I invite you to consider with me the text that we have had now for quite a few sermons in this series. Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 through 23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. And then in Matthew chapter 5 verses 27 through 30, these words, You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish. and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. King David was a man after God's own heart, according to 1 Samuel 13, verse 14. He was also the human agent that the Holy Spirit used to write the Psalms that we each Lord's Day sing from to the glory of God. He was also a great man of faith and courage. in leading the armies of Israel to victory over the Philistines as young David, a teenager, took up his sling running toward that giant Goliath and slinging that stone and hitting the giant in the forehead and causing the giant to fall to the ground. and taking the giant's own sword and severing his head from his body. What a glorious day that was for David through the power of God. However, there was another day, a day of great shame when David fell into the sin of adultery. which then led to the murder of Bathsheba's husband in seeking to cover his adultery with her by removing her husband from this earth. And it all started, dear ones, with a lustful gaze in desiring the woman he saw bathing Whether he saw her through a window in her home, and she was bathing within the confines of her home, but could be seen through a window or a door, or whether she was bathing upon her roof, it would appear that she was not entirely without responsibility in this whole matter, in making sure that she was bathing privately. And certainly, it would appear she became a willing participant in this act of adultery. David did not rape her. There's no indication that he raped her. And so she was an accomplice as well in this adulterous affair. But this all began with a lustful look. Rather than running away from the temptation, David lingered and his gaze, for, according to 2 Samuel 11, 2, the woman was very beautiful to look upon." David's initial glance that caught his eye became a lingering glance. and gaze of lust to have her. And though David did repent, praise God, David did repent and confess his grievous sin to the Lord, and he did come to enjoy and rejoice in the forgiveness of a loving God, as we all can enjoy, he did find the consequences. followed him throughout his life in the death of children, in the incestuous rape of his son against his daughter, and in the betrayal of his son in seeking to take the throne upon which he sat from him. Dear ones, when the wall of self-control falls and lust breaks through, there is no end to the possible misery that lust will bring into your life, into your family, and how it will affect your testimony for Jesus Christ. Who would have guessed that such a man of faith, a man after God's own heart, Dear ones, that is the lure and the deception of lust. It promises pleasure and fulfillment, but delivers pain and heartache. Our pride even tells us as we begin to flirt with lust in our own hearts. Our pride tells us, well, it won't go far. It won't destroy you. You can contain it up to a certain point. You can stop it if you enjoy it for a period of time. But we are reminded of what we read in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 12. Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. We can all fall through lust into adultery. It is possible. If it could happen to a man after God's own heart, it can happen to you and it can happen to me. That's why we must guard our heart from lust. The main points of the sermon this Lord's Day are, first of all, outward immorality begins in the heart with lust. Matthew chapter 5 verses 27 through 28. And the second main point, defending yourself against lust requires extreme measures. Defending yourself against lust requires extreme measures. Let us consider the first main point. Outward immorality begins in the heart with lust. Lord Jesus says, ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. As we consider the words of the Lord spoken here in the Sermon on the Mount, let us understand first of all the thrust of Christ's sermon more generally before considering the words of the Lord concerning lust more particularly. The Lord's Sermon on the Mount is a sermon about sin and righteousness. For the gospel of grace through faith in Jesus Christ is a gospel of grace that is received by those who are convinced that they have transgressed God's holy law and are sinners, who are convinced that they cannot save themselves. who are convinced that they abide under the holy wrath of God, and who are convinced that there is only salvation through trusting alone in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ alone. This is what the Lord Jesus labors to convey in the Sermon on the Mount. for the scribes and the Pharisees believed they were righteous before God on the basis of their own law-keeping and that they defined law-keeping to mean obedience to the letter of the law. Basically, you've kept the law as long as you don't murder, as long as you don't commit adultery, as long as you don't steal, as long as you don't bow down before a false god, as long as you don't take God's name in vain. They interpreted God's commandments strictly according to the letter of the law. And for that reason, Christ makes it clear that transgressing the law of God is not merely murder, but is the anger within the heart that leads to murder. In Matthew chapter 5, verses 21 through 22. And that sinning against God is not merely the outward act of committing adultery, but is the lust within the heart that leads to adultery in Matthew chapter 5 verses 27-28. Dear ones, one does not have to murder or to commit adultery to be found guilty and worthy of eternal damnation. Even the anger, even the lust within makes one guilty and worthy of eternal damnation. Most people consider themselves pretty good if you ask them. Most people consider themselves worthy of heaven. They deserve to go there because they have not committed, they would say, these types of outward sins in many cases. They would use a similar argument as did the scribes and the Pharisees who were adhering to a strict letter of the law, outward letter of the law. But Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, pierces to dear ones the innermost part of our being that no one can see but God himself and declares that our hearts by nature are desperately wicked, even as we read in Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 9, where Jeremiah says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? The Lord Jesus declares in the Sermon on the Mount that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees who believed they were righteous before God on the basis of their own obedience to God's law. Jesus says, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven, in Matthew 5.20, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees who believed they could earn their way into heaven by way of their righteousness and their goodness and their law keeping. It is not, dear ones, that we are to disregard God's law and God's commandments. even after we have trusted in Jesus Christ and His righteousness alone for our eternal salvation. Christ makes that abundantly clear in the Sermon on the Mount when He writes or when He speaks forth in Matthew chapter 5, verses 17 through 19, the following. Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Jesus is saying, I didn't come to do away and abolish the Ten Commandments, God's moral law. I came to make it full by keeping it, by showing what is the duty of man to obey God's law. And Jesus fulfilled and kept it all. so that he might impute his law-keeping to us who have broken his law, as we trust in him alone for our eternal salvation. We read in continuing verse 18, for verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. The Lord is not abolishing and doing away with his moral law, the Ten Commandments and their application in our lives. But it is to say, and what Jesus Christ is laboring to demonstrate, is that all our righteousness is as filthy rags. Our attempts to obey God, we fall short. And you know, God doesn't grade on a curve. His standards are absolute. Likewise, in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5.48, The Lord Jesus says, be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. That's the standard, is perfection. But only Jesus Christ is perfect, and only he has perfectly kept the law of God. And so though we go forth to please God, to walk in his paths of righteousness and truth by way of obedience to his law. Our only hope of eternal salvation is not in us and our law-keeping, but is in Jesus Christ and his law-keeping for us. The blessedness that we find mentioned in the Beatitudes, which is also a part of the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapter 5, verses 3 through 12, blessed, for example, are the poor in spirit, blessed are they that mourn, blessed are the meek, et cetera, et cetera. The blessedness of these Beatitudes, in other words, is for all who forsake making themselves acceptable to God on the basis of their own righteousness, and rather accept by faith, by faith alone, the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ as their only ground of acceptance, the only reason they will ever be accepted in the presence of a holy God. The religious leaders of Christ's time are accurately portrayed in a parable that the Lord Jesus gave in Luke 18. And he, that is Jesus, spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. And then the Lord Jesus proceeds to talk about two men who came to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and one was a publican, a hated, despised tax collector who robbed and stole from the people. And the Pharisee came in boasting before God about how he had kept God's law, looking up into heaven with pride. The publican came into the presence of God and could not even look. He had to look down. He could not even look into heaven. He was so ashamed of his sin before a holy God. and all he could do was beat his chest and cry out, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Jesus says, the one who went away justified, righteous, declared righteous before God that day was the publican and not the Pharisee. Thus the words concerning lust in Matthew chapter 5 verses 27 through 30 are intended to tear away from us all hope that we are good enough to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Dear ones, we are not good enough. We cannot do enough. We fall. We sin. And that is why Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. and not to save the righteous who think that they are good and righteous before God on the basis of their law keeping. Well, that's the general overview of the Sermon on the Mount. The Lord Jesus then begins more particularly in our text in Matthew chapter 5 verse 27 with the words that we read there, Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Now there is an intended contrast here between ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, and between the following words, but I say unto you. There's a contrast here. And the contrast here is not at all between the Ten Commandments and the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ, as if the Ten Commandments and the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ were at odds with one another. Christ is not here redefining the Ten Commandments or giving a new law to replace the Ten Commandments. That is not the intended contrast at all. Christ is rather demonstrating here that on the one hand, the religious leaders of the Jews merely looked at the strict letter of the law, thou shalt not commit adultery, strictly speaking, and looking at the law as binding, but not looking beyond those specific words. But they failed They failed, on the other hand, they failed to understand or acknowledge that the true meaning of the seventh commandment, thou shalt not commit adultery, also pierced to the innermost part of the heart and likewise forbade inward lusts of the heart that lead to adultery. The Greek verb for committing adultery here literally refers to having sexual relations with one who is married to another, whether it be you that is lawfully married to another, whether it be the other person who is lawfully married to another, or whether it be both of you who are lawfully married to others. This was a very serious sin. and breaking the marriage covenant that God had established in the Garden of Eden. And it was also judged by God so serious that it became, in God's law, a crime that was worthy of death. That was the full extent of the law. In the most aggravated type of a case, the full extent was death according to God's holy commandments. In Leviticus chapter 20 verse 10 you find this. And likewise in Hebrews chapter 13 verse 4. We find these words, though it's not specifically stated as a sin worthy of death. We find these words, marriage is honorable in all the bed undefiled. That is the marriage bed is undefiled. But whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. God will judge. In fact, where unrestrained adultery runs rampant throughout a nation, a marriage covenant essentially becomes a mere piece of paper. that can be ignored, that can be disregarded for whatever reason, or for no reason, in order to satisfy one's inward lusts. And without the sacredness of the marriage covenant the rest of society, I submit to you, is cast down into utter corruption. For if that sacred covenant can be willfully broken by means of adultery, then what covenant in church or state or businesses will there be that is sacred at all? None. None will be sacred. And is there therefore no surprised that we find such corruption, breaking of covenants and promises in our land because the marriage covenant is not held up to be sacred as one instituted by God till death do us part. But when the Lord gave the seventh commandment He did not intend to merely prohibit adultery as strictly defined above, just what I said earlier, but also intended to prohibit all sexual sins that corrupt the body, that corrupt the eyes, that corrupt the ears, that corrupt the lips, that corrupt the hands, and that corrupt the heart of a person. whether all forms of fornication between single people, whether homosexuality, whether incest, whether adultery, whether polygamy, whether bestiality, whether masturbation, whether looking at pornography, Whether listening to immoral lyrics in a song or uttering that which is sexually immoral, the Seventh Commandment forbids all of these forms of sexual immorality, beginning with the lust that is in the heart. All forms of sexual impurity are covered under the divine prohibition of the Seventh Commandment. And this is the point that Jesus is making by revealing lust to be a violation of the Seventh Commandment. He is seeking to show and to demonstrate to those who only adhered to a strict reading of the letter of the law of the commandment that no, you have misunderstood. Yes, that is sin. Strictly speaking, adultery. But this commandment digs far deeper into the heart of man than merely that. Dear ones, let us not be like the Pharisees who sought to justify themselves because they had not strictly speaking committed adultery. If we are to overcome our sin, our lust within our hearts, it will not happen by generalizing that sin as did the Pharisees, but rather it will occur by particularizing, making specific Our confession, our repentance with regard to lust, as Jesus here speaks concerning it. Our sanctification, dear ones, in the Christian life. Our growth in producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit must proceed from a sincere hungering and thirsting to call sin in our lives sin. to not blame others for our sin, to forsake our sin by God's grace and by God's power, and to withdraw the immeasurable resources of our inheritance in Jesus Christ by faith in order to overcome these sexual sins. Dear ones, there is hope for you. There is hope for me in the struggles that we have with the sin of lust. And we all, I submit to you, to varying degrees, struggle with the sin of lust. There is hope. There is victory through Jesus Christ. who was crucified and who was raised gloriously by God's almighty power from the dead in order to deliver you from not only the guilt and the condemnation of sin, but also to deliver you from the power of sin in your life. You are more than conquerors through Christ who loved you, dear ones. All that you need has been deposited into that spiritual bank account in heaven. The resources to overcome lust in your life, it is available by faith, dear ones. Withdrawal, that power, that strength, those fruit of the spirit that will prevent and keep you from falling into lust. It's all there in Jesus Christ. It is a matter of us simply exercising faith in what the Lord has already given to us by way of our inheritance. Now the Lord proceeds in Matthew 5.28 to authoritatively declare as God's Son that we are all guilty of breaking the seventh commandment when we sexually desire in our hearts one to whom we are not lawfully bound in marriage. How much more aggravated then is the actual fulfilling of the lusts of the heart in the sinful behavior and sinful acts? If that lust is a sin, how much more aggravated becomes the fulfilling and working out of that particular lust in our lives? Jesus says, but I say unto you. The Pharisees say this about the strict following of the letter of the law, but Jesus says this, but I say unto you. I say unto you. The Greek word translated here as lust, epithumeo, literally means desire. The word itself is not necessarily something that is evil or wicked. It's a desire. In fact, Lord Jesus, in Luke 22, 15, speaks of himself having a desire to celebrate his last meal with his disciples. He uses this same word, epitomeo. Likewise, in 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 17, the Apostle Paul. Speaking of this desire that he has to see the face of these converts unto Jesus Christ through his ministry, he says in 1 Thessalonians 2.17 the following But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. However, most of the time in the New Testament, the Greek word epithumeo is used in an immoral sense, as is used here by the Lord Jesus Christ. The nature of this lusting is made clear by the phrase that Jesus speaks, looking at a woman to lust after her, or vice versa. The word looking does not convey a quick glance, a mere look. and awareness that she is there or he is there. But rather this looking is that of a continuous long stare and gaze. It is a participial phrase that is in the present continuous sense or tense. And we find here it is one with a purposeful view to desiring to be with her. or with him. To simply look and be aware of someone near you, or to look at someone in a photo, or someone on the internet, or someone in a film, someone on the other side of the room, is not to lust after that person. Likewise, to observe and acknowledge that someone is attractive is not in itself to lust after that person. If the Holy Spirit notes that certain people were attractive in Scripture, which it does, then we cannot condemn the same observation. In Genesis 12, verse 14, it speaks of Sarah being very fair. Rebekah in Genesis 24, verse 16, likewise being very fair. David in 1 Samuel 17, verse 42. Speaking of his being a handsome man in Absalom in 2 Samuel 14, 25, saying there was no one as handsome as Absalom was in all the land. And so merely recognizing that someone is attractive is not in and of itself to fall into lust. Jesus seems to be focusing here on the long look and gaze, wherein another person is eyed with lust, up and down and up and down, behind, forward, front and back, desiring to be with that person, longing for that person in one's heart, with a view to one satisfying one's own pleasure, whether the person that is lusted after is on the other side of the room, whether that person is in a magazine, whether that person is in a film, or whether that person is on the internet. And here are three examples of lust that I would submit violate the words of Jesus Christ here. Psychologists and therapists, and sadly, even some who call themselves Christians, promote what they call mental fantasizing, that one is with his or her sexual hunk or babe, and that in order to try to spice up intimacy in their marriage. But that is exactly what Christ here condemns as lust. Likewise, in certain churches, it is not considered immoral to have sexual desires for those of the same gender. In such a case, lust is given a different name. It is your sexual orientation. But again, the Lord Jesus is condemning this idea of desiring to be with another person. Or how many times, a third example, how many times has it wickedly been said, look, but don't touch? as if the mere looking and gazing and lusting in the heart is fine. It is only when looking becomes touching, in the opinion of some, that it becomes sinful and wrong and immoral. But Jesus is saying just to the contrary, no, it is the lust within one's heart where the sin begins. And finally, notice that Jesus says that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her, quote, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart, end of quote. The wording here in the Greek language implies that by the time the long days had begun, the adultery in the heart was already going on. In fact, the gaze, the long gaze is simply expressing outwardly the sin that is going on inwardly. You remember what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew chapter 15 verse 19, ìFor out of the heart proceedeth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, theft, false witness, blasphemies out of the heart. So by the time those actual events are going on, those outward things, it all, it started even before that time within someone's heart. In other words, because there is already lust running rampant in the heart, that lust will go seeking its prey to sexually feast upon with one's eyes. Dear ones, if it is immoral for you to look with lust in your heart as Jesus herein declares then is it not also immoral for you to dress in such a way as to want the gaze, the sexual gaze of others toward you? If that goes through your mind as you are dressing and going out to work or to worship or into your community to shop or wherever you're going, if that is going through your mind, that you are seeking to flirt with the affections, to flirt with the attention, to flirt with the gaze of others upon you. then are you not also an accomplice much like Bathsheba was to the sin of David? It is certainly true that one may lust after another, even one who is modestly dressed. But that does not mean, dear ones, that we should dress so as to incite and to add fuel to the raging fire of lust within others. In 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 3-5, the Apostle Paul says, For this is the will of God, even your sanctification. that ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the lust of concupiscence, that is, not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles which know not God. You see, the Gentiles who know not God do not know how to possess their own vessels, their bodies. And so they basically dress however they want to dress. But we who have the knowledge of God, this is a part of our sanctification, Paul says, that we are not to stimulate the passion of lust in others. The world may think that having an affair in the heart is fine, even healthy, but the Lord Jesus condemns it, condemns it and implies that it is the inward desire that leads to outward adultery. Lust in the heart. certainly may not be as aggravated of a sin as is physical adultery, just as anger is not as aggravated of a sin as murder. But if we do not take the serious steps Christ mentions in the next two verses, we will find ourselves falling into outward sexual behavior, immoral behavior that is far more aggravated than mere inward lust. Which brings us to our second main point which we will go through much more quickly. And the second main point is this, defending yourself against lust requires extreme measures. In Matthew chapter 5 verses 29 through 30 we read, And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. There have been those historically who have taken these words of the Lord Jesus literally to mean that one should blind oneself and maim oneself in order to overcome lust in one's life. But dear ones, even the blind man and even the maimed man can and will likely continue to lust in his heart. Because dear ones, it's not the eye in itself and it's not the hand in itself from which lust proceeds. It is from the heart of man that lust proceeds. The eye and the hand may indeed become servants of unrighteousness and servants of our lusts. But the way to deal, dear ones, with lust is ultimately to deal with the heart. In other words, the words of our Lord here, in Matthew 5, verses 29 through 30, are not to be taken literally, but rather figuratively, as we shall see. What did Jesus mean by his words in Matthew 5, 29 through 30, when referring to plucking out the right eye and cutting off the right hand? Lord Jesus says that if our right eye, important here, not the left eye, not an eye just in general, but he says if our right eye or our right hand offends us and becomes a stumbling block or occasion of sin, we should remove it, cut it off. In scriptural terms, the right eye or the right hand would generally be, sorry to all of you who are left-handed, but this is the way the scripture words it, that the right eye and the right hand were viewed as that which was most precious, most important, to a person. It was their strong eye. It was their valuable eye. It was their strong hand. It was their strong and valuable hand. And for example, This, you can see, we won't turn to these passages, but in Zechariah 11, 17, speaks of the right eye of Israel being blinded and darkened. The right eye. Why the right eye? Well, because that's saying that whatever Israel viewed as being valuable, as being important, as being that which was precious, it will be taken away. It will be darkened so that you cannot see that with the right eye. Likewise, God says that He exerts His power and strength in His mighty right hand or right arm. In Exodus 15, 6. It says that Jesus is seated where? at the right hand of God. In other words, Christ is teaching us that lust is so dangerous that we must take whatever extreme measures are necessary to subdue it. even if it means losing that which is very precious and important to us in this world. We must be willing to part with it. That must be our level of commitment if we're to overcome lust in our lives. For example, if our lust is excited by certain websites we must cut those websites off as if removing our right eye. If our lust is stimulated by certain magazines or books, films, programs, places we might frequent like the beach or certain friends that lead us into lust, we must cut those tempting situations and persons off as if cutting off our right hand. For the Lord Jesus says it is better that we consider heaven more important than any of these worldly things or people that lead us into sin, and rather enter heaven without these worldly things than that we keep these worldly things and suffer for all eternity in hell. You know, it's not a hard choice. Do you want to go to heaven? Do you want to go to hell? Jesus says. We must take the steps that the Lord says. We must value heaven, therefore, more than anything in this world. Be willing to cut off, as it were, our right hand, pluck out our right eye, to forsake anything in this world in order to obtain the glories of heaven forevermore. In the words of the Apostle Paul, this is simply to put to death our lusts or that which is an outlet to our lusts. In Romans chapter 8 Verses 12-14, we read, Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. We now have no debt to the flesh. Jesus Christ has paid our debt. He has secured our salvation. He has overcome and paid for our redemption, our sanctification, so that we now owe no debt to the flesh, to the lust of the heart. We owe no debt to that, to follow it, as if we're obliged to follow it, as if we're bound to follow it any longer because there was our freedom in Christ which has been purchased for us. has delivered us not only from the guilt and the condemnation of sin, but also delivered us from the power of sin over our lives. It is to account ourselves, dear ones, as dead corpses to our lusts and alive to the power and the new life found in Jesus Christ. We've mentioned this verse of the Lord Jesus that he has spoken in recent sermons, but I think, again, it's very applicable here. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Where your treasure is. That which you value, there will your heart be also. What are you not willing to give up in order to overcome the lust of the heart, that stimulate, that excite, that lust within you. Well, whatever it is that you're not willing to give up, that's where your treasure is, and that's where your heart will be also. But if your treasure is in heaven, there your heart will be also. You'll be hidden in the life of God, hidden in Christ Jesus, that will be your glory, is to live for the Lord Jesus here upon the earth, to bring him honor. And you'll be willing to sacrifice all to take up your cross, deny yourself, and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that's not the definition, dear ones, that Jesus gives of a super, super Christian. That's the definition the Lord Jesus gives of a Christian. One who is willing to crucify himself, take himself up, place himself upon the cross, deny himself the pleasures of this life, and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And so I ask you, where is your heart? Where is your heart? You can tell by where your treasure is, where your heart is. And that would you act as though you cannot live without. That will be your treasure. That will be your heart. If you can't live without Jesus Christ, He will be your treasure. Your heart will be there. If there are things in this world that you can't live without, that's where your treasure will be and that's where your heart will be. Let me leave with you, dear ones, some practical steps to fortify the wall of godly self-control against the enemy of lust as we close today. First of all, We're not going to overcome lust without communing with Jesus Christ, enjoying communion with Jesus Christ daily. We are commanded, pray without ceasing, that we are to pray without ceasing. How do we do that? Well, we have other things that we need to do, yes, but in the course and throughout our day, our hearts, are in communion with the Lord by way of a thought, by way of a quick prayer, by way of a thankfulness that we just fire off to the Lord. We don't allow ourselves to become estranged from God as if God is a million miles away. He's with us. That's communion, living in the presence of Jesus Christ throughout the day. taking scripture that you have memorized with you as you leave your home, taking it with you so you can feast upon that as you're driving, so that you can feast upon God's word and what you've committed to memory as you work, if you're able to do that, or as you take a break. This is living in communion with Jesus Christ, dear ones. This is, again, not the super-Christian. This is living a Christian life. And in your communion with Christ, calling upon the Lord with all earnestness to help you with this matter of lust in the heart. realizing that it is through the resurrection power of Jesus Christ alone that you can overcome lusts within your heart, and applying that resurrection power by faith and by obedience. And in your prayer, pray that God gives to you, not a neutrality, an indifference toward lust, but a holy hatred and an abomination for lust, because as we look at where lust leads in the life of David, may we all say, God forbid that lust would lead me to those types of sins as well. May that be in our hearts that we so hate and despise lust. We're not indifferent to it at all. Secondly, be ready when you wake up in the morning. Be ready for the battle. Be ready for the battle with lust every day. Know that the battle, however, is already won. through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that the resources that you need to overcome lust in your life have already been deposited into your heavenly spiritual bank account, and that you can withdraw those resources that you need to say no to lust. by way of those spiritual graces, by way of the fruit of the Holy Spirit that God has already given to us. Thirdly, when a lustful desire comes, learn to be aware of it and seek to replace that lustful thought with a holy desire a holy spoken word, a holy godly deed. In other words, when a lustful thought comes, what do you have to be thankful for? Can you not begin to utter, to go through your mind, tens and scores of things for which you're thankful? Can you not, when a lustful thought comes to your mind, begin to pray for someone else that you know has a need? Can you not pray for, when you have a lustful thought, and I would really appreciate this, pray for your pastor. Pastor knows he needs your prayers. When you are struggling with lust, can you not write a brief note of encouragement to someone else or make a phone call to encourage a brother or sister? Can you not apply yourself to some activity, some work, exercise? In other words, I submit that the way to deal with lustful thoughts It's not to try to command them to leave, but to replace them with something else that is good and holy and positive. And when we learn that type of replacement therapy in our own hearts and lives, thinking upon that which is good and honorable, as Paul says in Philippians chapter four, we will find that we're no longer overwhelmed by that lustful thought. Fourth, avoid known occasions of temptation, situations of temptation, if at all possible. Whether magazine stands, strip joints, internet sites, seductive movies, seductive songs, seductive books, or staring at that which is seductive flirtatious in people. Put filters on your computer if you need to. Remove the TV if it is a stumbling block. Again, where is your treasure? There will your heart be also. Fifthly, ask someone whom you trust and who can maintain your confidence to pray with you and to help you in being accountable in avoiding all known occasions to lust. These various tempting situations. Ask somebody to help you, to keep you accountable, and who will pray for you. Sixthly, like Job, make a covenant with your eyes. Make a covenant. with your eyes, not to look upon a woman with lustful eyes. Seventh, if you're married, and maybe many of us don't even think about this, but if you're married, do not allow disagreements to continue in your marriage, lest you begin to think the grass is greener elsewhere than in your own home. with your own wife or with your own husband. You see so often disagreements that are not dealt with, that are not resolved in a marriage, that begin to have layer upon layer upon layer upon layer and you begin to say, how can I possibly resolve this difference that I have with my spouse? And what happens so often is that the heart and affection then begins to look elsewhere, even if the body doesn't, and begins to look elsewhere to find someone whom you believe will be what your husband or your wife is not to you. Do not allow your anger to continue through a night. Do not allow disagreements to continue to the next day if you can possibly resolve them. If you are together, in other words, not separated by a business trip or whatever, but even then on the phone if possible. Because this is where so often lustful thoughts will begin to attack us when we are dissatisfied with our spouse, and very often it's disagreements that arise that do so. Don't do in secret what you would not do if your wife or your husband were looking over your shoulder, or even more importantly, if Christ were visibly in the same room with you. He is in the same room with you. We just, again, don't acknowledge that because we can't see him. But if he were there, if he were in the same room with you, looking over your shoulder, visibly, you saw him, would you be doing the same things that you do that excite the lusts of the heart? If you're unmarried, realize that how you presently conduct your lives, how you live, how you deal with the lusts of the heart, lusts of the flesh is preparation for being either faithful or unfaithful in your heart and life to your future husband or wife. If you desire to be married, You don't begin to practice faithfulness once you're married. You begin to practice faithfulness and work diligently, plucking out the right eye, cutting off the right hand. Now, while you are single, so that when you are married, your marriage will be blessed by the Lord. and not filled with all of these types of issues that so many families and couples have to wrestle through. And if you're single and unmarried, I ask, do you seek to treat those of the opposite gender? as brothers and sisters or as lustful toys for your imaginations and desires. Ninthly and lastly, never ever forget that Christ is your righteousness. And He is interceding for you in all of your struggles with lust, with the passions of the heart. He is interceding for you that your faith not fail, even as He interceded for Peter, that his faith would not fail in that very serious time of backsliding on Peter's part and denying the Lord three times. Be, dear ones, even more preoccupied with Christ and His benefits, Christ and His glory, Christ and His honor, than you are with your lusts. Be more preoccupied. It doesn't mean you don't deal with the lust of the flesh. Be more preoccupied with who Jesus is, what He has accomplished, for all who are his people, who love him, who trust him. Daily remember and take up these twin truths. And you've heard it many, many times from me, these twin truths. Without Christ, I can do nothing, John 15 five, but I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, all things. even overcoming lust, and the fruit of lust, lust in our lives. Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Dear ones, all of the previous fruit of the Spirit, beginning with love, the first fruit of the Spirit, to the last one we considered prior to temperance, then that is meekness. All of those fruit of the Spirit are the mortar that we are to use to fortify the wall of self-control against the attack of lust in our lives. We can't simply focus on one of the fruit of the spirit. We are praying that God grows all of the fruit of the spirit. That will be the means of fortifying the wall of self-control against the attacks of lust in our hearts and the fruit of that in our lives. Amen. Let us stand in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, glory be to Thy great, mighty, powerful, gracious name. We praise Thee and thank Thee, our God, that Thou has shown us such love in Christ Jesus, that He has died for us and been raised for us, that we, O Lord, live not in bondage into our lusts, but that, Lord, we be set free. And none of us are perfectly going to avoid lust in our lives, sinless perfection, this side of glory and this side of heaven, but, O God, we are thankful that when we fall, is forgiveness with Thee, that Jesus Christ is our righteousness and He is at Thy right hand interceding for us. O Lord, our God, we plead with Thee that Thou would work within us both to will and to do Thy good pleasure. We commit to Thee our lives and we pray, our Lord, that we would be willing to take even the most extreme measures of figuratively plucking out our right eye, figuratively cutting off our right hand, disposing of that which is even very precious to us in order that we might enter into heaven without any of those things rather than going into hell having all of those things. Oh God, Hear our prayers, for Jesus' sake. Amen. For much more information on the Puritans and Reformers, including the best free and discounted classic and contemporary books, mp3s, digital downloads, and videos, please visit Still Waters Revival Books at PuritanDownloads.com Stillwater's Revival Books also publishes The Puritan Hard Drive, the most powerful and practical Christian study tool ever produced. All thanks and glory be to the mercy, grace, and love of the Lord Jesus Christ for this remarkable and wonderful new Christian study tool. 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