WEBVTT 00:01.516 --> 00:04.896 Welcome to the Valley Baptist Church sermon podcast. 00:04.896 --> 00:06.396 We're so glad you're here, 00:06.396 --> 00:08.356 and we hope this message inspires you, 00:08.356 --> 00:09.476 builds your faith, 00:09.476 --> 00:12.536 and moves you toward a deep relationship with God. 00:12.536 --> 00:15.616 Today, you'll find great insight into the Bible 00:15.616 --> 00:18.276 and learn how you can apply it straight to your life. 00:18.276 --> 00:20.716 So welcome and enjoy the message. 00:21.462 --> 00:28.522 If you have your Bible, please open it with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 in a message 00:28.522 --> 00:31.962 I'm calling God's Will for Your Life. 00:32.822 --> 00:37.882 Now I think every Christian has a deep desire to know God's will for their life. 00:37.982 --> 00:40.402 Should I go to this or that school? 00:40.642 --> 00:42.522 Should I marry this or that person? 00:42.702 --> 00:45.722 Should I get this job or that job? 00:45.722 --> 00:46.419 And so I'm going to go through this and I'm going to go through this and I'm going to 00:46.420 --> 00:52.100 I think it's important to seek God and His will in all the decisions of life that we face. 00:52.580 --> 00:56.740 Because as we ask God for help, He gives it to us. 00:57.180 --> 01:01.220 He gives us supernatural wisdom from above, wisdom from His Word. 01:01.600 --> 01:07.280 And I believe that His Spirit will bring clarity to our minds to understand His leading. 01:08.543 --> 01:11.143 But admittedly, sometimes the clarity he brings 01:11.143 --> 01:13.763 isn't as clear as we hoped for. 01:13.763 --> 01:16.383 Well, this morning, I wanna share with you 01:16.383 --> 01:19.743 not about some of the more trivial decisions of life 01:19.743 --> 01:22.423 that we make, but I wanna share from you, 01:22.423 --> 01:23.823 or with you rather, 01:24.845 --> 01:31.345 with how you can know with crystal clear clarity what God's will is for your life, all right? 01:31.945 --> 01:38.585 Now, in chapter 4, the very first word, this word finally, we have a transition point in the letter 01:38.585 --> 01:42.765 where Paul gets very, very practical. We read in verse number 1, he says, 01:42.765 --> 01:49.525 Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, 01:49.665 --> 01:54.565 just as you received from us, that you ought to walk and to please God. 01:54.832 --> 01:59.872 Now, in the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul, he said, I just want to know him. 01:59.912 --> 02:06.592 He's speaking of Jesus. I want to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering. 02:07.172 --> 02:13.032 Now, Paul already knew Jesus. And so what he's really saying is, I just want to know him more. 02:13.032 --> 02:13.866 Right. 02:13.867 --> 02:19.467 Really, that's the nature of the Christian life is to progressively know Jesus more. 02:19.587 --> 02:26.127 And Paul tells the Thessalonians here, he said, regarding your walk, regarding the way you live, your lifestyle, 02:26.767 --> 02:32.107 I want to encourage you to abound more and more in the way that you please God. 02:32.902 --> 02:40.462 Did you know that life is simplified a great deal when we come to grips with our purpose in life? 02:41.142 --> 02:43.042 See, our purpose is to please God. 02:43.162 --> 02:45.922 We were created for God's good pleasure. 02:46.022 --> 02:48.402 In other words, He wanted us, so He made us. 02:49.082 --> 02:54.802 He didn't want to spend eternity without a relationship with us, so He made us because He desired that. 02:55.514 --> 03:02.894 So Paul says here, I want to encourage you to live your life in such a way that you please God more and more progressively in your life. 03:03.374 --> 03:08.314 Verse number two, he says, for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 03:08.894 --> 03:12.274 For this is the will of God, your sanctification. 03:12.354 --> 03:14.109 I want to pause right there. 03:14.110 --> 03:16.490 Because Paul said, you want to know what God's will is? 03:16.930 --> 03:21.950 I'll tell you exactly what God's will is for your life, your sanctification. 03:22.850 --> 03:26.110 Now, the word sanctification simply means to be made holy. 03:26.210 --> 03:30.370 And the word holy means set apart, set apart with a purpose. 03:31.728 --> 03:33.228 a divine purpose. 03:33.228 --> 03:35.848 Now in the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites 03:35.848 --> 03:39.768 to sanctify certain vessels that were used in worship 03:39.768 --> 03:43.668 in the tabernacle, pots and bowls and basins 03:43.668 --> 03:44.668 and things of that nature. 03:44.668 --> 03:46.608 God said those things, 03:46.679 --> 03:50.539 were only to be used exclusively for Him. 03:51.259 --> 03:54.799 For instance, they were not to take one of those vessels from the tabernacle 03:54.799 --> 03:58.459 and go down to the spring or the creek and get some water with it. 03:58.519 --> 03:59.458 Why? 03:59.459 --> 04:02.559 Because the vessel had been set apart, sanctified, 04:02.559 --> 04:07.719 totally and completely dedicated to service of God. 04:08.768 --> 04:14.008 So when the Bible says here that we, you and I, are to be sanctified, 04:14.908 --> 04:18.968 that means that our lives are to be set apart totally and completely, 04:19.188 --> 04:20.908 dedicated for the service of God. 04:21.931 --> 04:23.431 Now, God is holy, isn't He? 04:23.571 --> 04:28.251 And that means He Himself is set apart, distinct from the rest of creation. 04:28.591 --> 04:31.331 He's perfect in every way imaginable. 04:31.491 --> 04:37.871 And because God is holy, nothing unholy can remain in His presence for long. 04:38.651 --> 04:41.371 That's a problem for you and I as human beings because we're not holy. 04:41.731 --> 04:42.670 We are sinners. 04:42.671 --> 04:43.716 We are sinners. 04:43.717 --> 04:49.337 God says the soul that sins shall die, for the wages of sin is death. 04:49.417 --> 04:54.957 That's physical death, but also spiritual death, to be separated from a relationship with God. 04:55.397 --> 04:56.877 But here's the good news of the Bible. 04:57.737 --> 04:58.817 God loves us. 04:59.477 --> 05:05.297 He loves us so much that He didn't want to remain separated from Him forever. 05:05.637 --> 05:07.317 So He sent His Son, Jesus, why? 05:07.437 --> 05:09.349 To make us holy. 05:09.350 --> 05:10.369 That's why. 05:10.370 --> 05:12.690 So we could relationally be in His holy presence. 05:12.810 --> 05:15.210 Yes, He certainly came to save us and rescue us. 05:15.270 --> 05:16.349 He came to redeem us. 05:16.350 --> 05:17.289 He came to forgive us. 05:17.290 --> 05:18.770 He came to make us right with God. 05:18.850 --> 05:19.909 All of those things. 05:19.910 --> 05:24.450 But He came, if you boil it down, in a way He came to make us holy, didn't He? 05:25.370 --> 05:28.550 And most of the time, when we think about our salvation, 05:29.050 --> 05:33.830 we tend to think about that initial moment of salvation that the Bible calls justification. 05:34.915 --> 05:41.715 And one of the ways to think about justification and the meaning of it is it's just as if you never sinned. 05:41.715 --> 05:46.735 When we're justified by God, by our faith in Jesus, we're forgiven in that moment. 05:47.055 --> 05:51.695 We're clothed in the righteous robe of Jesus so that when God looks upon our life, 05:51.755 --> 05:53.575 he doesn't see the filth of our sin anymore. 05:53.875 --> 05:57.675 He sees Jesus just as if we had never sinned. 05:57.975 --> 06:01.115 And at that moment of faith, we're justified. 06:01.455 --> 06:04.315 We're declared in that moment to be holy. 06:05.358 --> 06:07.258 positionally in Christ. 06:07.258 --> 06:10.958 Now, justification is about our way to God, 06:10.958 --> 06:13.398 but sanctification, as we're talking about here, 06:13.398 --> 06:16.578 is about our walk with God. 06:16.578 --> 06:19.118 Justification takes place in a moment. 06:19.118 --> 06:21.218 Sanctification is a process. 06:21.218 --> 06:23.738 It's this journey that we're on. 06:23.738 --> 06:25.978 It's a journey that involves the process 06:25.978 --> 06:28.318 of becoming more holy. 06:28.308 --> 06:31.548 The process of becoming more like Jesus. 06:31.668 --> 06:33.468 So here's the first thing that we see. 06:33.568 --> 06:37.288 God's will is for you and I to become more like Jesus. 06:38.128 --> 06:39.027 Right? 06:39.028 --> 06:40.908 We're to be sanctified and holy. 06:41.308 --> 06:43.848 And Jesus is really the standard of holiness, isn't he? 06:44.208 --> 06:47.088 So we're to become more like him in the way that we think, 06:47.088 --> 06:50.528 in the way that we love one another, in the way that we behave. 06:51.288 --> 06:58.028 You see, in a sense, the Christian ethic is to become who you already are. 06:58.919 --> 07:01.159 You're holy, not by what you've done. 07:01.559 --> 07:03.399 You're holy by what Jesus has done. 07:03.639 --> 07:05.659 Now become holy in the way you live. 07:06.239 --> 07:10.179 Live out who Jesus has already made you to be in Christ. 07:10.883 --> 07:13.423 Romans chapter 12, verse number 2 says, 07:13.623 --> 07:18.443 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed, how? 07:18.643 --> 07:24.803 By the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 07:24.863 --> 07:28.023 So what's God's perfect will for your life? 07:28.103 --> 07:32.803 Well, it's that you would be transformed by the renewing of your mind into Christlikeness. 07:33.749 --> 07:38.849 Now, this word transformed in Romans chapter 12 is the Greek word metamorpho. 07:39.089 --> 07:42.309 We get our English word metamorphosis from it, 07:42.309 --> 07:49.249 which is the process by which a cute little caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly. 07:50.084 --> 07:57.864 Now, when God makes that little caterpillar, that caterpillar has all the makings of a butterfly, doesn't it? 07:58.104 --> 08:00.644 I mean, the caterpillar is made of the right stuff. 08:00.724 --> 08:02.584 It's made of the right essence. 08:02.744 --> 08:06.964 Now it just needs to go through that process of transformation to become a butterfly. 08:07.617 --> 08:08.857 And it's the same with you and I. 08:09.037 --> 08:12.877 When we come to faith in Jesus, God makes us a new creation in Christ. 08:13.157 --> 08:17.837 The Bible says, behold, all things have passed away and all things have become new. 08:17.837 --> 08:23.937 And so in that moment, spiritually speaking, we're made of all the right stuff. 08:24.728 --> 08:31.348 But now we've got to go through the process of transformation, and that's what sanctification is. 08:31.708 --> 08:33.968 Now, the third step is glorification. 08:34.228 --> 08:36.748 Someday in glory in heaven, we will be perfected. 08:36.868 --> 08:42.148 But now we're in this process of being transformed into Christlikeness. 08:42.668 --> 08:49.008 Now, in that process, it's not that we are simply passive recipients of it. 08:49.008 --> 08:50.087 No, no, no. 08:50.088 --> 08:52.868 We're active participants of it. 08:53.939 --> 09:00.159 God says, be holy. Why? For I am holy. He commands us to be holy, which means that we play an 09:00.159 --> 09:05.839 important part in the process. And here's the part we play. We just keep saying yes to God. 09:06.419 --> 09:12.839 And we just keep saying yes to God's will. You see, when we first gave our lives to Jesus, we were 09:13.818 --> 09:20.138 given a new nature in Christ. We were given a new identity in Christ, but the problem is we don't 09:20.138 --> 09:25.198 lose our old nature. Instead, our old nature kind of sticks around, doesn't it? Now, we're no longer 09:25.198 --> 09:29.938 slaves to that old nature. We've been freed from it, but it still lingers around. There's this 09:29.938 --> 09:37.538 constant battle between our old nature of sin and our new nature in Christ. I heard about a guy who 09:37.538 --> 09:43.138 had two fighting dogs, and someone asked him one time, he said, which dog's going to win the fight? 09:43.990 --> 09:45.390 And he said, whichever one I feed. 09:46.770 --> 09:47.970 And it's the same with you and I. 09:48.710 --> 09:52.890 If we're feeding our old nature, it's going to win most of the battles. 09:52.990 --> 09:57.290 But if we start feeding our new nature in Christ, our old nature doesn't stand a chance 09:57.290 --> 10:00.830 because God is committed to doing something great in our life. 10:00.830 --> 10:04.630 He who has begun a good work in us is committed to complete it. 10:04.628 --> 10:06.068 So what's God's will for your life? 10:06.148 --> 10:07.868 Well, he wants you to make him happy. 10:08.508 --> 10:10.408 He wants you to please him. 10:10.588 --> 10:11.808 You were made for him. 10:11.808 --> 10:12.427 And guess what? 10:12.428 --> 10:15.968 Whatever pleases him is going to ultimately please you as well. 10:16.568 --> 10:19.708 And we please him by becoming more like Jesus. 10:20.548 --> 10:24.808 Verse number three, he continues, where he says, for this is the will of God, your sanctification. 10:25.468 --> 10:26.907 Then he spells it out. 10:26.908 --> 10:28.808 That you should abstain. 10:28.912 --> 10:33.152 from sexual immorality, that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel. 10:33.232 --> 10:37.592 I believe that's talking about his own body in sanctification and in honor, 10:38.092 --> 10:41.572 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God, 10:42.232 --> 10:46.272 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this manner 10:46.272 --> 10:48.272 because the Lord is the avenger of all. 10:48.272 --> 10:53.752 As we also forewarned you and testified, for God did not call us to uncleanness. 10:54.393 --> 10:55.872 but in holiness. 10:55.873 --> 10:58.813 Therefore, he who rejects this does not reject man, 10:58.933 --> 11:03.233 but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit. 11:03.433 --> 11:04.592 Here's our principle. 11:04.593 --> 11:06.893 God's will is for all of us as Christians 11:06.893 --> 11:11.333 to live within the confines of God's design concerning sex. 11:11.333 --> 11:13.427 Yes. 11:13.428 --> 11:19.308 Now, we live in a sex-crazed culture, much like the Thessalonians did. 11:19.388 --> 11:24.348 I mean, they lived in the Greco-Roman world that was absolutely obsessed with sex. 11:24.428 --> 11:27.588 In fact, they connected sex to their worship. 11:28.514 --> 11:34.574 In chapter 1, Paul commended these new believers for turning from idol worship to the true and living God. 11:34.634 --> 11:41.434 Well, we know that a lot of the idol worship of that day involved temple prostitution, sex acts of worship. 11:41.434 --> 11:45.214 So they literally were coming out of a sex-crazed religion. 11:46.604 --> 11:50.424 Now, I think our world has also turned sex into a religion. 11:50.604 --> 11:53.784 Oh, we're a little more sophisticated than they were. 11:53.864 --> 11:56.224 We're a little more secular than they were. 11:56.224 --> 12:00.104 We might not call it worship, but that's what's happening. 12:01.344 --> 12:06.844 Paul's writing of these new believers, knowing very well that they had come to faith in Christ, 12:06.944 --> 12:12.224 but there was more than likely still some nasty, filthy sexual temptations 12:12.804 --> 12:15.404 that were still lurking around in their lives. 12:16.405 --> 12:19.045 And it's the same for you and I in our culture. 12:19.185 --> 12:21.005 Maybe you're a new believer today, 12:21.125 --> 12:23.625 and we've got hundreds of new believers in our church. 12:23.705 --> 12:27.605 We praise God, but maybe your past was littered with sexual sin. 12:28.741 --> 12:30.861 Maybe you've been called out of that. 12:30.941 --> 12:33.601 And if you come to Christ, you have been called out of that. 12:33.921 --> 12:37.541 But for many people, sexual sin becomes like a drug. 12:38.281 --> 12:45.861 In fact, some researchers tell us that pornography can become as addicting as heroin to people. 12:45.861 --> 12:49.561 And so sexual sin in Paul's day, and certainly in our day as well, 12:49.761 --> 12:54.781 is one of the great battlegrounds for spiritual warfare in our world. 12:54.779 --> 12:55.979 It's being fought in the church. 12:56.059 --> 12:57.919 It's being fought in our world. 12:58.019 --> 13:05.219 And Paul says, without stuttering here, this is God's will for you, that you abstain from sexual immorality. 13:06.079 --> 13:09.399 Now, let's notice for a moment what Paul does not say. 13:10.079 --> 13:13.159 Paul does not say to abstain from sex. 13:13.865 --> 13:15.925 You see, God created sex. 13:16.105 --> 13:17.144 It was His idea. 13:17.145 --> 13:18.385 He made it up. 13:18.485 --> 13:20.645 And He gave it to us as a gift from Him. 13:20.645 --> 13:26.125 And it is to be enjoyed within the confines of its design. 13:26.865 --> 13:31.625 And that is between one man and one woman who are married. 13:32.685 --> 13:38.705 Sexual immorality, by definition, is engaging in sex outside of its design, 13:38.825 --> 13:42.285 which always leads to pain and certainly to heartache. 13:43.278 --> 13:48.178 Imagine with me for a moment if you've got this fire in a fireplace. 13:48.538 --> 13:51.578 It's something we don't experience much of in California. 13:51.898 --> 13:54.218 No burn days for most of the year, it seems. 13:54.318 --> 13:55.437 But I don't know about you. 13:55.438 --> 13:57.838 I love a good fireplace on a cold winter day. 13:58.158 --> 13:58.997 It's soothing. 13:58.998 --> 13:59.657 It's warm. 13:59.658 --> 14:01.778 I can snuggle up next to it for hours, right? 14:02.158 --> 14:03.898 But let's imagine... 14:05.080 --> 14:08.240 that the fire in the fireplace jumped out of the fireplace 14:08.240 --> 14:11.660 and it caught fire on the curtain and it climbed the curtain 14:11.660 --> 14:13.460 and it caught the wall on fire. 14:13.560 --> 14:17.980 Now something wonderful had become destructive, right? 14:18.400 --> 14:20.560 Well, you can still be warmed by it, but you'll also be burned. 14:22.107 --> 14:26.887 good things within their design can become very bad things 14:26.887 --> 14:28.887 outside of their design. 14:28.887 --> 14:31.387 As you walked onto our campus or on our campus 14:31.387 --> 14:35.667 at Olive Drive, you saw some beautiful grass 14:35.667 --> 14:38.347 and lawns and landscaping, 14:38.347 --> 14:39.927 and you saw all that beautiful grass. 14:39.927 --> 14:43.107 Our team does a wonderful job taking care of it. 14:43.107 --> 14:45.467 But if you take that beautiful grass 14:45.467 --> 14:47.227 and you take some of the clippings 14:47.227 --> 14:50.327 and you spread them all over our worship center, 14:50.575 --> 14:53.895 Suddenly something beautiful out there becomes very ugly in here. 14:54.015 --> 14:58.515 Or you take some of the carpet and you cut some of the carpet up, you throw it out on the lawn. 14:58.895 --> 15:02.195 Something beautiful in here becomes very ugly out there. 15:02.275 --> 15:03.214 Why? 15:03.215 --> 15:08.455 Because good and beautiful things belong within their design. 15:08.635 --> 15:09.154 Why? 15:09.155 --> 15:12.935 And that is certainly the case with our sexual lives. 15:12.935 --> 15:17.035 God blesses the sexual union of a husband and a wife. 15:17.355 --> 15:23.075 But whenever the fire of a sex jumps outside of a marriage, people always get burned. 15:24.035 --> 15:28.935 It hurts. It causes all kinds of problems. 15:29.438 --> 15:33.718 Now, I think an appropriate question for us to entertain for just a moment, 15:34.198 --> 15:39.758 because we live in such a promiscuous culture, is what kind of acts... 15:41.622 --> 15:44.342 are included in this term sexual immorality. 15:44.442 --> 15:48.182 Well, God spells that out pretty clearly throughout His Word. 15:48.242 --> 15:52.482 The Bible says that we're not to commit fornication, which is sex prior to being married. 15:52.902 --> 15:58.462 The Bible says that we're not to commit adultery, which is sex after we're married with someone who's not our spouse. 15:58.742 --> 16:03.962 The Bible says that we're not to commit homosexual acts, which is sex with a person of the same gender. 16:04.285 --> 16:08.665 The Bible says that we're not to view pornography, which is porneneia in the Greek. 16:08.805 --> 16:13.905 Jesus said you're not to even look upon a woman with lust or you've committed adultery in your heart. 16:13.905 --> 16:19.545 The Bible has all kinds of things to say about very specific acts that are prohibited. 16:20.725 --> 16:25.865 Incest, bestiality, rape, we go on and on. 16:27.385 --> 16:32.925 Now, here's the thing about sexual immorality of all natures. 16:34.002 --> 16:36.221 Everyone gets hurt. 16:36.222 --> 16:38.621 Everyone gets hurt. 16:38.622 --> 16:40.302 It certainly hurts yourself. 16:40.822 --> 16:43.802 We know that from 1 Corinthians 6, verse 18. 16:44.282 --> 16:45.982 Flee sexual immorality. 16:46.382 --> 16:52.842 Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 16:53.622 --> 16:56.142 So sexual sin in your life hurts you. 16:56.142 --> 16:57.402 Every time. 16:58.319 --> 16:59.558 But not just you. 16:59.559 --> 17:02.159 It also hurts others, doesn't it? 17:02.419 --> 17:09.759 We saw in verse number 6 that we read a moment ago that sexual sin is taking advantage of and defrauding your brother or sister. 17:09.859 --> 17:10.978 Now, how could that be? 17:10.979 --> 17:18.299 Well, it's because when you have sex with someone that's not your spouse, you're taking something that doesn't belong to you. 17:18.873 --> 17:21.773 You're taking something that God has not given to you. 17:21.933 --> 17:25.973 It's reserved for that person and their spouse or their future spouse. 17:25.973 --> 17:33.553 And if you have sex with them, you're stealing that intimacy from them and their spouse and their future spouse. 17:34.668 --> 17:37.548 So sexual sin is certainly, it hurts you. 17:37.708 --> 17:40.668 It hurts those around you in your life. 17:41.168 --> 17:44.328 But ultimately, it's a sin against God, isn't it? 17:44.768 --> 17:48.448 King David, after he committed adultery with Bathsheba, 17:48.448 --> 17:50.268 he prays eventually, he says, 17:50.548 --> 17:53.228 against you and you only have I sinned. 17:53.288 --> 17:54.708 Paul says here, he said, 17:54.748 --> 17:57.168 if you reject this that I'm saying to you, 17:57.248 --> 17:58.308 you're not rejecting me. 17:58.808 --> 18:00.148 You're rejecting God. 18:01.768 --> 18:04.569 Now, 18:04.570 --> 18:12.990 What if the fire of sexual immorality has already jumped out of the fireplace in your life? 18:13.770 --> 18:16.030 What if it's climbing the curtains? 18:16.790 --> 18:22.230 What if the walls, maybe the living rooms are, maybe your whole house is burning down? 18:23.450 --> 18:25.349 What do you do? 18:25.350 --> 18:26.750 Here's exactly what you do. 18:27.470 --> 18:31.570 You call on God to come rescue you and put out the fire. 18:32.450 --> 18:33.696 That's what you do. 18:33.697 --> 18:37.937 If your house are on fire, throwing some cups of cold water is not going to do a whole lot. 18:38.177 --> 18:40.437 What you need to do is call the fire department. 18:40.897 --> 18:46.477 And if your life is on fire with sexual sin, you need to call upon God to come rescue you, 18:46.577 --> 18:49.717 to deliver you, to bring healing into your life. 18:50.297 --> 19:00.097 Now, I want to give for a moment four quick points about how you can abstain from sexual immorality in your life as a Christian. 19:00.397 --> 19:01.497 The number one thing is this. 19:01.777 --> 19:03.077 You've got to make a decision. 19:04.240 --> 19:07.600 You've got to decide to abstain from sexual sin. 19:08.700 --> 19:09.719 It's an act of volition. 19:09.720 --> 19:11.440 You've got to make a decision. 19:11.600 --> 19:13.239 It's called repentance. 19:13.240 --> 19:18.800 Repentance is when we turn from our sin and we decide our life is not going to be about that. 19:19.200 --> 19:22.400 We are turning instead and we're going to follow Christ. 19:23.820 --> 19:27.120 You're never going to be delivered from sexual sin if you don't think it's possible. 19:27.120 --> 19:28.960 And I'm telling you right now, it's possible. 19:29.688 --> 19:32.908 Because God says we're no longer slaves of sin. 19:32.968 --> 19:33.988 He's set us free. 19:34.528 --> 19:35.908 So here's what we all need to do. 19:36.488 --> 19:42.828 We need to make one big decision that we are committed to sexual purity at all costs. 19:43.648 --> 19:44.427 At all costs. 19:44.428 --> 19:46.027 That's the starting place. 19:46.028 --> 19:50.628 Now, the second thing is this, is that we need to flee sexual temptation. 19:50.948 --> 19:51.747 We've got to run from it. 19:51.748 --> 19:52.787 That's what the Bible says. 19:52.788 --> 19:54.587 Flee it. 19:54.588 --> 19:56.079 Run from it. 19:56.080 --> 20:02.740 Now, I would say there's two great examples in the Old Testament of godly men, men of God who were tempted sexually. 20:03.720 --> 20:07.580 A man named Joseph in the book of Genesis and King David. 20:08.500 --> 20:14.860 Well, with Joseph, Potiphar's wife pursued him and grabbed a hold of him, seducing him. 20:15.160 --> 20:17.620 And the Bible says that Joseph ran from her. 20:17.620 --> 20:22.540 He literally physically ran from the sexual temptation. 20:23.485 --> 20:24.785 But that's not what King David did. 20:25.405 --> 20:28.725 When King David saw Bathsheba, the Bible says, was a beautiful woman. 20:29.005 --> 20:30.545 He saw her bathing on the rooftop. 20:31.045 --> 20:32.144 He looked at her. 20:32.145 --> 20:33.024 He lusted for her. 20:33.025 --> 20:34.504 He called for her. 20:34.505 --> 20:36.684 And he slept with her. 20:36.685 --> 20:42.065 I would argue, though, that David never should have seen Bathsheba. 20:43.330 --> 20:45.010 He was not fleeing sexual temptation. 20:45.190 --> 20:50.650 He was supposed to be leading Israel in war, out in battle, but he abdicated his responsibilities, 20:51.010 --> 20:52.950 and he had way too much time on his hand. 20:53.030 --> 20:56.890 He was bored, which is always an invitation to sexual immorality. 20:58.470 --> 21:00.510 See, some temptations we fight against. 21:01.450 --> 21:03.990 Other temptations we run from. 21:05.318 --> 21:13.758 which I personally think means that that involves some archaic practices in our life. 21:14.258 --> 21:19.138 Things such as if you're not married, don't be alone with your boyfriend or girlfriend 21:19.138 --> 21:22.078 someplace where you could become intimate with them. 21:22.198 --> 21:26.178 That's probably not fleeing sexual immorality in your life. 21:26.178 --> 21:30.658 If you're married, don't ever flirt with someone who's not your spouse. 21:31.559 --> 21:36.359 That's going to open the door to temptations that ought not be there. 21:36.539 --> 21:40.499 Personally, I'm never going to share a meal, lunch or dinner with someone of the opposite sex. 21:40.679 --> 21:47.759 I don't want any kind of appearance of evil for one, certainly being a pastor, 21:47.879 --> 21:51.519 but I don't want any sort of relational temptation in my life. 21:52.019 --> 21:58.899 Now, if you're human, I would also say don't have an unprotected electronic device in your home, right? 21:59.960 --> 22:00.799 That's all of us, right? 22:00.800 --> 22:02.180 We're all human. 22:02.322 --> 22:05.362 I personally believe every computer, every iPad, 22:05.362 --> 22:07.982 every smartphone should have some sort of filter, 22:07.982 --> 22:10.462 some sort of accountability program on it. 22:10.462 --> 22:14.042 Every smart TV out there should have passwords 22:14.042 --> 22:19.042 that passwords to certain channels to add apps. 22:20.082 --> 22:23.262 Now in a family situation, that might be, 22:23.262 --> 22:25.662 it might be unwise or it might be a little awkward 22:25.662 --> 22:28.382 for one person to just have that password alone. 22:28.382 --> 22:32.202 So in our family, personally, we share that password. 22:32.208 --> 22:35.668 Two digits for Kelsey, two digits for me. 22:35.748 --> 22:37.268 Now you say, Pastor, that's crazy. 22:38.288 --> 22:39.207 That's radical. 22:39.208 --> 22:40.228 You bet it's radical. 22:41.208 --> 22:42.007 You bet it is. 22:42.008 --> 22:45.648 Jesus said, if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. 22:45.768 --> 22:47.888 If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. 22:48.627 --> 22:49.807 Sounds pretty radical to me. 22:50.427 --> 22:53.487 We've got, as believers who've been called to be holy, 22:53.727 --> 22:57.787 we've got to make radical steps to protect ourselves from sin. 22:58.507 --> 23:01.047 So if you're a drunk, don't go hang out at the bar. 23:01.607 --> 23:04.027 And if you're human, run from sexual temptation. 23:05.267 --> 23:06.627 Now another tip is this. 23:06.667 --> 23:09.627 Don't just run away from sexual sin. 23:10.627 --> 23:13.095 Run towards God. 23:13.096 --> 23:15.276 That's the key, right? 23:15.276 --> 23:18.356 So many people battle sexual temptation in your life 23:18.356 --> 23:19.356 with sheer willpower. 23:19.356 --> 23:21.056 I'm just not gonna do it. 23:21.056 --> 23:24.336 Well, that's probably not gonna last long. 23:25.356 --> 23:28.356 Whenever you have a strong compulsion or a strong desire, 23:28.356 --> 23:30.416 the best way to overcome that desire 23:30.416 --> 23:33.416 is to replace it with a far greater desire. 23:34.696 --> 23:37.896 In my own life, as I battled sexual temptation, 23:37.896 --> 23:41.556 as a young man, I battled it with willpower. 23:42.425 --> 23:44.485 And that had me losing way too many battles. 23:45.165 --> 23:51.685 It was not until I realized that God and God alone was the only one who could deliver me from the sexual temptation 23:51.685 --> 23:54.305 that I started consistently winning the battle. 23:55.165 --> 23:58.705 Which brings me to our last point I'm going to make about sexual immorality. 23:58.705 --> 24:02.665 And that is this, that we must fight it by being filled with the Holy Spirit. 24:03.365 --> 24:07.965 Paul reminds us in verse number eight that God has given us his Holy Spirit. 24:08.165 --> 24:11.505 The Bible says that we, our bodies, are the temple of the Holy Spirit. 24:11.665 --> 24:17.645 That means our bodies, our flesh and bones, are the residing, the dwelling place of the Spirit of Almighty God. 24:20.705 --> 24:22.565 That should be a motivating factor. 24:24.275 --> 24:28.735 Now, I want to say a quick word because I think sometimes this is confused among Christians. 24:29.995 --> 24:33.515 To be filled with the Holy Spirit doesn't mean that you have the Holy Spirit. 24:34.535 --> 24:40.055 You could have the Holy Spirit as a believer while not being filled with the Spirit. 24:40.895 --> 24:45.735 Being filled with the Spirit means that we're completely yielded to the Spirit's work. 24:45.835 --> 24:46.454 We're controlled. 24:46.455 --> 24:51.955 We're being empowered by the Spirit in that moment and season of our life. 24:52.895 --> 24:57.195 It's like a sailboat that's out at sea and the wind's blowing, 24:57.335 --> 24:59.715 so it has all the power it could possibly need, 25:00.075 --> 25:02.375 and yet the sailboat is still. 25:02.675 --> 25:04.374 It's not moving. 25:04.375 --> 25:05.294 It's not going anywhere. 25:05.295 --> 25:06.194 Why? 25:06.195 --> 25:07.715 Well, because it hasn't raised its sails. 25:08.690 --> 25:14.630 It hasn't allowed the wind to fill its cells and to empower it to move. 25:14.870 --> 25:19.390 And as Christians, we've got to put down the oars of our own strength and willpower 25:19.390 --> 25:23.530 and these mighty waves of the ocean of life that we're going through. 25:23.610 --> 25:25.130 We're not going to get anywhere with those oars. 25:25.130 --> 25:30.130 We've got to raise the sails of our will and allow the Holy Spirit to empower us 25:30.670 --> 25:33.690 with the wind of His Spirit to live for Him. 25:34.373 --> 25:37.753 Now, verse number 9, we're going to have to move more quickly. 25:38.473 --> 25:42.913 He transitions from talking about abstaining from sexual sin, and he moves on to love. 25:42.993 --> 25:43.192 He says, 25:43.193 --> 25:48.493 But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that I should write to you. 25:48.853 --> 25:53.133 For you yourselves are taught by God to love one another, and indeed you do. 25:53.613 --> 25:56.933 So toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia." 25:57.087 --> 26:02.067 But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more. 26:02.327 --> 26:03.286 Here's our principle. 26:03.287 --> 26:10.567 God's will for all of us is for our love to increase more and more for one another. 26:12.359 --> 26:17.519 Chapter 3, Paul described our need to grow more and more in our faith. 26:17.659 --> 26:22.679 And then the beginning of chapter 4, he says, I want you to abound more and more in your sanctification. 26:22.679 --> 26:27.399 And now he says, I want you to increase more and more in your love. 26:29.538 --> 26:33.738 Now, based on what Paul said, obviously the Thessalonians had been given by God 26:33.738 --> 26:37.438 this supernatural love for one another, which, by the way, 26:37.918 --> 26:39.798 isn't that kind of basic Christianity? 26:40.818 --> 26:43.018 God is love, that we love one another. 26:43.238 --> 26:45.958 Jesus said you're going to know them by their love for one another. 26:46.058 --> 26:47.678 He said, you got that going on for you. 26:47.718 --> 26:48.457 That's wonderful. 26:48.458 --> 26:51.078 But he encouraged them, let that love keep growing. 26:51.878 --> 26:54.498 Let it keep abounding more and more. 26:56.078 --> 26:58.578 I thank God that our church family is, 26:59.896 --> 27:06.436 that we have a loving church. Amen? Nearly every week, I'm privileged as a pastor to see certain 27:06.436 --> 27:14.536 things, certain acts of love on display, one for another in our church. I hear stories from you. 27:15.522 --> 27:21.842 About how at a time of deep need, a time of deep grief, of great struggle, 27:21.942 --> 27:29.202 that someone in your life group, someone in our church family came alongside and just walked with you through that time. 27:29.282 --> 27:31.202 They loved you through that time. 27:31.442 --> 27:33.202 And so I want to echo what Paul says here. 27:33.282 --> 27:40.502 He said, you know, may our love just keep growing more and more and more as a church. 27:41.262 --> 27:42.382 Verse number 11. 27:44.041 --> 27:52.081 He says that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your hands as we commanded you, 27:52.361 --> 27:58.541 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, that's non-Christians, and that you may lack nothing. 27:58.781 --> 28:00.001 Here's our last principle. 28:00.001 --> 28:04.041 God's will is for us to work hard and mind our own business. 28:06.957 --> 28:08.657 We could just get that down. 28:09.017 --> 28:11.437 I think we'd save ourselves a whole lot of problems. 28:11.997 --> 28:14.857 Be much more unified as a people, wouldn't we? 28:16.217 --> 28:20.657 Many of the Thessalonians expected Jesus to return in their lifetime. 28:20.777 --> 28:24.317 That's one of the reasons the Apostle Paul is writing them about the return of Christ. 28:24.777 --> 28:27.957 We'll get to that towards the end of chapter 4 here. 28:28.677 --> 28:33.257 So apparently some of them thought that since Jesus is coming back any day, 28:33.257 --> 28:35.377 I don't really need to go to work. 28:38.125 --> 28:42.925 And so some of them quit their jobs, or maybe when persecution hit, they didn't look for new work. 28:43.005 --> 28:48.765 We don't know exactly how it happened, but they were taking advantage of and mooching off of others in the church who were working. 28:49.965 --> 28:53.105 So Paul says, no, no, no, you need to work with your own hands. 28:53.565 --> 28:54.945 You need to provide for yourself. 28:55.145 --> 28:56.384 Don't be reliant. 28:56.385 --> 28:57.465 You should lack nothing. 28:57.565 --> 28:58.905 You need to provide for yourself. 28:59.385 --> 29:01.805 You see, God created us to work and be productive. 29:01.905 --> 29:05.265 God says six days you shall work and the seventh you shall rest. 29:06.610 --> 29:11.490 Now, in Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians that we have in our Bible, 29:12.990 --> 29:18.570 he strengthened the language he was using about this because some people still hadn't got a job. 29:18.670 --> 29:23.970 So he said, if a man will not work, neither shall he eat. 29:25.010 --> 29:26.610 That's strong language, isn't it? 29:28.244 --> 29:32.364 Now, Paul did not say if a man cannot work. 29:32.724 --> 29:34.704 He says if a man will not work. 29:34.704 --> 29:41.444 I believe we have an obligation of love and caring for people who are not able to work. 29:42.224 --> 29:47.124 But those who are able to work and choose volitionally not to work according to God, 29:47.304 --> 29:48.644 those people aren't supposed to eat. 29:49.084 --> 29:51.984 In other words, we're not to enable their sin. 29:54.024 --> 29:56.084 Now, some of the Thessalonians... 29:57.590 --> 30:01.810 weren't working, and because of that, they had way too much time on their hands, 30:02.870 --> 30:10.610 and so they became idle talkers, busybodies. They were nosy. They were gossipers. 30:11.650 --> 30:16.830 Paul says, don't do that. Instead, get to work. There's things to be done. We can be productive. 30:16.990 --> 30:23.290 Mind your own business and lead a quiet life. Now, that quiet life, that refers to a peaceful life. 30:25.332 --> 30:31.772 Now, I want to take a moment to say a quick word about social media here because I think it applies in terms of application. 30:32.712 --> 30:36.912 My dad used to say that some people never have an unspoken thought. 30:37.172 --> 30:43.212 Well, I have found that some people never have an unposted experience. 30:47.658 --> 30:54.518 And hear me out here, the problem isn't just in the posting, as vain as sometimes that seems. 30:55.058 --> 30:57.498 The problem is also in the consuming, isn't it? 30:58.418 --> 31:05.918 Studies actually show us that some people scroll social media for hours every day. 31:06.858 --> 31:10.078 And I can tell you, for one, those people aren't working very hard. 31:10.138 --> 31:12.258 I don't know how a person has enough time. 31:12.338 --> 31:13.538 There's too much to do. 31:14.878 --> 31:15.918 And two... 31:16.447 --> 31:19.347 They're not minding their own business. 31:19.347 --> 31:21.987 They're living their life in someone else's life, 31:21.987 --> 31:23.467 someone else's world. 31:23.467 --> 31:28.687 It's kind of an imaginary world all these people are posting. 31:28.687 --> 31:32.627 And that's actually led to deep emotional problems 31:32.627 --> 31:35.367 within individuals and within our society. 31:35.367 --> 31:38.307 Studies now show the more time on social media, 31:38.307 --> 31:40.827 the more likely a person is to be depressed. 31:42.603 --> 31:48.123 You know, most of the time, if you're consuming a lot of social media, it's in excess. 31:49.263 --> 31:55.423 You're either going to become jealous of those people and envious of what their lives are, 31:55.423 --> 31:57.283 or you're going to become judgmental. 31:58.443 --> 32:01.243 And both are going to be very bad for you. 32:02.023 --> 32:04.202 So Paul says, stop that. 32:04.203 --> 32:05.242 Mind your own business. 32:05.243 --> 32:07.083 Get to work doing something productive. 32:07.083 --> 32:07.642 Why? 32:07.643 --> 32:09.703 The outside world is watching us. 32:10.203 --> 32:12.983 And you know what the outside world, those who aren't Christians, need to see? 32:13.183 --> 32:16.663 They need to see some caterpillars turning into butterflies. 32:17.123 --> 32:24.083 They need to see people being transformed by the grace of God and living their life for Christ alone. 32:25.972 --> 32:31.212 A few weeks ago, a man in our church who's only been a Christian for about a year now, 32:31.212 --> 32:35.672 stood right here and shared his testimony in our Wednesday night service. 32:35.672 --> 32:40.132 He shared about how alcohol was such a big part of his life for so long. 32:40.132 --> 32:44.492 He was sort of an alcoholic, but now through Jesus he's sober. 32:44.492 --> 32:49.072 He shared about all the junk that used to be in his home, but now his home is filled 32:49.072 --> 32:51.572 with the Spirit of God. 32:51.572 --> 32:55.292 He shared about how he had just gotten back from a mission trip to Columbia. 32:56.752 --> 32:58.452 He's been a Christian for a year. 32:58.772 --> 33:00.952 Someone asked him, how did you grow so fast? 33:00.992 --> 33:04.532 And he said, it's amazing how fast you can grow when you just say yes to everything. 33:13.192 --> 33:14.192 It's profound. 33:15.612 --> 33:17.072 It's real simple, isn't it? 33:18.292 --> 33:20.551 Let me ask you. 33:20.552 --> 33:24.272 Are you willing to say yes to everything God tells you? 33:25.945 --> 33:28.565 Are you committed to pleasing Him? 33:28.565 --> 33:32.265 Are you committed to His will, to say yes to Him, 33:32.265 --> 33:37.145 to say yes to sexual purity, yes to loving people more, 33:37.145 --> 33:40.925 yes to working hard, yes to not being so nosy? 33:44.545 --> 33:47.965 The moment as a Christian you say no 33:47.965 --> 33:49.865 is the moment you stop growing. 33:51.275 --> 33:52.635 Your Christian life, it stalls out. 33:52.715 --> 33:58.175 And some people's Christian lives have been stalled out for months, for years, some for decades. 33:59.795 --> 34:02.355 You want to know what's wrong? 34:02.635 --> 34:05.135 You go back to when you told God no. 34:09.331 --> 34:12.911 It's a miserable place to be, a stalled out Christian not growing. 34:13.091 --> 34:14.311 The natural thing is to grow. 34:14.831 --> 34:19.191 The natural thing is to progress and become more like Jesus. 34:20.071 --> 34:23.651 Let's bow together in an attitude of prayer both here and at Olive Drive. 34:23.731 --> 34:26.051 This is a holy moment in the life of our church. 34:27.951 --> 34:33.111 This is a moment when we're going to invite you to respond to God's Word. 34:34.111 --> 34:36.571 Whatever God is speaking, maybe you sense. 34:38.272 --> 34:42.752 For the first time, that you're separated from God. 34:43.312 --> 34:46.452 Oh, you've known about God, you've believed in God, but it's dawning on you, 34:46.512 --> 34:47.692 wow, I don't really know Him. 34:53.932 --> 34:56.432 You see, our sin separates us from God. 34:56.752 --> 34:58.352 That's spiritual death. 35:00.935 --> 35:05.015 And God sent His Son, Jesus, to bring spiritual life. 35:05.395 --> 35:08.495 That means to reconnect the Spirit of God to our spirit. 35:09.915 --> 35:14.695 And He's doing a work in us once we believe that someday we'll be completed. 35:17.115 --> 35:21.195 I want to invite you to give your life to Christ today. 35:21.455 --> 35:26.815 You know, we talked today some about our desire to please God. 35:28.964 --> 35:31.204 through our sexual purity, through loving one another, 35:31.324 --> 35:33.624 through these different aspects of doing His will. 35:33.864 --> 35:35.024 But did you know what? 35:36.544 --> 35:41.464 The starting place for pleasing God is faith, isn't it? 35:42.424 --> 35:46.704 The book of Hebrews says that without faith, it's impossible to please Him. 35:46.704 --> 35:49.544 You don't stand a chance without faith. 35:53.044 --> 35:56.904 So I want to invite you to please God today. 35:58.073 --> 36:00.733 Put a big old smile on his face. 36:02.373 --> 36:09.733 The Bible says that when one sinner comes to faith and repentance, there's rejoicing. 36:10.393 --> 36:11.453 There's a party in heaven. 36:13.673 --> 36:17.173 Maybe you need to come and give your life to Jesus today and be forgiven. 36:18.233 --> 36:19.632 Be restored. 36:19.633 --> 36:24.973 Have his spirit come live in your life and begin that transformation process that he's so good at. 36:26.423 --> 36:28.323 I want to invite you in just a moment. 36:28.423 --> 36:31.183 I'm going to pray, and there's going to be pastors and other leaders 36:31.183 --> 36:35.083 lined across the front of both of our worship services. 36:35.223 --> 36:36.803 We're just going to ask you to come as you are. 36:36.863 --> 36:40.083 You're going to walk down one of these aisles, walk down one of these staircases, 36:41.423 --> 36:42.483 and just to come as you are. 36:42.523 --> 36:45.463 It's not that you clean up your life and say, man, I need to get some things together, 36:45.563 --> 36:48.223 then give my life to Jesus as one of those steps. 36:48.303 --> 36:49.723 No, no, no. It is the step. 36:50.583 --> 36:51.663 It's the first step. 36:53.305 --> 36:57.445 You come as you are, warts and all, failures and all, pain and all, guilt and all. 36:57.545 --> 36:59.745 You come as you are. 37:00.965 --> 37:04.005 And God will meet you where you're at. 37:04.225 --> 37:08.365 And by His grace, you can experience His love and forgiveness. 37:09.745 --> 37:16.225 As soon as I pray and we stand to our feet to sing, you just come forward as God leads. 37:19.833 --> 37:25.173 Maybe your life somewhere along the way, even as a Christian, has gotten off track. 37:28.553 --> 37:36.473 Remember, our lives are designed to be lived within God's design. 37:38.133 --> 37:39.573 That's how life works. 37:41.517 --> 37:43.737 Take a train, for example. 37:43.897 --> 37:48.457 You've got a train that runs on its tracks that it was designed to run on. 37:48.797 --> 37:50.137 It can fly. 37:50.137 --> 37:54.837 It can pull a lot of cargo because it's on its tracks. 37:56.057 --> 37:59.677 But the moment that train thinks, man, that path over there looks pretty good, 38:00.157 --> 38:02.817 that looks more freeing to be over in that country. 38:05.868 --> 38:07.328 It decides to go over there. 38:07.628 --> 38:08.848 It jumps the tracks. 38:08.968 --> 38:12.348 And the moment it jumps the tracks is not the moment of freedom. 38:12.468 --> 38:13.568 It's the moment of bondage. 38:15.588 --> 38:17.028 It's the moment of destruction. 38:23.028 --> 38:25.348 Some of you, you've jumped the tracks. 38:28.228 --> 38:31.248 And you've stalled out or worse, you've crashed. 38:31.248 --> 38:35.196 You've crashed. 38:35.197 --> 38:41.137 The good news is God is great at coming and picking up the pieces and bringing healing and forgiveness. 38:41.497 --> 38:42.757 But, man, you've got to come to him. 38:42.817 --> 38:48.177 You've got to make a decision that you're not going to live jumping off the tracks. 38:48.257 --> 38:52.897 You're going to live within God's design because that's where freedom is. 38:52.957 --> 38:55.957 That's where joy and peace and life really is. 38:55.997 --> 38:58.137 It's within how God designed us. 38:58.597 --> 39:00.797 So I want to invite you to make a decision. 39:02.332 --> 39:05.852 To rededicate your life to the Lord if you need to, just to make one big decision. 39:05.952 --> 39:07.612 God, I'm going to do it your way. 39:07.692 --> 39:09.211 I'm going to walk with you. 39:09.212 --> 39:11.912 I'm going to, what you say for me to do, I'm going to do it. 39:12.832 --> 39:14.092 That's going to simplify a lot. 39:14.152 --> 39:16.372 You're not going to have to make all these little decisions in life. 39:16.432 --> 39:21.112 You make one big decision that whatever God desires of your life, you're going to do. 39:21.252 --> 39:22.432 It simplifies life. 39:23.912 --> 39:25.232 And there's peace in that. 39:27.728 --> 39:30.388 Maybe you want to come and rededicate your life to the Lord. 39:30.468 --> 39:31.728 You want to come and receive prayer. 39:32.008 --> 39:34.828 Maybe you want to come to these steps and pour out your heart to the Lord. 39:35.688 --> 39:37.887 Pray for your family. 39:37.888 --> 39:39.067 Pray for your friends. 39:39.068 --> 39:40.108 Pray for a loved one. 39:41.888 --> 39:43.988 However God leads in just a moment, please come. 39:44.068 --> 39:44.547 Let's pray. 39:44.548 --> 39:48.308 Father, thank you so much for your love. 39:48.428 --> 39:49.548 You love us so well. 39:51.428 --> 39:52.668 We don't deserve it. 39:54.644 --> 40:00.384 Thank you, Lord, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, that we love you because you first loved us. 40:04.004 --> 40:06.964 Thank you for the freedom there is in Jesus. 40:08.684 --> 40:17.324 Lord, I want to pray for anyone listening who is a Christian who feels like they're in bondage to sin. 40:20.108 --> 40:22.088 Lord, would you help them by your Spirit? 40:22.688 --> 40:24.828 Would you help them know that is a lie? 40:28.208 --> 40:32.088 That the prison cell that they have been living their life in, 40:32.148 --> 40:35.448 that you've opened the door to that prison cell when they gave their life to you, 40:36.248 --> 40:37.688 and now they've just got to walk out. 40:39.168 --> 40:42.888 Would you help them, Lord, walk out of that prison cell? 40:44.888 --> 40:45.607 To freedom? 40:45.608 --> 40:48.930 To freedom? 40:48.931 --> 40:53.971 Lord, I pray that you would make our church holy, for you are holy. 40:55.931 --> 40:59.231 And I pray, Lord, that we wouldn't be focused, when we talk about holiness, 40:59.431 --> 41:04.851 we wouldn't be focused on a whole bunch of rules, added rules to the Bible. 41:05.091 --> 41:06.791 Lord, you give us some rules. 41:06.791 --> 41:11.131 There's a lot of thou shall nots in your word, Lord, because you love us and you're protecting us. 41:11.811 --> 41:12.750 We thank you for that. 41:12.751 --> 41:13.791 But, Lord... 41:14.176 --> 41:19.336 I pray that we would understand a holiness at a much deeper level than man-made rules. 41:21.396 --> 41:26.536 That we would actually become holy by your grace. 41:28.876 --> 41:30.516 Help those who are struggling. 41:34.656 --> 41:36.996 Bring them deliverance, Lord, we ask. 41:37.852 --> 41:39.592 Help us live in sexual purity. 41:39.732 --> 41:47.332 Help us be a church who is like Job, who makes a covenant with our eyes that we will not look upon a woman with lust. 41:48.792 --> 41:50.892 Help us be committed to that. 41:50.892 --> 41:58.132 Lord, what the growth that we would just take off with spiritual depth if everyone did that. 42:00.650 --> 42:12.430 Lord, I pray for those that are in the midst of their spiritual life and home being on fire with sexual sin and it's destroying everything. 42:15.130 --> 42:25.310 Would you give them the courage it's going to take to ask you to come help and to put that fire out? 42:26.810 --> 42:28.630 The faith it's going to take. 42:30.687 --> 42:32.387 Lord, please make us more like your son. 42:32.487 --> 42:33.966 Make us more loving. 42:33.967 --> 42:37.527 Help us mind our own business and be productive in your kingdom. 42:38.887 --> 42:40.067 We give this time to you. 42:40.187 --> 42:41.507 Please draw people to yourself. 42:41.607 --> 42:42.827 We ask in Jesus' name. 42:43.227 --> 42:44.777 Amen. 42:44.778 --> 42:45.818 Thanks for listening today. 42:46.078 --> 42:47.658 We hope you enjoyed this message. 42:47.818 --> 42:49.838 And if you did, we would be so grateful 42:49.838 --> 42:50.998 if you left us a review. 42:51.678 --> 42:53.778 Also, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast 42:53.778 --> 42:55.198 if you would like to be notified 42:55.198 --> 42:56.658 when a new sermon is released. 42:57.258 --> 42:58.918 If you feel the Lord calling you 42:58.918 --> 43:00.378 to take the next step in faith 43:00.378 --> 43:03.018 through salvation, service, or giving, 43:03.618 --> 43:04.892 don't wait. 43:04.893 --> 43:08.333 reach out to us by texting podcast to 88988. 43:08.333 --> 43:14.253 That's podcast to 88988 or connect with us on one of our social media platforms. 43:14.253 --> 43:20.013 You can also visit our website valleybaptist.org to find even more great resources. 43:20.013 --> 43:23.453 No matter where you are in your journey, know that we love you. 43:23.453 --> 43:27.893 We're praying for you and we can't wait to see what God will do in your life.