Telling the Truth

Guest (Female): Welcome to Telling the Truth, the ministry of Stuart and Jill Briscoe. Today, Pastor Charles Price joins us again as a guest speaker to conclude his message, Christians and Sexual Behavior. It's a timely message you'll want to hear, so stay with us.

Stuart Briscoe: Charles Price came into our lives as a young teenager in England. He was an outstanding young man with a great heart for God and a great desire to get into ministry, which is precisely what he did. He came to Capernwray where we lived and eventually joined the staff, and in no time at all, he appeared as the principal of the Bible school, teaching hundreds of young people from all over the globe.

In addition to his Bible school leadership and his international preaching, he then became the senior pastor, the lead pastor, of People's Church in Toronto, Canada. Now I hope you will welcome him into your hearing opportunities and your meditation on God's word. Welcome, Charles Price.

Guest (Female): Your generous support helps keep broadcasts like this one today going out around the world so you and others can experience life. As thanks for your gift today, we'll send you two great resources: the Briscoes' two-message series, Worry Less, and Jill's booklet, Me Worry?

These encouraging resources are filled with biblical wisdom and practical advice to help you overcome worry and live with God's peace. So call today to request yours: 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Here's today's guest speaker, Charles Price.

Charles Price: The other person, the key to a good sex life in marriage is desiring to bring pleasure to the other person. That's the key. Lust is the reverse of that. Lust is looking only for its own pleasure and does not actually care about the pleasure of the other person.

When Jesus talked about lusting after a woman, it's not recognizing a sexually attractive woman or, of course, the reverse too, a sexually attractive man. But it's saying if I could get away with it, I would sleep with her. If circumstances permitted it, if she was willing, I would sleep with her even though she is not my wife, and therefore she does not belong to me and I do not belong to her, and the sexual relationship would simply be that. It'll be sex, not love. It's lust.

And Jesus said the person who lusts after a woman is self-absorbed and guilty already of adultery. By the way, Jesus never permits that there might be adultery which is a result of love. It is always the result of lust because love respects that this person is in a marriage or respects my wife if I'm wanting to sleep with somebody else, and lust does not. Lust has only one criterion: what satisfies me?

So, sex is an expression of love. Sex is an expression of lust, which is not satisfying. Thirdly, let me talk about sex as an expression of life. The big question is how do we keep this under control? How do we live sex lives that are clean and holy before God and at the same time—in fact, that is where they will be—deeply satisfied?

Let me read you the next verse, verse 29. "If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away." Verse 30, "If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away." Now, the context is very important. Jesus has talked about adultery. You've heard it was said, "don't commit adultery." I say to you, if you lust after a woman, you're already guilty of adultery. And then He says, if your eye leads you into sin, gouge it out. If your hand leads you into sin, cut it off.

Why does He say that there? What is the meaning of this? Let me be very frank. The primary agents of sexual arousal are sight and touch. And He's saying if you're in a situation where you begin to lust, if your eye is leading you into sin, if your hand is leading you into sin, gouge it out and cut it off—not meaning literally cut it off, of course, but bring it under control.

There are those who have felt that this should be literally applied. Of course, it's against the law in our country. But I lived in a country for three months many years ago where limbs were cut off if somebody committed a crime. It was one of the punishments, and you saw people with only one hand cut off here above the wrist or one foot. It was a punishment for their crime. But that, of course, is not to understand well the human makeup, because if you cut one hand off a thief, what you have afterwards is a one-handed thief. You've not actually changed the problem.

In Matthew 15:19, Jesus said, "out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." Interestingly, that list He gave in Matthew 15 is very similar to the list He gives here in Matthew 5 of things He talks about very specifically. And then He says, don't kid yourself, this comes from within you. So, you can cut off your hands, gouge out your eye, you'll still have the same heart.

So, what does He mean when He says that here? I suggest, and I think you'll recognize, that what He's saying is bring your body under control. Discipline your body. Later in Matthew 18:8, He says, "if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away." And verse 9, "if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away." Here He includes the foot as well. The hand has to do with what you do, the foot has to do with where you go, and the eye has to do with what you see.

In relation to our sex drive, which is what Jesus is talking about here, suppressing it is not the answer. It is controlling it that He talks about. The most important sex organ in our bodies is, of course, the brain. And what you feed the brain with, you can feed the senses through sight, through touch, through other means. That's why people wear certain kinds of perfume, calculated to awaken the sex drive through the senses.

And what Jesus is saying here—gouge out your eye, cut off your hand, later cut off your foot—bring your body under control. I remember once down in Missouri speaking at a series of meetings, and a young man came to talk with me and asked if we could meet. We met for breakfast, and he was in his mid-20s. He'd not been a Christian very long, had a marvelous conversion. And he told me that he was really struggling with sexual temptation. Well, that's not unusual for a guy in his mid-20s.

In the course of conversation, he said to me, "Do you think I should cancel my subscription to Playboy?" I said, "I think it'll help." He hadn't been a Christian long, and so he was sorting out what's good, what's bad, what's right, what's wrong, what's permissible, what isn't permissible. But you see, that's like having a fire burning and throwing gasoline over it and saying, "Why doesn't it go out?" You feed it.

And this has always been a problem, of course, because it's not out there, it's in here. And the imagination, the realm of fantasy, is a big screen on which you can play any movie. But probably never has it been more of a problem than it is today, because there was a time if you wanted to get hold of pictures and images and movies that portrayed sexual activity, you'd have to sneak into an adult bookstore. Of course, you couldn't be more immature than to need to go to an adult bookstore. We call it adult; we should call it immature bookstore, because that's what that is. But you don't have to do that there. You don't have to go down the road and hope no one was looking and nip in through the back door with your collar up and dark glasses on. You can sit at home and click, click, click on the internet, and you are there.

This past year, 57 billion dollars was spent on pornography. 57 billion. Apparently, 25% of all search engine requests on the internet are for pornography-related sites. But here's a statistic that I'm going to give you: 47% in a survey conducted in the last year, 47% of Christians said that pornography had become a problem in their home, maybe through somebody else in the home. That means we're not talking about something out there. We're actually talking about something that, with absolute certainty, is right in this building this morning.

At first, it may seem innocent, nobody else is involved, but actually, it corrupts the whole view of sexuality. And here's a statistic now: people who watch pornography, those who are involved in marriage relationships, for instance, their actual sexual experience diminishes because you cannot better the fantasy world of pornography in real life. Because in the fantasy world, the woman will do anything you want. She's never tired, never has a headache, never has a period. She's just available the whole time for anything.

And of course, real life is not like that. And in a declining sexual relationship within marriage, often the decline is because of pornography. Don't believe those who would tell you that somehow this may enhance a marriage relationship. The statistics say the opposite. And it's not just all men. Apparently, 27% of all visitors to porn websites are women, 73% are men.

Now, two things from this: if sexual delight is God's desire for us, it's a divine creation, a divine command, and a divine concern—this is God's purpose, sexual delight in a marriage relationship—then sexual discipline is also God's desire for us. You need to bring your body under control: your eye, your hand, your foot.

Guest (Female): Charles will return in a moment here on Telling the Truth. But first, we want to share this note from Christopher, who shares what Telling the Truth has meant to him personally. He writes, "Jill and Stuart make such a difference in my life. Telling the Truth hosts a wealth of resources for those looking to grow in their faith. I'm grateful for their help in me coming back to Christ."

Thanks, Christopher. That's the kind of encouragement your support today will help bring more people around the world as you help in share the teaching and resources of Telling the Truth, so others can experience life in Christ. And we'd like to encourage you this month with two helpful resources: Stuart and Jill Briscoe's two-message series, Worry Less, and Jill's booklet, Me Worry?

The stresses of life can leave you feeling worried, anxious, even afraid. And this turmoil can rob you of the joy and peace God wants for you. In this powerful series, the Briscoes help you discover the secret to worrying less and living with more joy. These encouraging messages shine a critical light on a root cause of worry and give you practical guidance on how to rule your anxieties instead of having them rule you.

This special resource plus Jill's booklet are our thanks for your gift today to help more people experience life through the teaching resources of Telling the Truth. So request your copy of Worry Less and Me Worry? when you call 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388, or give online at tellingthetruth.org. Let's return to Charles Price for more teaching.

Charles Price: Personality is made up of three parts: we have a mind, we have emotions, we have a will. I suggest to you the battle going on in all of us all the time is a battle for the mind. Is my mind controlled by my emotions, my desires? I simply do what I feel like when I feel like, or is it controlled by my will? There are certain things that are right, certain things that are wrong, and my mind sits within that framework. Proverbs 23:7 says, "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." Somebody else has said you're not what you think you are, but what you think, you are or you become.

Which is why the whole message of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is that it starts on the inside and works out, not from the outside working in. But you've got to discipline and control the outside so that what is in you, which is the life of God, the Spirit of God, can be expressed through you. If you're not under control, then that old flesh which is still there, that old nature which battles with the Spirit within you all the time, will find free expression as well.

That's why Paul writes in Romans 12:2, "be transformed by the renewing of your mind." We would much rather a quick fix transformation by some sizzle down your spine, but it is by the renewing of your mind. That is a process. Living by feelings is probably one of the biggest hindrances to godly living, and we need to learn to bring our bodies under control and to discipline our bodies, as Jesus implies here.

And the problem is not, "Oh, you need somebody to pray for you." No, that can be a cop-out getting somebody to pray for you. The problem is you've never learned to discipline your body. Now, Paul said this. You see, Paul, who knew all about what it meant to live in union with Christ and live in the fullness of the Holy Spirit, he said this in 1 Corinthians 9:27, "I beat my body and make it my slave so that after having preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." Paul says, "I make my body my slave." Why? Because that's how you become godly? No, that's what the Pharisees taught.

But because Jesus Christ lives in me by His Holy Spirit and He needs to function through a body that I've taught to obey. And He says that—I mean, he used the expression "I beat my body." I don't think that means he masochistically beats himself, but rather, I bring my body into subjection. You see, your body makes a wonderful servant, but it makes a terrible master when you're simply controlled by your appetites and by the road of least resistance.

In Proverbs 16:32, it says, "better is a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city." A man who controls himself is actually better than a man who controls a whole city. Proverbs 25:28 says, "like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control." When a city's walls are broken down, you know what happens? Anything and everything can make its way in almost at will. And he says a man who lacks self-control is exactly the same. If he's in this environment and this temptation flashes to his mind, he's got no resistance, he's not taught himself resistance, he has no strategies for resistance.

Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:7, "train yourself to be godly." Train yourself. That's the New International Version rendering. The New American Standard says, "discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness." Revised Standard says, "train yourself in godliness." The King James says, "exercise thyself rather unto godliness." This is exercise, discipline, training, bringing your body into submission—not because that makes you godly in itself, that in itself would only make you Pharisaical, who impressed people with the way they kept the rules but didn't deal with the inner heart. But when the heart is dealt with and Christ lives in the heart, you need a body that's learning to obey.

And Paul says, "I take time to make my body my slave." It's very healthy just to teach your body sometimes to do things it doesn't like to do, just to teach it to be your servant rather than your master. For instance, don't feed it for a day. At 9:00, your stomach will say to your brain, "Excuse me, you've forgotten something." No, I haven't. Settle down. By 1:00, it'll shout at you, "You have forgotten something! I'm hungry!" Relax, relax, you won't die. By 7:00 that night, it'll be screaming at you, "Feed me!" No, no, it's okay. You'll be all right. You're not the boss. Just to teach it to be your servant.

Get your body up and take it for a walk at 5:00 one morning. It'll say, "It's only 5:00 in the morning! Where do you think you're going?" Just shut up and keep walking. You're not in charge. You're there to serve the life. Now, be realistic about this, what our bodies are capable of, but that's what Paul is implying when he says that I teach my body to be my slave. This is not a substitute for the Holy Spirit, but you can live in the fullness of the Holy Spirit and you can love God with all your heart and wonder why I keep falling in the same old sins again and again. Nothing wrong with the Holy Spirit's presence in your life; you've just never taught your body to be your servant, to obey.

And that's why, along with dependence on God, is disciplined living. The Holy Spirit is involved in this process. Romans 8:13, "if you live according to the sinful nature, you'll die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." You're not on your own in this. The Holy Spirit's presence enables; He puts the desire, the motivation, in the first place. And I repeat that discipline is not designed to get holiness into our lives, but to let the Holy Spirit who's within us express Himself through us in a way that is right.

And this is a lifelong struggle. It's a lifelong battle. It's my biggest battle. It's probably your biggest battle: teaching your body to be your servant. Nothing wrong in rest, that's important. God engineered rest. But there's something wrong with laziness. Nothing wrong with eating—we were designed to eat—but there's something wrong with gluttony. Nothing wrong with sex—everything right that God ordained in the right context to bring that fulfillment and meaning and purpose, as well as for procreation—but there's something very wrong with lust, which is out of control and self-oriented.

And what Jesus is saying in these verses—and we have to interpret them in their context—is, "I have come to fulfill the law." There is hope for every single person. "I in you am there to fulfill the law, to make it work, to make it real." If you've got a problem with your brother and there's something between you and him, leave your gift before you go to the altar, put it right. We talked about that last week. If you've got something wrong with your sex life, think about your eye and bring it under control. Don't look. Think about your hand, think about your foot. Where does it take you?

Jesus said it's not just about adultery. Don't think, "Oh, I've never slept with her, so I'm okay." It's all in the realm of fantasy. It's all solo stuff. No, no, no. Get your eye, get your hand, get your foot, and bring them under control. It takes six weeks, we're told, to make a habit or break a habit. And sometimes when we have been bound by something, just separate yourself for six weeks. Apparently, you'll break the expectation that your body has developed for certain things, and you can deal with it.

Otherwise, said Jesus—and the way He puts it is this—it's better to cut off your hand and lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go to hell. He's not saying salvation is dependent on whether you discipline your body or not and if you don't, sorry, you're on your way to hell. He's simply saying this is not just about a purely temporal physical thing. This has eternal dimensions, too, because to a big extent the kind of lives we live here, the kind of people we are here, will have its bearing on the kind of people we will be there throughout all eternity. That's why there are rewards and that's why things will be burned up and things will be destroyed that day at judgment. We're told that things will be burned up that were worthless.

So it's not just for comfort in this life. It's with an eternal perspective in mind you say the person I want to be now and through eternity long after I've left this life actually will be directly related to how I'm growing in Christ now in the present. And as we close, I want to encourage you if there are those of you here tonight, this morning, and you sense God is speaking to me because this is an area of my life I need to deal with. Would you resolve to deal with it? And it's probably too big for you alone. Bring somebody into your confidence. Share it with somebody. It'll take courage, but half the battle's won once you let it out. I've had people tell me things when they've come to talk to me they've never told anybody in their life, and the relief of telling somebody what nobody else knows is half the battle over, just by taking somebody into confidence and then trusting them to help you. And probably it'll be mutual. You'll have things to help them as well. But let's take these words of Jesus seriously. The solution here is bring your body under control: gouge out your eye, cut off your hand, cut off your foot.

Guest (Female): Thanks for that message, Charles. We hope today's message encouraged you. Before we go, remember that when you give today to help keep Telling the Truth broadcasts like this one going out around the world, we'll send you a copy of Worry Less, the Briscoes' two-message series designed to help you start worrying less and living with more joy. And as a special thanks, we'll also send you Jill's booklet, Me Worry? So call now to give and remember to request these resources with our thanks: 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. We're glad you listened today. Come back tomorrow as Charles Price joins us again with a powerful message about Christians and divorce. That's next time here on Telling the Truth.