WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.359 Amen. So as we begin this very direct teaching of Jesus, let me ask you a question. Could 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:15.300 ! you do what a guy called Aaron Ralston did? Maybe that name is familiar to some of you, 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:22.679 ! if you've watched, if you made your way through the story 127 hours, he was the mountaineer who found 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:30.820 his arm trapped in a canyon in Utah. And as time went on, he was alone, he was isolated, 00:00:31.759 --> 00:00:38.060 he ran out of supplies, the sun was beating down on him, and he came to that point of decision. 00:00:38.060 --> 00:00:49.840 And his decision was to take out his pocket knife to cut off his own arm. He chose to live. 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:59.320 Could you do it? Would you do it? Sounds horrific, doesn't it? What does Jesus say to us in our text 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:07.840 today? He says, as his followers, you and I should want to live. We should choose life, 00:01:07.980 --> 00:01:14.480 and that means we should be willing to do whatever it takes. We should cut off whatever it takes 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:22.800 so that we would live. So our particular focus, as Jesus brings us here, is the topic of lust and 00:01:22.800 --> 00:01:28.760 sexual sin, but it applies more widely, I think. But we're going to think about it specifically. 00:01:30.140 --> 00:01:34.520 Sinclair Ferguson has a book on the Sermon on the Mount with the subtitle, Kingdom Life 00:01:34.520 --> 00:01:40.800 in a Fallen World, acknowledging the tension that there is for the follower of Jesus living in a world 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:46.620 with very different values. And maybe here we find the tension is particularly real. 00:01:47.579 --> 00:01:54.579 We live in a very permissive society. There is unlimited access to pornography. 00:01:56.579 --> 00:02:02.900 We live in a time when the ideas of commitment and covenant are increasingly becoming foreign 00:02:02.900 --> 00:02:09.599 concepts. How do we live as followers of King Jesus in a fallen world? 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:18.420 And Jesus tackles this problem head on. He gets again right to the heart of the law. What's God's 00:02:18.420 --> 00:02:27.740 intention in the law? And so in his teaching, he says to us, remember, adultery is more than you think. 00:02:29.600 --> 00:02:38.540 Adultery includes looking with lust. The heart is again the target. Or in verse 32, 00:02:38.539 --> 00:02:48.319 recognize that wrongful divorce makes other people the victims of adultery. Adultery is more than you 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:55.959 think, Jesus says. But he also says to us, using those graphic pictures in 29 and 30, adultery is worse 00:02:55.959 --> 00:03:02.039 than you think. You're sandwiched in between. Here's two examples of adultery of the heart. There are these 00:03:02.039 --> 00:03:11.439 pictures of mutilation. To say to us, sin is that serious. We must be killing sin lest it kill us. 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:17.199 So we've got two big ideas we're going to think about as Jesus tackles the problem of lust. The first 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:24.159 is that we would love and choose faithfulness. And the second, that we would hate and kill sin. 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:29.979 So first, this idea of loving and choosing faithfulness. When we come to this teaching, 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:34.859 what's clear is that the Pharisees, the religious leaders of Jesus' day, they're very much in target 00:03:34.859 --> 00:03:40.900 for Jesus. And there's two ways that they have been going wrong and leading other people into wrong. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:47.879 Firstly, they're turning the law into a simple tick box exercise. You know, don't commit adultery. 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:53.659 So they would say, you know, so long as you don't hop into bed with somebody, you're okay with that 00:03:53.659 --> 00:04:01.359 commandment. Surface level. Jesus. Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully is already committed adultery 00:04:01.359 --> 00:04:06.960 with it in his heart. Jesus always targets the heart. So they go wrong by making it superficial. 00:04:07.419 --> 00:04:12.240 But they also make it wrong because their starting point is wrong. They ignore God's heart and God's 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:21.120 design. Their interest is basically, you know, how can I sort of say somebody is guilty of indecency so I 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:28.980 can get rid of my wife? And they're ignoring God's good design. Even when it comes to the law, 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:34.240 anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce. That was intended as a 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:40.780 safeguard for women, recognizing the hardness of men's hearts. But what's happened is the Pharisees are 00:04:40.779 --> 00:04:49.139 turning this indecency clause into an escape clause. What's the lowest bar? And so people were actually 00:04:49.139 --> 00:04:55.659 discussing in Jesus' day, is it okay if my wife serves me an unacceptable meal? Is that a basis for 00:04:55.659 --> 00:05:03.319 kicking her out the door? And so Jesus targets the false teachers and their false teaching 00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:13.219 because it's despising God's heart for marriage. Their teaching on the law is impacting others' lives. 00:05:13.599 --> 00:05:20.039 They've forgotten God's grace, so they're guilty of despising God's good plan. They're ignoring God's 00:05:20.039 --> 00:05:25.920 good design for covenant and faithfulness, and they're rejecting God's good laws. 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:32.759 And so Jesus wants to talk about loving and choosing faithfulness. 00:05:35.080 --> 00:05:39.500 Recognizing our hearts are always in danger. We need to hear what Jesus says. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:47.360 Jesus, again, in chapter 19, returns to the question on divorce and permission. It seems to be one of the 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:54.920 big issues, hot-button topics of his day, and he's questioned. And when he's questioned on the 00:05:54.920 --> 00:06:02.340 grounds for divorce, what Jesus does is he says, let's not talk about divorce, let's talk about 00:06:02.340 --> 00:06:08.819 marriage. Let's go back to the way God designed life. Let's return to the idea of marriage as God's 00:06:08.819 --> 00:06:16.860 good gift, as an act of his grace. And so he takes them back to Adam and to Eve. Marriage is a good gift. 00:06:17.080 --> 00:06:23.580 The good gift of true companionship. The good gift of covenant love. The good gift of permanent union. 00:06:23.579 --> 00:06:28.079 The good gift of covenant love. The good gift of covenant love. The good gift of marriage. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:36.159 And so Jesus wants the thinking in his day, he wants our thinking to be shaped by God's plan and God's 00:06:36.159 --> 00:06:47.439 design. Ideas of marriage and faithfulness. Not how close to the line of sin can I walk, 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:54.980 which is very much the attitude of the Pharisees trying to get permissions, but how close to God's 00:06:54.980 --> 00:06:58.360 design for faithfulness can I walk? 00:07:01.860 --> 00:07:09.199 Verse 28, anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:17.680 The heart of the adultery command is a matter of the human heart. But do you notice that Jesus does 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:24.800 something else? He recognizes that often what leads us towards adultery in our heart begins with our eyes. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:34.540 There's that point where Jesus teaches that the eye is the lamp of the body. What it lets in, if your eye 00:07:34.540 --> 00:07:38.699 lets in light, then your whole body is going to be light. But if your eye lets in darkness, your whole body is 00:07:38.699 --> 00:07:45.160 going to be filled with darkness. What the eye sees and desires, the heart follows, Jesus teaches. 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:52.860 And so he's calling us to choose faithfulness, both as a heart issue and an eye issue. 00:07:54.600 --> 00:08:00.660 It's sort of challenging and practical, I think. It's important that we recognize as Jesus teaches 00:08:00.660 --> 00:08:05.760 in the Sermon on the Mount, he is challenging directly, in the first place, his own culture. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:12.379 Because the culture that was happening there, even within religious society, was to create an easy 00:08:12.379 --> 00:08:19.659 divorce culture. And there was also their own version of toxic masculinity that basically said, 00:08:19.659 --> 00:08:27.579 well, men are in charge and we can dispose of women as we like. Jesus challenges that head on with God's 00:08:27.579 --> 00:08:35.840 Word. Of course, there are similar challenges for our day. But think about our own culture's view of 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:40.899 sex and how different it is to the Bible. For many people, the idea of sex is it's linked to transaction. 00:08:40.899 --> 00:08:47.919 It's all about being a consumer and about consumption. It's my body, it's my needs, it's my gratification, 00:08:48.379 --> 00:08:54.699 zero idea of commitment. We have hookup culture and all the apps that accompany it. But for the Bible 00:08:54.699 --> 00:09:04.939 and for Jesus, sex is covenantal. It is a good gift from God within a particular context, the context of 00:09:04.940 --> 00:09:12.420 lifelong committed marriage between one man and one woman, where each is for the other, where the context 00:09:12.420 --> 00:09:22.940 is self-giving, not selfish. So one view destroys and devalues ideas of love and faithfulness, 00:09:23.640 --> 00:09:30.900 with a trail of guilt and brokenness that often follows. Whereas Jesus' view creates the security 00:09:30.899 --> 00:09:35.899 stability and stability, the foundation for marriage, for family life, for society. 00:09:38.379 --> 00:09:46.539 But as Jesus connects our hearts with our eyes, Jesus' words also challenge our viewing habits 00:09:46.539 --> 00:09:55.199 in a very deliberate way. To think for each one of us about the TV, the movies that we consume, 00:09:55.200 --> 00:10:02.180 what we watch on our phones, and especially in our days, we recognize the danger of pornography. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:07.980 There is an idea, and sometimes it even floats around in Christian circles, 00:10:08.160 --> 00:10:13.140 well, my viewing doesn't hurt anyone, so it's okay, surely. 00:10:14.759 --> 00:10:18.620 Do we hear how Jesus' words in verse 28 explodes the idea? 00:10:18.620 --> 00:10:24.820 As he says to us, any immorality by anyone, recognized women are included in this as well, 00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:29.840 any immorality by anyone, even if done in secret, even if it's just in our hearts, 00:10:30.759 --> 00:10:32.779 is heart adultery and is serious sin. 00:10:36.139 --> 00:10:40.580 And I do think in particular we need to be aware of the porn industry, 00:10:40.580 --> 00:10:46.080 what that's doing within our society, within Christian society, 00:10:46.740 --> 00:10:52.840 as it exploits and abuses and dehumanizes. 00:10:56.100 --> 00:10:58.340 It corrodes relationships. 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:01.000 It harms children. 00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:04.240 It creates a toxic culture. 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:07.780 It traps people in addiction. 00:11:07.779 --> 00:11:15.839 It leaves people in a spiral of shame and guilt and drags people away from God. 00:11:17.159 --> 00:11:20.720 Heart adultery, Jesus says, is a serious thing. 00:11:21.699 --> 00:11:22.959 Lives have been ruined. 00:11:23.220 --> 00:11:24.439 Ministries have been ruined. 00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:26.579 Families have been ruined. 00:11:28.019 --> 00:11:36.279 And so to love and to choose faithfulness is going to involve us swimming against the tide of culture, 00:11:36.279 --> 00:11:41.779 to have a heart that will choose loyalty and love to Jesus, 00:11:41.779 --> 00:11:45.240 will involve us praying for one another, 00:11:45.339 --> 00:11:49.259 and maybe especially for our younger people and especially our younger men. 00:11:50.539 --> 00:11:52.199 Because the danger is real. 00:11:54.360 --> 00:11:59.019 How can you and I seek to be faithful in this area? 00:11:59.019 --> 00:12:05.399 We have an invitation all the time in the Bible to choose a love that is selfless, 00:12:05.899 --> 00:12:07.779 not a love that is selfish. 00:12:08.199 --> 00:12:15.879 Let me just read 1 Corinthians 13 verses 4 to 7 to hear what love truly is. 00:12:17.079 --> 00:12:18.179 Love is patient. 00:12:18.659 --> 00:12:19.419 Love is kind. 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:21.240 It does not envy. 00:12:21.399 --> 00:12:22.259 It does not boast. 00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:23.259 It is not proud. 00:12:23.259 --> 00:12:26.019 It does not dishonor others. 00:12:26.139 --> 00:12:27.539 It is not self-seeking. 00:12:27.960 --> 00:12:29.679 It is not easily angered. 00:12:29.700 --> 00:12:31.620 It keeps no record of wrongs. 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:35.519 Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. 00:12:36.100 --> 00:12:42.879 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 00:12:44.419 --> 00:12:46.340 Lust does not do that. 00:12:47.299 --> 00:12:49.120 Pornography does not do that. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:53.139 We are invited to choose love as the better way. 00:12:54.539 --> 00:12:58.120 So if we're married in our marriages, we have to guard our eyes, 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:02.159 and we have to guard our hearts to only have eyes for our spices. 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:09.159 That we would deliberately both enjoy and protect God's good gift. 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:17.719 But all of us, if we're following Jesus, we have this first responsibility to be faithful to God, 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:21.019 to honor what God honors. 00:13:24.179 --> 00:13:29.339 Significant, I think, that in the Bible, there is that sin of spiritual adultery. 00:13:29.439 --> 00:13:31.519 We come across all the time in the Old Testament. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:35.679 God is faithful to His people, but what do His people do? 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:41.959 They look to some other God for their security and for their joy and for their life. 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:43.599 And how does God describe it? 00:13:43.659 --> 00:13:46.059 He describes it as unfaithfulness, as adultery. 00:13:47.019 --> 00:13:52.059 In the kingdom of God, our heart is to be towards God. 00:13:52.199 --> 00:13:54.699 He is the one we look to for our life. 00:13:56.359 --> 00:14:01.859 Maybe we need to realize that lust is a worship issue. 00:14:01.860 --> 00:14:08.340 In that moment, we find ourselves being invited to consider, 00:14:08.800 --> 00:14:15.700 do I think this thing, this image, this person has greater weight and value in my life than Jesus does? 00:14:16.220 --> 00:14:17.320 It's a worship issue. 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:26.840 And maybe one of the best ways that we can fight against lust and live with faithfulness is to think of Jesus. 00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:33.460 In that imagery that the Bible gives us, where He is the bridegroom and we are the bride, 00:14:33.540 --> 00:14:37.620 and think of Jesus, He has spiritually united Himself to us. 00:14:38.500 --> 00:14:43.399 He willingly and gladly shares His life and shares His grace with us. 00:14:43.899 --> 00:14:46.920 He comes to live in us and with us. 00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:48.399 He loves us. 00:14:48.899 --> 00:14:52.200 He is eternally committed to us. 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:52.900 Love Jesus. 00:14:53.900 --> 00:14:54.900 Love Jesus. 00:14:55.680 --> 00:14:57.860 Love faithfulness. 00:14:59.520 --> 00:15:03.640 The second thing, and this takes us to those middle verses, 00:15:03.800 --> 00:15:07.240 that we are called to hate and kill sin. 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:10.400 Back to Aaron Ralston in Utah. 00:15:10.740 --> 00:15:14.100 What would you and I do to live? 00:15:14.100 --> 00:15:18.440 Well, in a sense, Jesus supplies our Christian answer. 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:22.920 As He takes us right into the heart of the spiritual battle against sin, 00:15:23.379 --> 00:15:27.680 if your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. 00:15:28.019 --> 00:15:31.980 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. 00:15:32.060 --> 00:15:38.360 It's better for you to lose an eye or a hand or one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. 00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:43.840 Now, of course, Jesus here is not talking literally and physically. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:47.600 Some people through church history have gone down that road. 00:15:48.220 --> 00:15:53.159 But we understand if we remove our right eye, the problem is we still have a left eye. 00:15:55.019 --> 00:16:01.899 And Jesus, places like Mark 7, reminds us that ultimately the heart is the heart of the problem. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:03.340 We can't cut our heart out. 00:16:03.340 --> 00:16:10.440 So what does Jesus mean when He talks about gouging out our eye or cutting off our hands? 00:16:11.660 --> 00:16:15.639 There's a Bible teacher called John Stott who's very helpful on what Jesus means. 00:16:15.740 --> 00:16:16.300 So he says, 00:16:16.420 --> 00:16:24.600 It's not physical self-maiming, but a ruthless moral self-denial. 00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:38.300 If there are things that I see or things that I do or places I go that are leading me into temptation and into sin, 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:40.360 what should I do? 00:16:40.440 --> 00:16:41.120 What should we do? 00:16:41.379 --> 00:16:43.139 We should cut them off. 00:16:44.940 --> 00:16:45.980 Don't look. 00:16:47.139 --> 00:16:48.060 Don't do it. 00:16:48.940 --> 00:16:50.440 Don't go. 00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:50.560 Don't go. 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:53.500 Act as if we were blinded. 00:16:53.620 --> 00:17:00.840 Act as if we were maimed towards that particular temptation to lust or any other temptation. 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:05.059 John Stott also says this. 00:17:05.640 --> 00:17:11.880 We are to become culturally maimed in order to preserve our purity. 00:17:11.880 --> 00:17:25.380 And what he has in view there is that we as Christians should be willing not to participate in parts of our culture that are regarded as normal by others. 00:17:25.840 --> 00:17:33.120 We should be willing to be thought of as weird and different if it means being obedient to Jesus and His command. 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:36.339 Websites we won't visit. 00:17:36.459 --> 00:17:37.839 Apps we won't use. 00:17:37.939 --> 00:17:39.439 Shows we won't watch. 00:17:39.500 --> 00:17:46.099 Even if everyone else does and it leaves us out of conversations and leaves us being seen as odd. 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:53.500 It's the necessary radical surgery to cut off what would tempt us to sin. 00:17:55.459 --> 00:17:57.959 Part of this involves us knowing ourselves. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:01.339 Our temptations are all different. 00:18:01.339 --> 00:18:02.799 Our temperaments are all different. 00:18:03.739 --> 00:18:07.479 When should you switch off your phone and be far away from it? 00:18:08.679 --> 00:18:12.839 When do you need to take care when you are by yourself? 00:18:14.359 --> 00:18:21.599 What are the scenes and images that you need to fast forward or simply shut down the laptop on? 00:18:23.779 --> 00:18:25.379 We need to know ourselves. 00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:28.399 There's a great road safety advert. 00:18:28.399 --> 00:18:30.519 I don't know if it's still running in Scotland. 00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:34.220 I think the strap line was drive like your granny's in the car. 00:18:34.879 --> 00:18:38.819 I think we understand the logic of that. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:45.920 And we would also understand the logic if we would apply it to watching and doing. 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:49.300 And that can work. 00:18:50.300 --> 00:18:56.640 But for a Christian we have something much more powerful even than you watch and do like your granny's beside you. 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:02.640 As Christians we are called to live with the fear of the Lord. 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:07.060 To understand the God of the universe. 00:19:07.060 --> 00:19:08.120 Our creator. 00:19:08.120 --> 00:19:09.120 He sees. 00:19:09.120 --> 00:19:10.660 He knows. 00:19:10.660 --> 00:19:12.780 He has saved and he loves us. 00:19:12.860 --> 00:19:13.860 And in response. 00:19:13.859 --> 00:19:20.719 We don't want to do anything to disobey him and to bring him displeasure. 00:19:21.199 --> 00:19:22.579 And even better. 00:19:24.479 --> 00:19:27.679 Because we know he's a good father and he's loved us that much. 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:30.019 We do not want to dishonor him. 00:19:32.219 --> 00:19:33.979 Live with the fear of the Lord. 00:19:34.719 --> 00:19:37.500 It's a great way to hate our sin. 00:19:37.500 --> 00:19:43.220 Jesus makes a very real connection for us in these verses. 00:19:44.859 --> 00:19:50.220 That lust of the eyes produces adultery in the heart. 00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:54.559 And adultery unrepented of can lead us to hell. 00:19:56.539 --> 00:19:59.559 And Jesus warns us so that we would choose to live. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:05.539 Moral amputation is better than eternal destruction. 00:20:05.539 --> 00:20:13.720 And so Jesus calls us towards what older theologians would call the mortification of sin. 00:20:13.819 --> 00:20:15.899 The idea of putting sin to death. 00:20:18.019 --> 00:20:21.539 So I want to be really practical in terms of giving us guidelines. 00:20:21.700 --> 00:20:26.839 How is it as followers of Jesus that we can day by day hate and kill sin? 00:20:26.940 --> 00:20:28.539 How can we choose life and faithfulness? 00:20:31.240 --> 00:20:33.139 If you're here today and you're not a Christian. 00:20:33.140 --> 00:20:35.960 But you're aware that this is a problem in your life. 00:20:37.100 --> 00:20:40.480 Understand that we can't simply click our fingers and bring change. 00:20:40.940 --> 00:20:43.040 Moral resolve isn't going to bring change. 00:20:43.280 --> 00:20:46.340 We can't roll up our sleeves to deal with our sin and temptation. 00:20:47.380 --> 00:20:49.500 Your greatest need is to be reborn. 00:20:50.180 --> 00:20:51.640 To be saved by Jesus. 00:20:51.780 --> 00:20:54.240 And then in his power we fight sin. 00:20:54.240 --> 00:21:03.120 But here's four things for you and I to take away in terms of how do we enter into this spiritual battle of killing sin. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:06.000 First, remember your new identity. 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:11.500 As Jesus begins his sermon on the mount, he begins with the Beatitudes. 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:15.099 And Beatitude 1, chapter 5, verse 3. 00:21:15.099 --> 00:21:18.839 Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:21.299 Here's our starting point. 00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:22.940 We belong to a different kingdom. 00:21:22.940 --> 00:21:24.580 We have Jesus as our king. 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:26.880 We have come to know God's grace. 00:21:27.259 --> 00:21:29.900 Jesus is our Lord and Savior. 00:21:31.259 --> 00:21:34.799 All the time we are faced with the danger of spiritual amnesia. 00:21:35.539 --> 00:21:37.420 We forget who we belong to. 00:21:37.500 --> 00:21:38.880 We forget that we are in Jesus. 00:21:39.019 --> 00:21:45.660 And if we do that, we lose sight of his presence and his power and his promises. 00:21:46.779 --> 00:21:51.420 We disconnect from the power supply of God's grace. 00:21:51.420 --> 00:21:57.279 We disconnect our worship on a Sunday from the habits we take into the week. 00:21:58.420 --> 00:22:01.480 And so the New Testament is full of reminders of our identity. 00:22:01.640 --> 00:22:03.580 So we read one of them in Colossians 3. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:05.200 Remember, you are in Christ. 00:22:05.400 --> 00:22:06.960 That's your spiritual location. 00:22:07.539 --> 00:22:09.380 This is your new and true identity. 00:22:09.800 --> 00:22:13.700 And united with Jesus, dead to sin. 00:22:13.700 --> 00:22:15.700 We are in Christ. 00:22:15.700 --> 00:22:16.059 We are in Christ. 00:22:16.059 --> 00:22:16.059 00:22:16.059 --> 00:22:17.920 Free to fight. 00:22:19.880 --> 00:22:21.360 Promise of the Holy Spirit. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:23.519 The gift of his word. 00:22:24.259 --> 00:22:25.580 His present grace. 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:29.120 We have a new heart, a new desire, and a new power. 00:22:29.259 --> 00:22:34.039 So you and I can, in Jesus, say no to sin and yes to faithfulness. 00:22:34.039 --> 00:22:37.180 Ephesians 1 is another beautiful place to go. 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:41.379 Every spiritual blessing is ours in Christ Jesus. 00:22:41.500 --> 00:22:45.000 So with Jesus, you and I can change. 00:22:45.879 --> 00:22:47.440 We can be transformed. 00:22:48.500 --> 00:22:51.680 We are being remade into his image. 00:22:52.259 --> 00:22:54.079 Remember your new identity. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:57.960 Secondly, recognize your enemy. 00:23:00.039 --> 00:23:05.119 Jesus, in just a few words, shows us just how deadly sin is. 00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:07.259 The fact that sin runs deep. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:08.379 It's a heart issue. 00:23:09.139 --> 00:23:14.119 And the Bible will tell us that sin is an enemy that Jesus has defeated, 00:23:14.779 --> 00:23:17.399 but sin continues to fight. 00:23:18.859 --> 00:23:20.699 Satan continues to fight. 00:23:20.700 --> 00:23:25.720 Two things I was thinking about to do with sin in this regard. 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:27.600 Sin lies. 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:29.539 Sin tells lies. 00:23:30.580 --> 00:23:33.480 I've been listening to a podcast on the Titanic. 00:23:34.460 --> 00:23:40.400 The Titanic's last two hours, the two hours before it hit the iceberg, 00:23:41.299 --> 00:23:42.279 it was surrounded. 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:46.039 They didn't know it, but they were surrounded 360 degrees by massive, 00:23:46.100 --> 00:23:47.500 like 200 feet icebergs. 00:23:47.500 --> 00:23:52.460 And one of the things that was doing was it was creating a unique set of weather conditions 00:23:52.460 --> 00:23:55.339 because the cold air was kind of blowing right over them. 00:23:55.920 --> 00:24:01.420 So observers on the deck, survivors spoke about the sea looking like they'd never seen it before, 00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:03.460 totally beautiful like glass. 00:24:03.859 --> 00:24:08.519 And as they looked up into the sky, the people on deck before they hit the iceberg said, 00:24:08.819 --> 00:24:11.940 it looked like there was more light than there was darkness in the sky. 00:24:11.940 --> 00:24:17.700 And because of these tiny ice crystals that were formed in the air but were passing over the boat, 00:24:17.779 --> 00:24:20.100 as they looked up and they looked at the lamp decks, 00:24:20.580 --> 00:24:24.000 they saw tiny rainbows arced around. 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:28.160 They'd never had a more beautiful crossing. 00:24:30.059 --> 00:24:34.299 And yet within two hours, death and destruction. 00:24:35.580 --> 00:24:37.360 Beauty turns to horror. 00:24:38.180 --> 00:24:39.779 And sin does that. 00:24:39.779 --> 00:24:44.420 Sin promises, oh, this is going to be beautiful and wonderful and joyful. 00:24:48.420 --> 00:24:50.440 All it reveals is what's on the surface. 00:24:50.579 --> 00:24:53.240 It doesn't show what lies beneath like the iceberg. 00:24:54.879 --> 00:24:57.299 It doesn't want to tell us about the guilt that follows, 00:24:58.180 --> 00:24:59.940 the destruction sin brings, 00:25:00.059 --> 00:25:03.359 the consequences that often we have to live with 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:05.619 for the rest of our lives. 00:25:06.680 --> 00:25:07.700 Sin lies. 00:25:07.700 --> 00:25:12.700 Sin loves the dark. 00:25:15.140 --> 00:25:17.200 Bizarrely, I learned some things about mold. 00:25:17.500 --> 00:25:19.319 Mold's a horrible object. 00:25:19.620 --> 00:25:20.240 So is sin. 00:25:20.660 --> 00:25:24.680 Like mold grows best in the dark 00:25:24.680 --> 00:25:29.380 and is only killed by direct sunlight in many cases. 00:25:29.380 --> 00:25:33.980 So sin loves to live in the dark. 00:25:33.980 --> 00:25:37.980 And it justifies those secret sins that we hide in the dark. 00:25:38.180 --> 00:25:42.900 And it also makes us live with guilty secrets 00:25:42.900 --> 00:25:48.000 and imagine all that we'll ever have is darkness, 00:25:49.140 --> 00:25:50.600 leading us into despair. 00:25:50.599 --> 00:25:53.899 What do we need? 00:25:55.079 --> 00:25:57.559 We need to bring sin into the light. 00:25:59.399 --> 00:26:00.939 As James chapter 5 says, 00:26:01.019 --> 00:26:04.059 we need to confess our sin and not cover up our sin. 00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:07.980 We need to bring our sin into the light of God's Word 00:26:07.980 --> 00:26:10.699 and the gospel where we discover there is a Savior, 00:26:10.899 --> 00:26:11.879 there is forgiveness, 00:26:12.119 --> 00:26:13.599 there is redemption. 00:26:13.599 --> 00:26:17.879 We need to bring our sin into the light. 00:26:18.419 --> 00:26:21.299 Perhaps that looks like sharing it with a trusted friend. 00:26:23.099 --> 00:26:26.539 We need to expose ourselves to the promise of His grace. 00:26:26.819 --> 00:26:29.659 And we also need to think. 00:26:31.019 --> 00:26:34.679 Think about the path that sin would lead us on. 00:26:34.680 --> 00:26:37.880 It saves pleasure. 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:39.660 It leads to destruction. 00:26:40.580 --> 00:26:43.140 If we give ourselves over to sin, 00:26:43.640 --> 00:26:46.860 we are following a path that's leading us away from God, 00:26:47.620 --> 00:26:50.620 leading us away from the joy of communion with God. 00:26:50.900 --> 00:26:52.759 And ultimately, as Jesus says, 00:26:52.880 --> 00:26:55.539 sin can lead us all the way to hell. 00:26:57.560 --> 00:27:01.279 So we need to learn to follow in our minds 00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:02.820 the path that sin would take us on 00:27:02.820 --> 00:27:04.539 so we don't go a step further. 00:27:05.480 --> 00:27:06.980 To weigh lust and the balance 00:27:06.980 --> 00:27:09.880 compared to all that Jesus offers. 00:27:10.940 --> 00:27:13.960 We also need to learn to remove temptations. 00:27:14.940 --> 00:27:17.799 In a sense, that's what verses 29 and 30 are about. 00:27:17.900 --> 00:27:20.019 It's the radical surgery that Jesus commands. 00:27:20.420 --> 00:27:22.320 We need to actually take steps 00:27:22.320 --> 00:27:25.580 to blind ourselves to certain sights and certain images. 00:27:25.580 --> 00:27:29.340 That's why so many Christians use computing software 00:27:29.340 --> 00:27:30.779 like Covenant Eyes. 00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:34.259 We need to stop certain behaviors. 00:27:34.680 --> 00:27:38.340 Perhaps that's going to be scrolling and clicking late at night. 00:27:38.980 --> 00:27:41.720 Perhaps it's about when and where we find ourselves 00:27:41.720 --> 00:27:43.420 at certain times of the day. 00:27:43.640 --> 00:27:48.380 We need to guard our hearts by getting rid of sources of temptation. 00:27:48.380 --> 00:27:54.580 And then positively, we need to run to Jesus. 00:27:56.080 --> 00:27:59.520 Jesus offers wonderful promises even within the Beatitudes. 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:01.720 The second Beatitude. 00:28:01.720 --> 00:28:06.559 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:11.119 When we feel that guilt and sorrow over our sin as a follower of Jesus, 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:15.019 we do so knowing there is comfort in the gospel, 00:28:15.420 --> 00:28:17.779 there is hope of forgiveness beyond our loss. 00:28:19.660 --> 00:28:21.559 Further down, the fourth Beatitude. 00:28:21.559 --> 00:28:24.440 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 00:28:25.019 --> 00:28:26.619 for they will be filled. 00:28:26.619 --> 00:28:30.259 Those appetites and desires, they can be replaced. 00:28:30.700 --> 00:28:34.879 We can find our hearts filled by Jesus and His love. 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:42.840 We run to Jesus because we understand that He came to rescue us. 00:28:43.540 --> 00:28:48.060 Jesus, the one and only perfectly pure person who ever lived, 00:28:48.140 --> 00:28:49.260 the one who shows us, 00:28:49.620 --> 00:28:51.160 here's what perfect love looks like, 00:28:51.420 --> 00:28:54.580 here's what perfect faithfulness to God the Father looks like, 00:28:54.780 --> 00:28:58.560 and here is what it looks like for me to wage war on sin, 00:28:59.460 --> 00:29:00.800 to go the way of the cross. 00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:04.839 And as we run to Jesus, as we look to Jesus, 00:29:04.839 --> 00:29:08.680 we recognize that He willingly was loaded up with our sin, 00:29:08.740 --> 00:29:10.159 including our sexual sin. 00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:12.740 And when we're trusting in Him, 00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:15.240 we believe that He has paid the price in full, 00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:18.579 so that by His grace we are saved and we are set free. 00:29:20.759 --> 00:29:23.119 And so we know as we come to Jesus, 00:29:23.240 --> 00:29:27.039 and in Christ we are not alone in the battle against sin. 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:31.619 We're not beyond hope when we find ourselves guilty of sin. 00:29:31.779 --> 00:29:33.899 There is real power in the gospel, 00:29:34.299 --> 00:29:37.879 in a Savior who forgives and restores and transforms. 00:29:39.639 --> 00:29:42.819 How can you and I beat our love of lust, 00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:46.180 our temptation, whatever that looks like? 00:29:46.299 --> 00:29:49.079 We need to learn to replace it with a better love, 00:29:50.119 --> 00:29:52.920 that we would fill our hearts and our minds with Jesus. 00:29:52.920 --> 00:29:58.180 Let love for Christ Jesus squeeze out our love for the world, 00:29:58.320 --> 00:29:59.560 our love for lust. 00:30:00.279 --> 00:30:02.420 We need to remember our first love, 00:30:02.800 --> 00:30:06.759 to rediscover Christ's grace for you and I. 00:30:07.080 --> 00:30:09.560 As we realize the depth of our sin, 00:30:09.900 --> 00:30:12.080 we understand again and again. 00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:13.460 That's why Jesus came. 00:30:15.600 --> 00:30:16.920 Jesus has won a victory. 00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:19.700 Remember Jesus' words, 00:30:19.700 --> 00:30:21.380 those who've been forgiven much, 00:30:22.340 --> 00:30:23.480 they love much. 00:30:23.799 --> 00:30:26.880 So we keep returning to Christ and His cross, 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:30.880 that we would let grace be truly amazing to us, 00:30:31.620 --> 00:30:34.059 that we would see God's pure, 00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:35.120 faithful, 00:30:35.600 --> 00:30:36.080 forgiving, 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:39.080 committed love be demonstrated to us 00:30:39.080 --> 00:30:40.240 at the cross of Christ. 00:30:40.319 --> 00:30:41.779 And understand that, 00:30:42.500 --> 00:30:44.860 that's where the power of change comes from. 00:30:44.859 --> 00:30:48.759 So may God give each of us grace and help, 00:30:49.659 --> 00:30:50.259 so that you and I, 00:30:50.339 --> 00:30:52.339 we would choose to live. 00:30:52.919 --> 00:30:53.959 Let's pray together.