Living in Victory Over Sexual Sin | 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Yesterday was our first ever relationship conference, and it was a tremendous blessing to me. And I hope it was a blessing to all who were there. It was a full day event. But considering the theme of the message this Sunday, we can actually think of it as an unofficial one and a half day conference. Because what has been prayed about concerning today, the message that will be shared intersects with many of the truths and the conversations that we did have yesterday.

And it does apply to each of us regardless of your relationship status. I wanna speak to you today about living in victory over sexual sin. Living in victory over sexual sin. And I want us to turn to first Thessalonians chapter four in our bibles and consider the first eight verses of this chapter to see the mind of God concerning this. 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 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 transgress and 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. Therefore, whoever disregards this disregards not man, but God who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

Lord, we ask that you fill our hearts with holy love. Love for you, love for the truth, love for your precepts, your rules, your commands, your warnings, and we pray, oh God, that everything that would be shared in the next few moments would be delivered in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, the love of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit. We ask that hope would arise. We pray that energy from heaven would be our portion and that we would know victory over this particular sin. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. These are pretty remarkable verses. But I think what makes it even more astounding is when you and I consider the caliber of Christians the Thessalonians were. And the way that we can discover that is by doing a brief survey of some of the commendations that the Apostle Paul makes to this particular church. So hopefully, you still have the book of first Thessalonians there with you.

And look at chapter one and verse eight. Paul says in his introduction, for not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols and serve the living and true God. According to Paul's words, this group of believers were widely known for their conversion. There was something about their radical repentance and their allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ that made them famous to the neighboring saints, And he commends them for this.

So inspiring was the response of of the gospel and to the gospel that they were praised. They were recognized. They were a means of encouragement to other bodies, other churches. And we read earlier, we don't have to turn to that, they received the gospel in much affliction, but in this paradoxal way, also with much joy. And that affliction and joy caused them to turn away from all these vain things and all these sinful practices and to give themselves completely over to Jesus Christ.

So their example motivated others to stay the course. And even if you look at the book of Acts and see the Jewish opposition to Paul when he was in Thessalonica, you understand that this cluster of believers must have known a great cost to follow this messiah. But there's more. Look at chapter two in verse 13. Paul says, and we also thank God constantly for this, that when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

So Paul praises them for another thing now. He highlights how this group of Christians had a high regard for the word of God When they were approached with the gospel, when they understood the the the truths about who God was and what God has done for them, they didn't they didn't hear sermons as mere intellectual, emotional, or entertaining subject matter. They upheld it for what it really was, the word of God. They trembled at it. They rejoiced in it.

And when they learn from it, they sought to apply it. You can know a lot about a professing Christian based on this one simple thing. How do they view the Bible? That tells me almost everything I need to know about a person's walk with Christ. And I say that because for Paul to make this particular commendation says something very special about this group of believers.

But there's even more. We read from verse one to eight of chapter four, but look at verse nine quickly. And he says, now concerning brotherly love, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another. Wow. The most profound statements that he made was in John thirteen thirty five, that all people would know that you are my disciples based on what premise?

Based on the fact of how you love one another. So much so that Paul just mentions it and he doesn't even expound on practical ways to love because it's as though they've been directly taught by God how to love the brethren. The only thing he really adds in the following verses that they do this more and more. Okay. I bring this to your attention to hopefully conclude with you that this is a motivating impressive group of believers.

So how strange is it then that to this church, Paul takes a whole section in his letter to warn about sexual immorality. That seems a little awkward, but it's not. What actually seems uncomfortable, questionable, is deeply insightful. Because you see for Paul to write to this church and to warn them about this particular sin means that sexual immorality is a real danger to any church, for any believer for that matter. So this is telling.

This is sobering. Because the persistent and deceptive danger of sexual transgression is so relevant that we learned that Paul did not just mention it for the first time here in this letter. Look back at chapter four verse two again. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. Scroll down to verse six.

That no one transgress and 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. So Paul is essentially saying here, look, I know we've talked about this before, but we gotta talk about it again. I know that I brought this before you in the past but it's good for you. It's essential that you be reminded of these things. Here's what this means for us.

No matter the wonderful testimonies of salvation in this place, no matter the high view of scripture you may have, as important as a spirit led love for other Christians may be, what Paul has to say here applies to every person sitting in this place, standing in this place. And what the Holy Spirit wants us to do, what he beckons us to do is for all of us to lean in and to humbly accept what he is saying in these verses and how we can actually know to live in victory. So what is it that the Lord wants us to know exactly? Well, let's take it step by step, shall we? Let's revisit verse one.

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. Listen. Everybody lives their life pleasing someone. You're either pleasing yourself, your spouse, your children, your your friends, you're living to please your spiritual leaders perhaps, your employers. There isn't anybody who is not living to please someone.

But if you're born again, if you've been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ, if you are resting in his salvation work, then you have this new found desire that your aim in life is to please God. That is your holy ambition. That is the spirit energy that motivates everything that you do. I want to bring pleasure to my God. I want to make him happy.

I want to bring delight to him. And though this determination, this level of devotion is becoming increasingly rare, it was true for this early church. And Paul already commended them for that. How do we know that they were living to please God? Because look back at verse one.

He says in the middle of it, just as you are doing. So he says, you receive from us how you ought to walk and then please God, just as you are doing. So they were walking in this, but we see here that he follows it up with something so crucial. Do it more and more. Do it more and more.

You would think that if you were to tell a believer or church, hey, you receive from us how you ought to walk that please God, and you're doing it, that there's nothing more to follow with that gleaning affirmation. But he does follow it with go further. And what I think he means by this, what it reveals is that this God word objective can easily become static. That it's not difficult for us to push aside the pleasure of Christ in our ambitions in life. And so what Paul is saying here by saying do so more and more is, you have a duty to protect this ambition.

You have to shield it, you have to be mindful of it, you have to be conscious, you have to be you have to be calculated. Do so more and more because it can dissipate at various phases of life, and it can easily be overlooked in certain areas of life, including how it governs our sexuality. And that's why Paul from this point forward wants to speak on that particular issue, Because there is a potential danger with this church that though they were doing so much, though they had a wonderful history with God, that some were disregarding how the pleasure of God governed their impulses, their desires, their lusts. Saying, where do you get that from? Go back to verse eight.

He says, therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not man, but God who gives his holy spirit to you. So it's possible that there were some in this church who were tempted to not take God's standard for sexuality seriously. That there were some in there who were actually making up their rules, their own rules regarding it. So Paul wants to talk about it. And so we move on in verse two.

He says what? 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. So you heard in verse one what the priority of the Christian is after he has given his heart to the gospel to please God. Not to win his favor, but because you've been favored in the gospel. But in the following verse, we now know one of God's priorities, one of his strong his will, really, for your life.

You know what it is? Your sanctification. There's a lot of questions. We even received some questions yesterday about the will of God. How do I know the will of God?

What what what's the recipe to discovering his step by step blueprint for my life? And though there aren't answers for that, this is important to grasp. That one thing you can be certain of is that no matter where the Lord leads you, how he leads you, what he permits, what he prevents, how he accelerates, when he delays, there is this one goal in mind in all of that, your holiness. That in every movement you make, every plan that you might have, everything that you're seeking God for, God has this goal through that that you become more sanctified. And that word sanctified is very simple.

It simply means to be set apart onto something, and in this case, it's to be set apart onto him that your convictions and your conduct becomes accord in accordance to his desires. That's all it is. It's this conformity, the inner, the outer, everything in between to his will and his good pleasure. And he says, this is the will of God for you. And the thing is, when you bring up holiness, I know that word has been abused in evangelical circles in the past.

And so some people feel uneasy with a message that I'm about to present. And some people might even be very tense right now. We even really started yet. But hopefully this helps. You have no reason to fear holiness.

Do you know why? Because what holiness is to your spirit is what health is to your body. I don't think there's anybody here who says they're afraid of perfect health. Many people pay money, sacrifice time, to have greater longevity in their physical state, and rightfully so. That's what holiness is to your inner man.

I I want you to train yourself to view holiness in that way. It is soundness for my spirit. It's the vigor of my inner person. It's what will make me the the most clear and understanding and hearing God, and position me to be the most useful to God. Holiness is good.

And I'm afraid that good hearted believers have this strange understanding of holiness. And they throw around statements. Maybe you've said it. Maybe you've heard it. I certainly have heard it.

Things like God is not concerned with your happiness, but with what? Your holiness. As though they're at odds with one another. When people say things like that, it proves to me that they don't really know what holiness is about. Because holiness will lead to happiness.

Holiness is the means to knowing wholeness. And so this is good. It's not scary. It's not judgment. It's an invitation into the state of your soul that will make you the most vibrant, the most ready, most strong, most prepared.

So this is what Paul wants to remind him of. God is concerned about your holiness and included in your holiness is sexual immorality. What constitutes sexual immorality? I don't need to get into details, but here's a general summary. Sexual immorality is any sexual activity or intention outside of a monogamous heterosexual marriage, and these days you have to emphasize heterosexual.

It's any activity, any intention, because remember Jesus even talks about the meditations of the mind and what we do with our looks. It doesn't necessarily need to be an act, though it includes many acts. It's any activity or intention outside of the confines of a marriage between a man and a woman. And as a messenger of Christ, the apostle Paul leaves no room for managing sexual sinful impulses with mere moderation. Complete abstinence.

So here's what that means, that for those who are not yet married, you by the power of the Holy Spirit will abstain from all sexual and intentions until the Lord brings a spouse into your life. And what that means for those who are married is that you are to enjoy the gift of sex with the person that God has brought into your life and exclusively with that person. And I believe that Paul even in writing this in his day anticipated rolling eyes. Size of disbelief. Maybe even some criticisms.

Clever ones. So you know what he does? Maybe you noticed it, but in those eight verses, he makes appeal after appeal to the authority of Jesus Christ. Look back at verse one. We ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus.

Verse two. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. Verse three. For this is the will of God. Verse seven, for God has not called us for impurity.

Verse eight, whoever disregards this, disregards not man, but God. This is God's decree. This is his standard. This is not coming from Paul's mind. This is not coming from the preacher who's faithfully preaching God's words, ideas.

This is God. This is the Lord. And to pursue anything that contradicts it means that we are outside of his will. In fact, to engage in habitual, unrepentant sexual immorality is an indication that you may not be a part of his kingdom at all. And if that troubles you, that's a good sign.

And if you are in disbelief, then I encourage you at your own time to look at first Corinthians six nine and ten where Paul provides a catalog of those who will not inherit the kingdom, and one of them is those who are sexually immoral. But a true child of God, however, who desires to be in the complete will of God will take heed to what Paul says here in verse four. Let's look at it again. That each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor. There are two very important things, imperative things that we have to draw from this.

Number one, when Paul says this in verse four, he's showing that controlling our sexual impulses is possible. The Bible doesn't tease us. The Bible doesn't lie to us. The Bible doesn't provide imaginary potential. He expects that believers can know how to control their own bodies in holiness and honor.

So whether it be pornography or you flirting with a woman's husband, you can, by the power of God, abstain from all impurity. And notice what else he says in verse four. He says, that you abstain. Right? But in verse four, he says that each of you, that each of you, each read your bible slowly, that each of you, he doesn't leave anybody out.

He didn't say, alright. For you woman, but you know men, we have testosterone. We struggle. So No. Each of you, young and old, seasoned in Christ, fresh in Christ, man or woman, that each of you know how to control, which means that self control is attainable and maintainable for all of us.

There should be resounding amens hearing that truth. We're not left to these seductions. We're not left to the power of these afflictions and these allurements and enticements. We're not helpless in the gospel. There's hope, which brings me to the second point, that although victory is possible, although that path has been paved for us, we have to learn how to walk on it.

Go back to verse four, that each of you know how. Know how to control his own body, meaning it's not automatic. Meaning it requires some training. More specifically, there is some kind of knowledge that I must acquire, then apply in order for me to have access to this strong control. So there's an invitation for us to learn, because to think that you can break free from sexual habits without any strategy, without any mindfulness, without doing warfare in your mind is foolish.

It's a recipe for perpetual bondage. And here's where we have hope. In the remaining verses here, I believe that Paul beautifully lays out motivations, insights that can enable each of us to know victory over sexual sin, no matter what that sin is. So I have three points here with these verses that remain, and they're absolutely important, imperative for you to know and then apply. Are you ready?

Number one, you must, you must know God experientially. Look at verse five. Not in the passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God. I'll tell you how most people interpret this verse. They simply see it as a contrast between believers and how they ought to conduct themselves, and unbelievers who are slaves to their lust.

Look deeper. What does Paul underscore as the primary cause for those who are in bondage to this particular sin? They don't know God. So then now, you have the right to do this because it is consistent with the rest of the Bible. Look at it from the positive aspect.

If not knowing God is what makes Gentiles, another word, a synonymous term for those who don't believe in Christ, in many contexts. If that shows that to not know God means that these unbelievers are in bondage, then knowing God must be the secret to being set free from these bondages. And Paul is not speaking about simple data. He's not talking about information about God. He's not even talking about believing in his existence.

He's talking about a personal, individual, experiential understanding of God. And the moment you lose touch with the personal and experiential element of your relationship with God, I can assure you that cheap substitutes like sexual sin will become more alluring in your life. How does that work? It's quite simple. Please pay attention to this.

So many people miss this because they have reduced their Christianity to just mere performance and just disciplinary acts. A vibrant walk with God truly satisfies. That when you regularly interact with God through the means that he has provided, you will know sincere gratification to the degree that it will subdue strong desires including that of sexual seduction. That's how powerful satisfaction in God is in your victory over sin. It's actually essential.

And whenever the attraction to an illegitimate or illicit pleasure becomes real to me, more real to me than anything else, more real to me than my covenants with with people, covenants with my spouse, my ministry, When that desire pulls on you, you can know one thing about the state of your soul. Even in that moment, you have lost sight of the beauty of God. Your your soul in that moment has not been captivated by his glory. There's an interesting verse that is so packed with meeting, you can have a whole conference on. Psalm seventy three twenty five, whom have I in heaven but you, and there is nothing I desire on earth besides you.

Here's what that teaches me. Because we we limit our pleasure in God to a future expectation. That once I'm clothed with my resurrection body, I'll have the capacity to enjoy God forever and ever and ever. That's not what the psalmist said. He does talk about heaven.

Whom have I in heaven but you? Heaven is not heaven without you. But he follows it with this, and there is nothing I desire, not in heaven, on earth besides you. Evidently, there's something that this God, the true God, can offer me in this life that so satisfies me that any other desire can't even compete with it, Or else the Bible is not telling the truth. There's something that God can so do in my soul that there is no rival.

So it's not just me, you know, I believe this and you know, checking all the theological boxes as a Christian. Satisfaction. Real satisfaction to the point where it makes everything else look cheap. That doesn't mean that you don't know temptation because as long as we're in this flesh, Galatians five tells us there's this war between the spirit and the flesh. Yes.

But you can know victory, and you will never know it until you know how to enjoy God. If God is just a moral standard in your life, if God is just some supervisor for your well-being and for your children's thriving in society, you're missing the depths of the power of the gospel. Who am I in heaven but you? And there's nothing on earth I desire besides you. This is my go to counsel all the time.

All the time. You can only go so far with security measures and cutting things off in your life if you wanna know a real, real, real investment to strengthen this area in your life, you have to come before God. And I actually even encourage people to pray like this, and you need to begin to get desperate before God. And here's how I'd encourage you to pray. Lord, if you don't make yourself so real to me and me so happy in you, I'm not gonna survive.

Pray like that. I'm not gonna survive. I will give into this sin over and over and over again. I know what the gospel is. I I've told people the gospel.

I know many verses, I memorize them, but I need you to satisfy my soul in you or else I am doomed. You must know God experientially. See, but what does that look like? Some things can be explained, other things can only be experienced. And all I can tell you is that it's there in the bible, that there's all this language that denotes true joy, true tasting, and anchoring that comes with a relationship with God.

And all I can tell you is that when you begin to pray like that and approach the Bible in that way, the truths that God reveals to you, how he manifest his presence in your life will provide this source of joy. And with that joy, this ability to pin down urges of the flesh. You say, why and how? Because you're not willing this this experience with God, this knowledge of God through the means that he has provided is so good to you that you're not willing to throw it away for something that you know is gonna bite you back. You must know God experientially, and you must stay there.

And you must understand that when my soul is pulled in that direction or that direction or when this temptation is so real, in that moment, my inner person, the the eyes of my heart have lost sight of how glorious God is. Number two, you must, you must keep in mind the consequences of sexual sin. Let's look at verse six. That no one transgress and 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. So Paul, in his pastoral letter, did not hold back from warning the people about the consequences of sexual sin.

He did not refrain from using consequence as an incentive for holiness. People throw around the word legalism all the time. They don't even know what it means anymore. Anything that is a command or is a direction is legalism now. And as one preacher said it, legalism to most people are things in the bible they don't like.

Now, Paul, as a pastor, looked at his people with great love, with a throbbing love, and he warned them, and he's warning them here. He's warning them actually again. And he's telling them, listen, consequences are not the only incentive, but it is an important one. And he he highlights horizontal consequences as well as vertical ramifications. And out of all of the potential gut wrenching, horizontal, potential problems that it can it can sue out of sexual sin, he brings up one that is often not really considered.

Look at it again, that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter. The spirit of God describes sexual sin in this place as defrauding someone. He sees it as taking advantage of a trusting relationship, as stealing something that belongs to another. And this applies both to married people and unmarried people. Think about it.

For one to engage in premarital impurity strips that person's future spouse of the purity of that union that is not yet realized. You're wronging your brother in this matter. And if that's possible for people who are not yet married, how much more for those who are that to have an affair with someone who is married is a violation of the prerogative and the exclusive right that belongs to the spouses who are connected. You are giving yourself some to something and someone that belongs to someone else and vice versa. So here's the overarching message that Paul is trying to convey.

Sexual sin in all its variety does not only impact the parties that are involved. There is almost always collateral damage. It destroys trust. It shatters friendships. It stains reputations.

It severs fellowship. It breaks up families. It devastates children and it dismantles ministries among other things. And in case some may not be convinced of the potential devastation that comes from sexual sin, I want you to hear how Solomon puts it in his own words. So meet me in the book of Proverbs chapter six, and look at verse 32 with me.

Proverbs six thirty two. I'll wait for you. He who commits adultery lacks sense. He who does it destroys himself. He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away.

For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge. He will accept no compensation. He will refuse though you multiply gifts. You know what question I had when I stumbled upon this passage? How do we reconcile something like what we read in verse 33 where his disgrace will not be wiped away with all the comforting promises of God's complete forgiveness like we heard last week, which I hope liberated so many of us.

But then you come to this kind of passage, you go, I thought he did wipe away everything. Now you come here and it says it actually will never be wiped away. Here's the distinction. Solomon is not speaking about how God will regard our record of sin. We are comforted in proverbs and beyond proverbs that the Lord will never hold our scandal against us if we truly repent.

But that doesn't mean man woah. Men might. And this is what he is describing, the horizontal possibilities. And he even talks about how jealousy makes a man furious. He will not spare when he takes revenge.

Thankfully, God, in his mercy, does not count our sins that are repented of in eternity, but man is not so merciful. There are people who have been killed for stuff like this. We see it on the news. We watch it on documentaries. The Bible is so accurate.

That being said, Paul teaches that the Lord is, though he is merciful, he is also ready to get directly involved if we sin in this matter. So now we go to the vertical ramifications. So go back to first Thessalonians four, and let's complete the verse in verse six. He says that no one may transgress or wrong his brother in this matter, but that's not the end of the thought. He says because the Lord is an avenger in all these things as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.

What does that mean? Well, it primarily means that the Lord alone has the right to execute vengeance. It is not your prerogative. If you've been offended, you cannot seek revenge for the harm that's been done to you or to others, but because the Lord is a perfect judge, only he can. And when someone sins sexually, we are warned that the Lord may discipline us directly for it.

We don't have the liberty to determine how he will do that, but the ambiguity of it should be enough to instill the fear of God in each of our hearts. It's a case by case thing. And in his perfect sovereign will, he knows what to do and when to do it. He may afflict somebody physically for it. He may expose the sin to humble that person.

He may withhold blessings because of it. We're not here to try to determine the level of punishment. All we are trying to understand and what Paul wants us to understand is that just because we have been saved by grace and that we've been sealed with the holy spirit and that, yes, we have heaven as our home, does not mean that we can experience severe consequences for sin, even sexual sin, especially sexual sin. And so you have to keep in mind the consequences of sin. Isn't that funny that when you and I are tempted, we never consider the consequences of sin?

You're only thinking about what good you're gonna get out of it. If you wanna get really good at doing spiritual warfare with temptation, train yourself, deposit it in your heart, inform your mind from experiences in your own life, but primarily what you see in the word of God of the damage that follows these kind of pursuits. So that when that temptation arises, you'll recognize it for what it is. You're a mirage and you're lying to me right now. You're promising me a dump of ecstasy, a fantasy, but in reality, you're poison.

You're here to destroy me. You're here to ruin my witness. You're here to destroy my family, my ministry. See it for what it is. Nobody goes into this kind of sin, nobody gets involved with any kind of habit thinking that this will do this much damage.

And so that's why Paul brings it up. And again, I have to say something. Notice again that he he says at the end of verse six, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. Paul, as as an apostle, yes, but as a church planner, as a pastor, you know what I what I get from this? He regularly talked about sexual temptation with his church.

How much do we hear about sexual sin in churches today? How much warning do we hear about? Paul did it more than once, with one congregation. Paul did it more than once, with one congregation. And so it's important for us to discuss this, and to again have holiness as our hope, not as this far reaching thing that can never be attained, which brings me to my third point.

If we want to know victory over sexual sin, any kind of sexual sin, yes, you must know God experientially. He must become sweet to you, real to you. And if you seek God for it, he'll give it. Number two, you have to keep in mind the consequences of sin. Number three, you must rely on the power that God has provided you to prevail.

Let's look at verse seven and eight. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore, he's wrapping it up, whoever disregards this, disregards not man, but God who gives his Holy Spirit to you. Think deeply. Meditate.

If you don't, you'll see verse eight simply as just a wrap up warning. Hey, if you disregard this, you're disregarding God, not me. And then you'll move on with this letter. But there's something tucked in here. There's a promise and it is packed with power who gives his holy spirit to you.

Did you see it? So so Paul is saying, do not, don't you dare disregard this teaching about holiness. Why? Because God is ready to supply you with the grace to experience it, his holy spirit. Don't swat it away.

Don't get so caught up with your past. Don't think about how you can never even imagine the possibility of being in perpetual purity. Don't let yourself get there. God has supplied a power for you to know it. It's not theoretical.

It's real power. And it's been granted to us through the gospel. He can sanctify your sexual appetites. He can strengthen your spiritual muscles to wrestle and to win When you're up at night and everybody else is sleeping and there's this urge to pick up that device, or when you go into that workplace and that woman is giving you more attention than perhaps your spouse is in that season, you can know a real force in your soul that helps you move ahead and not get caught in a trap. You who are waiting for marriage and feel like you can't get out of a cycle of sin with your significant other, you can know it.

You can know a purity in a way you never thought was possible. May I remind you that this church believes in the power of the gospel over the power of sin? We're not here just celebrating the fact that our penalty has been erased. We're here regarding the fact that the power of sin can lose its clutch because of the precious royal blood of Jesus Christ. But you know what, this is me and maybe you're like me.

When I come to verses like this or promises indirect directly, I don't wanna just know the general promise. I don't wanna just memorize it. I wanna know the mechanics of it. Okay. If the Holy Spirit has been given to me, then what?

What do I do with that? Well, there are other places in the scriptures that give us wonderful guidance. Go to the epistle to the Galatians in chapter five, and we're concluding in these final verses. I'm sure many of you know where I'm going. In verse 16, but I say, walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Okay. So we're a step closer. No pun intended. Walk by the spirit. I learned in verse eight of first Thessalonians four that the Holy Spirit's been given to me.

Great. My go to Galatians, now I learned that if I walk by the spirit, I, not may not, will not gratify the desires of the flesh. I still got some questions. What does it mean to walk by the spirit? And I believe the ESV does a wonderful job elaborating on this in the very same passage a few verses down.

So you're there in chapter five, go to verse 25. If you have the ESV, this will be especially helpful. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Okay. Now, Now I'm seeing what you're talking about, Paul.

Walk by the Spirit. And if we live by the Spirit, in the Spirit, then I'm going to keep in step with the Spirit. Now, going back to verse 16, to walk by the Spirit, if you look at the original, the verb there is a present continuous thing, meaning it's a daily choice. You don't just once upon a time walk by the Spirit, it's a thing that you do moment by moment. And then when you go to verse 25, it says, keep in step with him.

Keep in step with him. The imagery there is one of motion, mirroring motion, oneness in motion, consistent motion. So I believe what this is saying is remain dependent. Remain near. Remain under his guidance.

Wherever you go, whatever you do, you are to be conscious. You are to be aware of his presence, of his near power. You're supposed to take his word with you in your heart. You're supposed to develop this reflex of an inner turning to him, seeking his grace even spontaneously when you realize you need it. But even as believers, this rhythm is not immediately developed.

It's something that you have to adjust to. It's something that you have to train yourself for. Now I had a brother, you know who you are, I'm not gonna mention you by name, who asked a wonderful question not too long ago about marriage, and he asked me, brother, if you have one thing that you would provide in terms of preparation for marriage, something that I should expect, that I may not be expecting, what would it be? And what came to mind very swiftly was the word adjustment. And so brother, be prepared to adjust.

It's gonna be a different way of life. You're living under one roof with a person that you never lived with before, who has a different history and upbringing, who's done things differently. So prepare to adjust, and every married person knows this, prepare to adjust in ways you never thought you would have to adjust. Now, what I'm about to say may sound funny to you, but it's true. One of the ways in which I had to adjust after I got married was in how I walked.

Not spiritually. Physically. What are you talking about? Well, let me explain. Naturally, when I walk, I take long strides.

When I'm when I'm with my group of friends, I'm always ahead. And that has been a great advantage to me whenever I'm late for anything, but it's not helpful when you're holding your wife's hand. Now you see where I'm getting at. Right? So once I got married, once this person came into my life, the greatest gift apart from salvation in this life, I did not automatically change in how I walked.

And so while I'm holding her lovely hand and we're making our way somewhere, I had the tendency to get ahead and there was that gentle squeeze, and I look back and there's that reminder, I don't walk as fast as you. And so what happened? Well, thankfully for her patience, it didn't change right away, but I had to remind myself. I had to change my thinking. I had to be mindful of her as I walk myself because I'm no longer walking by myself.

It's no different with the Holy Spirit. So many, when it comes to living life with the spirit, think that means you just read your bible certain minutes in a day, say some prayers, get up and go about your day, and you fail to keep in step with the spirit. The spirit filled life is not you waking up a little bit earlier so that you started your day right, though that's a wonderful starting point. It's walking with him moment by moment. It's including him wherever and whatever you do.

That looks like you going to the gym and saying a brief prayer, Lord, I know that I might see some things because people don't live holy and so I'm asking that you guard my mind and my heart, help me have a fruitful and beneficial workout. That might look like you going to work or having an appointment somewhere. Lord, bestow wisdom wisdom. I need your mind. I need I need your ability to be able to not react to unfavorable news or situations.

Help me. Just just throwing those things out there as you keep in step with him, being sensitive to his convictions, not ignoring it, not not, thinking that you can just move ahead without inquiring, without waiting. It's this wonderful rhythm, but it's not automatic. And let me tell you this, if you know, if you grow, if you mature in keeping in step with the spirit, including a moment by moment, day by day, plan by plan, it's much more difficult for the devil to knock you off your feet with temptation. Because I have set the Lord always before me, therefore, I will not be easily shaken.

He's at my right hand, the same verse says. Keeping in step with the spirit. And it's possible to lose touch with that, to get ahead so to speak. Saying, what do you mean? Well, look back in Galatians chapter five and verse seven.

You were running well, who hindered you from obeying the truth? In other words, you had that pace of walking in the spirit, walking by the spirit, keeping in step with the spirit, but at some point you got ahead. You began to do life independently from him. It's there in chapter three as well. Look at chapter three verse three of Galatians.

Are you so foolish having begun by the spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Same idea. You started with walking by the spirit, keeping in step by and with the Holy Spirit, and somewhere along the way, you begin to trust in yourself, became independent of his influence. So let me remind you, keeping in step with him is, if I can use this, taking him with you. If you do that, you will know greater success in private and in public.

I thought about Joseph. Pre infilling of the Holy Spirit, pre knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, pre law Mount Sinai actually. And yet this man was able to overcome his manager's consistent seduction, Potiphar's wife. You think how is this young man we're told that he was handsome. How was he able to do it?

How how did he not take advantage of his looks to satisfy these desires? And he tells us. He rebukes the woman. He says, how can I do this great evil against God? You know what that tells me?

That every day when Joseph went to work, he brought an awareness of God with him every day. Don't make drinking coffee in the morning a greater priority than that. So when he was in that room alone, you know what he believed? I'm not alone in this room with this woman. God is in this room.

That changes everything. You know, when I'm alone in this room by myself with access to an endless menu of filth, I'm not by myself. God is with me in this room. You know, somebody can gift me with a resource or a power tool, but it can remain in the box and I can keep using my hand with a screwdriver and never access that. You gotta do something with this resource.

You gotta unbox it, so to speak. You may have a person in your life, but you gotta engage with that person to know the privileges of that relationship. So there with the Holy Spirit. You and I can know holiness. Not temporary holiness, not sporadic holiness, but real holiness until we see him face to face.

That's my desire for you. Now, I'm aware that this subject even being brought up has probably ripped open some scabs of personal wounds that you've inflicted upon yourself or wounds that others have inflicted upon you. The past is the past. Remember last week's message. Let today be a new day.

His mercies are new every day. And so today can be a new chapter. Today, you can, if you've never experienced God supernaturally experientially, today can mark the beginnings of a new depth with your walk with God. If you've never taken seriously the consequences of sin, don't believe the lie that just because you evaded something in the past that there can't be something that comes in the future if you continue in that sin. And lastly, don't ever believe the lie.

Your hope, your cue doesn't come from statistics. X amount of men in the church struggle with sin, this particular sin. Okay. That's great. You did statistics.

I read my Bible. That's where I get my hope in my news from. And my Bible tells me that if I walk by this spirit, I can live in victory over this. Believe in that power. It's gonna be an adjustment, though.

Can God do something overnight? Absolutely. But, oh, this flesh is pretty strong and sometimes we can get ahead of God. Oftentimes, we can get ahead of God. Even after a message like this, Monday can look very different than how you feel today.

So it's gonna be an effort. Lord, help me to pray without ceasing. Lord, help me take this word, not just, okay, I read my few verses today and just go about and no. Lord, I'm gonna put this here. Help me enjoy your word.

Help me put the word in here. As I go, whatever free time I have, let me just immerse myself. Keep in step with the spirit. He will guide you. And if and when you stumble, he will forgive you.

Don't stay there. Don't load there. Get up and walk again with him. Let's pray. Well, we ask that even with a somber message like this, that it would not be interpreted as so, that we would realize the rays of hope that come with a section of scripture that we've just interacted with.

We pray that there would be a special infusion of grace from heaven, that there would be incredible testimonies following this time of people who can say, I know what it's like to delight in God more than anything else. I know what it's like to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. I know what it's like to, in a holy way, fear sin because I love my God more than my sin. So, Lord, we pray for divine strategies for every person in their situation if there's any struggle in this place. We pray that for those who are standing strong that they would take heed lest they fall, that we would always be on guard, that we would be prepared, that we would never allow ourselves to slip into complacency, but we would keep in step with the spirit.

When things are going well, when things are going wonderful, help us to still be dependent on you. We ask that you break any bondage here, that you liberate people from captivity, that the power of the gospel will be known in the freedom of these shackles. We trust that you're able to provide it and we wanna even be able to sing now with joy as the shackles fall from us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen. If the praise team can come. Why don't we stand? Let's worship the Lord. My friends, this was good news today.

This is good news today. Here's what the word of the Lord is. You can be free, and you can stay free. This is not the Lord looking at you saying, oh, look at you struggling and messing up. I have some surprises for you.

You just wait. That's not God's heart. God's heart is, this is serious, but my love is serious. This is serious, but my power is serious. This may be serious, but you can know true freedom if you believe it.

Permit me to give you two anecdotes before we close. I heard of a very blessed preacher. I heard him say this in his sermon, that when he was a young minister, very effective in his preaching, a lot of fruit, people were getting saved, the presence of God would manifest when he spoke the word of God. He was one day invited to a conference. He was put in a hotel room by himself.

And And after one of the meetings, he was just sitting up there, the headboard, and he turned on the TV, and something inappropriate came on the screen. He watched for a few seconds. A rush of conviction came. He turned it off. He threw the remote, put his shoes on.

And and in the middle of the night, he walked out into a field and he sensed the Lord speaking to him, not audibly, just in his conscience. Son, if you keep this up, my hand will not remain on your life, in your ministry. I will no longer bless your preaching. I cannot have you indulging in something that greaves my heart and bless your ministry at the same time. And praise God, that minister heard the consequence of his sin, heard the ramifications, the potential trouble, the loss they would have if he continued in this path and he never looked back again, and he had an incredibly fruitful, powerful ministry that touched the world.

Here's a personal story. I met with a young man after a meeting. He came up to me. They didn't preach on anything to do with this, but he expressed one of his struggles, particularly in this sin, self gratification, watching things that he shouldn't have watched. And he asked me, do you have any counsel?

And I believe in precautions. I believe in what Jesus said. If your right hand causes sin, cut it off. If your right eye, pluck it out. I believe in preventative measures, wise, simple, basic things that you gotta do.

But I I love to get quick to that point. Listen, brother, your soul is hungry. You're looking for satisfaction, and you're you're after cheap substitutes. You gotta diagnose yourself honestly. And you need to get before God and you need to ask God to satisfy you or else you will not survive.

I gave him a few verses, prayed with him there, left the conversation at that. A few months later, I get a text, and this is what I received. Brother, it worked. It worked. I'm free.

I never knew that I can enjoy God like this. I never knew that it could deliver me like this. And I thought, yes, it does work because it's God's word. Now maybe a fight, maybe a struggle, but you can't afford to give in. You can't afford not to fight.

He's there with you. If you fear him, he'll give you everything, including victory over sexual sin. Let's pray. We do thank you for this day. Lord, we sense your grace.

We feel equipped. Even now as we fellowship, may we fellowship with hearts that are full, believing that you loved us so much that you have given us this warning. You've reminded us of this. And so, Lord, we will not disregard this. We will not disregard you, but we will realize that you've given us your Holy Spirit and you've given us your people filled with the Holy Spirit to also help us.

So Lord, even in this place as a church, may purity reign. May we respect boundaries. May we honor one another. May we honor each other's spouses. May we live in holiness.

May we see even your wisdom in the fact that you call us to call one another brothers and sisters for a reason. So we pray that in this place, we would not excel merely in the word and having testimonies of transformation, Lord, that we would also excel in the will of God, our sanctification, and sexual purity. We ask for that. Bless our fellowship. Bless the food that we're going to eat, and bless our lives as we try to keep in step with your spirit.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.