What a message. I needed to hear this. Thank you Gracious Father for this message and revelation. Please help me to grow in true knowledge of You. Amen.
Thank you Lord Jesus for preachers like Pastor John Piper 🤍✝️🧡 The depth of the illumination and conveying of the message from your word is a humbling and astonishing experience. Please allow the truth to manifest in our lives for your glory in Jesus mighty name amen. Soli Deo Gloria
What a blessing. I want to know God more. By far the best sermon I've heard in a long time. There is so much need for this. To God be the glory. "If you trade God’s glory for anything, you’ll pay the price for that idolatry in the disordering of your sexuality."💘
May the Lord return!! Amen. God is merciful. He always forgives. Never be ashamed to take your failures to him. He is for you, not against you! God is with you in the storm. He knows your troubles, he hears you! He is for you, on your side, always! It may feel silent at times, but he’s holding you close! May the Lord return soon! We are drawing closer. He is coming! Believe and trust in the Lord, you will be saved. Period. May the Lord bless you all! Hang in there family. Stay strong. It is not easy following the Lord. We are scoffed at. We give up our earthly dreams, our fleshly desires. What the enemy offers is short lived, but heaven is forever! Life may seem or be unfair, but God is with you! Always remember that. Things may get better or worse for you, but a kingdom awaits you! Finish the race! Repent daily and carry your cross. This world is fading fast. Your troubles are temporary! New channel here, I’d appreciate any kind of support. Don’t give up! God loves you so much! So do I. The Lord bless you!
God, you are amazing! It is all about Christ and his Church. Brothers, theology is awesome because it helps us see the way God sees this world! His way of seeing alone matters & His way of seeing the world is actually wonderful! Who would have thought Husband making love to his wife was displaying the Christ's love for his Church. It is also a shadow to the everlasting joy that is coming in the future. This is amazing! My eyes are opened! Thank you, Jesus! And Hollywood acts like they invented sex. Ha..Ha..Ha.. Only if the pornographers in the world understood this truth! God never hides true happiness from us. If He prohibits, it is for our good. If He commands, it is for our good.
"And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better...". Could we change a part of our human body for a part of community? Let's say a murderer, rapist, etc. Does the Bible say such a thing as well?
Of course we don't know God as we ought to. To fully know God requires that we be with Him since the Beginning. That's why Jesus says only He knows the Father, because none of us know God that intimately. It's why even the annointed king of Israel David failed miserably with lust. If He, who was incredibly intimate with God - where miracles were commonplace - would fail, don't you think the rest of us would too? The whole point is that none of us will ever attain perfection. When you look on your brother's sin and condemn him don't you realize that you are just accusing yourself?? It's why Jesus makes such a big point about it in the Sermon on the Mount. If you were going to realistically try to be perfect then you would at least need to cut off an arm or an eye or two. But how stupid is that! We don't need to be that ruthless when we've got Jesus to be our perfect righteousness for us. In fact, the moment we stop taking our eyes off of Jesus is the moment we veer off the path that leads to eternal life. Don't forget, eternal life is a life where we don't sin anymore. You wonder how that works? Maybe because we are already united to Christ the moment we were saved, in the same way that a wife is permanently united to her husband the day they get married. It has nothing to do with us, but everything to do with Jesus. It's only through Jesus that we know the Father as we ought to and stop sinning, not by our own effort. The moment you beat yourself up is the moment you lose sight of Jesus and go back to your sin.
Absolutely. Pastor John doesn’t say to beat yourself up. Or look at yourself. Especially listen to part 2. The goal still is to be Christ like. We fail.. we all fall short. None of us are Jesus. But to have His Spirit within you, means that you will take on His attributes. He never sinned. He never lusted. Not even for a millisecond. His beauty and perfection, His unwavering devotion to the Father in the face of evil and suffering, His great love for us that gave Him compassion to heal us, save us, feed us and endure our suffering. His taking us in to His house and making us His bride, cleansing us, caring for us and wanting us to be with Him forever… that level of love and devotion that we can’t even comprehend. When you see it…. It changes you. Lust which has a grip on you, looks so silly and stupid in comparison. Why would you trade Him, His undying love and devotion… for a minuscule fleeting sensation that ultimately leaves you emptier than when you found it? This is ultimately what makes Christ true. His true saving power, to deliver us from sin that we could not do on our own. We are utterly incapable of doing it ourselves. But He is faithful and He is able. It’s why He came! To trust in Him and look to Him means to leave sin behind, it becomes the natural reflex of actually seeing Him. Hallelujah ❤️
@@jessszabo5049 It's just that this is a very divisive verse used by Satan and Piper did not do a very good job of explaining the need for Jesus alone in this video. This verse is often used by people to prove that you need to take any kind of repetitive sin seriously otherwise you will go to Hell if you don't stop. But the thing about this verse is the context surrounding it - the Sermon on the Mount. During this speech, Jesus said some very controversial things. Things like - if you so much as look at someone with lust then you have essentially committed the sin of adultery (which is by Mosaic Law punishable by death). But this was not so much a command as it was a jab at the proud hearts and the self righteous elitism of the religious leaders. This sermon, without Jesus, would have completely missed the mark. Yes, Jesus was being so blatantly sarcastic in this speech. He was making it so utterly clear to people that eternal life was absolutely unattainable for mere mortals and that they shouldn't even bother trying. Rather, He was setting up the precedent for our reliance on His sacrifice alone. So no, Jesus did not mean you had to cut off your arm or gouge out your eye if you are tempted to sin. That is absurd. It would be a sin in itself to grievously harm the body that God gave you! No, Jesus was being sarcastic here. He was trying to say that if you wanted to steer clear of sin in pursuit of perfection then it would probably be a wise idea to cut out any part of your life that cause you temptation. Or in layman's terms, he was jokingly saying - "you can't lust for a woman if you don't know what she looks like" and "you can't murder someone if you've got no arms and legs!" But thank God that Jesus made a way for this to not even be remotely necessary. Our belief in Jesus' sacrifice alone is what keeps us from going to Hell, not our performance nor having correctly ordered affections. So never assume that you have to do this or that to be saved. Salvation has already been obtained the moment you believed. So KEEP believing in Jesus and living through Him and you will eventually receive eternal life. But I do think it's also good advice that if you want to avoid sinning as much then you should try to avoid situations that cause you to be tempted in the first place. E.g. if you are an alcoholic don't go near bottle shops, if you are a porn addict keep away from the internet and if you are struggling with sexual desire then get married, if you are an angry person then stay away from people who provoke you. In principle this is true, but in practice not always possible. But may God lead us all in the areas of our lives we need most improving as we honestly examine ourselves.
@@potapotapotapotapotapota I think it doesn’t have to be a sarcastic verse for the rest of what you say to be true. I think He could have meant it a bit tongue in cheek but at the same time, point to the absolute severity of sin. God hates sin and cannot abide where it resides… that’s the whole reason Jesus had to come, live perfectly and die for us. We are absolutely powerless against it and there is also no condemnation for those of us in Christ Jesus. But you cannot be “in Christ Jesus” and living a life of habitual sin. It’s like oil and water. God does not reside in sin and the one in sin does not know God. This doesn’t mean you are perfect… we’re all works in progress, but the old habits have dimmed significantly because there is a far greater pleasure in knowing Christ. Those strategies of “not going to old places” hanging out with old friends etc can actually be effective and maybe even unnecessary. My own life example: I was saved in 2018. Radically, wrecked by God in a church. At this time, I had a once a week habit of meeting with my mom and sister for happy hour at a restaurant/bar that was walking distance. I always just had the 2 free drinks they offered for the happy hour, (always got the red wine or sometimes beer, never liquor) and nothing more. Never got drunk but just felt nice. Didn’t feel like it was “sin” and honestly still don’t necessarily believe it was. As I grew closer to God, my drinks kept decreasing. I drank one and half of the other one day. The next week was maybe the same.. then after that I drank one and offered the second one to my sister who usually ordered more after her 2 free ones. Then gradually couldn’t even finish my first and then the thought of even having one seemed… repulsive. So I still went every week and just got club soda with lime. My mom and sister still ordered what they wanted and we always continued having a nice time, then we stopped since Covid and haven’t been back, got new weekly ritual of just meeting at my mom’s place and hanging out there. I didn’t try to stop alcohol on my own, I didn’t even think one or 2 drinks per week were bad at all. I don’t judge anyone who does drink at all… it’s just not something that is pleasurable to me anymore at all. In any circumstance or situation. I was recently in an all inclusive resort and was handed free wine so I intended to drink a glass… couldn’t make it past 2 sips. It’s something that I believe is forever changed in me. At least for the last 5 years. It’s not a “struggle” or a “battle” or a “fight” or a “war” He. Just. Took. It. It just went away because I didn’t want to “blur” His presence in any way shape or form. He took other things too… TV/Netflix, porn addiction, and an eating disorder. TV also wasn’t something I sought to get rid of, just happened, lost interest. The other 2 went away when I began to trust Him to do it and stopped trying to fight it on my own.
@@jessszabo5049 See I honestly disagree. God may have given you the grace to no longer feel the desire for such things but that does not mean He has given grace equally to all. Your ability to produce fruit does not determine the state of your salvation. Your salvation is wholly dependent on your belief in Jesus Christ. Otherwise you become self righteous and look down on other Christians who are struggling with certain things. If we are never going to be perfect, then it only makes sense that we would still have sin in our life that we are struggling to overcome. But when you start comparing yourself to other people then you've completely lost the plot. The apostle Paul said that there must not even be a hint of immorality in the church. You think he meant that as an imperative?? No! Take the Bible into context as a whole. He meant that as an ideal. But realistically speaking, even from reading the state of the churches in the New Testament, you will realize that people are still full of problems even after coming to salvation. You only need to look through the entire Bible to see case after case of failures. Or do you not think people like King David are in Heaven right now because he does not live up to your cookie cutter expectations of what a Christian is supposed to be like... go read your Bible because you know nothing.
@@potapotapotapotapotapota Brother, I think you’re totally missing what I’m saying. It only is and always will be a struggle if it’s YOU trying to do it. Jesus said it is finished! He did it all… you can live your life and struggle and die struggling our you can come to Him and be free. Yes failures are recorded throughout scripture, but so is the redemption. David did not die in sin. He was redeemed and trusted in the Lord for His redemption. It’s not our strength. His yoke is easy, His burden is light. He is living water, and those who drink from Him will never thirst again. If you believe Jesus is Lord, I believe you will escape the flames… but He came so we can have Life and Life abundantly… not struggle in sin. Our battle with sin is over and done on the cross. I’m not blaming the Christian for being in sin.. I have the highest compassion, I was stuck in it myself for years.. the porn and the eating disorder… I cried over it almost every day… I begged Him to help me and I hated so much every time I felt weak. It was true misery and I don’t wish that on anyone. I realized though that on some level, I was still trusting in myself to fix it. I would find an eating plan or medication, thought I could be strong enough to not log in to those sites for a while and on some level I believed the lie that if I could somehow do these things, God would love me more. Or I would be “worthy” NO! That’s not it. He showed me a vision of a wet, naked, deformed, dirty, beaten, stinky, starving, bloody woman lying in a gutter with and an honorable, loving, gentle, handsome, rich man takes this woman in, clothes her… feeds her.. heals her, and she blossoms and thrives under His care… nothing of her own, she just graciously accepts all that He has that He freely gives to her. She trusts Him to the utmost and her entire life, her very essence becomes a testimony to Him who saved her. She will never ever again want to do the things that left her in the gutter… because she has something infinitely better. If you don’t have freedom from sin… I say it’s ok! There’s good news!!! You CAN have it!!! He gave it to you!!! Dance, be happy, praise Him with everything you’ve got! The woman in the gutter can’t for a second claim it was her own doing, she can’t boast one bit nor does she want to. The amount of fruit does not determine salvation but if you are saved, you WILL produce fruit… but only because He is the vine. Please hear what I’m saying and let Him work it out in you. There is true freedom from sin found in Jesus. ❤️
if the thrust of this message is true, that we're supposed to know/desire Christ in an almost sexual way.. why was female created, why is homosexuality an abomination? Male believers are supposed to have a desire for a male Jesus bordering on sexual? That's the hurdle. As Pastor John mentioned.. God could have had humans reproduce in any way female was not required. But that's the reality, female was created, man is designed to desire female, and desiring a male is an abomination worthy of being stoned to death.... yet here Pastor John seems to flip the script and says we're to desire a male Jesus the way God designed man to desire females.
I think a lot of people are confused by what sexual love really is, and by even the concept of what love itself is. This is why perhaps you're asking this? Our world has really confused notions of these two words. I myself have just begun to understand as I have struggled in prayer for answers. Here's what I've gotten in prayer and reading so far.. We are more than our physical bodies of maleness and femaleness. Men and women need to see ourselves and each other as not always having our current bodies. There is a part to ourselves that is beyond our physical bodies that can be corrupted by what we do with our bodies. In other words, our actions through our bodies affects our souls, our spiritual body which has no sex (maleness or femaleness) when we sin sexually. See Genesis 1:24 quoted by Jesus in his answer to the questions on marriage in Mat 19:4 and 1Cor 6:15 which describes a bit of what sex does to us. It makes us one in soul. Sin here is so different from other sins as it is our soul, our essence sinning against our own bodies. Here are some more hints. In Matthew 22:29, Jesus explains how we will be after the resurrection. We will be like the angels no longer marrying. We will be sexless. So while we are on earth, we are male and female and should marry till DEATH us do part. In the resurrection, your wife will be your "brother", your fellow Christian. Yet neither you nor your former wife will be male. We use the word brother only because the limits of the English language. It's the same reason why we say God the Father. God is not male. Father is used because it best describes the power a father had/has as a position in the current world and especially in the ancient world. This is why Peter tells husbands in 1 Peter 3:7 to realize that although their wives are disadvantaged in this fallen world because ...they bear the children making them more vulnerable for one, this is only temporary. Maleness and femaleness is temporary. There will come a day when you will see that she has been your fellow heir all along and equal in every way. While we are here on earth, ideal holy matrimony starts with love between a man and woman and God who also each have Christ as their "lover". God's Holy Spirit lives in them 1Cor 6:19. So when they make love, when they do anything together, God is with them (when two or three meet in my name, I am there with them Mat 18:20) . So it's a threesome blessed and holy. Each has been given the love of God for their spouse in their hearts because God loves their spouse and them. This is why Christian marriage never gets old. When you make love to your spouse, God is using your body to make love to them while you're making love to them and vice versa. But it has to be done out of love which is pure, faithful and sacrificial. It is loaded with the responsibility of loving God's child for whom He had Jesus die for and He gave to you and joined to you trustingly and faithfully. The man and wife also give their bodies in love to each other outside the bedroom, and to God. Love must be beyond the sex act. I agree with pastor John that this joy pales in comparison to spiritual union with God. So the sex act involves non-physical parts to our being. There is something about sex that connects to the spiritual parts of ourselves that we should take seriously. I think the sexual ecstasy Piper is talking about for comparison, is the spiritual side of marital union that resembles our spiritual union with Christ. People can have unholy unmarried sex that doesn't have that holy spiritual aspect to it. Non-Christians don't know what they're missing. Therefore loving Jesus is not homosexual. God is loving more than our physical male or female selves. He loves and is saving our true selves which is beyond our bodies or position in this world, Gal 3:28. This is also how He wants us to love Him- in Spirit. Jesus ascended into heaven and is no longer male as he was while on earth. We are to see and love Jesus today, not just as a baby in a manger or as his male body given to us on a cross. Jesus rose from the dead in victory! He is no longer on that cross nor limited by his human limitations of male/femaleness as he was while walking in his male form, emptying himself of his power. Nor did Jesus always have a male body but existed before his birth. In John 4:23 Jesus tells the woman at the well this, that God wants to be worshipped in spirit. So I agree with Piper that God made them male and female so that we have an illustration of what it is to love another different enough from us and yet have a yearning for that other. God teaches us through our relationships. We are also commanded to love in non-sexual ways. God is both male and female and neither as they are together made in God's image and He is beyond anything physical. In other words, it's our inner non-sexual selves that are created in God's image. God is spirit, but our physical bodies can shape our inner spiritual bodies that are still developing while we are living and being transformed? Anyway, this is how I've learned to understand God ordained sexuality so far. Sorry it's so long. Yes it is confusing. Lastly, our spiritual formation is more important than anything on this earth which will pass away including our current physical bodies. Remember 1 Cor 6:12 reminds us that anything physical will one day come to an end and our focus needs to be on our souls in Christ. Both food and stomach will one day cease.
@@gmac8586 being gender non binary is also sin. Being effeminate is also sin. Why would it be, if our ultimate reality is to be genderless/gender non binary? It doesn't add up.
@@Docjam23 Is it a sin? Where in scripture do you see that? Dressing in what was considered clothing for the opposite sex was forbidden in the old testament but I have never seen any command against being effeminate. Besides, what is effeminate? It's a question that can't be defined and depends on culture and/or fashion. It's all exterior, whereas God cares about the intentions of the heart. Being homosexual is not a sin. It's the homosexual acts that are sins as are any lustful thoughts. Same sex or even opposite sex attraction is not a sin. It's what you choose to do with that attraction that is the sin. Any emotion is a natural response to a situation or stimulus. We are responsible to how we choose to respond. When we follow Jesus' example, we die to ourselves and live for God. Stressing and worrying so much on gender rather than on what we're becoming for the Kingdom of God is a sin in that it distracts from what the goal should be. I mean, what's your priority? I see it in the same way as how Paul approaches it in Philippians 3. For Paul, everything else is unimportant compared with pressing ahead towards the goal of pleasing God. I think that all this attention to gender is earthly and from Satan as an attack on humankind to create stress and worry and confusion. It's a problem for the unsaved. We are NEW creations when we are reborn in the Spirit. We don't have to worry because our gender will not come with us in the next life. Same with riches, position, strength, outward appearance, ability. We shouldn't focus on these things. They are perishing. Be who you are IN CHRIST. If He lives in you, let Him be the Potter and concentrate on being the clay. He heals and saves and directs our paths in the right way.
@@gmac8586 1 Corinthians 6 lists the effeminate and homosexuals among those who will not inherit the kingdom of God. So I reject the "gender non binary" eternity that some people teach, and I reject "gay for Jesus" theology that Pastor John borders on, but thankfully does not cross the line on. I have always seen the marriage language to be corporate not individual and referring to Jesus' faithfulness, devotion, and ability to be a provider and protector... not that He Himself is anything akin to a romantic partner.in that way. God has always dealt with need through Providence.
@@Docjam23 Again, I think it's about the intention; whether one is deliberately choosing to be effeminate according to the definitions of the time and place you're living in. So, I'm curious, if you reject the "gender non binary" eternity what do you think we'll be like?
In Jesus Christ name I bind arrest and cast out the strongman spirit of incubus and succubus LEAVE NOW, your going to cough 😷 now and afterwards you will be delivered
Pray and ask God to reveal to you what it is you're trying to satisfy through porn (or anything else) and when He shows you, replace it with a love for Him. Don't leave a void. Fill it with God and the devil will flee from you and even better, you'll be even more satisfied than you were with the porn or whatever it was making you sin.
What a message. I needed to hear this. Thank you Gracious Father for this message and revelation. Please help me to grow in true knowledge of You. Amen.
Thank you Lord Jesus for preachers like Pastor John Piper 🤍✝️🧡 The depth of the illumination and conveying of the message from your word is a humbling and astonishing experience. Please allow the truth to manifest in our lives for your glory in Jesus mighty name amen. Soli Deo Gloria
What a blessing. I want to know God more. By far the best sermon I've heard in a long time. There is so much need for this. To God be the glory.
"If you trade God’s glory for anything, you’ll pay the price for that idolatry in the disordering of your sexuality."💘
Lol, 🤣😆 see you in hell...
I was at this conference. Several of the sessions had a pretty deep impact on me.
When was this sermon?
Love John Piper... Never pulls his punches from ugly truth in and of our sin.
I'm asking prayers that God would provide a Godly husband.
May the Lord return!! Amen. God is merciful. He always forgives. Never be ashamed to take your failures to him. He is for you, not against you! God is with you in the storm. He knows your troubles, he hears you! He is for you, on your side, always! It may feel silent at times, but he’s holding you close! May the Lord return soon! We are drawing closer. He is coming! Believe and trust in the Lord, you will be saved. Period. May the Lord bless you all! Hang in there family. Stay strong. It is not easy following the Lord. We are scoffed at. We give up our earthly dreams, our fleshly desires. What the enemy offers is short lived, but heaven is forever! Life may seem or be unfair, but God is with you! Always remember that. Things may get better or worse for you, but a kingdom awaits you! Finish the race! Repent daily and carry your cross. This world is fading fast. Your troubles are temporary! New channel here, I’d appreciate any kind of support. Don’t give up! God loves you so much! So do I. The Lord bless you!
❤️
God, you are amazing! It is all about Christ and his Church. Brothers, theology is awesome because it helps us see the way God sees this world! His way of seeing alone matters & His way of seeing the world is actually wonderful! Who would have thought Husband making love to his wife was displaying the Christ's love for his Church. It is also a shadow to the everlasting joy that is coming in the future. This is amazing! My eyes are opened! Thank you, Jesus! And Hollywood acts like they invented sex. Ha..Ha..Ha.. Only if the pornographers in the world understood this truth! God never hides true happiness from us. If He prohibits, it is for our good. If He commands, it is for our good.
brilliant John Piper brilliant!
"And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better...". Could we change a part of our human body for a part of community? Let's say a murderer, rapist, etc. Does the Bible say such a thing as well?
Adam and steve
Amen!
In the beginning was our immortality
Amen
Of course we don't know God as we ought to. To fully know God requires that we be with Him since the Beginning. That's why Jesus says only He knows the Father, because none of us know God that intimately. It's why even the annointed king of Israel David failed miserably with lust. If He, who was incredibly intimate with God - where miracles were commonplace - would fail, don't you think the rest of us would too? The whole point is that none of us will ever attain perfection. When you look on your brother's sin and condemn him don't you realize that you are just accusing yourself?? It's why Jesus makes such a big point about it in the Sermon on the Mount. If you were going to realistically try to be perfect then you would at least need to cut off an arm or an eye or two. But how stupid is that! We don't need to be that ruthless when we've got Jesus to be our perfect righteousness for us. In fact, the moment we stop taking our eyes off of Jesus is the moment we veer off the path that leads to eternal life. Don't forget, eternal life is a life where we don't sin anymore. You wonder how that works? Maybe because we are already united to Christ the moment we were saved, in the same way that a wife is permanently united to her husband the day they get married. It has nothing to do with us, but everything to do with Jesus. It's only through Jesus that we know the Father as we ought to and stop sinning, not by our own effort. The moment you beat yourself up is the moment you lose sight of Jesus and go back to your sin.
Absolutely. Pastor John doesn’t say to beat yourself up. Or look at yourself. Especially listen to part 2. The goal still is to be Christ like. We fail.. we all fall short. None of us are Jesus. But to have His Spirit within you, means that you will take on His attributes. He never sinned. He never lusted. Not even for a millisecond. His beauty and perfection, His unwavering devotion to the Father in the face of evil and suffering, His great love for us that gave Him compassion to heal us, save us, feed us and endure our suffering. His taking us in to His house and making us His bride, cleansing us, caring for us and wanting us to be with Him forever… that level of love and devotion that we can’t even comprehend. When you see it…. It changes you. Lust which has a grip on you, looks so silly and stupid in comparison. Why would you trade Him, His undying love and devotion… for a minuscule fleeting sensation that ultimately leaves you emptier than when you found it? This is ultimately what makes Christ true. His true saving power, to deliver us from sin that we could not do on our own. We are utterly incapable of doing it ourselves. But He is faithful and He is able. It’s why He came! To trust in Him and look to Him means to leave sin behind, it becomes the natural reflex of actually seeing Him. Hallelujah ❤️
@@jessszabo5049 It's just that this is a very divisive verse used by Satan and Piper did not do a very good job of explaining the need for Jesus alone in this video. This verse is often used by people to prove that you need to take any kind of repetitive sin seriously otherwise you will go to Hell if you don't stop. But the thing about this verse is the context surrounding it - the Sermon on the Mount.
During this speech, Jesus said some very controversial things. Things like - if you so much as look at someone with lust then you have essentially committed the sin of adultery (which is by Mosaic Law punishable by death). But this was not so much a command as it was a jab at the proud hearts and the self righteous elitism of the religious leaders. This sermon, without Jesus, would have completely missed the mark.
Yes, Jesus was being so blatantly sarcastic in this speech. He was making it so utterly clear to people that eternal life was absolutely unattainable for mere mortals and that they shouldn't even bother trying. Rather, He was setting up the precedent for our reliance on His sacrifice alone.
So no, Jesus did not mean you had to cut off your arm or gouge out your eye if you are tempted to sin. That is absurd. It would be a sin in itself to grievously harm the body that God gave you! No, Jesus was being sarcastic here. He was trying to say that if you wanted to steer clear of sin in pursuit of perfection then it would probably be a wise idea to cut out any part of your life that cause you temptation. Or in layman's terms, he was jokingly saying - "you can't lust for a woman if you don't know what she looks like" and "you can't murder someone if you've got no arms and legs!"
But thank God that Jesus made a way for this to not even be remotely necessary. Our belief in Jesus' sacrifice alone is what keeps us from going to Hell, not our performance nor having correctly ordered affections. So never assume that you have to do this or that to be saved. Salvation has already been obtained the moment you believed. So KEEP believing in Jesus and living through Him and you will eventually receive eternal life.
But I do think it's also good advice that if you want to avoid sinning as much then you should try to avoid situations that cause you to be tempted in the first place. E.g. if you are an alcoholic don't go near bottle shops, if you are a porn addict keep away from the internet and if you are struggling with sexual desire then get married, if you are an angry person then stay away from people who provoke you.
In principle this is true, but in practice not always possible. But may God lead us all in the areas of our lives we need most improving as we honestly examine ourselves.
@@potapotapotapotapotapota I think it doesn’t have to be a sarcastic verse for the rest of what you say to be true. I think He could have meant it a bit tongue in cheek but at the same time, point to the absolute severity of sin. God hates sin and cannot abide where it resides… that’s the whole reason Jesus had to come, live perfectly and die for us. We are absolutely powerless against it and there is also no condemnation for those of us in Christ Jesus. But you cannot be “in Christ Jesus” and living a life of habitual sin. It’s like oil and water. God does not reside in sin and the one in sin does not know God. This doesn’t mean you are perfect… we’re all works in progress, but the old habits have dimmed significantly because there is a far greater pleasure in knowing Christ. Those strategies of “not going to old places” hanging out with old friends etc can actually be effective and maybe even unnecessary.
My own life example: I was saved in 2018. Radically, wrecked by God in a church. At this time, I had a once a week habit of meeting with my mom and sister for happy hour at a restaurant/bar that was walking distance. I always just had the 2 free drinks they offered for the happy hour, (always got the red wine or sometimes beer, never liquor) and nothing more. Never got drunk but just felt nice. Didn’t feel like it was “sin” and honestly still don’t necessarily believe it was. As I grew closer to God, my drinks kept decreasing. I drank one and half of the other one day. The next week was maybe the same.. then after that I drank one and offered the second one to my sister who usually ordered more after her 2 free ones. Then gradually couldn’t even finish my first and then the thought of even having one seemed… repulsive. So I still went every week and just got club soda with lime. My mom and sister still ordered what they wanted and we always continued having a nice time, then we stopped since Covid and haven’t been back, got new weekly ritual of just meeting at my mom’s place and hanging out there.
I didn’t try to stop alcohol on my own, I didn’t even think one or 2 drinks per week were bad at all. I don’t judge anyone who does drink at all… it’s just not something that is pleasurable to me anymore at all. In any circumstance or situation. I was recently in an all inclusive resort and was handed free wine so I intended to drink a glass… couldn’t make it past 2 sips. It’s something that I believe is forever changed in me. At least for the last 5 years. It’s not a “struggle” or a “battle” or a “fight” or a “war”
He. Just. Took. It.
It just went away because I didn’t want to “blur” His presence in any way shape or form.
He took other things too… TV/Netflix, porn addiction, and an eating disorder.
TV also wasn’t something I sought to get rid of, just happened, lost interest. The other 2 went away when I began to trust Him to do it and stopped trying to fight it on my own.
@@jessszabo5049 See I honestly disagree. God may have given you the grace to no longer feel the desire for such things but that does not mean He has given grace equally to all. Your ability to produce fruit does not determine the state of your salvation. Your salvation is wholly dependent on your belief in Jesus Christ. Otherwise you become self righteous and look down on other Christians who are struggling with certain things. If we are never going to be perfect, then it only makes sense that we would still have sin in our life that we are struggling to overcome. But when you start comparing yourself to other people then you've completely lost the plot. The apostle Paul said that there must not even be a hint of immorality in the church. You think he meant that as an imperative?? No! Take the Bible into context as a whole. He meant that as an ideal. But realistically speaking, even from reading the state of the churches in the New Testament, you will realize that people are still full of problems even after coming to salvation. You only need to look through the entire Bible to see case after case of failures. Or do you not think people like King David are in Heaven right now because he does not live up to your cookie cutter expectations of what a Christian is supposed to be like... go read your Bible because you know nothing.
@@potapotapotapotapotapota Brother, I think you’re totally missing what I’m saying. It only is and always will be a struggle if it’s YOU trying to do it. Jesus said it is finished! He did it all… you can live your life and struggle and die struggling our you can come to Him and be free. Yes failures are recorded throughout scripture, but so is the redemption. David did not die in sin. He was redeemed and trusted in the Lord for His redemption. It’s not our strength. His yoke is easy, His burden is light. He is living water, and those who drink from Him will never thirst again. If you believe Jesus is Lord, I believe you will escape the flames… but He came so we can have Life and Life abundantly… not struggle in sin. Our battle with sin is over and done on the cross. I’m not blaming the Christian for being in sin.. I have the highest compassion, I was stuck in it myself for years.. the porn and the eating disorder… I cried over it almost every day… I begged Him to help me and I hated so much every time I felt weak. It was true misery and I don’t wish that on anyone. I realized though that on some level, I was still trusting in myself to fix it. I would find an eating plan or medication, thought I could be strong enough to not log in to those sites for a while and on some level I believed the lie that if I could somehow do these things, God would love me more. Or I would be “worthy”
NO! That’s not it.
He showed me a vision of a wet, naked, deformed, dirty, beaten, stinky, starving, bloody woman lying in a gutter with and an honorable, loving, gentle, handsome, rich man takes this woman in, clothes her… feeds her.. heals her, and she blossoms and thrives under His care… nothing of her own, she just graciously accepts all that He has that He freely gives to her. She trusts Him to the utmost and her entire life, her very essence becomes a testimony to Him who saved her. She will never ever again want to do the things that left her in the gutter… because she has something infinitely better.
If you don’t have freedom from sin… I say it’s ok! There’s good news!!! You CAN have it!!! He gave it to you!!! Dance, be happy, praise Him with everything you’ve got!
The woman in the gutter can’t for a second claim it was her own doing, she can’t boast one bit nor does she want to.
The amount of fruit does not determine salvation but if you are saved, you WILL produce fruit… but only because He is the vine.
Please hear what I’m saying and let Him work it out in you.
There is true freedom from sin found in Jesus. ❤️
if the thrust of this message is true, that we're supposed to know/desire Christ in an almost sexual way.. why was female created, why is homosexuality an abomination? Male believers are supposed to have a desire for a male Jesus bordering on sexual? That's the hurdle. As Pastor John mentioned.. God could have had humans reproduce in any way female was not required. But that's the reality, female was created, man is designed to desire female, and desiring a male is an abomination worthy of being stoned to death.... yet here Pastor John seems to flip the script and says we're to desire a male Jesus the way God designed man to desire females.
I think a lot of people are confused by what sexual love really is, and by even the concept of what love itself is. This is why perhaps you're asking this? Our world has really confused notions of these two words. I myself have just begun to understand as I have struggled in prayer for answers. Here's what I've gotten in prayer and reading so far..
We are more than our physical bodies of maleness and femaleness. Men and women need to see ourselves and each other as not always having our current bodies. There is a part to ourselves that is beyond our physical bodies that can be corrupted by what we do with our bodies. In other words, our actions through our bodies affects our souls, our spiritual body which has no sex (maleness or femaleness) when we sin sexually. See Genesis 1:24 quoted by Jesus in his answer to the questions on marriage in Mat 19:4 and 1Cor 6:15 which describes a bit of what sex does to us. It makes us one in soul. Sin here is so different from other sins as it is our soul, our essence sinning against our own bodies. Here are some more hints. In Matthew 22:29, Jesus explains how we will be after the resurrection. We will be like the angels no longer marrying. We will be sexless. So while we are on earth, we are male and female and should marry till DEATH us do part. In the resurrection, your wife will be your "brother", your fellow Christian. Yet neither you nor your former wife will be male. We use the word brother only because the limits of the English language. It's the same reason why we say God the Father. God is not male. Father is used because it best describes the power a father had/has as a position in the current world and especially in the ancient world. This is why Peter tells husbands in 1 Peter 3:7 to realize that although their wives are disadvantaged in this fallen world because ...they bear the children making them more vulnerable for one, this is only temporary. Maleness and femaleness is temporary. There will come a day when you will see that she has been your fellow heir all along and equal in every way. While we are here on earth, ideal holy matrimony starts with love between a man and woman and God who also each have Christ as their "lover". God's Holy Spirit lives in them 1Cor 6:19. So when they make love, when they do anything together, God is with them (when two or three meet in my name, I am there with them Mat 18:20) . So it's a threesome blessed and holy. Each has been given the love of God for their spouse in their hearts because God loves their spouse and them. This is why Christian marriage never gets old. When you make love to your spouse, God is using your body to make love to them while you're making love to them and vice versa. But it has to be done out of love which is pure, faithful and sacrificial. It is loaded with the responsibility of loving God's child for whom He had Jesus die for and He gave to you and joined to you trustingly and faithfully. The man and wife also give their bodies in love to each other outside the bedroom, and to God. Love must be beyond the sex act. I agree with pastor John that this joy pales in comparison to spiritual union with God. So the sex act involves non-physical parts to our being. There is something about sex that connects to the spiritual parts of ourselves that we should take seriously. I think the sexual ecstasy Piper is talking about for comparison, is the spiritual side of marital union that resembles our spiritual union with Christ. People can have unholy unmarried sex that doesn't have that holy spiritual aspect to it. Non-Christians don't know what they're missing. Therefore loving Jesus is not homosexual. God is loving more than our physical male or female selves. He loves and is saving our true selves which is beyond our bodies or position in this world, Gal 3:28. This is also how He wants us to love Him- in Spirit. Jesus ascended into heaven and is no longer male as he was while on earth. We are to see and love Jesus today, not just as a baby in a manger or as his male body given to us on a cross. Jesus rose from the dead in victory! He is no longer on that cross nor limited by his human limitations of male/femaleness as he was while walking in his male form, emptying himself of his power. Nor did Jesus always have a male body but existed before his birth. In John 4:23 Jesus tells the woman at the well this, that God wants to be worshipped in spirit. So I agree with Piper that God made them male and female so that we have an illustration of what it is to love another different enough from us and yet have a yearning for that other. God teaches us through our relationships. We are also commanded to love in non-sexual ways. God is both male and female and neither as they are together made in God's image and He is beyond anything physical. In other words, it's our inner non-sexual selves that are created in God's image. God is spirit, but our physical bodies can shape our inner spiritual bodies that are still developing while we are living and being transformed? Anyway, this is how I've learned to understand God ordained sexuality so far. Sorry it's so long. Yes it is confusing. Lastly, our spiritual formation is more important than anything on this earth which will pass away including our current physical bodies. Remember 1 Cor 6:12 reminds us that anything physical will one day come to an end and our focus needs to be on our souls in Christ. Both food and stomach will one day cease.
@@gmac8586 being gender non binary is also sin. Being effeminate is also sin. Why would it be, if our ultimate reality is to be genderless/gender non binary? It doesn't add up.
@@Docjam23 Is it a sin? Where in scripture do you see that? Dressing in what was considered clothing for the opposite sex was forbidden in the old testament but I have never seen any command against being effeminate. Besides, what is effeminate? It's a question that can't be defined and depends on culture and/or fashion. It's all exterior, whereas God cares about the intentions of the heart. Being homosexual is not a sin. It's the homosexual acts that are sins as are any lustful thoughts. Same sex or even opposite sex attraction is not a sin. It's what you choose to do with that attraction that is the sin. Any emotion is a natural response to a situation or stimulus. We are responsible to how we choose to respond. When we follow Jesus' example, we die to ourselves and live for God. Stressing and worrying so much on gender rather than on what we're becoming for the Kingdom of God is a sin in that it distracts from what the goal should be. I mean, what's your priority? I see it in the same way as how Paul approaches it in Philippians 3. For Paul, everything else is unimportant compared with pressing ahead towards the goal of pleasing God. I think that all this attention to gender is earthly and from Satan as an attack on humankind to create stress and worry and confusion. It's a problem for the unsaved. We are NEW creations when we are reborn in the Spirit. We don't have to worry because our gender will not come with us in the next life. Same with riches, position, strength, outward appearance, ability. We shouldn't focus on these things. They are perishing. Be who you are IN CHRIST. If He lives in you, let Him be the Potter and concentrate on being the clay. He heals and saves and directs our paths in the right way.
@@gmac8586 1 Corinthians 6 lists the effeminate and homosexuals among those who will not inherit the kingdom of God. So I reject the "gender non binary" eternity that some people teach, and I reject "gay for Jesus" theology that Pastor John borders on, but thankfully does not cross the line on. I have always seen the marriage language to be corporate not individual and referring to Jesus' faithfulness, devotion, and ability to be a provider and protector... not that He Himself is anything akin to a romantic partner.in that way. God has always dealt with need through Providence.
@@Docjam23 Again, I think it's about the intention; whether one is deliberately choosing to be effeminate according to the definitions of the time and place you're living in. So, I'm curious, if you reject the "gender non binary" eternity what do you think we'll be like?
Agreed, so I'm in terrible time with the invention of pornography HELP me LORD JESUS🙏🏿
In Jesus Christ name I bind arrest and cast out the strongman spirit of incubus and succubus LEAVE NOW, your going to cough 😷 now and afterwards you will be delivered
@@thomasshenton9768 AMEN I recieve that, It's already done 🙏🏿
Pray and ask God to reveal to you what it is you're trying to satisfy through porn (or anything else) and when He shows you, replace it with a love for Him. Don't leave a void. Fill it with God and the devil will flee from you and even better, you'll be even more satisfied than you were with the porn or whatever it was making you sin.
@@gmac8586 Thanks family, I also just turned everything over to GOD & CHRIST and I'm trying to live worry free and Dependant on THEM🙏🏿🙌🏿
In the beginning was our immortality