Purity

I. Intro

II. My testimony

III.

In his book, “Disciplines of a Godly Man,” Kent Hughes says this concerning purity, “Sensuality is easily the biggest obstacle to godliness among men today, and it is wreaking havoc in the church.” Later in the same paragraph he comments, “If we are to, “discipline {ourselves} for the purpose of godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7), we must begin with the discipline of purity. There has to be some holy heat, some holy sweat.”

The Bible is inundated with accounts of sexual immorality, warnings against sexual immorality, encouragement in dealing with sexual immorality, and most importantly, hope in dealing with sexual immorality.

Jesus Himself speaks against the sin of sexual impurity, going so far as to align it with adultery:

Matthew 5:27-30 ““You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”

Paul, in his N/T letters. Paul speaks candidly and repeatedly about and against sexual immorality

1 Corinthians 5:1 “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!”

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Galatians 5:19 “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,”

Colossians 3:5-6 “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,”

1 Thessalonians 4:3 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;”

Peter instructs believers:

1 Peter 2:11 “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,”

Though there’s nothing new under the sun, as Solomon states, the enticement and allurement of sexual immorality is more rampant, accepted, and in our faces than in generations past; its found in:

Our social media

Our internet browsers (PC or phone)

Our movies and shows we watch

Our music

Our own minds (James 1:14 “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” )

Sexual impurity/immorality/the sin of lust has effects

V. Guarding against compromise?

What does compromise look like Biblically—let’s look at David, using Kent Hughes’ book:

First—David became desensitized

David took more than one wife when he assumed his role of King

2 Samuel 5:13 “And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron. Also more sons and daughters were born to David.”

In David taking more than one wife, may have been acceptable by the world’s standards, but it was against God’s standards and therefore it was sin.

Deuteronomy 17:14-17 ““When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ (NOTE VERSE 17) Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.”

Second—David became relaxed

David was to be out with his army—despite the success of his military conquests

David was to be vigilant to continue in his responsibilities

Thirdly—David became fixated

2 Samuel 11:1-3 “It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?””

At first glance, David should have turned—but remember, he had become

Desensitized, and

Relaxed

Fourthly—David started to rationalize

Notice what one of David’s servants told him: “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

Notice David didn’t hesitate, he didn’t budge, why? Remember, he had become

Desensitized,

Relaxed, nad

Fixated

Lastly—David became “degenerate (Adultery, Lies, and Murder)”

David acted: 2 Samuel 11:4 “Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.”

David acted again: 2 Samuel 11:13 “Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.”

David acted again: 2 Samuel 11:14-17 “In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.” So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men. Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also.”

What does compromise look like for you?

Are you being desensitized?

“Men, it is the “legal” sensualities, the culturally acceptable indulgences, that will take us down.”

Long hours of TV

The “accepted” male talk, coarse humor, or laughter at the immoral things

Are you relaxed?

Kent Hughes, “Just when we think we are the safest, when we feel no need to keep our guard up, to work on our inner integrity, to discipline ourselves for godliness, temptation will come?

Are you becoming fixated?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer states this, when lust takes control, “At this moment God…loses all reality…Satan does not fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God.”....“When we are in the grip of lust, the reality of God fades,” (This is what happened to David)

Are you finding yourselves rationalizing?

Again, Kent Hughes states this, “The mind controlled by lust has an infinite capacity for rationalization.”

What excuses are you making?

“My wife will never know.”

“I was made this way.”

“I can stop, it’s only once or twice.”

Have you given yourself over to degenerate behavior?

The effects of our sexual immorality (Note five reasons, taken Biblically from verses like 1 Corinthians 6:18 “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.”

It lowers the person to the level of an animal. Simply, its a wrong view of man

It looks upon the other person only as an instrument, a tool to satisfy urges and passions

If you think you won’t start or haven’t started looking at your spouse in these ways, you are mistaken and you are placing unrealistic/sinful/immoral expectations on them and you are not loving them as Christ has called you to love them

Impurity doesn’t just effect you—it effects the purity of your spouse/future spouse

Corrupts the temple of God

True virtues of man’s basic nature are deeply affected, our basic nature is to (1) love and be loved, (2) give and to receive, (3) live and let live, (4) be loyal and trustworthy, but in giving ourselves over to immorality:

This is disturbed

Our whole body is affected

Our love, loyalty, and lives are not focused—rather they are scattered

One person will never again (speaking to the spouse/fiance) have a man’s complete love, loyalty, or complete life—b/c each time we give part of that away

The emotional and mental makeup of a person is affected more deeply than by any other sin

Immoral acts produce senses of guilt—they may not call it guilt, he may just say, “I feel bad.” Bad feelings or guilt are a natural result of immorality.

Unity and cohesiveness is disrupted

Trust and oneness is damaged

Security of children is damaged

The battle against sexual immorality, impurity, and sexual sin is hard—it’s not impossible, but it is VERY HARD

The battle against these things CANNOT be fought in our own strength, our own wisdom or understanding

There is forgiveness, there is redemption & reconciliation, and there is hope that in and through Jesus Christ, a man can overcome and have victory over his sexual sin

VI. How do we fight? What must we do?

FIRST IS THE RIGHT FOUNDATION:

We must be surrendered, we must be born again

Romans 10:9-10 “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

We must know what God promises us through His Word

Psalm 32:5 “I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah”

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Hebrews 1:3 “who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

Revelation 1:5 “and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,”

SECOND IS HOW WE FIGHT

Let’s walk through several verses in Romans (which have helped me in my battle against sexual addiction)”

Romans 8:12 “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.”

Simply stated—as believers we are no longer in debt to our flesh—stated another way, we are no longer obligated to live according to our flesh

Ask yourself—What has the flesh EVERY accomplished for you? What has it REALLY brought you?

Ask yourself—What has Christ accomplished for you? What has HE REALLY brought you?

Romans 8:13 “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

Let’s walk through another section of verse that I diligently try and pray for every day that helps support Romans 13:14;

Ephesians 6:12-18 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—”

VI What we must remember

Who we are in Christ & how we are seen in Christ

Who we are?

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

How we are seen?

Colossians 3:3 “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

We are to pursue Christ—we are to be disciplined to pursue the things of Christ

1 Colossians 3:1-4 “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

Philippians 2:12-13 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

2 Peter 1:5-8 “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Diligence—pursuit of something no matter the cost

What does discipline look like

Kent Hughes gives us a great picture of this in the “Introduction” section of his book

Talk about Mike Singletary

(CLOSING)

Every one of us struggles with lust

First—I encourage you to confess these things to Christ—to ask His forgiveness for these things—to repent of these things

Second--I encourage you at your breakouts to share these—(in the confidence and trust that comes with being brothers is Christ)

Every one of us has weaknesses or triggers the enemy wants to exploit (I encourage you to again, to share these things in your group, and ask others to pray and come alongside you in your battle(s))

Every one of us needs to be disciplined. The battle against sexual immorality is much more offensive than we think---(I encourage you—as you answer some questions in breakout, that you get real with your spiritual disciplines:

Are you delighting and meditating on God’s Word

Lastly—I want each of us to commit to meditate on what God says through Paul to Timothy is 1 Timothy 6:11-14 (READ). Something I want to encourage you with as we go through this weekend is to see the verbs Paul uses in 1 Timothy 6:11-14;

Flee/Pursue/Fight/Lay hold of/Urge