As you know, the United States is going toe-to-toe with Vladimir Putin and Russia over their invasion of Ukraine. Russia is a nuclear state, and earlier this month, Ukraine's Minister of Defense revealed that Kiev, which is the capital city of Ukraine, has received threats of nuclear retaliation from Russia through unofficial channels if they continue to fight pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

And here we are talking about sexual sins on this podcast, like yesterday when we talked about Burger King, Apple, Subaru, and Target. Some people say we're just wasting our time talking about people's private lives, talking about sexual lust and homosexual sin. Shouldn't our attention be drawn to the standoff with Russia right now?

Isn't that more important than talking about corporations that promote sexual sin? The answer is no, says John Piper in his sermon "Battling the Unbelief of Lust," which he preached 25 years ago on the text 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 1-8. Here's what he said. So what? That's the question of our culture.

So what? I mean, come on. Let's deal with something important like nuclear arms or justice. Get off this personal piety, these private individual choices that have no relevance for what's going on in this world that's crashing down around us. Get up where it counts. Know anybody like that? They say what counts is whether you boycott companies in South Africa, whether you oppose Star Wars defense systems, sleeping around, not to mention just thinking about it.

Sleeping around is no big deal if you're on the picket line at Honeywell. It's no big deal to flip through Playboy magazine if you're on the airplane flying to peace talks in Geneva. I mean, you're talking about teeny insignificant things. They're not important what you do with your brain in regard to sex or what you do with your body in your own personal relationship with another person.

What's important is big things like nuclear arms and justice. That's the way the religious mind reasons when it has forsaken a supreme regard for God. That's the way the religious mind reasons when a supreme regard for God and his word have been forsaken. God has a different message than that.

And it's found in verse six that no man transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things. As we solemnly forewarned you, this means that the consequences of lust are going to be worse than the consequences of nuclear war. All that nuclear war can do is kill five billion bodies.

And Jesus said very, very plainly, Jesus said very, very plainly, "Do not fear him who kills the body and after that has nothing that he can do. Rather, fear him who after killing the body can cast soul and body into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him." So, if this text says that God is going to be the avenger on those who ignore the warnings against lust, then I think I can say with the complete authority of the Bible, the consequences of lust are ten million times greater than the consequences of nuclear holocaust.

The only reason for denying that would be unbelief in eternity. If you're secular through and through, if you're humanist through and through, if man is the center of your life and his span on this earth is it, what I'm saying right now is, of course, hogwash. If you are God-centered, if the Bible is the Word of God, and if this text is in the Bible, then the response, "Come on, deal with something significant," is irrational and insane because how you deal with lust has to do with where you spend eternity.

And that's a long, long time. That clip was taken from John Piper's sermon, "Battling the Unbelief of Lust," which he preached back on November 13th, 1988. He develops this theme more fully in his book, "Future Grace." There, Pastor John writes this, quote, "The battle against lust is absolutely necessary for our final salvation because that battle is the battle against unbelief," end quote.

That's from chapter 27 of the book. You can find more information about the book at DesiringGod.org. Click on "Books" and then click on the book title, "Future Grace." Well, if Christ has paid for all of my sins, for my sins of omission, my sins of commission, the sins of my past, of my present, of my future, then should I repent for my sin that I see in my life right now?

It's an excellent question Pastor John has wrestled with over the years, and it's a question from a podcast listener. Tomorrow, we'll hear what Pastor John has to say. I'm your host, Tony Reinke. Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast.