1 00:00:00,001 --> 00:00:03,120 Welcome, welcome, great to worship with you today. 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:04,280 My name is Justin. 3 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:06,400 I'm one of the pastors here of our church 4 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:08,780 and we're gonna continue worshiping God 5 00:00:08,780 --> 00:00:10,760 by opening his word, the Bible. 6 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:12,320 That's how he spoke to us. 7 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:13,800 And so if you have a Bible, 8 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:18,000 you can grab it now and open to Exodus chapter 20. 9 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:19,560 If you need a Bible, there should be some Bibles 10 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:20,560 under the chairs in front of you. 11 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,880 Exodus 20 is on page 64 in those Bibles. 12 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:25,420 And we're in the middle of a series 13 00:00:25,420 --> 00:00:27,520 going through the 10 commandments. 14 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:29,340 We're actually starting to get close to the end. 15 00:00:29,340 --> 00:00:31,600 We're gonna be on the seventh commandment today. 16 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:33,080 And so we'll get into that series 17 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,400 as you kind of turn and find that passage. 18 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:37,300 Exodus 20. 19 00:00:37,300 --> 00:00:42,780 God wants you to have the best sex possible. 20 00:00:42,780 --> 00:00:49,760 God wants you to have the best sex possible. 21 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,520 He wants you to have the highest amount of intimacy, 22 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:58,520 pleasure, satisfaction, and joy that can be had through sex. 23 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:00,740 Here's how we know our text today. 24 00:01:00,740 --> 00:01:02,800 Exodus 20 verse 14. 25 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:05,820 It says this, "Do not commit adultery." 26 00:01:05,820 --> 00:01:10,380 Let's pray and ask for God's help as we dig into this. 27 00:01:10,380 --> 00:01:13,380 So we're gonna pray the words of Psalm 119. 28 00:01:13,380 --> 00:01:15,360 God, these words that we've prayed 29 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:17,960 over and over throughout this series, 30 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:21,260 would you please open our eyes 31 00:01:21,260 --> 00:01:24,380 so that we can see wondrous things out of your law? 32 00:01:24,380 --> 00:01:28,840 Open our eyes again today, God. 33 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:31,960 So that we can see what's true, what's beautiful, 34 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:35,840 what's lovely in your law. 35 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:37,600 We pray it in Jesus' name. 36 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:38,760 Amen. 37 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:39,580 Amen. 38 00:01:39,580 --> 00:01:44,800 God wants you to have the best sex possible. 39 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:46,960 Now, listen, if you're a visitor here today 40 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:50,000 just checking out our church for the very first time, 41 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:52,800 and you might be like, I knew it. 42 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:54,440 Like the church is just all about sex. 43 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:55,480 They talk about sex all the time. 44 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:56,920 They're obsessed with sex, sex, sex. 45 00:01:56,920 --> 00:01:57,880 We're really not. 46 00:01:57,880 --> 00:01:59,180 Like we're in this series, 47 00:01:59,180 --> 00:02:01,060 and please listen to the previous six messages. 48 00:02:01,060 --> 00:02:03,040 It never came up once, I promise you. 49 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:06,260 All right, but this is where we're at in the text today. 50 00:02:06,260 --> 00:02:07,600 And so we're gonna get into it. 51 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:08,440 We're gonna talk about it. 52 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:10,000 And so hang with us, all right? 53 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,000 Remember, these commandments were given 54 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,720 after God has already given his people freedom. 55 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:18,380 God brought his people into freedom, 56 00:02:18,380 --> 00:02:21,480 and he says these commandments are so that you can remain 57 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:24,460 in this freedom, not run back to slavery. 58 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,040 God gave these commands to protect our freedom, 59 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:30,040 to protect the good and beautiful life 60 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:31,400 that he rescued us to live. 61 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:36,280 Freedom comes from following God's plan in our lives. 62 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:37,840 We tend to think that freedom comes 63 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:39,760 from getting rid of all the rules. 64 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:41,420 If I can just not have any rules in my life, 65 00:02:41,420 --> 00:02:44,200 if I can just come to a spot where I do whatever I want, 66 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:48,840 where I follow my heart, then I'll have true freedom. 67 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:50,680 But listen, I can guarantee you 68 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:53,320 that just following your heart does not bring freedom. 69 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:55,280 Following your heart and your heart alone 70 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:57,000 brings you to puking and diabetes, 71 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:58,960 because if my kids just followed their heart, 72 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:00,520 they'd only eat sugar, all right? 73 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:02,000 I know that for sure. 74 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,120 Following our hearts actually lead us to disaster, 75 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:07,160 to ruin, to slavery. 76 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:11,960 Following God's design and plan for us leads us to freedom. 77 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:13,540 God wants us to thrive. 78 00:03:13,540 --> 00:03:15,040 He wants the best for us. 79 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:16,680 That's why one of my favorite verses, 80 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:19,400 and a verse that's kind of been an anthem of our church, 81 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:21,120 is Psalm 16, verse 11. 82 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:22,160 Look at what it says. 83 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:26,000 You reveal, God, you reveal the path of life to me. 84 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,000 In your presence is abundant joy. 85 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,940 At your right hand are eternal pleasures. 86 00:03:32,940 --> 00:03:34,140 Now, look at that with me. 87 00:03:34,140 --> 00:03:36,620 God wants us to experience, look at the words, 88 00:03:36,620 --> 00:03:38,840 abundant joy, 89 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:43,240 pleasures forever and now. 90 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:45,560 And he's not hiding any of this. 91 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:46,720 Look at that first line there. 92 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:50,320 You reveal this path to me. 93 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,200 God is not hiding the good life from us. 94 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,580 He's revealed that path to us, 95 00:03:55,580 --> 00:03:58,500 which causes us to read the seventh command this way. 96 00:03:58,500 --> 00:04:01,860 God wants us to have the best sex possible. 97 00:04:01,860 --> 00:04:08,520 God is not making the best sex off limits. 98 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:15,300 He's freed us to experience it to its fullest extent. 99 00:04:15,300 --> 00:04:17,960 He wants what's best for us. 100 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:21,040 And the path to that, the abundant joy and pleasures 101 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:24,640 we can have through it, are here in this command. 102 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:26,360 But now, before we dive deeper into it, 103 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:27,800 let me stop and say this. 104 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,800 I know there's so many different experiences and stories, 105 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,040 and because of sin, this world can be really brutal. 106 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:39,800 If your past is one that involves sexual abuse, 107 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:43,200 I wanna say first, man, I'm so sorry for that. 108 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:48,560 I'm sorry that that's part of your story and experience. 109 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:52,360 This message could be a really tough one to process through. 110 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:56,400 We'd love to talk with you more, pray with you, 111 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:58,800 walk with you toward healing and beauty. 112 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,960 Our God is a God of healing and beauty and peace, 113 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:04,840 and I pray that he's moving you in that direction. 114 00:05:04,840 --> 00:05:09,920 What this seventh command tells us, though, 115 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:14,680 is that the best sex happens within marriage. 116 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,800 The best sex happens within marriage, 117 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:22,260 because this command says, do not commit adultery. 118 00:05:22,260 --> 00:05:24,520 So it's like this command is saying, 119 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,880 the way to freedom is sex within marriage. 120 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,320 The way to slavery is adultery. 121 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:32,520 What is adultery? 122 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:36,080 Adultery is treating someone other than your spouse 123 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:39,760 with the passion reserved only for your spouse. 124 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:42,360 Treating someone other than your spouse 125 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:47,240 with the passion reserved only for your spouse. 126 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,240 So adultery isn't just the physical act 127 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:51,800 of sex outside of marriage. 128 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:55,080 It's giving another person any of the passion 129 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:56,960 that's reserved for your spouse. 130 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:58,180 So in other words, you can enter into 131 00:05:58,180 --> 00:06:00,560 an emotionally adulterous relationship 132 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:02,300 that never turns physical. 133 00:06:02,300 --> 00:06:05,420 It's not just the physical act of sex. 134 00:06:05,420 --> 00:06:07,360 Jesus teaches this much in Matthew 5. 135 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:08,720 Look at what he says. 136 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:10,800 You have heard that it was said, do not commit adultery, 137 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:13,680 but I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman lustfully 138 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,800 has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 139 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:17,880 There's no physical act there. 140 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:19,420 There was no act of sex. 141 00:06:19,420 --> 00:06:21,940 Jesus says adultery is just a passionate look. 142 00:06:21,940 --> 00:06:27,100 But listen, it's always this, and here's the point. 143 00:06:27,100 --> 00:06:33,520 It's always treating someone other than your spouse this way. 144 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:37,480 Other than your spouse. 145 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:41,760 God's design, God's intent for the best possible sex 146 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:45,640 is always within the marriage relationship. 147 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:47,080 God has freed his people. 148 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:51,260 He's put us on the path of life to experience abundant joy, 149 00:06:51,260 --> 00:06:54,920 to experience pleasures, and the way that we do that 150 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:59,600 sexually is exclusively with our spouse. 151 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:04,080 When we go searching for the kind of physical, 152 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:06,600 emotional, or spiritual intimacy 153 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:09,160 that's only meant to be experienced within marriage, 154 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:11,700 when we go searching for that outside of marriage, 155 00:07:11,700 --> 00:07:13,720 then we're attempting to get something good 156 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:16,300 that God has for us the wrong way. 157 00:07:16,300 --> 00:07:21,960 We cheapen sex when we look to experience it 158 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:23,340 outside of marriage. 159 00:07:23,340 --> 00:07:28,360 Now, that's kind of where we're gonna end, 160 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:30,080 this cheapened form of sex. 161 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:32,440 More on that later, but this actually brings up 162 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,440 some amazing truths first. 163 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:37,400 And the first is this. 164 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:40,980 God designed sex to be enjoyed. 165 00:07:40,980 --> 00:07:45,120 God designed sex to be enjoyed. 166 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:46,400 God created sex. 167 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:50,400 He created male and female to be able to unite as one, 168 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:54,280 and he created it to be physically pleasurable. 169 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:56,360 It's no accident that our reproductive organs 170 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,620 have crazy amounts of nerve fibers which create pleasure, 171 00:07:59,620 --> 00:08:03,120 or that our bodies release surges of pleasure chemicals 172 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,040 during sex, dopamine, endorphins, and on and on. 173 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:09,560 God created the experience of sex to be enjoyable. 174 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,160 That's his doing. 175 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:17,520 Listen, it is not sinful to enjoy sex. 176 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,860 That's not sinful. 177 00:08:20,860 --> 00:08:23,560 James 1:17 says this, 178 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,240 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, 179 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:27,800 "coming down from the Father of light." 180 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:29,860 Sex is one of those gifts. 181 00:08:29,860 --> 00:08:31,840 God wants us to enjoy it. 182 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:33,400 Like look what he says in Proverbs 5. 183 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:35,640 He says, "Let your fountain be blessed 184 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:38,060 "and take pleasure in the wife of your youth, 185 00:08:38,060 --> 00:08:40,580 "a loving dear, a graceful doe. 186 00:08:40,580 --> 00:08:43,500 "Let her breasts always satisfy you. 187 00:08:43,500 --> 00:08:46,460 "Be lost in her love forever." 188 00:08:46,460 --> 00:08:50,960 The word for fountain here is the Hebrew word 189 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:53,440 for our sexual capacity and our joy. 190 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:56,840 The word in verse 18 for take pleasure, 191 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:00,080 that's the word that means to be intoxicated. 192 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,520 And the let's here, the let your, let her, 193 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:05,520 that's the language of a command. 194 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:07,120 Guys, here's what God's saying. 195 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:10,600 God's saying, "I command your sexual capacity 196 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,000 "and your joy in sex to be blessed. 197 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,080 "I command you to have great sex. 198 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:20,400 "I command her breasts to satisfy you." 199 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:24,380 Okay, we all good? 200 00:09:24,380 --> 00:09:29,500 Anybody need a stretch break or anything? 201 00:09:30,260 --> 00:09:32,060 Does Charlie come out of the bathroom? 202 00:09:32,060 --> 00:09:34,860 Oh yeah, there he is. 203 00:09:34,860 --> 00:09:38,660 Here's what this is saying. 204 00:09:38,660 --> 00:09:43,700 Sex isn't something dirty that God just permits 205 00:09:43,700 --> 00:09:44,900 once people get married. 206 00:09:44,900 --> 00:09:50,720 Sex is not something dirty that God just eventually permits 207 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:52,200 once you enter into a marriage. 208 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,240 Sex is something that God created to be good, 209 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:57,640 satisfying, joyful, beautiful, 210 00:09:57,640 --> 00:09:59,900 the act in and of itself. 211 00:09:59,900 --> 00:10:02,980 And God commands us to enjoy this thing 212 00:10:02,980 --> 00:10:05,740 that he designed to be enjoyable. 213 00:10:05,740 --> 00:10:07,960 The tough part is many people were raised in churches 214 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,940 that take a more conservative stance on sex than God does. 215 00:10:11,940 --> 00:10:16,820 It's like some Christians have tried to be more pure 216 00:10:16,820 --> 00:10:20,660 and holy about sex than God himself is. 217 00:10:20,660 --> 00:10:22,580 Sadly, it seems that some Christians believe 218 00:10:22,580 --> 00:10:25,020 that sex is somehow in and of itself tainted 219 00:10:25,020 --> 00:10:26,300 and wrong and dirty. 220 00:10:26,300 --> 00:10:28,700 And so they don't even like talking about it. 221 00:10:28,700 --> 00:10:30,520 And so if you're struggling with this sermon, 222 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:32,960 if you're feeling that squirminess or off-put 223 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:34,880 at talking about sex as being something 224 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,120 that you should enjoy or find pleasure in, 225 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:39,440 then the reality is you're probably more under the influence 226 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:41,460 of this world than of the Bible. 227 00:10:41,460 --> 00:10:47,200 God wants us to supremely enjoy sex, 228 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:51,160 to have the fullest experience of it possible. 229 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:53,040 But it's not just about pleasure, number two, 230 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:54,800 it's also intimacy. 231 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,320 God created sex to be intimate, 232 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:02,240 for there to be a unique intimacy experienced during sex 233 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:04,260 that is unmatched in this world. 234 00:11:04,260 --> 00:11:07,480 You see, in Genesis, God created man, 235 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:09,280 but there wasn't a partner fit for him. 236 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:12,000 And it seems like God wanted Adam to feel that. 237 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:14,660 He had all the other animal, everything else created, 238 00:11:14,660 --> 00:11:16,100 paraded in front of Adam. 239 00:11:16,100 --> 00:11:18,840 And Adam felt, man, there's nothing here for me. 240 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:23,840 Adam felt that intimacy void, and then God creates a woman. 241 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:28,200 And Adam sings, he bursts into song, the first song. 242 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:31,360 Here it is, this one at last is bone of my bone 243 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:32,540 and flesh of my flesh. 244 00:11:32,540 --> 00:11:35,480 This one will be called woman, for she was taken from man. 245 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:40,200 Maybe not a great song, I don't know, he did his best. 246 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,280 That's the best you can hope for a man, right? 247 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:44,940 He tried, did all right. 248 00:11:44,940 --> 00:11:46,560 But look at where it goes on. 249 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:48,360 This is why a man leaves his father and mother 250 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:50,700 and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh. 251 00:11:50,700 --> 00:11:53,960 Both the man and his wife were naked and yet felt no shame. 252 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:58,360 A husband and wife bond in a way 253 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:01,180 where they become one flesh. 254 00:12:01,180 --> 00:12:03,100 The description the Bible gives of it is this, 255 00:12:03,100 --> 00:12:06,340 in a marriage, you now need each other 256 00:12:06,340 --> 00:12:08,860 for completion and wholeness. 257 00:12:08,860 --> 00:12:11,220 I mean, biologically, God created sex 258 00:12:11,220 --> 00:12:14,180 to be a literal coming together into one, 259 00:12:14,180 --> 00:12:17,520 but he also created it to be an incredibly intimate act 260 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:19,620 that makes the statement that they belong together. 261 00:12:19,620 --> 00:12:24,620 And listen, intimacy always thrives in exclusivity. 262 00:12:24,620 --> 00:12:30,700 Intimacy thrives in exclusivity. 263 00:12:30,700 --> 00:12:34,300 Like imagine the person you love coming up to you 264 00:12:34,300 --> 00:12:39,300 and saying, baby, of all the people I have sex with, 265 00:12:39,300 --> 00:12:41,640 you are my favorite. 266 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:46,620 Why doesn't that work? 267 00:12:46,620 --> 00:12:48,660 Like, why doesn't that play? 268 00:12:49,660 --> 00:12:53,980 Why aren't we okay with the person we love 269 00:12:53,980 --> 00:12:57,340 having sex with whomever they want, whenever they want? 270 00:12:57,340 --> 00:12:59,620 Because it destroys the intimacy. 271 00:12:59,620 --> 00:13:04,900 Exclusivity means I reserve myself for you and you alone, 272 00:13:04,900 --> 00:13:06,960 which is why the last verse of Genesis 2 says, 273 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,500 they were naked with each other and felt no shame. 274 00:13:10,500 --> 00:13:13,600 That is just pure intimacy right there. 275 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:17,420 To be completely vulnerable, completely exposed, 276 00:13:17,420 --> 00:13:19,620 not hiding anything with each other 277 00:13:19,620 --> 00:13:23,380 because you're each committed exclusively to each other. 278 00:13:23,380 --> 00:13:27,320 Intimacy thrives in exclusivity, 279 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:32,420 which leads us to really the most important reality 280 00:13:32,420 --> 00:13:34,060 of this good gift of sex. 281 00:13:34,060 --> 00:13:37,140 Not only did God design it to be enjoyable and intimate, 282 00:13:37,140 --> 00:13:42,140 God also designed sex to point us to something better. 283 00:13:42,140 --> 00:13:46,060 God designed sex to point us to something better. 284 00:13:46,060 --> 00:13:49,700 As great as sex can be through the joy and the intimacy, 285 00:13:49,700 --> 00:13:51,780 it's actually meant to point us to something 286 00:13:51,780 --> 00:13:55,460 that's even more enjoyable, even more intimate. 287 00:13:55,460 --> 00:14:01,020 Great sex is a picture of the gospel. 288 00:14:01,020 --> 00:14:08,420 Great sex is a picture of the gospel. 289 00:14:08,420 --> 00:14:11,060 In Ephesians 5, Paul talks about husbands and wives 290 00:14:11,060 --> 00:14:12,260 and their roles and marriage 291 00:14:12,260 --> 00:14:13,660 and all this teaching on marriage, 292 00:14:13,660 --> 00:14:14,860 and then he ends it with this. 293 00:14:14,860 --> 00:14:16,940 He takes us back to Genesis and he writes, 294 00:14:16,940 --> 00:14:19,420 "For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother 295 00:14:19,420 --> 00:14:20,820 "and be joined to his wife, 296 00:14:20,820 --> 00:14:23,140 "and the two will become one flesh. 297 00:14:23,140 --> 00:14:25,720 "This is profound, this mystery is profound, 298 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:28,180 "but I'm talking about Christ in the church." 299 00:14:28,180 --> 00:14:30,940 Here's what Paul's saying. 300 00:14:30,940 --> 00:14:32,260 A man and a woman will get married, 301 00:14:32,260 --> 00:14:35,180 and as spouses, they will become one flesh. 302 00:14:35,180 --> 00:14:37,700 They'll have intimate, enjoyable sex. 303 00:14:37,700 --> 00:14:39,100 This is mysterious. 304 00:14:39,100 --> 00:14:41,020 It's about Christ in the church. 305 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:45,120 Here's what that means. 306 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:50,080 God created sex to be enjoyable, 307 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:53,520 to give us the smallest glimpse of the total joy 308 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:55,920 of what it'll be to be united to Jesus forever. 309 00:14:55,920 --> 00:15:00,600 God created sex to be intimate, 310 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,000 to give us just a glimpse of the unmatched intimacy 311 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:05,560 we'll have with Jesus forever. 312 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,400 God created sex to be exclusive 313 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:10,260 within the marriage relationship, 314 00:15:10,260 --> 00:15:14,540 to show us how fiercely committed Jesus is to us. 315 00:15:14,540 --> 00:15:19,140 God created sex to be enjoyable, intimate, and exclusive 316 00:15:19,140 --> 00:15:21,980 in order to be a picture of the gospel. 317 00:15:21,980 --> 00:15:27,540 You see, there's coming a day 318 00:15:27,540 --> 00:15:31,140 when each one of us will meet Jesus face to face. 319 00:15:31,140 --> 00:15:34,180 That day's coming for you and for me. 320 00:15:34,180 --> 00:15:36,420 It's gonna happen when we die or when Jesus comes back, 321 00:15:36,420 --> 00:15:38,900 but you will meet God face to face one day. 322 00:15:38,900 --> 00:15:43,780 And on that day, when you see God face to face, 323 00:15:43,780 --> 00:15:46,200 you will be totally naked and exposed. 324 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:50,640 There will be no more hiding. 325 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:58,060 All of your sins, your failures, your mistakes, 326 00:15:58,060 --> 00:16:00,700 all those things that you're terrified 327 00:16:00,700 --> 00:16:02,420 that if other people knew that about you, 328 00:16:02,420 --> 00:16:04,500 they wouldn't like you anymore, 329 00:16:04,500 --> 00:16:08,160 all of that will be laid bare totally before God. 330 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:11,040 [congregation murmurs] 331 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:13,760 But for those of you who've received Jesus, 332 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:15,480 to those of you who've given Jesus your lives 333 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,320 and you follow him, God will look at you in that moment, 334 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:22,360 completely naked, vulnerable, with all of your guilt, 335 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:24,280 with all of your ugliness on display, 336 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:26,720 God will look at you in that moment 337 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:30,660 with nothing but delight. 338 00:16:30,660 --> 00:16:34,920 Nothing but delight. 339 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:40,840 You'll stand before God completely seen, 340 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:45,840 known to your core, and you will feel absolutely safe. 341 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:53,760 We can't even fathom a love that sees us totally 342 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:57,460 for who we are and still says, I love you to death. 343 00:16:57,460 --> 00:17:02,920 That total acceptance, that complete delight and love, 344 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:07,120 sex is the smallest possible foretaste of that. 345 00:17:07,120 --> 00:17:08,720 Because when a husband and wife have sex 346 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:11,120 in that vulnerable, exposed act, 347 00:17:11,120 --> 00:17:13,280 they're saying, I love you and accept you 348 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:16,200 in spite of your flaws and failures. 349 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:17,480 I delight in you still. 350 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:21,680 And when we stand before God, vulnerable and exposed, 351 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:23,600 having been rescued by Jesus, 352 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:25,360 God will say, I love you and accept you 353 00:17:25,360 --> 00:17:27,360 in spite of all your flaws and failures. 354 00:17:27,360 --> 00:17:30,300 I delight in you and give myself to you. 355 00:17:30,300 --> 00:17:34,960 And so to have sex within marriage 356 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,440 is a picture of the joy and intimacy and exclusivity 357 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:40,760 that exists between Jesus and the church, 358 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:42,600 which means this, track with me. 359 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:47,820 To have sex outside of marriage 360 00:17:47,820 --> 00:17:50,080 is to break what it pictures. 361 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:57,200 To have sex outside of marriage is to say, 362 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:00,320 I'm looking for acceptance, joy, and intimacy 363 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:01,660 outside of you. 364 00:18:01,660 --> 00:18:04,860 It'd be like the church coming to Jesus and saying, 365 00:18:04,860 --> 00:18:07,200 I'm looking for acceptance, joy, and intimacy, 366 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:09,360 but I don't want it with you, Jesus. 367 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:12,320 It's a cheapening. 368 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,360 It's a lessening of what sex is meant to picture, 369 00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:19,080 and it leads us right back to slavery. 370 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:21,740 Cheap sex enslaves us. 371 00:18:21,740 --> 00:18:25,280 Now we've been talking about adultery, 372 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:26,840 but there's another word the Bible uses 373 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:28,320 for sex outside of marriage. 374 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:29,680 It's the word pornea. 375 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:30,840 It means fornication. 376 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:33,840 Fornication is simply sex outside of marriage. 377 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:35,480 So that can happen when you're dating, 378 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:38,560 when you're engaged through dating app hookups, 379 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:40,160 or alone through pornography. 380 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:45,560 All of that is engaging with sex in a way 381 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:48,960 that strips sex of everything God designed it for. 382 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:52,280 It strips sex of the picture of Jesus and the church. 383 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:55,400 It strips sex of the intimacy it was created for. 384 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,920 It makes it impossible to have the fullest experience, 385 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:01,680 the highest experience of enjoyment through sex. 386 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:04,640 Sex outside of marriage can never fulfill 387 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:06,720 God's intent for sex. 388 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,880 Instead of enjoyment, intimacy, 389 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:12,040 and the exclusive picture of the gospel, 390 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:15,440 it becomes something that we just use each other for 391 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:16,720 for our own pleasure. 392 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:20,800 We become slaves to it. 393 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:23,720 Slaves at great cost. 394 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:28,880 Going back again and again to a cheapened experience of sex, 395 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:30,120 especially pornography, 396 00:19:30,120 --> 00:19:32,640 it's been shown to produce incredible anxiety, 397 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:34,160 shame, depression, 398 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:37,240 and even rewire us so that we become desensitized 399 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:38,980 to healthy human relationships. 400 00:19:38,980 --> 00:19:43,680 Sex outside of marriage so easily becomes an idol 401 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:44,520 in our lives, 402 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:46,600 something we can't imagine living without, 403 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:48,520 something we keep going back to 404 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:50,640 for the pleasure and intimacy we crave, 405 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:52,240 but it can never deliver. 406 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:56,320 It can never deliver because God created it to deliver. 407 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,120 He created it to deliver the pleasure and intimacy 408 00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:01,880 we're craving one way 409 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:04,720 within the exclusivity of a marriage relationship. 410 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:10,520 Now, maybe you're here today and you're like, man, 411 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:14,720 you know you've experienced a cheapened version of sex 412 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:16,000 over and over again. 413 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:20,560 Maybe you're currently engaged in a cheapened version of sex. 414 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:25,040 You may even feel trapped, 415 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:26,960 enslaved to that. 416 00:20:28,120 --> 00:20:30,200 You've failed over and over again, 417 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:33,000 and at this point you can't really imagine having victory, 418 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:34,120 having freedom, 419 00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:36,760 but man, let me take us back to where we started. 420 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:42,240 God has freed us for the best sex possible. 421 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:44,760 God has freed us for that. 422 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:46,800 The freedom is there. 423 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:48,520 It can be yours. 424 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,640 The work of Jesus on the cross is that powerful, 425 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:55,560 and God is so, so ready to give you freedom. 426 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:57,800 There's this amazing story we read in John chapter eight 427 00:20:57,800 --> 00:20:59,600 where Jesus meets this woman at a well, 428 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:02,320 and it's a woman who had failed sexually over and over. 429 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:05,800 She'd settled for cheap sex for so long. 430 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:07,000 She'd failed many times, 431 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,200 and Jesus knew that, 432 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,080 and what's really amazing as you read this story 433 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:13,720 about how Jesus interacts with her 434 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:15,520 is that you see Jesus interacting with her 435 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:17,680 in such a loving way, 436 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,640 in such a tender way, 437 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:24,480 in such a patient, accepting, kind way, 438 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:29,840 and all of that was before she confessed or repented. 439 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:34,000 If you've failed, 440 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:38,120 if you've continually failed to keep this command 441 00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:40,560 by pursuing sex outside of marriage, 442 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:44,440 Jesus meets you today with kindness and love. 443 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:49,480 He loves you right now, 444 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:52,920 no matter how intense the failure or how often. 445 00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:56,400 He wants to restore you. 446 00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,880 He wants to give you freedom. 447 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:00,560 He wants you to live in his freedom 448 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:02,360 and have the best sex possible, 449 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:05,280 but the first step is to trust and believe this. 450 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:07,960 Everything that you crave and are looking for 451 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:10,720 in cheapened sex is found totally, 452 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:14,640 beautifully, and satisfyingly in Jesus himself. 453 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:19,440 You see, until we experience the enjoyment of Jesus, 454 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:22,040 until you experience the intimacy of Jesus, 455 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:25,840 until your hearts find what they are craving in Jesus, 456 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:29,240 we will continue to look for it in cheap sex. 457 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:33,720 But once we experience being fully known by God 458 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,560 and still love to death, unmatched love, 459 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:40,600 it'll actually free us to pursue the best sex possible. 460 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:45,560 Jesus has freed us so that we start walking in freedom, 461 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:47,600 and as we start walking in this freedom 462 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:49,280 of pursuing the best sex possible, 463 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:51,880 it's gonna still, it's gonna look like, 464 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:53,520 look like a battle, all right? 465 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:55,240 Like look what Jesus says in Matthew 5. 466 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:56,320 He goes on talking about it. 467 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:58,320 He says, "If your right eye causes you to sin, 468 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:00,520 "gouge it out and throw it away. 469 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:02,080 "If your right hand causes you to sin, 470 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:03,680 "cut it off and throw it away." 471 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,060 You see, even after we experience freedom, 472 00:23:06,060 --> 00:23:08,800 the journey toward healing and restoration 473 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:09,940 looks like a battle. 474 00:23:09,940 --> 00:23:14,880 Our hearts do not drift toward holiness. 475 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:17,720 The autopilot of our hearts, the neutral, 476 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:20,840 the drift of our hearts is back towards slavery. 477 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:22,280 We have to arrest that. 478 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:26,120 We have to fight, we have to go to battle 479 00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:29,600 to steer our hearts toward freedom. 480 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:33,200 And Jesus is saying this, guys, it's time to get serious. 481 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,940 If you wanna remain in freedom, 482 00:23:36,940 --> 00:23:38,800 if you wanna experience this good gift 483 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:40,040 the best way possible, 484 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:41,480 then you've gotta be proactive 485 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:43,360 about protecting this freedom. 486 00:23:43,360 --> 00:23:44,400 And here's what it looks like. 487 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:46,360 It looks like guarding our hearts, 488 00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:48,920 guarding our hearts. 489 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:53,000 Proverbs 4 says this, "Guard your hearts above all else." 490 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:57,960 And it says that because our hearts steer our decisions. 491 00:23:57,960 --> 00:23:59,920 Whatever's captivating your heart, 492 00:23:59,920 --> 00:24:02,640 that's gonna be what you give yourself to. 493 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:04,920 And we shape our hearts' desires 494 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:07,400 by the things our minds dwell on. 495 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:09,400 What we give our minds to, what we think about 496 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:10,720 over and over and over again, 497 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,840 it starts to be what our hearts love. 498 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:17,240 I recently traveled to Portugal. 499 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:18,400 I took the whole family there. 500 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:19,440 We went to Portugal this summer. 501 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:20,560 We were there for 17 days. 502 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:21,920 And man, I was hoping to love it, 503 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:23,480 and it exceeded my expectations. 504 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:25,400 I loved it so much. 505 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:27,480 Portugal was so, so great. 506 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:29,240 And so I think about it all the time. 507 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:30,520 I look at pictures. 508 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:31,680 I just think back to the memories. 509 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:34,280 That's kinda like my, when I have free time now 510 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:35,560 and I just got nothing else to think about, 511 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:37,440 I think back to our experience in Portugal. 512 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:38,880 It was just such a great time. 513 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:41,000 I wanna go back so, so badly. 514 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,120 I actually spend time on Airbnb just looking at homes. 515 00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:45,680 I mean, there's no way I can travel anytime soon, 516 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:48,520 but I'm just looking at them to just imagine myself there 517 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:49,840 in Portugal sometimes. 518 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:51,160 It was so, so great. 519 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:53,520 But now I've started seeing it all over. 520 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:57,160 I never saw a lot of things about Portugal in life, 521 00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:58,080 but now I see it everywhere. 522 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:00,960 I walk in Costco, and I've been in Costco a million times, 523 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:02,480 and I've seen this same bottle of wine 524 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:04,000 that's always on the end of the aisle. 525 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:05,200 But now I saw it and I was like, 526 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:06,520 oh my goodness, Portugal. 527 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:07,360 It's from Portugal. 528 00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:08,200 It says Portugal on it. 529 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:10,240 And I'm like, oh, that's amazing. 530 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:11,800 I never knew that was from Portugal. 531 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:15,260 I keep walking in Costco and I see that giant, 532 00:25:15,260 --> 00:25:16,100 what's that thing called? 533 00:25:16,100 --> 00:25:16,920 Oh, I gotta look. 534 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:17,760 That giant custard pie. 535 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:19,080 I don't know what it's called 'cause no one's ever bought it 536 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:19,920 I don't think. 537 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:21,600 That giant custard pie in Costco. 538 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:24,280 And I'm like, oh, that looks like a giant pastel de nata, 539 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:25,960 which is the dessert of Portugal. 540 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:27,200 And I'm like, oh, I wanna buy it 541 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:31,080 and just hope it tastes like a giant big old pastel de nata. 542 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,280 Open my refrigerator, cook breakfast, 543 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,160 Portuguese sausage, it's everywhere. 544 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:39,000 I just see it all the time, all over. 545 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,080 And it makes me wanna go back more and more. 546 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:48,540 If you think about cheap sex over and over and over, 547 00:25:48,540 --> 00:25:51,460 if your mind is dwelling on it, 548 00:25:51,460 --> 00:25:54,980 you'll begin to see opportunities everywhere. 549 00:25:54,980 --> 00:25:59,700 And it'll make you wanna go back to it 550 00:25:59,700 --> 00:26:01,040 more and more and more. 551 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:04,060 Which is why Colossians 3 tells us this. 552 00:26:04,060 --> 00:26:05,500 If you've been raised with Christ, 553 00:26:05,500 --> 00:26:07,780 seek the things that are above where Christ is, 554 00:26:07,780 --> 00:26:08,700 seated at the right hand. 555 00:26:08,700 --> 00:26:11,660 Look at this, set your mind on things above, 556 00:26:11,660 --> 00:26:13,940 not on earthly things. 557 00:26:13,940 --> 00:26:16,560 We guard our hearts by taking our thoughts captive, 558 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,860 by setting our minds on Jesus, 559 00:26:19,860 --> 00:26:21,620 by dwelling on, meditating on, 560 00:26:21,620 --> 00:26:24,540 thinking over and over again about what we have in him. 561 00:26:24,540 --> 00:26:25,940 We do that when we come to church. 562 00:26:25,940 --> 00:26:26,840 That's what we're doing today. 563 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:28,000 We're taking our thoughts captive. 564 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:29,760 We're thinking about Jesus together. 565 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:32,000 When we come to the table and experience Jesus together, 566 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,320 when we sing the songs, when you come to church, 567 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:37,040 it's an exercise in, let's think about Jesus together. 568 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:38,880 When you go to your community group, 569 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:40,440 it's people in our church coming together 570 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:41,960 to think and talk about Jesus. 571 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:44,000 When you read your Bible in your home, 572 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:45,240 you're thinking about Jesus. 573 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:48,160 When you listen to your worship songs on the way to church, 574 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:49,600 you're thinking about Jesus. 575 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:51,640 And maybe you do one or multiple of those things 576 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:52,680 and you're like, man, I come to church 577 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:53,520 or I go to community group 578 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:55,720 and I just feel like I got nothing out of it. 579 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,120 You did. 580 00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:02,400 You always do. 581 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:04,440 We always get something about it 582 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:08,420 because we're guarding our hearts by thinking about Jesus. 583 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:13,920 We guard our hearts by guarding our eyes, what we look at. 584 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:15,400 Man, some of us need, we need to go to war. 585 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:16,880 We need to be serious. 586 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:21,080 We need to delete some apps, cancel some subscriptions 587 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,600 because the eyes are windows to the hearts 588 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:27,880 and many of us are feeding our hearts cheap sex. 589 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:32,880 We guard our hearts by guarding our steps. 590 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:33,880 Romans 13 says this, 591 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,640 "Make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires." 592 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:38,760 You know what that's saying there? 593 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:41,840 Don't put yourself in a position where you'll probably fail. 594 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:46,840 Don't put yourself in a position where you'll probably fail. 595 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:49,360 If you know you struggle to be on your computer alone 596 00:27:49,360 --> 00:27:51,400 late at night, don't get on your computer alone 597 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:52,240 late at night. 598 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:56,280 If you know that moving in with your boyfriend 599 00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:00,760 or girlfriend is gonna cause you to sin, 600 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:02,080 don't move in with them. 601 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:04,120 Figure out another way. 602 00:28:04,120 --> 00:28:08,360 If you know that the worker at that coffee shop 603 00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:09,840 keeps subtly flirting with you, 604 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:11,920 get your coffee somewhere else. 605 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:15,360 Somebody came to me early in our church planting days 606 00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:17,360 and said, "Man, there's this guy at the gym 607 00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:19,800 "that I'm attracted to and he's kind of been flirting 608 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:20,880 "with me, he's not my husband, 609 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:23,480 "and I just know I'm gonna have sex with him. 610 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:24,860 "What can I do?" 611 00:28:24,860 --> 00:28:30,140 And I was like, "Well, can you go to a different gym? 612 00:28:30,140 --> 00:28:32,600 "Can you stop going to the gym?" 613 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:33,580 And she said to me, she's like, 614 00:28:33,580 --> 00:28:36,420 "Well, how am I gonna stay in shape then?" 615 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:42,800 And I said, "Any other way, any other way. 616 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:44,360 "Like can our church buy you a treadmill? 617 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:46,700 "We will, like any other way. 618 00:28:46,700 --> 00:28:49,940 "It's time to get serious. 619 00:28:49,940 --> 00:28:51,640 "It's time to cut it off. 620 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:56,140 "God wants us to live in freedom. 621 00:28:56,140 --> 00:28:58,880 "Jesus went to the cross for your freedom. 622 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:01,700 "Don't go back to slavery." 623 00:29:01,700 --> 00:29:06,400 Trust that God's designed the most enjoyable, 624 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:09,520 most intimate experience of sex possible for you, 625 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:14,460 exclusively experiencing it with your spouse. 626 00:29:14,460 --> 00:29:19,360 Listen, God is for you, He is on your side, 627 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:22,180 He's coming after you, and He is relentless. 628 00:29:22,180 --> 00:29:24,240 Let's pray together. 629 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:25,600 (wind whooshing)