WEBVTT 00:00:04.991 --> 00:00:08.975 Ok, well, last week I had hoped 00:00:08.975 --> 00:00:12.683 that we would deal with the unpardonable sin, 00:00:12.683 --> 00:00:16.538 and then with sexual sin. 00:00:16.538 --> 00:00:19.914 And we didn't get to the second part last week. 00:00:19.914 --> 00:00:22.942 And so, that's what I want to deal with tonight. 00:00:22.942 --> 00:00:26.841 And I think I want to call it something like: 00:00:26.841 --> 00:00:31.914 The Holy Spirit is your best Friend 00:00:31.914 --> 00:00:34.917 in fighting against sexual temptation. 00:00:34.917 --> 00:00:36.029 Something like that. 00:00:36.029 --> 00:00:38.212 The Holy Spirit is your best Friend 00:00:38.212 --> 00:00:45.635 when it comes to fighting sexual immorality. 00:00:45.635 --> 00:00:48.605 So, I thought the first thing that I wanted to do 00:00:48.605 --> 00:00:57.707 is develop what I want to call a theology 00:00:57.707 --> 00:01:01.100 of sexual sin. 00:01:01.100 --> 00:01:07.516 Call it the doctrine of sexual sin. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:07.516 --> 00:01:11.915 Here's a starting point. 00:01:11.915 --> 00:01:15.862 Nobody in this room; nobody in this world 00:01:15.862 --> 00:01:21.579 is stronger than sin. 00:01:21.579 --> 00:01:23.588 None of us are. 00:01:23.588 --> 00:01:26.497 And by the title, 00:01:26.497 --> 00:01:30.578 the Holy Spirit is our best Friend 00:01:30.578 --> 00:01:36.061 when it comes to sexual sin. 00:01:36.061 --> 00:01:38.511 Nobody is strong enough 00:01:38.511 --> 00:01:41.716 to overcome sexual temptation 00:01:41.716 --> 00:01:43.078 on their own. 00:01:43.078 --> 00:01:46.097 Nobody is strong enough 00:01:46.097 --> 00:01:49.844 to overcome sexual immorality 00:01:49.844 --> 00:01:51.371 on their own. 00:01:51.371 --> 00:01:53.067 Period. 00:01:53.067 --> 00:01:56.434 It's an impossibility. 00:01:56.434 --> 00:01:59.348 It is stronger than us. 00:01:59.348 --> 00:02:00.608 Lay it down. 00:02:00.608 --> 00:02:02.144 It is stronger. 00:02:02.144 --> 00:02:04.996 When you think about the lost man, 00:02:04.996 --> 00:02:07.001 total inability - 00:02:07.001 --> 00:02:10.968 absolutely total inability to do this. 00:02:10.968 --> 00:02:14.950 And I'm including here "lost Christians." 00:02:14.950 --> 00:02:16.436 You say what's that? 00:02:16.436 --> 00:02:19.665 That's a paradox. 00:02:19.665 --> 00:02:21.732 I'm talking about there's a reason why 00:02:21.732 --> 00:02:24.562 certain people in the church never get victory. 00:02:24.562 --> 00:02:26.580 That's what I'm talking about. 00:02:26.580 --> 00:02:31.725 And lost people cannot get victory. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:31.725 --> 00:02:35.055 Now, listen. Think with me here. 00:02:35.055 --> 00:02:36.848 Oftentimes in Scripture, 00:02:36.848 --> 00:02:39.952 Scripture doesn't deal necessarily 00:02:39.952 --> 00:02:45.145 with sins particularly; 00:02:45.145 --> 00:02:47.281 sins specifically, 00:02:47.281 --> 00:02:50.471 like certain types of sexual sin. 00:02:50.471 --> 00:02:52.549 There's places it does, 00:02:52.549 --> 00:02:55.486 but oftentimes what we get in Scripture 00:02:55.486 --> 00:03:00.271 is we get sin personified. 00:03:00.271 --> 00:03:04.150 Where am I going with all this? 00:03:04.150 --> 00:03:06.689 I'm going here with it. 00:03:06.689 --> 00:03:11.087 Paul talks about sin - singular 00:03:11.087 --> 00:03:14.956 as a force, as a power. 00:03:14.956 --> 00:03:17.705 Remember how God spoke to Cain 00:03:17.705 --> 00:03:20.651 way back in Genesis 4? 00:03:20.651 --> 00:03:21.899 What did He say? 00:03:21.899 --> 00:03:23.719 Anybody remember what He said 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:29.563 to Cain before Cain killed his brother? 00:03:29.563 --> 00:03:31.767 Sin is crouching at the door. 00:03:31.767 --> 00:03:33.411 What is that? 00:03:33.411 --> 00:03:35.646 See what He did? He personified sin. 00:03:35.646 --> 00:03:38.055 He made into something living. 00:03:38.055 --> 00:03:39.572 It's crouching at the door. 00:03:39.572 --> 00:03:41.385 Almost as though it's separate. 00:03:41.385 --> 00:03:43.548 It's like over there at the door. 00:03:43.548 --> 00:03:44.987 It's crouching. 00:03:44.987 --> 00:03:48.662 That's like an animal ready to pounce. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:48.662 --> 00:03:56.523 Who else speaks that way about sin? 00:03:56.523 --> 00:04:04.069 Personifies it like that? 00:04:04.069 --> 00:04:05.761 How about Paul? 00:04:05.761 --> 00:04:08.153 How about Paul in Romans? 00:04:08.153 --> 00:04:11.610 Think about what Paul says in Romans. 00:04:11.610 --> 00:04:15.395 He says sin - concerning Christians - 00:04:15.395 --> 00:04:18.963 he says sin singular 00:04:18.963 --> 00:04:21.444 is not going to have dominion over you 00:04:21.444 --> 00:04:22.560 as a Christian. 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:25.120 He talks about sin singular 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:28.217 seeking to reign in our mortal bodies. 00:04:28.217 --> 00:04:31.467 You are not to let sin reign. 00:04:31.467 --> 00:04:34.577 Not sins, as in these particular things. 00:04:34.577 --> 00:04:38.494 You are not to let sin as a force, 00:04:38.494 --> 00:04:42.831 as a dominating power in your life 00:04:42.831 --> 00:04:44.617 rule over you. 00:04:44.617 --> 00:04:46.992 Here's the thing with lost people. 00:04:46.992 --> 00:04:50.793 Lost people are dominated by sin. 00:04:50.793 --> 00:04:52.722 Sin dominates them. 00:04:52.722 --> 00:04:57.021 Who is not dominated by sin? 00:04:57.021 --> 00:05:03.099 Those who are under grace, not under law. 00:05:03.099 --> 00:05:06.122 Who are people who are under law? 00:05:06.124 --> 00:05:10.753 What is that another expression for? 00:05:10.753 --> 00:05:13.492 What people in the world are under the law? 00:05:13.492 --> 00:05:15.346 Lost people. 00:05:15.346 --> 00:05:17.206 If you're under grace, 00:05:17.206 --> 00:05:19.097 sin will not have dominion over you. 00:05:19.097 --> 00:05:23.606 If you're under law, sin will what? 00:05:23.606 --> 00:05:25.639 Have dominion over you. 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:26.908 Exactly. 00:05:26.908 --> 00:05:30.925 Sin will reign in your mortal body. 00:05:30.925 --> 00:05:33.372 Sin does dominate. 00:05:33.372 --> 00:05:36.548 How about where we've been looking in Ephesians 2? 00:05:36.548 --> 00:05:40.804 A lost man is dead in trespasses and sins. 00:05:40.804 --> 00:05:42.458 Now, there it is in the plural. 00:05:42.458 --> 00:05:43.987 But my point is this: 00:05:43.987 --> 00:05:50.198 The lost man is dominated by sin personified. 00:05:50.198 --> 00:05:53.836 This dark lord, this dark power 00:05:53.836 --> 00:05:58.959 of sin reigns - that's the position of a king. 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:03.271 Sin takes up the seat in the lost man 00:06:03.271 --> 00:06:05.450 and it sits on the throne. 00:06:05.450 --> 00:06:06.932 A lot of people have this idea, 00:06:06.932 --> 00:06:09.986 you know, they talk about "we" sitting on the throne, 00:06:09.986 --> 00:06:11.964 or Christ sitting on the throne. 00:06:11.964 --> 00:06:13.852 Don't ever believe that. 00:06:13.852 --> 00:06:18.158 Sin is what sits on the throne of the lost man. 00:06:18.158 --> 00:06:19.566 Sin does. 00:06:19.566 --> 00:06:21.802 And man is a slave. 00:06:21.802 --> 00:06:24.261 And that's exactly how Scripture makes him out. 00:06:24.261 --> 00:06:25.926 Dead in sin. 00:06:25.926 --> 00:06:27.586 He is a slave to sin. 00:06:27.586 --> 00:06:29.559 He is dominated by sin. 00:06:29.559 --> 00:06:32.956 Sin does reign in his mortal body. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:32.956 --> 00:06:34.628 Now, here's the thing. 00:06:34.628 --> 00:06:37.902 You know as well as I do 00:06:37.902 --> 00:06:43.235 that not every person in the world 00:06:43.235 --> 00:06:50.128 is dominated by sexual immorality evenly 00:06:50.128 --> 00:06:51.734 or the same as everybody else. 00:06:51.734 --> 00:06:53.238 You know that's true. 00:06:53.238 --> 00:06:56.705 Not every husband who's lost 00:06:56.705 --> 00:06:59.253 has committed adultery on his wife. 00:06:59.253 --> 00:07:02.107 Not everybody in the world is a homosexual. 00:07:02.107 --> 00:07:06.195 Not everybody has committed fornication in their life - 00:07:06.195 --> 00:07:08.416 the actual act of it. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:08.416 --> 00:07:13.112 Sin as a dominating force, 00:07:13.112 --> 00:07:17.345 it manifests itself different ways 00:07:17.345 --> 00:07:18.943 in different people. 00:07:18.943 --> 00:07:20.358 Rules them. 00:07:20.358 --> 00:07:21.603 Dominates them. 00:07:21.603 --> 00:07:22.969 Reigns over them. 00:07:22.969 --> 00:07:26.927 But it shows up differently 00:07:26.927 --> 00:07:28.861 in different people. 00:07:28.861 --> 00:07:31.658 But here's the thing, 00:07:31.658 --> 00:07:36.109 when you look at Scripture, 00:07:36.109 --> 00:07:39.789 sexual immorality is oftentimes 00:07:39.789 --> 00:07:42.159 at the front of the list. 00:07:42.159 --> 00:07:45.104 Not just once, and not just twice, 00:07:45.104 --> 00:07:46.440 and not just three times - 00:07:46.440 --> 00:07:49.992 in fact, it's the rarity, it's the exception 00:07:49.992 --> 00:07:52.071 when you have a list of sins 00:07:52.071 --> 00:07:54.857 and it's not at the beginning. 00:07:54.857 --> 00:07:56.567 You ever notice that? 00:07:56.567 --> 00:07:58.934 In fact, isn't it interesting 00:07:58.934 --> 00:08:03.206 that when God gives a people over, 00:08:03.206 --> 00:08:05.707 what does He give them over to? NOTE Paragraph 00:08:05.707 --> 00:08:11.075 What's the progress of God giving a people up? 00:08:11.075 --> 00:08:13.449 It's that they begin to do dishonorable things. 00:08:13.449 --> 00:08:14.831 It's in Romans 1. 00:08:14.831 --> 00:08:17.692 They consider themselves wise. 00:08:17.692 --> 00:08:19.471 They're really fools. 00:08:19.471 --> 00:08:22.836 They begin to fall down and worship other things besides God. 00:08:22.836 --> 00:08:26.380 They're seeking to suppress the knowledge of God all the time. 00:08:26.380 --> 00:08:28.345 And God gives them over. 00:08:28.345 --> 00:08:30.814 And when He begins to give a people over, 00:08:30.814 --> 00:08:33.634 you'll notice the progression there. 00:08:33.634 --> 00:08:38.758 It's not immediately into homosexuality. 00:08:38.758 --> 00:08:43.916 The first step is people begin to do that 00:08:43.916 --> 00:08:46.340 which they shouldn't do. 00:08:46.340 --> 00:08:51.371 The first step in that being given over by God, 00:08:51.371 --> 00:08:52.845 sexual perversion. 00:08:52.845 --> 00:08:55.176 And what I mean by that 00:08:55.176 --> 00:08:58.033 is everything outside of marriage. 00:08:58.033 --> 00:09:00.940 It begins to rot away at that level. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:00.940 --> 00:09:02.513 Now think about the lists 00:09:02.513 --> 00:09:05.395 where sexual sin is first. 00:09:05.395 --> 00:09:10.082 Somebody look up 1 Corinthians 6. 00:09:10.082 --> 00:09:12.513 1 Corinthians 6:9 00:09:12.513 --> 00:09:13.792 And here you have a list - 00:09:13.792 --> 00:09:18.672 don't be deceived. 00:09:18.672 --> 00:09:20.517 People who practice unrighteousness 00:09:20.517 --> 00:09:22.453 don't inherit the kingdom of God. 00:09:22.453 --> 00:09:26.135 And what's right at the beginning of the list? 00:09:26.135 --> 00:09:28.454 The sexually immoral. 00:09:28.454 --> 00:09:29.928 Tim: What's next? 00:09:29.928 --> 00:09:31.281 Idolaters. 00:09:31.281 --> 00:09:32.512 Tim: What's next? 00:09:32.512 --> 00:09:33.587 Adulterers. 00:09:33.587 --> 00:09:34.524 Tim: What's next? 00:09:34.524 --> 00:09:36.101 Men who practice homosexuality. 00:09:36.101 --> 00:09:39.818 Tim: I mean, isn't that interesting? The very first one is sexual immorality. 00:09:39.818 --> 00:09:41.614 Three out of the first four: 00:09:41.614 --> 00:09:43.907 sexual immorality. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:43.907 --> 00:09:45.283 Where else can you think of? 00:09:45.283 --> 00:09:49.834 I think of the works of the flesh. 00:09:49.834 --> 00:09:55.352 Galatians 5. Somebody go over there. 00:09:55.352 --> 00:10:02.682 What is it? V. 22? 23? 00:10:02.682 --> 00:10:05.838 Those are the fruits of the Spirit. 00:10:05.838 --> 00:10:07.510 Wait, say it again? 00:10:07.510 --> 00:10:10.851 Sexual immorality - first, 00:10:10.851 --> 00:10:12.682 impurity - second, 00:10:12.682 --> 00:10:14.323 sensuality - third, 00:10:14.323 --> 00:10:16.137 and then idolatry. 00:10:16.137 --> 00:10:19.346 See, three out of the first four right there. 00:10:19.346 --> 00:10:24.312 Or how about in Ephesians 5, 00:10:24.312 --> 00:10:27.557 you get because of these things, 00:10:27.557 --> 00:10:29.415 the wrath of God is coming. 00:10:29.415 --> 00:10:33.220 What's the "these things?" 00:10:33.220 --> 00:10:35.904 What is it? V. 7 maybe? 00:10:35.904 --> 00:10:40.595 "Everyone who is sexually immoral or impure 00:10:40.595 --> 00:10:44.267 or who is covetous, that is, an idolater." 00:10:44.267 --> 00:10:47.082 Notice what the first two are. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:47.082 --> 00:10:52.015 Think about Paul speaking to the Thessalonians, 00:10:52.015 --> 00:10:53.580 and he's talking about God 00:10:53.580 --> 00:10:55.841 desiring their sanctification. 00:10:55.841 --> 00:10:59.496 And what's the very first thing he goes into? 00:10:59.496 --> 00:11:01.036 Chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians. 00:11:01.036 --> 00:11:02.393 "This is the will of God, 00:11:02.393 --> 00:11:04.681 your sanctification: that you abstain 00:11:04.681 --> 00:11:05.971 from sexual immorality..." 00:11:05.971 --> 00:11:06.980 Isn't it interesting. 00:11:06.980 --> 00:11:09.541 The first thing he brings up there is sanctification. 00:11:09.541 --> 00:11:11.305 Where's the first place he goes? 00:11:11.305 --> 00:11:14.873 Sexual purity. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:14.873 --> 00:11:18.198 And this is often at the front of the list. 00:11:18.198 --> 00:11:20.064 And here's the thing, 00:11:20.064 --> 00:11:21.457 I think if we're honest, 00:11:21.457 --> 00:11:24.395 we recognize different people - 00:11:24.395 --> 00:11:27.856 lost people fall prey to sin 00:11:27.856 --> 00:11:30.527 in all sorts of ways. 00:11:30.527 --> 00:11:33.125 Sin rules and sin reigns them. 00:11:33.125 --> 00:11:38.650 But one of the stark, first in line 00:11:38.650 --> 00:11:42.278 manner in which they fall 00:11:42.278 --> 00:11:44.265 and in which they give themselves over to 00:11:44.265 --> 00:11:47.356 is this sensuality and sexual immorality. 00:11:47.356 --> 00:11:49.301 And it's a big one. 00:11:49.301 --> 00:11:51.399 You know, all you have to do is look around 00:11:51.399 --> 00:11:53.113 in our society to see 00:11:53.113 --> 00:11:55.126 we're in a pornographic society. 00:11:55.126 --> 00:11:57.863 You look historically at the sins 00:11:57.863 --> 00:12:00.808 that have been struggled with through history. 00:12:00.808 --> 00:12:05.305 This was big 2,000 years ago. 00:12:05.305 --> 00:12:08.176 It was right at the forefront. 00:12:08.176 --> 00:12:10.508 It was a problem, 00:12:10.508 --> 00:12:13.917 and it made it to the head of the class 00:12:13.917 --> 00:12:16.755 in these lists of sins that were given. 00:12:16.755 --> 00:12:20.777 And the thing is, 00:12:20.777 --> 00:12:25.380 men who are dominated by sin - 00:12:25.380 --> 00:12:30.869 sin may manifest itself differently 00:12:30.869 --> 00:12:32.448 in different people. 00:12:32.448 --> 00:12:34.588 And it may manifest itself differently 00:12:34.588 --> 00:12:38.413 at different times in the life of the same people. 00:12:38.413 --> 00:12:41.678 You say, well, that guy was committing adultery and then he quit. 00:12:41.678 --> 00:12:42.824 Well, you know what? 00:12:42.824 --> 00:12:45.827 People will change and they will migrate 00:12:45.827 --> 00:12:49.636 in the way they're dominated by sin. 00:12:49.636 --> 00:12:51.814 They will do that. 00:12:51.814 --> 00:12:54.483 And idolatry can made a man do that. 00:12:54.483 --> 00:12:56.254 Have a man fall into adultery, 00:12:56.254 --> 00:12:57.882 and he's going to lose his wife. 00:12:57.882 --> 00:13:02.468 He idolizes her and he will give up that sin - 00:13:02.468 --> 00:13:04.507 perhaps even for good. 00:13:04.507 --> 00:13:06.220 He can do that. 00:13:06.220 --> 00:13:08.671 Men can give up alcohol 00:13:08.671 --> 00:13:10.790 because they idolize their own life 00:13:10.790 --> 00:13:12.405 and the alcohol about killed them 00:13:12.405 --> 00:13:13.783 and they'll give it up. 00:13:13.783 --> 00:13:16.839 They'll exchange it for something else. 00:13:16.839 --> 00:13:18.113 That's how lost man is, 00:13:18.113 --> 00:13:20.742 but nevertheless, completely dominated. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:20.742 --> 00:13:22.698 And my point is this: 00:13:22.698 --> 00:13:25.780 As long as sexual urge, 00:13:25.780 --> 00:13:28.356 as long as that body is throwing urges, 00:13:28.356 --> 00:13:30.091 that mind is throwing urges, 00:13:30.091 --> 00:13:31.773 Satan is throwing urges, 00:13:31.773 --> 00:13:35.731 as long as sin which seeks to rule in them 00:13:35.731 --> 00:13:41.202 is throwing that kind of lust their way, 00:13:41.202 --> 00:13:44.106 they're helpless. 00:13:44.106 --> 00:13:46.732 They cannot dominate that. 00:13:46.732 --> 00:13:49.164 They cannot have victory over that. 00:13:49.164 --> 00:13:53.061 Now, like I say, they may get old 00:13:53.061 --> 00:13:55.917 and the sexual urge and the sexual temptation 00:13:55.917 --> 00:13:57.665 kind of goes out of them 00:13:57.665 --> 00:13:59.391 because they're getting old. 00:13:59.391 --> 00:14:02.060 Or, they may idolize a wife 00:14:02.060 --> 00:14:04.256 and they may change one thing for another 00:14:04.256 --> 00:14:06.035 for a season perhaps. 00:14:06.035 --> 00:14:07.834 I mean, that kind of thing happens. 00:14:07.834 --> 00:14:09.694 But we're talking men who are 00:14:09.694 --> 00:14:11.870 dominated and ruled by this. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:11.870 --> 00:14:14.164 But now, you come over into the category 00:14:14.164 --> 00:14:15.164 of Christian. 00:14:15.164 --> 00:14:16.590 And I'm going to say this, 00:14:16.590 --> 00:14:19.181 the Christian is just as dead in the water 00:14:19.181 --> 00:14:23.128 and just as helpless by himself 00:14:23.128 --> 00:14:24.852 and in his own power. 00:14:24.852 --> 00:14:28.509 Jesus said - Jesus was coming at the positive end, 00:14:28.509 --> 00:14:31.942 and He was speaking of good works, 00:14:31.942 --> 00:14:36.421 but did He not say in John 15, 00:14:36.421 --> 00:14:39.969 "without Me..." what? 00:14:39.969 --> 00:14:41.601 "You can do nothing." 00:14:41.601 --> 00:14:45.308 And obviously, Jesus works in His people 00:14:45.308 --> 00:14:47.457 by way of the Spirit of God. 00:14:47.457 --> 00:14:48.939 I mean, we don't want to make - 00:14:48.939 --> 00:14:50.927 the Spirit of Christ - 00:14:50.927 --> 00:14:52.701 it's interesting even in Romans 8 00:14:52.701 --> 00:14:55.228 how you kind of move from the Spirit, 00:14:55.228 --> 00:14:57.416 the Spirit of Christ, Christ... 00:14:57.416 --> 00:14:59.916 There's this transition kind of happens. 00:14:59.916 --> 00:15:01.368 It's one and the same. 00:15:01.368 --> 00:15:03.996 You don't want to separate these two things. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:03.996 --> 00:15:07.981 But what's the classic text in our New Testament 00:15:07.981 --> 00:15:12.117 that shows that the Christian puts to death sin 00:15:12.117 --> 00:15:14.128 only by the Spirit of God? 00:15:14.128 --> 00:15:15.845 Romans 8:13 00:15:15.845 --> 00:15:20.023 Somebody read that. 00:15:20.023 --> 00:15:22.817 "For if you live according to the flesh you will die, 00:15:22.817 --> 00:15:26.425 but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, 00:15:26.425 --> 00:15:27.449 you will live." 00:15:27.449 --> 00:15:29.860 See, one path is death? 00:15:29.860 --> 00:15:31.128 That's the lost man. 00:15:31.128 --> 00:15:33.456 One path is life. That's the saved man. 00:15:33.456 --> 00:15:37.210 The path of life is a person 00:15:37.210 --> 00:15:41.324 putting to death deeds of the body, 00:15:41.324 --> 00:15:45.028 not by themselves and not in their own power. 00:15:45.028 --> 00:15:49.467 They're doing that in the power of the Spirit. 00:15:49.467 --> 00:15:50.982 You see that. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:50.982 --> 00:15:55.237 And so this is where I'm going in all of this. 00:15:55.237 --> 00:15:58.559 The Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:01.609 If we want to have a good - 00:16:01.609 --> 00:16:03.843 I mean you want to get to the root; 00:16:03.843 --> 00:16:07.354 you want to go deep in this issue 00:16:07.354 --> 00:16:13.937 of doing battle, of having victory, 00:16:13.937 --> 00:16:19.485 of overcoming, of being successful 00:16:19.485 --> 00:16:23.399 battling urges and temptations with pornography, 00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:25.470 battling urges and temptations 00:16:25.470 --> 00:16:29.034 in the direction of sexual immorality. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:29.034 --> 00:16:36.649 And you know, having a ministry like I'll Be Honest, 00:16:36.649 --> 00:16:43.003 and for one, being able to watch, 00:16:43.003 --> 00:16:44.705 like I was telling you last week, 00:16:44.705 --> 00:16:47.561 which videos get the most traffic 00:16:47.561 --> 00:16:49.970 on YouTube and on I'll Be Honest, 00:16:49.970 --> 00:16:52.094 being able to see that - 00:16:52.094 --> 00:16:53.763 there's no question about it. 00:16:53.763 --> 00:16:59.144 Two of the top most watched videos 00:16:59.144 --> 00:17:01.069 have to do with the unpardonable sin 00:17:01.069 --> 00:17:03.011 and have to do with sexual immorality. 00:17:03.011 --> 00:17:06.070 That tells me that among professing Christians, 00:17:06.070 --> 00:17:09.709 it's huge, it's big, it's something 00:17:09.709 --> 00:17:14.710 that people are struggling with. 00:17:14.710 --> 00:17:16.159 They're looking for answers. 00:17:16.159 --> 00:17:18.452 They're looking for help. 00:17:18.452 --> 00:17:20.855 People are getting on the Internet 00:17:20.855 --> 00:17:23.597 and at times instead of falling prey 00:17:23.597 --> 00:17:24.776 to pornography, 00:17:24.776 --> 00:17:27.655 they're actually searching in such ways 00:17:27.655 --> 00:17:30.195 that they end up finding I'll Be Honest. 00:17:30.195 --> 00:17:32.680 They end up finding, 00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:37.161 even one of the first videos 00:17:37.161 --> 00:17:39.066 after James came and we kind of 00:17:39.066 --> 00:17:41.276 connected the two ministries together, 00:17:41.276 --> 00:17:42.956 maybe even made it before that, 00:17:42.956 --> 00:17:45.563 but that James made on this subject, 00:17:45.563 --> 00:17:48.759 I mean, look at the amount of traffic on it. 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:50.471 You look at the amount of traffic 00:17:50.471 --> 00:17:52.775 on stuff that James has put up there 00:17:52.775 --> 00:17:54.504 or that John Piper has done 00:17:54.504 --> 00:17:55.931 or that Paul Washer has done 00:17:55.931 --> 00:17:59.155 or any of the pastors that are popular 00:17:59.155 --> 00:18:01.069 out there today, 00:18:01.069 --> 00:18:02.933 these things are getting so much traffic. 00:18:02.933 --> 00:18:04.754 Some of them hundreds and hundreds 00:18:04.754 --> 00:18:06.234 of thousands of hits. 00:18:06.234 --> 00:18:07.797 Why? What that tells me is 00:18:07.797 --> 00:18:11.005 you have people who are professing Christians - 00:18:11.005 --> 00:18:12.541 whether they're true or not, 00:18:12.541 --> 00:18:14.410 you know they're in both categories; 00:18:14.410 --> 00:18:16.265 undoubtedly in both categories. 00:18:16.265 --> 00:18:17.430 But they're searching 00:18:17.430 --> 00:18:19.193 and they're looking for answers. NOTE Paragraph 00:18:19.193 --> 00:18:22.517 And I can give this answer right here. 00:18:22.517 --> 00:18:25.324 You cannot have victory 00:18:25.324 --> 00:18:28.721 unless it is victory that is had by way 00:18:28.721 --> 00:18:30.558 of the Spirit of God. 00:18:30.558 --> 00:18:32.751 It is by the Spirit you put to death 00:18:32.751 --> 00:18:34.381 the deeds of the body. 00:18:34.381 --> 00:18:35.736 In other words, this is what 00:18:35.736 --> 00:18:37.407 we really have to key in on. 00:18:37.407 --> 00:18:39.369 You and I don't have the power - 00:18:39.369 --> 00:18:42.536 lost or saved - by ourselves. 00:18:42.536 --> 00:18:44.035 We don't have the power. 00:18:44.035 --> 00:18:46.442 You need the power of Another 00:18:46.442 --> 00:18:49.571 to overcome in this area of your life. 00:18:49.571 --> 00:18:52.558 You need the power of the Holy Spirit. NOTE Paragraph 00:18:52.558 --> 00:18:55.811 And what I want to do in this Bible study 00:18:55.811 --> 00:18:57.851 is simply talk about that. 00:18:57.851 --> 00:19:01.361 (incomplete thought) 00:19:01.361 --> 00:19:03.591 Where is the Spirit? 00:19:03.591 --> 00:19:05.444 And where is His power? 00:19:05.444 --> 00:19:07.874 You say, well, as a Christian - 00:19:07.874 --> 00:19:09.054 if you're a Christian; 00:19:09.054 --> 00:19:11.210 if you're a genuine Christian, 00:19:11.210 --> 00:19:14.789 doesn't Romans 8 say that you have the Spirit? 00:19:14.789 --> 00:19:18.231 Yep. And if you don't have the Spirit, what? 00:19:18.231 --> 00:19:20.539 You're none of His. You don't belong to Him. 00:19:20.539 --> 00:19:23.511 So, every single child of God 00:19:23.511 --> 00:19:25.103 has the Spirit. 00:19:25.103 --> 00:19:27.417 What is that? Case closed? 00:19:27.417 --> 00:19:30.006 Does every true Christian have victory 00:19:30.006 --> 00:19:33.109 all the time? 00:19:33.109 --> 00:19:35.105 Is it enough to be a Christian 00:19:35.105 --> 00:19:37.248 to win the battle? 00:19:37.248 --> 00:19:39.741 Now, somebody might say, 00:19:39.741 --> 00:19:41.685 well, I read in Scripture 00:19:41.685 --> 00:19:43.040 that if you're a Christian, 00:19:43.040 --> 00:19:45.460 you will win the battle. 00:19:45.460 --> 00:19:46.735 If you're a Christian, 00:19:46.735 --> 00:19:49.365 you will cut off that hand and pluck out that eye, 00:19:49.365 --> 00:19:51.079 or else you're going to go to hell. 00:19:51.079 --> 00:19:52.860 And look, those are the indicatives, 00:19:52.860 --> 00:19:54.669 I recognize, but we've got imperatives 00:19:54.669 --> 00:19:55.969 in our New Testament too. 00:19:55.969 --> 00:19:57.830 In other words, we've got commandments 00:19:57.830 --> 00:20:00.084 to not let sin reign in our mortal bodies. 00:20:00.084 --> 00:20:02.292 There is a place that by the Spirit 00:20:02.292 --> 00:20:04.517 we are killing sin; 00:20:04.517 --> 00:20:06.812 we are seeking to put that sin to death. 00:20:06.812 --> 00:20:08.005 There is a place. 00:20:08.005 --> 00:20:10.062 Anybody think about Colossians 3 - 00:20:10.062 --> 00:20:11.454 what it says there 00:20:11.454 --> 00:20:13.923 concerning sexual immorality? 00:20:13.923 --> 00:20:17.650 Which by the way is at the front of the list again. 00:20:17.650 --> 00:20:21.435 "Put to death what is earthly in you." 00:20:21.435 --> 00:20:22.885 What's the first in line? 00:20:22.885 --> 00:20:24.691 I just said: sexual immorality. 00:20:24.691 --> 00:20:26.068 First in line again. 00:20:26.068 --> 00:20:27.692 But put it to death. 00:20:27.692 --> 00:20:28.844 But here's the thing, 00:20:28.844 --> 00:20:30.885 you by yourself - 00:20:30.885 --> 00:20:32.869 just like Jesus said to His disciples: 00:20:32.869 --> 00:20:34.857 "Without Me you can do nothing." 00:20:34.857 --> 00:20:36.803 Without that Spirit, 00:20:36.803 --> 00:20:40.603 you cannot do this. NOTE Paragraph 00:20:40.603 --> 00:20:43.476 Now, why does Scripture tell us 00:20:43.476 --> 00:20:46.983 to put this to death? 00:20:46.983 --> 00:20:48.902 Because you have to. 00:20:48.902 --> 00:20:51.253 Why does Jesus call us 00:20:51.253 --> 00:20:54.356 to cut off the hand and pluck out the eye? 00:20:54.356 --> 00:20:57.101 Because you have to. 00:20:57.101 --> 00:20:58.402 You have to strive. 00:20:58.402 --> 00:20:59.615 There is an effort. 00:20:59.615 --> 00:21:01.831 You have to work out your own salvation. 00:21:01.831 --> 00:21:04.450 But brethren, the way we do this 00:21:04.450 --> 00:21:07.299 is in the power of Another. 00:21:07.299 --> 00:21:08.735 And that is so key. 00:21:08.735 --> 00:21:14.678 You will do this only as you do this 00:21:14.678 --> 00:21:17.129 by divine power. NOTE Paragraph 00:21:17.129 --> 00:21:19.662 And so I think the thing that we have to talk about; 00:21:19.662 --> 00:21:22.418 the thing that we have to wrestle with 00:21:22.418 --> 00:21:27.386 is it's not just a given 00:21:27.386 --> 00:21:28.916 that because you're a Christian 00:21:28.916 --> 00:21:30.222 and you possess the Spirit, 00:21:30.222 --> 00:21:32.183 therefore sit back, recline, 00:21:32.183 --> 00:21:33.595 kick your feet up, 00:21:33.595 --> 00:21:35.032 it's all going to happen. 00:21:35.032 --> 00:21:40.775 The Spirit of God is going to make it happen. NOTE Paragraph 00:21:40.775 --> 00:21:44.737 There's some keys. 00:21:44.737 --> 00:21:50.696 There are things said in Scripture 00:21:50.696 --> 00:21:55.732 about the Spirit and His interaction with us 00:21:55.732 --> 00:22:03.183 that I think we need to think about. 00:22:03.183 --> 00:22:09.919 Like, as a Christian, 00:22:09.919 --> 00:22:15.828 how do I live in the power of the Spirit? 00:22:15.828 --> 00:22:18.677 As a Christian, how do I not live 00:22:18.677 --> 00:22:20.983 in the power of the Spirit? 00:22:20.983 --> 00:22:23.858 What's the difference? 00:22:23.858 --> 00:22:25.869 I mean, here's the thing. 00:22:25.869 --> 00:22:29.024 Some Christians are more mature 00:22:29.024 --> 00:22:31.282 than other Christians. 00:22:31.282 --> 00:22:34.845 Some Christians are more holy 00:22:34.845 --> 00:22:36.486 than other Christians. 00:22:36.486 --> 00:22:38.368 Look, there's automatic assumptions 00:22:38.368 --> 00:22:41.330 in Scripture that when you come to look at elders, 00:22:41.330 --> 00:22:43.464 not everybody in the church is an elder. 00:22:43.464 --> 00:22:46.192 When you come to look at teachers, 00:22:46.192 --> 00:22:48.166 James is very specific 00:22:48.166 --> 00:22:50.616 that not many of you should be teachers. 00:22:50.616 --> 00:22:53.414 He is automatically assuming right up front 00:22:53.414 --> 00:22:55.371 that most people in the church 00:22:55.371 --> 00:22:58.514 are not at a certain level. 00:22:58.514 --> 00:23:02.888 You get people all over the place. 00:23:02.888 --> 00:23:05.289 Why does Paul have to tell the Corinthians 00:23:05.289 --> 00:23:09.962 not to sleep with prostitutes? 00:23:09.962 --> 00:23:14.126 Because they were. 00:23:14.126 --> 00:23:17.160 There are others who weren't. 00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:21.237 They are many in our church who don't do that. 00:23:21.237 --> 00:23:24.806 Paul wasn't doing that. NOTE Paragraph 00:23:24.806 --> 00:23:28.275 Let me ask you this. 00:23:28.275 --> 00:23:30.936 Here's the reality. 00:23:30.936 --> 00:23:33.000 Some are having victory - 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:35.204 some true Christians are having victory 00:23:35.204 --> 00:23:39.939 in the area of sexual immorality 00:23:39.939 --> 00:23:41.651 while others are not having 00:23:41.651 --> 00:23:44.471 the same amount of success. 00:23:44.471 --> 00:23:46.316 And here's the thing, 00:23:46.316 --> 00:23:48.222 the guy that's having the success - 00:23:48.222 --> 00:23:50.377 "without Me you can do nothing." 00:23:50.377 --> 00:23:52.383 Same truth applies there. 00:23:52.383 --> 00:23:55.317 It's not like he's got a power innate to himself. 00:23:55.317 --> 00:23:58.446 That man is doing what he does 00:23:58.446 --> 00:23:59.880 in reaching a higher plane 00:23:59.880 --> 00:24:02.857 and excelling to a greater degree 00:24:02.857 --> 00:24:06.190 by the power of the Spirit. 00:24:06.190 --> 00:24:08.616 The one who isn't, 00:24:08.616 --> 00:24:12.818 isn't tapping the power of the Spirit. 00:24:12.818 --> 00:24:14.246 Or let's say it this way, 00:24:14.246 --> 00:24:17.863 that's almost impersonal to say it like that. 00:24:17.863 --> 00:24:24.003 It's like tapping a maple tree for maple syrup or something. 00:24:24.003 --> 00:24:27.665 The Person of the Spirit - 00:24:27.665 --> 00:24:30.200 you need to get this - 00:24:30.200 --> 00:24:33.481 the weak person who's fumbling 00:24:33.481 --> 00:24:38.537 and tumbling and tripping and falling - 00:24:38.537 --> 00:24:41.484 the Spirit of God in his life - 00:24:41.484 --> 00:24:47.310 that Spirit; that third Person of the Godhead, 00:24:47.310 --> 00:24:50.097 is the same Person in the life 00:24:50.097 --> 00:24:55.797 of the guy who's walking a very holy life. 00:24:55.797 --> 00:24:58.492 The Spirit in the weak man's life 00:24:58.492 --> 00:25:03.394 is just as powerful over sexual sin 00:25:03.394 --> 00:25:09.165 as the Spirit in the holy man's life. 00:25:09.165 --> 00:25:14.414 Look, what's true about the weak man 00:25:14.414 --> 00:25:18.576 is that the Spirit is not subduing 00:25:18.576 --> 00:25:22.871 that sexual temptation in the same way 00:25:22.871 --> 00:25:24.946 as it's happening in the strong man. NOTE Paragraph 00:25:24.946 --> 00:25:27.764 Why? That's the question on the table. 00:25:27.764 --> 00:25:29.168 Why? 00:25:29.168 --> 00:25:31.945 The weak Christian is indwelt 00:25:31.945 --> 00:25:35.426 by the almighty Spirit of God. 00:25:35.426 --> 00:25:38.743 Listen, the Spirit of God is stronger than sin 00:25:38.743 --> 00:25:40.718 every time, every day, 00:25:40.718 --> 00:25:43.236 always, in every instance, 00:25:43.236 --> 00:25:46.236 no exceptions. 00:25:46.236 --> 00:25:49.763 The Spirit is more powerful than sin 00:25:49.763 --> 00:25:51.447 all the time. 00:25:51.447 --> 00:25:53.940 There is no sexual sin 00:25:53.940 --> 00:25:56.664 that is stronger than the Spirit of God. NOTE Paragraph 00:25:56.664 --> 00:26:00.279 So why the difference? 00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:01.582 The weak Christian, 00:26:01.582 --> 00:26:04.564 if he ever puts to death deeds of the flesh, 00:26:04.564 --> 00:26:06.548 does it by the Spirit. 00:26:06.548 --> 00:26:09.612 If the strong man puts to death 00:26:09.612 --> 00:26:13.154 the deeds of the flesh more, 00:26:13.154 --> 00:26:15.719 it's by the Spirit. 00:26:15.719 --> 00:26:19.734 Same Spirit. Same power. 00:26:19.734 --> 00:26:21.760 The Spirit is a Person. 00:26:21.760 --> 00:26:26.295 The Spirit chooses what He will do, 00:26:26.295 --> 00:26:27.516 how He will do it, 00:26:27.516 --> 00:26:30.479 when He will do it. 00:26:30.479 --> 00:26:35.729 What's happening in the weak man's life? NOTE Paragraph 00:26:35.729 --> 00:26:37.841 You see, this is what we need to get at. 00:26:37.841 --> 00:26:42.050 The Spirit is your best Friend 00:26:42.050 --> 00:26:45.128 in putting to death sexual sin. 00:26:45.128 --> 00:26:46.478 That's the title. 00:26:46.478 --> 00:26:48.663 That's the title of this. 00:26:48.663 --> 00:26:50.914 The Spirit of God is your best Friend 00:26:50.914 --> 00:26:54.943 in putting to death sexual sin. NOTE Paragraph 00:26:54.943 --> 00:26:59.348 So what's the difference? 00:26:59.348 --> 00:27:02.399 I mean, from your knowledge of Scripture, 00:27:02.399 --> 00:27:04.594 does anything jump out at you 00:27:04.594 --> 00:27:11.634 as to why that difference might exist? 00:27:11.634 --> 00:27:12.811 What was that? 00:27:12.811 --> 00:27:14.529 Quenching the Spirit. 00:27:14.529 --> 00:27:20.785 Tim: Oh, brethren... NOTE Paragraph 00:27:20.785 --> 00:27:26.774 Yeah. Let's go there. 00:27:26.774 --> 00:27:29.619 We are told by the same author 00:27:29.619 --> 00:27:32.628 in two different places 00:27:32.628 --> 00:27:34.898 not to grieve the Spirit, 00:27:34.898 --> 00:27:36.739 not to quench the Spirit. 00:27:36.739 --> 00:27:38.193 You know what's interesting 00:27:38.193 --> 00:27:42.140 about both of those passages? 00:27:42.140 --> 00:27:48.497 Paul doesn't explain what he means. NOTE Paragraph 00:27:48.497 --> 00:27:52.548 What do you think is true 00:27:52.548 --> 00:27:56.097 when an author of Scripture 00:27:56.097 --> 00:28:00.557 doesn't explain himself? 00:28:00.557 --> 00:28:03.343 What do you think is a typical assumption 00:28:03.343 --> 00:28:05.741 in the mind of the author 00:28:05.741 --> 00:28:07.705 when he says something like that? 00:28:07.705 --> 00:28:09.927 That the hearers already knew what he meant. 00:28:09.927 --> 00:28:11.839 Tim: Yeah. Exactly. 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:14.719 That it would be simply understood. 00:28:14.719 --> 00:28:16.453 He doesn't have to get into 00:28:16.453 --> 00:28:17.970 developing this. 00:28:17.970 --> 00:28:21.889 Look, we all know, 00:28:21.889 --> 00:28:23.885 Paul was one to develop an idea 00:28:23.885 --> 00:28:26.080 when it needed to be developed. 00:28:26.080 --> 00:28:31.830 He didn't do that in either of those cases. 00:28:31.830 --> 00:28:35.399 He's really making the assumption: 00:28:35.399 --> 00:28:41.458 we know what does it. NOTE Paragraph 00:28:41.458 --> 00:28:48.543 Let me offer a suggestion here. 00:28:48.543 --> 00:28:55.010 When we are given instruction; 00:28:55.010 --> 00:28:59.516 when we're told to do something, 00:28:59.516 --> 00:29:03.984 you know that Jesus did all that He did 00:29:03.984 --> 00:29:06.453 as a man - 00:29:06.453 --> 00:29:10.405 He did it in the power of the Spirit of God. 00:29:10.405 --> 00:29:12.723 The Spirit of God enabled Him 00:29:12.723 --> 00:29:15.577 to cast out demons. 00:29:15.577 --> 00:29:18.518 The Spirit of God moved Him, 00:29:18.518 --> 00:29:21.971 empowered Him, 00:29:21.971 --> 00:29:23.702 drove Him out into the wilderness 00:29:23.702 --> 00:29:25.098 to be tempted. 00:29:25.098 --> 00:29:28.060 The Spirit of God filled Christ 00:29:28.060 --> 00:29:32.890 without measure. 00:29:32.890 --> 00:29:34.892 When Jesus came along and He healed, 00:29:34.892 --> 00:29:37.421 you think about this. 00:29:37.421 --> 00:29:43.789 Go over there, find that pool, and wash. 00:29:43.789 --> 00:29:47.042 Or He would just say rise up. 00:29:47.042 --> 00:29:51.937 The Spirit was working through Jesus Christ 00:29:51.937 --> 00:29:54.673 to powerfully heal these people. 00:29:54.673 --> 00:29:56.232 But you know what's interesting? 00:29:56.232 --> 00:30:01.207 These people by faith did what was 00:30:01.207 --> 00:30:05.685 absolutely impossible for them to do in their own power. 00:30:05.685 --> 00:30:08.166 Get that. 00:30:08.166 --> 00:30:10.337 It's just as impossible for you 00:30:10.337 --> 00:30:12.685 to overcome sexual temptation 00:30:12.685 --> 00:30:17.735 as it is for a man to go wash in a pool 00:30:17.735 --> 00:30:19.639 and get his sight, 00:30:19.639 --> 00:30:23.201 or to simply get up just because 00:30:23.201 --> 00:30:27.938 Jesus told him to get up. 00:30:27.938 --> 00:30:30.016 How does a man who's got palsy 00:30:30.016 --> 00:30:31.498 and is lame get up? 00:30:31.498 --> 00:30:32.989 How does a man who's been 00:30:32.989 --> 00:30:37.921 for almost 40 years beside this pool - 00:30:37.921 --> 00:30:40.501 how does he just get up? 00:30:40.501 --> 00:30:43.201 Jesus told him to get up and he did. 00:30:43.201 --> 00:30:48.365 Here's the thing. Here's the thing. NOTE Paragraph 00:30:48.365 --> 00:30:53.006 One of the ways you grieve the Spirit; 00:30:53.006 --> 00:30:56.934 one of the ways that you forsake 00:30:56.934 --> 00:31:01.744 the power of the Spirit 00:31:01.744 --> 00:31:04.920 is when you don't strive to do 00:31:04.920 --> 00:31:07.180 what He tells you to do. 00:31:07.180 --> 00:31:09.700 That is so key to living the Christian life. 00:31:09.700 --> 00:31:12.495 It doesn't mean that you have the power to do it, 00:31:12.495 --> 00:31:15.225 any more than that man on the ground 00:31:15.225 --> 00:31:17.933 had power to get up in his own strength. 00:31:17.933 --> 00:31:19.977 But you see, what happened when Jesus 00:31:19.977 --> 00:31:23.991 told him to do it, 00:31:23.991 --> 00:31:29.322 and looking up at Jesus 00:31:29.322 --> 00:31:33.449 and believing, he got up. 00:31:33.449 --> 00:31:34.560 He did it. 00:31:34.560 --> 00:31:36.524 He did the impossible. 00:31:36.524 --> 00:31:38.291 Not in his own strength. 00:31:38.291 --> 00:31:39.875 You see, that is the secret 00:31:39.875 --> 00:31:41.561 to living the Christian life. 00:31:41.561 --> 00:31:43.386 Not so much a secret, 00:31:43.386 --> 00:31:45.906 but it's amazing how often we miss it. NOTE Paragraph 00:31:45.906 --> 00:31:50.670 Brethren, when Scripture says to do things, 00:31:50.670 --> 00:31:54.496 if your first attitude is one of defeat, 00:31:54.496 --> 00:31:57.332 if your first attitude is "I can't do that," 00:31:57.332 --> 00:31:58.887 no, no, no. 00:31:58.887 --> 00:32:00.906 Of course, you can't do that. 00:32:00.906 --> 00:32:03.471 The first step is 00:32:03.471 --> 00:32:09.921 Jesus tells me to pluck out my eye. 00:32:09.921 --> 00:32:12.212 He tells me to do that. 00:32:12.212 --> 00:32:17.729 His representative - 00:32:17.729 --> 00:32:21.815 he talks about putting to death sin 00:32:21.815 --> 00:32:23.182 in the mortal body. 00:32:23.182 --> 00:32:25.088 He talks about not letting sin reign. 00:32:25.088 --> 00:32:27.966 He talks about putting to death what's earthly in me. 00:32:27.966 --> 00:32:32.191 I am being told in Scripture to kill it. 00:32:32.191 --> 00:32:33.688 Now here's what you'll find. 00:32:33.688 --> 00:32:38.184 When you say "I can't." 00:32:38.184 --> 00:32:40.120 It rules me. 00:32:40.120 --> 00:32:41.868 It dominates me. 00:32:41.868 --> 00:32:45.011 I can't. 00:32:45.011 --> 00:32:49.775 You see what's happening right there? 00:32:49.775 --> 00:32:54.939 What you have to lay hold on is this: 00:32:54.939 --> 00:32:57.286 The Spirit of God empowers us 00:32:57.286 --> 00:33:00.103 in our obedience. 00:33:00.103 --> 00:33:04.412 When you are disobedient, 00:33:04.412 --> 00:33:06.330 He doesn't. 00:33:06.330 --> 00:33:08.698 If you think I'm going to lay down 00:33:08.698 --> 00:33:10.568 and not obey Christ, 00:33:10.568 --> 00:33:12.575 and the Spirit of God is going to come in 00:33:12.575 --> 00:33:15.321 and wonderfully saturate with His power 00:33:15.321 --> 00:33:16.814 and I'm going to rise up 00:33:16.814 --> 00:33:18.345 and I'm going to be so strong 00:33:18.345 --> 00:33:20.823 and I'm going to be able to resist every temptation. 00:33:20.823 --> 00:33:23.106 That's not how it happens. 00:33:23.106 --> 00:33:25.883 That isn't obedience. NOTE Paragraph 00:33:25.883 --> 00:33:29.510 Or how about this, 00:33:29.510 --> 00:33:31.493 as far as the commands go with this, 00:33:31.493 --> 00:33:34.767 you are told to flee youthful lusts. 00:33:34.767 --> 00:33:37.370 You are told to run from them. 00:33:37.370 --> 00:33:39.076 You're told to run 00:33:39.076 --> 00:33:40.899 and you're told to attack. 00:33:40.899 --> 00:33:45.025 Cut. Amputate. 00:33:45.025 --> 00:33:48.657 You're called to do some surgery here. 00:33:48.657 --> 00:33:51.237 You're called to eradicate things. 00:33:51.237 --> 00:33:53.421 You're called to flee from things. 00:33:53.421 --> 00:33:56.795 You're called to do battle. 00:33:56.795 --> 00:33:58.794 You're called to put to death. 00:33:58.794 --> 00:34:01.594 You're called to kill. 00:34:01.594 --> 00:34:03.695 And look, when we look at our Lord 00:34:03.695 --> 00:34:07.259 and we say, "Lord, I trust You. 00:34:07.259 --> 00:34:10.123 That if You've told us in Your Word to do this. 00:34:10.123 --> 00:34:13.103 I'm going to trust that there's power in this to do it." 00:34:13.103 --> 00:34:15.556 And even if you fall on your face, you know what? 00:34:15.556 --> 00:34:19.104 You get up again. "Lord, I just fell on my face." 00:34:19.104 --> 00:34:21.012 Maybe it was because you were too proud. 00:34:21.012 --> 00:34:23.079 Maybe it was because He wants to teach you 00:34:23.079 --> 00:34:25.126 all the more how badly you need Him. 00:34:25.126 --> 00:34:26.815 But brethren, I'm telling you this, 00:34:26.815 --> 00:34:28.515 the Holy Spirit is your best Friend 00:34:28.515 --> 00:34:31.106 in putting to death sexual sin. 00:34:31.106 --> 00:34:33.751 You've got to have the Spirit. 00:34:33.751 --> 00:34:39.911 You've got to have Him. NOTE Paragraph 00:34:39.911 --> 00:34:46.906 Let's talk about grieving the Spirit. 00:34:46.906 --> 00:34:49.735 Just not striving to do 00:34:49.735 --> 00:34:51.034 what you're commanded to do 00:34:51.034 --> 00:34:52.091 is one of the ways, 00:34:52.091 --> 00:34:53.991 but how else? 00:34:53.991 --> 00:35:00.199 Brethren, the man who lives 00:35:00.199 --> 00:35:03.256 the most holy life - 00:35:03.256 --> 00:35:05.031 what is a holy life? 00:35:05.031 --> 00:35:08.374 Closely associated with those 00:35:08.374 --> 00:35:13.313 sanctified word group. 00:35:13.313 --> 00:35:17.491 We're sanctified - 00:35:17.491 --> 00:35:19.803 is it 2 Thessalonians 2:13? 00:35:19.803 --> 00:35:25.202 Sanctified by the Spirit. 00:35:25.202 --> 00:35:27.491 You're sanctified by the Spirit. 00:35:27.491 --> 00:35:30.143 The holy man is holy 00:35:30.143 --> 00:35:34.707 by the power of the Spirit. 00:35:34.707 --> 00:35:40.208 That man by that Spirit - 00:35:40.208 --> 00:35:42.849 that Spirit is operating in his life. 00:35:42.849 --> 00:35:44.355 He's putting to death. 00:35:44.355 --> 00:35:47.113 That man is doing the things - 00:35:47.113 --> 00:35:49.455 he's seeking to obey; 00:35:49.455 --> 00:35:53.811 he's seeking to walk in the way (incomplete thought). 00:35:53.811 --> 00:35:55.250 He's mindful. 00:35:55.250 --> 00:35:59.432 He's mindful to make a covenant with his eyes like Job 00:35:59.432 --> 00:36:02.105 and not look where he shouldn't look. 00:36:02.105 --> 00:36:04.672 He's mindful to flee, to run away 00:36:04.672 --> 00:36:11.157 from places that would cause him to stumble. 00:36:11.157 --> 00:36:13.046 He's mindful of that. 00:36:13.046 --> 00:36:15.701 He does that. 00:36:15.701 --> 00:36:21.425 Running. Gouging out. Amputating. NOTE Paragraph 00:36:21.425 --> 00:36:26.190 Look, every one of us, 00:36:26.190 --> 00:36:29.829 that means you have to make 00:36:29.829 --> 00:36:33.258 some radical steps. 00:36:33.258 --> 00:36:36.578 If you're not willing to make radical steps, 00:36:36.578 --> 00:36:38.682 and then you go around all the time 00:36:38.682 --> 00:36:42.058 dismally defeated - 00:36:42.058 --> 00:36:44.301 Oh, woe is me... 00:36:44.301 --> 00:36:45.953 I just can't overcome. 00:36:45.953 --> 00:36:48.388 I'm just not like other people. 00:36:48.388 --> 00:36:50.355 Woe is me. 00:36:50.355 --> 00:36:55.787 Like what's that donkey on Winnie the Pooh? 00:36:55.787 --> 00:36:57.789 Eeyore. 00:36:57.789 --> 00:37:01.730 Brethren, we have to take radical steps. NOTE Paragraph 00:37:01.730 --> 00:37:08.235 But what are other ways that we grieve - 00:37:08.235 --> 00:37:09.703 and you have to put those two: 00:37:09.703 --> 00:37:13.626 quench, quench - you just quench. 00:37:13.626 --> 00:37:16.808 He's this burning, He's this fire. 00:37:16.808 --> 00:37:18.546 There's this heat. 00:37:18.546 --> 00:37:21.890 There's this passion that He encourages 00:37:21.890 --> 00:37:23.682 in our love for God, 00:37:23.682 --> 00:37:25.441 our love for Christ, 00:37:25.441 --> 00:37:27.003 in living a holy life, 00:37:27.003 --> 00:37:29.227 hungering and thirsting after righteousness. 00:37:29.227 --> 00:37:32.901 And you just throw a big bucket of cold water 00:37:32.901 --> 00:37:37.500 on His influences in your life. 00:37:37.500 --> 00:37:39.394 How? 00:37:39.394 --> 00:37:41.098 He doesn't explain it. 00:37:41.098 --> 00:37:46.853 He expects that you full well know. 00:37:46.853 --> 00:37:50.022 What? Look. 00:37:50.022 --> 00:37:53.150 Be honest with me. 00:37:53.150 --> 00:37:57.874 What are the things that at times 00:37:57.874 --> 00:38:00.665 you've allowed into your life 00:38:00.665 --> 00:38:02.315 and you know you shouldn't have? 00:38:02.315 --> 00:38:04.809 Or things you haven't allowed into your life 00:38:04.809 --> 00:38:06.295 that you know you should have? 00:38:06.295 --> 00:38:08.275 What are the things that you've done? 00:38:08.275 --> 00:38:11.398 When are the times your conscience told you 00:38:11.398 --> 00:38:12.876 you've grieved the Spirit? 00:38:12.876 --> 00:38:14.676 What are the things? NOTE Paragraph 00:38:14.676 --> 00:38:17.160 James: One thing I was thinking of 00:38:17.160 --> 00:38:19.885 is when you don't approve what is excellent, 00:38:19.885 --> 00:38:21.759 what's amazing is in Philippians 1 00:38:21.759 --> 00:38:23.804 when Paul says approve what is excellent, 00:38:23.804 --> 00:38:25.652 so you may be pure. 00:38:25.652 --> 00:38:29.156 Meaning, if I don't approve what is excellent, 00:38:29.156 --> 00:38:31.535 that deals with purity and blamelessness, 00:38:31.535 --> 00:38:32.995 and so I know there's times 00:38:32.995 --> 00:38:35.337 I grieve the Holy Spirit not by even 00:38:35.337 --> 00:38:37.699 doing overt sin, but by not approving 00:38:37.699 --> 00:38:39.745 what is most excellent; 00:38:39.745 --> 00:38:41.469 just doing what is good, 00:38:41.469 --> 00:38:43.493 and right there I grieve the Holy Spirit. 00:38:43.493 --> 00:38:45.474 And I start myself on a path 00:38:45.474 --> 00:38:49.589 where I can end up in sin or greater sin. NOTE Paragraph 00:38:49.589 --> 00:38:51.793 Tim: And here's the thing to think about. 00:38:51.793 --> 00:38:57.147 It's like James is saying right there. 00:38:57.147 --> 00:39:00.656 What can happen is 00:39:00.656 --> 00:39:08.828 like I speak in a rough tone to my wife. 00:39:08.828 --> 00:39:12.328 Two things just happened. 00:39:12.328 --> 00:39:15.779 I made provision for the flesh. 00:39:15.779 --> 00:39:19.980 Anybody think of a text that says not to do that? 00:39:19.980 --> 00:39:22.458 Romans 13:14 00:39:22.458 --> 00:39:26.651 I just made provsion for the flesh. 00:39:26.651 --> 00:39:29.811 And I just grieved the Spirit, 00:39:29.811 --> 00:39:32.070 to whatever degree. 00:39:32.070 --> 00:39:34.442 Not everything we do grieves the Spirit 00:39:34.442 --> 00:39:37.709 to the same degree undoubtedly. 00:39:37.709 --> 00:39:41.256 And undoubtedly, if we deal with sin quickly, 00:39:41.256 --> 00:39:45.331 things get healed very well. 00:39:45.331 --> 00:39:48.969 But think about what happens. 00:39:48.969 --> 00:39:53.554 Something in my relationship with my wife 00:39:53.554 --> 00:39:59.019 and then all of a sudden, 00:39:59.019 --> 00:40:02.694 bombarded by a temptation 00:40:02.694 --> 00:40:07.724 in the sexual realm. 00:40:07.724 --> 00:40:12.597 Can there be connections like that? NOTE Paragraph 00:40:12.597 --> 00:40:19.214 The Spirit of God spoke to me. 00:40:19.214 --> 00:40:23.680 I should not have had a second helping of that food. 00:40:23.680 --> 00:40:26.457 I knew it not only was going to 00:40:26.457 --> 00:40:28.854 appear to others to be gluttony around me; 00:40:28.854 --> 00:40:31.425 I just knew I didn't need it. I knew I shouldn't have done that. 00:40:31.425 --> 00:40:33.298 You see, you make a provision for the flesh. 00:40:33.298 --> 00:40:34.436 You grieve the Spirit. 00:40:34.436 --> 00:40:36.382 And then what happens? 00:40:36.382 --> 00:40:40.217 Sin will now get the upper hand. 00:40:40.217 --> 00:40:44.979 Sin as a singular, as a force. NOTE Paragraph 00:40:44.979 --> 00:40:46.373 And so what happens is 00:40:46.373 --> 00:40:49.538 you can suddenly find yourself 00:40:49.538 --> 00:40:53.355 very vulnerable with regards to sexual sin 00:40:53.355 --> 00:40:55.529 when the thing that you did 00:40:55.529 --> 00:40:58.720 wasn't even about that. 00:40:58.720 --> 00:41:01.168 You didn't grieve the Spirit through pornography. 00:41:01.168 --> 00:41:02.529 You didn't grieve the Spirit 00:41:02.529 --> 00:41:04.843 through anything that you were doing like that. 00:41:04.843 --> 00:41:07.686 But it's because you grieved Him 00:41:07.686 --> 00:41:09.856 and now His power in your life 00:41:09.856 --> 00:41:11.706 has subsided. 00:41:11.706 --> 00:41:13.259 It's waned. 00:41:13.259 --> 00:41:16.348 And suddenly, a wave comes over you 00:41:16.348 --> 00:41:19.099 and you are under such temptation, 00:41:19.099 --> 00:41:21.654 or, what's happened is, 00:41:21.654 --> 00:41:23.324 you've tempted the devil. 00:41:23.324 --> 00:41:25.803 And when the Spirit steps back, 00:41:25.803 --> 00:41:27.730 He gives place to the devil 00:41:27.730 --> 00:41:30.314 to do something or to tempt you. NOTE Paragraph 00:41:30.314 --> 00:41:33.105 Listen, the Spirit is not only 00:41:33.105 --> 00:41:34.969 more powerful than sin; 00:41:34.969 --> 00:41:36.780 He's more powerful than the devil. 00:41:36.780 --> 00:41:38.805 Infinitely more! 00:41:38.805 --> 00:41:41.548 He can stop all these things. 00:41:41.548 --> 00:41:44.253 But there's connections. 00:41:44.253 --> 00:41:45.832 You see, there's connections 00:41:45.832 --> 00:41:47.184 with you feeding the flesh. 00:41:47.184 --> 00:41:51.353 There's connections with 00:41:51.353 --> 00:41:53.742 defiling your conscience. 00:41:53.742 --> 00:41:56.219 That Spirit of God knows when you 00:41:56.219 --> 00:41:58.377 defile the conscience. 00:41:58.377 --> 00:41:59.962 You should never do it. 00:41:59.962 --> 00:42:02.730 And it will grieve Him. NOTE Paragraph 00:42:02.730 --> 00:42:04.223 Anybody think of other things 00:42:04.223 --> 00:42:05.944 that tend to grieve the Spirit? 00:42:05.944 --> 00:42:06.746 (from the room) 00:42:06.746 --> 00:42:08.394 Well, I know the verse that says 00:42:08.394 --> 00:42:09.687 to not grieve the Spirit 00:42:09.687 --> 00:42:11.104 Ephesians 4:30, 00:42:11.104 --> 00:42:13.387 the next verse says let all bitterness 00:42:13.387 --> 00:42:15.474 and wrath and anger and clamor 00:42:15.474 --> 00:42:17.135 be put away from you. 00:42:17.135 --> 00:42:18.700 I definitely think bitterness, 00:42:18.700 --> 00:42:20.191 or having harsh affections 00:42:20.191 --> 00:42:21.427 towards another brother 00:42:21.427 --> 00:42:26.178 will grieve the Spirit really quick. NOTE Paragraph 00:42:26.178 --> 00:42:28.229 Tim: Brethren, we need to remember this, 00:42:28.229 --> 00:42:31.194 the Spirit is always stronger 00:42:31.194 --> 00:42:33.588 than sexual sin. 00:42:33.588 --> 00:42:35.826 Always. 00:42:35.826 --> 00:42:38.969 And if you're feeling like you're just being 00:42:38.969 --> 00:42:41.673 thrown around, 00:42:41.673 --> 00:42:44.532 you have to be honest. 00:42:44.532 --> 00:42:48.868 If you're lost, you can grit your teeth, 00:42:48.868 --> 00:42:50.754 and you can try in your own strength 00:42:50.754 --> 00:42:52.999 to do things, but you're going to be defeated 00:42:52.999 --> 00:42:54.336 every time. 00:42:54.336 --> 00:42:56.103 You're just going to be defeated. 00:42:56.103 --> 00:42:59.674 You're going to be defeated. NOTE Paragraph 00:42:59.674 --> 00:43:01.124 But if you're a Christian 00:43:01.124 --> 00:43:04.208 and you've got the Spirit, 00:43:04.208 --> 00:43:07.001 you're going to put that to death. 00:43:07.001 --> 00:43:08.095 And you will do it. 00:43:08.095 --> 00:43:09.791 You will do it. 00:43:09.791 --> 00:43:12.199 It's a given. 00:43:12.199 --> 00:43:15.966 Jesus says that you must do it, 00:43:15.966 --> 00:43:17.188 or you will go to hell. 00:43:17.188 --> 00:43:19.417 That's as much as saying you will do it. NOTE Paragraph 00:43:19.417 --> 00:43:22.129 Listen, everybody who belongs to Christ, 00:43:22.129 --> 00:43:24.389 there is a reality. 00:43:24.389 --> 00:43:29.763 They have crucified the passions, 00:43:29.763 --> 00:43:33.473 the lusts. They have. 00:43:33.473 --> 00:43:34.865 Scripture says that. 00:43:34.865 --> 00:43:36.647 Scripture says sin will not have 00:43:36.647 --> 00:43:38.046 dominion over you. 00:43:38.046 --> 00:43:40.435 Scripture says the path to life - 00:43:40.435 --> 00:43:43.023 putting to death the deeds of the body. 00:43:43.023 --> 00:43:45.038 These are at the front of the line. 00:43:45.038 --> 00:43:47.959 You will do this if you're on the path to life. 00:43:47.959 --> 00:43:49.036 You will. 00:43:49.036 --> 00:43:51.227 Because you do have the Spirit. 00:43:51.227 --> 00:43:53.264 And because the Spirit will make you holy. 00:43:53.264 --> 00:43:54.956 And because if you spend your time 00:43:54.956 --> 00:43:58.111 grieving the Spirit, you're going to spend time 00:43:58.111 --> 00:44:00.586 back in the woodshed too. 00:44:00.586 --> 00:44:02.292 And He's going to see to it. 00:44:02.292 --> 00:44:03.409 I mean, we have this. 00:44:03.409 --> 00:44:04.738 We have this reality. 00:44:04.738 --> 00:44:06.204 He disciplines His children; 00:44:06.204 --> 00:44:07.468 if you're His child. NOTE Paragraph 00:44:07.468 --> 00:44:10.323 But brethren, there are those 00:44:10.323 --> 00:44:12.703 who don't make near as much progress 00:44:12.703 --> 00:44:13.879 in the Christian life. 00:44:13.879 --> 00:44:15.315 There are those who flounder. 00:44:15.315 --> 00:44:16.477 There are those who are 00:44:16.477 --> 00:44:18.212 more Corinthian-like too many times 00:44:18.212 --> 00:44:19.032 in their life. 00:44:19.032 --> 00:44:21.039 There are those who don't get the victory. 00:44:21.039 --> 00:44:22.390 There are those undoubtedly 00:44:22.390 --> 00:44:23.720 in the Christian realm 00:44:23.720 --> 00:44:25.890 who grieve the Spirit, quench the Spirit 00:44:25.890 --> 00:44:28.462 more than other people. 00:44:28.462 --> 00:44:31.354 We don't want to quench the Spirit. 00:44:31.354 --> 00:44:34.517 We want to live in the power of the Spirit. NOTE Paragraph 00:44:34.517 --> 00:44:36.808 Look, the Spirit is a Person. 00:44:36.808 --> 00:44:40.446 He's infinitely strong. 00:44:40.446 --> 00:44:42.391 He's with the child of God. 00:44:42.391 --> 00:44:44.069 Every child of God in this room 00:44:44.069 --> 00:44:47.348 has the Spirit of God indwelling. 00:44:47.348 --> 00:44:49.494 The Spirit of God is with you. 00:44:49.494 --> 00:44:53.504 He is with you and He will be with you 00:44:53.504 --> 00:44:55.668 apparently forever. 00:44:55.668 --> 00:44:57.194 You have this reality. 00:44:57.194 --> 00:44:58.524 And He is a Holy Spirit. 00:44:58.524 --> 00:45:02.867 And He sanctifies His people. NOTE Paragraph 00:45:02.867 --> 00:45:06.783 Well, if you're not having victory, 00:45:06.783 --> 00:45:11.023 it's because He's not giving you the victory. 00:45:11.023 --> 00:45:14.857 So let's search for the reasons. 00:45:14.857 --> 00:45:19.769 Why is the Spirit not giving me victory? 00:45:19.769 --> 00:45:21.626 One thing we've looked at: 00:45:21.626 --> 00:45:27.347 because you're not seeking to do 00:45:27.347 --> 00:45:29.769 what He's telling you to do; 00:45:29.769 --> 00:45:34.896 trusting in His power to do it. 00:45:34.896 --> 00:45:39.795 Or you've got the Spirit grieved. NOTE Paragraph 00:45:39.795 --> 00:45:49.593 What are some other ways we can grieve the Spirit? 00:45:49.593 --> 00:45:54.901 Look. Sin is what grieves the Spirit. 00:45:54.901 --> 00:45:56.791 (incomplete thought) 00:45:56.791 --> 00:45:58.854 James talked about choosing things 00:45:58.854 --> 00:46:04.712 that are excellent. 00:46:04.712 --> 00:46:06.694 Does that mean that if I choose that 00:46:06.694 --> 00:46:09.059 which isn't most excellent, 00:46:09.059 --> 00:46:12.041 that it may grieve the Spirit? 00:46:12.041 --> 00:46:13.567 It may. 00:46:13.567 --> 00:46:14.861 I mean, it may. 00:46:14.861 --> 00:46:17.666 If you're willingly making wrong choices, 00:46:17.666 --> 00:46:20.941 even though that which you're choosing 00:46:20.941 --> 00:46:24.829 it's just way down the line 00:46:24.829 --> 00:46:26.629 in usefulness and profitableness 00:46:26.629 --> 00:46:28.714 in your life... NOTE Paragraph 00:46:28.714 --> 00:46:31.850 Brethren, here's the thing. 00:46:31.850 --> 00:46:33.946 There's undoubtedly some people 00:46:33.946 --> 00:46:39.908 who it's like hearing about Spurgeon's take 00:46:39.908 --> 00:46:42.471 on Robert Chapman. 00:46:42.471 --> 00:46:46.209 How does a man come to be 00:46:46.209 --> 00:46:49.561 the holiest man? 00:46:49.561 --> 00:46:52.508 The most Christ-like man 00:46:52.508 --> 00:46:55.795 that somebody has ever met? 00:46:55.795 --> 00:46:57.423 People who met Lloyd-Jones 00:46:57.423 --> 00:46:59.382 were blown away. 00:46:59.382 --> 00:47:01.819 How does a man get to be like that? 00:47:01.819 --> 00:47:06.101 Same way. Without Christ, he's nothing. 00:47:06.101 --> 00:47:09.553 It's by the Spirit. 00:47:09.553 --> 00:47:11.516 If you want to live in the greatest 00:47:11.516 --> 00:47:16.237 demonstrations of the Spirit of God, 00:47:16.237 --> 00:47:18.239 the people who are going to live most 00:47:18.239 --> 00:47:20.502 in that power, most in that joy, 00:47:20.502 --> 00:47:23.171 most in that realm, 00:47:23.171 --> 00:47:24.758 they're the people who are 00:47:24.758 --> 00:47:28.401 most diligent to walk so carefully 00:47:28.401 --> 00:47:30.970 before Him. 00:47:30.970 --> 00:47:33.421 They don't want to grieve Him. 00:47:33.421 --> 00:47:36.505 They don't want to make a misstep. 00:47:36.505 --> 00:47:41.561 They don't want to settle for the status quo. 00:47:41.561 --> 00:47:44.267 They're trying to reach the excellence. 00:47:44.267 --> 00:47:47.432 They don't want to offend Him. 00:47:47.432 --> 00:47:51.747 They don't want to do that which 00:47:51.747 --> 00:47:55.022 would bring a cloud. NOTE Paragraph 00:47:55.022 --> 00:47:59.941 Now think with me about the Spirit. 00:47:59.941 --> 00:48:04.256 2 Thessalonians 2:13 talks about 00:48:04.256 --> 00:48:06.801 being sanctified by the Spirit. 00:48:06.801 --> 00:48:11.285 I can think of a place there in John 17:17 00:48:11.285 --> 00:48:13.916 that says that we're sanctified 00:48:13.916 --> 00:48:16.978 by the Word. 00:48:16.978 --> 00:48:18.815 Now let me ask you this. 00:48:18.815 --> 00:48:21.799 Are we sanctified by both? 00:48:21.799 --> 00:48:23.490 On the one hand over here, 00:48:23.490 --> 00:48:24.817 when you read Scripture, 00:48:24.817 --> 00:48:26.384 you're sanctified by the Word; 00:48:26.384 --> 00:48:29.249 and then, over here, you're sanctified 00:48:29.249 --> 00:48:31.751 by the Spirit when you do something else? 00:48:31.751 --> 00:48:36.752 Something different? 00:48:36.752 --> 00:48:39.162 Or do you think that perhaps 00:48:39.162 --> 00:48:41.306 the Spirit of God is the one who 00:48:41.306 --> 00:48:43.004 puts to death sin? 00:48:43.004 --> 00:48:44.347 Makes us pure; 00:48:44.347 --> 00:48:48.518 makes us sanctified 00:48:48.518 --> 00:48:51.509 by way of the Scriptures. 00:48:51.509 --> 00:48:54.298 At least one of the ways. 00:48:54.298 --> 00:48:58.719 Yeah. "Sanctify them by Thy truth. 00:48:58.719 --> 00:49:00.082 Thy Word is truth." 00:49:00.082 --> 00:49:02.026 Sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 00:49:02.026 --> 00:49:05.880 It's the Holy Spirit who takes that Word. NOTE Paragraph 00:49:05.880 --> 00:49:09.420 So here's a reality. 00:49:09.420 --> 00:49:11.329 You are not going to live in the power 00:49:11.329 --> 00:49:14.021 of the Spirit - the sanctifying power 00:49:14.021 --> 00:49:17.062 of the Spirit unless you're in the Word. 00:49:17.062 --> 00:49:18.858 Jesus said the Word sanctifies. 00:49:18.858 --> 00:49:20.326 "Sanctify them by Thy Word." 00:49:20.326 --> 00:49:22.559 He's praying to His Father. 00:49:22.559 --> 00:49:23.741 Let me ask you this. 00:49:23.741 --> 00:49:25.635 Do you think that prayer 00:49:25.635 --> 00:49:29.297 is still powerful till this very hour? NOTE Paragraph 00:49:29.297 --> 00:49:32.874 But I can tell you this, 00:49:32.874 --> 00:49:34.610 it's kind of like the man who won't 00:49:34.610 --> 00:49:36.856 try to get up when he's told to get up. 00:49:36.856 --> 00:49:40.142 If you have this book on your shelf 00:49:40.142 --> 00:49:41.865 and it's collecting dust, 00:49:41.865 --> 00:49:45.856 and you're over there struggling 00:49:45.856 --> 00:49:49.250 with sexual immorality, 00:49:49.250 --> 00:49:51.174 if you want to know what the problem is 00:49:51.174 --> 00:49:54.459 go look at yourself in the mirror. NOTE Paragraph 00:49:54.459 --> 00:49:58.334 Look, if you know that Jesus Himself - 00:49:58.334 --> 00:50:00.364 what you have to understand is this: 00:50:00.364 --> 00:50:03.569 Jesus didn't just say 00:50:03.569 --> 00:50:07.125 that we're sanctified by the Word; 00:50:07.125 --> 00:50:11.008 Jesus is actually praying to His Father 00:50:11.008 --> 00:50:14.020 that we would be sanctified by the Word. 00:50:14.020 --> 00:50:15.447 There's a difference. 00:50:15.447 --> 00:50:17.796 The second is better because it expresses 00:50:17.796 --> 00:50:19.297 the truth of the first, 00:50:19.297 --> 00:50:22.076 but it also says that God has been prayed to 00:50:22.076 --> 00:50:24.194 by our Messiah who intercedes all the time 00:50:24.194 --> 00:50:25.148 on our behalf. 00:50:25.148 --> 00:50:27.043 And He's actually prayed that prayer 00:50:27.043 --> 00:50:29.255 that this Word would sanctify us. 00:50:29.255 --> 00:50:31.312 If there's no other reason for you never 00:50:31.312 --> 00:50:33.176 to skip a day to be in this book, 00:50:33.176 --> 00:50:34.597 then it's that. 00:50:34.597 --> 00:50:36.499 You say, are you trying to tell me 00:50:36.499 --> 00:50:38.072 that there's a connection between 00:50:38.072 --> 00:50:41.404 me falling into doing something with that mouse 00:50:41.404 --> 00:50:43.793 with my computer that I shouldn't have done 00:50:43.793 --> 00:50:47.882 and the fact that I didn't read the Scriptures that morning? 00:50:47.882 --> 00:50:51.089 Well, I hope you have the logical abilities 00:50:51.089 --> 00:50:54.527 to recognize the answer to that is yes. 00:50:54.527 --> 00:50:56.374 I hope you can put the pieces together 00:50:56.374 --> 00:51:05.409 and recognize, oh... yeah. 00:51:05.409 --> 00:51:07.987 He prayed that we would be sanctified through it. 00:51:07.987 --> 00:51:15.115 I'm not going to the Word of God. 00:51:15.115 --> 00:51:17.725 Not that you go to it like a magic formula. 00:51:17.725 --> 00:51:20.174 That's not it. 00:51:20.174 --> 00:51:22.479 It's that you go to it 00:51:22.479 --> 00:51:24.717 and you feast on the truth 00:51:24.717 --> 00:51:29.263 and you feast on the Christ. 00:51:29.263 --> 00:51:31.480 Remember - beholding the Lord, 00:51:31.480 --> 00:51:36.149 the Spirit transforms us. 00:51:36.149 --> 00:51:38.752 You see, you go there and you find Him. 00:51:38.752 --> 00:51:40.197 You find the Lord. 00:51:40.197 --> 00:51:43.985 You behold His glory. 00:51:43.985 --> 00:51:47.365 You look at Him and His sexual purity. 00:51:47.365 --> 00:51:50.803 Go there. Hear what He said. 00:51:50.803 --> 00:51:52.694 Trust that if He told you 00:51:52.694 --> 00:51:55.658 to gouge out eyes, 00:51:55.658 --> 00:51:57.889 you can do it. 00:51:57.889 --> 00:51:59.180 You can do it. 00:51:59.180 --> 00:52:01.407 He'll help you do it. 00:52:01.407 --> 00:52:06.256 He sent the Spirit here to help us 00:52:06.256 --> 00:52:08.711 to live that way. NOTE Paragraph 00:52:08.711 --> 00:52:10.442 Anybody think of anything else? 00:52:10.442 --> 00:52:11.681 Any other connections? 00:52:11.681 --> 00:52:13.604 Any other connections you can think of 00:52:13.604 --> 00:52:16.867 in Scripture about the Spirit of God? NOTE Paragraph 00:52:16.867 --> 00:52:20.356 Yeah, John Piper preached a message 00:52:20.356 --> 00:52:23.046 on Romans 8:13 - "By the Spirit, 00:52:23.046 --> 00:52:25.048 we put to death the deeds of the body." 00:52:25.048 --> 00:52:26.314 And he was talking about 00:52:26.314 --> 00:52:28.263 he was looking for Scripture - 00:52:28.263 --> 00:52:30.096 where in Scripture does it say 00:52:30.096 --> 00:52:32.346 that we receive the Holy Spirit? 00:52:32.346 --> 00:52:36.883 And he brought up Galatians 3:2 00:52:36.883 --> 00:52:38.824 which says, "Let me ask only this: 00:52:38.824 --> 00:52:40.938 did you receive the Spirit 00:52:40.938 --> 00:52:42.777 by works of the law? 00:52:42.777 --> 00:52:44.867 Or by hearing with faith?" 00:52:44.867 --> 00:52:47.752 And he brought out it's by hearing 00:52:47.752 --> 00:52:50.751 with faith that we receive the Spirit. 00:52:50.751 --> 00:52:54.125 Tim: Why don't you read the first five verses all together? 00:52:54.125 --> 00:52:55.779 (from the room) Of Galatians 3? 00:52:55.779 --> 00:52:56.922 Tim: Yeah. 00:52:56.922 --> 00:52:57.857 (from the room) 00:52:57.857 --> 00:52:59.223 "Oh foolish Galatians! 00:52:59.223 --> 00:53:00.750 Who has bewitched you? 00:53:00.750 --> 00:53:02.762 It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ 00:53:02.762 --> 00:53:04.229 was publicly portrayed..." 00:53:04.229 --> 00:53:07.219 Tim: Now, see you want to stop right there. 00:53:07.219 --> 00:53:09.931 You see, if you just dive in - 00:53:09.931 --> 00:53:11.393 which isn't wrong - 00:53:11.393 --> 00:53:12.988 I mean, you went to the text 00:53:12.988 --> 00:53:14.199 that Piper dealt with. 00:53:14.199 --> 00:53:17.400 But see, if you dive in where you dove in, 00:53:17.400 --> 00:53:19.344 you know what you get? 00:53:19.344 --> 00:53:21.460 You get the word "faith." 00:53:21.460 --> 00:53:23.122 It's a good word. 00:53:23.122 --> 00:53:24.086 But you know what? 00:53:24.086 --> 00:53:26.424 Sometimes it's a very abstract term. 00:53:26.424 --> 00:53:28.883 You hear "faith" and you miss 00:53:28.883 --> 00:53:30.215 the heart and soul. 00:53:30.215 --> 00:53:35.294 (incomplete thought) 00:53:35.294 --> 00:53:37.902 You don't want to ever miss verse 1. 00:53:37.902 --> 00:53:40.839 Verse 1 is the heart and soul 00:53:40.839 --> 00:53:43.398 of where this faith focuses. 00:53:43.398 --> 00:53:48.209 It is Christ who has been publically 00:53:48.209 --> 00:53:50.369 crucified before you. 00:53:50.369 --> 00:53:52.924 There is power. 00:53:52.924 --> 00:53:57.979 There is power in looking to the cross 00:53:57.979 --> 00:53:59.970 in faith. 00:53:59.970 --> 00:54:02.602 Because brethren, look, 00:54:02.602 --> 00:54:07.726 what that cross does - 00:54:07.726 --> 00:54:10.243 "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." 00:54:10.243 --> 00:54:11.760 When you're in a place 00:54:11.760 --> 00:54:14.947 where you come before the Lord: 00:54:14.947 --> 00:54:22.645 Lord, I can't beat sexual immorality. 00:54:22.645 --> 00:54:26.991 I'm not strong enough. 00:54:26.991 --> 00:54:30.921 But Jesus died on the cross. 00:54:30.921 --> 00:54:33.430 In that death on the cross, 00:54:33.430 --> 00:54:36.530 He unleashed magnificent power. 00:54:36.530 --> 00:54:38.107 Can you think of any other verse? 00:54:38.107 --> 00:54:39.801 I'm thinking of one from Peter. 00:54:39.801 --> 00:54:41.395 Can you think of any other verse 00:54:41.395 --> 00:54:43.057 that talks about the cross 00:54:43.057 --> 00:54:44.634 and righteousness? 00:54:44.634 --> 00:54:46.595 Or the cross and power? 00:54:46.595 --> 00:54:49.585 The cross and producing righteousness? NOTE Paragraph 00:54:49.585 --> 00:54:52.463 Anybody think of any other verses? 00:54:52.463 --> 00:54:55.654 Titus 2:14 - "Who gave Himself for us 00:54:55.654 --> 00:54:58.169 to redeem us from all lawlessness 00:54:58.169 --> 00:55:00.607 and to purify for Himself a people..." 00:55:00.607 --> 00:55:03.645 To purify for Himself a people 00:55:03.645 --> 00:55:05.767 of His own possession. 00:55:05.767 --> 00:55:11.177 I mean, yeah. 00:55:11.177 --> 00:55:13.465 You want to look at the cross. NOTE Paragraph 00:55:13.465 --> 00:55:16.819 Now, keep going. That was just v. 1. 00:55:16.819 --> 00:55:19.865 (Galatians) "Let me ask you this. 00:55:19.865 --> 00:55:21.198 Did you receive the Spirit 00:55:21.198 --> 00:55:23.364 by words of the law or by hearing with faith? 00:55:23.364 --> 00:55:24.950 Tim: Ok. That's in the beginning. 00:55:24.950 --> 00:55:26.699 Did you receive? 00:55:26.699 --> 00:55:28.712 This is when you first received. 00:55:28.712 --> 00:55:31.568 Did that happen by faith or by works? 00:55:31.568 --> 00:55:36.344 Hearing of faith or the works of the law? 00:55:36.344 --> 00:55:37.921 Now, keep going. 00:55:37.921 --> 00:55:41.218 "Are you so foolish? 00:55:41.218 --> 00:55:43.008 Having begun by the Spirit, 00:55:43.008 --> 00:55:45.433 are you now being perfected by the flesh?" 00:55:45.433 --> 00:55:49.457 Tim: Oh, you better stop right there. NOTE Paragraph 00:55:49.457 --> 00:55:51.378 Perfected. 00:55:51.378 --> 00:55:55.461 That's the word we want. 00:55:55.461 --> 00:55:57.176 Do you want to be perfected 00:55:57.176 --> 00:56:00.764 when it comes to sexual immorality? 00:56:00.764 --> 00:56:04.301 You see what he's saying? 00:56:04.301 --> 00:56:08.423 You started the right way. 00:56:08.423 --> 00:56:11.196 Perfected is another way to say 00:56:11.196 --> 00:56:14.119 He's transforming us, 00:56:14.119 --> 00:56:17.356 from glory to glory. 00:56:17.356 --> 00:56:18.449 That's being perfected. 00:56:18.449 --> 00:56:20.384 It's being made like Christ. 00:56:20.384 --> 00:56:26.224 He says you talk about grieving the Spirit? 00:56:26.224 --> 00:56:28.436 You see, he's been talking about the Spirit 00:56:28.436 --> 00:56:29.775 and now in the next verse, 00:56:29.775 --> 00:56:31.961 he's going to come back to the Spirit again. 00:56:31.961 --> 00:56:32.909 Keep going. 00:56:32.909 --> 00:56:35.821 "Did you suffer so many things in vain 00:56:35.821 --> 00:56:38.491 if indeed it was in vain? 00:56:38.491 --> 00:56:40.785 Does He who supplies the Spirit to you 00:56:40.785 --> 00:56:42.746 and works miracles among you 00:56:42.746 --> 00:56:45.194 do so by works of the law 00:56:45.194 --> 00:56:46.682 or by hearing with faith?" NOTE Paragraph 00:56:46.682 --> 00:56:47.702 Now there it is. 00:56:47.702 --> 00:56:52.779 Now it's not received; 00:56:52.779 --> 00:56:56.424 now it's supplied. 00:56:56.424 --> 00:56:58.162 And it's the ongoing working 00:56:58.162 --> 00:57:00.322 of the supernatural in your life. 00:57:00.322 --> 00:57:03.566 You see, he jumped from one to the other. 00:57:03.566 --> 00:57:07.511 And right in the middle, he brought up, 00:57:07.511 --> 00:57:09.744 what are you thinking? NOTE Paragraph 00:57:09.744 --> 00:57:13.528 See, I would say this to all of us. 00:57:13.528 --> 00:57:16.495 If you move away from the cross, 00:57:16.495 --> 00:57:17.892 he would say this to you: 00:57:17.892 --> 00:57:21.323 what are you thinking? 00:57:21.323 --> 00:57:22.314 You know what? 00:57:22.314 --> 00:57:24.696 I don't doubt you can find lots of plans - 00:57:24.696 --> 00:57:27.856 quick ten step plans, you know, 00:57:27.856 --> 00:57:30.576 probably adulterers anonymous 00:57:30.576 --> 00:57:32.117 or something is out there. 00:57:32.117 --> 00:57:35.326 But brethren, there may be a lot 00:57:35.326 --> 00:57:37.418 of quick fix programs 00:57:37.418 --> 00:57:40.414 on the fast path to sexual purity. 00:57:40.414 --> 00:57:43.271 Undoubtedly, there's all sorts of books written 00:57:43.271 --> 00:57:45.140 and there's programs out there. 00:57:45.140 --> 00:57:47.691 People get tempted by these things. 00:57:47.691 --> 00:57:50.411 Come spend $2,000 00:57:50.411 --> 00:57:51.901 and come to this program 00:57:51.901 --> 00:57:53.337 and we'll fix you; 00:57:53.337 --> 00:57:55.278 we'll set you right. 00:57:55.278 --> 00:57:56.770 You know, if somebody simply 00:57:56.770 --> 00:57:58.302 took their Bibles and sat down 00:57:58.302 --> 00:58:01.102 with the first five verses of Galatians 3, 00:58:01.102 --> 00:58:03.196 and they just took time to study those, 00:58:03.196 --> 00:58:05.604 meditate on them before the Lord 00:58:05.604 --> 00:58:06.943 and get on their face, 00:58:06.943 --> 00:58:09.306 and really seek to understand the implications 00:58:09.306 --> 00:58:10.721 of those passages, 00:58:10.721 --> 00:58:13.427 you know where the power is? 00:58:13.427 --> 00:58:15.556 In the Spirit. 00:58:15.556 --> 00:58:17.702 You know how the Spirit is supplied? 00:58:17.702 --> 00:58:19.670 By faith. 00:58:19.670 --> 00:58:24.278 By faith in Him who was held up before them 00:58:24.278 --> 00:58:26.101 as publicly crucified. NOTE Paragraph 00:58:26.101 --> 00:58:27.841 Can I tell you something? 00:58:27.841 --> 00:58:30.687 There is a reason why the Lord's Supper 00:58:30.687 --> 00:58:32.537 is an ongoing ordinance 00:58:32.537 --> 00:58:34.065 in the life of the church. 00:58:34.065 --> 00:58:36.441 It's because God wants us to come back 00:58:36.441 --> 00:58:37.893 to the death of His Son 00:58:37.893 --> 00:58:40.494 over and over and over 00:58:40.494 --> 00:58:42.589 and remember Him. Why? 00:58:42.589 --> 00:58:44.420 Because it is there 00:58:44.420 --> 00:58:48.273 that your very spiritual life exists. 00:58:48.273 --> 00:58:51.930 That is where the price was paid. 00:58:51.930 --> 00:58:54.771 That is where the sin was paid. 00:58:54.771 --> 00:58:58.368 That is where He died on the cross 00:58:58.368 --> 00:59:01.064 to make a people that would be 00:59:01.064 --> 00:59:03.475 pure and righteous and holy 00:59:03.475 --> 00:59:05.658 and people of His own possession. 00:59:05.658 --> 00:59:08.481 That is where the power flows. 00:59:08.481 --> 00:59:13.228 The Spirit supplied as we look. NOTE Paragraph 00:59:13.228 --> 00:59:16.305 What you have to recognize is this: 00:59:16.305 --> 00:59:19.207 Was the Spirit not just as real 00:59:19.207 --> 00:59:21.023 in the lives of these Galatians 00:59:21.023 --> 00:59:23.363 as in Paul himself? 00:59:23.363 --> 00:59:24.855 Yes. 00:59:24.855 --> 00:59:27.235 Why was the Spirit not doing 00:59:27.235 --> 00:59:30.084 what the Spirit could have done 00:59:30.084 --> 00:59:32.147 to perfect the people? 00:59:32.147 --> 00:59:34.519 Because they went about it wrong. 00:59:34.519 --> 00:59:36.120 Undoubtedly, we come back to 00:59:36.120 --> 00:59:37.534 grieving the Spirit. 00:59:37.534 --> 00:59:39.755 But the thing is, 00:59:39.755 --> 00:59:42.671 when we take our eyes off of Christ 00:59:42.671 --> 00:59:45.114 and we seek other gimmicks 00:59:45.114 --> 00:59:48.278 in our seeking to be prefected - 00:59:48.278 --> 00:59:49.915 don't get hung up on that. 00:59:49.915 --> 00:59:51.870 That's Paul's terminology. 00:59:51.870 --> 00:59:53.555 We should be pursuing perfection. 00:59:53.555 --> 00:59:56.260 I'm not saying that Paul is teaching 00:59:56.260 --> 00:59:58.009 we'll find it. 00:59:58.009 --> 01:00:00.532 But I'm saying we should be shooting for it. 01:00:00.532 --> 01:00:01.796 If you should be shooting 01:00:01.796 --> 01:00:03.109 towards Christ-likeness, 01:00:03.109 --> 01:00:06.303 how could it not be perfection? 01:00:06.303 --> 01:00:08.280 That's what He is. 01:00:08.280 --> 01:00:10.387 Should we be seeking to be perfected? 01:00:10.387 --> 01:00:11.643 Yes. 01:00:11.643 --> 01:00:13.457 We should. 01:00:13.457 --> 01:00:14.921 How? 01:00:14.921 --> 01:00:16.395 Well, you see, when you do 01:00:16.395 --> 01:00:19.830 what the Galatians did, 01:00:19.830 --> 01:00:21.844 you know what he has to tell them 01:00:21.844 --> 01:00:26.489 not to do in chapter 5? 01:00:26.489 --> 01:00:28.794 Bite and devour each other. 01:00:28.794 --> 01:00:30.256 Why? NOTE Paragraph 01:00:30.256 --> 01:00:32.800 You see what happens when you try 01:00:32.800 --> 01:00:36.927 to live the Christian life 01:00:36.927 --> 01:00:39.104 and you're not tapping into 01:00:39.104 --> 01:00:41.238 the power of the Spirit? 01:00:41.238 --> 01:00:48.111 Suddenly, carnality, fleshy-ness breaks out 01:00:48.111 --> 01:00:51.322 in their life. 01:00:51.322 --> 01:00:54.833 You say, could it be that I'm struggling 01:00:54.833 --> 01:00:57.338 with sexual sin because I've purposely 01:00:57.338 --> 01:01:02.471 missed the Lord's Supper the last two times? 01:01:02.471 --> 01:01:03.729 Yeah. 01:01:03.729 --> 01:01:05.427 Could it be because I haven't been 01:01:05.427 --> 01:01:07.571 reading in one of the Gospel's 01:01:07.571 --> 01:01:10.960 and actually taking the time 01:01:10.960 --> 01:01:13.402 to behold the Christ there? 01:01:13.402 --> 01:01:14.989 And to see Him? 01:01:14.989 --> 01:01:17.581 And to think on His death? 01:01:17.581 --> 01:01:20.299 Yeah. NOTE Paragraph 01:01:20.299 --> 01:01:22.361 I mean, you see, 01:01:22.361 --> 01:01:25.418 the Spirit is your best Friend. 01:01:25.418 --> 01:01:28.506 But what you want is the Spirit 01:01:28.506 --> 01:01:31.729 in such a condition as He is 01:01:31.729 --> 01:01:34.520 eager to help you be holy. 01:01:34.520 --> 01:01:37.875 And He is moving to make you holy. 01:01:37.875 --> 01:01:40.654 And He is pouring grace upon you. 01:01:40.654 --> 01:01:43.719 And He is infusing power into you. 01:01:43.719 --> 01:01:45.566 That's what you want. 01:01:45.566 --> 01:01:49.350 And that's how you'll be victorious. 01:01:49.350 --> 01:01:51.118 But just because you have the Spirit, 01:01:51.118 --> 01:01:56.371 doesn't mean He's all-out moving 01:01:56.371 --> 01:01:58.956 for you to overcome. 01:01:58.956 --> 01:02:01.290 There's all sorts of ways we can grieve, 01:02:01.290 --> 01:02:03.324 we can quench, we can not use 01:02:03.324 --> 01:02:04.895 the very means, 01:02:04.895 --> 01:02:08.078 we can not seek to appropriate 01:02:08.078 --> 01:02:10.374 the things that the Spirit (incomplete thought). 01:02:10.374 --> 01:02:13.305 It's like, you know, 01:02:13.305 --> 01:02:15.755 the Spirit can say to us, 01:02:15.755 --> 01:02:17.833 you know, there's no ink in that pen. 01:02:17.833 --> 01:02:19.906 But you get down there and right with it. 01:02:19.906 --> 01:02:21.224 I'll cause the ink to flow 01:02:21.224 --> 01:02:22.587 once you're writing with it. 01:02:22.587 --> 01:02:25.079 So much of the Christian life is like that, 01:02:25.079 --> 01:02:28.777 where we are being told, 01:02:28.777 --> 01:02:30.784 do the impossible. 01:02:30.784 --> 01:02:32.693 And we're not supposed to look and say 01:02:32.693 --> 01:02:35.440 it's impossible; I'm not going to do it. 01:02:35.440 --> 01:02:38.100 No. This is a life that we walk 01:02:38.100 --> 01:02:41.422 in faith, trusting that God's power 01:02:41.422 --> 01:02:43.392 will flow through us. 01:02:43.392 --> 01:02:46.735 Without Christ, I can't do anything. 01:02:46.735 --> 01:02:49.833 But with Christ strengthening me, 01:02:49.833 --> 01:02:51.653 we can do all things through Christ 01:02:51.653 --> 01:02:54.057 who strengthens me. 01:02:54.057 --> 01:02:55.871 But you see, I can do all things 01:02:55.871 --> 01:02:57.542 through Christ who strengthens me. 01:02:57.542 --> 01:02:59.844 It's not that He's going to do them for me. 01:02:59.844 --> 01:03:03.114 I have to actually set forth. 01:03:03.114 --> 01:03:05.012 I need to step. NOTE Paragraph 01:03:05.012 --> 01:03:07.468 Peter didn't just float on the water. 01:03:07.468 --> 01:03:09.474 Jesus didn't just waft him out 01:03:09.474 --> 01:03:12.920 and he just floated out and sat down 01:03:12.920 --> 01:03:16.932 on the water and stood on it. 01:03:16.932 --> 01:03:19.976 Jesus said, "Come." 01:03:19.976 --> 01:03:21.580 He needed to get up. 01:03:21.580 --> 01:03:24.080 He needed to step out of the boat. 01:03:24.080 --> 01:03:27.166 And then he found, it supported him. 01:03:27.166 --> 01:03:29.504 And then when he took his eyes off Christ? NOTE Paragraph 01:03:29.504 --> 01:03:31.754 You see, Jesus is telling us the same thing 01:03:31.754 --> 01:03:35.444 with regards to sexual sin. 01:03:35.444 --> 01:03:40.013 Here He is out walking the perfect life 01:03:40.013 --> 01:03:42.418 when it comes to purity. 01:03:42.418 --> 01:03:45.260 And He says, "Follow Me." 01:03:45.260 --> 01:03:48.020 "Come on out of that boat." 01:03:48.020 --> 01:03:49.464 And you set your eyes on Him 01:03:49.464 --> 01:03:50.827 and you put your foot out, 01:03:50.827 --> 01:03:52.662 and you still start walking in purity. 01:03:52.662 --> 01:03:54.184 And guess what happens when you 01:03:54.184 --> 01:03:56.538 take your eyes off of Him? 01:03:56.538 --> 01:03:57.724 You sink. 01:03:57.724 --> 01:03:59.685 And then what happens? 01:03:59.685 --> 01:04:01.712 You put your eyes back on Him. 01:04:01.712 --> 01:04:03.913 And He reaches out and He grabs hold of you 01:04:03.913 --> 01:04:06.295 and He takes you back up. 01:04:06.295 --> 01:04:08.433 It's the same. 01:04:08.433 --> 01:04:10.599 It's the same over and over 01:04:10.599 --> 01:04:14.606 throughout the Christian life. 01:04:14.606 --> 01:04:16.519 The Spirit of God. 01:04:16.519 --> 01:04:18.637 Your best friend when it comes to 01:04:18.637 --> 01:04:22.881 putting to death the deeds of the body. 01:04:22.881 --> 01:04:26.930 Any other comments or thoughts on that? NOTE Paragraph 01:04:26.930 --> 01:04:28.598 Father, help us to live 01:04:28.598 --> 01:04:31.529 in the light of these truths 01:04:31.529 --> 01:04:36.530 and the power of these truths. 01:04:36.530 --> 01:04:38.351 We pray in Christ's name, 01:04:38.351 --> 01:04:39.253 Amen.