Our Father, we thank you that we can come together this evening, both men and women in this biblical counseling class. Father, we thank you for your sovereignty and your power. We thank you, O God, for the clarity of your word, for the sufficiency of your word. Lord, thank you for every man, every woman in this room, even the young children here in this building. Lord, thank you for this church family. Lord, we come to you as the one who is wise. You are the wonderful counselor, as the word of God says it. And we come to you needing your wisdom. in a topic that is so prevalent and is so pervasive in our day, not just in our culture, but Lord, even in our own hearts. And so we pray, Holy Spirit, that you would teach and that you would enlighten and that you would help us as we talk about counseling our own hearts and counseling other believers who are battling with the sin of sexual impurities. Help us, we pray in Jesus name. Amen. I acknowledge that the packet that you have in front of you is far too much. for me to cover tonight. In fact, the two topics that I gave myself to deal with with the men are far too great and too much for me to cover in this one hour together. So I'm going to deal predominantly with sexual impurity, and I'm going to zoom in really on the topic of pornography. That's really what I'm going to focus on tonight. The packet that you have probably is more of a reference packet for you. I'm going to read some of it, and that'll be kind of a springboard for us tonight. But the section on sexual abuse and counseling those that have battled with sexual abuse at the end of our packet, I may touch on a few things here and there, but I don't have the time to go through all of it tonight. But it's there in your notes for you to reference that at a later point. The topic that we have is sexual sin. How do we counsel one another? How are we equipped with the all sufficient word of God to battle sexual sin so that we can triumph in purity? Look at the very first quote that you have on page 43. It is page 43 because we just keep compiling the list of notes and we'll have a big packet at the end. But the top quote there by D.A. Carson, you worship your way into pornography. And he writes, so you must worship your way out of it. A couple of quotes before that by the US Department of Justice, this is interesting. Never before in the history of telecommunications media in the United States has so much indecent and obscene material been so easily accessible by so many minors in so many American homes with so few restrictions. In the area of sexual purity, We must understand the necessity of raw and honest accountability because lone rangers are dead rangers. I want to begin not by talking about all the bad things sexually. We'll get to some of that in a little bit. I want to begin on a good note under your introduction there and tell you that what God has created and what God has designed is good. Whether you're single or married or divorced or widowed, hear this, God is not embarrassed by sex. God gave us a whole book in the Bible that is dedicated to celebrating pure, godly, romantic, enjoyable sex in the marriage covenant between one man and one woman. The problem is lust. Look with me at the definition of lust that I give you there on page 43. To lust is to want what you don't have and what you weren't meant to have at a particular time. Lust goes beyond attraction. I'm dealing in the realm of sexual purity here, dealing with lust. Lust goes beyond just attraction, beyond an appreciation of beauty, or even a healthy desire for sex. Lust makes these desires more important than God. Lust wants to go outside God's guidelines to find satisfaction. Really, lust is a strong desire that just rules a man's heart. Now, the epidemic on the next page. I don't need to go through all the statistics here. You can read that and none of them are probably going to shock you. Suffice it to say, sexual immorality in any of its forms is widespread in our day. Not just in the world and the culture out there, not just in Hollywood, not just in media and in movies, not just social media in the church. It is widespread. You even see about five bullet points down, even 50% of those in ministry. say that internet pornography is a real possible temptation for them. So we're not dealing only with those in Hollywood and the movie industry. The Christian church battles sexual sin. I want to talk about page 44, the root issue. The root issue, where does sexual sin come from? Is the problem the cell phone? Is the problem Hollywood? Is the problem movies? Is the problem the way people dress? Is the problem what society may say? No. Underneath the root issue there on page 44, at the very core of all sexual sin, listen carefully, is a covetous heart. It's one that is ruled by sensual self seeking greed. Have you ever thought about that? What is the root of all sexual sin in any one of the dimensions that we might talk about it at the root? All sexual sin is a covetous heart. One that is ruled by sensual self seeking greed. Turn the page. If you would, you have there. On the bottom, a lengthy story written by Jay Adams. It's a true one about a ministry that was just shattered because of sexual sin. On page 45, you have a box in the middle of your page. And I want to, I want to bring this before you, because I think when we deal with sexual purity and fighting for sexual purity, I think Jonathan Edwards gives us a good word in his own resolution. Resolved, he wrote, never to do anything that I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life. May the Lord give us that kind of resolution. God, may I live in such a way that I would never do anything that I would be afraid to do if I knew that I was going to die this hour and meet Jesus face to face. Really, it kind of reminds us when we deal with sexual sin and all the temptations around us in our day, the problem is not them out there. I want to say it again. The problem is right here in my own heart and in your own heart. Look under that box there on page 45. When did Jesus ever heal, quote unquote, the illness of sexual immorality? No, rather, he called for repentance and turning from sin. He told the woman who was caught in adultery, from now sin no more, John 8, 11. And regarding the lust of the heart, the Lord Jesus said, but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So Jesus is revealing, he's exposing for us glorious biblical counseling truths that the real problem for sexual sin is not the person out there. It's our own hearts. Next paragraph, the heart is always the problem. Behavior can never be managed or controlled as long as the heart is held captive. We might even continue with greedy, covetous desires. External stimulants like pornography only reveal what already exists in the heart of man. One biblical counselor said, remember, if sin is the problem, then there is no human remedy. That's a good reminder. The only true, the only sufficient, the only all powerful remedy for sin, including the sin of sexual immorality is found in the person of Jesus Christ. So underneath that, therefore, it is the root issue. Porn at the root is a heart issue. Pornography is a problem, sure. But it is a visible symptom of a self-centered and an idolatrous heart in that moment. What the person truly needs is a change of heart. For what guides and motivates the heart is what will change the actions. We'll get to it later on. It's wonderful to have an internet filter. It's wonderful to have an accountability group. It's wonderful to have, you know, maybe change in environment as needed. Those are all good and there's a right place for those. But when it comes to sexual sin here, really any sin, but for our purpose here, the heart change is the only real hope for transformation. Bottom of the page, the Bible is always about behavior, but it's never only about behavior. God's indictment of human nature always gets below just the behavior to the real heart underneath the behavior. God's gaze and his word expose the thoughts and intentions and desires and fears that shape the entire way that we approach life. A sexual immoral act or a fantasy behavior is a sin in itself, but such sinful behavior always arises from desires and beliefs that dethrone God. Whenever I do wrong, I am loving something besides God in that moment with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Now, the topic before us tonight is sexual sin. I mentioned earlier in the introduction that one of the things that we have to realize is the covetous desire, the greediness that we have in our hearts that is really at the root of sexual sin. On the top of page 46, I want you to follow with me two paragraphs from Ed Welch. If you get nothing else in this section at the beginning here, before we look into the word, get this. Sexual looking. Whether we are looking at the real person or a digital one or an imaginary one, I think he nails it. It's all about greed. He continues, what I see is what I want to possess. Pornography is not about our vision. It's about our hearts. I am saying, I want this as my own, which is exactly what the picture promises. The person in a photograph wants to belong to you and you alone. But sexual looking, whether we are looking at a real person or a digital one or an imaginary one, he writes, is about greed. I want to accumulate this for my own kingdom. I want this. You hear the, I want, I want, I want, I long, I desire, I desire, I crave. Pornography is widespread in our day. You see there are 12 ways that pornography is so harmful. It wrecks a person's view of the beauty of sex. It wrecks a man's view of women and a woman's view of man and whatever else could be said there. Pornography wrecks women's view of themselves. The industry abuses women. It is a sin against your mate. If you are not yet married, porn is a sin against your future wife. Pornography wrecks families. It is enslaving. It erodes your character. It wastes your time, energy, and money. It weakens your relationship with God. It weakens your service. And God's wrath is against those people who continue to use porn and commit sexual sin. Now turn with me to page 47 in your notes. Where does this come from? You say, Jeff, why do you even have to talk about this? I don't know if you're even asking that question so much, but on page 47, Julie Gansho says this in the first Full paragraph down, she says, the perversion of the sexual relationship is not accidental or incidental in our day. Our enemy, the devil, has taken the beautiful picture, the one relationship, and he has warped it in the most grotesque and sinful ways. You know as well as I do, in our Western culture, sex sells everything. Fill in the blank. Hamburgers, tires, beer, hot wings, whatever. When a person indulges in sexual immorality and impurity, he participates in destroying the image and picture of what God intends for the intimate act of sex. There is nothing righteous about any sexual sin, including pornography. It leads only to perversions of mind and body. A desire for pornography reveals a heart that is not set upon glorifying God, but is instead set upon feeding the sinful desires of my own flesh. something the Bible commands us to abandon. Somebody might say, OK, Jeff, well, how do I? I get the point. OK, Jeff, it's about greed. It's about the lust. It's about the desires of my heart. I get that. I understand the root. You could take your Bible and turn with me to Mark chapter 7 and really just prove this one time with you biblically from what Jesus says. We looked at the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5. But here in Mark 7, Jesus is talking with the Pharisees, and in verse 21, from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts and sexual immoralities, fornications, theft, murder, adultery. They come from within, out of the heart of man. That's what Jesus says in Mark 7, verses 21, and 22. That's the root of all sexual sin. The problem is not outside of me. The problem is inside of me. That's the heart. Okay. So in your notes then, how do you overcome this? Is there hope for the Christian? My goodness, you can hardly see a commercial. You can hardly watch a movie. You can hardly walk around on a college campus. You can hardly just open your eyes and walk down the streets of a city and listen to the radio without being tempted. Is it possible to overcome pornography and sexual sin? Yes. Underneath that heading there, if pornography is a worship issue and if false worship is the problem, then counselor Ernie Baker says this, then I would propose that true worship is the solution. And here's an encouragement for those of you who are waging war for sexual purity. It is possible to be pure. It just needs to be said. You don't need to live a defeated life. God's plan and His glory has made the provision through the gospel for you to be pure. You have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit within you to be pure. It doesn't matter what sin that you're tempted with, whatever realm of sexual sin is coming your way, you can, as a believer, be sexually pure. You have the sure promise of lasting joy in being pure. You can delight yourself in the perfect person to ensure being pure. You can hold to and hide within you the perfect word so that you can be pure. It is possible for you to be pure. But Satan on the next page, page 48 near the bottom, he has a big job. And the job of Satan and the world around us is to convince you that there is no hope. There's no hope. Just give in. Nobody else can relate to you in this way. What do you do? How do you overcome pornography? Page 49, it goes back to putting off sin and putting on Christ, putting off immorality, putting on godliness, putting off the sinful tendencies and the sinful habits and putting on Jesus Christ by the renewing of your mind. You've talked about that in the women's class, and we as the men have talked about that as well. On page 49 at the bottom there, you see the cost of the local church. If those in the local church give in to sexual sin and give in to pornography, the great harm. Page 50. Let's spend some time going into the Word now. We've dealt with the root, which is the heart. We've dealt with how do you overcome sin? Putting off, putting on. I want to prove how we overcome this. in the word of God. Now on page 50 of your note packet, you have here at the top there six key strategies for the war of sexual purity. I have found these to be helpful. I have six words, six little phrases. You can write them down on a little 3x5 card and keep them with you. You can give them to someone. You can keep it in your wallet, in your shirt pocket, in your purse. These are helpful six pointers, key strategies for winning the war for sexual purity. Fight for purity. Flee from temptation. Focus on Jesus Christ. fear God's displeasure, fixate on heaven, and fill your mind with truth. Take your Bible and turn with me to Ephesians chapter 5. Let's spend really the bulk of our time that remains in the Word of God going through some key scriptures together. The problem is the heart. Even the Christian battles with sinful desires in our hearts. We are all there together. Follow with me as I read Ephesians 5 beginning in verse 1. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love. Now notice verse 1 is your position. You're a beloved child of God. That's Ephesians 1 to 3. We've been talking about that. That's your position in Christ. That's what God has done for you. That's your identity. You're a beloved child, verse 2, so walk in love as Christ loved you and gave himself up for us. An offering and a sacrifice to God is a fragrant aroma. Okay, verse 3. But immorality or any impurity or greed, I think in the context, greed is dealing with sexual greed. I want this. I long for this. Immorality, impurity, or sexual greed should not even be named among you as is proper among the saints. He's writing to the church saying, hey, believers in Ephesus, I know you live in a very immoral culture. I get it. We expect that from the world. We don't expect the world to live like Christians. We understand that. We expect the world to live like the world. But you are not to live that way as is proper among the saints. Verse 4, there should be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting which are not fitting. But rather, here's the putting on. Don't, don't give into sexual sin, no filthiness, no immorality, no impurity, no silly talk, no course. Yes. No sexual sin in that way. You say, well, Paul, what do I do in its place? Give thanks. Do you see how the solution right here in verse four is actually a heart. solution. It's the solution for greed. It's the solution for coveting. It's the solution for sexual sin. To be thankful. To be thankful. Why? Because those that give into sexual sin, whatever dimension it may be, whatever form or shape it may be, it proves in that moment that that Christian is not grateful for what God has given and he wants something more. In a sense, he's discontent where God has him and what God has given, and so that person wants more. He's craving more. That's why he says in verse 3, greed should not even be named among you, but rather, verse 4, giving thanks. Thank God for the season of life that you're in. Thank God for what He's done for you in Christ. Thank God for the beautiful gift of sexual intimacy that God has reserved for only one man and one woman in the covenant of marriage. Give thanks to God. Guard your hearts. We see right here the putting off and the putting on. What is one of the great remedies that God has given for sexual sin? It's Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. I want to take you to another text with me. Take your Bible and go to the Old Testament. Now go to Genesis chapter 39. Genesis 39. If you're going through a Bible reading plan in the year, maybe you've recently come to this chapter. It's about Joseph in Egypt. Joseph in Egypt, you know, the story, his brothers plotted against him. They sold him to a caravan that was passing by a caravan of Ishmaelites. And eventually he winds up his way in Egypt and he becomes really one, one, one of the, one of the servants in the house of Pharaoh. He's one of the lead guys in Pharaoh in the house of Pharaoh. Well, Verse two, the Lord was with Joseph so that he became a successful man. Notice verse three, his master saw that the Lord was with him. We see even at the very end of the chapter, very last phrase, the Lord made Joseph to prosper. God is with him. He's a godly man. Well, what happens? Verse 4, Joseph found favor in his sight, that is, the sight of Potiphar, an Egyptian officer in Pharaoh's house. And so Joseph becomes the personal servant, and he made him overseer over the house, and all that he owned he put in Joseph's charge. It came about that from time to time, from the time he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house because of Joseph. Then the Lord's blessing was upon all that he owned in the house and in the field. So he left everything he owned in Joseph's charge. And with him there, he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. What a high honor God has bestowed to this man, Joseph. OK, look at verse six at the end there. Now, Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. It came about after these events, verse seven, that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph. She said, lie with me. What a temptation. Forthright, clear, nothing ambiguous about this temptation at all. Lie with me. A sexual opportunity right in front of Joseph, right in front of him. God has heaped blessings upon Joseph. God has richly blessed him and really all that Joseph has done. And here is a temptation that is just placed right in front of him. This woman says, come and lie with me. Look at verse eight. Look at his conviction, but he refused. And he said to his master's wife, behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house. And he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I. And he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God? What a God satisfied conviction this man has. And we can put the chronology together and say Joseph is still a fairly young man. He's a young man. When he was sold by his brothers, now he's in Egypt. God has richly blessed the Egyptians because of Joseph. And here he has this opportunity put before him for sexual delight and pleasure in the worldly sense. And yet he is so convinced, he has these convictions that I cannot do this great evil and sin against God. Now look at verse 10. As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her. To lie beside her, look at the next phrase, or even to be with her. That's a great verse in the Bible. He would not listen to her and he would not lie with her and he wouldn't even be with her. What careful intentionality on Joseph's part. Now look at verse 11. It happened one day that he went into the house to do his work. Now, sometimes you just have to do your daily duties. You just have to go to work. You have to do what God has called you to do. That's what Joseph does. But one day he goes into the house to do his work. None of the men of the household are there inside. She catches him by the garment and she says, lie with me. Same temptation, the same phrase, the exact same alluring temptation from this woman. He leaves his garment in her hand and he flees and he runs outside. Sometimes that's what you have to do. Literally get out, run, leave the building, depart from that area. Notice what happens. Verse 13, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and he fled outside, she called to the men of the household and she said to them, see, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us. He came into me to lie with me. And I screamed when he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside. So he left his garment beside her until his master came home. Then she spoke to him with these words, the Hebrew slave whom you brought to us came into me to make sport of me. And as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and he fled outside. What false accusations. I mean, he's looking like a fool. He's falsely accused. Verse 19, when the master heard the words of the wife, which she spoke to him saying, this is what your own slave did to me, his anger burned. So Joseph's master took him and put him in the jail. He's just trying to do what's right. He's just trying to please God. But that's what you have to do. Diligent determination. to follow God and to fight for sexual purity. Joseph is a wonderful model right there for that. Wonderful account of his desire to follow God and his suffering for it. Let's go again to the New Testament. Let's go to Philippians chapter 3. Follow with me as I read a little bit of Philippians 3. Now here's what you have. You have the Apostle Paul giving the heart of the gospel in Philippians 3. But he's going to talk in Philippians 3, beginning in verse 18, about non-believers. What do they live by? What do they do? Notice verse 18. Many Philippians 3.18, many walk of whom I often told you and now tell you even weeping, they are enemies of the cross of Christ. What marks them? Verse 19, their end is destruction. But notice verse 19, their God is their belly. You might even say their God is their desire. Whatever they want, they go for it. It's almost like the anatomy of immorality right here. Here's where you have the Apostle Paul speaking about those that are enemies of the cross of Christ. But of course, that's a problem in our own hearts as well. We have to battle our own heart desires. But for the non-believer, their God is their belly. Their God is their appetite. and they glory in their shame. They set their minds on earthly things. You say, okay, Jeff, I get it. So what do I do? Look at verse 20. For our citizenship is in heaven. I'm not of this world. I'm not of this age. Our citizenship is in heaven from which we eagerly wait for a savior. Notice the verb eagerly wait. It's not just some, oh yeah, it'll come one day. It's an ongoing, it's a daily expectation. I'm not living for the here and now. I live for the coming of Jesus. Verse 21, when he comes, he will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory by the exertion of the power that he has even to subject all things to himself. That's the key. In fact, if we were to look at the context, look at chapter 4, verse 8. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, Whatever is honorable and right and pure and lovely and of good repute. If there's any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, fill your mind with these things, dwell on these things. How do we live as godly men and women in this society of hardship? So I'm not anxious and I'm not worried and I'm not fearful and I'm not falling into sin. Fill your mind. with the things that are true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and good repute found in the word of God. Let's go to one more scripture. I think we have the time for it. This is on page 52 of your note packet. And let's spend a couple of minutes back in the Old Testament. Go with me to Proverbs 7. I had a professor in seminary who called this chapter the highway to hell. This is the highway to hell. And I want you to look in your outline with me for just a minute because what I want to do is I want to show you the structure of how Solomon, as a brilliant Hebrew writer, frames and outlines the chapter. On page 52 of your outline, verses 1 to 5, is all about keeping the word of God. Keep the words of God. And then the end of the chapter, verses 24 to 27, is all about keeping the words of God. But kind of scrunched right in the middle, sandwiched right in the middle, is a long section. Fear. Sexual. Sin. Run. Flee. Escape. Hide. Run for your life. You say, well, how do I do that? He begins and he ends by saying, here's the solution. You've got to know the Word of God and you've got to keep the Word of God. You've got to be renewed in the spirit of your mind. You must keep the commandments of God and live. Verse 3, bind them on your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart. Verse 4, say to the wisdom of God, you're my sister. Like you're my family. I can't go far away from you. I put in your outline here 15 steps. towards sexual sin. This is the highway to hell. It is the gullible, untaught, swayed, undiscerning young boy who's walking by one day and there is a woman. Verse 10, she comes to meet him. She's dressed as a harlot. She's cunning of heart. She's boisterous. She's rebellious. Her feet do not remain at home. She is, verse 12, at the end, lurking by every corner. She seizes the guy. She kisses him. And then, verse 14, I was due to offer peace offerings. I'm religious just like you are. Verse 15, I've come out to meet you. I'm looking for you. Verse 16, you have every sense in your body, touch, sight, smell, taste, and observation all here in these verses. This woman is evil. The temptation comes on with all the intensity from the evil one. Verse 19, my husband's not at home. He's gone on a long journey. He's not even going to be home for a long time. Come, come, let us fill ourselves with love. Verse 18, let's drink our fill of love until morning and delight in caresses. This is the promise of the immoral one. It's so bad. Verse 22, suddenly he, this young Naive one follows her just like a dumb animal goes to the slaughter or like one in fetters to the discipline of a fool until an arrow pierces through his own liver. As a bird hastens to the snare, he doesn't know that it's going to cost him his life. That's where the whole section ends. There is nothing good that comes from this. You can almost hear a father in verse 24 pleading with his son. Now, therefore, my sons, listen to me and pay attention to the words of my mouth. Don't let your what heart. Don't let your heart turn aside to her ways. Don't stray into her past. Many are the victims she has cast down. Numerous are all are slain. Her house is the way to shield descending to the very chambers of Okay, the Word warns us against sexual impurities. And in Proverbs 7 right here, here's the danger of sexual sin, but sandwiched at the beginning and at the end, you've got the solution. Keep the word of God. Know the word of God. Hide the word of God. How can a young man keep his way pure, but keeping it according to your word, Psalm 119 says. The root is the heart. The problem is our greedy and our covetous desires. The solution is we need heart transformation continually, continually in the Word of God, in the Word of God, in the Word of God. I want you to look with me at page 52 at the bottom. For me, I think this is the greatest, the greatest key to fighting sexual immorality in any of its forms. is remembering these bottom two paragraphs. Left wants you to think that it can give you something that God can't. Never forget that. I will be happier if I get this. I know that God tells me no, and I know that God tells me not to do it, but I think I'll be happier. The key to holiness is satisfaction in God. It's one thing if I just say, don't do this, don't do this, don't do this, don't do this, don't look, don't give in, don't watch, don't observe, don't go here. You could give all the prohibitions. And there's a place for that. But the key to holiness is being satisfied in God. satisfied in Christ, satisfied in the gospel, and then pursuing God and pursuing Christ with a, I like this, a violent determination. It's almost like we got to get back to the words of Jesus. Listen to this Luke 16, 16. It's an easy one to remember. Everyone is forcing his way into the kingdom of heaven. In our Christian lives, we need to be forcing up. What is it that is an impediment to me getting there? Get out of my way. I'm forcing my way into the kingdom. This is not talking about getting to heaven by your works. That's not the point. Jesus also said it. Matthew has the parallel. in Matthew chapter 11, Matthew 11 in verse 12, where Matthew writes it like this, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and violent men take it by force. We need to return to the violent, as it were, determination to follow God in a culture that just bombards us on all sides with temptation and our own hearts are so quickly allured to the world's pleasures. That's why John Piper affirmed it like this on the bottom of the page. You must fight fire with fire. Hear what he says. The fire of love's pleasures must be fought with the fire of God's pleasures. If we try to fight the fire of love with just prohibitions and threats alone, even the terrible warnings of Jesus, we will fail. We must fight it with the massive promise, I love this, of superior happiness. You gotta swallow up the little flicker of lust's pleasure in the massive, you might even think of it as a bonfire, a forest fire of a holy satisfaction in God. What is it that can swallow up the temptations of this world? Delight yourself in the Lord. Find pleasure in God. There's so much that could be said on this, and we could go much deeper, I suppose, in so many different ways. Page 53 of your notes, recovering from sexual sin. What if you fail? What if you sin? What if you fall into sexual sin? Can you recover? Of course. But what's the way back to purity? Well, number one, repent. David models it in Psalm 51. And then this is so important. You've got to receive the forgiveness of God. You've got to actually believe God that who could mark iniquity is God. But with God, there is forgiveness. You have to refocus and replace those desires and request help daily. certainly have a section there on page 53, counseling those who have been sexually abused. I know sexual abuse is all around us in our day. I understand that. I know that there are many young people in our day, in our society, who are battling that. I understand that. On page 55, I tried to give you just some very practical, some very helpful ways that you could provide counsel for a believer Who has battled with sexual abuse, quite honestly, in any of its shapes or forms? How do you give hope and help to those? Bottom of page 55, you want to remind them of their new identity that they have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me just conclude. Let me just conclude. With page 56, there's a quote there by biblical counselor Paul Tautgis. And I want to encourage you with this. I know sexual sin is prevalent. I understand it. I understand that we battle with it in our own hearts. I get it. We have to be vigilant. We have to be on guard. And to encourage you, it is possible to be victorious. It is possible to say no. It is possible to refuse giving into sexual sin. So bottom of page 56, the one who has been abused or is still being abused has many needs. Protection, safety, and defense are some of the practical needs that must be met as a result of God's command to love our neighbor as we are already certainly loving ourselves, yes. However, there is a need, the need that is the greatest of all. The deepest need of all is a soul need, a need that can only be met by the one who is the lover of our souls. The need of the soul is to find rest and security in the one who knows all of the sufferings and cares deeply for them. They need to know the one who is working out his larger redemptive purposes while at the same time deeply caring about them as individual sufferers living in a sinful world. Is there possibly someone who understands all of the trouble and the pain of abuse? Pause right there. Is there anybody who really knows what it is to be mistreated? Well, there sure is. Yes. Is there someone who will come to the aid of those who are suffering? Yes. Consider Jesus, Hebrews says, for he is a merciful high priest who delights to intercede for broken sinners. The last page, 57. And it's the last quote. I want to leave you with this. I want to encourage you with this. Heath Lambert. said this, you are never in a pit so deep that the grace of Jesus cannot lift you out. It doesn't matter how long somebody has been enslaved to whatever sexual sin. It doesn't matter how long. And there is no pornography user so enslaved that Jesus cannot set him or her free. There is no struggle for purity so intense that Jesus's grace cannot win the battle. Jesus's grace to change you is stronger than pornography's power to destroy you. Never underestimate The grace and the power and the transforming love of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's like a 30,000 foot flyover of the topic. So many, I suppose, tangents and different ways that we could have dealt much deeper in particular ways. But I wanted to get at the heart of the issue of sexual sin. And I wanted to take you to some biblical scriptures that you can go to and give you some, some help and some encouragement that even in this world in which we live, there is hope and there is help. And we can win the war for sexual purity. We can, and we can come alongside of others who are also as believers in the war as well. And we can point them to the one who is all sufficient to help in our time of need. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the time that we've had together. Father, I trust that this is helpful for these men and these women, my brothers and sisters in the faith. Lord, we battle with sexual temptation. It is all around us. Oh God, guard us. Guard us as a local church. Guard the marriages. Guard the husbands. Guard the wives. Guard the singles. Guard those that are not yet married. Guard those that maybe have been married, but right now are not. Guard us. Guard our young people. Guard our children. Father, may we remember the heart. May we find our satisfaction in Christ and may we know that at the right hand of God, there are pleasures forevermore in Jesus name. Amen.