CHARACTER MATTERS Week Four January 27, 2019 Revealing the Gospel with Our Thoughts GETTING READY Before your group meets next time, spend some time alone in God s Word reading through this week s texts. Pray that God, through His Spirit, would bring to life the truth of this text and how it applies to your life. KEY BIBLICAL TRUTH The pure in heart and mind are those who will see God. THEOLOGY APPLIED Purity happens as we live according to the Word of God and daily remember the truths of the gospel. MEDITATE Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things (Philippians 4:8). + Use this section to prepare your heart and mind for the truths of this week. This section will help to introduce the focus of this week s lesson. 32 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s
We live in a highly sexualized culture. The biblical mandate for purity has never been more challenging or more important. Statistics on the prevalence of sex in our society are not necessary to prove that reality. It s part of the air we breathe and the sights we see in today s digital world. Nevertheless, the numbers are pretty astounding. The average age of a child s first exposure to pornography is around eleven years old, and some studies say age nine. Furthermore, another study found that 93 percent of boys and 62 percent of girls were exposed to online pornography during their adolescence. These mind-searing images stay with kids as they age. And earlier exposure to pornography affects boys relationships with women, as well as the likelihood of being engaged in things like criminal behavior or sexual violence. Purity is challenging for adults today as well. An estimated 45 to 50 percent of married women and 50 to 60 percent of married men cheat on their spouses. Nearly 1 out of 5 marriages ends because of infidelity. Jesus promised that the call to follow Him was hard. He made it clear that living His way and not the world s way was a radical idea. And that truth has never been more obvious or more applicable than in the Christian s fight for purity. Living and walking in purity in such a sexualized, pornography-saturated, and impure society is a radical way of displaying and declaring the wonders and glories of the gospel. To be pure and to walk in purity are what it looks like to be called out of the darkness of impurity and into God s marvelous light of purity through His redeeming grace (1 Peter 2:9). Q: In what form do you experience today s sexualized culture most frequently? From movies, to television, to smartphones, to the internet, to music, where do you see the strongest influence of sexual images, content, or messaging? Q: What steps and precautions have you taken up to this point to not be overly affected and completely consumed by sex? UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT Scripture makes it clear that there is an undeniable link between what we value in our heart and what our mind consumes. A pure heart and a pure mind go together. Ultimately, we must realize that no one has a pure heart or mind apart from the Holy Spirit s work in us based on what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. We must be like David, who pleaded for God to give him a clean and pure heart. A lifestyle and character of purity begins with a repentant heart and mind. 33 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s
1. PURE IN OUR MINDS 2. PURE IN OUR HEARTS + This next section will help show what God s Word says about this week s particular focus. Read through the Scripture passages and connect the text to this week s biblical truth. PURE IN OUR MINDS COLOSSIANS 3:2 Q: What triggers set you up to entertain impurity in your mind? What situations, or places, or people cause you to think the most negatively? Q: How do you respond once you realize you have impure thoughts? What actions, if any, typically follow an impure thought? As we ve seen in previous weeks, we live in a fallen world. Ever since sin entered the world in Genesis 3 with Adam and Eve, it has had and will continue to have massive and unavoidable influence over how we live. That is non-negotiable. Therefore, while purity in our minds is the goal, it s also an unrealistic and unachievable goal. So, there are two things worth striving for due to the realities of life in a fallen world. First, yes, we should strive for and work toward purity in our thoughts at all times and in all ways, because without holiness no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). But secondly, we must have a battle plan and be ready to respond when we do fall, for those times our thoughts lead us astray and into impurity. Because our sinful hearts and flesh will lead us to have impure thoughts to some degree or another, we must be ready to preach truth from our hearts to our minds. Paul s plea to set your mind on things that are above is most important in the times immediately after we have set our minds on things that are below. How do you do this? You remind yourself of truth after having believed the lies. All of the impure thoughts in 34 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s
our heads are lies Satan wants us to believe in order to destroy our witness, our peace, our communion with our heavenly Father, etc. Lies of deception. Lies of jealousy. Lies of envy, lust, greed, and insecurity. You must be ready to fight lies with truth. You must fill your mind with the truth of what is real and not what is false, despite the lies you may be believing. The truth will set you free (John 8:32). If you claim to live and walk by the Spirit, then you must set your mind on the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:5). What is the truth? The truth is that Jesus has bought you. Jesus has made you a child of God. Jesus has forgiven you. He has ransomed you. He has redeemed you. He has put His Spirit inside of you. He has made you secure by giving you an everlasting inheritance. He has promised to never leave you or forsake you. He has loved you unconditionally. The key to Christian truth is remembering and re-believing what you already know. Even though it may feel like the thoughts and lies of your mind have defeated you, remember that Jesus is alive and has defeated death once and for all and He is alive in you! Even when you feel weak and helpless because of your impure thoughts, He is mighty, and all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him (Matthew 28:18). Remember that Jesus is all satisfying. He says if you drink of His water, you will never thirst again (John 4:14), even when your impure thoughts leave you empty and thirsting for more. A pure mind comes from remembering the truth about who you are and whose you are. It comes from setting your mind on the glorious realities of who God has made you in Christ and by believing and preaching to yourself over and over again that the truths of the gospel are better and stronger and more permanent than the lies in your mind. Q: What lies in your thought life are you tempted to believe and live in when you aren t walking by the Spirit? Q: How can you be better prepared to preach truth to yourself to combat the lies your thoughts lead you to believe, even in the midst of them? Q: What steps can you take to avoid the impure thoughts your mind has before they even come? 35 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s
PURE IN OUR HEARTS MATTHEW 5:8; MATTHEW 5:27 30; PSALM 51 Q: What is your motivation for wanting a pure heart? What do you hope it achieves for you? Q: When have you experienced genuine biblical repentance, similar to David in Psalm 51, where you came face to face with the consequences of your sin and the impurity of your heart? Just as it s impossible to possess a completely pure mind, it s also impossible to have a completely pure heart. The life and testimony of David is our greatest example of just how impossible it is. After all, if David, a man after God s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), still committed adultery with a married woman and intentionally had her husband killed in battle to cover up the fact that he got her pregnant (all immediately preceding David s repentance in Psalm 51), then there is little hope for anyone else. If David couldn t manage to be completely pure in heart, then surely no one else can either. David ultimately shows us that we become pure in heart only by God s Spirit and His love cleaning and restoring our hearts and making us new. A lifestyle characterized by purity is one marked by God s redeeming grace. We don t work to earn a new and pure heart. We are given a new and clean heart when we confess that our heart is unclean and impure apart from Christ and we repent of our sin. Jesus makes two interesting comments during His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. In Matthew 5:8, Jesus says the pure in heart shall see God. The level and degree of our purity, in other words, are defined by our ultimate longings and desires. If seeing God is a big deal to you, then purity will be a big deal to you. And no Bible believing, born-again follower of Christ is going to say they don t care to see God. The thought and reality of getting to see God will motivate and cultivate our desire to be pure. Unfortunately, our desires are often weak. C. S. Lewis once said, It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. We settle for things lesser things than seeing God because we think they will be better. We get to see God better, more 36 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s
clearly, and more deeply the purer our hearts are. That is worth it. Jesus s second comment in the Sermon on the Mount expands an Old Testament command beyond the letter of the law, casting it anew in light of the New Covenant. The command is no longer just Do not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14). Jesus says the issue isn t just with the action, but with the intention of the heart. It s no longer just what you do by acting on a desire, but it s the very desire itself. What is so alarming about this is that you can appear to live purely based on your actions, while having an impure heart that is corrupted by your desires. Jesus wants our hearts to be changed. He wants our hearts to be pure. He wants our desires to be pure. The conclusion for us is that we are to be people with inwardly pure hearts, not simply content to just live outwardly pure lives. And a pure heart comes only by returning to the example of David, who cried out for deliverance and admitted his uncleanness and impurity. David asked God to give him a new heart and make the Holy Spirit influential in his life once again so he could walk in obedience and purity as a testimony to a God who saves impure people and makes them pure. The same can be true for us today. Q: Of all the pleasures the world has to offer, what are you too easily pleased with? In the midst of it, how can you better remember that infinite joy is offered to you? Q: How does the desire and longing to see God make the fight for a pure heart easier? How is it still hard? Q: Consider the testimony of David and what God restored him from. How does that provide comfort and encouragement to you in your story? How can God save and heal and restore people who have a broken and messed-up past? Q: What specific things can you do to actively pursue purity in your heart and mind, rather than simply trying to avoid or fight impurity? How can we encourage one another in an active pursuit of purity? 37 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s
+ Connect the truths from God s Word to your daily life. Process how what you ve learned this week will impact the way you live beyond today and into the future. Q: After this week s study, how are you able to better understand and connect how the mind and heart function together in the fight for purity? Q: How is what we re fighting for (purity) just as important as what we re fighting against (impurity, sinful desires)? How can you remember to wage war on both fronts and not just one? Q: What are some practical ways to avoid impurity in our culture? Q: How can you saturate your heart and mind with the truths of Scripture to better equip yourself to fight against the lies and impurity of your mind and heart? + Use these prayer points to connect your time in prayer to this week s focus. Our most gracious heavenly Father: May my heart and mind flee from impurity and sin. Give me strength to fight the distractions and temptations of this world. Increase my desire to see You. I want to see You in all Your glory and all Your beauty. May my desire to see You help me fight for purity. By the power of Your Holy Spirit, enable me to set my heart on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 38 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s
Help me to hide your Word in my heart so that I may not sin against you. Pray Psalm 51 back to God. 39 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s