1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,280 Hey, Brian here, editor and mixer of this podcast, and before we jump into this episode, 2 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:09,480 I wanted to give you a heads up that it's going to contain some mature subject matter 3 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:14,720 around the topic of lust and how Jesus taught about sexual integrity. 4 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:19,000 If this kind of discussion would not be beneficial or maybe not age appropriate to everyone you're 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,480 listening with, then you might want to skip this one. 6 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:32,800 Hey, I'm Matt Brownell, and I'm Van Owens, and I'm Tim Adams. 7 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:38,880 Welcome to Climbing the Mountain, where we dive into the scriptures and discuss themes, 8 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,240 connections, and real life application. 9 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,920 We're kicking off a series here where we're going to examine the sermon on the mount and 10 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:55,720 discuss implications for this teaching for Christians today. 11 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:59,520 We are back, and we are talking about lust. 12 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:05,360 Jesus addresses this topic in Matthew 5, 27-30. 13 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,680 And boy, there is so much to talk about here. 14 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:14,400 I'm going to start off by just refreshing what we have talked about. 15 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,680 We talked about how pervasive this sin is. 16 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,520 It is everywhere in our society. 17 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:24,720 And we talked about how we're in a battle for our soul. 18 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:30,000 Jesus uses very dramatic language, but it's because it is so serious, and we don't see 19 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:35,320 that oftentimes we don't take this as seriously as we should, that this is something that 20 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:41,320 is against, warring against our soul and wants to drag us to hell. 21 00:01:41,320 --> 00:01:47,200 And if we really saw this the way that Jesus does, the way that God does when he looks at 22 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:54,200 our heart, if we really saw what this does to us, we would take it so much more seriously. 23 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:55,520 We would do whatever it took. 24 00:01:55,520 --> 00:02:01,840 We would even pluck out an eye or cut off a hand, again, not literally, but we would 25 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:09,460 do whatever we could so that our whole body isn't dragged to hell. 26 00:02:09,460 --> 00:02:18,160 We talked about masturbation, and we talked about how there is an overarching theme to 27 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:24,640 these looking lustfully masturbating, that Jesus is kind of putting into a framework 28 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:30,800 of marriage and how there is sexual desire that is good that God designed, but that its 29 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:33,120 place should be in marriage. 30 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:39,400 And that's where we get to express that and have that act of love be meaningful, not something 31 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:47,200 that's selfish or something that really consumes us in a negative way. 32 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:54,280 So now we're coming to looking at lust again, and I want to read these verses and then start 33 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:55,440 with a question here. 34 00:02:55,440 --> 00:03:02,360 So Matthew 5:27, you have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. 35 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:06,820 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed 36 00:03:06,820 --> 00:03:09,560 adultery with her in his heart. 37 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:13,200 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. 38 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:17,440 For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown 39 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:18,440 into hell. 40 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:24,640 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. 41 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:29,200 For it is better that you lose one of your members than your whole body go into hell. 42 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:36,520 So I think a good place to start here this time is maybe just asking the question, how 43 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:41,520 do you define lust? 44 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:43,400 I think that's a great question. 45 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:48,080 And I think obviously there is the dictionary definition. 46 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:53,960 And when I was preparing myself for this, I almost just went and put down a dictionary 47 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:55,800 definition for it. 48 00:03:55,800 --> 00:04:03,280 But I think when I thought about it more deeply, when I meditated on what is lust really for 49 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:16,680 me, the first thing that came into my mind is that it is a kind of opposite of gratitude. 50 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:27,000 And what I mean is this, when you have gratitude, when you're grateful, then you are, it produces 51 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:29,320 a contentment. 52 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:38,720 It comes from an understanding that what I have in my life is so much more than what 53 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,440 I deserve. 54 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:50,920 That at least for my whole adult life, that has been when I look at it very rationally, 55 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:52,560 that's always been true. 56 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:59,080 I've always had so much more than I know I deserve. 57 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:05,320 And lust for me is not contentment. 58 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:16,880 Lust is grasping and clawing for something that I know I can't have, but feel like I 59 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:23,680 deserve or feel like I need. 60 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:31,640 And so when I'm thinking rationally about my sin and about my lust, and I have to admit 61 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:39,360 and be honest and humble about the fact that I do not think rightly about these things so 62 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:49,840 much more often than I feel like is appropriate for a man my age and a man my status in life, 63 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:54,960 I would think that I would have this much more under control than I do. 64 00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:01,560 But when I am thinking rightly about it, I'm thinking I could be lustful or I could be 65 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:04,640 grateful. 66 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:08,200 And so those two, those two things are kind of opposite for me. 67 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:14,160 Lust is a, and I'll say this again, because this is what I really feel for my own heart. 68 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:22,520 Lust is a grasping for what I don't have, and that could be sexual, that could be anything 69 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:24,200 really for me. 70 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:34,120 Grasping for something that I don't have that I feel like either I deserve or that I need. 71 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:43,080 In that light, I think the way you define it, it reminds me of covetousness and greed 72 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:49,520 and how godliness with contentment is great gain. 73 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:50,520 That's very interesting. 74 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:54,080 Yeah, I think these are all qualities of the heart, right? 75 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,320 So I can see that connection. 76 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:57,800 What about you, Tim? 77 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:06,520 Yeah, I mean, just on that, I've always thought it was really convicting that in Colossians 78 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:12,880 when Paul gives a whole list of sins, and he kind of gives in a couple different chunks 79 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:18,200 of this, and there's one chunk, which is sexual morality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and 80 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:20,120 greed, which is idolatry. 81 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:27,160 So greed and lust are really closely linked in Paul's mind too, apparently. 82 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:31,400 And so I think that's not just like, Van, grasping at straws. 83 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,240 That's like really, really intricate. 84 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:35,720 Colossians 3, right? 85 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:40,680 Because another translation says covetousness, which is idolatry. 86 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:46,600 And it made me think about the first command in the Decalogue, which in the ten commandments, 87 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:49,040 which is no idols, right? 88 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:55,120 And then the last one is don't covet, which if you're reading that, covetousness is idolatry. 89 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:59,560 So he's kind of bookended the 10 commandments with something pretty serious. 90 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:00,560 Yeah. 91 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:07,600 Yeah, so I think Van's definition is really good, and it is broader than just sexual 92 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:14,680 lust, which is what we've been talking about for the past couple episodes, but it encompasses 93 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:16,320 sexual lust. 94 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:23,280 So I mean, for me, I had just like a really simple definition that was like, lust is desiring 95 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:30,120 to have someone sexually who's not my spouse, basically, or having a sexual fantasy of someone 96 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:34,880 who's not my spouse, you know, is putting it like super, super plainly. 97 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:41,920 But I think those those root issues of gratitude and about desiring something I don't have, 98 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:51,000 something I think I deserve or need those, those all kind of are a deeper level. 99 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:52,520 That simple definition. 100 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:59,600 It reminds me of Romans 1 as well, Van, how you connected it to gratitude. 101 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:07,800 And I think all of the then you get this this description of people as they've just they 102 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:11,520 said they've forgotten God and they're ungrateful. 103 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:16,040 And then they jump right into all these things, sexual immorality. 104 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:26,080 And so I do think that there there is a direct link with lust and our relationship with God 105 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:29,320 that is very important to acknowledge. 106 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:37,920 And I think so for me, it was if I'm defining lust, I think similarly, it is, you know, 107 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:42,560 a desire for someone who's not my wife, like thinking of something. 108 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:48,760 And it's in a way, it's sin against that person as well. 109 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:53,920 And it's sin against God, because I'm not grateful for him. 110 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,560 I'm not I'm not being holy as he wants me to be. 111 00:09:57,560 --> 00:10:05,080 And I found a verse that is, I think wraps this up really well in 1 Thessalonians 4 112 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:10,440 Paul's writing to the church saying he wants to remind them of, and then he says in verse 113 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:19,240 three, for this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that 114 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:27,280 each one of you know how to control his own body and holiness and honor, not in the passion 115 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:34,280 of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God, that no one transgress and wrong his 116 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:39,120 brother in this matter, because the Lord is an Avenger and all these things, as we told 117 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:45,480 you beforehand, and solemnly warned you for God has not called us for impurity, but in 118 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:47,640 holiness. 119 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:52,600 Therefore whoever disregards this disregards not man, but God who gives his Holy Spirit. 120 00:10:52,600 --> 00:11:01,200 And in verse four, I think is really interesting to me where it says control your own body. 121 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:06,840 That's could be translated also how to take a wife in Greek, how to possess his own vessel. 122 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:13,200 Anyway, he translated though, I think we can draw from this verse a sense of how we could 123 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:18,120 define lust by looking at it, how it's contrasted right there. 124 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:24,560 He says we're called to control our body not in the passion of lust, but in holiness and 125 00:11:24,560 --> 00:11:25,560 honor. 126 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:32,520 And I think those two qualities, I think speak to holiness toward God, that we're set apart 127 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:40,160 and this is something that God, and then honor, and I think that's when we are lusting after 128 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:46,480 someone, we're dishonoring them in a way that is really important to acknowledge. 129 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:53,520 And then last, because I think this was really cool, it reminded me of Matthew 7 and 130 00:11:53,520 --> 00:12:00,520 how Jesus talks about, away from you, me, you lawbreakers, I never knew you. 131 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:09,000 There is this conception of knowing God being part of this equation as well. 132 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:13,840 When we're consumed by the passions of lust, we do not know God. 133 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:22,160 Yeah, and that does go back to one of the Beatitudes of like, blessed are the pure 134 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,200 in heart, for they will see God. 135 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:32,880 And when I think about that Beatitude, I try very intentionally not to only think about 136 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:38,640 it in terms of sexual purity, as purity is so much more. 137 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:48,680 But I know that when my heart or other hearts are consumed by lust, then I can't see God. 138 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:54,400 My heart doesn't have the capacity to see God in His fullness because I'm consumed with 139 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,160 something that's much lower. 140 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:03,200 I am so glad you drew that connection, because I think that is a great thing to acknowledge, 141 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:06,600 blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 142 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:13,960 That word for seeing God, 'optanomai' in Greek, it's not just like a casual observance, like, 143 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:15,640 oh, look at that thing over there. 144 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:19,480 It's this being enraptured by something like stunned. 145 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:23,600 It's the same word that's used on the Mount of Transfiguration. 146 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:28,480 And that's the kind of like really seeing God for His value. 147 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:35,200 Again, going back to Romans 1, what you were saying, Van, that's the kind of way that, 148 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,840 and they're so related, lusting and seeing God. 149 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:43,200 If you're impure, you're going to miss seeing God. 150 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:44,200 Yeah. 151 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:52,680 I, you know, the passage that you read that mentioned the word honor, I think that that 152 00:13:52,680 --> 00:14:02,200 is something that it really sort of pricked me in the heart when I heard the word, because 153 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:11,080 I don't think about when I'm struggling, I don't think about my own personal honor or 154 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:19,280 the honor of the person that I am lusting after or the honor of my wife. 155 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,680 I even think about the passage that I referred to. 156 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:27,360 Was it in this talk or the last one when I was talking about Amnon and Tamar? 157 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:34,640 And when he was about to force himself on her, she said, what about me? 158 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,440 How will I get rid of my disgrace if you do this to me? 159 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:42,960 And then she interestingly said, what about you? 160 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,440 You would become like one of the wicked fools of Israel. 161 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:47,600 Wow. 162 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:51,400 And so this is a prince and a princess of Israel. 163 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:57,320 And she's saying, what about our honor? 164 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:00,760 What will become of us if this happens? 165 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:08,160 And that's a, that's a concept that nearly brings tears to my eyes because it's something 166 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:17,680 that that is very real to me a lot of the time, but not when I'm blinded, like you were 167 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:22,760 saying Tim, not when I'm, when I'm full of lust and I'm blind, I cannot honor doesn't 168 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:23,760 exist. 169 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:24,760 I can't see it. 170 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:25,760 I can't feel it. 171 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:29,840 I can't experience it and I can't uphold it. 172 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:38,160 This is a really, it's such an important thing to just stay on for a minute here. 173 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:44,280 You know, the aspect of honoring and thinking of God and seeing God. 174 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:52,040 And I think we've, we've spent some time now in this subject talking about the warnings 175 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:54,640 that Jesus gives. 176 00:15:54,640 --> 00:16:01,200 And I think that that's an important thing for us to acknowledge. 177 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:05,240 But the other side of it is, is what we miss out on, right? 178 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:07,880 And that's the seeing God. 179 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:12,960 And because, because I think the other thing I was thinking about in that knowing God and 180 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:20,400 you know, having that relationship with him, it's not just a head knowledge kind of thing. 181 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:29,960 It's the type of knowledge of God that is intimate, that really is reveling in his glory. 182 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:33,960 And it, it's only knowledge born by faith. 183 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:36,960 I think that's the thing that connects us. 184 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:43,800 And it reminds me of another scripture in, in 2 Corinthians 4, it says in verse 6, let 185 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:49,960 for God who said, let light shine out of darkness has shown in our hearts to give the light 186 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:54,360 of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 187 00:16:54,360 --> 00:17:00,240 So we have this awesome chance to see God and it's promised to us in the Beatitudes 188 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:04,920 that, you know, if we're a pure in heart, we will get to see God. 189 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:07,720 So that's also, that's something we all want. 190 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:10,360 We want to see the Creator. 191 00:17:10,360 --> 00:17:17,800 We want to be in that place where every tear will be wiped and they'll, we can forget about 192 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:23,600 sin and trouble and pain and, and it'll be so amazing because God will light it all with 193 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:24,600 his presence. 194 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:30,760 It'll be incredible and there'll be no impure thing there whatsoever. 195 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:32,000 How do we get there? 196 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:35,320 We need to fight again, returning to this battle concept. 197 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:38,040 We need to fight against lust. 198 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:39,960 How do we do it? 199 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:41,520 What's worked for you? 200 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:42,520 What's the big picture? 201 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:44,000 What do you think? 202 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,760 Yeah, I can, I can go first. 203 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:52,760 And I, when I think about this, probably like the big picture, there's a, there's a lot 204 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:54,200 of big pictures that we've talked about. 205 00:17:54,200 --> 00:18:01,000 I think the concept of honor and honoring every person is really big. 206 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:05,480 Um, but when I think about like my thought life, one of the things that's really helpful 207 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:09,200 for me to recognize is that I'm not alone in my thoughts. 208 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:16,200 You know, Hebrews 412 that talks about everything's going to be laid bare, um, before the eyes 209 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:19,880 of him who will give an account. 210 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:24,480 And so it's easy to think I'm alone and, but I'm not actually alone. 211 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:32,920 And so, uh, whether it's as simple as sometimes I visualize Jesus next to me, um, more often 212 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:40,040 I'm just, it's about acknowledging that God is present in, in the room, in my heart, uh, 213 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:41,040 through the spirit. 214 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:49,520 Um, that helps a lot when I become aware of that and I fight to remain aware of that because 215 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:55,880 if God's in the room, my, it's much easier to fight against, against lust against those 216 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:56,880 thoughts. 217 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:01,400 So that's like a really big thing, uh, for, for me. 218 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:06,760 And that, so I guess if we're thinking about the battle analogy, that's kind of like my 219 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:14,120 strategy, right, is, is being aware of God's presence and being aware of, of, of his image 220 00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:17,600 on that is in each other person. 221 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:20,040 So that's why I need to give them honor. 222 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:22,000 That's a great point to make. 223 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:23,000 Goodness. 224 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:24,000 Yeah. 225 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:34,160 And I think similar to you, Tim, I think that it is, it is the envisioning of, of God's 226 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:35,720 presence. 227 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:40,280 And for me, that happens mostly through reading the scripture. 228 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:46,560 You know, the reason that I read that talk so much about Amnon and Tamar is that that 229 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:51,920 passage is ingrained in my psyche. 230 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:59,680 And when I'm really having a hard time, if I'll only go and just look at that passage, 231 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:03,400 it can, it can set my mind straight. 232 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:11,560 Um, it can, and then the, the, the thing that I do further is I think about the, because 233 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:16,640 for me lost is directed towards, towards women. 234 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:26,120 And I think about, you know, my, not just my wife, but my mother, my sister, my daughter, 235 00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:31,280 my very dear friends who are women. 236 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:41,400 And I remember as a, as a young Christian when feeling released from sexual tension in relationships 237 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:49,160 with women and developing just some of the best friendships of my life with women that 238 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:56,320 have been so instructive and so, uh, full of blessing for me. 239 00:20:56,320 --> 00:21:04,000 And I believe for them as well, and to just imagine, to sit for a moment and imagine, 240 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:10,960 um, what I could have, how I could have that with more people. 241 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:16,840 If I can just keep this under control, if I can just fight this, if I can just fight 242 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:19,840 this this one time, let's fight, let's fight. 243 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:20,840 Okay. 244 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:22,480 I'm not thinking of the whole war. 245 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:29,480 I'm thinking of, you know, the, the enemy soldier who's charging at me now with his 246 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:30,960 bayonet. 247 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:37,400 I can either open up my arms and let him do what he will, or I can fight. 248 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:42,480 So let me fight this one, but I need, I need visuals. 249 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:48,880 I need to think of, uh, women that I love and respect and deeply cherish. 250 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:55,280 And I need to think about, for me, you talked about envisioning, um, um, Jesus right beside 251 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:56,280 you. 252 00:21:56,280 --> 00:22:03,280 I sort of just envision, I try to envision myself just sort of to face down at the foot 253 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:13,640 of the cross and, and seeing the suffering that was going on there and wondering how, 254 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:20,640 how can I respond to this suffering in this moment while lusting after somebody who's 255 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:21,640 over there? 256 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:22,640 Yeah. 257 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:23,640 Well, that's really great. 258 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:28,440 I, I can relate to both of what you were saying with things that I, strategies I've 259 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:30,480 used in the past and continue to use. 260 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:37,320 And I think, uh, one of the threads that, uh, I think is very powerful is, is, you know, 261 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:40,640 it's, it's like, if you don't want to think of, uh, don't think of pink elephants, don't 262 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:41,640 think of it. 263 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:42,640 Well, what are you thinking about? 264 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:50,040 It's much better to have a burning desire that you desire more than the sinful desire 265 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:56,320 and to replace that sinful desire with something that's beautiful, like Jesus's sacrifice 266 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:58,840 and how much God loves me. 267 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,640 And, uh, to remember those things. 268 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:06,640 And, and like you were saying, Tim, he promised to be with us always to the very end of the 269 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:07,640 age. 270 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,360 He is right here right now. 271 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:16,040 And the other thing you said, uh, Van about scriptures, I remember, gosh, I remember when 272 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:23,280 I first, um, was baptized and, and, and thinking about, man, I really need to take this seriously. 273 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:30,320 Uh, there's, um, in Proverbs, Proverbs 5 is all about, um, the adulterous woman stay 274 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:31,320 away. 275 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:36,440 Uh, but in chapter four, right before, you know, the lead into that, it talks about how 276 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:37,880 you have to guard your heart. 277 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:38,880 It's the wellspring of life. 278 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:42,480 And that's a lot of what we've been talking about tonight is our heart. 279 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:47,600 And there's a verse that I memorized, uh, let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your 280 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:49,080 gaze directly before you. 281 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:54,080 And I can't tell you how many hundreds and hundreds of times I've said that to myself 282 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:55,080 over the years. 283 00:23:55,080 --> 00:24:00,880 And especially right when I first got out of the water, I was saying that all the time. 284 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:07,540 And I was sad after a few weeks of doing that because I realized how often I had lustful 285 00:24:07,540 --> 00:24:10,760 thoughts or how often I, it wasn't even lust. 286 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:16,400 Sometimes it was judging people by how, by their appearance instead of, and I kept to 287 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:22,840 ask God, I wish I could see into someone into their, who they are instead of judging them. 288 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,120 Um, because all of it dishonored God. 289 00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:32,920 And, and I think that the, the other thing is that, you know, in Ephesians six, where 290 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:37,360 it talks about the armor of God, the thing that we have that is an offensive, it's actually 291 00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:38,960 the sort of spirit, right? 292 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:45,160 So the spirit wields the word of God to do battle against. 293 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,840 This is the, this is the, the main weapon that we have. 294 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:48,840 God has given it. 295 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:52,680 I know a lot of people who want to just have this experience, like, you know, God just 296 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:56,240 changed me and, you know, let me feel better. 297 00:24:56,240 --> 00:25:01,400 And that's not the normative way that God works. 298 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:08,120 It's, it's actually taking the word of God and wielding it, letting the Holy Spirit wield 299 00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:10,360 it in your life. 300 00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:14,960 And that's how we escape lust and participate in the divine. 301 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:16,440 That's where that power comes out. 302 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:22,280 It reminds me of another verse I want to read in 2 Peter 1:3. 303 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:27,480 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through 304 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:34,000 the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence by which he has granted 305 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:42,620 to us his precious and very great promises so that through them you may become partakers 306 00:25:42,620 --> 00:25:47,680 of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because 307 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:51,720 of sinful desire, which is also translated lust. 308 00:25:51,720 --> 00:26:04,760 Yeah, when we talk about these practicals of engaging with scripture, of considering 309 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:13,280 that God is right here with us, that I, the image of God is implanted on others or thinking 310 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:17,200 about people that we love and realizing how this sin hurts us. 311 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:22,560 I think one of the things I'm, I'm realizing is there's so much, there's so many practicals 312 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:28,040 here like this, like it's, I talked about mine specifically as strategies because I 313 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:32,920 think a strategy is like overarching, but then there's tons of tactics that happen 314 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:34,800 on the battlefield. 315 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:40,040 And I don't think we have the time to dig into all those tactics right now, but I do 316 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,520 think this is a, I guess two plugs. 317 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:51,280 One is just, Jesus says we, if we, our deeds are good, we come into the light because we 318 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:55,680 can show what is, what we're doing is being done by God. 319 00:26:55,680 --> 00:27:01,320 And just in general, we confess our sins and bring it into light, he's going to forgive 320 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:02,320 us. 321 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:04,560 That's in John 3 and 1 John 1. 322 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:08,320 So just bring this into light with other people is so profoundly helpful. 323 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:16,320 And I do want to throw in a plug for, I know that our region in Boston church of Christ, 324 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:25,000 but many other places also have a sexual addiction groups and those can be a very powerful resource 325 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:30,240 for those who are feeling like this is totally taken over my life. 326 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:35,840 Or I just don't let, you know, I'm in a certain place and maybe I'm not in the place where 327 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:41,160 someone else would say it's taken over my life, but I feel like I need to really overcome 328 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:42,760 this and I need other people's help. 329 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:46,960 And so if you're, if you're looking to get involved with a group like that, I would 330 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:51,920 just say reach out to your minister and they can definitely help you get connected. 331 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:55,280 I'm so glad you made that plug because that is so true. 332 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:57,360 You know, it's great. 333 00:27:57,360 --> 00:28:02,000 It's fantastic to have a group of people that you can talk to about this and get in the 334 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,560 light about and then get prayers for. 335 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:05,560 Yep. 336 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:12,160 So yeah, I think, I don't know about you guys, but I feel like this has been a, it's been 337 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:17,000 really helpful for me to meditate on this and to actually think what is Jesus saying 338 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:23,960 here when he's talking about this, this topic that's like so, so important, but I can just 339 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:27,200 be so desensitized to because our culture is desensitized to it. 340 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:33,800 So I've really appreciated meditating on the scriptures, thinking about and with fresh 341 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:36,760 eyes of like what, what can it look like? 342 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:39,240 Why should I overcome lust fight to overcome it? 343 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:41,440 And what can it look like to actually do that? 344 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:42,440 Yeah. 345 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:48,760 It's a conversation that for me filled me with more than a little bit of dread thinking, 346 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:52,800 how am I going to be able to talk about this? 347 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:54,840 This is going to be so hard. 348 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:59,840 This is something that's very difficult for me to even acknowledge is a part of my own 349 00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:04,840 sinful nature, but I feel so refreshed having done it. 350 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:05,840 Me too. 351 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:06,840 Thanks guys. 352 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:32,840 Thank you.