Well, I invite you this morning to take the Word of God and let's do turn to Matthew chapter 5. As you have already heard, the title of this morning's study is a very searching and very deliberate interrogative question. Like last Sunday, are you a murderer? Today, are you an adulterer? Are you an adulterer? Matthew chapter 5, let's begin reading at verse 27 through 30. You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. This is the Word of God for the people of God on God's holy day. I want to begin our study this morning of Matthew chapter 5 verses 27-30 by setting forth a vitally important biblical proposition. God is not against sex. God is not against sexual desire. And to go further, God is not against sexual pleasure. In fact, according to Proverbs 5, verses 18 and 19, husbands are exhorted to be carried away in the pleasure of sexual relations with their wives. Listen to this text. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth, a lovely dear, a graceful dove. Let her breaths fill you at all times with delight and be intoxicated with her love. The word for intoxicated used in that text comes from a Hebrew term that means literally to be led astray. In this context, God's Word is calling unabashedly on husbands to be swept away with sexual delight in their lives. And if we might think that this is the only passage in Holy Scripture that would address such a subject, I would simply call your attention to the entire book of the Song of Solomon, which celebrates in beautiful poetic language the covenant love of a husband and wife in sexual union. Furthermore, in the New Testament, The Apostle Paul was confronted in the Corinthian church with a question over whether it was right or not for sexual relations to be carried out in marriage and yet still be faithful to God. Paul's answer, by the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was that neither the husband nor the wife have the right to withhold sexual relations from one another unless there is mutual consent. And if there is mutual consent for such a fasting, Paul says, both the husband and wife must limit their time apart. Why? So that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. The point is, brothers and sisters, sex is God's gift. It is His gift created by Him for one man and one woman brought together in the covenant of marital union. Moreover, it is only within the framework and context of marital union where God ever intended and designed sexual relations to be expressed. Expanding on this truth, Sinclair Ferguson once wrote, God made men and women to be attracted to each other, to need each other, and to enter into relationships with each other that have physical, spiritual, and mental dimensions. We have, by God's goodness, the ability to share in the reproduction of other human beings in a context of the closest imaginable human relationship, both physically and spiritually. The gift of sexual relationship is unequivocally good. It is God's gift. But the supreme reason for that gift is companionship. God brought Eve to Adam in the Garden of Eden because it was not good for the man to be alone. It is within that bond of committed fellowship that family life is to be established and our sexual instincts are to find their fulfillment. Adding more layers to this truth of sex as God's gift. Consider also what Al Mohler wrote, The human sex drive is not the product of biological evolution or cosmic accident. Our Creator made us sexual beings and put a strong sex drive within us in order to drive us toward marriage and all the goods that are united in the marital union. As fallen creatures, we need the guiding assistance of the sex drive to pull us out of lethargy and self-centeredness into a fruitful and faithful relationship with the spouse. In making us male and female, God intended for men to be sexually attracted to women, and for women to be sexually attracted to men. This attraction is not merely a matter of mutuality between two genders, but is intended to direct us toward a mutuality of two persons united in the covenant of marriage. Within marriage, Sexual pleasure and sexual passion are essential parts of the relational glue that holds the union together, points toward creation, and establishes an intimacy described in the Bible as a one-flesh relationship. So, contrary to Victorian prudes, who think sex is dirty and a bad thing which godly husbands and wives would never engage in except of course for procreation. They are in fact standing in opposition to the very clear teaching of God's Word. Let me say it again. God is not against sex. He is not against sexual desire nor sexual pleasure. He created it. He called it good and as Al Mohler said, it is an essential part of the relational glue that holds the marital union together. Now, the reason I begin our study of Matthew chapter 5, verses 27-30, with this very redemptive and positive reinforcement of the biblical place, purpose, and nature of sex, is because in this present passage, we will be confronted with the reality of sexual sin. While we must always keep before us that God created sex and called it good, yet, beloved, it is equally true that sin has corrupted every good thing God created, including sex. To quote again from Al Mohler, but this time observing the effects of sin on the human sexual drive, Mohler said, the sex drive has been degraded into a passion that robs God of His glory, celebrates the sensual at the expense of the spiritual, and sets what God had intended for good on a path that leads to destruction in the name of personal fulfillment. So as the result of man's fall into sin, Our God-given sexual drive has been reduced to nothing more than a self-serving animal lust that should be fulfilled at will with no boundaries impeding this illusory freedom. Translating this into our present culture. Not only have we as sinners severed sex from marriage, the only context again where God has decreed His fulfillment, but as a society of sinners, especially in our generation, we look at marriage as an encumbrance, virginity as an embarrassment, and sexual restraint as a psychological hang-up. And this is the result of sin. But to make matters worse in our day, we have seen an unbridled indulgence in sexual passion like no other society in history. Previous generations faced the moral challenges of war, poverty, pestilence, but our generation is absorbed in a continual cycle of lust and sexual gratification. This is seen by the fact that illicit sexual desire has become an institution woven throughout our culture's interplay of media, entertainment, status, and advertising as part and parcel of the postmodern vision of the good life. This is perhaps most vividly illustrated by the mere fact that pornography has become the seventh largest business in America. A business that has been so mainstreamed through advertising, commercial images, entertainment in everyday life, that the explicit and unfettered sensuality it promotes is no longer shocking, but common. And all of this is the result of sin. But in facing these effects of sin, with how it has so exploited and corrupted our God-given sexual desire, how is a Christian to respond? How do we recover the sanctity of sex within the marital union, not just in our society, but even closer to home? How do we do this in our own hearts? How do we keep our own sexual drives from being given over to the sinfulness that remains in us all as Christians? How do we stay sexually pure both before and after marriage? Notice how I worded that question? How often do you hear evangelicals saying to young people, Stay pure before marriage. That is horrible advice. In one sense, it implies that after you get married, you can be impure. Have you ever thought about that? Stay pure before marriage? But what happens after marriage? I mean, what does that say? Brothers and sisters, listen to me. We have to fight for purity not just before marriage, but even after marriage. Husbands and wives, Christian husbands and wives, struggle just as much with the fight for sexual purity as single Christian men and women. Don't kid yourself. Well, the answer to these questions that I have just brought up turns us now to consider the teaching of our present study in Matthew chapter 5 verses 27 and 30. Now, to begin with, we must see these verses in their proper and historic context. Matthew 5 verses 27-30 is a part of a subsection of our Lord's larger Sermon on the Mount. This passage is actually an exposition of what Christ declared back in verses 19 and 20 of this chapter. Our Lord said there, Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." If we keep these verses as the backdrop to what we will study here in chapter 5, verses 27-30, it will help us to see the difference between true and false righteousness. A righteousness that is God-given through faith in Christ as opposed to a righteousness that is manufactured by the energy of sinful flesh. Furthermore, what Christ declared in verses 19 and 20 as applied to our present study in verses 27-30 will aid us in seeing how the Christian works out the righteous requirement of God's law by not relaxing the commands, but obeying them. Moreover, we will see with greater force why our righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven. In addition to this contextual connection, we need to notice that Christ opens up this passage using the same introductory formula as in verses 21 and 22 that we saw last week. You have heard that it was said, but I say to you..." You have heard that it was said, but I say to you..." What we must remember about these words of our Lord is that He was showing the true meaning and intent of God's law by correcting the erroneous conclusions which have been drawn together by the scribes and Pharisees. In our present passage, Jesus is countering both the misinterpretation and misapplication of the seventh commandment in God's moral law as understood by the scribes and Pharisees. In verse 27, our Lord declares, you have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. The words, you shall not commit adultery, are a direct quote from God's moral law. However, by both the preceding clause And then with what follows, it is clear that Jesus is exposing the error of the scribes and Pharisees as to this commandment. Now, what was their error? What did the scribes and Pharisees believe about the seventh commandment? They restricted the sin of adultery to only the physical act of sexual relations with anyone other than one's marriage partner. Now, while it is true that in the most technical sense, this is what the sin of adultery results in as the act itself. However, to confine adultery to merely the external physical act is to bypass completely the actual origin of the sin and where its heinous nature is awakened. It is to leave the heart of the sinner free to think and feel wicked passions with no consequence. But worst of all, It is to deceive a sinner into believing that God cares nothing for a heart that is pure and righteous. Such a self-deception has led many outwardly righteous people directly into the pits of hell by the judgment of God. Observing this frightening prospect, consider what A.W. Pink wrote. Once more we are shown the vast difference there is between the spiritual requirements of a holy God and the low standard which is deemed sufficient by His fallen creatures. The religion of carnal and worldly men is merely political. So far as good and evil affect society, they are in some concern. But as to the honor and glory of God, they have no regard. So long as the outside of the cup and of the platter be clean, they are indifferent to whatever filth may exist within. So long as the external conduct of its citizens be law-abiding, the state is satisfied, no matter what iniquity may be seething in their minds. Difference! Far is it with the judge of all the earth. The Lord sees not as man sees. For man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. That which the world pays no attention to, God regards as of first importance, for out of the heart are the issues of life. It is only the pure in heart who shall ever see, commune with, and eternally enjoy God. So, as we enter our exposition of Matthew 5, verses 27-30, let's be very clear that when God commands us in His moral law, you shall not commit adultery. This divine prohibition is not limited to the physical act of adultery. In fact, While many of you here today may not be actually guilty of the physical act of adultery, you still can be guilty of the sin of adultery. It is for this reason that I have entitled this sermon, Are You an Adulterer? Because, brothers and sisters, I am convinced, listen to me, I am convinced that in the same way that we are all guilty of murder, As we learned last week, I believe that we will also see from God's Word that we are guilty of adultery as well. But as there is a divine counteraction to mortifying the sin of murder, praise God for that, There's also a way by God's design to mortify the sin of adultery. So then as we approach Matthew 5, 27-30, I want us to underscore two principal truths from this passage. First, The real problem with the sin of adultery, and then second, the only remedy for the sin of adultery. To begin with then, let's notice first, the real problem with the sin of adultery. Look with me again at verses 27 and 28. You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. What our Lord exposes here regarding the sin of adultery, is that its origin, its root, its birthplace, if you will, is not outside of us in the environment, but the sin of adultery comes directly from our hearts. It is our sinful hearts which produce the sinful desire for adultery. In fact, to broaden that principle, all desire for all sin is the product of our sinful hearts. Jesus made this very plain in Mark 7, verses 20-23. Listen to the words of our Lord on this point. What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things, Jesus says, come from within. And they defile the person. So how foolish is it to think that the problem we have with school shootings, money embezzlement, divorce, government fraud, abortion, and pornography is merely and only a problem with the environment. People all across this country are saying, if we just fix the environment, then all these sins and crimes will go away. No. It is not the environment that is the cause of sin and wickedness, but our hearts. It's our hearts. All of the sin we see manifested in our culture through different types of mediums are all the product of a human sinful heart. Therefore, the real problem with the sin of adultery is a sinful heart craving and desiring after that sin. Adultery then, or any other sexual sin for that matter, is first and foremost a problem of the heart. It is the heart of fallen sinful man desiring and coveting after sexual sin. This is why we have adultery. This is why we have fornication. and prostitution, and homosexuality, and any other sexual transgression. It's all there because of a sinful, wicked heart. Now, to draw in closer to our text, let's unpack exactly what Jesus is teaching us as to the nature of heart adultery. Reading again verse 28, But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. It should go without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway, that while our Lord illustrates this sin by a man who looks at a woman, yet it is equally true that women can be just as guilty of heart adultery as well. And I'm sure we're all clear on that, but I have to say it anyway. Nevertheless, what we have in this passage is a searching revelation as to the nature and cause of adultery. And listen, not only adultery, but all sexual sin could be included here. The first important word we need to underscore from our text is the verb, looks. Looks. Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent. This term, looks, is used as a present participle. And thus it indicates an ongoing, continual gaze. What Jesus is condemning then, now understand this, what our Lord is condemning is not a mere involuntary glance at someone, but an intentional, deliberate stare. And connected with this deliberate looking is the goal behind it. Our Lord says that it is with lustful intent. So the problem is not looking at a woman, or if you're a woman, looking at a man, but it is looking with lustful intent. It is looking at someone for the sole purpose of satisfying a sinful desire to have them in an unlawful sexual way. Illustrating this by litany of examples, John MacArthur wrote, Jesus is speaking of the man who goes to an X-rated movie. who selects a television program known for its sexual orientation, who goes to a beach known for its scanty swimsuits, or who does any such thing with the expectation and desire of being sexually and sinfully aroused. But what we must understand is that it is not lustful looking that causes the sin in the heart, but the sin in the heart that causes lustful looking. That's vitally important. Let me say that again. It is not lustful looking that causes the sin in the heart, but the sin in the heart that causes lustful looking. To look at someone with lustful intent, listen, it is but the expression of a heart that is already immoral and adulterous. This is why Jesus says that to look at a woman with lustful intent, You have already committed adultery with her in your heart. The adultery was already there. The immorality was already existing, resident. So we cannot excuse ourselves from the sin of adultery just because we did not carry out the sinful desire that was resident in our hearts. Understand this. God does not only condemn the physical act of adultery, but He condemns the very desire. He condemns the desire from which the act was birthed. Remember, God looks at what? The heart. God looks at the heart. It is our sinful hearts. from which all sin proceeds. This is why Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees for only being concerned about their outward righteousness, but cared nothing for heart righteousness. As long as they As long as they appeared outwardly holy and morally pure, they deceived themselves into thinking they were safe and right with God. But their confidence in having peace with God based on their external righteousness was a damning illusion. Hence, we need to be more watchful over our hearts. than we are even over our actions. So let me bring this home to you. You say, man, we're already getting to those soul-searching interrogative questions. Isn't that at the end? No, it's right here. The text is forcing me to interrogate. Don't worry, I've already been interrogated. And I'm being again. Let me ask you. Do you have a problem with lust? Do you have a problem with lust? That's a fair question. If you are a man, do you struggle with unlawful sexual desires? Do you have a roving eye because your heart is so full of adultery? If you are a married man, do you have desires to be with other women? Maybe not in an exclusively sexual way, but just in a close, intimate relationship. Do you covet to have another man's wife as your companion? The tenth commandment in the moral law forces us to raise that question. And if you are a single man, Are you content with not having your sexual drive presently fulfilled within a marital union, thereby trusting God for His time and wisdom in bringing you a godly wife? Is that where you are as a single Christian man? Or do you seek to find that fulfillment now through recreational dating, through pornography, or through self-pleasure? Do you rationalize the urges of your sexual drive through self-pity and thus seek to fulfill them against God's express will? And if you're a woman, how careful are you, my dear sisters, how careful are you to watch over your heart when it comes to the sinful desires of adultery? If you are married, Are you satisfied with your husband? Are you content with this man God has given you? That's a fair question. Now, while I grant that your husband is a sinner, yes, and he is a Christian who needs daily sanctification, that is all very well true, but do you find your heart drawn to another man other than your husband? In fact, this man may not even be real. He's just a fantasy that you muse about in your heart, but he's not your husband. He is someone else you desire. Listen, that is the sin of adultery. Even if the man you fantasize about is fictitious, that is still the sin of adultery. And this same kind of wanton desire for some fantasy man can be found just as prevalent in single women as well. And what we must understand here today, listen, it is nothing but a base, sinful lust to have a man who is not your husband in an unlawful manner which God has not sanctioned. So I ask you again, Are we guilty of sexual sin? Are we guilty of sexual sin? And not necessarily the physical act, but just the sinful desires in our hearts. I believe that every Christian would have to answer yes to this question to a greater or lesser degree. whether it's before our conversion to Christ or after our conversion to Christ, the sin of sexual impurity through adulterous and immoral desires have corrupted all of us at some given point. Furthermore, We are told plainly in Colossians 3.5 that sexual transgression is a part, listen to this, it is a part of the residual sin that remains in every Christian. Listen to Paul's exhortation, Colossians 3.5, put to death therefore what is earthly in you and what is it that's earthly in me as a Christian in general. Paul gives me examples. Sexual immorality. That's in me. That's what's earthly in me. Impurity. Passion. Evil desire. And covetousness, which is idolatry. Commenting on the teaching of this verse, Douglas Wilson wrote, The desire which we as Christians must battle is not just a plain, vanilla, morally neutral, biological desire for sex. We are fallen creatures. And even as Christians, our redemption is not yet completed. We must still deal with the fact that we will confront desires coming from within ourselves which are attractive to us by virtue of the fact that they are prohibited by God. And among those earthly, fleshly desires that reside in every Christian, In all of us, sexual immorality and impurity, which are terms that would cover all sexual transgression, the point of all of this, brothers and sisters, is to simply reiterate that the real problem with the sin of adultery is the problem of our hearts. The sin of adultery begins with the sinful desire of our hearts. So, no matter how much we try to dress ourselves up and look pure and clean on the outside, Jesus calls us in Matthew 5.28 to realize that our problem and our conflict with sin is not external, it is internal. where we need to begin our battle with sexual sin as Christians is not with the editor of Playboy magazine, but with our own sinful desires which help to keep illicit sexual institutions like Playboy in business. Now, with saying this, we are then led to raise a very practical question. I have stated the problem. We now need a solution. So how do we combat? How do we defeat the sinful desires of our heart? Or, to put this question in its more immediate context, how do we conquer the sinful desire of adultery, or the sinful desire for any sexual transgression? Well, the answer to this question draws us to our final point of study, which is spelled out in this way. The only remedy for the sin of adultery. Look with me at verses 29 and 30. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. These words of our Lord are virtually repeated in another sermon in Matthew 18, verses 8 and 9. What Jesus is showing us by this obvious metaphorical language is the only way His people will effectively conquer the sinful desires of their sinful hearts. And how is that? Listen, it is through a ruthless and radical self-denial. a ruthless and radical self-denial. But how was this done? How was this done? When Jesus speaks of the right eye and the right hand, He was connecting what in Jewish culture would have been represented, would have been considered as a person's best and most precious faculties. The right eye represented a person's best vision. And the right hand represented someone's very best skills. Drawing this in line with combating the sinful desires of our heart, and in this context, the sin of adultery, Jesus is calling us, listen, He is calling us to do whatever is necessary to rid ourselves of those things in our life, even what we may cherish most. that would be the means of awakening and enticing the sinful impulses of our hearts. This is how we as Christians are called by God to deal with personal sin and the temptation to sin. There must be a violent streak, if you will, to how we treat anything that would be a cause for our stumbling into sin. We must tear it out. We must cut it off. We must throw it away. There can be no compromise in the least degree. This means that if there is any habit or circumstance or even relationship in our life that causes us to sin, then it must be forsaken at all and every cost, despite how precious it may be or how painful the rejection may feel. To say this to you another way, we should live our lives as if As if we are blind and maimed so that we can either sin or handle those things that have been a constant source of temptation to sin. This is the great point that our Lord is making here. And this is what it means to pursue holiness in its most basic everyday form. By God's grace through Jesus Christ, we must be blind and maimed and thereby impaired, as it were, to the enticements of sin. Understand this, beloved. Nothing is worth keeping in our life if, for any reason, it causes us to sin. Nothing. I don't care how hard you try to rationalize its worth, its value. Nothing. Nothing is worth keeping in our life if for any reason it causes us to sin. Whatever tempts us to sin against God must not be toyed with, entertained, or preserved in the slightest. But consider how Jesus reasons with us over this matter. Look at what our Lord says. He says, for it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. Friend, that's hard language. That's tough truth. What our Lord was saying is, Basically this, how much better would it be to suffer the loss of relationships or habits that caused me to sin than to go into hell? I mean, let's be real reasonable here. I mean, how much is that relationship really worth to you? How much is that habit really worth? Observing the weightiness of this proverbial truth, Charles Spurgeon wrote, better to miss culture through a rigid puritanism than to gain all the polish and accomplishments of the age at the expense of our spiritual health. Though at our entrance into the divine life we should seem to have been largely losers by renouncing habits or possessions which we felt bound to quit, yet we shall be real gainers. Our main concern should be to enter into life. And if this should cost us skill of hand, nimbleness of foot, and refinement of vision, as it may, we must carefully deny ourselves that we may possess eternal life. to remain in sin and retain all our advantages and capacities will be an awful loss when we are cast into hell fire, which is the sure portion of all who persevere in sinning. A lame, maimed, half-blinded saint, even on earth, is better than a sinner with every faculty fully developed. So when it comes to the temptation for the sin of adultery or any other sexual transgression, here is the very practical question. What are you doing to rid yourself from anything in your life that would easily entice you and entangle you in that sin? If you have fallen to sexual sin, Which I would imagine most of us have in here. Whether internally, desire-wise, or physically. If you have fallen into sexual sin, think, listen to this, think about those steps that were taken to enter that transgression. Whatever means brought you into that sin, Jesus says, eliminate it immediately. Tear it out. Cut it off. Throw it away. This is how every believer in Jesus Christ is commanded and called to deal with personal sin. This is what repentance looks like. It is not merely acknowledging that what you've done is wrong and a sin against God, but it is actively taking the necessary steps to never return to it again. It is never giving up the fight and struggle against lust and pride and envy or any other sinful desire you may have. Because while a Christian, now listen, while a Christian may fall into sin, he does not persevere in sinning. What does 1 John 3.9 say? No one born of God continues in sin. That's what the Word says. No one born of God continues persevering in sin. No. The Christian, the child of God, perseveres in holiness. He resolves like Jonathan Edwards. And when I found this quote, I praised God for this statement. It just sums it up. Here it is. Here is everyday Christian living. Never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be. Did you catch that last phrase in that statement? However unsuccessful I may be, I'm never giving up. No matter how many times I fall by the grace of God, I'm getting right back up, getting right back in the race, right back in the fight. That's what Edwards is saying. And that That, brothers and sisters, that is the holy resolve of a true child of God against His remaining sinfulness. That's how a Christian thinks about his remaining sin. Never to give over. Nor in the least to slacken. my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be. So let me ask you again, are you an adulterer? Have you fallen to the sinful desires of your sinful heart that crave to fulfill a God-given sexual drive outside of God's boundaries? Let us remember, sex is not our problem. Sex is not our problem, nor the desire for sex. God created it. God called it good. Our problem is our remaining sin in the flesh which works to taint and corrupt what God has created, thus turning a good thing into something immoral and sinful. That is our problem. It is the problem of a sinful heart. But, I am so glad to say this today. There is redemptive hope for adulterers. in Jesus Christ. In fact, there is redemptive hope for fornicators and homosexuals and lesbians and pornographers in Jesus Christ. You say, how was that? It is because the life and death of Christ was meant to save adulterers. It was meant to save fornicators and homosexuals and lesbians and pornographers. Christ came to save sinners out of every way of life that was lived in rebellion against God. So I would therefore say to any such sinner as just described, turn to Jesus Christ now. Trust Him to save you. Trust Him to free you from the enslaving power of sin that will indeed send you to an eternal hell. The promise Christ gives to any and every sinner is that no matter who you are or what you have done, if you come to Christ for salvation, He will not turn you away. So flee from your sin and fly to Christ. And do it now. But what about Christians who have fallen into sexual immorality? What about Christians who have to fight against the sinful desires to sin sexually in thought, word, or deed? What hope do they have? The hope for every Christian struggling with sexual sin is first and foremost, recalling and remembering every day what God has done for you in Jesus Christ. You're saved. You're forgiven by God in Christ for all your transgressions. For all your transgressions. And you are united to Christ in spiritual union whereby the dominion and power of sin has been forever broken. Sin is no longer your master, but Jesus Christ who reigns over you in grace through righteousness is now your master. But secondly, A Christian struggling with sexual sin needs to remember that their fight is not left to their own strength. You have the Holy Spirit of God who indwells you and empowers you to repent and go on fighting and warring against the flesh. You therefore do not have to give in to the temptation. Do you hear me? You do not have to give in. to the temptation to sin sexually. You are not helpless. You are not powerless. The Spirit of God lives in you to work in you the strength to conquer and put sin to death. And you need to remember that. Every day. Finally, Because of all that God has given you in Christ to repent of sin, then you must repent. You must repent. There can be no compromise with sexual sin of any kind or sort. Obedience to God is never up for negotiation. Thus, there is no excuse for a Christian to entertain one single tempting thought towards sexual immorality. There's no excuse. We have been delivered from sin's dominion. Therefore, our new life in Christ is to be one linear pattern of lifelong repentance. God has called us to purity, not to impurity. So may the Lord revive in us then a renewed passion for a holy life. And may the expression of that life be especially seen in a daily walk that seeks to be above reproach when it comes to the pitfalls of sexual transgression. But most of all, May we remember that our fight to be sexually pure in heart is not a battle we wage alone. It is a war we engage together as the church of Jesus Christ, bearing each other's burden to pursue the path of purity that God has called every one of us to walk every day. Amen? Amen. Let's pray.