Sex is a good gift from God given within the context of marriage. There is much muddy thinking on it in society, but it is a very important topic. Yet, the church is often slow to talk about it. What a shame. I do not want to exclude it from this thread on marriage. In addition to having some entries on the topic of sex, I will also probably do another sub-thread on what God teaches about money, and there are probably other things that will strike me as we go along. There are so many things I need to learn more about, especially as I actually approach marriage.
In the future I will find some resources that present a holistic, Biblical picture of all that the bible teaches about sex. That is not my main aim here. The following videos are two resources for those who have known the guilt and shame of sexual sin. The first is from the "I Am Second" series and is a short testimony of a sex addict's recovery, and the second is John Piper's Passion video from 2007. In that video he teaches on how the Gospel trains us to fight despair and sexual temptation with what he terms "gutsy guilt"; it is a very frank and thoroughly Gospel-centered exposition on a topic that too many in the church are slow to address.
Some of you may feel distant from God because of sexual sin. You may be in despair. There is much to benefit you in the videos to follow, but what may be most helpful for you is to hear and believe this blood-bought promise of God: And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6) God is glorified in our sanctification, not when we resist in our own power, but when we, by the Spirit, hear and believe the promises of God. In that way Jesus is made to look supremely good!
The following video is actually the entire Passion session, so if you only want to listen to the message you may need to do some fast forwarding, to about 47 1/2 minutes into the video.
I am having some trouble getting that video to play, at least on my computer, but here is the link to the video... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3987744665485182246#
Also, I was caught up in the worship music directly following the message. Such a perfect choice!
ReplyDeleteTerrific videos; thanks Daniel!
ReplyDeleteMore constant reminders of His dedication toward His work through us
ReplyDeleteI liked how Nate pointed out that it took something bad happening to change him. It's all too often that something bad has to happen before we change. It hurts me to think that sometimes we completely ignore how wrong we are until we're snapped back to reality.
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