Welcome to the For the Gospel podcast, where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Kosti Hinn, and I want to welcome our listeners on Apple, Spotify, and those enjoying this on our YouTube video podcast format, and those of you who are listening or watching from around the world. This is episode three of our series on sexual sin. The title is Don't Flirt with Sexual Sin, Flee It. That's what we're digging into on this episode. We've covered the definition of sexual sin in part one, the steps that lead to sexual sin in part two, where we walked through Proverbs 7 last time. And if you haven't listened to that episode or the first one, I recommend you go back and start from there. It will give you a phenomenal runway into this particular episode where I want to get biblical and practical about how we take action and actually do something in response to the temptation of sexual sin. To begin, let's start with two foundational truths that you need to understand. And these need to be a reality before you can win the battle against sexual sin. Number one, you need to be saved. We've got to be Christians. Why? Well, first of all, when you get saved, you are regenerated. You get a new heart. A new heart will lead to new desires. You're not going to have a new heart or new desires if Christ hasn't taken over your life and you're not indwelt by the Holy Spirit to bear fruit. So understand this: the power to resist the devil and overcome temptation only comes from the power of the gospel. No amount of willpower or peer pressure is ever going to crucify the flesh. Those things may be helpful in the short term. I know people can muster up some power from within for a time to eat right or begin to exercise or peer pressure. We do this with some people in our small group where we'll challenge each other in certain seasons and have goals, and we can achieve those because of peer pressure. You know that you're going to be held accountable. But those only get you so far. When it comes to sexual sin, only the power of the gospel can overpower that. Otherwise, you're going to fall right back into the same patterns because you will never be free from sexual sin if it's only ever about impressing others or passing your accountability exam or what have you. If you take that approach, it's behavior modification, not heart transformation. Salvation gives you a new heart and your new desires can flourish when you're in Christ. And there's a love for Jesus. So salvation is the be-all end-all when we're talking about how to fight sexual sin. I have already, in some aspects of these previous episodes, defined it, talked about the steps to it. In episodes to come, including this one, we'll talk about strategies, action items. There has to be a response. You need to do something. You don't just sit around and go, well, the Lord will do it, and then waltz right into compromising situations. No. But the heart of that obedience, it's got to come from the gospel. If you are not in Christ, you're a sitting duck. But with Christ, no, it's like John Knox said, one of my favorite quotes, he said, one man with God is always in the majority. So you may feel a little overwhelmed. It may feel daunting. You may think, wow, I see it here, I see it there. I don't know what I'm gonna do. This feels like it's a losing fight. Nope. When you're in Christ, when you're saved, when you're with God, you are always in the majority. So salvation is first. And number two, you need to see sexual sin accurately. So number one, you need to be saved. Otherwise, this isn't gonna work. Number two, you need to see sexual sin accurately. What is sexual sin? Well, it's a counterfeit to God's good and beautiful gift of sex in its proper place. What is temptation to sin? It's an assault against God's character, inviting you with propaganda that Satan wants you to believe. And so to wage war on sexual sin, you don't focus on what it promises, but on what it produces. You call the sin what it is. It promises pleasure, promises comfort, promises satisfaction, promises fulfillment, and then what does it produce? None of those things. You get pain, brokenness, shame, guilt, destruction, all the like. And so when we're coming to this topic of sexual sin, we've got to call it what it is and see it accurately. When you see sexual sin accurately, you're gonna be better prepared to wage war against it aggressively because you've sized up your opponent accurately. So you got to be saved and you gotta define or see sexual sin for what it completely is. Now, where do we go? Well, if you're saved, if you see it accurately, now we can consider what God's word says, and by the Spirit's power, we can obey the commands of Christ. So let me give you two particular weapons for the war, and I'm holding one back for the next episode because I want to take a deeper dive into it, okay? The first one is this fear, sexual sin. Fear, sexual sin. That's number one. You might be thinking, what? That doesn't sound very promising at all. Not so fast. Genesis 4 gives us a glimpse of how dangerous and sinister sin is, pun intended. And it's the story of Cain and Abel. You got verses one to eight that capture the conflict that led to the first murder. And within that, you have some truths that can help us in our fight against sexual sin and really all sin, but in particular, I want you to listen to this. So if you have your Bible, you can just turn there. Genesis chapter four. If you want to hit pause and get it, go for it. Or if you're on the go, on the road, in the gym, or wherever, just listen. I'll read to you this particular passage. So Genesis chapter four, and we've got verses one to eight. Listen closely to this. Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, I've gotten a man child with the help of the Lord. Again she gave birth to his brother, Abel, and Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. So you got farmers keeping the flock, tilling the ground. So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel on his part also brought of the first slings of his flock and of their fat portions, and the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and for his offering he had no regard. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord is accepting Abel's offering, thinks it's great, whatever the heart is there in his effort, and with Cain, uh, for whatever reason, maybe he's not offering the Lord his best, maybe uh this is an early indication that there will be a people in which God calls to himself and another, when he says, Jacob, I loved, Esau, I hated. Lots of different debates on that, but that's not where we're going on this episode. So we'll do that another time. The Lord says to Cain, Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will your not will not your countenance be lifted up? But listen to this, here we go, verse seven. And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is for you, but you must master it. Cain told Abel his brother, and it came about when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Did you catch that though in verse seven? Sin is going to be crouching at your door, and its desire is for you, but you must master it. Let's just break that down briefly. There's a key warning and a key word. First, sin is crouching at your door. And then its desire is for you. The word desire there is a Hebrew word. It can be describing a man or a woman who has longing or desire for another, and of a beast seeking to devour. Now, isn't that the picture of sin? So when I say first and foremost, fear sexual sin. Fear sexual sin. It's not this crippling posture where I'm just worried and I all of a sudden am unable to do anything and I'm crippled. No, no, no. It's fear it, meaning I know exactly what you are. I know what you're capable of. I know what this heart can do. Jeremiah 17, 9 says, above all else, it's deceitful. So I'm not going to trust my heart. Sin is a predator seeking prey. You can apply what God says to Cain in Genesis 4 to our battle and waging war against sexual sin. Sexual sin is a predator looking for prey. God doesn't describe sin in words that make us want to befriend it. He describes sin in a way that breeds a fear of it or this idea that I am well aware of the destruction it can bring. So what does this look like? Again, not cowarding and crippling, and now we're hiding everywhere and freaking out. No, no, no. Number one, we're aware of the damage it can cause. Number two, we're therefore not neutral about it, like a lion on the loose. I'm not crazy. I'm not blind. I'm not going to assume I can just go and cuddle it like some of those guys on Instagram or those old movies where they raise baby lion cubs and now they're adults and they, you're like, oh, that would be amazing. People treat sin that way with fully grown adult lions, that'll never work. So we're not neutral. We're not blind. We don't have this infantile view. We stay wise to its ways. We believe, and this may bother some of you, but we got to say it. We believe it could happen to us. And that may be the most uncomfortable reality, but necessary confession in all of this. We have to be able to say, I've never arrived. I've not arrived till I've arrived in glory. We have to always stay vigilant. We got to train ourselves to say, yes, sexual sin could happen to me. It could happen to anyone. Why? Because the enemy wants you to let your guard down for just a second. He wants you to excuse yourself, justify it, or perhaps worst of all, pridefully boast that you would never sin like that, or you've conquered it all. And then 1 Corinthians 10 12 comes into play, where Paul says, Let he who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. You fear sexual sin, meaning you're aware. It's like a lion on the loose. You're not comfortable with that. You have a healthy fear of that. So I want us to really think about that. Do not sleep on that fact. Sexual sin is crouching at your door and mine. And its desire is for us. It is a predator seeking prey. Therefore, number two, what do we do? Flee sexual sin. Don't just fear sexual sin. We can accurately call it what it is. Now we flee from it. Don't flirt with it, flee from it. Nothing in the Bible suggests that we linger long when sexual temptation presents itself. In the New Testament, you've got the word flee repeatedly used, describing how we should react to sexual sin and temptation and lust. 1 Corinthians 6.18, Paul says flee. He used the word pornea. That's immorality, fornication, sexual immorality. And that word flee is easily translated to disappear or to elude and avoid. It means you don't toy with temptation. You don't look with lust and linger over it. You move quickly away from sexual sin. The Christian never says, you know, I look, but I don't touch. We run. First Corinthians 4, 3, another great passage, flee sexual immorality. And the word Paul uses there is a word that means to be distant from, to abstain. I'm not playing around with that. So proximity is in mind. That means there's a gap between me and sexual sin and temptation to it. It tries to get closer, and I continue to build a bigger gap, as large a gap as I can possibly create. That's the gap I want between me and sexual sin and the temptation. I don't dip my toe in a well, it's just temptation. It's not really sin. It's not a big deal. It's the idea of, you know, I'm not going to eat the pizza. I just take a bite, chew it, or smell it, and then I spit it out. Then I haven't eaten anything or done anything wrong. We take that approach sometimes with sexual sin. Don't play around with it. Don't flirt with it. Flee. One of the best illustrations for this comes from the Old Testament in the life of Joseph. Joseph had been through a lot of trials, finally seemed to be hitting his stride. Genesis 39, verse 2, the Bible says Joseph was a successful man, and the Lord was with him. He had found favor in Potiphar's house. Potiphar was an officer of Pharaoh. Joseph is in charge of everything. And then verse 6 of Genesis 39 says Joseph is handsome and he's handsome in form and he's handsome in appearance, which basically is Bible language for he's built and he's easy on the eyes. In particular, the eyes of Potiphar's wife took notice. And she wanted to commit adultery with him. The Bible describes her persisting day after day. Joseph doesn't entertain it. He flat outs refused it. Genesis 39 10 says, as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her. Why? Joseph had strong convictions. And eventually she goes beyond talk and she grabs for him. And he doesn't for a moment think, Hmm, what should I do here? He bolts for the door. His garment is left in the grip of her hand. She cries out that basically he tried to rape her. The Bible says he tried to lie with me. He came to try to lie with me, is what she was shouting. He ends up in prison. Now the Lord has a bigger sovereign storyline he was unfolding there in the book of Genesis. And Joseph eventually ends up second in command, not of Potiphar's house, but of Pharaoh's entire kingdom, all of Egypt. But the example's a powerful one for us. Nothing is delayed. He doesn't soak in the moment for a brief stroke of the ego and then sheepishly say, Well, we really shouldn't, like some Hollywood movie that ends with adultery. No, the man runs. That's what the Bible is describing for you and I from beginning to end. Flee, run, avoid, veer off, take the detour, go the long way, get out of there. That's the attitude we should have. And so now apply that to interactions with tempting women or men in lustful situations. Apply it to how we scroll the internet or Instagram or TikTok and the luring invitation of pornography. What about seductively dressed women or flirtatious men testing their boundaries with you ladies? We've got to see it for what it is. And by the way, we've got to be willing to get labeled. People are going to call you a legalist. It's not accurately defined. If you've been watching our recent video series with Jeremy Vuolo, we've gotten way into legalism and deep in the definition. So, but that's the label they throw out there. You're not a legalist, but they say you are, and then you begin to feel shameful and guilty, and maybe I'm being too tight. You got to be willing to be called out of touch, overreacting, too intense, hypersensitive, and more. All of that is just strategic by the enemy to weaken your resolve and leave you vulnerable. Most of all, hear me on this. When you're matching your decisions with scripture, I'm not talking about taking things too far, and now we're dressing in turtlenecks and skirts down to our ankles, and you know, that's because we're modest. No, that is an overreaction. What I'm talking about is you match it with scripture. Joseph doesn't mess around. Paul says, run, flee, get away from it. So when you're careful and wise and strategically prudent about sexual sin and temptation, you're being biblical. You're not being any of those terms that I used. And here's the truth for you: nobody else has to deal with the fallout from sexual sin like you will and your family and your wife. So take responsibility and run. Who do you want to impress? Who do I want to impress? The Lord. I don't care if someone says you're hypersensitive or, you know, seems like it it's a little overdone. You know, we can enjoy our life a little bit. I mean, we can we can do this. I there is a line I don't want to cross, but you know, you can get around the line. You know what? You do you, but I want to face the Lord and love my wife and lead my home in a different way. I don't want to play around with the line. And besides that, when there's people in your life who don't support you in your convictions to be careful with sexual sin, those are probably people that shouldn't be allowed into your inner circle of friendship. Maybe you want to love them from a distance, maybe you want to evangelize them, maybe they're young in the Lord and you want to walk with them. That's fine, but make sure you're doing the influencing and not the other way around. Make sure that you're the one sharing the wisdom and not receiving their worldly wisdom still. Because who men and women surround themselves with can make all the difference in the world. You and I aren't running a race to please anyone except Christ. So, number one, fear sin, sexual sin at that. Number two, flee it. Let's call it for what it is. And above all else, remember none of this is possible unless we are saved. So start there. In the next couple of episodes, we're gonna tackle one more F. That's gonna be fight. We're gonna get into Jesus' words in Matthew 5.29 about cutting off what causes sexual sin. And then we're gonna get into the war on porn as an offensive assault against that pervasive and demonic industry. Based on your response so far, we've seen through downloads and views and messages and the responses we've gotten from you. Honestly, it's incredible to see that this series has obviously hit a nerve because it's something we all face. And so thanks for your feedback and letting me know. It helps me even understand what you're facing so I can keep producing content and we can lock arms together and keep going in this together. Also, if you haven't heard already, we're doing more in-person events, including a conference here in Phoenix with Vody Bacham on February 1st. It's going to be a Saturday day conference with For the Gospel. And then he's preaching at Shepherd's House, the church that I pastor here in the Phoenix area on the morning of February the 2nd, both morning services. And so you can register for that conference at forthegospel.org under the events tab. Seating is limited. The pricing includes free books, meals, gourmet coffee cart, and more. We always try to make these events affordable, and we would love to meet you there. And if you want to just make a weekend of it, stay over and join us on Sunday morning for a totally different message as Vody exposit the Word of God and we worship together. Thanks for listening, for watching, for sharing, and for supporting. If you haven't already, make sure to subscribe on our YouTube channel here if you're watching this, or drop us a review on Apple if you've been enjoying the podcast. To learn more about our ministry and to become a monthly gospel patron, you can go to forthegospel.org. I'll be back next Monday with another episode. Keep on living for the gospel.