#2: There Is Hope for the Sexual Struggler

I. Introduction
A. We have started a series on the sexual struggle. Each week we are focusing on one Bible truth that sexual strugglers need to know.
B. These principles apply to all strugglers, of course.
C. Last week the truth we takled about was: The Sexual Struggle Is a Spiritual Battle.
D. Today our truth is: There Is Hope for the Sexual Struggler.
II. God is the forgiver of and deliverer from sexual sin.
A. 1Corinthians 6:9–11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
1. We’ll come back to this passage next month, so I’m not going to talk about everything in it.
2. Our focus this morning is on v.11: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
3. This speaks both of forgiveness: You were washed! You were justified!
4. And also of overcoming the sin pattern: You were sanctified! And such were some of you (i.e. you’re not that anymore). Sexual sin can easily be addicting, but God delivers from addictions.
5. It’s not just that God can forgive sexual sin. He can deliver people from sexual sin, that is, He can free people from the bondage of sexual sin.
B. The Bible speaks of sexual sin very severely, but it’s not the unforgivable sin.
1. The story of David shows us this. After David commits a very serious sexual sin and then deceives and commits murder in order to cover it up, he finally repents and writes:
2. “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” (Ps.32:1–2 )
III. There is hope for the sexual struggler!
A. God has the grace to forgive.
1. God has the power to overcome our sin.
2. God is committed to working with us to make us like Christ.
B. So you can be delivered from sexual sin!
1. There are many in the body of Christ, some who are sitting here among us, who once were sexually immoral, who were idolaters, who were adulterers, who were homosexuals, who were thieves, who were greedy, who were alcoholics, who were mean, nasty people, who were swindlers. And yet now they’ve been set free from these things. They’ve been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit (1Cor.6:9-10).
2. They were in bondage. They felt helpless. They felt like they would never escape. But God set them free.
3. God loves to show His power and grace by delivering captives who looked like they would never be delivered (Luke 4:18).
4. He sets free people from sin, and makes them slaves of righteousness – Romans 6:18.
5. What He’s done for others, He can do for you!
C. If you truly belong to the Lord, then He will deliver you. He will show Himself mighty.
1. You may have to be humbled first.
2. You may have to learn about what a terrible sinner you are first.
3. You may need to give up on yourself first.
4. He’s probably not going to rescue you in a way which gives you the credit. He wants to glorify Himself in your deliverance.
D. But you must have confidence that God can help you, or you’ll just be paralyzed.
1. It is understandable why you struggle to believe God can help you. When you’re addicted to something, it feels like there’s no escape.
2. But that is a lie. God’s great power is more than sufficient to deliver us.
3. And not just power for someone out there, but power for you.
4. Now you may feel like you’ve haven’t experienced that power in your struggle with sexual sin.
5. But haven’t you experienced His power in other ways in your life? Haven’t you seen Him do mighty things in your life?
6. Hasn’t He shown you His love for you? Hasn’t He invaded your life with His grace and given you faith?
7. God doesn’t abandon His people. He does allow them to struggle sometimes. Sometimes He allows them to struggle with things for a long time. But He never ever abandons them.
8. You see, it’s not enough to know that God is able to forgive and empower. You have to believe He can forgive you and empower YOU.
9. Don’t you think it’s actually arrogant to think that your sin is bigger than God’s power?
10. There IS hope for the sexual struggler.
IV. But, there is NO hope for the sexual struggler (or for any other sinner) outside of repentance, outside of a changed life.
A. You can also see this in 1Corinthians 6:9–11: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” The sanctification and change of life come with the justification and washing.
B. And there are other passages which say the same thing: Eph.5:5; Gal.5:19-21.
C. So, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you." – James 4:8-10
D. What if you want to repent, but it just isn’t happening?
1. Well, God grants repentance. You can see that clearly in 2Timothy 2:24–26 “The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”
V. So, if you do want God’s help, if you want Him to grant you repentance, what should you do?
A. We need God’s grace. One of the most common phrases in the NT is “Grace to you...”
B. We need God’s grace, but God’s grace is His to give. It’s not in a vending machine.
C. God’s grace is sufficient (2Cor.12:9). But we need God’s grace up down here at work in our lives not just up there in heaven. We need Him to pour His grace upon us here and now.
D. So what can you do? Pray for it. And then pray for it. And then pray for it some more.
1. Keep fighting! Keep coming! Keep praying! Keep seeking! Keep knocking! Keep asking! “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”' (Matthew 7:7–8)
2. I have suggestion about writing your own psalms.
a. I got this from the movie, The War Room.
b. I urge you to write psalms to use in your own prayer life. Write them about the things that are most important to you. And then perfect them over time.
c. Might the Book of Psalms be a call to write psalm-like prayers to use repeatedly?
E. And besides prayer, we can make use of the other means of grace.
1. You see, there are things besides prayer which God has given us by which He imparts grace to us. Things like:
a. Asking other people for prayer
b. Attending public worship
c. Partaking of the Lord’s supper
d. Reading God’s word
e. Listening to the word of God taught and preached
f. Participating in the fellowship of believers (e.g. encouragement, accountability, etc.)
g. Receiving counsel from godly friends
2. It’s not magic. There’s no guarantee. But God commonly gives us the grace we need through these means.
3. Think about taking a shower.
a. How many of you have ever gotten in a shower and turned the faucet and nothing came out?
b. How many of you have ever been somewhere where water is pouring down from the ceiling?
c. But where do you go when you want to take a shower? You go into the bathtub or shower stall and turn the spigot. You don’t go into the kitchen and look at the ceiling.
4. And we should be praying for grace while making use of these other means of grace.
5. Of course, Satan wants to keep you away from the means of grace.
VI. As we come to the end of our contemplation of the hope God gives to sexual strugglers, let’s ponder Jesus’ interaction with the woman at the well in John 4.
A. You remember the story:
1. A woman was getting water from the community well in samaria in the heat of the day.
2. Jesus and his disciples had been travelling a long distance and the disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
3. Jesus walks up to the woman at the well and asks her to give him a drink.
4. This stopped her in her tracks, for Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.
5. Responding to his bewilderment, Jesus says, “If you knew who I was, you would have asked him, and I would have given you living water.”
6. This perplexes her again. She has no idea what He’s talking about.
7. Jesus speaks again: “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
8. Now the woman is interested: “So give me some of this water.”
9. But Jesus has a request first: “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
10. Woman: “Ummm. I have no husband.”
11. Jesus: “You’re right. You’ve had five husbands, & the man you’re living with now isn’t your husband.”
12. Woman: “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.” And she began to ask him theological questions.
13. But Jesus moved the conversation back around to the coming of the messiah, and said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
14. Just then his disciples came back from getting food for lunch. So the woman left and went away into town and began telling people, “There’s a man out at the well who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the messiah?”
15. And many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.
B. Let’s think about this woman. She had a problem. She had had five husbands and now she was living with a man who wasn’t her husband.
C. Was it a sexual problem? We don’t know for sure, but it certainly was related to sex.
D. And what did she do about her problem? She didn’t go to church. After five husbands, she moved in with a man.
E. And yet she met Jesus when she went to the well to get water.
F. And Jesus didn’t focus in on her sexual problem or her relational problem, though he acknowledged them as relevant. He focused in on her spiritual problem. He focused on her need for Him.
G. He didn’t introduce her to a program of will power. He introduced her to Himself, His grace-filled, grace-giving, forgiving, life-transforming self.
H. Whether our struggle is sexual or otherwise, this is what we all need. We need to meet Jesus.
I. He’s no longer walking on earth, but He’s still accesssible to us.
J. Look at Colossians 3:2–5 “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth... 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness.”
1. The first thing above which we set our minds on is Jesus.
2. And we see here that putting our eyes on Jesus is the key to conquering earthly passions.
3. You see, when we look to Jesus and the hope of His promise, when our final hope is in the resurrection life which is to come, we can have patience, because we know the pleasures of this life are not ultimate. However, the person whose hope is merely in this life must grab for all the pleasure he can, because this is all he’s got.