1 00:00:04,341 --> 00:00:10,798 I hope to shed some light on some quotes I have here that I've gotten from e-mails in the last three years. 2 00:00:10,799 --> 00:00:15,655 The first one is, a person says, "I think my real problem is depression, 3 00:00:15,656 --> 00:00:18,424 and I use pornography to self-comfort. 4 00:00:18,425 --> 00:00:22,810 I know that is worthy of death before a holy God, but I am stuck." 5 00:00:22,811 --> 00:00:24,677 I'll tell you, that's true! 6 00:00:24,678 --> 00:00:29,483 And the real problem, listen, there's a domino that is falling here: 7 00:00:29,483 --> 00:00:31,828 you get depressed and you feel lonely; 8 00:00:31,829 --> 00:00:34,769 you fall into self-pity; you run to pornography. 9 00:00:34,770 --> 00:00:37,571 So you're right - the root issue here is not pornography. 10 00:00:37,571 --> 00:00:40,552 But the root issue here also is not depression. 11 00:00:40,552 --> 00:00:43,611 The root issue here is not being satisfied in Christ. 12 00:00:43,611 --> 00:00:46,277 Because by not being satisfied in the Lord 13 00:00:46,277 --> 00:00:49,813 and dwelling in the house of the Lord and beholding the beauty of the Lord, 14 00:00:49,813 --> 00:00:50,935 you get depressed. 15 00:00:50,935 --> 00:00:54,713 You lose that perfect peace that Isaiah 26:3 talks about, 16 00:00:54,713 --> 00:00:56,844 and therefore you get lonely. 17 00:00:56,844 --> 00:01:01,373 And when you get lonely you feel a void inside, and you think, "Well, I need to fill that void." 18 00:01:01,373 --> 00:01:06,701 And instead of repenting and taking the way of escape that 1 Corinthians 10:13 talks about, 19 00:01:06,701 --> 00:01:09,870 you then run to pornography, you run to an idol. 20 00:01:09,870 --> 00:01:12,653 And you raise that up, and it doesn't satisfy. (P) 21 00:01:12,653 --> 00:01:19,722 You know, it says in Ezekiel 16 that the Israelites were whoring with their idols. 22 00:01:19,722 --> 00:01:22,233 Why? They were not satisfied. 23 00:01:22,233 --> 00:01:25,883 Because they weren't satisfied, they went and pursued their idols, 24 00:01:25,883 --> 00:01:27,614 and it left them even more empty. 25 00:01:27,614 --> 00:01:30,856 It says, "Even still you were not satisfied." 26 00:01:30,856 --> 00:01:33,301 And even yet still, they weren't satisfied. 27 00:01:33,301 --> 00:01:35,302 And they were a bold-faced harlot - 28 00:01:35,302 --> 00:01:41,321 they were prostituting themselves with all of their false idols instead of returning to the Lord. 29 00:01:41,321 --> 00:01:42,927 And that's what so many people do. 30 00:01:42,927 --> 00:01:45,832 Don't focus on freedom from pornography. 31 00:01:45,832 --> 00:01:50,444 Focus on Christ, then you will have freedom from pornography. 32 00:01:50,444 --> 00:01:52,356 I guarantee it. 33 00:01:52,356 --> 00:01:56,278 Do not pursue freedom. You'll never get it. 34 00:01:56,278 --> 00:02:01,164 You may get freedom from pornography, but then you got pride - now you're a slave of pride. 35 00:02:01,165 --> 00:02:05,652 You traded one sin for another sin. And freedom doesn't satisfy. 36 00:02:05,652 --> 00:02:07,624 When I wake up in the morning, I'm not thinking, 37 00:02:07,624 --> 00:02:11,105 "Well, how can I be a self-righteous pharisee and have freedom today, 38 00:02:11,105 --> 00:02:14,116 and then pat myself on the back and feel good at the end of the day?" 39 00:02:14,116 --> 00:02:18,059 No, I'm waking up and I'm saying this: "I want to behold the beauty of the Lord. 40 00:02:18,059 --> 00:02:21,684 My flesh faints for the Living God. I'm thirsting for Him. 41 00:02:21,684 --> 00:02:23,784 Earnestly am I going to seek the Lord." 42 00:02:23,784 --> 00:02:27,515 And I'm going to go to bed tonight, I'm going to meditate on the Lord in the watches of the night, 43 00:02:27,515 --> 00:02:32,230 and I'm going to see the victories that He gave me throughout the day because I was relying on Him. 44 00:02:32,230 --> 00:02:34,736 I wasn't trusting in the arm of my flesh for victory. 45 00:02:34,736 --> 00:02:37,079 I was trusting in the arm of the Living God, 46 00:02:37,079 --> 00:02:39,483 knowing the Lord is with me, the Lord will give me victory, 47 00:02:39,483 --> 00:02:41,141 the Lord will allow me to overcome. 48 00:02:41,141 --> 00:02:43,969 It's not an Internet filter, it's not an accountability partner. 49 00:02:43,969 --> 00:02:46,291 It's beholding the beauty of Christ. 50 00:02:46,292 --> 00:02:48,987 That is the answer to freedom from pornography. 51 00:02:48,987 --> 00:02:50,966 It's knowing Him. (P) 52 00:02:50,966 --> 00:02:53,442 I'll tell you, don't pursue freedom, 53 00:02:53,442 --> 00:02:56,433 and don't focus on "I need freedom from pornography". 54 00:02:56,433 --> 00:03:00,352 Focus and behold Christ, and you will have freedom. 55 00:03:00,352 --> 00:03:03,436 That's the only reason I've had freedom since I've been converted. 56 00:03:03,436 --> 00:03:08,781 And if I stop beholding the Living God I will fall into sin, just like King David did. 57 00:03:08,781 --> 00:03:11,498 You read in Samuel about the victories that he had, 58 00:03:11,498 --> 00:03:15,097 the wars that he won, about every enemy being routed out. 59 00:03:15,097 --> 00:03:16,740 But then he made a mistake. 60 00:03:16,740 --> 00:03:20,978 At the time when the kings should have been at war, David didn't go to war. 61 00:03:20,978 --> 00:03:22,114 He was proud. 62 00:03:22,114 --> 00:03:25,100 And some of you, instead of seeking the Lord and being in the Word, 63 00:03:25,100 --> 00:03:28,652 being satisfied in the beauty of Christ, you ignore the Scriptures. 64 00:03:28,652 --> 00:03:30,740 You go running around on Facebook all day. 65 00:03:30,740 --> 00:03:33,796 You go running around in all the other pursuits of the world - 66 00:03:33,796 --> 00:03:37,396 some of them even ministerial pursuits. 67 00:03:37,396 --> 00:03:39,634 You think: "Well, look what I'm doing for God." 68 00:03:39,635 --> 00:03:41,914 Listen, we can do a whole lot for the Lord. 69 00:03:41,914 --> 00:03:44,129 But if we're not being satisfied in the Lord, 70 00:03:44,130 --> 00:03:48,038 we can perform very well, but we will not overcome. 71 00:03:48,039 --> 00:03:55,174 It's a deadly idol to get your joy from your performance and not from the perfect performance of Jesus Christ. 72 00:03:55,174 --> 00:04:00,625 I mean, that's where my joy comes from, because even if I fall, Christ didn't. (P) 73 00:04:00,625 --> 00:04:05,866 Jesus Christ, who laid the foundations of the world, lived a perfect life in my place. 74 00:04:05,866 --> 00:04:10,193 And then He died on that Cross as a perfect, spotless sacrifice once and for all, 75 00:04:10,193 --> 00:04:14,765 to satisfy the wrath of God that I deserved in hell for all of an eternity. 76 00:04:14,765 --> 00:04:18,245 And He rose again from the dead - He proved who He was. 77 00:04:18,245 --> 00:04:22,365 And that same victory that He had on Calvary, and that resurrection from the dead, 78 00:04:22,365 --> 00:04:26,141 He'll give to the one who comes to Him, who stops trying to save himself, 79 00:04:26,141 --> 00:04:31,451 who gives up and surrenders, and says, "Lord, I cannot overcome this Goliath in my life. 80 00:04:31,451 --> 00:04:34,680 I can not. The Goliath is too big, he's too great." 81 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,693 And then, there that David is - that Christ - and He comes in there, 82 00:04:37,693 --> 00:04:39,702 and He slays him on our behalf. 83 00:04:39,702 --> 00:04:41,464 That is the only hope of victory. 84 00:04:41,464 --> 00:04:45,159 You will never get victory through Internet filters and accountability partners. 85 00:04:45,159 --> 00:04:46,923 It just won't work. 86 00:04:46,923 --> 00:04:51,223 It blows my mind how many people out there are not focusing on the root. 87 00:04:51,224 --> 00:04:54,503 The root issue is you're not satisfied in the beauty of the Lord, 88 00:04:54,503 --> 00:04:57,791 because if you saw what He did on that Cross for your sins, 89 00:04:57,791 --> 00:05:00,197 you would look and when you feel impatience coming, 90 00:05:00,197 --> 00:05:02,474 when you feel the temptation to lust, 91 00:05:02,474 --> 00:05:07,646 there that way of escape is - "God is faithful" - you behold Christ! 92 00:05:07,647 --> 00:05:09,851 You're satisfied with His likeness. (P) 93 00:05:09,851 --> 00:05:12,063 What does Psalms 90:14 say? 94 00:05:12,063 --> 00:05:15,949 "Lord, satisfy us with your steadfast love in the morning, 95 00:05:15,949 --> 00:05:20,527 that we can rejoice and be glad all of our days." 96 00:05:20,527 --> 00:05:23,545 How do I overcome? It's because I'm weak! 97 00:05:23,545 --> 00:05:26,011 I cannot overcome in and of myself. 98 00:05:26,011 --> 00:05:30,792 My only hope is that I'll be satisfied through the Word of God, 99 00:05:30,792 --> 00:05:32,560 through prayer, 100 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:37,227 through seeing Christ in those things - be satisfied in Jesus Christ - 101 00:05:37,228 --> 00:05:41,132 and therefore I overcome, because I'm satisfied. 102 00:05:41,133 --> 00:05:43,238 I don't have to go whoring after an idol. 103 00:05:43,238 --> 00:05:45,036 I don't have to go worship an idol. 104 00:05:45,036 --> 00:05:46,401 I don't have to be impatient. 105 00:05:46,401 --> 00:05:48,662 I don't have to go view pornography. 106 00:05:48,662 --> 00:05:50,231 I don't have to do those things. 107 00:05:50,232 --> 00:05:54,259 I don't have to worry about the approval of man or what my friends think about me on Facebook. 108 00:05:54,259 --> 00:05:55,940 I don't have to worry about any of that. 109 00:05:55,940 --> 00:05:57,964 I don't have to worry about my physical appearance. 110 00:05:57,964 --> 00:05:59,916 I don't have to worry about how I'm performing, 111 00:05:59,916 --> 00:06:03,776 because Jesus Christ, in my place, performed perfectly. 112 00:06:03,776 --> 00:06:05,043 That's feedom! 113 00:06:05,043 --> 00:06:07,466 And if you know that truth, it will set you free. 114 00:06:07,466 --> 00:06:12,824 And Jesus says, "Come unto Me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, I will give you rest." (P) 115 00:06:12,824 --> 00:06:17,443 It's not "come unto 60 days of freedom from pornography, and then you'll have rest". 116 00:06:17,443 --> 00:06:18,923 That's not true rest. 117 00:06:18,923 --> 00:06:21,801 You may pat yourself on the back and feel good about yourself 118 00:06:21,801 --> 00:06:24,352 when you're able to go to your accountability group that night 119 00:06:24,352 --> 00:06:26,207 and say, "I've been free 60 days." 120 00:06:26,207 --> 00:06:27,746 God's not impressed! 121 00:06:27,746 --> 00:06:31,691 Jesus Christ was free for all of an eternity, and He offered Himself up. 122 00:06:31,691 --> 00:06:33,547 That's the perfect sacrifice. 123 00:06:33,547 --> 00:06:38,170 And that will motivate you to submit your life as a living sacrifice to God, 124 00:06:38,170 --> 00:06:41,797 holy and acceptable; and to not be conformed to the world. 125 00:06:41,797 --> 00:06:45,040 I don't wake up today and think, "Well, I better not look at pornography. 126 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:48,153 I better not make this an idol. I better not do that." 127 00:06:48,153 --> 00:06:52,898 I wake up today and I say this, "Where are you at, Lord? Satisfy me. 128 00:06:52,898 --> 00:06:56,431 Lord, open my mind, my heart, to see the wonders in your Word, 129 00:06:56,439 --> 00:06:59,752 to see the beauty of Christ, then I will overcome." 130 00:06:59,752 --> 00:07:04,236 That's my one pursuit - it's a heart burning to know Jesus Christ - 131 00:07:04,236 --> 00:07:05,792 and in that there's freedom. 132 00:07:05,792 --> 00:07:09,251 There's no other source of freedom. No other source. (P) 133 00:07:09,251 --> 00:07:17,745 Psalm 63, David says, "O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You." 134 00:07:17,745 --> 00:07:21,355 Notice, he's not saying "I'm earnestly seeking freedom. 135 00:07:21,355 --> 00:07:24,931 I'm earnestly seeking to look good before my fellow man." 136 00:07:24,931 --> 00:07:26,859 He's not worried about those things. 137 00:07:26,859 --> 00:07:29,114 He's worried about seeking God. 138 00:07:29,114 --> 00:07:33,114 He says, "I seek You. My soul thirsts for You." 139 00:07:33,114 --> 00:07:35,333 His soul is not thirsting for freedom, 140 00:07:35,333 --> 00:07:39,675 his soul is not thirsting for a better performance, for a hundred days of freedom; 141 00:07:39,675 --> 00:07:41,858 his soul is seeking for God. 142 00:07:41,858 --> 00:07:48,239 He says, "My flesh faints for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 143 00:07:48,239 --> 00:07:50,537 So I have looked upon You." 144 00:07:50,537 --> 00:07:52,860 He's not looking for freedom for his joy. 145 00:07:52,860 --> 00:07:55,742 You see, he's not satisfied, and where is he running? 146 00:07:55,742 --> 00:07:59,426 "To You," to God, to Christ. It's always the answer. 147 00:07:59,426 --> 00:08:03,101 He says, "In the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory." 148 00:08:03,101 --> 00:08:06,529 I mean, he is beholding the power and the glory of God; 149 00:08:06,529 --> 00:08:11,999 the power of the God who split the Red Sea and allowed Israel to pass through it, 150 00:08:11,999 --> 00:08:14,706 allowed them to endure through the trials. 151 00:08:14,706 --> 00:08:17,747 Yes, many fell away, but they made it in the end. 152 00:08:17,747 --> 00:08:19,406 "Few there be that find it." 153 00:08:19,406 --> 00:08:23,324 But I'll tell you, if you're looking to the Lord, the hand of Him to deliver you, 154 00:08:23,324 --> 00:08:25,906 to our God, you will find victory. (P) 155 00:08:25,906 --> 00:08:29,754 He says, "Because Your stedfast love is better than life." 156 00:08:29,754 --> 00:08:31,592 Do you believe that? 157 00:08:31,592 --> 00:08:36,903 Do you honestly believe that the stedfast love of Christ is better than life? 158 00:08:36,903 --> 00:08:41,899 That knowing Him is better than any thing in this life? 159 00:08:41,899 --> 00:08:44,729 He says, "My lips will praise You." 160 00:08:44,729 --> 00:08:47,320 So often man wants to praise themselves. 161 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:49,386 They want to say, "Look what I have done, look what I have..." 162 00:08:49,386 --> 00:08:54,116 I'll tell you, the only reason I have victory is because I'm so weak and helpless 163 00:08:54,116 --> 00:08:56,333 that I realize my only hope is the Lord. 164 00:08:56,333 --> 00:08:59,968 And so I found myself totally cast on Christ every day. 165 00:08:59,968 --> 00:09:04,358 And there are days where I wasn't cast on Christ, and idols and things crept in my life. 166 00:09:04,359 --> 00:09:05,950 And I learned a lesson the hard way, 167 00:09:05,950 --> 00:09:11,817 and God disciplined me from my idolatry and other things where I got my joy. (P) 168 00:09:11,817 --> 00:09:17,749 He says, "So I will bless You Lord as long as I live; in Your name I will lift up my hands." 169 00:09:17,749 --> 00:09:22,677 And he says this, "My soul WILL be satisfied." 170 00:09:22,677 --> 00:09:26,576 His soul will be satisfied, not because he has gained freedom, 171 00:09:26,576 --> 00:09:33,225 but because he has seen Christ, because he has been satisfied in Christ. 172 00:09:33,226 --> 00:09:39,631 "My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips, 173 00:09:39,631 --> 00:09:47,462 when I remember You upon my bed, and meditate on You in the watches of the night; 174 00:09:47,462 --> 00:09:48,760 for You have been my help." 175 00:09:48,761 --> 00:09:53,350 I mean, I praise God that I can go home tonight by God's grace 176 00:09:53,350 --> 00:09:55,404 as I endure through the rest of this day, 177 00:09:55,404 --> 00:10:00,566 I can lay in the cot in the I'll Be Honest little office in the Grace House, 178 00:10:00,566 --> 00:10:07,083 and I can lay there and meditate on the Lord and praise Him for the victory that He will give me. 179 00:10:07,083 --> 00:10:13,781 I'm confident in Him because I know that I need no other sacrifice than Jesus' blood and righteousness, 180 00:10:13,781 --> 00:10:16,888 and my own performance will fail a million times over. 181 00:10:16,888 --> 00:10:18,828 My only hope is in the Lord. 182 00:10:18,828 --> 00:10:22,511 I mean, isn't it glorious to meditate on the Lord? 183 00:10:22,511 --> 00:10:26,225 I mean, 21 years of my life I would be meditating on lust in the night, 184 00:10:26,225 --> 00:10:28,571 and I'd be driving myself in misery for hours, 185 00:10:28,571 --> 00:10:33,520 trying to get to bed with all these daydreams and anxious thoughts pummeling my mind. 186 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:37,405 And I couldn't overcome because I didn't have the beauty of the Lord. 187 00:10:37,405 --> 00:10:41,919 I kept trying to find victory in myself. (P) 188 00:10:41,919 --> 00:10:47,571 "My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me." 189 00:10:47,571 --> 00:10:51,391 That's my only hope. Is that yours? Is that yours? 190 00:10:51,392 --> 00:10:55,214 I've been getting e-mails from hundreds of you guys out there 191 00:10:55,214 --> 00:10:57,302 who are saying you're addicted to pornography. 192 00:10:57,302 --> 00:11:03,143 I'll tell you, the Lord's right hand upholds me, that's my only hope. That's it. 193 00:11:03,143 --> 00:11:05,101 It sounds so simple, doesn't it? 194 00:11:05,101 --> 00:11:11,989 But Luke 18:17 says, "Unless you receive the kingdom of heaven as a child, you will not enter it." 195 00:11:11,989 --> 00:11:15,271 A child is helpless. They're totally cast on Christ. 196 00:11:15,271 --> 00:11:18,321 They know their only hope of redemption, their only hope of freedom, 197 00:11:18,321 --> 00:11:20,095 is in the Lord Jesus Christ. 198 00:11:20,095 --> 00:11:23,235 They don't wake up and rely on themselves and relying on their father. 199 00:11:23,235 --> 00:11:26,785 And that's where my hope is; my reliance is my Father in Heaven. 200 00:11:26,785 --> 00:11:31,106 The only way out of victory is in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. 201 00:11:31,106 --> 00:11:33,690 Go there, and you will find victory. 202 00:11:33,690 --> 00:11:39,787 Go to the arm of your flesh and rely on that, and you'll fail, time and time again. 203 00:11:39,787 --> 00:11:46,975 And my friend, beware of practicing your righteousness, not only to be seen by men, 204 00:11:46,975 --> 00:11:50,404 but to think that on Judgment Day you're going to stand before God 205 00:11:50,404 --> 00:11:52,870 and say, "God, look what I have done." 206 00:11:52,870 --> 00:11:56,098 God is not impressed with 100 days of freedom. 207 00:11:56,098 --> 00:11:58,492 God is not impressed with 10 years of freedom. 208 00:11:58,492 --> 00:12:03,461 God is impressed with one thing: the perfect life of Jesus Christ 209 00:12:03,461 --> 00:12:09,086 and His sacrifice of Himself to atone for sinners' sins on that Cross. 210 00:12:09,086 --> 00:12:12,559 He gave Himself up to set you free. (P) 211 00:12:13,519 --> 00:12:19,624 "If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed" (1 Corinth. 16:22). 212 00:12:19,949 --> 00:12:23,526 To find more content on I'll Be Honest that deal with overcoming sexual sin, 213 00:12:23,526 --> 00:12:28,715 you can go to the "Media Library" and select a subject "Sexual Sin and Pornography", 214 00:12:28,715 --> 00:12:30,930 and you can find a list of resources there. 215 00:12:30,930 --> 00:12:35,086 You're also able to use your e-mail and subscribe for e-mail updates 216 00:12:35,086 --> 00:12:37,273 that you'll automatically get from an RSS feed 217 00:12:37,273 --> 00:12:40,838 every time a new piece of content is uploaded to the Site. 218 00:12:40,838 --> 00:12:43,456 Again, our burden is just to put the truth out there, 219 00:12:43,456 --> 00:12:45,228 and I pray God will use it, 220 00:12:45,228 --> 00:12:49,336 and that people will walk in freedom and be lovers of Christ.