WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.009 Shall we pray? Verse one said, follow God's example, 00:00:04.009 --> 00:00:06.710 therefore, as dearly loved children and live 00:00:06.710 --> 00:00:11.490 a life of love. Lord God, we thank you that we 00:00:11.490 --> 00:00:14.400 are your dearly loved children. And would you 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:17.960 teach us what it is to follow your example in 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:21.160 each of our lives? And so we open ourselves now 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:25.949 to sit under your word and to let your spirit 00:00:25.949 --> 00:00:31.019 work in us. And so, Lord, we pray, come and transform 00:00:31.019 --> 00:00:35.270 each one of us for your glory. And we pray this 00:00:35.270 --> 00:00:41.210 in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Well, it's really, 00:00:41.329 --> 00:00:43.170 really great to be with you. It's a real treat 00:00:43.170 --> 00:00:46.189 and an honour to be invited in to be here. The 00:00:46.189 --> 00:00:48.329 picture I'd love you just to sort of start to 00:00:48.329 --> 00:00:50.609 have in your minds at the start is just a picture, 00:00:50.689 --> 00:00:52.869 a sort of show home. I live near... Battersea 00:00:52.869 --> 00:00:55.049 Power Station. And I don't know if you've been 00:00:55.049 --> 00:00:56.609 to Battersea Power Station, but it's been amazingly 00:00:56.609 --> 00:00:59.250 redone a few years ago. And there's loads of 00:00:59.250 --> 00:01:01.250 luxury sort of flats all around Battersea Power 00:01:01.250 --> 00:01:03.509 Station. And what they did to, when they were 00:01:03.509 --> 00:01:04.950 doing the whole redevelopment, what they did 00:01:04.950 --> 00:01:07.090 to sell all these flats, these luxury flats, 00:01:07.209 --> 00:01:09.150 was they, before any of them being actually properly 00:01:09.150 --> 00:01:12.109 made, they made one show home. They made one 00:01:12.109 --> 00:01:14.650 sort of show flat. And they basically made this 00:01:14.650 --> 00:01:16.390 one show flat so they could then sort of say, 00:01:16.430 --> 00:01:18.209 look, this is what it's going to look like. Isn't 00:01:18.209 --> 00:01:21.349 it amazing? Look at this. You want to buy this 00:01:21.349 --> 00:01:23.250 whilst the rest of the site was still a complete 00:01:23.250 --> 00:01:26.010 sort of bombsite and rubble everywhere. And in 00:01:26.010 --> 00:01:29.390 a sense, what God is doing is saying the church 00:01:29.390 --> 00:01:34.469 is my show home. The church is my show flat. 00:01:34.569 --> 00:01:37.189 The church is my pilot scheme for what I am doing 00:01:37.189 --> 00:01:39.609 in the whole universe, which I long to grow and 00:01:39.609 --> 00:01:43.390 grow through time. The church is the place where 00:01:43.390 --> 00:01:46.129 God is declaring to all the world what God is 00:01:46.129 --> 00:01:49.730 doing in the world. And that is a big claim, 00:01:49.790 --> 00:01:51.870 I know. You know, for me as a Church of England 00:01:51.870 --> 00:01:54.069 minister, it's a bit depressing when I sort of 00:01:54.069 --> 00:01:55.969 look at the state of the Church of England. The 00:01:55.969 --> 00:01:57.810 Church of England doesn't look much like that 00:01:57.810 --> 00:02:01.670 sort of show home. But the idea of Ephesians 00:02:01.670 --> 00:02:04.170 is Paul is saying people should look at us, the 00:02:04.170 --> 00:02:07.530 church, and say, I want some of that. And it's 00:02:07.530 --> 00:02:09.270 why, as I'm sure you know, as you get to the 00:02:09.270 --> 00:02:11.949 end of the first half of the letter of Ephesians, 00:02:12.030 --> 00:02:14.830 Paul famously prays, now to him who is able to 00:02:14.830 --> 00:02:17.389 do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine 00:02:17.389 --> 00:02:19.569 according to his power that is at work within 00:02:19.569 --> 00:02:24.169 us, to him be glory, where? In the church and 00:02:24.169 --> 00:02:26.469 in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever 00:02:26.469 --> 00:02:29.889 and ever. It's a prayer that we, the church, 00:02:30.169 --> 00:02:32.990 are a demonstration of the glory of God to the 00:02:32.990 --> 00:02:36.569 world around us. We, the church, are to be that 00:02:36.569 --> 00:02:41.289 show home. And really the second half of Ephesians 00:02:41.289 --> 00:02:44.830 is the application of that, is for the church 00:02:44.830 --> 00:02:49.530 to live up to that vision. And in chapter 5 that 00:02:49.530 --> 00:02:52.689 we're looking at now, the sort of main thing 00:02:52.689 --> 00:02:56.270 is it's in reference to sexual purity and to 00:02:56.270 --> 00:02:59.919 marriage. Now, it'd be easy for me to use this 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:02.539 time in Ephesians 5 to point the finger. I'm 00:03:02.539 --> 00:03:04.759 part of the alliance. Let's get on our high horse 00:03:04.759 --> 00:03:06.780 and critique those with a revisionist theology 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:09.819 mindset and lifestyle in terms of sex and marriage. 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:11.759 But I want us to just apply it to ourselves. 00:03:12.539 --> 00:03:14.479 Let's not be pointing the finger now so much 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:18.219 as to apply Ephesians 5 to ourselves. How does 00:03:18.219 --> 00:03:21.300 it apply to us? How does it challenge each one 00:03:21.300 --> 00:03:25.870 of us? So picture the scene, if you would. This 00:03:25.870 --> 00:03:27.349 took place quite a while ago. It was before I'd 00:03:27.349 --> 00:03:29.770 even met Susanna. I was living in Clapham, but 00:03:29.770 --> 00:03:32.389 I was working as a management consultant. And 00:03:32.389 --> 00:03:35.689 I was staying at this swanky hotel for a week 00:03:35.689 --> 00:03:38.330 with about 20 other people in the company. Unlike 00:03:38.330 --> 00:03:41.090 now, the economy was good. Business was good. 00:03:41.330 --> 00:03:44.210 The hotel bar was open. The drinks were free. 00:03:44.370 --> 00:03:46.469 The drinks were flowing. Everybody was getting 00:03:46.469 --> 00:03:50.430 drunk, everyone except me. Now, I was tempted 00:03:50.430 --> 00:03:52.710 to get drunk, very tempted to fit in. It would 00:03:52.710 --> 00:03:55.389 have been fun, I thought. But after a couple 00:03:55.389 --> 00:03:58.250 of hours of chatting to drunk people who worked 00:03:58.250 --> 00:04:01.629 with me, I went off to bed in my hotel, in my 00:04:01.629 --> 00:04:05.110 room in the hotel, and I reflected. And I thought, 00:04:05.110 --> 00:04:09.430 living for Jesus, it's a little bit boring. Still, 00:04:09.530 --> 00:04:12.250 my hotel room was pretty good. The bed was so 00:04:12.250 --> 00:04:15.750 big, it was wider than it was long, and I decided 00:04:15.750 --> 00:04:17.589 to have a quick sort of time praying and reading 00:04:17.589 --> 00:04:20.310 the Bible before I went to bed. I failed to do 00:04:20.310 --> 00:04:22.110 that so far that day. So there I was, you can 00:04:22.110 --> 00:04:24.110 picture it, an angelic picture if I must say 00:04:24.110 --> 00:04:28.029 so. I was in my pajamas, 11 p .m. at night, reading 00:04:28.029 --> 00:04:32.189 my Bible, angelic, when suddenly there was a 00:04:32.189 --> 00:04:35.670 knock on the door. And in came a rather attractive 00:04:35.670 --> 00:04:38.649 colleague. And she sprawled herself across my 00:04:38.649 --> 00:04:41.949 bed, the one that was wider than it was long. 00:04:42.850 --> 00:04:46.209 Now, I was tempted to take her up on her advances, 00:04:46.350 --> 00:04:50.399 very tempted. But I didn't. It would have been 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:53.980 fun, I thought. But after encouraging her to 00:04:53.980 --> 00:04:56.920 head off to her own room, I sat back in my bed 00:04:56.920 --> 00:05:01.769 and reflected. Living for Jesus, I thought, it's 00:05:01.769 --> 00:05:08.120 a little bit boring. Today, in a sense, I want 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:11.240 to answer two questions connected to that little 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:14.579 incident in my early 20s. First, was I right 00:05:14.579 --> 00:05:17.759 to be bothered about sexual purity? And second, 00:05:17.899 --> 00:05:21.360 if I was right that sexual purity is important 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:23.939 for the Christian, is there a good reason for 00:05:23.939 --> 00:05:27.110 that? Why is it important? So if you like, we're 00:05:27.110 --> 00:05:30.930 thinking about the what and the why of sexual 00:05:30.930 --> 00:05:34.360 purity. So first of all, sexual purity, the what. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:36.699 I think it's best summarized in verses three 00:05:36.699 --> 00:05:38.160 and four. If you look at verses three and four, 00:05:38.180 --> 00:05:40.019 have a look at verse three first. Verse three, 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:43.560 Paul says, but among you, there must not be even 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:48.339 a hint of sexual immorality. Now that's the porneia 00:05:48.339 --> 00:05:50.500 word, which when you look, I'm sure you know 00:05:50.500 --> 00:05:52.259 it all the times that it's used in the New Testament. 00:05:52.259 --> 00:05:53.819 You can see clearly what it means. It's referring 00:05:53.819 --> 00:05:57.060 to any sexual activity outside of lifelong exclusive 00:05:57.060 --> 00:06:00.439 marriage between a man and a woman, whether extramarital 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:04.310 or premarital. But just look at how verse 3 continues. 00:06:04.389 --> 00:06:06.470 It says, but among you there must not be even 00:06:06.470 --> 00:06:10.009 a hint of sexual immorality or of any kind of 00:06:10.009 --> 00:06:13.670 impurity or of greed because these are improper 00:06:13.670 --> 00:06:17.870 for God's holy people. So if sexual immorality, 00:06:17.910 --> 00:06:19.750 the porneia word, is more about our actions, 00:06:19.750 --> 00:06:23.250 our sexual activity outside of marriage, then 00:06:23.250 --> 00:06:27.509 impurity and greed are about our thinking sexually, 00:06:27.730 --> 00:06:30.540 about our thoughts. rather than our actions. 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:32.660 Even that greed word, it's likely that it's referring 00:06:32.660 --> 00:06:35.319 to greed in a sort of sexual context. In other 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:37.379 words, a sort of greedy desire that we might 00:06:37.379 --> 00:06:39.759 have in our thoughts to have more of somebody's 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:41.899 body for selfish sexual gratification. That could 00:06:41.899 --> 00:06:44.259 include a whole host of things. Lustful feelings, 00:06:44.579 --> 00:06:49.089 lustful glances, the desire for porn. And so 00:06:49.089 --> 00:06:51.850 we move from impure actions in the first half 00:06:51.850 --> 00:06:55.230 of verse 3 to impure thoughts in the second half 00:06:55.230 --> 00:06:57.310 of verse 3, and then we move to impure words 00:06:57.310 --> 00:07:01.569 in verse 4. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish 00:07:01.569 --> 00:07:04.629 talk, or coarse joking, which are out of place, 00:07:04.709 --> 00:07:09.490 but rather thanksgiving. So here, if you like, 00:07:09.569 --> 00:07:12.290 is the what of sexual purity. It includes our 00:07:12.290 --> 00:07:17.810 actions, our thoughts, and our words. And it 00:07:17.810 --> 00:07:20.990 all flows from an understanding sex is good. 00:07:21.579 --> 00:07:24.259 Sex is so good, so precious, that it's only to 00:07:24.259 --> 00:07:26.939 take place in the context of an emotional engagement 00:07:26.939 --> 00:07:29.300 and commitment of a marriage between a husband 00:07:29.300 --> 00:07:33.550 and wife. And here's what we may need to remember, 00:07:33.709 --> 00:07:36.449 I think. Too often, I think, in Christian circles 00:07:36.449 --> 00:07:40.529 particularly, too often the view is, get married, 00:07:40.689 --> 00:07:44.420 you're able to have sex, and all your problems 00:07:44.420 --> 00:07:48.139 of being sexually impure evaporate. I think that's 00:07:48.139 --> 00:07:49.500 so often what we think. I don't know how many 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:50.920 of you here are single, how many are married, 00:07:50.980 --> 00:07:52.579 but I think so often we think that in Christian 00:07:52.579 --> 00:07:55.480 circles. We get married and the problems of sexual 00:07:55.480 --> 00:07:59.269 impurity evaporate. Not true. Sexual impurity 00:07:59.269 --> 00:08:02.829 is all too rife amongst married people. I am 00:08:02.829 --> 00:08:06.250 one, I can tell you that. It's all too rife in 00:08:06.250 --> 00:08:09.689 our actions, in our thoughts, or in our words. 00:08:10.329 --> 00:08:13.730 And the truth is that our past has an uncanny 00:08:13.730 --> 00:08:16.829 knack of showing up in our present and our future. 00:08:17.339 --> 00:08:20.100 If we were sexually impure in the past as a single 00:08:20.100 --> 00:08:24.050 person, getting married does not cure it. I so 00:08:24.050 --> 00:08:27.430 often see it partially in myself and in others. 00:08:27.750 --> 00:08:31.509 To give you one example of myself, someone that 00:08:31.509 --> 00:08:34.049 I used to think about far too much in a sort 00:08:34.049 --> 00:08:37.309 of romantic way as a single person. After Susanna 00:08:37.309 --> 00:08:40.110 and I got married, this other person that I used 00:08:40.110 --> 00:08:42.309 to think about far too much, she kept on cropping 00:08:42.309 --> 00:08:45.850 up in my dreams in the first year of Susanna 00:08:45.850 --> 00:08:49.000 and my marriage. And it was the most difficult 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:52.100 thing about our first year of marriage. As when 00:08:52.100 --> 00:08:54.139 I was honest with Susanna, told her what was 00:08:54.139 --> 00:08:56.539 happening, Susanna therefore discovered that 00:08:56.539 --> 00:08:59.360 her husband, her new husband, was regularly dreaming 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:03.440 about somebody else. Or to give you another example, 00:09:03.539 --> 00:09:06.559 Susanna and I, we meet so many married couples 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:10.700 at HTC, our church, where the use of porn by 00:09:10.700 --> 00:09:13.299 one of the couple is having a major negative 00:09:13.299 --> 00:09:16.129 impact on their marriage. Sometimes the use of 00:09:16.129 --> 00:09:19.250 porn in the present, but sometimes use of porn 00:09:19.250 --> 00:09:22.509 solely in the past, but which impacts the ability 00:09:22.509 --> 00:09:25.370 now for the couple in the present to know intimacy. 00:09:26.659 --> 00:09:29.039 So for those of you who are single here today 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:31.980 and you'd like to get married, can I encourage 00:09:31.980 --> 00:09:35.799 you, have your main focus not so much on finding 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:39.340 the right person to marry, but rather focus on 00:09:39.340 --> 00:09:43.919 becoming the right person yourself. And all of 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:48.200 us here, Orthodox, theologically sound as a pound 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:50.179 Oak Hill types. I'm not quite as sound as a pound. 00:09:50.200 --> 00:09:53.019 I went to Wycliffe, I know. Whatever our relational 00:09:53.019 --> 00:09:56.220 status, it is a challenge, this. These words 00:09:56.220 --> 00:09:58.259 of Paul, they are a challenge. He says, flee 00:09:58.259 --> 00:10:03.139 from inappropriate actions, thoughts, and words. 00:10:03.820 --> 00:10:05.220 I mean, just look at verse three again. Among 00:10:05.220 --> 00:10:09.539 you, there must not even be a hint of sexual 00:10:09.539 --> 00:10:15.379 immorality or any kind of impurity. That is a 00:10:15.379 --> 00:10:19.490 major challenge to me. Not a hint, not any kind. 00:10:20.350 --> 00:10:23.809 It's worth each of us asking, where is there 00:10:23.809 --> 00:10:29.730 a hint for you? So that is, if you like, the 00:10:29.730 --> 00:10:32.570 what of sexual purity. But now, perhaps more 00:10:32.570 --> 00:10:36.250 importantly, we need to answer the why. Why is 00:10:36.250 --> 00:10:41.230 this what God wants? And to answer that, I want 00:10:41.230 --> 00:10:43.350 you to see the word in our passage that comes 00:10:43.350 --> 00:10:46.580 three times. The word has been translated live, 00:10:46.779 --> 00:10:49.539 but it's actually the Greek word peripeteo, which 00:10:49.539 --> 00:10:52.500 means to walk. The same word has been used twice 00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:56.220 by Paul in chapter 4. And each time that Paul 00:10:56.220 --> 00:10:59.679 uses this word, he's giving a reason why we should 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:01.960 walk down, as it were, we should walk down the 00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:04.700 road of life well, rather than sort of falling 00:11:04.700 --> 00:11:07.759 into the ditch of sexual impurity. So let me 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:10.000 just point out these three times where he says 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:13.100 this word live, literally walk. The first one, 00:11:13.179 --> 00:11:15.919 the first reason why, the why of sexual purity 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:20.019 is to walk a life of love. So if you look at 00:11:20.019 --> 00:11:23.309 verse one, verse one, Paul writes, follow God's 00:11:23.309 --> 00:11:26.169 example, therefore, as dearly loved children 00:11:26.169 --> 00:11:30.830 and live or literally walk a life of love. So 00:11:30.830 --> 00:11:33.529 the motive for sexual purity here is that you 00:11:33.529 --> 00:11:37.490 are loved. You're loved. That's how we started 00:11:37.490 --> 00:11:40.399 the whole service today. You're loved. Look at 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:43.259 verse one, dearly loved children, live, walk 00:11:43.259 --> 00:11:46.659 a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave 00:11:46.659 --> 00:11:49.980 himself up for us. You see, if it is just a list 00:11:49.980 --> 00:11:52.460 of rules that's stopping me from sexual immorality, 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:55.379 if it's just a legalistic obedience to a killjoy 00:11:55.379 --> 00:11:58.240 God, when it comes to sex, the rules do not work 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:01.470 because sex is so powerful. The only way that 00:12:01.470 --> 00:12:05.070 you or I have a hope of being pure in the sexual 00:12:05.070 --> 00:12:08.490 arena is if we are walking through life in the 00:12:08.490 --> 00:12:12.610 light of God's great love for us in Jesus. Now, 00:12:12.690 --> 00:12:15.690 it is true that if we consistently, unrepentantly, 00:12:15.710 --> 00:12:18.370 are sexually immoral, impure, and greedy, verse 00:12:18.370 --> 00:12:21.370 5, then we have the warning of God's judgment. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:24.179 It's why, having been, Paul having been sort 00:12:24.179 --> 00:12:27.740 of so keen on unity in chapter 4, we see Paul 00:12:27.740 --> 00:12:30.519 saying in verse 7, do not be partners with them. 00:12:31.629 --> 00:12:34.090 But fundamentally, God is not a grumpy policeman 00:12:34.090 --> 00:12:36.490 policing our sex lives. God fundamentally, he 00:12:36.490 --> 00:12:40.389 is a lover. A lover who puts his life on the 00:12:40.389 --> 00:12:44.019 line for you and me. So why should we walk a 00:12:44.019 --> 00:12:47.740 life of love? Not because we are sort of begrudgingly 00:12:47.740 --> 00:12:49.740 trying to tick the purity boxes of a killjoy 00:12:49.740 --> 00:12:52.639 God, but because we're loved by God. We're loved 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:56.240 by him passionately and faithfully. And if we 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:58.360 want to understand that love a bit more, we just 00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:00.399 need to look to the end of the chapter past our 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:03.460 reading where this love word is used seven times 00:13:03.460 --> 00:13:08.980 more. Just look at verse 25. Husbands, love your 00:13:08.980 --> 00:13:12.120 wives just as Christ loved the church and gave 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:14.679 himself up for it. It's exactly the same phrasing 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:16.460 in the Greek as in verse 2. Look back at verse 00:13:16.460 --> 00:13:19.320 2. Live a life of love just as Christ loved us 00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:22.580 and gave himself up for us. Same phrasing as 00:13:22.580 --> 00:13:26.230 in verse 25. So how did Jesus love the church? 00:13:26.970 --> 00:13:29.289 Christ did not boss the church. Christ did not 00:13:29.289 --> 00:13:31.409 oppress the church. Christ did not exploit the 00:13:31.409 --> 00:13:33.570 church. Christ did not look to sort of rule over 00:13:33.570 --> 00:13:35.470 the church in a sort of dictatorial fashion. 00:13:35.649 --> 00:13:38.429 No, what did Jesus do? Jesus gave himself up 00:13:38.429 --> 00:13:40.509 for the church. He took his body to the cross 00:13:40.509 --> 00:13:43.029 to be nailed there because of his great love 00:13:43.029 --> 00:13:46.850 for the church, for you and for me. The picture 00:13:46.850 --> 00:13:50.250 that the Bible paints is that for me, for any 00:13:50.250 --> 00:13:52.629 men here who are husbands or one day will be 00:13:52.629 --> 00:13:55.259 husbands, we're to be prepared to, as it were, 00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:59.100 be crucified for our wives. Quite simply, none 00:13:59.100 --> 00:14:01.620 of us will understand how this works unless we 00:14:01.620 --> 00:14:05.080 see Jesus as the ultimate husband, the ultimate 00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:07.659 lover. Because, of course, that's what Paul goes 00:14:07.659 --> 00:14:10.259 on to write. Verse 32, this is a profound mystery, 00:14:10.460 --> 00:14:13.000 but I'm talking about Christ and the church. 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:16.840 Paul's saying all along his primary focus hasn't 00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:18.559 been so much on the relationship between husband 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:20.860 and wife, but on the relationship between Christ 00:14:20.860 --> 00:14:22.779 and the church. And for every single one of us, 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:25.789 Jesus Christ, Not any spouse that we may or may 00:14:25.789 --> 00:14:28.909 not have, but for every one of us, Jesus is the 00:14:28.909 --> 00:14:31.529 ultimate lover, the only person who can give 00:14:31.529 --> 00:14:34.809 us perfect love, complete affirmation, total 00:14:34.809 --> 00:14:40.830 security. And it is because you are loved, it's 00:14:40.929 --> 00:14:44.190 because of his perfect love for you and me, it's 00:14:44.190 --> 00:14:47.129 because you are loved that therefore we want 00:14:47.129 --> 00:14:50.610 to please him through living lives of sexual 00:14:50.610 --> 00:14:55.559 purity. So that's the first reason. You're loved, 00:14:55.639 --> 00:14:59.019 so walk a life of love. Here's the second reason. 00:14:59.139 --> 00:15:02.159 We don't just walk a life of love, but we also 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:05.940 walk as a child of light. We walk as a child 00:15:05.940 --> 00:15:07.860 of light. Have a look, if you would, at verse 00:15:07.860 --> 00:15:11.309 8. Look at verse 8. Verse 8. For you were once 00:15:11.309 --> 00:15:15.340 darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. 00:15:15.980 --> 00:15:20.500 Live, or literally walk, as children of light. 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:23.960 So the motive here for sexual purity is that 00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:27.980 we look back to our own fruitless deeds of darkness 00:15:27.980 --> 00:15:30.480 of the past, as Paul calls them, verse 11. And 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:34.120 we say, that is not me now. We say, I am transformed 00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:37.860 by Jesus. We say, I am now a child of light. 00:15:37.980 --> 00:15:40.440 The transformation in us is staggering. It is 00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:43.259 as radical as transforming from darkness to light. 00:15:43.340 --> 00:15:45.340 And we're called to live out what we are now. 00:15:45.399 --> 00:15:48.779 You are light, says Paul. Live as children of 00:15:48.779 --> 00:15:54.240 light. I have an embarrassing habit of crying 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:56.679 at inappropriate times, like once I had to be 00:15:56.679 --> 00:15:59.840 told to be quiet by an air stewardess on a plane 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:01.860 because I was sniffing far too loudly as I was 00:16:01.860 --> 00:16:04.220 crying with my headphones on watching a film. 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:06.980 Embarrassingly, the film was The Princess Bride. 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:11.299 But, you know, I once gave a talk where Susanna 00:16:11.299 --> 00:16:13.679 and I actually gave this talk together where 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:16.139 I cried in the middle of a talk for a very different 00:16:16.139 --> 00:16:18.960 reason. It was a talk to about 80 teenagers. 00:16:19.539 --> 00:16:22.220 But in those 80 teenagers, there were about three 00:16:22.220 --> 00:16:24.600 or four boys who were about 16 years old who 00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:26.000 thought they were pretty cool, pretty tough. 00:16:26.259 --> 00:16:28.100 And they were asking all sorts of questions, 00:16:28.200 --> 00:16:30.299 like if it wasn't okay to have sex outside of 00:16:30.299 --> 00:16:32.399 marriage as a Christian, was it okay for them 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:33.919 to do all sorts of intimate things with their 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:36.740 girlfriends? And as this happened, I just burst 00:16:36.740 --> 00:16:40.909 into tears. And here's the reason I cried. I 00:16:40.909 --> 00:16:44.269 cried because I knew how much hurt would be caused 00:16:44.269 --> 00:16:48.629 by the actions of these boys. Hurt to other people. 00:16:49.259 --> 00:16:52.740 but also hurt to themselves. And it pained me. 00:16:53.080 --> 00:16:55.360 It pained me because I knew how much hurt it 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:57.620 had caused Susanna and me in the past, that both 00:16:57.620 --> 00:17:00.059 of us, in various ways, although we'd never had 00:17:00.059 --> 00:17:02.899 sex before we got married, we'd done things sexually 00:17:02.899 --> 00:17:05.660 with other people that were too intimate, which 00:17:05.660 --> 00:17:07.859 had hurt other people and had hurt ourselves. 00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:11.180 And so I cried that day because I was reminded 00:17:11.180 --> 00:17:15.750 of the darkness and the hurt of the past. Now, 00:17:15.750 --> 00:17:18.920 all of us will be far older. than those 16 -year 00:17:18.920 --> 00:17:22.920 -old boys. But it is still exactly the same message 00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:28.339 to us all. You are transformed by Jesus as a 00:17:28.339 --> 00:17:31.240 Christian. You have been transformed, so live 00:17:31.240 --> 00:17:34.859 as a child of light. Don't go back to the darkness. 00:17:36.769 --> 00:17:39.269 I think of someone at HTC, he came to faith in 00:17:39.269 --> 00:17:42.829 Jesus recently, about 12 or 16 months ago, something 00:17:42.829 --> 00:17:46.109 like that. Beforehand, he'd been regularly paying 00:17:46.109 --> 00:17:48.990 for sex with escorts. He'd been regularly using 00:17:48.990 --> 00:17:53.130 porn, regularly using cocaine, all sorts. And 00:17:53.130 --> 00:17:54.930 recently he gave his testimony. And this is what 00:17:54.930 --> 00:17:57.250 he said in his testimony. He said, my life has 00:17:57.250 --> 00:18:00.529 transformed completely. My life is now enriched 00:18:00.529 --> 00:18:03.509 by a living, breathing Christian community. I 00:18:03.509 --> 00:18:05.789 wake each day with peace, purpose, and the certainty 00:18:05.789 --> 00:18:08.789 that I'm loved, chosen, and never alone. I've 00:18:08.789 --> 00:18:11.930 been reborn. It's eight months since God called 00:18:11.930 --> 00:18:14.470 me to follow his son. And since that awakening, 00:18:14.529 --> 00:18:17.509 I haven't paid for sex or ingested nicotine. 00:18:18.069 --> 00:18:24.150 That can't be coincidence. So why sexual purity? 00:18:25.390 --> 00:18:28.769 It's not because God is a killjoy, but it's because 00:18:28.769 --> 00:18:32.750 as a Christian, you are transformed. Jesus has 00:18:32.750 --> 00:18:35.170 done the transforming in us, and light is so 00:18:35.170 --> 00:18:37.930 much better than darkness. Walk as a child of 00:18:37.930 --> 00:18:41.190 light, says Paul. Walk as a child of light in 00:18:41.190 --> 00:18:43.930 terms of our thoughts, our actions, our words, 00:18:43.950 --> 00:18:46.369 because God wants the best for me. He wants the 00:18:46.369 --> 00:18:48.509 best for you. He wants the best for every person 00:18:48.509 --> 00:18:54.170 on this planet. And then thirdly, we walk as 00:18:55.230 --> 00:18:58.849 a wise person. We walk as a wise person. Verse 00:18:58.849 --> 00:19:03.130 15. Verse 15, Paul says, be very careful then 00:19:03.130 --> 00:19:07.470 how you live, literally, how you walk, not as 00:19:07.470 --> 00:19:10.930 unwise, but as wise, making the most of every 00:19:10.930 --> 00:19:13.410 opportunity because the days are evil. Therefore, 00:19:13.490 --> 00:19:16.710 do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's 00:19:16.710 --> 00:19:21.609 will is. And perhaps one of the most unwise things 00:19:21.609 --> 00:19:23.470 that we can do when it comes to sexual purity 00:19:23.470 --> 00:19:25.670 comes in the next verse, verse 18, do not get 00:19:25.670 --> 00:19:29.950 drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. I know 00:19:29.950 --> 00:19:32.170 personally that for myself, most of the times 00:19:32.170 --> 00:19:34.670 in life, when I've most clearly fallen into the 00:19:34.670 --> 00:19:37.410 ditch of sexual impurity, alcohol has played 00:19:37.410 --> 00:19:40.329 a part in proceedings. And just look at the contrast. 00:19:40.569 --> 00:19:44.630 If the catalyst for sexual impurity is being 00:19:44.630 --> 00:19:47.349 filled with alcohol, The catalyst for sexual 00:19:47.349 --> 00:19:49.710 purity is being filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:19:50.569 --> 00:19:52.970 Verse 18, don't get drunk on wine, which leads 00:19:52.970 --> 00:19:55.069 to debauchery. Instead, be filled, literally 00:19:55.069 --> 00:19:58.920 go on being filled with the Holy Spirit. Under 00:19:58.920 --> 00:20:01.259 the influence of alcohol, we lose control. Under 00:20:01.259 --> 00:20:03.160 the influence of the Spirit, we gain control. 00:20:04.470 --> 00:20:08.089 So if we want to be those whom there is not a 00:20:08.089 --> 00:20:11.329 hint of sexual immorality or any kind of impurity, 00:20:11.430 --> 00:20:14.950 can I encourage us all, don't be foolish. Don't 00:20:14.950 --> 00:20:17.430 get drunk. Don't even go near getting drunk. 00:20:17.750 --> 00:20:20.170 Don't joke about drunkenness like it's a middle 00:20:20.170 --> 00:20:24.819 -class Christian permissible sin. So why sexual 00:20:24.819 --> 00:20:29.410 purity? It's because as a Christian, the same 00:20:29.410 --> 00:20:32.890 Holy Spirit who witnesses and convicts us where 00:20:32.890 --> 00:20:35.089 we're being sexually impure, that same Holy Spirit, 00:20:35.170 --> 00:20:40.460 he fills us. You are filled. You're filled. He 00:20:40.460 --> 00:20:43.940 fills us. He empowers us to take control of ourselves 00:20:43.940 --> 00:20:46.519 sexually, the opposite of what alcohol does. 00:20:47.099 --> 00:20:48.759 It's not just that we're struggling in our own 00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:50.880 strength to obey the rules of a killjoy God. 00:20:51.180 --> 00:20:54.160 No, he has loved us, first bit of the chapter. 00:20:54.339 --> 00:20:57.259 He has transformed us, second bit of the chapter. 00:20:57.660 --> 00:21:01.099 And he fills us with himself, third bit of the 00:21:01.099 --> 00:21:06.029 chapter. He fills us, you're filled. And so as 00:21:06.029 --> 00:21:10.369 I close, please let's remember there is no place 00:21:10.369 --> 00:21:14.569 for judgmentalism here. Every single one of us 00:21:14.569 --> 00:21:17.390 here in this room will have blown it in some 00:21:17.390 --> 00:21:21.480 way or other. in the sexual arena. We aren't 00:21:21.480 --> 00:21:25.079 fully that perfect show home where God is declaring 00:21:25.079 --> 00:21:27.599 to all the world what he is doing in the world. 00:21:29.019 --> 00:21:31.460 But the amazing thing is we can know forgiveness. 00:21:32.470 --> 00:21:35.329 We are still, despite all the ways that we've 00:21:35.329 --> 00:21:37.910 got things wrong, we're verse one, dearly loved 00:21:37.910 --> 00:21:43.349 children. He loves us, he transforms us, and 00:21:43.539 --> 00:21:48.000 he fills us. And in our struggles that we'll 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:50.619 all have, our struggles with sin, our struggles 00:21:50.619 --> 00:21:52.839 with our situations where we're tempted to sin, 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:58.599 we need to bring those to the Lord. Remembering 00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:00.619 what do we really think about him? In my heart 00:22:00.619 --> 00:22:04.019 of hearts, do I think he's a great celestial 00:22:04.019 --> 00:22:08.470 killjoy? The gospel tells us how it really is. 00:22:08.529 --> 00:22:12.690 Jesus Christ, he's the most loving Lord who died 00:22:12.690 --> 00:22:14.769 for you, who gave himself for you and for me. 00:22:15.349 --> 00:22:18.769 He's transformed you by his grace and he has 00:22:18.769 --> 00:22:23.289 sent his spirit to live in you. to fill you and 00:22:23.289 --> 00:22:26.809 to empower you from the inside out.