Recently, I listened to a sermon given by Kempton Turner called “The Pastor’s Purity and Pleasure” at the 2014 Desiring God Pastor’s Conference. The main focus of the message is Turner preaching on the importance of pastors overcoming sexual temptation, but the gospel truths that he presents are applicable to combating all types of temptation, and he delivers those truths in beautifully, soul-enriching way. The sermon can be listened to here, and I would strongly recommend it to everyone, not just pastors as the way we preaches the gospel gives all believers powerful weapons to wage war against sin.
The main focus of his message is discussing how Jesus frees us from our sin and what exactly that means as well as how those truths enable us to combat sin. That Jesus frees us from our sins, Turner says, means at least 4 things: that we are 1) freed from the penalty of our sins. 2) that Jesus is progressively freeing us from the power of our sins as well as 3) the pleasure of our sins, and 4) that he will free us from the presence of our sin.
This main part has really blessed me, and I have been thinking a lot about the truths he discusses, and has been helpful in my own spiritual warfare. I wrote this based on these 4 truths, Turner presents.
