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Good morning.

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Good morning.

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That was awkward.

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Favorite Bible is Matthew 5.

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This is where we'll be.

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We are in week 5 of looking at Jesus' sermon

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to his disciples that begins in Matthew 5.

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In this sermon, Jesus is going to get some hard truths

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that go against the status quo of what these disciples believed about God.

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He's giving the full explanation of the law of God.

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He's giving them an understanding of what it means to be blessed.

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He's giving them a challenge of understanding

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to be sought and to be light in the world around them.

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And again, we need to remember that Jesus is not giving us a different set of standards

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that go against the Old Testament, that go against what God has historically said,

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but he is giving us a complete understanding.

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Even the Jews thought the original law from God needed some explanation.

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The problem is they added to the law their own interpretation

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and then they held others accountable to a standard that was not part of the heart of the law.

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This is what Jesus is trying to correct in this sermon.

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Now, this part of the sermon that we'll be in today is one of those texts

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that could and probably might make you uncomfortable.

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And so before we get there, I think it's important that we understand and remind ourselves

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of a few important truths because I am aware that there are many that struggle with lust in this room.

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There's many that struggle, have struggled with lust for years in this room.

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That the easy thing is just to believe that this is something that you're always going to deal with

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that you'll never be able to overcome and continue to live in a state of shame.

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But Jesus tells us in John chapter 10 that the reason he came was to give us abundant life.

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The enemy's goal is to destroy your life, to kill any hope that you might have of ever getting better.

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And we need to stand on the truth of what Jesus is offering us, that His ways are leading us to life,

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that He knows better than we do.

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The second truth that we need to stand on comes from Romans chapter 2 verse 4 where Paul writes that it is God's kindness

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that leads us to repentance.

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He does not come and give us a list of all the things that we've ever done wrong

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and expect us to change course or expect us to change behavior.

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It's in a loving way that He leads us closer to Him and away from our sin.

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We need to stand on that truth.

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The final truth that we need to remember also comes from Romans in chapter 8 verse 1 where Paul writes that there is no condemnation

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for those of us who are in Christ Jesus.

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We need to remember that this morning.

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We need to remember that the punishment for our sin has already been paid.

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But because of His love and because of His desire for us, He went to the cross so that we could be brought back into relationship with Him.

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What we need to stand on these three truths if we want to find victory over our sin.

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Remembering that God's way leads to life. Remembering that He isn't trying to rob you of joy.

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He's actually trying to lead you into it.

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And I want you to remember these truths as we go through our text this morning.

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So with all of that in mind, we're going to invite Oliver up here.

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He's going to read our passage starting in verse 27 of Matthew chapter 5.

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If you're able, we'd love for you to stand and honor the Lord's word as he reads it aloud.

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You have heard that it was sin. You shall not commit adultery.

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But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

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If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.

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For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.

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Amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you for Oliver. Thank you for just how you're growing him, what you're doing in his life, giving him a passion for you.

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I pray that you continue to just speak and lead him in all of his ways.

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God, we pray for this, for us as we look at this passage.

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I pray God that you remove any awkwardness that might come from it.

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But God, pray that you speak to each and every one of us.

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So again, in this text, Jesus is going to give us a complete explanation of what the heart of God is.

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So, we pray that you continue to speak and lead him in all of his ways.

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So again, in this text, Jesus is going to give us a complete explanation of what the heart of the law is.

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He's going to remind the disciples of the seventh commandment to not commit adultery.

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But he's going to expand on it. He's going to give the complete understanding of it and say it isn't just about having an affair.

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Keeping the commandment isn't just about having an affair.

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It really is what is going on in your heart.

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And when we deal with the heart, we have to realize that everything that keeps us from having a strong connection with God is somewhat of a disease.

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And lust is a disease.

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It's a disease that keeps us from having an abundant life that Jesus came to bring us.

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So this morning, we're going to define what this disease is.

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We're going to look at some of the symptoms so that we know if we have this disease.

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And then we're going to look at a prescription this morning.

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Before we can understand our condition, we need to know what we are dealing with.

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And that goes with any sin condition, whether it be pride or anger or lust.

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We need to understand that when it comes to the disease of lust, the root of it is self-pleasure.

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It's making sure that we are the center of the universe.

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That we need to be in control. That we are our own God.

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It's a thirst to make sure that we are satisfied by whatever means necessary.

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When you have a powerful, passionate, excessive craving for something, that ultimately becomes our controlling feature.

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Have you ever wanted something so badly that you made sure and got it?

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Even if it cost you more money?

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Even if it hurt yourself or your family?

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But you wanted it so badly that you didn't let anything keep you from getting it.

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That's what you were lusting after. That is evidence that you are sick.

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We need to understand that lust is not an issue with your eyes. It's all about the heart.

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We are in a spiritual war all the time and we are fighting for our hearts and souls and minds.

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So you might not have ever had an affair.

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But I'd be willing to bet that many of us, if not all of us, have lusted after people that we are not in a committed relationship with.

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So you might be able to control your external actions by avoiding an affair.

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But if you have lust in your heart, Jesus says that you are just as guilty of breaking the seventh commandment.

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Now when you have a disease or a sickness of any kind, there are going to be symptoms.

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Some of us ignore the symptoms and we just try to will ourselves to be better.

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While others understand that it's just easier to call it what it is.

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Now we have recently had the flu move through our house.

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I'm sure many of you have experienced that, the joy that comes with that.

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But we've recently had it come through our house.

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I was able to get over it pretty quickly because I just knew it was coming.

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I realized I was sick.

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I got the medicine that I needed and I just spent a day and a half to two days just resting.

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Now I've had times in my life where I was sick, but I didn't feel like I had the time to be sick.

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You ever been there?

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And so you just keep going through life ignoring the fact that you're sick.

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Now eventually I would get better, but I was for sure not as efficient with my time or energy.

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As if I just called it quits and just got better real quick.

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Do you have a disease?

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Let's take a look at some of the symptoms of lust and maybe you will be able to diagnose yourself as we go through this thing.

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One of the symptoms of lust is obvious.

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It's an obvious one.

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It's adultery.

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That's what Jesus says.

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This one is easy to spot.

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This is an easy symptom to spot.

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It would be similar to you knowing that you had food poisoning because you're throwing up.

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If you have had an affair or if you're in the middle of an affair, you are struggling with lust.

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That's easy to define.

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Now again, if you're in the midst of that, we need to be reminded of the truths that we stand on as children of God.

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It is his kindness that leads us to repentance.

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There is no condemnation in Jesus because he's already paid the penalty for our sin.

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But we also need to recognize that we have a heart issue.

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I know that there's all types of reasons why affairs happen.

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I've heard him justified many, many times, but the truth of the matter is that there is a heart issue.

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There is a pursuit of pleasure that isn't being met within the confines of marriage.

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Maybe you haven't actually followed through with the act of adultery,

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but maybe you're sitting there and you can sure understand how people get there.

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This is why we have been developing a marriage ministry here at our church.

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This is why we highly encourage you to be mentored and to join us.

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Do not wait until you get to the point where there is no more hope.

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Adultery doesn't just happen overnight.

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It's a stair step process that starts with discontent that leads you to search for fulfillment.

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Maybe it's a co-worker who's extra friendly.

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Maybe it's an old girlfriend that you come across on social media.

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But if you are not careful, that innocent step to searching for fulfillment will lead you down a path of destruction.

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If you are on that path, I would check your heart and ask God to lead you down the path of abundant life.

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That's the first symptom.

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The next symptom of lust is a feeling of always wanting more.

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More stuff, more control, more followers.

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When that is the driving force of our heart, we will do almost anything we can to get it.

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Again, remember, we're trying to fulfill a desire for pleasure that we are not getting from the Lord.

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We are not content with what the Lord has provided for us.

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We go pursue more things.

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We go pursue different things.

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I've been asked by a variety of people many times over the last few years, why in the world did you move to Iowa?

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I'm pretty sure that we left one of the most boring places in America.

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Here's how I know that.

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We lived an hour away from a large city.

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When I say city, I'm talking Lubbock, Texas.

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I'm not talking Dallas, Texas.

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Lubbock had everything we would need, but I wouldn't call it a fun place to go hang out.

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When that is the environment in which people live in, people look for things to keep themselves entertained because there's not really anything to do.

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I never experienced the phrase in real life, keeping up with the Joneses until I lived in La Mesa.

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If one family got a new vehicle, another family would have to get a new one, the exact same one, except a different color.

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By the time everyone in that group had a new car, it was time for the first person to get a new car.

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So every 18 months to two years, these friend groups would just rotate cars.

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They tried to hide it. All of a sudden, everyone had a Ford Expedition.

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A year and a half later, two years later, everybody has a Chevy Tahoe.

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A year and a half, and then somebody ups the ante.

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And then a year and a half, two years later, everybody has an Escalade.

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But then, someone got Botox.

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Well, others had to get Botox.

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They were having Botox parties.

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I don't understand it.

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Then there was this trend when we were about to leave of several people going down to Mexico, driving down to Mexico to get their stomach stapled.

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So instead of just laying off the fried chicken, they thought it was a better idea to go to Mexico and have major surgery for $800.

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All of this for a pursuit of self-pleasure.

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Always wanting more. Always wanting what others have.

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Never satisfied in the relationship with the Lord.

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If the Lord is not enough for you, nothing on this earth will ever fix that craving.

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Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, he says that God has put eternity into our hearts.

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So it is true that every human soul has a God-given awareness that there is something more than what we experience on this earth.

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And since we have that awareness of eternity, since we are aware of that, if we are not careful,

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we will try to find that fulfillment in things that cannot carry the weight.

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So that desire of always wanting more is God-given, but we mess it up by chasing after things that are not of Him.

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That's symptom number two.

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The last symptom that I'll mention this morning is pornography.

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This is an epidemic.

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And what I've learned is that this is not just an issue that affects men.

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Let me give you some statistics so you know that this is not something that we should be ignoring.

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The porn industry brings in $97 billion a year.

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Over 300 million new videos are distributed every year on the more than 100,000 pornographic websites.

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If you don't believe that Satan is behind this, many of the websites use brand names such as Disney or NBA or Nintendo

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so that children might actually come across them.

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Pornography is as addictive as any drug and it will desensitize you to reckless behavior.

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And studies are showing that it will literally rewire your brain because it stimulates the release of dopamine.

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And it will mess with your natural ability to produce dopamine.

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And so here's what happens.

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It seems to start with curiosity.

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And when we look at pornography or accidentally come across pornography, dopamine is released.

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And when that dopamine is released, studies have shown that it becomes one of your core memories that first time.

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I mean, I can remember the first time I ever saw a playboy.

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I was in the fifth grade.

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It was lunchtime.

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I remember what I was wearing.

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I had on some red basketball shorts and I had on a black Massimo T-shirt.

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Do you all remember those?

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I can tell you the month, the year and who the centerfold model was of that particular issue that I saw.

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It is a core memory of mine.

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And it all happened because one of my friends brought it to school.

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I wasn't looking for it.

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So it starts with curiosity.

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That leads to seeking it out.

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So now once the curiosity is gone, now you're seeking it out and you're looking at it more often,

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but eventually the dopamine isn't as effective as it used to be.

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So that leads you down the next path of webcams, chat rooms, things like that.

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And the next thing you know, you are buying time with someone you don't know

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so that you can get your fix of dopamine.

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And when that gets boring, your next step is you stop searching for it on the Internet

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and you start looking for actual people that you can touch

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that will give you that fulfillment that you are searching for.

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It is a dangerous road that so many people are going down.

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And the truth is that studies have shown that over half the men in church

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and about 20% of women view pornography regularly.

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The disease of lust has infected God's people and we need to be aware of it

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and we need to do all that we can to help people overcome it.

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And I think our first step is to create a place where it's okay to talk about.

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Now you kids might be mad at me right now, you parents might be mad at me right now

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because I'm going to challenge you to go have a conversation with each other when we're done here.

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But I would encourage you parents to talk to your children about this topic frequently.

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But I want you to do this, keep in mind Romans chapter 2 verse 4,

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it is his kindness that leads us to repentance.

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Don't create a hostile environment where they just become better at hiding it.

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Walk with them through that process, create open dialogue.

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It will be awkward.

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Just come to terms with it, it will be awkward,

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but it is necessary for the mental health of our children.

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I'd be willing to bet that any child, eight or over,

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eight or over has been exposed at some level to pornography.

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Not my baby, not my baby.

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I'd be willing to bet they have.

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So we need to pull our heads out of the sand and face it head on.

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We just renewed our subscription to Covenant Eyes.

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I thought about making it really easy and putting the link on the screen so that you could sign up.

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Covenant Eyes is a program that you put on your phone,

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put it on your kids phone, put it on your computer, and it monitors your activity.

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It lets you know, lets an accountability partner that you know keep you accountable.

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So that as you search for things, it can come across things that notifies the accountability partner that you choose

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so that they can help walk with you through that.

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If we can help you take that step, then please speak with me and I will help you get signed up right after this service.

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And here's how I would encourage you to deal with it. Here's the prescription.

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If you realize, if you realize that you're sick,

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then my encouragement will be to you for you to consider and apply the following treatment.

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The first step to getting over the disease of lust is to admit our condition.

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That always seems to be step one, doesn't it?

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It's having to admit that we are sick and need some help.

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Do you remember the prodigal son, Luke chapter 15?

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He squandered all of his inheritance after he insulted his father.

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Then he came to the realization in the middle of Pigfils that it would be better for him

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if he would just go back and be one of his father's workers than to be in his current situation.

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He gave himself a little speech, he practiced his speech, and then he began the journey home.

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He had hit rock bottom, but when he did he realized that he needed help.

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So step one is to admit our condition. So as I was going through the symptoms,

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did you realize that this is an area in which you struggle?

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My next question is, do you think Satan is lying to you right now

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by telling you all kinds of things like this isn't a big deal? Don't worry about it.

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You can overcome this on your own.

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If you say anything, people are going to think less of you.

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Don't let them lie to you.

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I'm going to encourage you right now to heed Paul's words in 2 Corinthians chapter 10

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to take every thought captive and trust the Lord as he speaks to your heart.

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Step two is that we need to slay our sinful desires.

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We must approach the slaying of these sensual desires with the same passion as Phineas.

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You know Phineas? He was a man that took a stand on God's holiness.

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I want you to listen to this passage from Numbers chapter 25 starting in verse 6.

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It says,

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He told the people of Israel and brought a Midianite woman to his family in the sight of Moses

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and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel

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while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting.

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When Phineas, the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it,

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he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand

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and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them,

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the man of Israel and the woman through her belly.

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Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped.

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Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were 24,000.

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And the Lord said to Moses, Phineas, the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest,

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has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel

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in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them

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so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy.

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Therefore say, Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace

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and that shall be to him and to his descendants after him

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the covenant of perpetual priesthood

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because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.

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So what's going on in that story is that the Israelites, the church people,

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had become so immoral, so immersed in adultery,

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so immersed in idolatry that they proudly strutted their sins

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before Moses and before the church,

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challenging them to act in defense of God's holiness.

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But Phineas took a stand, not Moses took a stand,

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Phineas took a stand and said in his heart, No more.

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I will defend God's honor and his actions turned away

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the wrath of God towards his people.

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Any time that we see these desires begin to awaken in our lives,

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we need to grab our spear and thrust it right through them

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because they have no place in the life of a Christian

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and they bring dishonor to God.

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And there is Paul says, The reason that God's wrath is coming.

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God said Phineas has turned away my anger from the Israelites

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for he was jealous for my honor.

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Are you jealous for God's honor?

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Paul says in Colossians chapter 3 that we are not to just put them aside.

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We're not just to wound them.

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We're not just to ask them to leave.

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We're not to play around with them.

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We're not to rationalize or explain them away,

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but rather we are to kill them.

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We are to thrust our spear through them

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because we know that if we allow them to live,

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then we will die and our faith will be destroyed.

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Slay those desires.

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Step 3 is to think on things above.

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Paul also says in Colossians chapter 3 that we as believers

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are to set our minds on things that are above,

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not things that are on this earth.

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Now before Sinai and I were moving up here to Iowa,

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we knew nothing about Iowa.

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We had to look at a map to see where it was.

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We had a general idea, but not really.

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I knew that there was corn,

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and I knew there was a famous baseball field.

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That's really all I knew.

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It was interesting as we were going through this process

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and to our families that as soon as we said we're moving up here,

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they started hearing all kinds of things about Iowa.

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They heard on the news, they recognized congressmen

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that were from Iowa.

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It was on our minds.

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Isn't it funny how we become aware of something,

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and once we become aware of something,

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how often we notice it around us?

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If what you think about is overcoming an addiction

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and look for ways to get help,

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that will only take you so far.

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Maybe pornography wasn't on your radar,

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and you've never thought about it.

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And if all I did today was to make you think about it

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and not do anything with it,

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then I have failed you this morning.

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We have to keep in mind that this addiction,

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this disease is earthly.

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We have to shift our mindset.

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We have to replace it with the things of God.

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When I was in college, so fifth grade to college,

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and I was in the middle of my addiction to pornography,

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I was challenged to read through Psalm 119.

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So a little every day I would read through Psalm 119.

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And think about the law of God.

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Think about why it was good.

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A few verses every day completely changed my outlook,

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and it got my mind on a place besides my sickness.

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Every time I was tempted,

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I would open up that chapter,

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read a few verses, pray through those verses,

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or I would write down things that I remembered

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about the goodness of God in my life.

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I would stop listening to my choices of music

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and I would listen to worship music.

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Now those little steps completely changed my life

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because it kept my focus on him and not on me.

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That doesn't mean I haven't struggled since,

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but now I know how to fight it.

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Keep your mind on things above.

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The final step of this prescription is to help someone else overcome.

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There are those of you in this room that have overcome

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some serious addictions,

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but you haven't taken a step to help and walk with someone else through theirs.

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Sometimes it will help you be stronger if you were helping someone else.

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When someone else is relying on you for guidance,

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you take things a little more seriously

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because we are not meant to battle these things on our own.

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As I was getting ready for this morning,

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I was sitting in my office and I was thinking to myself,

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how can I make it as uncomfortable and as awkward as possible?

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Hmm, I'm just kidding.

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But I was challenged by one of our elders this week.

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He asked me the question, how do you want people to grow?

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As a pastor, Daniel, how do you want people in our church to grow?

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It's a question I haven't thought about in a while.

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But here's how I want us to grow.

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I want us to make our faith tangible.

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We come week after week and we learn and consume and we learn and consume

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and we study our Bibles and we go to Bible studies and we sing worship songs

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and we do all these things that we know we're supposed to do because we're Christians.

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But we don't do anything with it.

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I want us to get better at that.

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So I'm going to make it a little uncomfortable for some of you.

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And I'm going to ask you to be bold and obedient to the Lord.

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But there are some people in this room that have overcome an addiction to pornography.

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Maybe it's 20 years ago.

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Maybe it was, maybe it's more recent.

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And you found freedom from that addiction.

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There are some of you in this room potentially that have lived and survived an affair.

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Whether you were the one that committed the adultery or you were the spouse that was the victim.

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You've lived through it and you've overcome it.

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But here's what I know for sure.

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There's people in this room that struggle with pornography and it's hard to admit that.

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And so if you've overcome that's addiction.

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If you've overcome and survived an affair, I'm going to ask you to stand.

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And I want you, if you're still seated, I want you to look around.

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And if you're struggling in the midst of your addiction today, in the midst of your heartbreak,

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I want you to look at one of these people.

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I want you to grab them after the service, grab them during our time of worship and ask them to help you.

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And if you're standing, I'm going to ask you to be willing to help.

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Help walk somebody through this heartache and addiction.

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You can be seated.

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We need to be better as a church of caring for our people.

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Walking with our people.

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And so I'm going to pray for us.

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We're going to sing one more song.

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We're going to ask the Lord to speak to us.

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But if you need help, we're here to help you.

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If you need prayer, we're here to pray for you.

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If you need covenant eyes, just come and tell me afterwards.

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Send me a text message.

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I'll send you the log in.

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Don't walk out of here carrying the same amount of shame because of your addiction that you did when you came in here.

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Walk out of here free.

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Let's pray.

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Father God, I pray right now that as we sing and respond to you, as we respond to your word, I pray, Father, that you speak to our hearts.

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I pray that you'll protect our minds from the lies that the enemy is going to be telling us, that we can do this on our own, that we can do this apart from you.

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And so I've got to pray that as we respond and as we just sit here and dwell on your word, that you will speak to every single heart, that your kindness will lead them to repentance.

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That they will be reminded that there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

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That you came to bring us abundant life.

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And so Father, I pray that people will get on that path today.

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That path towards abundant life as we follow you.

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Help us be a church that surrounds those who are in need.

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I pray you do great things.

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Amen.