Fine Art of Self-Control

In December 2004 I received an email that changed my life. Right after the tsunami that devastated Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India, Ramesh Richard, a professor at Dallas Seminary, sent an email that contained a simple, one-sentence prayer. He called it a “dangerous” prayer. The moment I saw that prayer I knew that it was going to be my prayer for the next chapter of my life. It goes like this: “Lord, do thi More

Forever and Ever, Amen! - Matthew 19:6

Let’s begin with a little quiz. What well-known television actor said the following? “To me the greatest Latin lover in the world was may Dad, who married my mother and was faithful to her until the day he died 55 years later. Now, that’s a great lover–a man who’s intelligent and romantic enough to keep one woman interested all the time.” Do you know who said that? I’ll give you a hint. More

Do Not Neglect Your Spiritual Gift - 1 Timothy 4:14

Is ministry your Spiritual Gift? No man calls himself into the ministry or into local church leadership. A self-called man and a God-called man are two different people. One man thinks he’s qualified so he calls himself. The other man feels unworthy but responds to God’s call. If God has called you, rise up, go forth and serve the Lord. More

Why We Pray - Romans 15:30-33

A quarter-century ago, when we were living in the Los Angeles area, I attended an all-day seminar on prayer led by Warren Wiersbe. Those who know Dr. Wiersbe will not be surprised when I say that it was an extremely profitable day. I still remember his first words. He looked at us for a moment as if he was thinking about how to begin, and then he said, “All of us know we need to pray more than we do.” With that one senten More

Love is Blind but Marriage is a Can Opener

Ray: It was a hot night when we got married. Late August in Phoenix, Arizona is always hot but by the time our wedding started, the temperature outside had cooled down to a balmy 97 degrees. Marlene: There weren’t very many people at our wedding less than 100, I think. Except for Ray’s family, they were all local people. Ray: The ceremony itself was not unique. In fact, I don’t remember much about it except that th More

How to Handle Trouble in the Church

Some subjects require special justification by the pastor; others are self-evident. This one requires no justification. Wherever you have two or more people gathered in one place, you will have trouble sooner or later. Whenever you have hundreds of people in one place, you’ll probably have trouble sooner rather than later. Thus the need for this study.  What do you do when … –Two Christians will no longe More

How God Revealed the Ingratitude of My Own Heart - Romans 1

“Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.” (Romans 1:21 NLT). This is not the sort of verse that is likely to make you feel happy on Thanksgiving Day. It is more like the anti-Thanksgiving verse. Not too many people will read this verse before carving their turkey More