Conquering Lust: A Spiritual Battle for Purity

Lust is the pursuit so your mind is pursuing the pursuit of illicit thoughts its thoughts that you should not have or images in the mind with a view to stimulating sexual pleasures so you pursue a thought or you pursue an image with a view to stimulating sexual pleasures and if those thoughts and images are illicit then the pursuit of that sexual pleasure through those thoughts and images is wrong its lust with or without external stimuli. [00:01:35]

You have heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart so what should you do if your right eye causes you to sin in this way, tear it out and throw it away, why why that's pretty radical for it is better that you lose one of your members name of your eye then that your whole body be thrown into hell that's what's at stake so killing this lustful intent this desire this illicit desire is important enough to threaten hell as the warrant for it. [00:02:23]

If you live according to the flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death stab your eye gouge out your eye put to death the deeds of the body you will live so remember Jesus said here you will enter life if you will tear out your eye and the skill sin and here he says if you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. [00:04:01]

The sword of the Spirit is used for killing and it is the Word of God so now the question becomes how does the Holy Spirit use the word of God to enable us to put to death the deeds of the body which were to do by the spirit and with the weapon the weapon of the Spirit is the sword one way is this this is Ephesians 4:22 and first Peter 1:14 watch put off your old self which it belongs to your former manner of life which is corrupt through deceitful desires. [00:05:38]

What the Word of God does in freeing us from sinful desires is to undeceive us the word tells the truth about these desires namely they are fleeting and poultry here they're like making mud pies in the slums because you can't imagine a holiday at the sea as CS Lewis says and the Word of God destroys this deceit and makes us see that what we're buying into with these lying deceitful desires is destruction. [00:06:20]

Faith comes from hearing hearing the Word of God faith comes from hearing the Word of God and hearing hearing through the word of Christ so faith is what is awakened we're undeceived from all the falseness an error of desire and we are drawn out in faith to the to the truth and to the glory and to the beauty and to the worth of Christ and all his work for us and all his ways and all his person and so faith feeds on the truth that it now sees because of the word. [00:07:38]

Jesus said to them I am the bread of life whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in Me and these are parallel aren't they whoever believes in Me shall never thirst so coming to Jesus so as not to hunger and believing in Jesus so as not to thirst are parallel they are the same so I would define believing or faith from this passage right here as a as a coming to Jesus so as to eat from him as our bread of heaven and drink from him as the living water which cuts then the power and the nerve of these deceitful desires that create sinful thirst. [00:08:30]

Promises like this faith lays hold of blessed are the pure in heart they shall see God so it's seeing God and what we have tasted of that sight in the gospel that powers us to pursue a pure heart and not a lustful one or Psalm 84 11 the Lord God is a Sun and shield the Lord bestows favor and honor no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly here's the application walking uprightly includes walking free from sexual sin like porn or fornication or adultery and others to walk uprightly is to abstain from sexual sin. [00:09:36]

By faith Moses when he was grown up refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing to be mistreated with the people of God then to have the fleeting pleasures of sin now surely that would include all the sexual indulgence is that he could have in the Egyptian palace if he would just stay there as the grandson of Pharaoh he could have anything he wanted sexually and he looked at them and said why would I want a pleasure that only lasts 80 years when I can have a reward that lasts 80 trillion ages of years and never runs out. [00:11:56]

He chose to be mistreated that he walked the path of obedient love in caring for God's people renouncing pleasures that he knew were only fleeting how did he do it he considered the reproach suffered for Christ greater wealth reproach greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking to the reward he saw in the future a reward so powerful so great that the taste of it now enabled him to undeceive himself by this word of promise he was undeceived by these pleasures and knew they are fleeting like a vapors breath compared to Eternity and therefore he was able to walk in love and obedience and purity. [00:12:44]

We kill the sin of lust by believing God's promises namely that seeing and being with God in purity of heart is more satisfying a more satisfying wealth than the fleeting pleasures of lust that's what we believe that's the promise and believing that we kill lust that is we kill the sin of lust by being satisfied with all that God promises to be for us through Jesus Christ satisfied that no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly this is the great battle against lust to be satisfied in God. [00:13:40]

Faith has this power because it includes being satisfied and all all that God is for us in Jesus this superior satisfaction in God frees us from the deception that sin is a greater joy than God that's the way sin has power nobody sins out of duty people sin because sin lies to us and deceives us into thinking it has a greater pleasure to offer us than God therefore the great battle of the Christian life the great battle the great battle every day till the day we die is to defeat such unbelief that is to have faith in God that is to be satisfied you see how I'm treating all those as the same get rid of unbelief get faith get satisfied in all that God is for us in Jesus for he is a greater joy a better treasure and a superior pleasure then all this world can offer amen. [00:15:52]