Give up on self, Trust in Christ alone! (Freedom from Pornography)

Some of you might be thinking right now,

What was that video about?

What was the point of that?

It's to show you the situation
that you are in right now.

You are charging head on against your sin,

and you think you're going to beat it.

The kid on the train tracks - that's you.

The train is your sin.

And for some absurd reason,

you believe that you can kill sin;

you can kill pornography;

you can kill masturbation.

After we put the video
up a couple days ago

we got so many responses
from different people.

And the biggest thing we
want to watch out for

is that people don't go head on

into a works-based salvation

of trying to kill sin through self-effort.

And we mention that some in the video.

But I want to emphasize that again.

This is not about what you
can do in your own strength.

It's totally about what
Jesus Christ did on that cross,

and having faith and looking to that.

Many people will hear:
Well, I've got to repent.

But instead of looking to Christ,
you're looking at your repentance.

You're looking at your work to see,

am I doing the right works?

Does my life look like
someone who is saved?

Now yes, we should examine our lives,

but more importantly, we should be

staring at the glory of God.

My friend, the simple fact,

what happened in my life

and every other person who's been saved

is that we saw Christ.

We saw what truly happened on that cross.

And there is no way I'm
going to turn around

and look the other way

once I've seen Christ.

I'm going to gaze upon Him.

I see the glory of God.

And the reality is, as a sheep,

we might fall into the mud at times.

But we are going to get out of that mud

because it's not our nature to stay there,

and we're going to continue on
the narrow way by the grace of God.

He will break us. He will discipline us.

He will chastise us.

And maybe God used that very video

to break some of you;

to chastise you;

to show you you have got to get desperate.

There's a war out there to fight.

If you're still going home
and looking at pornography

and living in masturbation,

and maybe some of
you are truly born again,

this is the time, this is the
hour to get desperate;

to realize you have
got to get free of this

and leave it in the past

and run faster for Christ.

As it says in Hebrews 12:1,

we've got to let go of the weight.

What's entangling you?

And some of you, what will entangle
you from running this race;

what is entangling your legs right now

is your self-effort, your self-reliance.

So let it all go.

Please, just give up.

It's incredible the freedom you get

when you finally give up
on trying to free yourself

and you look to Christ.

You look to faith in Christ

and you rely solely upon Him.

So we just felt like sending this out.

Some people also asked the question:

"Well, if I masturbate
again, am I saved still?

My friend, you don't lose
salvation if you have it.

The question is not:
can I lose my salvation?

It is: were you ever truly saved?

Have you truly had the grace of God

shed abroad in your life?

And if you have,
justification by faith is true.

It is a reality.

And this week, we had Tim answer

an "Ask Pastor Tim" question.

And at the end of the question,

he hit hard on justification by faith.

So we want to show that to you right now

because we want to have
a massive emphasis on this.

We are saved by faith alone;

by looking unto Christ, looking unto Him,

not relying on our own strength;

not our self-effort,

but it's in Christ and Christ alone.

So all of you guys out there,

all you girls as well -

we had many girls sending us emails

who are in bondage to pornography.

And if you're someone else

and you haven't contacted
us yet, feel free.

Give us an email. We want to talk.

I care about you guys.

This is real.

There's true freedom and more important

there's true salvation in Christ.

So I pray you'll be blessed

by Tim exhorting on justification

as all of us at the Bible study were.

May God have mercy.

Tim: If indeed that man

had ever truly trusted Jesus Christ -

let me tell you about the
doctrine of justification.

Basically, justification -

probably one of the most precious verses

on justification in all the Bible

is found in Romans 4:5.

Let me read it to you.

Romans 4:5

"To the one who does not work

but trusts Him who
justifies the ungodly..."

Listen to that right there.

"...Him who justifies the ungodly."

If you don't understand what that means,

let me tell you about it.

The "Him" is God.

What does He do? He justifies.

Who does He justify?
He justifies the ungodly.

Who are the ungodly?

Ungodly people are people

who are not in submission to God.

They're in rebellion against Him.

They're people that hate God.

They're people that don't
keep His commandments.

They're people that basically
live their own life

selfishly to themselves

and with no respect to the fact

that God ever gave them any commandments.

They don't have fear
of God in their heart.

They don't seek God.

They're ungodly wretches.

They're ungodly people.

"Him" - God - justifies them.

What is justification?

It means a legal declaration

basically in the courtroom of Heaven.

God is declaring the ungodly person

absolutely perfect.

That's what the Gospel is all about.

The Gospel is the power
of God unto salvation.

In it, we find revealed

the righteousness of God.

What is that?

It's the righteousness that
God requires in you,

that you never kept -

perfect law obedience.

And Jesus Christ came here

and He lived perfectly under that law.

He earned, He sweat, He fought out,

He battled, He sweat, He bled,

He took that obedience
all the way to the cross,

and He earned a
righteousness for His people.

And the first moment that true faith

is exercised in Christ,

that righteousness becomes mine.

And nothing takes it away.

Listen, God justifies the ungodly,

and because I was ungodly to start,

when Christ died for me and earned that,

and it's given to me,

and the ungodly are justified,

if that happens when I'm ungodly,

certainly, no ungodliness
can take it away.

He does it by faith.

It's not by works.

Works doesn't get it for me

and works can't lose it.

And suicide is a work.

And in the same way
that no positive works -

no baptism, no good work,

no helping little old ladies,

no giving money can ever get me justified,

only faith -

in the same way, no work

can ever cause me to be unjustified.

No suicide.

Listen to me,

justification is so thorough,

it is so certain,

it is so radical,

it is so much a clean slate,

that the moment you're justified,

all your sin - past, yes -

and all the sins you will ever commit

are totally forgiven.

They're totally erased.

That's what justification is all about.

It is taking a righteousness from Christ

for yourself in the courtroom of Heaven.

God looks at you and says, "Perfect."

Even though practically you will commit

more sins in your life.

And so what?

I was saved 19 years ago.

Have I committed any
sins in that 19 years?

You better believe I have.

But you know what?
They're all under the blood.

And even if I've committed adultery

and murder like David did,

they're under the blood.

How in the world do you think
David's in glory right now?

How do you think he could
say what he said in Psalm 32

or in Psalm 51?

That's repeated, by the way, in Romans 4.

"Blessed is the man whose
transgressions are forgiven."

Folks, why is it so blessed?

Why did he even say those words?

Because he had committed sin

and they were under there.

Look, there are Christians in this room

that have committed some pretty bad sins

while they've been Christians -

not just before.

The fact is a man can commit suicide

and if he's a true Christian,

he will go straight to glory.

But the truth is,

he wasn't characterized as a murderer.

He may have fallen.

A righteous man can fall.

But I mean, that's the story on the guy.

Can a true Christian commit suicide?

Well, of course they can.

They can.

Just like they can commit any other sin

and it's still under the blood.

Now, they can't practice that.

Our prayer is that in one
of these clips of exhortation,

God will use something
to hit you in an area

that is the stumbling block for you.

May the Lord have mercy!

In Acts 20:21

it says repentance towards God

and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now think about this.

Repentance towards God -

it's not repentance
towards your repentance.

It's never a looking at self.

It's never a relying on our own strength.

Remember the psalm? Psalm 116:6,

"The Lord preserves the simple.

When I was brought low, He saved me."

God saves those who
get this simple mindset

that come as a child
calling "Abba, Father."

"I need Christ."

"I can't do this on my own strength."

And they give up on self.

It can be so easy to sit here

and to analyze, to think of things,

to look at ourselves and go,

is everything okay?

Am I right before God?

You're not right before God
if you're looking at self.

But when you're looking
in faith at Christ,

oh, you are going to be right before God.

Because it's not a matter of self-effort.

It's not a matter of works.

But it's a matter of:
this is what Jesus Christ did

and I'm looking unto Christ.

We try to kill sin on our own effort.

We try to rely on our own strength

because we believe that in ourselves

we have some ability to kill sin.

My friends, that is works salvation.

And Romans 3 is clear.

"No human being is justified
by works of the law."

So you have to give up on that.

You have to let it go.

It's very easy to say,

well, I'm saved by faith alone.

I know it's believing in Jesus Christ.

Repenting and believing in Him.

We can say that.

I mean, I can ask tons of
people out here in this world,

are we saved by faith?

And they will say yes.

But when you look at their life,

they're living in a works-based salvation.

They believe they are saved

because of what they do.

It's not about Christ.

And so many people are
entangled up in this.

Some of you guys like me and my friends,

you've grown up in the
church your whole life,

and that is the big stumbling
block you're tripping on.

Because you've got to let
all that past stuff go

and you've got to look
ahead to Christ right now.

So look at Christ.

There's life. There's freedom.

And there's this life where it's not about

what do I have in myself?

What can I muster my own strength up?

Because my friend, your performance

on killing sin in your own strength

is absolutely pathetic

and it will get your nowhere.

But when you rely on the Spirit of God,

you look to Him

for your salvation more importantly,

and then once you're saved,
you continually look to Him,

as He breaks you down to the ground

and humbles you and shatters your life

to mold you to His image...

there's freedom, there's life.

Look to Christ.

Read the Word of God.

And think about this.

If you're in love with someone,

and they send you an email

or they send you a letter,

right when you get that email,
you're going to read it.

Right when you get that letter,
you're going to read it

because you care about the person

and you want to know them.

But many of you here today,

rather than reading God's Word,

rather than opening
that letter of the Bible,

you're going to man first.

You're going to someone
else first for help.

If you truly love God and
you want to know Him,

oh, I plead with you,
open the Word of God.

It's real.

It's incredible.

It's loving.

Isaiah 43:4 "Because you
are precious in My eyes

and loved and honored,

I give men in return for you;

peoples in exchange for your life."

Have you ever heard that verse?

I heard that verse - it blew my mind away.

It punctured my heart.

It ruptured it with this reality.

God, not only did He send
His Son on the cross,

He gave other men in return for me.

That's incredible. That's love.

But how did I find it out?

We have to read the love letter from God -

His Bible that He has given us.

So I plead with you,

don't run to me first.

Don't run to man for answers.

Run to God.

Look unto Christ.

Because the Lord has given
us the Word for a reason.

And if you're reading it
and it feels like it's dull;

it feels like I'm not getting
anything out of this,

I'm reading the Bible and there's nothing,

oh, my friend, just keep pounding
into the Word of God.

The simple fact is if someone
called you right now

and you didn't pick up the phone,

but they really, really
wanted to talk to you,

they would call you back.

They would never stop calling

until you picked up that phone.

And the same you should be with Christ.

If you truly want God;

if you're truly calling unto Jesus Christ,

don't stop after one call.

You call until He answers

because He says He will answer.

"And everyone who calls on the
name of the Lord shall be saved."

You can bank on that promise

because it's from God.

And you can bank on the promise

that if you have faith in Christ,

you will be changed.

You will be free.

And you will be walking in the light.

And yes, my friend, a sheep
will fall in the mud at times,

but you are no longer a pig.

You will not live in it.

You will walk in the light
as He is in the light.

And you will have fellowship with Him.

Praise the Lord for what He's done.

God is so good.

Listen, so many of you out there,

you feel empty inside.

You're just depressed.

You just can't believe that you keep

falling back into this sin

and the depression, the emptiness,

it's just overwhelming you.

You know what? The sin you
might be holding on to,

if you realize you're lost
and you're not in Christ,

it can be the sin of self-pity.

What can keep you from coming to Christ,

and I know many people

who are in this situation,

what keeps them from coming to Christ

is their self-pity.

They feel so bad about their emptiness,

about their bondage.

They have all the head knowledge.

They've got the doctrine.

But what they're not doing
is looking unto Christ.

And some people will sit back

and they know the doctrines of grace,

and they sit here and they go

"Oh, I'm not elect."

"Oh, God's not drawing me."

My friend, if you realize your state,

if you have some type
of grief for your sin,

how can you sit here and go,

"Oh, I'm hardened to my sin."

That's absurd. That's ridiculous.

Run to Christ.

Run to Him and come as a child.

When we were kids,

we didn't know how to cook our food.

We didn't know how to
go to the refrigerator.

We didn't know where the food came from.

We were totally blind to those things.

All we knew is that if we called upon

our father or our mother,

they would give us the food.

They would watch out for us.

Do you look at Christ like that?

Do you come to Him as a child?

Because it says in the Word of God,

if you don't come as a child,

you're not going to Heaven.

Why?

Pride.

The pride of man says,
"I don't need anyone's help.

I can do all this on my own.

You know what? Who cares?

I don't need help. I got it. I got it."

You don't have it.

You might have it for
a month - the self-effort,

but then you fall right
back into your sin,

right back into the bondage.

It's all about giving up on self

and looking unto Christ

and truly seeing what He did.

While you were weak,

He bore the wrath of God on that cross

and became sin for you.

And if your faith is in that,

oh, my friends,

not only will you be saved,

you'll have an assurance

and a confidence and a joy and peace

while you're walking in that light

with Christ and Him alone.

When I was brought low,
He truly did save me.

And if you haven't been
brought low of all your pride,

and you're still living in your pride,

how do you profess to know Christ?

Because you've got to come as a child.

And more importantly,
you have to come to Him.

Don't look at your state and go,

am I a child?

Am I walking like a child?

Just rely on Him. Look to Christ.

May God have mercy on you.

Again, we're here for you,

but first I plead with you,

go to the Word of God

and go to God in prayer.

Call out to Him.

If you really want Him just call!

Don't stop.

You truly want Christ?

Don't sit there and try
to pray for 30 seconds

or even 30 minutes and just go,

"God didn't come" and give up.

You cling to Him.

You call to Him.

You will not be put to shame.

The only excuse - if you say,

"Oh, God didn't come,"

you cannot blame God.

God says if you call, He will come.

And if you say you called
and He did not come,

it's because you truly did not call.

You might say, "I called."

What you're saying is calling

is not what the Bible says is calling.

You might be calling fully
out of some worldly grief

and it's all about self.

It's so selfish that you
don't even realize

you're not calling on God,

you're calling on the idol of a god.

Again, don't get confused with analysis,

get brought to your knees

and look to Christ

and plead with God for mercy.

As it says in Matthew 11:28,

we're coming to Christ.

We're taking this burden of our sin,

this grief, this realization

that we've sinned before a holy God,

we're taking it to Christ.

It can be very easy to run to people,

to confess to people.

It's very easy to send me an email

and say I'm going through this,

and I'm not saying not to send me emails.

That is fine. Praise the Lord.

We've got to be authentic,
we've got to take the mask off

and live in a transparent world

and a transparent lifestyle
by the grace of God.

But, the important thing is

I can't save you.

I can send you some verses

and you can read that
and you can know Christ,

and in that knowing of Christ,

it should spur you on to a love of God,

to look to Him and God
will save your soul.

Jesus Christ is the only way.

Repentance towards Him. Faith in Christ.

Just resting on Him, knowing
He's watching over us.

And He has put these
promises in the Word of God

that are real.

I mean, you heard me testify about it

in the other video.

You've heard other people testify about it.

I mean, this is real.

God will save you.

Don't let this conviction -

maybe you've seen the
other video or other videos -

don't let that conviction just die away.

Don't just go a week

and you're running for a week

and then you fall.

Listen, you might be two
years down the road

and you might be in the same boat

you are right now watching this video,

because you're unwilling to
let go of your self-effort

and submit to God and be humble.

You've got to get brought low

and realize I've got nothing.

My total and sole reliance

is upon Jesus Christ my King.

That's it.

So may God help you guys.

I mean, this is such a war.

And I know. I was there.

I mean, something I think I
mentioned on the other video,

I spent three years straight

in my self-effort.

I spent three years of my life

trying to free myself from my pornography

and my masturbation as a lost person.

I had the filters. I did the courses.

I had it all. I was authentic.

I had accountability partners.

But what I did not have
is Jesus Christ, my friend.

I did not have Christ.

And I spent three years.

That is a long time once I think about it.

And then finally, one night,

I leave a Bible study.

I get home and God
smashed me to the ground

and He broke me

and I finally had that godly grief

and I finally looked to Christ

and I stopped looking to my own strength.

I gave up.

So give up.

And you might say,
"oh, he's saying to give up.

I've already tried that.
I've already tried giving up.

It sounds so easy, but it's so hard

when it comes to the action."

My friend, giving up is looking to Christ.

It's very easy to look to Christ,

to pray, to read the Word of God,

to be around those who love Christ.

It's real easy to look at yourself and go,

well, I'm looking to Christ,

when you're looking to yourself
to see if you're looking to Christ

you're not looking to Christ.

Look to Christ.

He will save your soul.

He'll put you in that light.

And to have joy - God saves!

Praise the Lord for what He's done.

Run to Him.

Run to Him. Get that rest.

I mean, this is the day.

If you're not going to turn today,

will you ever turn?

Now or never.