This sermon addresses the struggle with sexual immorality, specifically focusing on the battle against lustful thoughts and patterns of sin. It emphasizes the importance of seeking truth from Scripture to set individuals free from the bondage of sin, highlighting the need to have a mindset rooted in God's Word and the eternal glories that await believers. The message encourages abstinence, self-control, and clinging to Christ for strength and victory over temptations.

Hey, Pastor Tim, I've got a question that I've needed help with answering. I struggle with masturbation and I'm continuously falling into that in patterns. So, Pastor, I'm just desperately asking what can I do to stop that? How do I remove those lustful thoughts once they enter my mind? Now, hey, Pastor Tim, I've got a question that I've needed help with answering. I struggle with masturbation and I'm continuously falling into that in patterns. So, Pastor, I'm just desperately asking what can I do to stop that? How do I remove those lustful thoughts once they enter my mind? Now, this young man does not say anything here about whether he's a Christian or not. But I'm supposing he believes that he is. Now, patterns of sexual falls. Now, he calls it the pattern. He says, I'm falling into that in patterns. Now, I recognize if we just use biblical language about the practice, somebody habitual, some patterns, we might come to a certain conclusion. I assume that he is claiming to be a Christian. It's interesting that in Scripture, the Corinthians, let's talk about the Corinthians. There's no question some of them were having sex with prostitutes. There's no question. Some of these people were rich, not waiting for the poor at the Lord's Supper. Some of these people were suing one another. One of these guys was living with his father's wife. We know the kinds of things that were happening at Corinth. And the thing is that when people profess to be Christians, the inspired writers, they recognized that the people they're dealing with who claim to be Christians, who are involved in all manner of sin, they recognize that the people they're dealing with could potentially be lost. But it is interesting that they don't start there. You ever notice that? The author of Hebrews, you think about where there's problems. Think about where there's sin problems. You've got the Galatians. They're seeking to go in directions of legalism. You've got the Corinthians. They've got all manner of immorality. They've got problems. They're puffed up with pride. They're saying, I'm a Peter. You're of Paul. You're of Jesus. You're of Apollos. There's division. There's disunity. We know that they've got some women issues with the submission thing, with the head coverings going on. I already mentioned the Lord's Supper going on. He talks about bad companionship, corrupting good morals. You know what that has to do with. That's doctrinal problems. You've got some people coming in that are denying the resurrection from the dead. You've got some serious issues. You've got immorality and you've got doctrinal issues there. When you look at the Hebrew letter, you've got this potential. You've got people with their arms hanging down. People who started well, but it seems like maybe somewhat like the Galatians. They began well. There was a time when they were identifying with those who were identifying with Christ. They even suffered. But they got to a point where they were in danger. And you know what? When you get any one of those letters in Scripture, the authors address the people as brothers, sisters. They address them as brethren. You know what I have found? It can be real easy, especially when we're brand new converts. Especially if we've had a radical conversion. When you hear about people in patterns of sin, to immediately run and say, well, they must be lost. But as godly as Paul was in the Corinthian letter and the Galatian letter, and then I don't think Paul wrote Hebrews, but whoever it was, inspired writer, probably a very godly person. Even though they're being confronted with great difficulties, and with that which is very concerning. It's so concerning that they tell the people, in all three of those books, the people are told, if you continue in this path, it's going to prove you're not converted. And in all three of them, they're looking for repentance. They're looking for transformation. But they don't start by assuming, well, you're just lost. That's why you're suing each other. You're just lost. They don't assume that. What they do is something else. Now, they recognize it could be true. Examine yourself, whether you're in the faith. I mean, you may not be. That may be why you're having such difficulties here. And that's true for this young man. I'm assuming he's young. He doesn't say that he is. But, you know, that could be the problem. He's not saying he's a Christian, but I'm assuming because he was on I'll Be Honest, that probably he believes he is. I mean, if he knows he's not, clearly that's the first answer. You have to cry out to the Lord. Confess your sin. Cry out to Him. But, given the fact that I think that he probably believes he is, then we'll do what those writers do. We'll call him brother charitably, perhaps, like they did to the Corinthians, the Hebrews, the Galatians. But I want you to think about something. Think about this. What would you say to him? I mean, what's the ticket? What's the remedy? I mean, what is it? And here's what I want you to think of. This is what I want you to think about. Isn't it amazing? I was walking over here tonight and I thought, maybe you won't find it so amazing, but I find it very amazing, simple in one respect, that no matter what sin Jesus or any of His followers confronted in people, isn't it amazing that when you start to think, well, how can I help them? It's always in words. What I mean is this. I recognize that you can pray for somebody. I recognize that. But I mean, when you're dealing with somebody, when you're dealing with a person who is like this guy, falling into sexual sin, continuously falling into that in patterns, desperately asking, what can I do to stop that? You know what's interesting, is the authors of Scripture always responded, or Jesus Himself always responded with words. You see, the answer is to be found in what we can tell Him. Without any kind of physical action, without any kind of physical aid, the help is to be found in words. It always was. I mean, anytime you had the sin in the people, what happened? They penned a letter. The help was in words. Okay, so all we have to figure out is, what words do we say to a guy like this to help him? It's to be found in words. The issue is, what do we say? And another thought occurred to me, that Jesus said those words in John 8. Do you remember He said, to those Jews who believed in Him? Why don't you look at that? Good to open our Bibles. John 8, verse 31. We can jump back to verse 30. 8.30, As He was saying these things, many believed in Him. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples. And notice this, if you abide, that means you live in His Word. Abide, you stay in it. It's not just you hear it and read it. You live it. It's what permeates your life. But notice what He says then, If you abide in His Word, you will know the truth. Because His Word is truth. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. They answered Him, We're offspring of Abraham. I've never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free? Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. So you've got an idea about what kind of freedom He's talking about? The freedom is the opposite of the slavery. He's talking about slavery to sin. The truth is what sets us free from the bondage. Okay, now we've narrowed it down even further. The help for a man like this is found in words. And that which will set him free is to be found in words that we can speak. Not just any words, but Christ's words. And Christ's words are words of truth. It's the truth that sets free. Okay, so let me ask you this. You all help me here. What truth do you tell a young man who by his own words, I don't want to put any words in his mouth, I struggle with masturbation, I'm continuously falling into that in patterns. Continuously falling into that in patterns. So pastor, I'm just desperately asking, what can I do to stop that? How do I remove those lustful thoughts once they enter my mind? Now think with me here. The truth sets people free. Now you know what? A lot of times people come along and they want accountability. Well, we need accountability. How far does accountability go? I mean, I've heard that lots of times. But I don't know anybody that can say, yep, got an accountability partner. That solved my problem. You know, what's the issue with accountability? If accountability is going to work, why would it work? I mean, it's basically embarrassment. James is my accountability partner. He's going to ask me. Either I'm going to have to lie, which if you're falling into one sin, you might fairly easily fall into the other. Or I'm going to avoid him. I see him at church and I know he's coming to ask me. I'm going to veer off and head in another direction. Or lie. Or admit it to him and hang my head. I remember one time in our church, one guy, he had a problem with one sin. And he picked an accountability partner in another guy that had a problem with another sin. And I found out these two were accountability partners to each other. And it's like, yikes. Because they were both failing. And you know what happens if I'm James' accountability partner and he's my accountability partner and we're holding each other accountable, but both of us keep falling, well, we're going to kind of be easy on one another. In fact, the fact he failed is probably going to make me feel better. And then the accountability aspect of it is pretty blown. But you know what? That only goes so far because lust is stronger than embarrassment. It really is. People do all sorts of things driven by lust right now and they'll suffer the embarrassment of it later on. Because you know what happens? Lust is like every sin. Sin is a liar. And so what happens is all the promises of sin bomb-blast our minds. You know, right before a person falls, they're justifying, they're reasoning all manner of ways that this will be okay, this will be alright, God won't care, He'll forgive me, this is just a small thing, this will feel real good. And you know what? Right at that moment, James won't find out or I'll avoid him. Yeah, you just ignore it. And that's what happens. And so the embarrassment factor only works so far. Or somebody will say, what's the software you put on your computer? Covenant Eyes? Ah, that's where that comes from. But I mean, all you've done there is made it maybe a little more time-consuming to actually get to what you want to get to. And I've heard people say, that stuff doesn't really work. And the problem is, if you put it on one computer, you probably can go to another computer, you've got your phone, and even if you put it on all of that, there's got to be bigger... The truth is what sets free. You see, the problem is, if you're not dealing with the root of the matter, these are just Band-Aids. And so what I want to ask you is, what truth do you give to a man like this? What sort of truths does the Bible use to set people free? I mean, can you think of any? What would you tell a young man like this? What would Scripture tell him? But see, here's the thing, we really have to be convinced that the truth does set people free. You see, we can hit many people with the truth and it doesn't set them free, but that does not mean that the truth is not what sets men free. You understand what I'm saying? I can go to somebody, and I can give them truth, and they don't want that truth, and they'd rather be a slave to sin, because you remember what it says there in John 3. Jesus is light. He came into the world. And what does the darkness do? The darkness does not like the light. The darkness hates the light. And it won't come to the light. And Jesus came into the world as light. He came shining very brightly the truth. The world doesn't like the truth. Well, the fact is that we can speak truth that sets men free, but it doesn't mean it's going to set everybody free. And just because it doesn't set everybody free doesn't mean that we should go looking for other means and mechanisms and machinery to try to make this happen. You guys have to recognize, we're not talking about iron shackles here. We're not talking about actual little prison cells. We're talking about spiritual bondage. We're talking about slavery to sin. And there is only one thing that sets men free from the slavery of sin, and it's truth. Because the fact is that what keeps people in bondage is lies. They believe a lie. That's what sin is all about. It's about believing a lie. And so what truth does Scripture hit us with when it comes to sexual immorality? What's the truth? And it's the truth we need to resort to all the time. Even if we give the truth to this man or to anybody else, and it isn't effectual there, like I said before, it doesn't mean that it isn't the truth that sets free. It still is. So what truth would we use that God intends to set people free with? I mean, anything. Proverbs 6.32 He who commits adultery lacks sense. He who does it destroys himself. Okay. Look, that is huge. He who does it destroys himself. You know what? People fall into sin. What was the lie in the very beginning? You will not surely die. And you know what God comes along and says? See, this is the very basis of the text that I brought out on Sunday. That if you don't gouge out eyes and cut off hands, then you go to hell. You see, you destroy yourself. That's a reality. That's a reality. Paul says it, fornicators and adulterers do not inherit the kingdom of heaven. And so that's true. That's a truth. A truth is that without holiness, no one will see the Lord. That's a truth. I mean, people have to come face to face with the reality. Wow, if I stay in this bondage, I am going to perish. I mean, murderers go to hell. That's what you find at the end of Revelation. Liars go to hell. Sorcerers go to hell. The cowards go to hell. The sexually immoral go to hell. And that's reality. That's a truth. That's a truth that the authors of Scripture set forth. But what other truths? And how about this? How about right along the same lines as that? Do you remember what it says in Hebrews 11 about Moses and the pleasures that were offered to him in Egypt? Fleeting. Is that what somebody said? How does it read? Does anybody know right off? Is that how the ESV reads? 1125? The fleeting pleasures of sin. Well, think about this. Here's another truth. Sexual gratification is momentary. Hell is forever. And not just that, sexual gratification in this life, I'm not talking about that which God approves of. I'm talking about sexual immorality. Sexual gratification, immoral sexual gratification, is a pleasure only for a moment. Even in this life. Because you know what happens to people who seek that thrill over and over? They become desensitized. They feel guilty. They feel hollow. And the thing is, it's here and it's gone. Isn't it amazing? People will sell their soul for... The thing about sexual gratification, just like that. And people will sell their soul for it. It's just a fleeting pleasure. And even in this life, even in this life, people who indulge, do you think they feel good about themselves? Do you think they're at peace? Do you think people... I mean, it doesn't do that. You're guilty. You've got a guilty conscience. You're embarrassed. You hide it. But the thing is, judgment day is coming and you won't be able to hide it anymore. It's just momentary. It's just momentary. That's a truth. That's a real truth that you want to... And the thing is, you know if you give yourself to it, He doesn't say so, but typically when you give yourself to what He's admitting He's giving Himself to, you're typically giving yourself to pornography too. And then you know what you do? Again, it's momentary. What happens? It's like you're in slavery. You walk around, you've got those images in your mind all the time. They consume you. And then what happens? You go and get married. And then you've got images in your mind you can never get rid of. And it's destructive. It's harmful. And God says so. It's a pleasure. It's just momentary. And it's destructive. It's destructive in this life. It's destructive to marriage. It's destructive to sexual intimacy with your wife later on or your husband. It's destructive to your soul. Those are realities. But what else? What other truth would Scripture hit us with? Yeah, let's go there. 1 Corinthians 6 has good things to say. Let's let everybody get there. 1 Corinthians 6. And let's simply read verses 18, 19, 20. Go ahead, brother. Yeah, I mean what he says there is the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. I mean what he's saying is it hurts us some way. It's against us. I don't know, you could go into is he talking spiritual realities? Is he talking possible physical realities? Emotional realities? But the thing is he's saying it's against you. We heard from the Proverbs. It's against us. Or you might think about Peter. He talks about abstaining from these fleshly lusts that war against our soul. They're against us. That's a thing. It's against us. Momentary pleasure. And it's against us. You see, it's like putting a knife to our own throat. And it's so full of lies. Oh, this is going to feel good. This is going to feel good. But then afterwards, it doesn't feel good. Like I say, it leads to more and more hollowness and guilt and emptiness in this life. And then can you imagine? Can you imagine eternity with ungratified, unsatisfied lust? The worm never dies. There's no trifling matter. And see, the thing is, we live in a pornographic culture. It's like, you know, you go to the supermarket. You can't hardly look at a billboard sometimes, let alone what you come across on the Internet. I mean, you know, you can be in Walmart and you just happen to be going by the movie section or something. You know, you're hit by images all over. You try to look at the news. Sometimes you can't even hardly look at the weather. We are Corinth, the Roman Empire, the Greek peninsula there. You know, we're much like that. Very pornographic culture. We're surrounded by these things. And notice what he says. Flee. Well, that's a truth to set people free. Flee. You run. Not in your own strength, but you run trusting the Lord. Look, I'm sure you guys have heard enough. I mean, there's enough young people being converted these days and there's enough people preaching to young people about these things. And you've heard it. Probably various preachers are out there saying, you're a fool if you think you're going to stand and fight this temptation. Scripture does not tell you to stand and fight. It doesn't matter if you're a guy or a girl. It doesn't tell you to stand and fight. It doesn't tell you to try to be strong spiritually and withstand the devil's assaults. Flee. This isn't the only place that it says that. Do you know anywhere else in the Scripture where it says flee? Timothy's told to flee. Youthful lusts. Run. What's probably the classic example in Scripture is somebody who kept that counsel. Even before this was said. Joseph. Joseph ran. He didn't play with it. He ran. She took hold of his garment and he was gone. He didn't stay to mess around. He hit the road. These are words of life. Now look, we do it trusting Christ. But you run. I mean, if this young man is involved in pornography, what do you do? Well, you've got to do what Jesus says. Looking to Him in faith. Confessing your sins. Looking to Him for help. You've got to pull out the right eye. I mean, seriously. If sexual temptation is something that you fall into, then you've got to get rid of the temptations. You've got to run away from them. Let's look at something else here. Go to Romans. Romans 6. Romans 6.12 says, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. Now notice this, to make you obey its passions. That's not sin's passions. That's your body's passions. The way that sin seeks to rule in you is by seeking to make you obey the appetites, the desires of your body. Your body wants to be caressed. Your body wants to be fed. It wants to be gratified and satisfied. It loves pleasure. And this is saying, don't let sin reign. Look, there are ways to feed your body. There are ways to have sexual intimacy that is very much approved of by God and doesn't fall into the realm of sin. But Scripture says, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. Can I tell that to a Christian? Can I tell a Christian, look, don't do it. Don't do it. But you'll remember this when we dealt with this passage. You see, before this, you have to consider yourselves dead to sin. You go back to verse 11. You have to consider or reckon certain things. You know what's really important in fighting any battle with sin? Is we've got to think right. You've got to think right. When you see sin coming, when you see sexual sin coming, you've got to think right. Like, you know what? This sin will hurt me. I've got to get away from this. Lord, help me to get away from this. I'm going to strive to get away from this. Lord, I know my own weakness. Please help me. Please. I know my own weakness in this. You've got to help me. But you've got to run away. He gave you feet to run away and you've got to be like Joseph. But you've got to have a right mindset. See, it's truth that sets us free, which means you have to think right. And the thing is, it's not okay to think right right now in the Bible study. You've got to think right when you're in your bedroom by yourself. You've got to think right when you're in the bathroom by yourself. You've got to think right when you're at home in the apartment by yourself. You've got to think right when you're in a vulnerable situation with Potiphar's wife. You remember Joseph? Joseph didn't leave his proper mindset back at the Bible study. When she took hold of him, his mindset was proper then. And he said, right now, how can I sin against God? You see, he recognized. He didn't justify, oh, God will forgive me. After all, I'm a child of God. There's a sacrifice coming. My sins will be forgiven and it's okay. And this lady is really beautiful and this will feel really good. Nobody will ever find out and I'll confess it to God. You know what? He had his mind straight. This is bad. How can I sin against the Lord? And I'm not going to. He was thinking straight. This would be against God. This would dishonor God. I'm not going to do this. You see, that's when you have to think right. Not right now. It's when you're in the vulnerable situation. That's when you have to think right. That's when you have to have the truth packed away. What kinds of truth? Well, as a Christian, you are dead to sin. Something has happened to you. As a Christian, you can say no to sin. Let's go over to chapter 8. I love this. I always love this verse. Chapter 8, verse 12. "...So then, brothers..." Footnote, brothers and sisters. We're not leaving you sisters out at all. But notice this. Brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. Now look, that has to be in your mind. As a Christian, as somebody trusting Christ, you are not a debtor to the flesh. You know what that means? You don't owe the flesh anything. When it says, gratify me, gratify me, gratify me, gratify me, you can say, I don't owe you anything. I don't have to respond to you. Because remember what sin does. It tries to get you to obey the passions, the lusts of your body. But you see, as a Christian, you're not a debtor to the flesh. You don't owe it anything. You are not a debtor to the flesh. You are a debtor to Christ. And that's the argument of 1 Corinthians 6. You're not your own. You belong to Christ. When that temptation comes, it's like, no, how can I do this to God? He's watching. You know, just the omnipresence of God is a good truth to keep ever fresh in your mind. He's here. He sees. How can I do this? And I don't owe the flesh anything. And you know what? The flesh will whimper, and it will beg, and it will cry, and it will plead, but you don't owe it anything. You don't. You can say to it. Because in Christ, you have the power, being dead to sin, you have the power to say, sin, you're not going to reign. No. And you have the ability to run away. I mean, these are truths. That truth, when you feel your flesh pulling, flesh, I'm not a debtor to you. We're debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. I don't have to do that. Because you see, we really have to have that mindset. We have to be convinced and convicted that that really is the case. And I mean, the thing is this, that as a Christian, we know, I mean, we see things that, like in Galatians 5, I see things said to me about my desires. In Galatians 5, verse 24, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Notice that. It's not a commandment. It's just indicating to us what's true. If you belong to Christ Jesus, you've crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Now think about this. The flesh and its passions and desires have been crucified. But remember what Jesus says in the Beatitudes describing true Christians? What does He say about their passions and desires? He says, He says, Blessed are you who hunger and thirst, or blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. You see, that's the characteristic of the Christian. They hunger and thirst for righteousness. We have realities in Scripture that deal with our passions. And you see that the Christian passions are being put to death. There's a crucifixion taking place. Where on the other hand, there's a hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Now that's a reality. I mean, can we not look and think? I do hunger and thirst for righteousness. I desire that. What can we do to feed that? What can we do to feed good desires? And what is it that brings our crucifying of these fleshly passions and desires? What is it that kind of puts that on hold? How can I encourage good desires? And what is it that brings bad desires? I mean, can you think of anything? Okay, let me grab something right out of that text. Because this hits on what I already said, but we need to go back there again. Because this is really at the root of it. Did you hear what he called those desires? Deceitful desires. Because what do they say? The deceitful desires are deceitful how? How are they deceitful? Well, deceit means they lie. They lie to us. And how do they lie to us? The same way Satan did in the beginning. They promise you, oh, if you eat that fruit, you're going to be like God. You're going to know good and evil. And by the way, you're not going to die. You see, that's what's deceitful. And you know what Scripture says? Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming. God says you will die. And God says this will be bad. The old King James Version says in Hebrews, whoremongers and adulterers are what? Isn't there where it talks about the marriage bed being undefiled? For whoremongers and adulterers, as it says, will be judged. It's a serious thing. And see, they're deceitful. They promise what they're never going to deliver. And that's the thing. That's the thing to have a mind that is filled with truth. We have to recognize when we confront sin, this isn't going to be good for me. This isn't. It's not good for me if I grieve the Spirit, because once the Spirit's grieved, then I'm not going to be able to fight in His power after this, until things are restored. But this idea that you can just play with sin, and then you can just go and confess it, and everything's going to be right back to normal, you have to recognize David played with sexual sin, and in this life, it never got back to normal. I mean, he can go back to being a man after God's own heart, but he had to bear the consequences of his sin for the rest of his days in this world. You can't just think you can go play with sin and that there's not going to be consequences. They're deceitful. They're deceitful desires. They lie to you. They tell you this is going to feel good, and this is going to feel real good. And there's not going to be any consequences here. And God over and over says there will be consequences. There are. It grieves the Spirit. If you're a true child of God, it grieves the Spirit. It messes up your communion with God. And you know what it does? We're told to make no provision for the flesh. And as soon as you start making provision for the flesh, it will unleash itself. That thing will rise up with all manner of power in any number of different ways. And you know, if you go on like this guy, where he calls it continuously falling into that in patterns, I mean, that's scary. Because Scripture says that if you practice sin, it says that children of God don't do that. Children of God practice righteousness. It's the children of the devil that practice that. You can find that in 1 John 3, 9 and 10, I guess. I mean, that's the reality of Scripture. And the thing is, if you know that it's sin, I mean, we come back to the same kind of truth that we looked at on Sunday. There in Hebrews 10.26, I mean, if you keep willfully sinning after you come to a knowledge of the truth, it's perilous. It's perilous. The thing that we know is this, coming to Christ, embracing Christ in faith, He says, they call His name Jesus because He's going to save His people from their sins. I know this, the blood of Christ will prevail against every and all sexual immorality. I know that. I mean, He Himself, He was offered up on that tree. Why? So that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. I mean, when Scripture says, by His wounds we are healed, it's not just speaking about in some kind of forensic way. What I mean by that is, it's not just the forgiveness of sin that He's talking about. He's actually talking about delivering us from the power of sin. There is blood there that has been shed. See, that's what the truth about being dead to sin is all about. You say to a guy like this, if you're clinging to Christ in faith, you need to recognize that you are a new man, like you're talking about. You're a new man. You're a new creation in Christ. You have the wherewithal to say no. You have the Spirit of God within you. You can say no to this sin. You're not a debtor to it. You're not a slave to sin. You're a free man. And you know what free men can say to the slave master? You don't own me. I don't belong to you. I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's much like Christian when he came face to face with Apollyon. Yeah, I used to belong to that city. That's true. I used to be one of your servants. But I'm not anymore. I don't belong to you anymore. I belong to the King. And you know what? Because I do, I know the reality. I'm a new man. I'm dead to sin. I have the power of God. I've crucified the flesh along with its passions and its desires. I'm not a debtor to the flesh. And I can say no. And I can tell sin, you're not reigning in my mortal body. You're not. And you can think on the truth. God wants me to amputate. And He's going to give me the help to do it. And I've got feet and I can run. And I need to run. And He tells me to run. He says flee. And I've got to have a right mindset. And you know what? I have it in my power to get rid of my computer if that's what I need to do. And I have it within my power to get rid of my TV if that's what I need to do. And I have it within my power to quit that job if that's what I need to do. You say, well, that's radical. Yeah, yeah, chopping off right hands is pretty radical. If you saw somebody pull out a machete and take off their right hand, you would be shocked. But Jesus is using graphic terminology because He expects that we will do just those kinds of things. Can you think of any other truth? What other truth is it that would set a man free or a lady free? I have one. Psalm 1611. You may know to me the path of life. In Your presence there is fullness of joy. At Your right hand are pleasures forever. And it's just fighting the pleasures of sin with the pleasures of Christ in prayer. Well, look, you know this. Getting saved. I know this. Paul actually uses the term for spiritual gift with regards to the ability to be celibate. So singleness is a God-given gift. Now, I'm married. I don't have that gift. I don't know what it looks like. Paul had it. Obviously, there is a contentment with being single. As far as sexual passions that remain, I don't know. I don't know what that looks like in somebody that has that gift. But I know this. That's only a few people. Most people don't have that gift. And I know this. Sexual desire does not go away just because you get saved. But the thing is, speaking on what you're speaking on, you can get saved, be single, and really want to get married and have strong sexual desires. And yet have stronger desires to please the Lord. Stronger desires not to offend God. Like Joseph did. Look, Potiphar's wife was probably beautiful. He was a high official in the Egyptian court. I mean, if you would have asked Joseph, as a man, he got married. He ended up marrying the wife of the high priest of On, Asenath? Where do I get that name? Was that her name? He had children. I mean, he was a man that did not have a gift of singleness. If you would have asked him, Joseph, is she beautiful? Yeah, she's beautiful. Is there any sort of temptation there? Do you have sexual desires? Yeah, I have sexual desires. Well, why did you run away? Well, it's obvious why he ran away. Because his desire to honor God was greater. And you see, that's what happens when we get saved. Our desires to honor God, it's kind of like the guy who goes and sells everything so that he might have the piece of ground so that he can get the treasure. And he does it joyfully. That comes from Matthew 13, 44, I guess. What does he do? He goes and sells all that he has and it says that he joyfully does it. Well, how can a man joyfully sell all that he has? Why? Because the treasure there is greater. And you know the thing, again, it comes down to this. If I'm a Christian and I'm confronted by sexual temptation, but I've got my head on straight and I'm thinking right, all of this is momentary light affliction. This temptation that I am experiencing. An eternal weight of glory. And you get that picture in Revelation. We descend like a bride who's ready for her groom. We're betrothed to Christ, Paul says. Second Corinthian letter. There's a marriage supper of the Lamb. Listen, if marriage here is the shadow, it is so good there. And I've told you this before. Whitfield in his diary wrote of the woman who went unconscious and she came back and she said to her family, it would not be believed. The things I have just witnessed, the things I have seen, would not be believed if told. And she just gasped with amazement and awe. And she did that twice. She went unconscious. Both times she came back, she says, you would not believe what I have seen if I told you. What is beyond this is called an eternal weight of glory. We are told about treasure in heaven. We're told about reward. Listen, this isn't it. This is the shadow land. Marriage here, sex here, is a shadow. If a man or woman can but look and say, oh yeah, I'm tempted, but I just resist this today and tomorrow, and the next day I am going to be satisfied with such glories in Christ that are not worth comparing to anything here. But it's those truths that have to grab us. And I do not have to, you know, you can glance, guys especially, you know, Job made a covenant with his eyes. I'm not going to say girls don't have this problem, but guys, the eyes. But the thing is, I can remember working at a factory that had a thousand women. And I'd try to walk those aisles with my eyes down. And if a temptation ever came, I thought, in the not too distant future, my eyes are going to behold the beauty of Christ. And it's not worth comparing. I don't have to look over there at something that's just, yeah, there are beautiful women here. But I can tell you this, that Christ Himself is the designer of beauty. And He's altogether lovely. He's altogether glorious. I can remember, you know, the account I just told you about was something that George Whitfield recorded. But Gordon Bayless, who was one of these old English preachers that used to be under Martyn Lloyd-Jones, he told us about a man who just before he died, he just said, oh... And he said the guy, well, I think what happened was the guy sat up. I mean, here he is dying and he has no strength left. And suddenly, with full energy, he sat up. And he could see what no one else in the room could see. And he just gasped with awe and amazement of beauty. And he just swallowed up in the glory. And he was gone. And for the Christian, I mean, what do you think? Paul's not only going down the road to Jerusalem, not looking at the women along the road. He's here every step of the way. You're not only not going to go there and have wonderful intimacy with a woman, you're going to go there and you're going to get thrown in prison. Paul, it's going to be bad for you if you go to Jerusalem. And he said, why do you keep saying things like this to me? Don't you know? I'm ready to suffer. And I'm ready to die. Why? He was obsessed with Christ. You see, the thing is, Christ is the Creator of all beauty and He's the Creator of marriage. And marriage is just the littlest, tiny shadow of the reality that we'll have with Him. And when we have that, it's forever and it's forever. And you know, even the greatest, most glorious sex imaginable in marriage is not going to compare. You would not go there and say, I'm disappointed. I want to go back to that. Not at all. But see, we have to have minds that are locked onto the truth. Jesus said the truth will set you free. And if we really become convinced of the truth, because you know what the truth is? The truth is sexual immorality will hurt you. It will hurt you in a multitude of ways. And the glories of heaven are unimaginable. Unimaginable. Sexual gratification? It's momentary. It's a fleeting pleasure of sin. And it's gone. And the consequences aren't worth it. Not at all. But see, we've got to be convinced. And as Christians, remember, you're no debtor to the flesh. I don't owe this flesh the meat. I don't owe it anything. Like I say, it will plead. It will beg. You know it because you've got one too. We live in it. This outer man, this outer shell that's wasting away, you've got one too. We're attached to it right now until we break free of its grip. And you know its pitiful pleadings. You've felt it. You know when it strongly desires this and that. But you just remember, let those words from 8-12 sink into your head. You can say to it, I don't owe you anything. I belong to Jesus Christ. And I'm going to serve Him. Not you. And you can beg mercilessly, but if what you want is sin, I'm not going there. Anyway, remember, remember, the truth sets free. And it's the truth that's going to set this guy free. It's the truth that sets us free. We're thinking of all the things that have to happen in the form of words that we express that get listened to and get processed in the head and that we actually think about when the battle comes. They're not just for him, they're for us. And you know what we would say to him is cling to Christ in all of it. Cling to Him that they call Jesus. I mean, trust Him. Trust His name. Put your weight on Him. They call His name Jesus because He will save His people from their sin. Any other thoughts before we close up? I would just say this. Let's look at it as we close. 1 Peter 2.11. We'll close with this. I mentioned this text, but it's good to look at it. Beloved, 1 Peter 2.11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul. Now the thing I want you to think about just as we depart is the word abstain. What does abstain mean? What is another word that's closely connected to abstain? Abstinence is the word I'm thinking about. What is abstinence? We often hear that with regards to single Christians. Abstinence is basically living pure. It's the idea of abstain. Abstain. Don't do it. Don't do it. Full abstinence. Abstinence means no sex before marriage. Abstain. And I know it's not specific with sexual immorality, but it certainly is speaking about the same things we've been talking about, that which wages war against the soul. And the thing is, there's no question about it, sexual temptation, sexual desire is one of the strongest of the passions that is waging war against us. And what does he say? Abstain. Did you get that? As sojourners. What does that mean? It's kind of like Christian walking through Vanity Fair. I don't have to buy what the world's selling. Because I'm just moving through. I'm a sojourner. I'm passing through this world. I don't have to fall to its temptations. I belong somewhere else. I'm headed towards the promised land. I'm looking for a city that doesn't have foundations here. I'm looking for something else. I'm looking for a kingdom. Abstain. Abstain. It's just for a little season. What's your life? A vapor. So, how long do you have to abstain? A vapor's worth. And then when you have Christ and you're married to Him, full indulgence. I mean, Song of Solomon is going to become real in ways you can't even imagine. And I can't. I mean, I don't know what it's like. Paul didn't know what it was like. Even what we get in Revelation is just very cloudy. Just some very general statements that are altogether glorious, but we don't know. We just don't know. But you won't be disappointed. I mean, the kind of terminology that's used, this day you'll be with me in paradise. A vapor's worth of abstaining and then paradise. Can you show self-control for that long? If the Spirit of God's in you, He that's named Jesus, He Himself bore our sins in His own body, that you might be healed of these things and live to righteousness. So press on in the power of Christ. And if this young man doesn't know Christ, he needs to confess his sin and call upon the Lord and trust Him. Trust what Christ did there. This is the truth that sets us free. Okay, well Father, I pray for this young man. You said that if we abide in Your Word, we're going to prove to be Your disciples and the truth will set us free. I pray this young man would abide in Your Word. That probably is the first thing he needs to do. We pray that You'd open his eyes to find the truth there that sets men free. Lord, I don't doubt that many, I know many are attracted to these kind of messages when they get online. Probably many people will look. Lord, for Your glory's sake, we pray that You would set many young people free from this bondage, from the deceit these deceitful passions. Set them free with the truth as it is in Christ. We pray in His name, Amen.