We often judge our spiritual lives by looking only at the outward manifestations of sin. But the attitude of our hearts can separate us from the Lord and His work in our lives just as much as any outward sin. In this message, Pastor Steve looks at the rebellion that can grow in our hearts towards God if we fail to fully surrender our inward lives to Him.

The will of God for us is holiness in thought as well as deed, which comes through a process called sanctification. This sanctification comes by the transforming power of God’s Word and the influence of His Holy spirit. However, before this process can begin, we must repent of our minds which are at enmity with God and have often portrayed a perverted view of Him. In this message, Ed Buch clearly teaches how God uses His Word to realign our minds so that we can have the mind of Christ and present our lives as a worship offering, pleasing unto Him.

The living God longs to reveal his mercy to us. But as Nate Danser challenges us in this message, if we want to discover who God really is, we will have to take a serious look at our priorities. Are we overwhelmed by the Lord's love and compelled to respond by giving him our lives? If not, now is the time to seek the Lord!

Even the spirit of this world can sense the destructive path mankind is on and that it cannot continue this way forever, that there must come an end to the horrors we see growing every day. Yet, it is deluded as to the true nature of the problem, that 6000 years ago we declared war against a Holy God. The world is trying to evade the inevitable end to this battle by seeking solutions to save itself apart from the gospel God has laid before us. But the end will come for the Children of Adam, and when it does, it will catch many by surprise. Then, we will all be brought before the judgment seat of God and the question presented to us shall be: Are we standing in The Truth?

This is the final episode of our special series, World of Lies, based on the latest book by Steve Gallagher: Walking in Truth in a World of Lies. We would encourage you to get a copy and immerse yourself in its biblically based truth. Just visit aworldoflies.com to find out more information. Purity for Life is a production of Pure Life Ministries. You can find all of our teaching materials, by visiting purelifeministries.org. You can also find out about our residential and phone-counseling programs if you or someone you care about is trapped in the deception of sexual sin.

Consider how different your life would look if Jesus were to take over your body and live His will perfectly through you. One thing is certain, sexual sin wouldn’t be anywhere in the picture. His deep love for other people would make selfishness and lust an utter impossibility. God has clearly revealed that His will is mercy, but as fallen human beings, there’s so much in us that opposes that will. That means, we really need to surrender. In this episode, we discuss what it means for us to be consecrated to God, so that He may do His will of mercy through us.

When your mind has been saturated with filthy images for years, it’s hard to imagine ever being able to have a pure thought life. But the Word of God is powerful! Last week we emphasized our need to seek the Lord, and now we want to help you live that out practically. We’re going to look at how scripture restructures a pornographic mindset, why a healthy relationship with God’s word is so important. Then we’ll give you some examples of how saturating your mind in God’s word translates into a changed life.

It’s time to apply everything we've learned so far in our Victory series. But to do that, we must go to the source of sin in our lives and deal with it there. God’s Word is clear, if we've been living in sexual sin, we don’t just need a change in our behaviors, we need a transformation at the deepest level. We need a change in our hearts, of our wills and of our desires.

We’ve covered a lot of ground in this series. And in this episode, we want to end by helping you see that ultimately, it’s living in the flow of God’s love that will put the ax to the root of sin and selfishness in your life. Pride and selfishness cannot flourish in a heart that is overflowing with a desire to meet the needs of others.

We’ll also take a step back, and look at our series as a whole, to remind us of the depth and complexity of the self-life.

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In this segment, we share a talk that Pastor Steve Gallagher gave to our Residential Program students. He encourages us that if our heart attitude is simply to listen and obey God’s voice in our daily life, God will transform our lives. (From Podcast Episode #348 - The Church Addicted: When We Stopped Caring About Obedience)

I had something on my heart before Jeff even started sharing a little earlier, and it has to do with obedience. Pastor Jeff and the others up here, we can create an atmosphere because of our love for the Lord, which you can enter. But if you ever want it to become your own, and if want to get beyond just an emotional experience, your level of obedience needs to deepen. You no longer have the luxury to do the smorgasbord Christianity thing, to pick and choose when you're going to obey. Something has got to change.

I’d like to make a soft appeal to your heart. I was thinking back to earlier in life when I was a Christian and struggling, and how I would hear a sermon, I would read a book, which were sometimes good words. But then I’d just kind of blow it off, and go home and I’d forget about it. I never let things penetrate. So, I never changed. I remember in 1985, I don't know why things started changing, but I started obeying. That's really what it boiled down to. I just started obeying. I was just talking to a board member, and I was telling him about something that happened back in 1985. The Lord started dealing with me on some things, and I started finally doing what He was saying. And things started changing. Imagine that! Things actually started changing. My faith started growing, and my sight of God started growing, and I started wanting to do the right thing.

But you have got to get out of this shallow Christianity. You have got to get to where you start really obeying the Lord from the heart. That's how you prepare your heart. You have the attitude, “Lord, whatever you want me to do I am going to do it.” You have to come to God with that attitude. If you don't come to God with that attitude, what you are is a rebel. But there are no rebels in heaven. We just sang a nice little song. We all want to be there, amen? We all want to be there, but we've got to obey the Lord. I don't know what convoluted doctrine you've come up with over the years that has allowed for this life that you've led. I was in the same thing. Trust me, if you don't know what it means to obey God from the heart, you will not be there. You just won't.

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I was thinking of Matthew 7:22, where Jesus said, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name and didn't we speak in tongues and then we cast out devils?” In other words, this kind of Christian will not mind doing things. They'll tithe, they'll go to church and they'll get involved and do some things. But you know what the bottom line is? They are always in control, and they decide when and how they will obey. And Jesus said, it’s those who obey my father's will, who will be in heaven (Matthew 7:21). So, you've got to learn what that means for your life. You've got to come to grips with this thing. What is God asking of you?

I bet right now He's dealing with many of you about some particular issue or another. Maybe you're resisting Him, or you have been. Don't be like that. You're just wasting your time. You won't get anything. I don't want to make this a big speech tonight. I'm just imploring you to go deeper. Go deeper with the Lord. I'm telling you, things will change in your life like they did for Steve Gallagher 26 years ago. Would I have guessed that a year later, I'd be sharing my testimony on the 700 Club? No, no way. Who knows what God will do with your life? Who can imagine? Who would have thought that in three years I'd be on the Oprah Winfrey Show sharing my testimony? Why? Because this pervert in California just started doing what he was told to do, finally.

There is nothing special about Steve Gallagher. Trust me. I'm not some great guy or something. I was a jerk. I was a rebel. I was stubborn, I was all those things. But something happened and I started obeying the Lord, and everything turned on a dime, really. So, start obeying Him from the heart. Amen.

It’s time to apply everything we've learned so far in our Victory series. But to do that, we must go to the source of sin in our lives and deal with it there. God’s Word is clear, if we've been living in sexual sin, we don’t just need a change in our behaviors, we need a transformation at the deepest level. We need a change in our hearts, of our wills and of our desires.

In this segment, Pastor Steve Gallagher teaches us about true Biblical worship, an important element for someone seeking to overcome sexual addiction through a vibrant life in Christ.  (From Podcast Episode #357 - What Role Does Worship Play in Freedom from Porn?)

Jim: I'm joined in the studio today by Steve Gallagher. Pastor Steve Gallagher is the founder and president of Pure Life Ministries. It's always good to have you here in the studio.

Steve: Yeah, I'm so happy to be here with you Jim.

Jim: We're talking today about the role that worship plays in the life of a man seeking freedom from sexual sin. We have chapel services usually twice a week here on campus, and we have seen the great value that can be derived from Spirit led services, where God really shows up. In much of the evangelical church today, worship is about the style of music that is offered. Churches have been fighting culture wars between contemporary and traditional worship styles for years. But what I'd like you to do for us today, Pastor, is to look past these superficial concerns and really bring us back to the meaning of worship and the attitude of the heart that makes our expressions of worship pleasing to God. So, to get us started, why is worship such an important issue for those struggling with sexual sin?

Steve: Well, Jim, when I thought about this question, I immediately thought about the opening of my book At the Altar of Sexual Idolatry. Let me just read the first few sentences here. “Deeply embedded within the heart of man is a spiritual alter. Every human has the capacity, no, the need to worship. The objects of that worship are the things or persons which have taken the pre-eminent position of importance in the person's life. Whatever they may be, they cast their looming shadow over all of the other aspects of his life. It is this position in the human heart that God demands to occupy.” And then I go on to share, “The Great Commandment as Jesus called it out of Deuteronomy Six (v. 5), that ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” Then I go into talking about how people corrupt that inward need for worship by worshiping idolatry, different forms of idols, which of course, this book is regarding sexual idolatry.

The basis of worship really manifests itself in how we live our lives. What we are devoted to. And what we sing in church should be an outflow of what's going on in our hearts throughout the week. Just in our daily life, it's not just about going to church, singing some songs and then going back to living a carnal and worldly life. It is an outflow of a love for God.

Jim: Well, Pastor, take us to the Bible. How does the Bible describe or define worship?

Steve: It's interesting that the Hebraic term and the Greek term for worship are so similar in what their meaning is. “Shachah” is the Hebrew term, and it means to bow down, to prostrate oneself, worship, obeisance, homage to royalty, or in reverence to God. So, you get the sense of not singing songs, but you get the sense of really humbling yourself before someone you consider to be greater than yourself. The Greek form of the word maintains the same idea. “Proskuneo” means to bow down, to fall upon the knees and touch one's forehead to the ground as an expression of profound reverence, as well as kneeling, or prostrating oneself to show respect or make supplication. You get the same sense of coming to a person who you consider to be of much greater quality and character than yourself and humbling yourself before that person. That's what the term worship really means.

Jim: How is our lifestyle a manifestation of worship?

Steve: It's interesting that one of the first times the word worship is used in the Bible is actually in the Ten Commandments. The Lord starts immediately talking about, you shall not make any idols, and so on. Then He says, “You shall not worship them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children of the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me” (Exodus 20:5). Wow, what a statement.

To serve the idols of the day was a lifestyle. It isn't just a matter of going and bowing down before an idol. You are identifying yourself with that religion, which affected every aspect of your life. If you were one of the Ba’al worshipers in Israel, you were going to be hanging out with Ba’al worshipers and doing the sorts of things that Ba’al worshipers do. If you are a worshiper of Jehovah, then you're going to be around the temple or around the Tabernacle. That's where you're going to find yourself and you're going to be with people who are devoted to the God that they serve.

For us in American life, worship is very much tied into what we are devoted to. The reality of worship comes forth in your daily life and it shows forth in the way you live throughout the week. And so, you can go to church on Sunday and sing some songs, but if you aren't truly humbling yourself before God and walking with God, you are not a worshiper of the Lord.

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Jim: Pastor, I've read the Ten Commandments, I don't know how many times, but when you read it, just then it really struck me that if you're not worshiping Yahweh your God, then you're a God hater.

Steve: It's funny because I had the same experience before when I’ve read it. I finished out that fifth verse where it talks about Him visiting the iniquity of the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me, and that's how the Lord sees people who won't worship him. It really is a love or hate deal.

Jim: One of the problems that we always see with the nation of Israel is while they're called to worship God, they constantly struggled with idolatry. They would worship the Lord on His day, and then at other times they’d be found in other worship places, worshiping Ba’al and other gods. But don't we really see that today with people who go to church on Sunday, but they're not really worshiping God, they're worshiping everything else but God?

Steve: Yes. The Lord said through Isaiah to the people of his day, “Because this people draw near with their words” (Isaiah 29:13a). Man, does that describe the American church today. We have a lot of big words about our Christian experience or commitment. But this is what he goes on to say: “And they honor me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts from me, and their reverence for me consists of tradition learned by rote” (Isaiah 29:13b).  That is describing the worship of a hypocrite. That's what it’s describing. Your mouth is saying one thing and you're putting out an image of being a certain type of person. You're communicating that. You're conveying that to everyone around you, and you call yourself Christian, but you hold your heart back from me. That's what the Lord is saying. You withdraw your devotion to me, and in your heart your really devoted to other things. You're not devoted to me. Man, you feel the pain in God's heart because He loves people, and He wants them to love Him. That’s what Christianity is supposed to be all about. It's not just another form of religion, it is relationship with the Lord our God. That relationship is proven in our affections and in our heart.

Jim: So, worship is about a loving God who wants us to love Him in return. What would you say is the foundation of true worship?

Steve: Well, Jesus defined it. I love that He defines it to a pagan woman. He didn't tell the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day, and He didn't even tell His disciples. They were off in the city. He tells a Samaritan woman, and this woman had been married five times. I mean she was not even a moral woman. And He said to her, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers” (John 4:23).

He's saying that true worshipers are those who worship in spirit and truth. And so, by inference, that means there are those who aren't worshiping in the Spirit. They're worshiping in the flesh, and they're not worshiping out of a sincere love for God. They're insincere, which is what we were just talking about. So, the foundation of true worship is to come before God, as I said earlier, in humility. It’s very much in your heart, where you are bowing down before the Lord, and recognizing His superiority. You're recognizing your sinfulness, your fallen nature, your puniness, and you're coming before Him in that kind of humility. In that humility, you are in the spirit of worship.

That's what happens at Pure Life Ministries. We teach the men this. They’re coming in at varying degrees. But they're coming into, maybe many of them the first time in their lives, what it really means to open their mouths and sing songs, and even in between the songs, to express love and devotion to God. That is worship. It's not just a simple matter of singing some songs that you've grown accustomed to, or where you like the tune of a song or something. It is a matter of coming before God and expressing love, adoration and reverence for Him. That's what true worship is all about.

Jim: I think you've given us a great foundation for worship, and have shown us why it's so valuable and how it helps men overcome their sexual sin. Thanks for coming in today.

Steve: Yeah, it's been my pleasure, Jim.

Scripture warns that in the last days there will be antichrists who will lead many astray. And so without a clear understanding of who Jesus Christ is, we can easily be deceived, and fail to become the disciples we were meant to be. This week we take a short break from our victory series to speak with Glenn Meldrum, evangelist and author of The Radical Jesus. He’ll challenge us to abandon false conceptions of a tame Jesus and to know Him as He truly is - radical in every way!