Character X: Purity

I. The Nature of Temptation

A. Temptation Begins with....- Vs. 6

B. Temptation is a ..... - Vs. 7

C. Temptation is an Act of ..... - Vs 7

“Temptation, then, in general, is any thing, state, way, or condition that, upon any account whatsoever, has a force or efficacy to seduce, to draw the mind and heart of a person from its obedience, which God requires of him, into any sin, in any degree whatsoever. In particular, that is a temptation to any person which causes or occasions him to sin, or in anything to go off from his duty, either by bringing evil into her heart, or drawing out evil that is in his heart, or in any other way diverting him from communion with God and that constant, equal, universal obedience, in matter and manner, that is required of them.”
-John Owen

II. The Power of Temptation

III. The Greater Power of Purity- Vs. 9

A. Call Sin ....

B. Lament What....

C. Delight in ....

“If the way to disengage the heart form the positive love of one great and ascendant object is to fasten it in positive love to another, then it is not by exposing the worthlessness of the former, but by addressing to the mental eye the worth of the latter, that all old things are to be done away, and all things are to become new…The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one…We know of no other way by which to keep the love of the world out of our heart than to keep in our hearts the love of God.”
-Thomas Chalmers, “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection”

"The knowledge of God in Christ can fill the insatiable mind, satisfy the vast desires, and settle the staggering soul…Divine knowledge satisfies our desires, nourishes the soul, is bread to our hunger, light to our eyes, music to our ears, a cordial, to our hearts…it is the light of life, spiritual, eternal.”
-Stephen Charnock

IV. The Practical Path to Purity

A. Set.....
- Vs. 10

B. Flee .....

l- Vs. 11-12

V. The Eternal Implications of Purity

“After brazenly denying the most common reasons I have heard against succumbing to a life filled with lust, Mauriac concludes that there is only one reason to seek purity. It is the reason Christ proposed in the beatitudes: ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ Purity, says Mauriac, is the condition for a higher love- for a possession superior to all possessions: God Himself…The thought hit me like a bell rung in a dark, silent hall. So far, none of the scary, negative arguments against lust had succeeded in keeping me from it. Fear and guilt simply did not give me resolve; they added self-hatred to my problems. But here was a description of what I was missing by continuing to harbor lust: I was limiting my own intimacy with God. The love he offers is so transcendent and possessing it requires our faculties to be purified and cleansed before we can possibly contain it. Could he, in fact, substitute another thirst and another hunger for the one I had never filled? Would Living Water somehow quench lust? That was the gamble of faith.”
-Leadership Magazine, fall, 1982