Living So As to Please God (2)

Last Lord's Day we began to address the subject of the Believer's Sanctification, which is addressed in 1

Thessalonians 4 verses 1 -8. The word sanctification is found in the third verse of this chapter, for this is the will of God, your sanctification.

We spoke last Lord's Day about the doctrine of sanctification more broadly, but today we want to address more specific aspects of sanctification that our

Lord has set before us in the text in 1 Thessalonians 4. Let's read once again the first eight verses.

Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that as you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please

God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.

For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus, for this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the

Gentiles who do not know God, that no one transgresses in wrong his brother in this matter, because the

Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.

For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness, and therefore whoever disregards this disregards not man, but God, who gives his

Holy Spirit to you. I might just take a moment to identify two books,

I think, there are so many written, but there are two that I had referred to in the last couple of days that I think you'd find helpful.

One is by Arthur Pink, The Doctrine of Sanctification. It's online, and I put,

I believe, yes, the address in a footnote. The Doctrine of Sanctification, Arthur Pink, he was, of course, a writer of the 20th century, but also

John Owen, a Puritan of the latter 17th century, early 18th century, he wrote a classic entitled

The Mortification of Sin. There's that word mortification that we just considered in the reading that we had.

And the full text of this work is also found online. This is a classic work, and Owen was a thorough guy.

If you want to know the full and final issue, read John Owen, and he addresses the mortification of sin.

Now, we gave attention last week to the definition of sanctification that's put forth in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, which is a good definition.

Question 35, what is sanctification? Sanctification is the work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness.

Now that's a definition of practical righteousness. Last week we addressed the matter of positional righteousness as well, but this is a definition of practical righteousness.

Now Paul wrote to these Christians in verse 3a of 1 Thessalonians 4, for this is the will of God, your sanctification.

But then he stated a specific area of their lives in which he would have them sanctified. Verse 3b reads, that you abstain from sexual immorality.

So we may conclude that our sanctification involves abstaining from sin, that you abstain from sexual immorality.

So the action of the Christian abstaining from sin that he had formerly indulged is sometimes referred to in scripture as dying unto sin.

Our sanctification involves our breaking with sin that we formerly committed. But sanctification is not only ceasing from sin, dying to sin, but it also involves living unto righteousness, and that's in our text as well.

So sanctification involves more than just dying to sin. It's not just the absence of sin, but it's the performing of positive righteousness in our lives.

It involves living unto holiness. And so Paul stated this in the following clause in verse 4a, which reads, that each of one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor.

And so we die to sin and we live unto righteousness, unto holiness. God has given us bodies through which and by which we are to live before him in the world.

And of course our body, we have five senses in which we interact with the world about us.

And we are to use our senses, our bodies, to interact with the world in a manner that pleases God, who created us in a manner consistent with his righteousness, with his holiness.

Again, the scripture says that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor.

And so to live in a holy manner is honorable, isn't it? And to live in a sinful manner is to live in a dishonorable way according to God's standards.

For example, we read of God turning people over to sin that is dishonorable or shameful.

And so we read in Romans 1 of the judgment of God, for although they knew God, and he's talking about all people, the knowledge of general revelation through the creation, they know better, they did not honor him, there's the word honor, as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, their foolish hearts were darkened, claiming to be wise, they became fools, they exchanged the glory of the immortal

God for images resembling mortal man, birds and animals and creeping things. People worshiped bugs.

And again, we were in India, Keith and I, and we saw idols of every form. And again,

Pastor Prem told us they not only worshiped cows, they worshiped the cow dung. And they drink the cow urine in their worship, if you can imagine that.

And they think they're worshiping God. I mean, you talk about how debased people can go.

But it's here in Romans 1. But notice, therefore, God gave them up in the lust of their hearts to impurity.

And there's the word to the dishonoring of their bodies. You can live in a way that you honor God through how you live, and you can live in a manner that's dishonoring to you and dishonoring to God.

Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever, amen.

And so, for this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.

Now, I stopped there, but of course, he talks in length about the sin of homosexual behavior and how this is dishonorable as far as God is concerned, the dishonoring of the body that God gave.

And so, to live according to God's righteousness is honorable. To live contrary to righteousness is dishonorable in the sight of God.

But we see again, sanctification involves living before God in two ways. First, sanctification involves dying unto sin.

And secondly, sanctification involves living unto righteousness, which is to live or a life in accordance with God's commandments.

In other words, in accordance with his word. Two words have commonly been employed by theologians to identify these two works of God's grace and sanctification.

The first is mortification, which is the act of dying unto sin. And the second is vivification.

Say that five times. Which is the act of living unto righteousness. It speaks of living, isn't it?

Vivification. To bring life unto. This is what it is, to live unto righteousness. And we may see these terms in A Treatment of Sanctification by Arthur Peck.

This is the book I alluded to earlier. So in the following reading he shows the relationship between regeneration, that is the new birth, and sanctification, which is the soul's growth in grace.

Regeneration, this is when a person is born again by the Holy Spirit. In regeneration, a principle of holiness is communicated to us.

Practical sanctification is the exercise of that principle in living unto God. In regeneration, the

Spirit imparts saving grace. In His work of sanctification, He strengthens and develops the same.

As original sin, or that indwelling corruption which is in us at our natural birth, contains within it the seeds of all sin, so that grace which is imparted to us at the new birth contains within it the seeds of all spiritual graces.

And as the one develops and manifests itself as we grow, so it is with the other. And then he quotes a

Puritan. Now Pink, again, lived in the 20th century. And the Puritans were largely lost.

I mean they were unknown. It was a lost collection, a library. Very few people had access to it.

But somehow Pink had access to those Puritans because he quoted from them all the time. And this was a

Puritan, George Swinnock, who wrote, Sanctification is a constant, progressive renewing of the whole man, whereby the new creature doth daily more and more die unto sin, there is mortification, and live unto

God, there is vivification. Regeneration is the birth. Sanctification is the growth of this babe in grace.

In regeneration, the sun of holiness rises. In sanctification, it keepeth its course and shineth brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.

The former is a special change from nature to grace. The latter is a gradual change from one degree of grace to another.

And whereby the Christian goeth from strength to strength, till he appear before God in Zion. And thus,

Pink went on to write, the foundation of sanctification is laid in regeneration, and that a holy principle is then first formed in us.

That holy principle evidences itself in conversion. See, in other words, the new birth results in conversion.

Conversion doesn't bring about the new birth. The new birth brings about conversion. Which is a turning away from sin to holiness, from Satan to Christ, from the world to God.

It continues to evidence itself unto the constant work, and there it is, of mortification and vivification.

Or the practical putting off of the old man, and the old man is the life before we became a

Christian, and the putting on of the new, and is completed at glorification. The great difference, then, between regeneration and experimental and practical sanctification is that the former is a divine act, wherein he sustains and develops, continues and perfects the work he then began.

The one is birth, the other is growth. The making of us practically holy is the design which

God has in view when he quickened us. This is significant, this is a significant statement.

He's saying the purpose for God regenerating us was to sanctify us, is what he's declaring.

It is necessary means to his end, for sanctification is the crown of the whole process of salvation.

I like that statement. Now, of course, we never arrive to complete or full sanctification in this life.

The Christian life is one of continual battling against sin. We will not experience complete sanctification, contrary to what

Wesleyan sanctification teaches. Some denominations teach that. We will not arrive to that place until we're delivered from these bodies at death.

Until then, sin will be dwelling within us. And here again are the words of Arthur Pink.

He wrote of this lifelong struggle of the Christian. The fruit of the spirit sanctification of us experimentally appears in our separation from evil in the world, but because of the flesh within, our walk is not perfect.

Can we say amen to that? Oftentimes, there is little for the eye of sense to distinguish in those in whom the spirit dwells from the moral and respectable worldlings.

In other words, sometimes it's hard to distinguish between a Christian and a good, upstanding moral non -Christian out there in the world.

Often they put us to shame. It does not yet appear what we shall be.

The world knows us not, but the heart is washed from the prevailing love of sin by the tears of repentance which the

Christian is moved to frequently shed. Every new act of faith upon the cleansing blood of Christ carries forward the work of experimental sanctification to a further degree.

As Naaman was required to dip in the

Jordan again and again until he was wholly purged of his bodily leprosy, so the soul of the

Christian, conscious of so much of the filth of sin still defiling him, continues to dip in that fountain open for sin and uncleanness.

Thank God, one day Christ will present to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

Sanctification is a process, and we never arrive in this life.

Notice Paul's teaching on sanctification in our text is focused on sexual immorality. We are going to talk about some things that I don't like talking about, frankly.

The scriptures say it's a shame to speak of those things done in private, and it just seems like the public sphere now is talking about things that are shameful.

There are things they have on commercials on TV that you don't even want to watch in mixed company. It's just so vile, shameful things that people have no business speaking of in public.

And I don't like to talk about these things, but it's necessary, necessary for us. Again, he wrote in verses 3 and 4,

For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor.

Actually, of course, sexual immorality is just one way in which sin may manifest itself in our experience. Now, it's a major sin, sexual immorality, but it's certainly not the only kind of sin.

It is what may be termed a root sin. In other words, it doesn't stand alone.

It will produce other sins within a person. Sexual immorality will lead a person into a number of related sins if it's not checked in the heart and life.

This sin does not stand still or alone. It will lead to other sins, such as uncleanness, dishonesty, lewdness, hardness of heart.

All these things flow from, stem from the sin of sexual immorality. But the

Scriptures speak of other sins as root sins as well as sexual immorality. In fact, there are two others. There is the sin of greediness that's described as a root sin, covetousness.

Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6, Having food and clothing with these we shall be content.

Well, I wish that were the case with us. But those who desire to be rich, in other words, long to be rich, fall into temptation and snare and in many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.

And here it is. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. So the love of money, greediness, is a root sin.

It doesn't stand by itself, but it brings a whole package of sin with it.

For which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

And many results come forth from a greedy person. If a man is greedy, that is, if he has worldly temporal values, he longs to be rich, he will be characterized by a variety of sins.

But they all really owe their source to this root sin, greediness.

And then the scriptures also speak of bitterness as a root sin. And this is a devastating sin.

And I would argue that sexual immorality usually is pretty easy to point out.

People recognize it, although they try to justify themselves. And greediness can be shown too.

But this matter of bitterness, it's a hard thing to convince a person they're bitter because they feel justified.

Yeah, I might be angry, I might be bitter, but look what he did to me. And they justify themselves so easily.

But it's a root sin. We read in Hebrews 12. Pursue peace with all people and holiness, without which no one will see the

Lord. Looking carefully, lest anyone fall short of the grace of God. And here it is. Lest any root of bitterness springing up, cause trouble.

And by this many become defiled. Lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.

We get approached repeatedly, I did yesterday, by people in our community. They're homeless, they need food, need clothing, they want help, they want a motel room.

And I always ask, where are you from? Oh, I'm from Leominster. Are you from around here?

No, I'm not from around here. No, where are you from? Fitchburg. Is their answer to me. Which sounds strange to California ears, as though Fitchburg is not around here.

And I always ask them, do you have family? Oh, yeah. You've lived here all your life? Yeah. Do you have friends?

Well, no. And through their actions, they've distanced themselves from their family.

Their family have abandoned them, given them up, won't help them, won't house them. They would allow their son or daughter or brother to live under a bridge through this cold winter.

And the person who's homeless doesn't go to them for help either. And they're bitter.

On all sides. Severed, broken families. Because of this root of bitterness. It's a very devastating sin.

That is a characteristic of many. Outside the church and in the church.

And so these three root sins may be seen really as categories of sins.

And in fact, the scripture tells us the sexual sin is actually with respect to one's own body. We might think of it as sin with somebody else, you know.

But really, it's a selfish thing. It has to do with one's own body. 1

Corinthians 6 .18, flees sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body. But he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

Interestingly. It's described in the Bible as the lust of the flesh.

Greed is a sin with respect to our relationship with physical things. Outside of us.

This sin is described in the scriptures as the lust of the eyes. And bitterness is a sin with respect to our relationship with other people.

Or perhaps God himself. And so sin with respect to one's own body, with things about us.

And then with our relationships with people. Bitterness. And so these three root sins may be seen really as categories of sins.

Virtually any sin we commit can probably be classified under one or more of these three headings.

So if you're able to have these three areas of your life under submission to the Lord Jesus. If you have sexual lust under control.

If you're content with what things you have. And with what things you don't have. And further, if you have a clear conscience in the arena of your interpersonal relationships.

You are a long way advanced in the process of sanctification in your life. Few people arrive to that.

But again, the Apostle's primary emphasis on sanctification in the passage before us. Has to do with sexual morality.

So let's affirm several truths respecting this subject. First. Sanctification in the arena of sexual morality is necessary in order to obtain eternal life.

This is foundational. This is ABC. But relatively few evangelicals understand this or believe this.

They assume it doesn't matter what I do as long as I believe in Jesus. I'm saved.

They confuse the work of justification. Which is free grace that is bestowed through faith alone.

In Jesus Christ alone. They confuse justification with assuming that you can be justified.

But sanctification is not required. It's optional. But the

Bible clearly tells us that justification is followed by sanctification in life. In fact, if you are not being sanctified, you are not justified regardless of what you understand or what you claim to believe.

Sanctification is essential. And so we know and affirm very strongly our justification before God by God's grace alone through faith alone is a biblical truth.

In other words, faith in Jesus Christ alone results in God's declaration of the full forgiveness of sins.

And the fact that He regards us as righteous in His sight. That righteousness of Christ, that gift of righteousness credited to us through faith alone.

But it's wrong to believe or teach that all that's required of you to inherit salvation is to believe on the

Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Because salvation is more than forgiveness. Again, Pink wrote earlier that sanctification is really the end or the goal of justification.

God saves us, not that we just be forgiven, but that we become holy as God is holy.

And sanctification is a preparation. It's a process which we are prepared to one day stand in the presence of our

God. Because the scriptures say in another place, without holiness no man will see the

Lord. It's talking about sanctification. And so saving faith believes on the

Lord Jesus. And we are to believe on the Lord Jesus, not only for the forgiveness of sins, but also believe on the

Lord Jesus for deliverance from the practice of sin. And this is the life of the

Christian. Deliverance from the practice of sinning is absolutely necessary with regard to our salvation.

Consider what the holy scriptures say. 1 Corinthians 6. Do you not know the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.

And the kingdom of God means eternal life. Eternity with the Lord and the Lord's people. Do not be deceived.

And yet many are deceived about this. Neither fornicators at sexual sin before marriage or outside of marriage, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Now I am bold and italicize those because those deal with sexual immorality, which

Paul was addressing here in this verse that we saw. Such were some of you.

In other words, that doesn't prevent you from becoming saved. In fact, many of us were saved out of that kind of life.

And so were the Christians in the church at Corinth. Such were some of you, but you were washed. See, you were sanctified.

See, you're no longer an adulterer. You're no longer a fornicator. You're no longer a practicing homosexual or sodomite or a drunkard or covetous or a thief.

That was the way you were, but you're sanctified. And you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the

Spirit of our God. Paul declared, all things are lawful to me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I'll not be brought into the power of any.

Foods for the stomach, stomach for the foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality.

And so he brings that to the forefront again. But for the Lord and the Lord for the body. And God both raised up the

Lord and will also raise us up by His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?

Shall I take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not.

Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For the two, he says, shall become one flesh.

But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Flee sexual immorality. Flee it.

Run from it. It will damn your soul. Besides, you've been bought with a price.

And you owe God your life. Galatians 5 .16 Paul said,

I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. That deserves a whole other message, doesn't it?

What is it to walk in the Spirit? Because that's the key. You'll not fulfill the lust of the flesh if you walk in the

Spirit. Why? For the flesh lusts against the Spirit. The Spirit against the flesh. These are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish.

That's the Christian. You have sin dwelling within you. And it's a fight.

It's a struggle. God's given you a new spirit, a new desire. But sin's within you.

And you do not have the power to defeat that sin. It will defeat you. You cannot do the things that you wish to do.

The things you wish to do are the desires God has given you, put in your heart. You desire to live holy.

You desire not to sin. You desire to live righteously. You desire to flee sexual morality.

But you do not do the things you wish. The Christian has a desire. But he doesn't have the power.

The only power available that will enable you to do the things that God wants you to do is in the power of the

Holy Spirit. Walk in the Spirit. You shall not fulfill the lust in the flesh.

And the problem is that a lot of Christians don't know what it is to walk in the Spirit. And that's why they don't do the things they wish they could do.

And they suffer continual defeat and misery. Verse 19,

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are, and again, there's a whole list, but I emboldened and italicized the sexual immorality issues.

The works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness. And then a list, and it's a partial list, and the like.

And then he declares, Of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

And so if we want to inherit everlasting salvation, eternal life, we cannot practice these things.

We need to be sanctified. Verse, Ephesians 5,

For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous, think about that, who is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

It doesn't matter what you believe, what you claim to believe. You mark it down. If you're sexually immoral, if that characterizes your life, or if you're covetous, what drives you, the desire to obtain, to get, and you're discontent with everything that God has given you, and with everything he hasn't given you, you're a covetous person, you're an idolater, the world is the

Lord of your heart, you have no inheritance in the kingdom of God, you've got to repent of that, you've got to be sanctified.

Hebrews 13, 4, Let marriage be held in honor among all, let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Revelation 21, 8, But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

A fearful statement, but a true statement. Second to the last chapter of the

Bible. And then those three verses in 1 John, No one who abides in him keeps on sinning.

That is, lives in sin, practices sin. We all sin, and we all, in a sense, keep on sinning.

It will happen. But he's talking about living, practicing sin. It's a present tense verb.

And in Greek, that means habitual, continual sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

You're not a Christian. 1 John 3, 9, No one born of God, that's the new birth, makes a practice of sinning.

It's not possible. For God's seed abides in him. He cannot keep on sinning because he's been born of God.

See, he cannot live a life characterized by sexual immorality. 1

John 5, 18, We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who is born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

And so it's very clear in the word of God that we must be sanctified with respect to sexual sin if we hope to inherit the kingdom of God.

That is, if we hope to enjoy eternal life in the presence of God with the people of God in eternity.

Now, of course, we must understand that sexual relations in and of itself are not evil. In fact, you know, it's a creation of God to be practiced within the marriage relationship, a legitimate, biblical,

God -honoring marriage relationship. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7, Now concerning the matters about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman, but because of the temptation to sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife and each woman her own husband.

That is the main way in which God helps his people deal with sexual temptation.

You have a wife has a husband, the husband has a wife. God has ordained that only within a divinely sanctioned marriage is sexual relations blessed of God.

Only within a marriage relationship can there be a true, clear conscience in the matter. And a divinely instituted marriage is between one man and one woman for life.

It's amazing that that is challenged today. I saw an article the other day of a husband and wife team.

They're a reality show. They do home improvement. They live in Texas.

And the article came out, a great scandal. They are members of a church that doesn't believe in gay marriage.

The idea was that their show was to be cancelled because of this. That's where we're going.

The world now views us as the problem. It doesn't change what we believe.

The word clearly sets forth and that we'll stand for regardless of the consequences. The fact is all sexual activity outside of this marriage relationship is sin.

And it's sin that will expose its perpetrators to divine judgment when they stand before Jesus Christ on the last day.

But we also know that in God's world, only sexual relations within a legitimate marriage can be truly fulfilling and satisfying.

In other words, sexual relations outside of marriage cannot truly satisfy even the sinful desires that people have.

Oh, it'll temporarily bring pleasure. No question about that. That's why people do it.

But it cannot bring a true satisfaction and quell the desire.

Because that desire will come and return. But former activity no longer gives the buzz, the thrill that it once did.

And so deviancy takes place. And perversion takes place in order to stimulate.

And that's where our culture is, isn't it? So we're hearing stories now. I don't even want to address it, but horrendous stories coming out among the elite governments of Britain and whatnot, and here in America too, about pedophilia and whatnot.

It is absolutely unbelievable. But that's what happens when people think that they are free to commit any kind of sexual sin without consequences.

They degenerate into the lowest forms and practice. Worse than animals.

It's a terrible, terrible thing. And it's a sign of the judgment of God, as Romans 1 clearly tells us.

And so as people practice sexual immorality outside the divine institution of marriage, the excitement or arousal of earlier activity just does not resolve.

Sin does not stand still. Sin will lead to more egregious acts of sin. And if it goes unchecked, a person will find himself one day desiring and doing things of which he had earlier not desired or perhaps even earlier had condemned.

If you could take a person that's doing some things today, take them back 30 years and tell them this is where you're going to be, they would laugh at you, wouldn't they?

Society wouldn't understand. I tend to mark everything with the death of my dad in 1993 and how the world was before and how the world is after.

I just can't fathom if he were suddenly dropped into this world today and watched one day of things unfolding.

We have gone so far, so fast. It's just incredible. And I wonder where we're going to be just a few years off into the future.

The fact is, we must strongly affirm, sexual immorality is totally inconsistent with our Christian profession.

Romans 13, let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies or drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.

Paul was shocked about the Church of Corinth. It's actually reported there's sexual immorality among you and of a kind that's not even tolerated by pagans.

Nothing's new. 1 Corinthians 5 .11, Now I'm writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother, in other words, claims to be a

Christian, if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, who is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, swindler, not even to eat with such a one.

In other words, you know, Christian fellowship with that person. 1 Corinthians 10 .8,

We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did. 23 ,000 fell in a single day.

That's an Old Testament event. Ephesians 5, Walk in love as Christ loved us, gave himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

But sexual immorality in all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among saints.

But in spite of these admonitions, it's a very real great problem among professing Christians, isn't it?

Sexual immorality. Why? Well, we can list a number of reasons.

And I know the time, you know, the whistle's already blown, but this is important.

I do want to get through it. All right? I want to equip us with maybe some, because we encounter people with this problem all the time.

Some of us probably have this problem, and we need to provide the means by which we can be sanctified from it.

First, we live in a corrupt, licentious society. Sexual immorality is not only widely and openly practiced, but it's often presented as a good thing to be celebrated.

That's where we're at. The standards of biblical conduct are no longer standards of our society. Once they were, but no longer.

And the result is that professing Christians may be found to have lowered their standards by what is acceptable in their lives.

We're shaped, aren't we, by the context, our culture. We shouldn't be. And so we even professing

Christians excuse today what they had rejected in earlier years. Second, a second reason that sexual immorality is a great problem among professing

Christians is that sexual immorality is constantly set before our population daily through commercial marketing, through its open display at the theater, on television, in print, and online.

Sexual sin is set forth before us as common, normal, even healthy and inevitable. You're not realistic if you preach against it, we're told.

Immorality is often presented as a badge of honor or achievement rather than as a cause for shame, as it once was.

Truly, the scriptural statement is true for people in our society whose glory is in their shame.

In other words, they are proud of what they should be ashamed of. It could be said today, as it was said in Noah's world before the flood, the

Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

We're coming to that place. A third reason sexual immorality is a great problem among professing

Christians is due to the free access to and abundance of pornography. I didn't spend much time researching this, but there were some statistics,

I've got them down there for you, about the problem of sexual immorality among Christian pastors and among church members.

This is from Focus on the Family and from other sources. It's incredible. And this is old data.

This is back in 2005, I think. But it's just incredible, the problem that professing

Christians have. A fourth reason that sexual immorality is a great problem for professing Christians is that once a person has given himself or herself over to immorality, it's nearly impossible to break free from its enslaving power.

Sinful behavior is not only damning and defiling, it's enslaving. As our

Lord stated, most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. Those who have studied the matter of pornography see five stages of addiction, early exposure.

Most guys who get addicted to porn start early. And I was reading the average age of first exposure is 11 years of age.

Addiction, later comes addiction. You keep coming back to porn, it becomes a regular part of your life, you're hooked.

You can't quit. Escalation. After a while, escalation begins. You start to look for more and more graphic porn.

You start using porn that would have disgusted you when you started it, and now excites you. Desensitization.

Eventually, you start to become numb. Even the most graphic, degrading porn doesn't excite you anymore.

You become desperate to feel the same thrill again, but can't find it. And last, acting out sexually.

At this point, many men make a dangerous jump and start acting out sexually. They move from the paper and plastic images of porn to the real world.

Ted Bundy, the mass killer, went that route. A fifth reason sexual immorality is a great problem for protecting

Christians is because sin, as all forms of sin, resonates with the sin that dwells within us.

In other words, we have a natural affinity for it. That's the problem, isn't it?

It has an appeal. The heart is deceitful above all things who can know it.

Within each of us, there resides an affinity, an attraction, a hunger for sin that if it's enticed, fed a few morsels, will become hungry for more and more.

Any one of us is capable of things that are so egregious that it would shock us if we thought about it today.

But if you gave yourself over to sin, come back in ten years and see where you're at.

Sin is an evil. It's defiling and damning. The Lord Jesus told those people, you know,

He said, It's not what's outside that is defiling. It's what's in your heart that comes out.

And we talk about porn and how evil and wicked it is and all the wickedness out there. You know what the real problem is?

It has an attraction to here. That's the problem. And that's really what you have to focus on, isn't it?

Not the stuff out there, as though if we clean up our society and our culture, we'll be able to then live holy lives.

No, the problem is in here, with each of us. And we're just deceiving ourselves if that's not the case.

The sixth reason that sexual immorality is a great problem is that solutions are proposed by many that are unable to set people free from this sin.

And the scriptures make it clear that sin is an issue that only can be dealt with and conquered by the grace of God that's in Jesus Christ.

The whole Bible, the whole Old Testament teaches us that people of God need a king after God's own heart who can deliver them from their enemies so that they can serve

God in safety, security, and righteousness. And Jesus Christ is that king.

And so the Lord Jesus, thankfully, promises Christians, If the Son sets you free, you'll be free indeed.

And there's no freedom, there's no liberty as enriching and enjoyable than to be set free from the guilt, the defiling effects, and the power of sin so that we may live in righteousness, serving our

Lord and others with a clear conscience. And I thank God for that. What a wonderful station in life when that is experienced in a measure.

How may a Christian experience sanctification in the arena of sexual immorality? Let's close with this.

First, we must humble ourselves to seek the Lord's grace to help us in our time of need. Be clothed with humility.

For God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. You are in need of grace. He gives you the desire and the ability to do

His will. He'll give you the desire to hate that sin and turn away from it, and He'll give you the ability to do so.

You need grace. And the only thing that prevents you as a Christian from receiving that grace is your pride, your refusal to humble yourself and acknowledge your need.

We think, oh, it's because of circumstances. Oh, if only my wife were a better wife, I wouldn't be drawn into this.

Only if I wasn't so exposed to all this stuff coming. The whole culture and society is wicked.

No, the problem is here, Lord, I humble myself and I desire Your grace. That is the way of sanctification.

Second, we must believe and trust the Lord Jesus to do for us and in us that which we are unable to do.

You've got to acknowledge your inability. We think that because we love

God and desire to do right, we think we have the ability to do so. You don't. You have no ability.

You need the Lord Jesus. You need a King. Third, we must pray and trust the

Lord Jesus to give us the Holy Spirit to enable us to have the desire and ability to resist temptation or to break free from the present practice of sin.

Lord Jesus, unless you give me the Holy Spirit, manifest His power in my life,

I'm a goner. If you don't do it, it's not going to happen. And this is how we should deal with every area of weakness and difficulty in life.

And we must purposefully to avoid, to yield to sin.

Flee sexual immorality. Make like Joseph. Get out of there. Far and quickly.

And similarly, we must resolve to the Lord's help to avoid those places or situations where we might be tempted to sin.

You know, as the old adage goes, we often tempt the devil to tempt us. You know, by putting ourselves in positions or places where we've got no business being.

Again, we live in the days when the scourge of pornography is readily available and it proves to be a snare to many.

And we must put away from us any source of temptation. The Lord Jesus said, if your eye offends you, pluck it out.

You know, if the eye of that computer screen is offending you, pluck it out. Throw it out.

The TV, if you can't control it, get rid of it. The smartphone, so -called smartphone, you know, which, which, it is just a few clicks away, isn't it?

And it's not worth damning your soul if you cannot deal with it. Get rid of it.

And similarly, we must resolve to the Lord's help to avoid those places or situations where we might be tempted.

Proverbs 7 speaks about the young man and the subtlety of the immoral woman who entices him.

And you think about that and the world enticing you to sin and the allurement and deceitfulness and the wretched end that comes with it.

Seventh, we should purpose to be accountable to someone whom we know has our best interests on his heart.

You know, there's some, there's some men in our church. I don't think it's any, I think any men in any church that have struggled with the issue in the past and the

Lord's given them victory and they're a source of help and encouragement to some others.

We have resources available. Eight, purpose to conform your thinking and practice to the word of God, using the means that God has appointed to curtail temptation.

And ninth, we should understand that ultimately only the Lord Jesus has the authority, has the ability to set people free from sin.

He must be sought, trusted, submitted to, and obeyed. For only He has the power to deliver people from their sin.

All the 12 -step programs, I saw one, you know, website on deliverance from addiction.

And one of the selling points was this has nothing to do with religion. This will work no matter what religion you're a part of.

It's a lie. It doesn't work that way. God has put His Son, the

Lord Jesus Christ, as the only Savior of people from sin. Oh yeah, you might be able to apply some principles and defeat this sin or that sin, but it's going to emerge in some other form, in some other way, that's just as deadly and more subtle perhaps, like pride.

I remember my friend Dean and Patty, they were next door neighbors and over the course of time they both became

Christians. And I baptized them and they were in our church, but Dean wasn't a

Christian. He was a drunkard. He was a young man, 21, but he was a manager of a

Kentucky Fried Chicken place in Sacramento. And Patty started coming over. She was so concerned about her husband

Dean. And she wanted us to help him, you know, because of this drinking problem.

Patty, do you want to see Dean delivered from, you know, drunkenness or from sin?

What is it you really want? And she says, well, drunkenness is a problem.

And I said, do you know anybody else that's ever dealt with? Well, his boss had a cocaine addiction and he beat it.

Why can't he be like his boss? I said, how's life for his boss at this time? Well, he got divorced.

I said, why Patty? Because after he quit cocaine, he thought everybody can quit cocaine. He became so proud and arrogant, nobody could live with him.

You know, and that's what happens. You know, sin emerges in different ways.

You put down one and it comes up in another way, more egregious. You know, it's like that hydra, one head knocked off and seven more come up in its place.

The only deliverance from sin in this fallen world is through the grace of God through Jesus Christ alone.

And we advocate that. And we trust that we've got testimonies that can validate that.

There's those of you who can stand up and declare that if we had the time and opportunity.

Thanks be to God for his work of grace, his sanctifying grace. Because a

Christian just doesn't want to be pardoned. He wants to be delivered from sin because he loves righteousness and wants that to characterize him.

Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for your word. And we pray, our God, that you would help us to be victorious in this matter, to be sanctified in this matter.

And so help your people, our God, be merciful and gracious. Give us the blessed Holy Spirit afresh.

Fill us with his presence and power to give us both the desire and ability to break with these things that bind us and damn us.

And we'll thank you, Father, for your grace and your goodness to us. In Jesus' name, amen.