Living to Please God by Philip DeCoursy

These are my notes from Philip DeCoursy’s sermon at our church this morning. He is a special guest pastor for a series of messages. The George Whitfield Society here in Oklahoma City brought him in and our church is hosting his sermon series.

We are on this earth to be the image bearer of God.

Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
I Thessalonians 4:1, 2 NKJV

1- The mandate of sexual purity
– abstain from sexual immorality

God reveals His will much more than we often let on
– our problem in churches is a lack of obedience to the known will of God

Holy = set aside for a special purpose

The Gentiles live according to the passions of their lusts

Holiness involves abstaining from all forms of evil

Abstain means to make a clean cut
– not a call to moderation, it is a call to abstention

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”
Matthew 5:27-30 NKJV

“It’s easy to stop smoking. I’ve done it 1000 times.” -Mark Twain

The motivation of sexual purity

I FOUND THIS ARTICLE RELATED TO PHILIP’S STORY:

Aron Ralston article in WikiPedia

Did Climber Have to Cut Off Arm to Save Life?

Key is knowing yourself and your trigger points
– know how to possess yourself in sanctification and holiness

The world gives free reign to its passions

“Do not be confirmed to the ways of the world” (pressed into the mold of the world)

What a person believes about himself / herself forms Christian identity because that shapes behavior

Learn to possess your body

My mom would say “Remember who you are”

To take advantage of: to trespass, go beyond the boundaries of

This involves deference too:

Sexual purity is a matter of both loving God and loving our neighbor

There is nothing private about sexual sin

Is what we are doing pleasing to God and protecting to those we love?

In the OT God had a temple for his people, in the NT God has people who serve as His temple in the world

God is not keeping sex from you, he is keeping sex for you
– sex is like fire: some things are best enjoyed only within confines and limits