In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the dangers of immorality and the consequences it can have on one's life. He shares examples of well-known evangelists who have been destroyed by sexual sin. The preacher highlights the importance of repentance and forgiveness, assuring listeners that God's love is unconditional. He also addresses the issue of pornography and the increasing acceptance of sexual immorality in society, urging believers to hold fast to the Ten Commandments.

In the book of Proverbs, we men are warned that by the loose woman, our lives can be made into a piece of bread. You read Proverbs 5, 6, and 7. You want to read clear exhortation on sex, you read Proverbs 5, 6, 7, and 8. And you know what the Bible says there in Proverbs? It says the loose woman looks for the precious life. Oh, no wonder we've seen some of the best evangelists knocked out by immorality. I know of at least six leading men in Christianity, evangelists, top men, who have been completely wiped out by immorality, and I'm only very young. I know of some who have been put in jail for it. It was in the headlines of one European paper. One of the most famous evangelists in one European country, radio ministry, track distribution, Bible school. It came out in the press of his country. Evangelist so-and-so accused of immorality. They proved that he had sex relations with one-third of all the girls in his Bible school. You think we're playing with a game? You think O.M. exaggerates these things? Then I would say you lack a little bit of education. And I want to tell you the girls who were involved in that mess, some of them I would say have permanent psychological damage, permanent psychological damage. Don't you presume that the most committed man is not capable of falling because of the power in your body. He's still guilty. He's without excuse. You're to blame just as much as him. And all young girls learning how to dress modestly. It hurts me when I meet people who don't understand why we would prefer the skirts to be a little lower, why we prefer that girls learn how to sit, learn how to walk, because most of my counseling is with men. And I can tell you if we took a survey right now, these men would tell you that girls sitting wrong and girls wearing clothing that isn't modest and skirts that are too short. There are some exceptions. There are some boys that don't have any problems. Of course, you can't base a philosophy on that. The Bible doesn't. It talks about being a stumbling block to even one pave. And you know, a lot of girls don't understand this. This is why such sessions, I believe, are important. They don't understand men and the fact that when a man, through some trick of the mind, sees a certain part of a woman's body, something begins to move, just like a locomotive going down a track. And some, of course, who are mature in the Lord, they just immediately take it to the Lord and it's over. That's what we're trying to teach. And praise God, I would say that we have in this army of young men there are many who really know pure living and you don't have to worry what they see. They've got the victories, but there are many who don't. And with a man, it starts going. And with Christian boys, because naturally, they don't usually, at least in an environment like this, find a girl and commit immorality. It generally always leads to masturbation. Ninety percent of all the boys I've ever counseled, and that's a lot of people in 15 years, have told me one of the major problems in their Christian life is masturbation. If you don't know what that is, you ask any one of our girl leaders, talk to my wife. And this is promoted, the biggest thing that promotes this, next to illicit magazines, that's one of the big things, is girls who don't dress properly. Now, if I were a girl, and I thought that the way I dress was going to cause a boy to lust and then to fall into masturbation, which then he usually feels terrifically guilty and gets tremendously depressed. I know of some who quit the Christian faith because they never got victory over this. I believe that's foolish. And I don't believe this is the big bad sin that people make it out. I put it in a category with impatience and with irritability. It's wrong, but it's not the seventh deadly sin. It's not the same as adultery. And one of the reasons I'm saying this is because I know there's a certain percentage of girls that do fight the same problem. And some of them get terrifically condemned and depressed. Some feel that they've committed some subtle form of adultery through this sin of self-abuse. And I would just suggest that if you have some of these wrong ideas, you seek some counseling and some sharing. God understands you. God understands the terrific battle this is for some girls and for most men. And he's able to forgive. He's able to give tremendous victory. Even if the skirts don't get lower and girls don't get modester, he's still able to give the victory. That's what I'm counting on. That's where my hope lies, not in the other area. So I'll do what I can for the sake of my other brethren in that area. And so these things are serious. When we talk about modest dress, we're not playing a verbal game. We're not trying to be victorians. We're trying to keep men from the sins of David, of Amnon, of Samson, and of a host of others who through lust, who through the power generated by women, sex attraction, fell and destroyed their lives. Samson destroyed his life because he could not control his appetite for women. I know an evangelist masquerading around the world who after the evangelistic meeting usually has a prostitute in the hotel waiting for him. He justifies it from the Old Testament saying that as a great man of God he's allowed extra wives and concubines and prostitutes. And he's preaching unholiness all over the world. He's been banned from many countries, but the world's a big place so he just goes to another country. And I believe one of the reasons God has kept O.M. so free from this kind of devilish trick is we've taken a stand. And when we preach out and we put the, as we say, cards on the table and we walk in the light with one another, I want to tell you it's ten times harder to fall. Don't think that we as O.M. leaders haven't been tempted to fall in various ways. Almost all Christian men are tempted. But because of the position we've taken, because of the fellowship, because of what we believe and what we teach, God has kept us. And I want to tell you his keeping power over me five years when I was single, oh, unbelievable. No, it's been a lot easier since I've been married. When you're away from your wife four or five months a year, it's no game. But his keeping power is tremendous. Tremendous. And you will play an important role. Many times, the man just cannot put on the brakes. The female brakes are better than the male brakes when it comes to sex. Believe me, you may not think so. And he will respect you more for it. He will respect you more for it. He may tell you, oh, if you don't do this, you don't appreciate me, you don't really love me, you must prove your love, he'll say. You prove your love. You prove your love to Jesus first and he'll respect you. And if he doesn't, do you want to marry him? I don't think so. Not really. So we have many of these illustrations in the Old Testament. We have the illustration of the sons of Eli, 1 Samuel 2.22. You know, if there's any message I refuse to exaggerate on, it's this one. As I'm thinking back at what I've said, and I'll continue to do that, I'm not in any way exaggerating. And I don't think the Scriptures are exaggerating either. Now, Eli was very old and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel. And Eli, of course, was a great man of God, a great leader. But his sons went astray. And look what it says. The Bible's rather outspoken, isn't it? Did you ever realize how straight the Bible was? This is why liberals who hate the Bible say it's a pornographic book. There's whole books written against the Bible calling it a pornographic book. One book is called The Dirty Bible. There's a new book just produced that shows pictures of all these events, people in actual sex relationships, pictures, and it's called The Dirty Bible. And it's so blasphemous that I wouldn't even look at it if I could find it. And you realize today that in cities like Copenhagen people pay a dollar and go into a room and watch the sex act. That's entertainment today. That's how far we've gone. There's no stopping. Once we say the Ten Commandments are no longer valid, there's no stopping. That's why I say let's stop right there where the Ten Commandments are. And so we see this description that Eli's sons were laying with women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And all these things God condemns. That's why the Bible is not a pornographic book because in every case God condemns it. It's realism, but in every case it's condemned. Whereas pornography exalts it and makes it seem wonderful. You can see the terrific difference. I'm sorry if some of you are having any difficulty getting this through translation. Now in the book of Leviticus and in the book of Romans 1 and I'm going to have to go very quickly over this, we have discussed the problem of homosexuality. Recent reports show that one-tenth of all the population of San Francisco was now homosexual, male and female. One-tenth of the whole population. In England, the new law is that now homosexuality is legal as long as both partners are in agreement. The Bible condemns it. It says because of these things the wrath of God is coming. In our day it's just growing. One of the reasons it's growing is because men are not taking their rightful place in the home. Psychologically, the biggest thing that produces homosexuality in men is a weak father and a dominant mother. Poor father-son relationship or no relationship, mother running the show, boy develops homosexual tendency. Again and again and again I have faced it. I have been involved in counseling homosexuals for thirteen years in my Christian life, ever since I met one who was a leading singer in one of the biggest Christian choirs in the world or in the United States. And he was a practicing militant homosexual who was being torn apart because homosexuals almost always have psychological complications. You say, well, that's not a great problem for us. That seems to be a boy's problem. No. No. Homosexuality among women is on the increase. It is everywhere. It's more hidden, less talked about, but it's there. And I have never been in a large Christian group of this size or larger where there were not some who were faced with homosexual tendency. And, you know, if all I do in this one hour is help one person who has this problem, I'll consider it worth the pain that I get in my vocal cords. Because, look, most likely if you do have a homosexual problem, which is called lesbianism among women, there is victory. You probably, if you're here, don't have what I would consider as a situation that's just too far gone. You're just suffering from the sins of your parents or you're reaping and too far gone. I doubt if anybody's in that situation. It is quite normal in adolescence for men and women to get a dual desire. Quite normal. And with some counseling and with some proper discipline, I don't know any hope without discipline. Sorry. There is great hope. We have homosexuals I don't know where, but they're victorious ones. I don't believe we can condemn a man simply because his desires have been mixed up and confused and he has a psychological problem. But if he practices it, that's where he's condemned. And so we've had men who have a real problem. Now, like I said in other messages, God can do two things. He can deliver. Now, I've seen that. I've seen God deliver, bring normal desires in, and bring the path of normal marriage. He can do that. But he often, somehow, I don't know why, but he doesn't. But he gives a victory through the problem. He may deliver you of that strange emotion that must frighten you sometimes. But he may, on the other hand, choose to give you the grace to live with it and to overcome through discipline. And if you have this kind of problem, it'll probably make you a mighty woman of God or destroy you, one or the other. And the Bible speaks in Leviticus about this. The Bible even speaks openly in Leviticus about relations with animals, far more common than we think also in our day. You'd say, boy, I've never heard anyone speak on this. Well, don't you read your Bible? It's there. And it's condemned. This is a very big thing in the field of pornography today. And most girls have no idea of how wicked pornography is. Maybe you're learning a lot today, but it won't hurt you. Pornography is not pictures of girls without clothing. That is not pornography. Not in the real definition. I consider that semi-pornographic, and I don't believe it. Of course, it's just rubbish because it does something that's against God's order. But real pornography goes way beyond that. I'm not going to talk about it, but it just goes way beyond that, and it goes into picturing what the Bible describes in Leviticus, in Romans, and in other places, and God condemns it. And we as Christians should stand against pornography. You can read the Church Times over here or the English Churchman newspaper that has an article about the anti-pornographic effort we unofficially had. It wasn't O.M. It was Christian Action, one of our affiliated movements, had in the Soho of London because we hate it, and we believe that all these illegal, they are illegal, shops in Britain should be closed by the government. Now, I know we don't give much time to this because we're out to preach Christ, but it's worth, once every other year, a few shouts and a few buzzes in the night, and it lets off a lot of energy as well, and a lot of hatred that we have toward this literature that destroys men and makes them like a piece of bread. So all this is very serious before God, and it's very important that we know what the Bible teaches and that these things are condemned. And I feel that the periphery activities that border on these sins are also to be condemned. What do I mean by that? Flirting. I would never condemn a girl for being a little bit flirtatious. Some girls have that natural bent, and some of them aren't even conscious of it. Some of you girls, you have a clue that your eyes communicate like a radar station. My wife's eyes do that, and she didn't know it until some people told her. Deadly eyes. So now she's got to keep them on me. Some of you are not conscious that you're a bit sexy. What? Christian girls? Yes, Christian girls. And you must therefore try to discipline yourself and try to watch out for the lingering handshakes and the elongated looks that leave some boys absolutely encircled. Now, a lot of girls tend to feel inferior to boys. I'd love to take a survey, but I'm not sure if that's fair. How many feel inferior to boys? But I want to tell you most of these boys feel inferior with girls. I always felt inferior to girls. I was dating so many different girls. I was the president of my school. I had so many different involvements, and yet all that time I was feeling inferior. I put a terrific front on it. Dancer, joke, laugh, big deal. I was frightened with some of these girls. Frightened to death what they were going to do next. Praise God, one thing I don't have, I'm not frightened of my wife. But a lot of us have inferiority feelings, and sometimes we try to overcome them by seeing if we can get people drawn to us. I think personally it's dangerous. You see, all this playing with love is really a lie, isn't it? If I start talking to a girl and telling her how wonderful she is and I love her and all these things, I don't really mean it. What kind of a game is that? Yeah, I'm sorry to say many boys play that game. Others get trapped into it. They're completely innocent. They're sincere. They really meant it. But, bang, their emotions change. Now, we as boys, from what I can see, we easily forget. We easily forget our love affairs. But it doesn't seem that girls are able to forget so quick. And a lot of girls that my wife and I have known have really been hurt, really been hurt by some boy. And they thought this was the one. And they committed themselves, maybe not, you know, not in terms of immorality, but they committed themselves and then they were hurt. Now, personally, with the way things are in this crazy mixed-up world, I think all of us need to get ready to get hurt a little bit. And we need to realize that when these hurts come, these breakups and these so-called tragedies, it is not the end of the world. God knows what He's doing. He can overrule. And I think the greatest need among girls is for a deeper trust in Him. With boys, it's lust, and with girls, it's trust. Whereas we tend to battle lust and these magazines and our minds running away, girls tend to worry. Isn't that right? Have any of you ever done a little bit of worrying about this aspect of life? Come on now, be honest. Anybody? Probably everybody. Minus very few. And all to learn what it is to really leave this with the Lord. We're not against romances taking place, you know that. And if some of you stick around, you may be amazed what can happen in this little movement of so-called strict saints. But we want it in God's timing, and we don't believe that should be the first three weeks you come with it. We personally don't believe it should be the first year. We only ask one year, that's all, in which you really lay this aside and give yourself to the Lord and to the Word and to building yourself up and to letting your mind be revolutionized and to learning what it is to rest in the Lord and leave this matter with the Lord. After that, any boy and any girl who wants to get permission to meet can get it. And this is going to be made clearer this year. Second-year people not only have permission to meet if they really think they've found the one. No, that's a mistake. They can have permission to meet if they want to have just what they feel is a date or just share. And I feel that O.M. has got some learning to do in this. We feel that we, especially after this first year, we can't have any meeting with a girl unless, you know, we've prayed over this six months and we've gone through all kinds of sending the spies into the land. And I would like to see a greater freedom. Mind you, a lot of people make it difficult. One person breaking the social rules spoils it for everybody else. That's why it's important to try to play according to the rules of the game. So what is our real program and our real policy? It's wait upon the Lord. Wait upon the Lord. It's quite natural for you to be infatuated with boys, sometimes even more than one. I was infatuated at one point with about ten all at the same time. And I almost probably would have condemned myself and become a neurotic, except I found so many fellow travelers who were the same way. It's quite normal. But you shouldn't dwell on that. Just leave it with the Lord. God. Because it is a natural thing, but I don't believe it's God's way to dwell on that and get caught up on that. I've had situations where a girl saw a particular boy, heard him speak, and she thought this is the one. She prayed about it. The Lord gave her the word. This is the one. Ha! Evangelical nonsense. Evangelical nonsense! The Lord doesn't give you a word about Him being the one without Him also getting a word. And so, if you get this word from the Lord, I suggest you leave it with the Lord. Because once you start sharing it with one of your girlfriends, you know, now Sally, I'm only going to share this with you. You're my intimate friend. I'm only going to tell you. Because I don't want it to get out. But I saw this fellow, you know, just a long time ago. I've been praying about it a long time. Actually, last Monday, I saw this fellow. And I've been praying every day since last Monday. And, uh, I really feel He's the one. I want you to unite with me in claiming. And they go to that verse in Matthew. If any two agree touching anything. Well, praise God, most girls don't go to that extreme. But, similar, sharing in one. She, of course, feels constrained. There's something in a girl that feels constrained to share. Some places they call it gossip. But in evangelical circles, we're sharing for prayer. That's right. And, of course, in no time, in no time, it's back to the boy. Because somewhere, his best friend made contact with one of your friends' best friends and it comes around. Of course, in a way, you were sort of hoping that would happen anyway. And what this leaves the confusion in it, a lot of wasted time. Whereas to me, waiting on the Lord and committing it to the Lord. If you do say something, don't make it a closed case to say, well, you know, to your friend, so and so, you know, every once in a while I get thoughts about him. That's quite different from saying, well, you know, I really feel this is the one. And the same is vice versa. Look, when you start to get the whisper, hey, I hear that so and so is interested in you. I want to tell you, you'd be a very wise girl if you just realized that's probably a rumor. I have many cases where I've had the job of having to end it. A fellow came to me and said, look, will you somehow communicate with so and so? I'm not interested in her. I don't know where she got the idea. I didn't mean to loan her my hymn book in the meeting, but please communicate to her she's not the one. In fact, I'm engaged to be married next week with so and so. So when you hear these things, don't get your hopes up so quickly. Of course, some of you, when you hear who it is, just deflate you. But I believe in waiting on the Lord, getting occupied with the Lord, and getting involved in the Lord's work and leave this with Him. And He will work it out in His time. There's nothing wrong with conversing with boys. There's nothing wrong with fellowship, contacts, a little different out in India. But back here in Europe, I feel there's plenty of liberty. But let's follow this basic, sensible, biblical pattern of waiting on the Lord and of following after Him. And let's try to keep in mind all these things that we've talked about. There's so much more that could be said about marriage, about engaged couples. I'll just insert this, that the time of engagement is a wonderful period, a wonderful time in your life. It's a time where you'll need to learn discipline. That's good. Don't be one of those engaged couples who goes too far. I don't think that the engagement period is a time for, as some people put it, everything but sex. No. You know yourself that I believe basically heavy petting and extensive kissing should be kept for marriage. There's nothing wrong with some exchange of affection among engaged people. They have to know their own limits and each one is different. I don't judge people. But watch out. Getting alone too long and overemphasizing sex and what leads up to it during the engagement period because it can ruin psychologically and give a lot of difficulty. In closing, just this word. No matter what your past may be, God can cover it with his precious blood. Girls are more sensitive than boys. They tend to go into their past and really get upset by it. Some of you girls have lived very innocent lives. You need to be understanding of other girls who have been back and forth into the world many, many times. And all of you need to realize that if you confess your sin, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse from all unrighteous. I don't care what it is. I had a young man come to me and said he had committed sex with his sister. He felt he'd never win a soul to Jesus Christ because he'd commit that great sin. I said, look, have you confessed that? He said, yes. I said, it's God. As far as God is concerned, young man, it has never happened. Isn't that wonderful? If you have committed immorality, whether it was before your conversion, of course we know that's God. But even if it was after your conversion, due to weakness, due to being a babe in Christ, being untaught, if you confess it before God, it's God. Isn't that wonderful? I think that's one of the greatest messages. You know, though I never committed immorality in my life, I hurt an awful lot of girls. One very, very bad because she was let on and then I broke off and she just really went off and married her step-brother. And you know, the devil tried to I even sometimes, I was telling my wife the other day, I get a dream about this girl who I so deeply hurt, even though we never committed adultery or immorality. You don't have to do that to hurt people. Words, words are very, very dangerous. They're explosives. They're loaded. But you know, I just had to take the word of God and the sovereignty of God and say, Lord, you've forgiven me. I can't punish myself. Nothing I do now will help. You've covered it by your precious blood. Isn't that wonderful? That's great. I don't deserve that for all my folly, for all my fooling around. But he's forgiven me. That's great. And though you may have committed the worst sin, though your sin may be as scarlet, the Bible says it shall be as white as snow. That's great. And that's what I want to emphasize. You won't hear many messages like this. We don't really emphasize this that much. But you will hear a lot of messages on grace. And when you hear those messages on grace, if this is an area where you've had trouble, may you realize it's all God. Finished. And here's the thrilling thing. If next week, and I hope you'll remember this, because some of you, when you get back home, the battles may be overwhelming, especially if you really get a high standard. Remember this. You go back to England, and after some months, because the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, you fall in some way. Remember this. As far as God is concerned, that's the first time you've ever done it. Repent, believe in forgiveness, get up, and go on. Because he loves you as much when you're down as when you're up. Isn't that terrific? He loves you. The Lord Jesus, the one who really can meet these needs in our life, these desires for love and all the rest. He loves you as much when you're down as when you're up. So if you do fall, remember that lawyer, that advocate. Claim his forgiveness. Claim his cleansing. Rise up, and go forward again.