Enjoying Jesus in Sexual Purity

0:09 I just want to say it's a joy to be with you this weekend at Stonegate. I've been looking forward to this hour in particular. I've thought about this weekend. My name is Marshall. I'm the president and CEO of Desiring God. Ministry is here with Pastor John and David Mathis and others from Desiring God. So excited about that you all have and enjoying Jesus' weekend. That's very much the heart of our ministry. I told our staff this week that this church and this event very much feels like family, even from afar. I mean, when I look at the breakouts, enjoying Jesus in the Bible, in hard relationships, in suffering, in evangelism, I thought, oh man, we are stealing that, that desiring God.

0:48 That thread is why we exist as a ministry, to move people to live for the glory of God by being satisfied in God above all else, especially in suffering. by communicating the truth, beauty, and worth of all God is for us in Christ, enjoying Jesus, grounded in, governed by, and saturated with the infallible Christian scriptures. That's our mission as a ministry. So I hope you can hear why I feel so at home here at Stonegate and at this conference. My session here is Enjoying Jesus in Purity. I wonder how a title like that falls on you. I love that title and assignment, and I love it for two main reasons. First, because personal, blood-bought, grace-filled purity is a proven path to enjoying Jesus more.

1:44 Personal, blood-bought, grace-filled purity is a proven path to enjoying Jesus more. the pursuit of purity really does increase our spiritual, intellectual, emotional capacity to know and enjoy Jesus. I believe that. But second, I also think that enjoying Jesus is the single greatest weapon we have in the fight for purity. I believe that enjoying Jesus is the single greatest weapon in our fight for purity. There are other weapons, lots of them, and we might talk about them if we have time for Q&A at the end. But I think our greatest weapon in the war against sexual temptation really is our genuine and increasing joy in Christ. when I hear enjoying Jesus in purity, I immediately think of purity as a means of joy, and I think of joy as a means of purity.

2:52 That's a summary of the session. I believe that purity is a means of joy, and I believe that joy is a means, an actual means, of greater purity. This talk's not simply about the joy of denying illicit impulses.

3:16 The joy of victory over temptation. There's some modest joy in defeating temptation. I've experienced that. But that won't get you very far in this battle, and you're not going to experience much joy in the process. No, the joy of purity is the joy of seeing and enjoying more of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That's the joy of purity. I want to show you that in one verse from the mouth of Jesus, to promise, one that you've likely heard, and it's my whole talk. Purity is a means of joy. Joy is a means of purity, but it's just in just 11 words. The verse is Matthew 5, verse 8.

3:55 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Why would I do a talk on sexual purity that focuses on a single promise like Matthew 5 verse 8? Again, I think our greatest weapon, I really do think this, our greatest weapon in the war against sexual temptation is a stronger, fuller joy in Jesus Christ. John Piper's taught me a lot over the decades now. I'm sure he's going to teach me something new tonight. I'm looking forward to that. But one of the most important lessons that he ever taught me was that we sever the root of sin's promise by the power of a superior promise. Get that? We sever the root of sin's promise, it's lie, by the power of a superior promise. That means when it comes to sexual temptation, we don't just say that sin's lying to us.

4:57 It is, and we should tell that to each other. but that's a pistol when it comes to sexual temptation. And if we're going to win this war for the long haul, we need missiles. We need F-15 fighter jets is what we need for this battle. And the thought that sin is lying is not enough. No, we need a better promise, a superior promise. This is how he says it, Pastor John. When the body is about to be led into a sinful action by some fear or craving, we are to take the sword of the spirit and kill that fear and that craving. In my experience, that means mainly severing the root of sin's promise by the power of a superior promise. For example, when I begin to crave some illicit sexual pleasure, the sword swing that has often severed the root of this promised pleasure is, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

5:52 I recall the pleasures I have tasted of seeing God more clearly from an undefiled conscience. Do you hear that? I recall the pleasures I have tasted of seeing God more clearly from an undefiled conscience. And I recall the brevity and superficiality and oppressive aftertaste of sin's pleasures. And with that, God has killed the conquering power of sin. Having promises at hand that suit the temptation of the hour is one key to successful warfare against sin. So do you have them?

6:31 Do you have promises at hand that suit the temptation of the hour? Because if you don't, you're unarmed for the battle. I want you to have weaponized promises at hand, or at least one promise for today. I could have spent these 30 minutes multiplying promises, and I'm going to mention a couple of others, but I decided instead to go deeper with just one. I've prayed that you actually might memorize this promise by the end of this session. I think you might even if you don't try, because I'm going to say it enough over the course of the 30 minutes. I want you to have at least one for the hour of temptation. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Before we dig into Matthew 5, 8, why fly to Dallas to talk about enjoying Jesus in purity? I'm passionate about purity in Christ for several big reasons. The first one is that I have my own history of sexual failure and have now, by God's grace, tasted real enduring victory in this battle. That I have my own past, my own history of failure and purity.

7:36 I had my first girlfriend in the sixth grade, my first kiss that summer, a different girl, and several more relationships through high school and college from far too young. I was looking for affection and safety and intimacy and identity from girls instead of from God. That was my story. And because of that idolatry, I committed sexual immorality in those relationships. I also viewed pornography at a young age. Classmate thought it was funny to send me a link. This was in sixth grade. Classmate thought it was funny to send me a link as part of a school project that turned out to be a pornographic link. and then I battled that sin for years, often losing and failing.

8:21 I hate my sexual past. I hate that I treated women that way. I hate that I didn't do more sooner to cut off my hand and to gouge out my eye. I hate that I hurt my future wife, that she had to bear, and still bears in some ways, the consequences of my sinful choices. More than anything, though, I hate what my persistent sin said about the Jesus that I claimed to know and love at that time. I hate that. and I'm so thankful that God sent his son to die for sexual sins like mine. Micah 7, 8, 9 has been a refuge when I feel the waves of guilt and regret over this sin or other sins over my past.

9:15 Micah 7, 8, 9, Rejoice not over me, O my enemy. When I fall, I shall rise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I shall bear the indignation of the Lord because I've sinned against Him. Our sin deserves the indignation of the Lord. I shall bear the indignation of the Lord because I've sinned against Him until He pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light. I shall look upon His vindication. I have been there again and again and again and again. It is right for us to feel the weight of our sin against God. It deserves the righteous indignation of Him.

10:05 And yet, it's only until we bear the indignation of the Lord, until the judge becomes our attorney and pleads our cause and executes justice. He doesn't overlook it, but he executes justice for us and not against us. He has brought me in the light, and I want to bring as many of you as possible. with me. I'm also passionate about purity because I've known and discipled dozens of men now over decades who have struggled with sexual sin. Some of these men, my wife and I, count as sons in our family. We love these men. And that's a third reason. We have actual sons, two of them and a daughter of our own, who we want to prepare well for sexual temptation, to pursue purity as a means of joy, and joy is a means of purity. I'm here because sexual sin ruins lives and souls.

11:06 Left unchecked, that could have been my life, my soul. It could have ruined me. And I'm here because God rescues sexual sinners, arms us with his word, and empowers us by his spirit so that we really can pursue, experience, and enjoy greater joy in Jesus, greater purity in Christ. Okay, so if I could give you just 11 words on the pursuit of joy in the pursuit of Christian purity, I'd give you Matthew 5 verse 8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. This is one of eight Beatitudes, statements of supreme blessedness in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Most of these promises are stated in the future tense. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

12:03 These promises are in the future to emphasize that they'll be fully fulfilled one day. They will. But they're not meant to exclude real fulfillment today. Those who mourn don't have to wait until glory to experience real comfort in Jesus. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they don't have to starve until they get to heaven. They're waiting for the fullness of that promise to be fulfilled.

12:28 But God's already fulfilling his promises to his children even now. I'm going to focus on one of those promises, verse 8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. God, you shall and you do, I'm going to argue. You shall see him one day face to face, but you're already seeing him now. Through the eyes of faith, you have today the treasure in the field, the pearl of great price. You have him, you know him, you see him, even today. no promise in the Bible has been more compelling and propelling in my pursuit of sexual purity. I could probably do a breakout in every one of the 11 words. This verse is that full of power, but I'm just going to focus on four in particular. Pure, see, God, and blessed.

13:24 Pure, see, God, and blessed. I really want you to see. I'm so jealous for you to see what Jesus is saying here. Okay, first, pure. What does it mean to be pure in heart? The heart, you probably know this in scripture, is the center of who you are. It's a summary in biological terms of who you are. This isn't about external performance or about looking a certain way in front of other people, what they know about you. Jesus wants an inner, fuller purity. The Greek word for pure here is catharoi. And Jesus used it again, Matthew 23, a few chapters later. He says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee. First, clean the inside of the cup and the plate that the outside also may be clean. You purify the outside of the cup, but inside you're full of sin. You're full of iniquity. You're blind.

14:34 You're lying to yourselves and to others. First, purify the inside of the cup, and then you'll be the right kind of pure on the outside. Outside purity without inside purity is no purity at all. outside purity, what other people can see, without inside purity, with Jesus, is no purity at all. So what does it mean to be pure in heart? It obviously means more than a clean browser history. No, this is talking about something much deeper and wider and more beautiful. I think Psalm 24, 3 through 6, gives us a fuller picture of this kind of purity. It It says, Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord and who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart has me listening. Who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

15:34 That's the negative side of purity. So he who has clean hands and a pure heart who does not lift up his soul to what is false, does not swear deceitfully, he will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. That's the positive side of purity. So the negative side does not lift his soul up to what is false. Positive, who seeks the face of the God of Jacob. Longs for him, looks for him, goes hunting for him. Purity in the Bible isn't only about the absence of sin. It is about that. He does not lift his soul up to what is false. But it's not only or mainly about what we don't look at or do in secret. No, purity is mainly about a single-minded, undivided seeking of God. it's a focused pursuit of God, his glory, his worth.

16:38 So how do we become pure in heart? How do we put on that kind of undistracted, undivided seeking of God? Is it something that God does for us? Or is it something that we do for God? I say the answer is yes.

17:00 This is the good news of the gospel, the good news that pulled me out of the pit of sexual failure and despair and set me on a rock of freedom and power and joy. This is the gospel. Do you know the good news, the whole good news of the gospel? 1 Corinthians 6, 9-11. Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, sexual sin, sexual sin, sexual sin, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. They won't. And such were some of you.

17:37 Such was me. But you were. what? Washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. You were sexually immoral people. But you're not that anymore. You're not. You were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified. It's already done. You are pure.

18:15 In Christ, in the eyes of God, you are already pure. And you never could have done that. There was no amount of washing or working or weeping that you could do to make yourself pure before God. But God sent his son to die for your impurity. And he sent his spirit to raise your cold, lifeless, lust-filled life from the dead. and now you are forgiven, washed, and pure. By grace alone, through faith alone, you are pure. You're pure. Can you believe that? I had a really hard time believing that for a long time. you are pure. And yet notice, he still calls those he has made pure in Christ to pursue purity in Christ.

19:12 Just a few verses later, same chapter, verses 18 through 20. He says, flee from sexual immorality. You were sexually immoral. Now you are washed, sanctified, justified. So flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body? Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. Why would he tell them to be pure if they're already pure? Why would he tell them to be pure, to pursue purity, if he's already made them pure in Christ?

20:07 It's because while God has declared us pure in Christ and sees us as pure in Christ, in Jesus, he hasn't made us fully pure yet. While God declares us pure in Christ and sees us, he really sees us in Christ today, justified as pure, he hasn't made us fully pure yet. He will, but he hasn't done it yet. We're all still impure this side of heaven. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, 1 John 1, 8. We are pure in Christ and yet still not yet pure. Not as pure as we will be. And so by grace and through faith, we must relentlessly pursue purity.

21:04 We must relentlessly pursue being who we are in Christ. None of us is fully pure in this age, not yet. but all of us can be more pure in this age. And that's only possible because through faith, God has given us his grace, his word, and his power, his spirit, to help us fight the battle against temptation and to be pure. Okay, that's the first of our four words. To be pure in heart is to have a heart that increasingly seeks God with an undivided, undefiled devotion. Now see. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. What would it mean to see God? Can we really see God?

22:00 No. and yet very much yes. Why do I say no? Why would I say no when the verse so clearly says we will see God? Because God himself says, Exodus 33, 20, Even in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul says, 1 Timothy 6, 15-17, He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal dominion. We couldn't see him and live because his glory would be so bright, so intense, so satisfying, so holy that it would overwhelm our senses and kill us.

23:01 That's what would happen if we saw God. and that's not only about our sin. It's true that our sin separates us from God. That's true, but that's not why we can't see him and live, and I say that because this was true even in Genesis 1 and 2, before the fall. God wasn't visible before the fall. He walked with man, and he spoke with man. He enjoyed fellowship with man, but Adam and Eve didn't see him. We've heard from the mouth of Jesus, no one has ever seen God. John 1.18, no one has ever seen God, not just after the fall, but no one has ever seen God. They couldn't. Even their sinless eyes and minds and hearts couldn't bear it. Couldn't bear to see him. So can we actually see God? No. but also very much yes. this is almost too hard to grasp or to believe.

23:58 I want you to believe it. Listen to 1 John 3 verse 2. This is what your eyes were really made for. This is why you have them. If a kid asks you, why do you have eyes? You could take them to 1 John 3 verse 2. Beloved, we are God's children now. And what we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is.

24:32 We shall see him as he is. You have eyes so that one day you would get to see God. That's why you have them. I don't even have good eyes. I think I'm legally blind without my glasses. but I have eyes, dysfunctional, blurry eyes, so that one day God could give my blurry eyes, 20-20 vision, and I could see him. Revelation 22, verse four, one of the very last promises in the Bible, they will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. Wait, but we can't see his face and live. It was true in Genesis 1 and 2, but it won't be true by Revelation 22. It won't.

25:29 Why? Because God humbled himself, came down, and took on flesh, and mankind has seen his glory, glory as of the only Son, full of grace and truth. Hebrews 1, 3 and 4. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down bodily, seeable body. He sat down at the right hand of majesty on high, having become as superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than ours. You will see God when you see Jesus. You're going to see him. before he died for you, he actually prayed, prayed this very thing for you.

26:21 Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory. I want them to see it, to see my glory that you have given me because you love me for the foundation of the world. There's this glory before the foundation of the world long before Jesus came. He has this glory and now Jesus comes in that glory and he exhibits that glory and he dies in that glory and he rises in that glory. And he says, I want them to see it. I want them all to see my glory. This is why you have eyes. So that one day you would get to see his glory. The pure in heart are going to see God.

27:04 Like I said earlier, I don't think this promise is only a future promise. Purity now and then seeing later. I don't think that. The fullness of seeing is yet to come, of course. But again, I think all of these beatitudes, they're coming true even now. 1 Corinthians 13, 12. For now we see in a mirror dimly. We really see. It doesn't say we don't see. It just says that we're looking in a mirror dimly. But then, face to face.

27:36 I think the pure in heart see him even now through faith. And where do we see him? we see him where he's chosen to reveal himself to us. we see him in the world that he's made. We see him in each other, his people. But we see him best and most clearly in his word. Here, this is where we see him. In the Bible, we see the unseen Jesus in every book, on every page, under every verse. And I think Matthew 5, 8 means that the more pure we are in heart, never perfectly, but the more pure we are in heart, the more we get to see and enjoy him. here. And I believe the more we see and enjoy of him here, the better equipped we are to reject lesser sinful pleasures.

28:39 purity is a means of greater joy in Jesus we get to see him and joy in Jesus seeing him here is a means of greater purity okay two words down just two to go these will be shorter third God who will we get to see we've already talked about this a little bit Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. I've already talked a little bit about how dangerously holy this God is, so holy that no human could look at him and live, not before Jesus. He's just, he's sovereign, he's wise, he's merciful, he's infinitely captivating, eternally fascinating. That's the God we get to see here in Scripture, and then one day, face to face. We will study him for thousands and thousands of years, and we will never get tired or bored.

29:35 Here, though, I just want to pull back the curtain for a second on a side of God that I think often gets overlooked. And because it gets overlooked, it might be hard to get too excited about seeing him. So I could talk about the sovereignty and the wisdom and the holiness, the beauty of God. But for here, I'm going to pull back the curtain on just one part. I want to remind you for this session in particular, I want to remind you of the happiness of God. you're going to see the happy. God. I wonder if you even think about him like that. when I was struggling with sexual sin, I had an especially difficult time imagining that the God of heaven could possibly be happy. Especially that he could be happy with me.

30:29 1 Timothy 1.11 calls the gospel, the gospel of the glory of the blessed God. The gospel of the glory of the blessed God. What's the glory it's calling out in this particular verse? It's that he's blessed, he's happy. It's the gospel of the glory of the happy God. That's the gospel we have, and that's the God we get to see. And this isn't the only place that God talks about his happiness. Matthew 25, 20 and 21. The master says to the faithful servant who doubled his five talents, you know the story, well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into what? the joy of your master. Enter into the joy of your master.

31:30 What does it mean to enter into glory one day? It means to be brought into the infinite happiness of heaven. The joy of your master. That's the kind of face you're going to get to see. That's the kind of face, the God that we find in scripture. Psalm 36, seven through nine. How precious is your steadfast love, O God. The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house and you give them drink from the river of your delights. The river of your delights. And I don't think that means the delights that he gives. I think that means the delights that he has. He gives us drink. He quenches our thirst from the fountain of His delight in Himself. His delight from God's delight in God.

32:26 Psalm 115 verse 3, Our God is in the heavens. He does all that He pleases. How could He not be happy? He does everything that He pleases. And so He's the happiest being in the universe. How could he be anything but happy? And it pleases this God to please you in him. it makes the happy God happy to make you as happy as humanly possible in him. One of his great pleasures that we read about through scripture is that he raises up, forgives, redeems, adopts, secures,

33:13 satisfies a people for himself. It makes the happy God happy to make you happy in him. And so King David sings, Psalm 1611, You make known to me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. It's hard to imagine that could possibly be the case for us. Fullness of joy forevermore if God were not happy. But he is. you're going to see the happy God.

33:49 And in his presence, you'll experience fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. And that brings me to the last of our four words, blessed. Blessed, fortunate, happy. Happy are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. I don't know what comes to your mind when you hear the word happy or blessed, but this promise is almost certainly fuller and richer than whatever you're imagining. It's hard to put it in a word. This blessedness is more than circumstantial comfort or pleasure. This is a full soul satisfaction that touches every part of us, every part of you. The blessed, happy God has called you blessed in Christ, and there is nowhere better to be in all the universe. You won't experience a fuller blessing than being here to be called blessed by your Father in heaven. And tragically, what we experience in Christ is what so many are desperately, pitifully trying to find in sexual sin.

34:52 The blessedness, the satisfaction, the pleasure that we experience in Christ is what so many are desperately, pitifully trying to find in sexual sin. they're never going to find it there. The prophet says, Jeremiah 2, My people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters. They've rejected the joy that I have offered them. And they've hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. It's two evils. Rejecting fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. and then hewing out cisterns, idols, trying to get the joy that they rejected here from the sand. They're eating sand to try to find the joy their soul craves.

35:50 He calls those two great evils. That's what it's like to live in sexual sin. And if you've lived in sexual sin for any amount of time, you know what I'm talking about. You know what he's talking about. they're never going to find blessedness there. You are never going to find blessedness there. You're going to find it by running as hard as possible away from there and into fellowship with Jesus.

36:18 Purity is a means of seeing and enjoying Jesus more. And enjoying Jesus more is a means of pursuing greater purity. Or in Jesus' words, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. So what should you do? Very briefly.

36:40 Do whatever clears your eyes to see and enjoy Jesus. What habits or relationships in your life make him look trustworthy, powerful, glorious, satisfying? Do whatever clears your eyes to see and enjoy Jesus in his word, in one another, in the world. Do whatever clears your eyes to see him.

37:09 And avoid whatever blurs your eyes and divides your heart against him. What's blinding you to his glory right now? What's devouring your passion for him? I vividly remember getting glasses for the first time. I was in like third or fourth grade, and I've been blind, functionally blind my whole life, but I don't know it, and nobody around me knows it. But the teacher noticed that when I was sitting further back in the class that I couldn't read the board. And so she said, I think you should get your eyes checked. And so I remember going to LensCrafters. I was behind Big Lots in the mall in Fairfield, Ohio, where I grew up. I can still remember going to LensCrafters, and I had the test, and I go, yeah, you need glasses, and I get glasses. And I remember vividly driving home that day. It's third grade, fourth grade.

38:02 I don't remember anything. I don't remember my friends. I barely remember my teachers. But I remember this drive home from Big Lots to my house. I remember the trees along the highway as we were driving around. I remember the stoplight. I remember just about everything about that drive because for the first time in my life, I was seeing the world clearly. I loved to go to basketball games with my dad. And we actually had decent seats, but it didn't matter where I was sitting because I was blind. But I had learned to compensate for it, and I could kind of tell. The blurry numbers or blurry heads or shapes or tall, I could tell which players were which, but I had to work pretty hard on it. I had no idea that I was working hard. I just had to work. I remember going to the first game where I put my glasses on, and I actually could see the players in front of me on the basketball court. I remember what it was like to have my vision clear for the first time. Giving into sexual sin, I think, is like having the glasses and throwing them away. it's forfeiting the opportunity to see and see clearly.

39:04 We're not looking at trees or basketball players or big lots. We're looking at God. And so do whatever clears your eyes to see and enjoy Jesus. Avoid whatever blurs your eyes and divides your heart against him.