The High Cost of Sexual Sin

00:00:00.000 | [Music]

00:00:05.000 | On Wednesdays, we dive back into the 1,200 sermons we have of Pastor John's at DesiringGod.org

00:00:11.000 | and pull out some choice clips from some old messages.

00:00:14.000 | The following clip is taken from John Piper's sermon, "Battling the Unbelief of Lust,"

00:00:18.000 | which he preached 25 years ago on 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 1 to 8.

00:00:22.000 | In the sermon, he explains why sexual sin is an act of unbelief.

00:00:26.000 | Here's what he said.

00:00:27.000 | I'm trying to explode the doctrine that the battle for obedience is optional

00:00:33.000 | because only faith is necessary for salvation.

00:00:37.000 | This is very tricky, the way words are used here.

00:00:40.000 | Here's my response.

00:00:42.000 | The battle for obedience is absolutely necessary for salvation

00:00:49.000 | because it is the fight of faith.

00:00:53.000 | The battle for obedience is absolutely necessary for getting to heaven

00:01:00.000 | because it is the battle against unbelief.

00:01:04.000 | It is the fight of faith.

00:01:06.000 | There are not two battles.

00:01:09.000 | One, to get yourself saved by a single act of faith,

00:01:12.000 | and the other, to collect rewards by works.

00:01:15.000 | There is only one battle.

00:01:17.000 | It's the one that gets you started.

00:01:19.000 | It's the one that gets you there.

00:01:21.000 | And it's the fight of faith, not works.

00:01:24.000 | Faith is what severs the root of covetousness, misplaced shame, anxiety, lust,

00:01:31.000 | and tonight, envy, and six more before we're done this year.

00:01:36.000 | There is one warfare, and it is the warfare of faith.

00:01:41.000 | Let's go to verse 5, and I'll try to demonstrate for you

00:01:45.000 | why I think this text teaches that the root cause of lust is unbelief.

00:01:52.000 | Verse 5 says, "Take a wife or control your body,

00:01:57.000 | not in the passion of lust, like the heathen or the Gentiles who do not know God."

00:02:05.000 | Now, do you see what that implies about the root of lust?

00:02:09.000 | Not knowing God is the root cause of lust.

00:02:12.000 | Not knowing God is the root cause of lust.

00:02:19.000 | Now, what does that mean? Let's just think about this.

00:02:22.000 | What kind of knowledge is he talking about?

00:02:27.000 | Do you remember how much the demons knew in the ministry of Jesus?

00:02:32.000 | Do you remember in Mark 1 24, Jesus comes into a synagogue,

00:02:36.000 | there's a man there with an evil spirit,

00:02:38.000 | Jesus is ready to cast out that evil spirit,

00:02:41.000 | and out of the mouth of that demon-possessed man comes the words,

00:02:44.000 | "I know who you are, the Holy One of God."

00:02:47.000 | The disciples didn't even know that.

00:02:50.000 | Do you realize how much the demons know?

00:02:53.000 | How accurate and large is their knowledge of God on many things,

00:02:58.000 | and yet they seethe with lust.

00:03:01.000 | So that's not the kind of knowledge that's being spoken of here.

00:03:04.000 | You can pack your head with theological knowledge and go straight to hell.

00:03:09.000 | I used to go to professional theological meetings.

00:03:12.000 | I remember one in St. Louis,

00:03:14.000 | and St. Louis has some pretty gross and grisly sexual streets in it.

00:03:19.000 | And what these men who teach theology in the universities around this country did,

00:03:28.000 | there is no connection between mere head knowledge and the power of godliness.

00:03:34.000 | Mere head knowledge.

00:03:35.000 | So what does he mean when he says,

00:03:38.000 | "When you give in to lust, you act like the Gentiles who don't know God."

00:03:44.000 | It's a different kind of knowledge.

00:03:46.000 | It's the knowledge described in 2 Corinthians 4, 6,

00:03:49.000 | where he says, "God has shown into our hearts

00:03:52.000 | to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

00:03:58.000 | It's the knowledge of God's greatness,

00:04:01.000 | His grandeur, His glory, His beauty, His power, His wisdom,

00:04:06.000 | His justice, His goodness, His truth.

00:04:08.000 | It's a knowledge that humbles you and wins you and holds you.

00:04:13.000 | It's the knowledge of God that is very unlike mere head knowledge.

00:04:20.000 | It's the knowledge that you don't have when you say, "Ho hum" during the Hallelujah Chorus.

00:04:27.000 | It's the knowledge that you don't have when you grumble on the rim of the Grand Canyon at sunset,

00:04:35.000 | hearing they do not hear and seeing they do not see.

00:04:39.000 | It's the knowledge that you have when you're like Lydia

00:04:43.000 | and the Lord has just opened the heart to give heed to the glory of God

00:04:49.000 | in the face of Jesus Christ in the Gospel.

00:04:52.000 | It's the knowledge that wins, holds, humbles, ravishes, enlightens, delights.

00:05:00.000 | It's the knowledge of faith, the assurance of things hoped for,

00:05:07.000 | the conviction of things not seen.

00:05:12.000 | That's the knowledge that liberates from lust, the knowledge which is faith.

00:05:19.000 | It's a knowledge so real and so precious and so satisfying to your soul

00:05:26.000 | that when any attitude or emotion or thought or addiction threatens to diminish your capacity to have and enjoy that knowledge,

00:05:37.000 | you fight it as though your very life were threatened, which it is.

00:05:43.000 | Do you remember 1 Peter 2, 11? "Abstain from lustful passions that wage war against your soul."

00:05:56.000 | Your life is at stake in the way you fight your enemy called lust.

00:06:03.000 | That clip was taken from John Piper's sermon, "Battling the Unbelief of Lust," which he preached on November 13, 1988.

00:06:10.000 | He develops this connection between lust and unbelief more fully in his book, "Future Grace."

00:06:15.000 | There, Pastor John writes, "The battle against lust is absolutely necessary for our salvation

00:06:21.000 | because that battle is the battle against unbelief."

00:06:25.000 | That's from chapter 27 of his book, "Future Grace."

00:06:28.000 | You can find more information about the book on the book page we have at DesiringGod.org.

00:06:33.000 | Click on "Books" and then click on the title, "Future Grace."

00:06:37.000 | Well, as we have mentioned recently, this week we host our 12th and final national conference here in Minneapolis.

00:06:43.000 | Look at the book, "Reading the Bible for Yourself."

00:06:45.000 | It should be a wonderful conference.

00:06:48.000 | Well, reading the Bible for ourselves is often just a matter of time.

00:06:52.000 | So how can a busy mom with young kids and a full schedule find the time she needs to read her Bible?

00:06:57.000 | Tomorrow, Pastor John will offer some very practical advice to this mom.

00:07:01.000 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke. We'll see you tomorrow on the Ask Pastor John Podcast.

00:07:04.000 | [Poster]

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The High Cost of Sexual Sin

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