In this sermon, the preacher addresses the current state of wickedness in society, specifically focusing on the issue of premarital sexual relationships. He emphasizes that it is unacceptable for a couple to engage in physical intimacy before marriage, comparing it to a bride wearing a stained or bloody wedding garment. The preacher also reminds both young men and women that they will be held accountable before God, regardless of whether they get married or not. He then highlights the importance of building a solid foundation in one's relationship with God and living a life free from sin, as this will be tested by fire on the day of judgment.

Our text Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become manifest, for the day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is. And then we read in 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 9. That's verse 19. That's 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 19. We'll read thus far. We hear that there is a foundation laid. And Paul says, as a wise master builder, he laid the foundation. And we hear from Timothy that nevertheless, this foundation stands sure. This word, nevertheless, implies that there is something that has taken place that is corrupting, which is perverted, which threatens that, but despite all that, the foundation stands true. That which is of God always stands sure and eternal and secure. It never moves. It never changes. The fashions, the modes, the trends have no influence on that which is of God. And we hear that the foundation of God has a seal. And it's a seal which can be read. This seal has on the one side of it the statement, the Lord knows those who are His. The other side of the seal says, he who names the name of the Lord, let him depart from sin. Or depart from all iniquity. We must understand what God is saying. Believing is trendy today. You'll find that everybody will say, well, I have this belief and I have faith. But true faith has the stamp of God. Like marriage. Well, anybody gets married. But in marriage, not everything is automatically acceptable to God. But within marriage, there is also the foundation of God. Let the one who gets married also take care how he builds on the foundation. Because many a bride gets married with a veil to keep up tradition, but the true veil has long since been torn. And you know that the veil symbolizes chastity, purity, virginity. So, the one who gets married without a veil, is not of purity. At the same time, the one who has a veil, cannot be a chaste woman. If a woman is not of the veil, it means she has a demoness. I saw, and you would have noticed, the bride coming down with her father. She had her veil on. He then uncovered her face and removed the veil, in other words, symbolizing that she is now given over in marriage. Now people who grab hold of that before, that time, that appointed time, they are as criminal as one who just goes into a butchery. Instead of paying for what he buys, he just grabs any piece of meat hanging there. He will go to jail. And if he doesn't go to a South African jail, if he's not arrested and imprisoned, well, there is the eternal jail. He doesn't even go into the door. He just takes a stone, throws it through the glass, breaks the glass, and enters into that building. That person is a criminal. He's a murderer. Shedding blood. It's not acceptable to God. God says that he has set aside a special day to judge promiscuity and those who remove innocence from the marriage bed and defile the marriage bed. This is a time of great and blatant wickedness and you'll find that a girl and a boy will be girlfriend, boyfriend together, touch each other, pet and even sleep with each other before they've stood before the altar of God. And the one who has been messing around and has been the plaything of men for ages, she comes in with a white veil, she might as well be performing in a circus. What would you think of a bride who would come in with her veil and her wedding garment and it's got black spots on it or even blood? That's why I say yes, this is a marriage, this is a wedding ceremony but let's take notice that this foundation has the seal. Let's notice the words which says he who names the name of the Lord, let him depart from all iniquity. And that is why in the context of that verse in Timothy we find that there is a great shaking of many other things and people just doing their own thing and sometimes everybody doing the opposite but nevertheless God's solid foundation still stands firm. That is why I say we must examine what we build, how we build, with what materials we build upon this foundation for on that day the fire will reveal of what type it was. Even though there are those who mess around and pretend and put up a facade of righteousness where they say well I did pray about it, it is the Lord's will, meantime actually it's been a suggestion by their friends and there's been a lot of arranging and even an affair between them, you might get away with it but the Bible says that nevertheless the sure foundation of God stands even if you do that God's judgment will bring to light what you've done. Now this is for the wedding ceremony but you might be here as a visitor and you are surely at work with something. You need to also examine yourself and ask what am I building with? Am I building with this which is just rubbish and which will be burned or is it gold, is it precious stones and silver? Now even though the government might make laws in favor of homosexuality and things like that that they can even get married but the Bible says that those who are not thankful and do not acknowledge God the Lord hands them over to perversion such as homosexuality, lesbianism, even though it might be legalized nevertheless God's foundation stands sure. God's foundation stands sure. God's foundation stands sure. Now compliments have been paid to the bridal couple and I also say they look wonderful and to as far as I'm concerned they've done everything well but remember that we mustn't live before man, we mustn't think that we are out to impress people, we are to live before God because all things appear as they really are. Some people will not gossip in church but when they are at home then they feel quite free to gossip and slander using the names of other people. That's why it says let each one therefore examine with how he builds. And so to the bridegroom and the bride I say it's wonderful that you've started your married life in this way, now continue in this direction. If young people would simply live in purity and in chastity the AIDS problem would be instantly solved. Those who've already got it will die but there will be a new generation of those who live free from it. Now that you've started with marriage that's not the end of the story, you now need to live, you bridegroom, as a man of God and you bride as a woman of God. And let your in-laws be blessed by what they see, let it not go according to the Zulu idiom which says that the bride was very pretty and nice when she first came but after a while she kicked her husband. And you too, your husband, treat her well. Remember that you are accountable before God for he will call you to account as to how you looked after her, whether you helped to hallow and sanctify her. The Bible says you are to give yourself for her, you are to be surrendered for her sake just as Christ surrendered himself for his church. And you, wives, you older women, those who are mothers already and you have husbands, the Bible says of you that you should be teaching the younger wives how they should love their husbands. That's why I ask the elder women whether they are teaching their younger how to behave and how to love a husband. Don't say I'm too old, I don't care anymore. You're not too old, if you're too old let him get married to a young woman but he's got to wait till you die before then he can't. Well, two men got together and in their conversation the one man said to his friend, my wife is a real angel. The other one said, oh you are privileged, mine is still alive. So you, wives, don't be angels just one day when you're dead, be angels now while you still have the practical responsibilities new with your husband. Be that to your husband and to your in-laws, let it be that should it be one day that you die first, that there's genuine sorrow at the loss because of what you were to them. And your husband, you be that too. Let it be that if your wife discusses privately with others about you that she can say honestly, I'm married to a man of God, I honor him and respect him. I make no bones about the fact that I'm happy to be a man, for I pity the woman that has to marry a man and he turns out to just be a fake, an imitation. He might be religious, but when it comes to real holiness, really being a man of God, he's just a wimp. What a pity then for women who have to live with a man who cannot command her respect. They don't live lives that are worthy of respect. That's why I say, Lord, thank you for making me a man. So your wife, live with a heavenly attitude and let it be noticeable. Your husband as well, live with a heavenly mind and that you live with the things of heaven and that it is evident. Now, both of you are believers. You've surrendered your lives to the Lord. You are Christians. Now you are on the foundation. Be careful therefore now how you build, for one day we will be brought to account before God. We will be tested by fire. And you girls and you boys, remember you too will be called to account before God, even if you never get married. Whatever happens to you, you will have to give account of yourself before God. We're going to the judgment day where it will be tested by fire. The first part of the seal says the Lord knows those who are his. Now we find that confusing. And mystifying. Sometimes I ask parents whether their children know the Lord and the parents say, well, I don't really know. But God knows those who are his. He is not confused. He is not mystified. Yes. I've related the story a couple of times recently how a certain woman in Christian work on her deathbed, confidently saying to all those around her, the Lord is coming to fetch me. When she opened her eyes in horror, she said, no, not that one. That's the wrong one. She was fetched by someone else. She was living for something, but it wasn't Jesus. But she thought it was Jesus. My, what a shock she must have received. And that's how she entered eternity. How will you eternity, enter eternity? Make sure Mark Seeker leave a print. Jesus said, many will come saying, Lord, Lord, did I not do this? Did I not prophesy in your name? Did I not cast out demons? But the Lord will simply shake his head and say, I do not know you. So you better make sure that you are serving the right Jesus and not the wrong one. Make sure you can't afford it serving the wrong one. And your life will witness to all mankind, whether you've got the real one, the genuine one. But if you get angry, annoyed, have grudges, if there's bitterness in your life, and then you say, Lord, serve the right one, make sure that you don't wake up in hell. So in that sense, the Lord knows those who are his, he knows exactly who they are. When they come, he can differentiate between a sheep and a goat. Now, this foundation, this seal has something regarding God and something regarding you. It's like a covenant, which has an agreement, two sides. God's side, the Lord knows his. He knows, I have chosen this one. I have saved him. I've sanctified him. But here's your side. He who names the name of the Lord, let him depart from all evil. And in Greek, it's not only let him depart from all evil, let him stand aloof, aside from evil and have nothing to do with it. Do you hear about your side? Some people are so stressed by the thought, does God really care for me? Does he really love me? Will he look after me? No, that is God's side. You need to keep your side of the covenant. Let him who names the name of the Lord stand aloof from all iniquity. In other words, having no fellowship, no participation in it. I can ask you at the end of the sermon. Ask you a question which has to do with you yourself personally. Have you parted from iniquity from the point of view of standing aloof from it, shunning it, or are you still participating in it? What do you do with it? That's what God demands from you. Don't say that you belong to Christ if you haven't parted and stand aloof from all evil. That's God's foundation upon which you've got to build. That's God's foundation upon which you've got to build. I was so touched by a pagan woman who fled and came here for refuge because a group of men were hunting her down to rape her. She said, I'd rather die, I'd rather commit suicide than have these men do this to me. I even said, Lord, will pagans like this enter into heaven and the children of the kingdom be cast aside? A child of pagans who are involved in ancestral worship, that's how she felt, but you find children of Christians who will be writing love letters to each other, touching each other, and doing that type of thing. Oh, that fire will burn and show up what sort people really are. I would be so glad if you, husband, your wife, that you would live this life on this foundation and your future family as well, that you would stand on this sure foundation. That was my prayer and my wish to this couple. Some lay claim to being on the foundation, but when you observe them, you have to say they're lying. They're not on God's foundation. For the first question, if you really meet with the Lord, the first question is, what does he want of me? Not what I want out of him. It's the question is, does he know me? Not so much whether I know him. And on that day of judgment, the real question, the core question will be, does he know you or not? And the other side of the coin, did you break with all evil and ungodliness and unrighteousness? Did you break with all evil and unrighteousness and unrighteousness? Did you break with all evil and unrighteousness?