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In this segment on the Law Fulfilled, we come to the 7th commandment as an illustration given by the Lord Jesus Christ.

My son, older son, Shawn is now Primary 3.  He goes to school by school bus and one day when he got back, we realised that there were some markings, some drawings on his arm.  We asked him, who drew that?  He said it was a boy, an older boy, a P6 boy in the school bus. So some time later, we checked again with Shawn, how has the situation been like?  Is he still drawing on you?  Shawn says no more.  I say what happened?  Well, I shifted to the front row, away from the back row where he was sitting.  I said that's a smart move, great move, Shawn.  By the way, that boy - is he a good boy?  No, he's a naughty boy.  Why is he naughty - because he watches videos on his phone - what kind of videos - naughty videos, bad videos - what do you mean by bad videos, Shawn?  Bad videos with bad words and bad pictures - what kind of bad pictures, what kind of bad words, he says girly stuff - what do you mean by girly stuff Shawn?  He says videos about sexual “immortality”.  Well I was glad he understands “immortality” or knows the word “immortality” but there is no sexual “immortality”.  Today we are going to talk about sexual immorality - that's what's covered under the 7th commandment.   Sexual immorality is a problem not just for adults!  It's a problem for youths, for teenagers, for children today because we are all sinners by nature.  You don't have to learn sin, sin is in us, we are formed in sin the Bible says and sexual sins can lurk in every human heart.

Today, you might be living in sexual sins.  Today, you might be living with another woman who is not your wife.  You may be having an affair.  You may be indulging in pornography that is your steady pattern of life.  You may be struggling with lusts and this law is not a law just for some people far away, I think it's very relevant in a sex-crazed, highly-charged world we live in today. If you're someone like that I suppose everyone then we need to pay attention to what God has to say.  Now what does the Bible teach about sexual immorality?  Does God accept people who live in adultery?  Is there forgiveness for them?  Is there really power to break free from this very powerful temptation and sin?  What does Jesus have to say in the Sermon on the Mount?  During the times of Jesus, the religious leaders taught that adultery is what you commit in bed but Jesus is going to teach that adultery does not begin in the bed, it begins in the head.  It begins in the mind.  It begins with your thoughts.  It begins with your imaginations.   He says - you have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  Adultery is not just in the bed, it's in the head.  It was, I think, CS Lewis who said when you look at eggs and ham and lust for it you have already committed breakfast in your heart.  It's right here.

A story is told of two monks.  They were traveling in the jungle and they came to the river and they saw a beautiful young lady, a damsel in distress.  She wanted to cross over to the other side but she couldn't, she didn't want to get wet so she said to the monks - would you help me get across and one of the monks without hesitation, stooped down, carried her up and walked her across the river. The other monk was stunned, he was shocked, he says, how can you do that ,in his mind. You know there's a saying “男女授受不亲” “nán nǚ shòu shòu bù qīn” (Chinese: men and women should not touch hands when they give or receive things) say you sure you're going to do that but he didn't dare to say anything - he went across as well. After a day, he could not take it anymore.  It was all bottled up inside him and so he shouted out at his friend, how could you carry the lady?  It is not right for you to do so.  Well, the friend then said, my brother, I carried her and I dropped her, left her at the riverbank yesterday.  Why are you still carrying her in your mind today?  Adultery is not just something we do.  Adultery is something you may carry in your mind.

Now the question then is, Pastor, is it wrong then to look at women?  Is it wrong for women to look at men?  Does this teaching then mean that you and we probably should live in separate villages - men village, women village!  Singapore should be divided into two parts?  Does this mean that we have to go to caves, because it's very difficult?  Now, I don't think Jesus is saying you cannot look at a man or a woman, the key here is to look with a lustful intent.  Jesus must have seen many women.  He must have looked at them - Samaritan woman, woman at the well.  I mean there's nothing wrong with that but what is wrong is when you look at someone with a lustful intent to lust after her.  The word look is therefore interesting.  The word look is not just a glance like a casual quick look but this is a gaze, a steadfast look, it's in a sense, with a lustful intent to feast upon her, to indulge your lust, to feed your flesh, to satisfy your illicit sexual fantasies, that's the problem.

DA Carson, he says this is not a prohibition of the normal attraction which exists between men and women but this is about a deep-seated lust which consumes and devours which in imagination attacks and rapes which mentally contemplates and commits adultery.  Very few of you would actually commit rape but many people will commit mental rape and that is what Jesus is talking about. That's what happens in pornography. That's what happens in sexual fantasies.  Where is the problem?  Jesus says the problem is in the heart, for out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, the problem is not when you go to the bed, it's all here in the head, it's from the heart and mind you, if you understand what Jesus is saying properly it's not that you sin when you look but that it's you look because you sin. John MacArthur he puts it this way- it is not lustful looking that causes the sin in the heart, sin begins from the heart but it is the sin in the heart that causes the lustful looking so when you look at a woman to lust after her with lustful intent that is to tell you, that's the problem here, this is the source of it all. With the lust in your heart, it manifests in the lust in your eyes and then it manifest with lust in your hands and with your body, that's where it all begins.

Now is adultery a serious problem according to God, I mean is this, is this something that we could sort of sweep underneath the carpet and, and think that it will be fine, God will not be dealing too harshly with us. What does the Bible teach about this sin or this problem of adultery?  Well, in the Jewish context in the Old Testament what happens to those who commit adultery?  They are, they are stoned to death so those who are caught in the act, arrgh, they will be killed by stoning, that's judicial killing, that's judicial punishment but Jesus actually raises the stakes.  He says not only those who are caught in bed are guilty, those who are caught with adultery in the head are also equally guilty and not just stoned to death - He actually says the whole body be thrown into hell, this raises the bar.

To the Jewish leaders of those days, they probably feel themselves guiltless in the 7th commandment.  I've never slept with another man's wife.  I have kept this commandment from my youth up, the rich young ruler would say. But when you understand really what God meant by the 7th commandment, all of us would say I'm doomed, I'm damned, I cannot stand guiltless if this commandment also governs the thoughts and the heart and what is the punishment, what is the judgment for my sin, even when nobody could see? God says, hell!  Revelation 21 verse 8 says if but as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters and all liars, where do they go, their portion will be the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death - we call this hell, where the torment never ends.  Who goes there, Saddam Hussein, Hitler, ISIS terrorist, no, all who are liars, those who are sexually immoral, what do you mean but I never slept with another man's wife, well, have you done that in your head, yes, surely God will not send me to hell for that, oh no, you will, according to Jesus. I have never murdered anyone but have you hated someone in your heart, yes and that's where you go.

God is so holy, His standards are so high that all of us sin, come short of His glory and we are doomed in and of ourselves. See the law is given to drive us to the state of despair.  The law is given so that we will have a reality check so that those who think that they can obey the law to get saved would say to themselves I'm done for, there is no way I can save myself by myself.  Cursed is everyone who tries to be saved by obeying the law- you can't. So the law, this example of the 6th and then the 7th commandment is meant to help the listeners in Jesus' times to realise -I can't do it. So who can save me?  There's only one who can save you because there's only one in this whole world who can obey all the laws perfectly and His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus said right in the beginning of this segment - think not that I've come to abolish the law or the prophets I've not come to abolish them but to fulfil them that's why I came, I've come to do something that none of you could do and that is to fulfil the law and when I have fulfilled all the law, I'm going to give my life as a payment for your lawlessness.  I'm going to sacrifice Myself so that what I have earned as righteousness will be given freely to you and your sinfulness will be taken on by Myself and I will suffer and I'll die, so that you can be saved.  This is the good news.  This is the message of the Bible.

Maybe this is the only week you can join us.  Maybe next week you are flying overseas, I do not know but if this is the only week you join us, I say to you, this is the news you need to know.  This is the news you need to repent of your sins for and believe in -Jesus is the Son of God who lived that perfect life to die.  He came to die, to be your substitute, to be your sacrifice that He will give you righteousness and God is calling you in the Bible to repent of your sins and to believe in Jesus because you know what, you can never be your own saviour.  The law condemns you and the law therefore, drives you to find your Saviour in Jesus Christ so we then understand beautiful verses in the Bible, such as this, for our sake, He that is God made Him that is Jesus, to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Jesus, we might become the righteousness of God.

Fat hope, if you want to have righteousness by yourself but this is the glorious hope Jesus gives us His righteousness so we then understand verses like Romans 3 that says, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Of course we fail. If God's standards are so high, it governs the thoughts and intents and the motivations and imaginations, oh, we are done for, there's no one who can pass commandment, six, seven, not to mention the ten, not to mention to fulfil it all times!  We are all going to come short, way short but here the good news is that we can be justified, we can be declared guilt-free, sinless. Why, because of His grace, His unmerited favour towards us, His goodness to humanity in that He gave His life as a gift so that through the redemption in Christ Jesus, you might find life.

I pray this morning, even if I were to stop my sermon here, it would bless you in that you would turn from sin and believe in Jesus but it's still early 11:45, so I'm going to go on.  I want to speak a bit more because the Christian faith is not just declaring you guilt-free and you can go to heaven and you continue life as per normal. No, when you come to Christ, when you really repent and believe in Jesus, something miraculous takes place, the Bible says you are born again, you're a new creation, you are given a new heart and this new heart is very different from the old heart.  The old heart loves to sin and will not obey, the new heart loves God and wants to obey so it makes sense that if you come to Christ, you will live in a very different way.

Now, you still struggle with sin because the remnant sin nature still is with you but you would now start to see progressive change in your life, that's what the Bible tells us, in 1 Corinthians 6. “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, do not be deceived neither the sexually immoral, the idolaters, adulterers, men who practice homosexuality, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers, swindlers, all these will never inherit the kingdom of heaven.”  They won't because that just shows their heart was never changed but when you believe in Jesus, God saves you, God changes your heart and therefore, this beautiful phrase ,”and such were some of you”, that's the power of the Gospel!  I used to be like this but when Jesus comes into my life, when I repent and believe and follow Him my life is changed that is a past description.  Who made the difference?  Did you make the difference?  Paul is very clear, it's because Jesus made the difference - Jesus changed your life.

One of the best tests of whether you are really a Christian today is if this could be said of you.  I used to be a thief - I always stole, stole from my boss, stole from my friends but now I still have a temptation to but I think I'm stealing less and in fact I'm giving more.  Something happened, what happened?  Christ in your life!  I used to be practising homosexuality.  I still have those same-sex attractions but by the grace of God, I do not want to do it and I actually am doing it less.  There's a real change in my life and I'm praying that I will be completely delivered from it one day.  What has happened?  Christ has come into your life!  Salvation is not seen in whether you were baptised or whether your father or mother is a Christian or whether you've been attending church for 20 years - these are not reliable tests.  The real test is - is there a change in your life so let me ask you - if I were to ask you today, right now, are you a Christian, what would you say?  Wah, I was baptised, Pastor, surely I got the baptism cert to show you. Well, the cert doesn't mean very much if your life is not changed.

By the way, what's the mission statement of Gospel Light Christian Church?  I always ask this before we came Punggol but after we came Punggol we forgot about it so for all the Punggolites, Punggolians, what is the mission statement of Gospel Light Christian Church just a, just so that you know? 1, 2, 3…… wah, thank you so much, you saved my face, huh!  Well, you're right, leading generations into a life changing relationship with Jesus Christ. I think that is so important to be clear about because people pronounce salvation very quickly without really seeing if there is a corresponding change from the inside out.

Let me flip this around, whilst this is one of the greatest evidences, life change, sexual purity, the flip side of it is - if you today are living in unrepentant, perpetual, indeed progressive sexual sins, I really fear for your soul.  You get that?  No matter what you say about yourself, no matter how many times you have been baptised, no matter how long you stayed in the water and no matter who baptised you, if you are living in unrepentant, perpetual, progressive, sexual sins, I fear for your soul because it may just show that you never had a life-changing relationship with Jesus in the first place, you never were saved.

About a year ago I received an email from a lady in China.  She wrote to me from Beijing and she said I just want you to know something.  I've been meeting this man.  He goes to your church.  In fact, he was recently baptised.  He is a 45 year old single man who comes to Beijing for his work trips and we have been seeing each other for about a year or so. When he comes to Beijing he will visit my church, we will worship God together and we will study the Bible together but whenever I asked him about Singapore and about my possible visit to Singapore he would always remain evasive.  Well recently, he admitted that he is not a 45 year old single man, but a 54-year-old married man with three kids.

He goes to church with his wife, you know that and he doesn't have a happy marriage and so he has been having relationships with other girls, I'm the fourth one, all these years. When he told me this, I was angry, I was upset but because I'm a follower of Jesus, I choose to forgive him, my pastors, my church leaders rallied around me, helped me and told me I need to break off this unhealthy relationship and I have chosen to do so.  I write to you so that you can help Mr. X, this person.  I said, thank you very much for this email, I'll do what I can so I contacted this man and reached out to him, I say hey, can we meet up via text he said sure.  By the way what is it for?  I said, this lady so and so, wrote to me I just like to meet up with you and that was the last time I heard anything from this man.  He would not communicate, it was radio silence and that was the last time I would see his wife and him in Gospel Light.  I wonder how he's doing right now. My fear is that if he continues in such a pattern of life, you know what?  It might just show he was never truly saved.  He allows this sin to continue to fester and to grow and it will be, he will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, one day he might deny the faith, he might deny the Gospel, he might deny Jesus and he, because of this sin would be cast into hell.  Could be one of you, one of us, right now?

I think about another man.  I won't call him a brother now because I'm not sure but 15, 20 years ago, we would be together studying the Bible, we would, we would be training and preparing to preach and go overseas even to preach.  I, I could see how he worked hard, when he's there, he is always nervous about the Bible passage, about what to say and diligent in preparation but sometime later, I learned that he had an affair and since then they have been, he has been divorced with his wife and I've not seen him in church for the past 15, 20 years, as far as I know he doesn't worship anywhere. Now, I fear for his soul, wouldn't you?  Doesn't matter if he has been active in church, doesn't matter if he's done this or done that but if this is his way of life, he might not be saved. This is not just about stories of people last time Pastor you tell me about people – no, today I know of people here who are struggling with sexual sins.  Some of you know there are people like that in our church just struggling and, and they are continuing in it and with these allowance of sexual sins, actually other sins come in and you start to see them leave the fellowship. They sort of were very active in the past, they may be young people here there and active and now they are no more you say what happened because he had this, he had that but they were very active, they were but if this is not a description of them,  I fear for their soul.

I know of another friend, before he was married, it was said he visited prostitutes. Now, he says he is a Christian, he comes from a Christian home, he was baptised, he says he is a Christian but before marriage, he was caught doing that, after marriage, he went into an affair and since has divorced and today I don't see him in church. It doesn't matter what you say, a changed heart will have a changed life and if you do not have a changed life, it is because you do not have a changed heart. Don't deceive yourself, if you are living in perpetual unrepentant sin, the way to God is not to get out of that sin, the way to God is to come to Jesus, humble yourself, confess your sins, believe in His finished work, then, only then with a new heart can you really honour and obey the Lord.

Perhaps some of you are struggling with sexual sins, maybe pornography as I said, affairs, emotional affairs even. Say Pastor can I really break free?  I, I, I want to honour God, I say that's great.  How can I do so?  It's a, it's a very powerful temptation you know, yes I know it's very powerful, sexual sins, sexual temptations are extremely powerful, sex sells, everybody knows that, we live in a sex-crazed world, MTV, computer, advertisements, movies, programs, it, it sells, everybody goes and gets hooked on these things. So how can I break free?  Well, Jesus has a word of advice. He said if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away, if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.  Wow, this sounds draconian, this sounds radical, this sounds very drastic.  Pastor by the way, how come you never cut off you right hand, your right eye?  How come this church, everybody comes in with two hands and two eyes?  I thought if we were to follow Jesus and His Word, we should obey it right away. By the way, I have prepared some knives and I thought we should do it right away, why don't we do it, why don't we become like the “神雕侠侣 ” (drama: condor heroes) everyone comes in, one armed swordsman. No, no, you don't, why, why not, now by the way before I said, say why not, I, I actually think there are people throughout history who has sort of taken this in a very literal way, a famous example un, unverified but a famous example, people quote is Oregon of Alexandria - one of the early church fathers. You know what he did, he castrated himself because he says, I just struggle with sexual sins and, and I do not want to lose my soul and so he did that to himself, apparently. So question Pastor, why don't you cut off your right hand and right eye if Jesus said this so clearly, now, I tell you the reason why, because if you cut out your right eye and your right hand, it is still not good enough.  You still have your left eye and your left hand.

Number two, you got to understand that the heart of the issue is that issue of the heart, unless you take out your heart, you are not going to deal with this problem. So Jesus clearly is not telling you to go self-mutilation, cut off your right arm, spurting blood, blood sacrifice. No, no, that's, that's not the point.  The point is that He's in employing a word picture.  He's telling you a story.  He's giving you a mental picture to say if you want to deal with this sin, you got to be willing to deal with it radically, drastically, sometimes taking extreme measures, you must be willing to pay the cost, it might be very painful, but do it, do whatever you need to do to get out of that sin.  In fact, do it quickly, cast it out decisively, that's His point.

If I may say, it might be what apostle Paul is saying here, put to death therefore what is earthly in you -sexual immorality, adultery, impurity, these sins maybe coming and climbing over all of your life, strangle that, deal with it, that's the point!  You don't play with fire do you?  You put it out immediately. Ahmm… when we came to Punggol, not too long after we have just moved in, we were level 1, I was speaking to someone when I suddenly heard a commotion, fire!  Wah, there's really a fire leh.  I thought cry wolf but it's really a fire, some smoke and, and I went towards it and everybody was looking at the fire, amazed at how beautiful it looked - I said fire - we got to do something about it and I was stunned for a while but then I decided I need to put out the fire after all I'm the Pastor if I don't do it, it's a shame. So I tried to put out the fire and in my hand was my jacket. Now, I, I, this was a jacket Ee Kwang told me to get, first jacket in 10 years, I said wah, jialat (local dialect: literally means to sap energy, usually used when one is in trouble or difficulty)  in, in my mind, mental calculations very fast you know, put out fire use jacket, but use jacket means lose jacket, hey, hey, no choice got to do it, took the jacket I was about to throw into the fire when Ee Kwang came and with a fire extinguisher, bzzzzzzz……he saved the fire, he saved my jacket.

Point is you got to be willing to act decisively, even if it costs you - that's the point Jesus is making. Now I get the point Pastor, I, I get it, sexual sin is destructive, is devastating. You don't trifle with it, you don't flirt around with it, you got to deal with it decisively, quickly, radically, sometimes painfully but practically what do I do?  Can I suggest to you four things, there may be more, but four practical steps, I, I just want to boil it down to four practical implementable things you can do.

Number one, I suggest to you, you need to Flee!  The Bible tells us to flee from sexual immorality.  The book of Proverbs talks about wisdom.  A wise man avoids the adulterous woman, you, you read that in Proverbs so if the adulterous woman is at Lorong 14, you don't purposely walk by Lorong 14 every day.  Wa, I'm a good Christian, I'm very strong, so I walk by Lorong 14, look at her. You're asking for trouble. If you want to avoid sexual immorality, avoid, flee, run!  Now, today you say I don't go to Lorong 14 but I tell you where you go to Lorong 14 - on your computer, you can go to Lorong 14 on computer all the time and if that leads you to sin, if that is the right eye and that's the right arm, cut it off, cut off that webpage, cut off your computer. Wah very painful but that's what it takes. Set your computer in the living room where everybody could see, put some filters in, do whatever you need. Now sometimes it can be very radical, including changing of a job because you may be at the brink of starting something illicit in your office, change department if you need to, quit your job if you need to, maybe you're living with someone you know you shouldn't be living in and the radical step maybe for you to move out but that's the cost you need to pay in order to stay pure. But Pastor, that's so radical, well that's what cutting the right arm and taking out the right eye mean, right….so flee, that's my first point for you.

A second word I want to share with you is the word Friends or if you may, a more godly term – Fellowship.  You need friends - you need godly friends to help you in your fight and battle against sexual sin.  The Bible tells us we need to exhort one another daily lest our hearts be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Almost always when I read about men and women who fall into sexual sin, especially pastors, one of the key steps to restoring a pastor to a proper walk with God is always this band of brothers. They always say, our pastor has fallen into sin but the elders are gathering around him, we meet with him regularly to keep him accountable and to encourage him in the faith.  Almost always I hear this, we, we don't, we don't leave that guy to struggle with his sexual sins by himself, there is this band of brothers to exhort. So if you're someone struggling with sexual sins, this is what you need to do, you need to come out into the light, you see, if you're in the darkness, if you are hiding your sin, it's, it's a good place for sin to fester and grow and dominate your life but if you say I'm going to deal with this, I'm going to come out into the light, brothers, I'm struggling with this, please keep me accountable, ask me questions, lovingly pray for me, speak the word of truth, I know you are not going to judge me because  we are all sinners saved by grace we all are fellow strugglers, strugglers, please help me.  You need friends. Wah, it's so uncomfortable, it's so difficult, well, you got to cut your right hand, take out your right eye so that's why the Bible commands us, teaches us about the importance of fellowship, importance of togetherness, im importance of accountability one with another so maybe today you say I'm serious about getting rid of sexual sins but you know Pastor, I'm still going to walk to Lorong 14, I'm still going to go to the same websites, I don't think I have time for a band of brothers. I tell you, you're just kidding yourself.

Third F, would anyone want to guess so you have Flee, you've Friends, I, I put it as Fulfilment in marriage. The, the, now if you're a young person struggling with sexual sins you know what you should do?  Get married - now all the girls and the guys eeeee….that's the reason, ee, I don't feel very, but that's that's what the Bible teaches, I'm not exaggerating but this is wise. For example in Proverbs, “let your fountain be blessed, rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe, let her breasts fill you at all times with delight, be intoxicated, always in her love, why should you be intoxicated, my son with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress”, so the Old Testament talks about how you need to rejoice in the wife of your youth, it's a great thing, the marriage bed is undefiled, it's, sex is not a dirty word, sex is not a bad thing, sex is a gift from God.  It's illicit sex that is a problem, that's dirty, that's filthy, that's demeaning, that, that objectifies people, that is not loving, but sex in marriage is beautiful, nothing wrong with that and if it's not clear to you, 1 Corinthians 7 is clear but because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.  ROM registration can go up if they believe in this verse.  That's God's provision, that's Paul's word, God's word.

Now, not only do you think about it before marriage but even after marriage, it has- sex and fulfilment in marriage, marital sex is not automatic by the way.  It is not automatic because Paul had to go on to teach.  He had to address this concern, these issues. He says, the husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights and likewise the wife to her husband. So meet the needs of your spouse, for the wife does not have authority over her own body but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body but the wife does. Oh today I don't want to do it, well, the verse says your spouse has authority over your body, actually. It's your body, but it's his authority, her authority, this is stunning. This is about self-giving to your spouse to meet his needs or her needs.  It's not about what I want, it's what she wants, he wants.

Wow, are you sure?  Let's read on, do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.  I think when we come to 1 Corinthians in the future, we will talk more about this but I think the point is clear.  This is a practical step, get married and fulfil your spouse needs, I'm not asking you to fulfil your own needs. This verse, this passage is given to you so that you made learn to fulfil your spousal needs.

Finally, I just want to bring it to Filled with the Spirit. I, I think we can do these things - practical steps, nothing wrong  with practical advice, practical help, practical, practical implementations of plans, nothing wrong with that but the ultimate power to resist temptation, the ultimate power to live purely does not reside within us, it is in the Holy Spirit so the Bible is very clear, for if you live according to the flesh, you will die but if by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. The only way you can put to death the deeds of the body is in the power of the Holy Spirit. I want to make this practical for you.  I, I know it becomes a very nebulous concept something that okay… I need to be filled with the Spirit but what does it really mean, what does it mean to by the Spirit?  Do I take a spirit amulet or do I get a Bible and then, what, what do I do?  What does it mean to be by the Spirit?  What does it mean to be walking in the Spirit?  What does it mean to have the power of the Spirit?  I, I would summarise it and, and simplify it for you as this.  The Puritans such as John Owens will talk about - he's famous for these treaties, right?  This article on mortification of sin - mortify means to kill, how do you kill sin?  Well, JI Packer actually summarises it as such - when you feel a temptation, a sin lurking and seeking to gain control over you, you mortify sin, you kill sin by going to prayer.  I put it as simple as that.  You cry out to God and ask Him for the power His Spirit provides because so often when let's say there's a tempta.., sexual temptation, what do you do, you say aah, I know I shouldn't do this, it's wrong, it doesn't honour God, I'm going to, I'm going to keep pure, I'm going to grit my teeth and be determined but after a while you like that. There's this lady that pass by, I shouldn't look, I shouldn't look, I shouldn't..... because the flesh is weak. You try to deal with it with sheer determination, it's not going to bring you far but that's where you say Lord I feel that temptation but I want to honour You, give me Your grace, Your purity, Your holiness, show me the supremacy of Christ in my life, show me the joy, show me the love He has for me, help me deal with this and you keep praying until sins grip loosens from your life so at all times, you're looking to Christ, you're looking to God, you're depending on His power by the Spirit, you mortify the deeds of the body. Something practical for you.

Deal with sin because it could lead you to hell - deal with it decisively, radically, dra…dramatically if you need to.  At all cost and it means on a daily basis, you need to avoid Lorong 14, on a daily basis, not daily basis, regular basis, you need a band of brothers, sisters, on a regular basis, you, you really need to fulfil your spouse's needs and on a regular basis, each time temptation comes, don't answer temptation in your own weakness - depend on the Spirit in the place of prayer.  Now I'm not saying every time a woman walks past in shopping center, you wait ah… you, you, you don't have to do that but you do that here. You do that in your soul.  I think that's what it means to pray without ceasing. I think that's what it means to live in conscious dependence on His power but I want to deal ultimately with this. Now these are things you do, do, do, do, do but I think there's something even deeper than that - the reason why I do these things, the reason why I would fight against sexual sins, the reason why I want to keep myself pure. Why? It's because I love God.  You know I asked my son Shawn – Shawn, that P6 boy, he watches the bad videos with bad words and bad things, with girly things and sexual “immortality” things - do you watch them? Do you want to watch them?  He says no - I say why, because it's wrong. Why? Because God says so and I do not want to do it or maybe you say he's young, he's only in P3, what does he know but I hope that statement he makes is true for the rest of his life. I do not want to do so because God said so – I love Him.

Really the fight against temptation in sexual realms is not about the do's and don'ts, is a matter of affection, it's a matter of the heart and love. Remember the heart of, the heart of the issue is the issue of the heart and it's about love.  I close with this statement - adultery is alluring not because it makes good logical sense. Adultery never pays so we go into it, not because it makes good logical sense but because we see in our imagination its offer of happiness, secrecy, thrill and fulfilment. The heart is where temptation lies and it's in the heart that it must be subdued by a greater love.  A greater love is the love of God in Jesus Christ for you and so I want to say lastly, if I may add some more to-do list for you but I want you to know that the to-do list is not legalistic but the to-do list is to help you drink in and soak in and be nourished in this greater love - this love of God for you!  You want to fight against sexual sins? Fill your tank with God's love. How do you fill it?  I think you fill the tank in the Scriptures, you fill that tank as you behold God's supremacy, beauty, holiness, glory, mercy, grace and love as you encounter Him in the Bible so instead of going to Lorong 14, would you spend time filling your heart with God's love, with the knowledge of God in the Scriptures.

Do you have a plan to read your Bible?  Do you have someone to help you read the Bible?  Would you make time to study the Bible, either through Bible studies or programs would you do that? You say but Pastor but I've no time, I've too many things, there're more impor…. but no, no, no, no, no!  Let me say this, if you want to deal with this sin, you got to cut off your right hand and your right eye it may mean some schedule changes but you know your heart needs to be nourished by the Gospel love.  Try it, take time, study the word, see God in the Bible then with the greater love, You say, I want to flee, you say I need to be accountable, you will say I need to meet my spouse's needs and you will say, Lord, I would depend on you every single day and I would say, such was me but now I'm sanctified and washed, I want to because I love you.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together. Maybe this morning, you are someone exactly what the sermon is for.  Now I don't say this because I'm high and mighty. I struggle with sexual sins.  We all struggle with sexual sins.  It's a powerful lure in this fallen world, with this fallen flesh we have.  As fellow strugglers to fellow strugglers, let us all bow before our great and merciful King, He offers salvation. He offers forgiveness through what His Son has purchased.  His Son lived that perfect life.  He lived an absolutely pure life and is willing to give you that perfection and take on your imperfections - your sins.

My friends - this is the good news.  This is the greatest gift of all life. This is the Good News of Jesus Christ.  This morning I call you, by the grace of God, by His power of the Holy Spirit, I pray, which is working in your heart, you will repent, turn and believe in Jesus.  He paid it all, will you believe in Him?  See the Bible today, the sermon today is not meant to condemn you and leave you as if you're hopeless but the Bible is given so that you may turn and find your hope, your salvation and your meaning in Jesus.
I pray this morning, you will do that, right here right now you can make the choice.  God have mercy upon me.  Others may not see my life, people cannot see my heart but you search the depths of my heart, You know and yet You choose to give me Your Son.  I want to come into this love.  I want to repent and believe Him.

Maybe this morning, you are already a believer, as far as you know but you are struggling.  I tell you what you need – it's not more sex, what you need is love. This greater love that the Bible speaks of this transcendent love that God would love you with His Son.  You need to be filled with the grace of God flooding your heart.  What grace - when you remember the grace, when you really know God's grace, it will change you because as Isaac Watts would say, love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. You'll be willing to take up the cross and follow. So brothers and sisters in Christ, don't just come to church once a week to hear a sermon to fill your heart with God's love, top up that tank every day, think on the Word of God, engage yourself in a diligent fruitful study of Scripture, beholding God and Christ in the Bible and then when you are filled with His love, be wise to flee, to have friends, to fulfil your spouse's need and be filled with the Spirit, every time you encounter temptations.  See how your life will change and how you will shine in the dark world, in the perverse world.

Father, thank You for Your Word, bless Your people this morning with obedience of faith with purity.  What grace that gives us the power to change, we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

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