WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:07.200 And as you are turning there, I want to uh share with you a story before I read the scripture for today. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:10.240 The story I am going to share is quite sobering. 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:23.920 Several years ago, one of the most influential churches in all of America, Willow Creek Community Church, went through a crisis that not only shook their church, but really shook the entire evangelical world. 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:29.519 Its founding pastor, Bill Hybels, was a widely respected leader. 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:34.079 He had built a thriving ministry in the early 80s. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:51.920 He influenced literally thousands of pastors and tens of thousands of people, and uh everything was going fantastic in their ministry there in Chicago until some allegations of sexual misconduct on his part surfaced. 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:54.399 At first, there were denials. 00:00:56.399 --> 00:01:04.079 Then some more voices came forward, and then the pressure mounted, and eventually Heibels resigned. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:07.760 What followed after that was even more devastating. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:10.799 The entire elder board stepped down. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:16.239 Many senior leaders in the church also tendered their resignation. 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:20.159 Trust in the church was deeply shaken. 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:23.200 Thousands of people left the ministry. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:26.959 That church was never the same. 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:36.239 As we think about passing the legacy of faith to the next generation, we would be foolish not to think about this subject as well. 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:49.599 What happens when a church leader who's attempting to pass on a gospel legacy to the next generation ends up as they're running the race, tripping and falling in the middle of their race and getting disqualified? 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:57.920 Or to put it another way, what happens to a church's legacy when hidden sin is allowed to grow inside the church? 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:02.560 Here's the point I want us to really feel in our bones this morning. 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:08.080 That story did not begin when you and I heard about it in the public scandal. 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:14.719 That story began with private compromises years earlier that nobody knew about. 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:27.680 I'm convinced that no pastor and no Christian ever wakes up one day and decides to destroy their ministry and tear apart their marriage and their family and their reputation and their witness for Christ. 00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:29.280 It doesn't start that way. 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:35.840 It starts small, it starts hidden, it feels manageable until it isn't. 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:45.280 And if this could happen to Bill Heibels, someone that I read his books and listened to his teaching and many people followed him. 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:53.039 If I'm gonna say that could never happen to me, then I'm a lot more vulnerable than I even realize. 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:59.759 The Bible says, take heed lest he fall, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall, right? 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:09.919 That's I think exactly why Paul writes to his young protege, Timothy, this sobering verse, chapter two in verse 22 of our book today, says this. 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:22.000 So flee, youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart. 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:27.280 Today we're gonna slow down and focus on something that we normally never do. 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:45.439 We're just gonna focus on one single verse because sometimes one verse rightly understood, rightly applied, is enough to occupy an entire Sunday sermon because mistakes in this area have devastating consequences for a church that's trying to pass on the faith. 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:53.759 Now, if this is your first Sunday visiting, you picked a doozy of a Sunday to choose to check out Millington Baptist Church. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:57.520 We've been going through a series through the book of 2 Timothy. 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:07.919 Uh we're talking about passing on the faith, and Paul is writing to a young pastor, his protege, and he speaks here directly to something that's not really just a youth issue, though it starts there. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:09.919 It's more of a human issue, isn't it? 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:25.120 That phrase youthful passions, sometimes translated youthful lusts, NASB, or NIV says the evil desires of youth, refers to many things, but it certainly refers to the issue of sexual integrity. 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:38.000 So when we talk about passing on the faith as a church, we have the call toward purity here and a call toward holiness here in a very important area for a reason. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:46.319 This was extremely relevant in the first century, and it is massively relevant in our day as well. 00:04:47.600 --> 00:05:04.800 In his excellent book, Unwanted, How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing, which I'd highly recommend, author and Christian psychologist Jay Stringer states that, quote, We are in the midst of a great sexual crisis in our culture, and there he starts with some pretty troubling statistics. 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:13.600 For example, right now 64% of 13 to 24-year-olds intentionally watch pornography at least once a week. 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:25.680 By the time children become teens and young adults, 62% of them will have received a sext, a sexually explicit image via text, and 41% of them will have sent one. 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:31.040 The pornography industry is rapidly growing. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:47.279 One recent analysis by Maximized Market Research shows that the adult entertainment market is valued at more than 191 billion with a B dollars, with its growth expected to reach close to$275 billion by the year 2032. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:53.279 In some estimates, the global pornography industry brings in more revenue than all U.S. 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:55.920 professional sports combined. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:13.839 That's not true either. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:21.439 In fact, 64% of Christian men and 15% of Christian women admit to viewing porn monthly. 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:22.879 And it's not just adults. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:28.879 The average respondent reported that they viewed pornography first by the age of 12. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:31.360 It's not a fringe issue, though. 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:33.920 It's not somebody else's problem out there. 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:37.839 This is a problem in our homes. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:40.160 This is a problem in our pockets. 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:41.839 This is a problem in our hearts. 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:48.240 And if we don't take it seriously, it has the power to cost us far more than we want to pay. 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:52.160 It may actually cost us our entire legacy as a church. 00:06:52.399 --> 00:07:04.480 So today we're just going to talk honestly about sexual integrity, about how temptation works, and about how by God's grace we can walk in purity in the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:05.759 Are you ready for this? 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:08.240 You guys are awfully quiet today. 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:10.800 Please don't be acting like this is not a real issue. 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:11.600 Come on. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:16.480 Let's deal with this issue in Jesus' name with Jesus love. 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:17.920 Now hear me clearly. 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:20.240 This is not going to be a message of condemnation. 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:22.240 This is a message of invitation. 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:26.399 Jesus is going to meet us right here, and he may want to meet you right here today. 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:30.560 So the title of my message is Run for Your Life. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:33.199 And I mean that with all my heart. 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:34.800 Run for your life. 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:37.120 Building a pure church for the next generation. 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:38.319 We're talking about running. 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:40.319 You need to run in this area. 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:41.680 Three parts of the message. 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:43.519 First, we're going to talk about understanding the battle. 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:46.319 Number two, understanding God's strategy for the battle. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:53.279 And then number three, understanding how to break the cycle, some practical pathways for freedom towards the end of our message. 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:57.360 We'll also have an interview with a resident expert in this area, too. 00:07:57.680 --> 00:07:58.800 A lot going on today. 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:01.519 Let's pray and ask the Lord to help us. 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:07.199 Father, you are a good God and a holy God, and we need your grace. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:18.079 So as we open up your word, we invite you to search our hearts, bring conviction where we need it, bring us hope where we may feel burdened and weighed down. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:22.959 Would you help us to find your plan in this area for our lives? 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:24.000 Give us ears to hear. 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:27.199 Give us courage to step in and respond. 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:32.159 For we ask it all in Jesus' name and for his reputation and in his power. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:35.279 For we say it all together saying, Amen. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:38.240 All right, part one, understanding the battle. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:40.159 How does lust actually work? 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:49.120 For this right-hand turn, I just want to go over to the book of James just to show you some insight into the issue of temptation there before we get to the 2nd Timothy verse. 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:52.159 And I want to share with you how this whole problem kind of begins, right? 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:55.919 So James chapter 1 speaks to that, verse 13. 00:08:56.159 --> 00:08:59.679 James says, When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me. 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:02.720 For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:03.519 Pause right there. 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:05.519 That word for temptation is important. 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:09.039 It refers to an inner enticement towards sin. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:11.360 I want you to notice that. 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:18.080 When it talks about this temptation, the word that he uses here in the beginning of this verse is the word when. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:31.279 He does not say if you're tempted, if she's tempted, if he's tempted, maybe you'll be tempted, if perchance possibly you might face temptation, if you're one of the unlucky people that might get tempted in this area, no. 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:36.799 He says, when you get tempted, because it's a hundred percent guarantee you will be tempted in this area. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:38.559 I want you to know something. 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:45.519 Now notice, secondly, that when it comes to any temptation, including sexual temptation, it is not God who is behind this temptation. 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:47.120 It is our own flesh. 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:53.759 God created man and woman, created sex, and he created it good, but it's good in a certain context. 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:58.320 You get outside of those boundaries, then it becomes destructive. 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:00.799 And that's what sometimes we deal with. 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:02.320 It's kind of like guardrails. 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:04.399 I personally like guardrail rails. 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:10.639 Last Saturday I was in Lynchburg, Virginia, driving down the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is gorgeous. 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:14.639 You go up on that mountain and you realize there's no guardrails out here. 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:15.759 It's a beautiful view. 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:22.480 Sometimes I would pull over, sometimes I got, you know, looking out the window and realize, whoa, whoa, eyes on the road, it's a long way down there. 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:24.240 I I like guardrails. 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:29.840 Now, the whole point of a guardrail is to keep you from moving into an area of actual danger. 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:39.279 And the theory behind a guardrail is if you hit the guardrail, it might damage your car a little bit, but it's going to do a lot less damage than if you were to drive beyond the guardrail. 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:42.720 A guardrail is always there to protect you. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:50.240 God, in his word, has given us guardrails to keep us from danger in a lot of different areas, but certainly in this area. 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:55.039 If you're a child or a teen here today and your parents have guardrails for you, thank God for that. 00:10:55.360 --> 00:11:00.399 Now, one of the guardrails that God has given us in his word is what he has to say about this area of sex. 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:08.559 God creates sex, he says it's good, but it's reserved for marriage, one man, one woman for life within the context of a covenant relationship with one another. 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:14.879 Get outside of those guardrails, it causes all kinds of problems for you in your life and problems in society. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:17.600 This is what James is trying to tell us. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:22.559 So James tells us though God creates sex, he's not the one creating sexual temptation. 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:24.080 That's coming from inside of us. 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:33.120 Verse 14, James continues to say, but each person is tempted when they're dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:40.720 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it's full grown gives birth to death. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:43.759 Notice a few things here in this couple of verses. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:52.000 Those terms dragged away and enticed were the kinds of terms that you might find in the hunting and fishing industry. 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:55.840 Fish, look for the bait on the hook. 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:58.639 I mean, you know, how many fish would you catch if you had a bare hook? 00:11:58.879 --> 00:11:59.360 Zero. 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:03.039 In this illustration, you're the fish. 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:16.559 Puritan Thomas Brooks, in his excellent book, Precious Remedies for Satan, Satan's Devices, says it this way: quote, Satan's first device is to draw the soul into sin by presenting the bait and hiding the hook. 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:19.519 To present the golden cup and hide the poison. 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:29.840 To present the sweet, the pleasure, and the profit that may flow in upon the soul by yielding to that sin, and to hide from the soul the wrath and misery that will certainly follow the committing of that sin. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:32.559 Do not be ignorant of his schemes. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:38.559 Now, no fish ever bites the hook because they want to have metal in their mouth. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:42.720 They do that because something on the hook looks good, though it's not good. 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:48.399 And then after they bite, it gets out of control because you keep on going for the bait, even though you know it's sin. 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:51.200 And it leads to a cycle. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:53.039 A cycle of lust. 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:54.799 Let me see if I can break it down for you. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:57.360 Step one in the cycle is there's a desire. 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:02.000 There's something on the inside of me, on the inside of you that gets awakened internally. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:06.000 The word for desires in James chapter one is the word epithumia. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:11.440 It's really referring to lusts, ambitions, selfish ambitions, over-desires. 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:14.480 There's a disorderliness there to the desires. 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:18.320 It's a disordered affections, and I'll come back to that term later. 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:20.960 And then you move to step two, there's deception. 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:24.639 Hey, this won't hurt, or hey, I'm only gonna do this once. 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:33.279 And the crazy thing is, after years of taking the same bait, sometimes we see the same hook and we know it's a temptation, but yet we keep on going for it. 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:34.639 We keep right on nibbling. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:35.759 It's crazy, right? 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:42.080 Pastor Dave, I can handle it, I know what I'm doing, I'm an adult, it's moderation, I'm not gonna get hurt, I know how far I can go. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:44.399 That person's is deceived. 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:46.960 Number three, we get to the decision. 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:48.639 This is when you make a choice. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:50.159 You choose to give in. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:57.440 You lie, you cheat, you fudge, you you you indulge in some way, you take that forbidden fruit, you eat it, whatever it is. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:04.240 And we cross the line into outward disobedience, and this is what the Bible calls sin. 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:08.080 And then we have the consequence of distance. 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:16.480 Sin always creates distance from God, distance because of shame, and sometimes distance horizontally in our human relationships. 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:24.399 And there's a loop there, and it continues to happen as you continue to feed these desires. 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:30.799 If a stray dog shows up at your house and you feed it every day, don't be surprised if it keeps coming back tomorrow. 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:35.120 What you feed grows, and what you starve weakens. 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:44.720 So, what that means here is every click and every look and every fantasy that you're uh that you're uh engaging in is training your desires. 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:51.360 And eventually, though lust promises life, the book of James says it actually brings you death. 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:54.080 Sin is not a game. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:57.600 It's it has tragic consequences. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:01.440 The scripture's not kidding around when it says the wages of sin is death. 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:03.039 Sin is destructive. 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:13.360 When it comes to sexual sin, there's all kinds of destruction that can come: emotional consequences, unwanted hurts, distance in relationships, even physical diseases that can happen to anybody. 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:15.840 There's really no such thing as a harmless sin. 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:18.720 Sin is why death came into the world. 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:23.600 Because the disease of sin brings decay wherever it spreads, it brings death. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:30.320 The language reminds me of what Moses said at the end of his life as he warned the next generation to keep the law. 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:34.240 He said, I've set before you life and death, blessings and cursings. 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:38.399 Now choose life so that you and your children will live. 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:44.000 Now, before we go any further, some of you might be thinking, Well, I'm stuck in that cycle right now. 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:48.799 And let me explain why people get stuck in that cycle. 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:52.720 The reason is because acting out sexually can become an addiction. 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:57.360 And it works like any other addiction, really, but let me explain that further. 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:01.360 Here's a definition that I'm just gonna offer for the sermon today. 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:04.000 Maybe not a perfect definition, but this is what I came up with. 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:12.720 An addiction is a desire that grows so strong that it begins to control your life even when you know it's harming you. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:16.799 Let me try to explain this with a visual illustration. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:19.600 This is a picture of your brain. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:21.840 Okay, it's not your brain, but it's a brain. 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:22.960 This is a brain. 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:32.720 And normally, when everything's functioning well, your brain has a base level of what we might call a feel-good chemical, and your brain experiences this base level as normal. 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:46.159 But when you do something enjoyable, when you eat something you like, when you get a Rhesus peanut butter cup, when you go engage in your favorite game or hobby, or when you ride a roller coaster, what happens is that level goes up. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:55.840 And your brain experiences that as good and happy and exciting, and your brain remembers that so that you'll be more likely to do that again. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:02.159 And then after the behavior's over, you throw the Reese's wrapper away and your brain goes back to normal. 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:04.640 Now the opposite is also true. 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:12.720 If you were to eat something that's spoiled, or you were to get sick, or you were to overdo it on the Reese's, well, that level's gonna drop. 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:19.440 And your brain is gonna experience that as bad or unpleasant, something to avoid, so that you'll do less of that. 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:20.880 That's the idea. 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:25.680 Now let's talk about addictions and pornography. 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:35.359 When someone views pornography, it floods the brain with an unusually high level of that feel-good chemical. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:42.319 And it's not just pleasure, it's like a spike, a kind of artificial high, similar to a drug. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:55.680 And your brain like recognizes this, and your brain goes, Whoa, like this is way too much of that feel-good chemical, and it actually adjusts and it starts producing less of that feel-good chemical naturally on its own. 00:17:55.920 --> 00:18:01.200 And so when the high of pornography or any kind of drug really wears off, you get the low. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:03.759 This is the low after the high. 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:07.680 You feel down, maybe even depressed, you crash. 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:10.240 Now, this is where it gets dangerous. 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:16.400 Your brain, over time, when you engage in an addiction, it starts to adjust this. 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:21.680 And because of that adjustment, you may do the things that you used to enjoy. 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:29.680 You may you may go back to the Reese's, or you may go back to a hobby or your normal pleasures, but they don't feel the same anymore. 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:33.599 What used to feel really great now just feels kind of average. 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:36.559 Like, okay, same old, same old, just kind of normal. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:40.480 So your brain starts telling you, you got to go back to pornography. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:44.160 And then over time, something else happens. 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:48.079 Even that high starts to feel just normal. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:50.799 That's what we call tolerance. 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:59.680 It didn't start like that as an addiction in this way, but now your brain needs more or something stronger just to feel the same effect. 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:04.319 And now when you come down from the high, your normal starts to feel lower and lower. 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:10.720 So now you don't just want it, you feel like you need it, not to feel great, just to feel normal. 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:15.039 And at this point, you do almost anything to get that feeling again. 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:16.799 That's addiction. 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:23.839 And that's why it's so powerful, because it's not just a behavior, it's something that's reshaped how your whole brain works. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:29.920 Pornography creates an addiction, and that's why you need to detox, just like from any other drug. 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:33.920 But it's not just pornography, it's any kind of sexual addiction. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:35.519 There was a term. 00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:44.559 The New Testament writers used a term to describe any kind of sexual immorality, and they they used the term pornea. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:47.680 You can see where we get our English word pornography from that word. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:50.880 But that didn't just refer to those kinds of things like images. 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:56.559 It referred to any kind of sexual activity outside of God's ordained institution of marriage. 00:19:56.720 --> 00:20:04.079 So in the first century, that referred to things like fornication, sex before marriage, sex outside of marriage, adultery, cohabitation. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:09.839 Back then they had polyamory, they had polygamy, homosexuality was rampant, pederasty. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:13.759 There was all kinds of sexual deviances in the first century. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:15.599 You think we've made this up in our generation? 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:16.400 Not true at all. 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:17.759 There's nothing new under the sun. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:22.640 Everybody was sexual in the first century, and it was absolute chaos. 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:24.960 Let me tell you why this matters. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:33.680 Sexual addiction is not just a bad habit, it rewires your desires, it isolates you and it pulls you deeper in over time. 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:38.240 And it becomes a stronghold, it becomes a bondage. 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:40.240 So, how do we break it? 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:45.039 How do we break the power of lust and pornea and things like sex addiction? 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:46.880 Well, that's point two. 00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:50.079 We've now talked about understanding the battle. 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:57.599 Let's talk about understanding God's strategy because he gives us some insight into his solution to this problem in his word. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:03.279 The key verse from today that I shared with you earlier, I want to go back to and look more carefully at this. 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:05.519 I see stuff in this verse that I've never seen before. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:07.119 This thing is jam-packed. 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:08.640 Take a look at what he says here. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:11.359 He says, flee youthful passions. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:29.759 He uses the word youthful there on purpose, not so as to say only young people can commit these kinds of sins, but it's an adjective that describes the kinds of immature, childish, self-centered behaviors that characterizes somebody who's in their youth and still hasn't matured. 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:33.200 And some people still never mature past that. 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:37.200 But God's will is for his people to grow and to grow up and to mature. 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:42.000 And Paul's strategy to get there is he says, you need to flee. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:45.759 He does not say manage it or negotiate with it. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:47.359 He says flee. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:48.480 The word means to run. 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:49.519 It means to run for your life. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:52.000 It's so bad, you should run for your life. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:57.519 And so that's the first practical principle that we learn from God's word today. 00:21:57.680 --> 00:21:59.759 It's this don't fight. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:01.920 Lust, but flee it. 00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:03.440 Let's say that together. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:06.079 Don't fight lust, flee it. 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:13.519 As hard as it is to hear that today for some of you, that's exactly what you need to do. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:14.880 Flee. 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:17.599 This is how we relate to sexual sin. 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:18.400 We flee. 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:22.799 We often try to think that we're stronger than temptation. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:29.519 But my brothers and sisters, some battles, some battles are not meant to be managed. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:31.279 They're meant to be escaped. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:34.880 The best way to fight any addiction, really, is to not ever start. 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:42.400 There's a powerful example of this principle from way back in the Old Testament, in the first book of the Bible, in the life of Joseph. 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:44.240 Joseph was a young man. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:45.920 He was living far from home. 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:50.400 He was working in the house of this powerful Egyptian ruler named Potiphar. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:52.640 Everything was going well with Joseph. 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:54.000 God was blessing him. 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:56.640 He was rising in his responsibilities. 00:22:56.880 --> 00:22:59.920 And then comes this source of temptation. 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:02.640 Take a look at chapter 39, verse 6. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:08.880 It says, So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph's care, with Joseph in charge. 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:12.480 He did not concern himself with anything except for the food he ate. 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:20.559 Now Joseph was well built and handsome, and after a while, his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, Come to bed with me. 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:24.000 Now Joseph could have justified this. 00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:25.440 Nobody would have known. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:28.319 He's far from his family, he's far from home. 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:30.079 She's the one pursuing him. 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:33.279 He's been treated very unfairly in his life up until this point. 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:36.559 He could have said, The heck with it, but that's not what he does. 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:38.000 Look at his response. 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:40.640 It says, But he refused. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:45.440 With me in charge, he told her, My master does not concern himself with anything in the house. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:48.000 Everything he owns, he's entrusted to my care. 00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:50.319 No one is greater in this house than I am. 00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:56.799 My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. 00:23:57.119 --> 00:24:03.200 How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against my God? 00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:05.920 Did you catch his reasoning there? 00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:08.720 There's a marriage, and I'm going to respect that marriage. 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:13.359 And this is not just a behavior between human beings here. 00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:16.480 I don't want to do this wicked thing against God. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:19.759 Joseph understood this wasn't just about a moment. 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:23.759 This was about his relationship with his creator and his redeemer. 00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:29.279 And then one day, as time passes, she catches him alone in the house. 00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:30.880 Look at verse 11. 00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:37.119 It says, One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:41.440 She caught him by his cloak and said, Come to bed with me. 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:46.400 But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:48.400 Notice, what does Joseph do? 00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:52.240 He literally leaves his cloak in her hand and runs out of the house. 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:56.400 He doesn't argue, he doesn't linger, he doesn't try to manage the situation. 00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:59.119 He doesn't say, Well, let me first pray about this. 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:03.599 He doesn't say, Let me see how close to temptation I can get here with her. 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:05.279 No, he ran. 00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:10.400 Sometimes the most spiritual thing you and I can do is run. 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:14.400 Don't fight lust, flee it. 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:16.720 This is what the scripture is telling us. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:19.279 Look at what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:21.599 Matthew chapter 5 records this. 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:26.480 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:30.640 It's better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:35.599 And if your right hand causes you to sin, to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:40.000 It's better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go to hell. 00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:45.200 What we have here is radical amputation language from the Lord Jesus. 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:52.400 Now, Jesus is not calling us to self-harm, he's calling for rather a ruthless seriousness about sin. 00:25:53.119 --> 00:25:58.559 If temptation lives in your pocket, don't be surprised when it wins. 00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:02.799 So my encouragement here is to flee, to run. 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:05.200 Literally, run for your life. 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:08.559 Now let me pause here and just say a word to the parents. 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:13.519 Parents, please talk to your children about internet safety. 00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:19.599 If your child has access to a smartphone or tablet, they have access to the internet, and the internet is not neutral. 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:23.279 If you will not disciple your children, believe me, the world will be glad to do that. 00:26:23.440 --> 00:26:25.039 This is not about being controlling. 00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:26.880 This is about you being responsible. 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:28.640 You're not invading their privacy. 00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:30.400 You are protecting their future. 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:32.240 Put filters on their devices. 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:34.559 Do not allow unrestricted internet access. 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:36.160 And most of all, communicate. 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:40.799 Have an ongoing dialogue and conversation with your children about this area. 00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:43.680 Don't just have one talk and never talk about it again. 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:47.279 Keep the lines of communication open with your child. 00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:57.119 If your kids are very young, our kids director, Rachel Rickershauser, recommended two books that will help you in this area to have those kind of talks with your kids for different age groups. 00:26:57.279 --> 00:27:02.400 If the child is four to seven, you would want to go with the first one and then six to eleven is the second one. 00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:06.000 Those are some tools as parents that we can take advantage of. 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:13.680 But most importantly, create a home where conversation is happening, where honesty can happen without fear. 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:16.559 Because if the kids are afraid, they're gonna hide. 00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:23.599 And so it's perfect if they live in a resign reside in an environment that has both grace and truth, and they'll come to you. 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:26.240 So back to the adults. 00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:29.279 The first principle is not to fight it, but to flee. 00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:36.000 But there's another principle I want to share with you this morning, and it's this, because it's not just about fleeing something, it's also about pursuing something else. 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:37.759 Fleeing is only half the battle. 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:43.200 If all you do is run away from something and you don't run toward something better, you're eventually going to run back. 00:27:43.839 --> 00:27:47.759 So it's not just running away, it's always running toward. 00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:50.799 Notice the verse, 2 Timothy 2, verse 22. 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:51.599 What does Paul say? 00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:53.039 Flee this, but pursue something else. 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:53.759 Pursue what? 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:55.440 Pursue righteousness. 00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:57.039 Pursue faith. 00:27:57.200 --> 00:27:58.160 Pursue love. 00:27:58.400 --> 00:27:59.440 Pursue peace. 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:02.880 Righteousness, that's living before God with integrity. 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:05.839 Faith, that's trusting that God will provide all your needs. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:11.920 Living a life of love that is not consistent with a life of lust and respect for another person is love. 00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:13.200 We don't want to live in lust. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:17.200 And then peace, this will bring you peace in your life with God and with others. 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:19.440 Lust will rewire your desires. 00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:23.599 God wants to renew your mind in this way and have you pursue something else. 00:28:23.839 --> 00:28:28.000 You may have trained your brain in one direction, but by God's grace, you can retrain it. 00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:33.599 In fact, God made our brains with the kind of neuroplasticity that can actually be rewired. 00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:40.000 There's a process that involves detox, but spiritually and even neurologically, you can break free from this thing. 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:41.119 Freedom is possible. 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:44.079 And so that's the second principle I want to share with you this morning. 00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:46.720 Replace, don't just remove. 00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:48.160 Can we say that together? 00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:50.240 Replace, don't just remove. 00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:54.000 You do not defeat lust by emptying your life. 00:28:54.160 --> 00:28:58.319 You defeat lust by filling your life with something better. 00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:04.480 The biblical solution to temptation is not like Bob Newhart, stop it. 00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:10.000 The biblical solution to temptation is not just try harder, white knuckle it. 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:14.640 The biblical solution to temptation is not Nancy Reagan, just say no. 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:17.039 That is not biblical at all. 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:19.839 You're not Ulysses saying time into the Mast. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:21.440 You're a Christian. 00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:23.839 Those solutions are okay, I guess. 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:27.200 They're just very incomplete, and they will not last for you. 00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:29.599 Those solutions involve willpower. 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:31.839 Have you noticed that your will lacks power? 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:33.920 Your will fatigu over time. 00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:41.119 So instead, what you have to do is you have to go much deeper than the will into the realm that theologians call the affections. 00:29:41.359 --> 00:29:44.720 The biblical reason for sin is always much deeper than the will. 00:29:44.799 --> 00:29:47.680 It's a disordered love that's happening inside of your heart. 00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:50.480 Notice the verse again, 2 Timothy 2.22. 00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:53.279 He says, I want you to do this from a pure heart. 00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:54.319 Do you see that? 00:29:54.559 --> 00:29:55.039 Pure. 00:29:55.119 --> 00:30:05.759 That's the word catharos, where we get our word catheter, like a heart catheter, something that's unblocked, something that's free from all corruption and sin and guilt, something that's blameless, something that's innocent. 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:13.440 So therefore, the biblical answer for sin is you've got to have a reordering of your heart, and you gotta find something that you love more. 00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:17.119 In other words, the solution is a reordered affection. 00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:20.640 And the new affection is your affection for God. 00:30:20.960 --> 00:30:27.680 You see, the only way to break a desire in the soul is to show your soul a new and greater and more beautiful desire. 00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:32.160 This is what Thomas Chalmers called the expulsive power of a new affection. 00:30:32.319 --> 00:30:36.480 And that new affection, brothers and sisters, is for the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:37.839