The Immorality Battle of the Mind
Galatians 5:19
By Clarence E. Weaver Sr
Introduction
Living as we are in a world in which nudity, partial nudity and sexual stimulating dress style is rampant; the battle for the mental purity in the child of God is more intense than ever. This is one topic that many churches do not talk about but it is a topic that is necessary to uncover the truth that is destroying too many children of God.
The greatest battle that a Christian faces everyday is the battle of the mind. The primary weapon that Satan uses to attack them is with the act of committing adultery in their mind of lust and pornography. It is not a sin to look at an attracted woman or man, but it is a sin to look lustfully by committing an immorality of the heart, of the mind, and of the imagination.
Here in our text is a message on the works of the flesh Paul mentioned in Galatians 5:19
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness…”
Here Paul tells of the works of the flesh. As Jesus says, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20); “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man” (Matthew 15:18-19). Under inspiration of the One wiser than himself, Solomon tells us: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
After baptism, we were still 99.9 percent carnal. The rest of that carnality does not disappear in a week, month, or year. Throughout our physical lives, we must overcome—get rid of—our carnal nature and replace it with true, godly character.
It has been said that terrorism is a very difficult war to wage because it is hard to figure out who the enemy is. You cannot win a war without knowing who you are fighting. Similarly, in order to battle against carnality, we must understand who and what we are up against. God does not leave us hanging. He does not require us to fight and overcome our carnal nature without showing us exactly what we have to fight.
The Immorality Battle of the Mind will only serve as a brief overview of most of the works of the flesh. Each one could outline its own topic. You can use this outline as a basis on self-examination of your relationship with Jesus Christ and humanity. The Immorality Battle of the Mind can be categorized as either attitudes or actions. Your attitudes and actions in dealing with strong sexual demons will either cause you to become a victim of its desires or become victories by overcoming them by the actions you take when they enter into your mind.
II. Attitudes
Paul, like every Christian today, was battling immorality warring after the flesh. Our entire Christian lives deal with battling three enemies: Satan, society, and ourselves. Here is a brief look at some of the works of the flesh Paul listed:
Adultery: lust of others spouse; indulge illicit lust; giving yourself to illicit sex without payment; gratify illicit sex of the homosexual or the heterosexual; provoking incest; unfaithfulness to God.
Fornication: between the unmarried or married; indulge unlawful lust; illicit sexual practice with payment; illicit sexual practice of either sex; lust in the heart.
Uncleanness: opposite of pure thoughts; spoken words; dirty, physically or morally.
Lasciviousness: promiscuous; expressing lust; excess; not restrained; bold in sin.
1.Satan
One of Satan’s primary instruments of sexual attack against the mind of humanity (usually men) in general and believers in particular is pornography. It exits in epidemic form especially in the United States.
The word “pornography” comes from two Greek words “porne", which originally meant a prostitute and translate harlot and the second word graphe, meaning a picture, a painting, or writing. It covers all forms of external physical symbols which produce sexual arousal in those who are involved with them.
Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy. The reason why pornography is dangerous to the believer because it is weapon that Satan use to get them addicted and paralyzes your spiritual life and perverts your view of the world and your social life. When we indulge our appetites and begin viewing explicit videos, movies, and magazines, we find that pornography is addicting. It will make you want more. Those of us who have never been addicted to anything will never understand the intensity of desire that addict feel. Anyone that is addicted to anything never thought that they would become hooked on the substance by taking it for the first time. We must be understanding and as compassionate as we can be. These people who matter to God, sit next to us in church have crossed that invisible line. They are enslaved to a pattern of life that leads to heartache and ruins, and they don’t know how to stop.
2. Society
A.Pornography is Degrading to Women
Pornography is degrading to women because it is a disgusting assault on their dignity. Most Jewish and Greek men had negative views of women, but Jesus treated women with dignity and respect. He viewed them not in terms of their sex, but in terms of their relationship with God. He healed various women, cast demons out of them, and raised their children from the dead.
The problem with the way a woman dress, such as women wearing their clothes below their waist line showing their underwear or revealing other sexual parts of their bodies in modern society have influence society depicts women as having an insatiable appetite for sex. It is the common thread that ties pornographic content together. Although women may indicate they are not interested in a man sexual advances, but in reality they are if they are dressed in inappropriate apparel to draw attention of the outline and the exposed parts of their bodies. This put people in a situation which they have no power over the images that they see daily.
The only weapon that will combat this imagination is the Word of God. You must reject all female or male images which reached your mind. You must reject all impure thoughts and deny all sexual fantasies that want to impress your mind.
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).
This put women in danger of thousands of men in our community who are addicted to pornography, who are wondering around in public places, convinced in their mind that all women are craving for sex. He hears a woman response of saying no, but he sees her resistance as she really wants him to overpower her and take her forcibly. Most women spend money for all types of security systems for their homes and cars but place themselves into an insecure society by dressing inappropriate. This message does not only apply to men, but it also applies to a society which accepts homosexual relationships.
B. Pornography Undermine Marriage
In Hebrews 13:4 states, “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adultery God will judge.”
“God designed marital sexuality to low out of the content of a loving and intimate relationship where nurturing, communication, serving and tenderness go on. When those values are cultivated in a marriage, they arouse sexual interest. Sexual intercourse then become an expression of caring, of loving, a way of saying. “You matter to me. I love you and want to communicate that to you tenderly” (Hybel, 2003).
Pornography short-circuits all of that. It reduces the sexual dimension of marriage to a biologically induced athletic event, (all work) and (no love). Eventually there is no longer much emphasis on the loving part of marriage. Once that is drained out of a relationship, the heart and soul of marital sexuality is gone. The wife starts feeling used and abused, and the husband starts feeling frustrated and empty. Pornography is about the atomically portrayal of sex. There is no room for human feelings.
C. Pornography is Devastating to Children
If pornography distorts the sexual perspective of adults, think what it must do to children who are incapable of making wise decisions about simple things, let alone something as complex as human sexuality.
Pornography inevitable falls into the hands of children and teenagers which often leads to misguided sexual experimentation. The results are shattering. We find too many adults in our society that were victimized as a child from the results of pornography and the damage cause by relatives in their family that did not know how to focus their sexual excitement in a proper relationship.
“Children also become victims of pornography in another way. They fall prey to adults whose use of pornography has awakened in them a sickening interest in sexual exploitation of children” (Hybel, 2008).
A group on the West Coast has this motto: Sex before eight, before it’s too late.” Children as young as eight years old wear different color rubber bands to school to identify their sexual orientation. In most cases the devastating effect of pornography began either through being victims of sexual abuse in childhood or through bondage to pornography that usually begins in adolescence or youth. Most adults have their own personal story of how they were introduce to sex education and sexual relationship.
Michael J. McManus, author of the widely syndicated “Ethics and Religion” column, says the following about pornography:
“Between 1960 and 1985, there has been a quadruple rise in the number of illegitimate children; the number of abortions has tripled; the number of divorces has tripled, there’ been a 100-fold increase of child molestation. In my view, the reason for the rise can be traced to pornography. Pornography justifies taking off restraints.”
Man and women needs discipline in the sexual area to be a success in life before it destroy them.
3. Ourselves
Paul begins Galatians 5:19 with “Now the works of the flesh are manifest” There is warfare raging in our souls and in our minds. Satan is out to destroy you and your witness for Jesus Christ. He is out to capture, corrupt and control your mind. He tells us that sexual impurity is ok, just this once. Then we see the devastation in lives and children when marriages break up. He tells us what matters the most is what we do today, don’t worry about tomorrow. So we get deep in debt and it hinders our ability to sacrifice for the Lord.
Too many times Satan is laughing at us all the way to the spiritual bank. It is time we stop letting win the battles for our minds and our lives and our families. It is time to identify his wiles, and his schemes and defeat them with God’s weapons.
Definition of Strongholds: “Patterns in your life that are deeply entrenched and habitually perform them that you don’t even recognize how they are hurting your spiritual life. You don’t even recognize that you have the power to do anything differently how long have you been struggling with your sinful habits? If it is more than 6 weeks, it is a stronghold.
The works of the flesh develop when we allow the devil a foot-hold in our lives or through our own lusts. “When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:13-15).
Immorality, of course, involves much more than pornography. Yet in the battle for the mind pornography is one of the major open door to illicit sexual stimulation of the imagination called the fantasy realm. Guns alone are not dangerous, but guns in the hands of people that point it at another person are dangerous. If you focus your imagination in the fantasy realm to illicit sexual stimulation it will threaten and destroy your spiritual growth in your relationship with God and humanity.
Jesus condemns not the merely the outward act of sin, but the cherishing of sinful desire. A person who experiences at a first glance this desire, and then instead of turning away and withdrawing from sin 2 Peter 2:14 throws a second glance with lustful intent and in order to retain and increase that impulse, commits the sin. Study long, study wrong. If you are looking at someone with a lustful intent, then you are studying wrong.
The Scripture are clear that immorality is first committed in the mind, the imagination, the fantasy realm, before it is committed in the body.
In the “Sermon on the Mount”, Jesus taught “You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery”, but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthews 5:27-28).
Sexual temptation will not diminish one bit because of your age. Don’t be deceive thinking the older you get that sexuality would go on hold. Just because there is snow on the roof does not mean there is no flame in the fire place. The period in which we now live may well go down in history as the Erotic age. Society have been force to believe that sex sell and that Eros has more worship among civilized men today than any other god. This topic should be taught in the church in the United States for millions the erotic has completely displaced the spiritual.
“Tears and silence might be better than words if things were slightly otherwise than they are. But the cult of Eros is seriously affecting the Church. The pure religious of Christ that flows like a crystal river from the heart of God is being polluted by the unclean waters that trickle from behind the alters of abomination that appear on every high hill and under every green tree from New York to Los Angeles” (Tozer, 1959).
“Studies indicate that 10 to 20 percent of all clergy have had sexual involvements with parishioners. Still more admit engaging in inappropriate sexualized emotional relationships that stopped short of physical expression. There are some indications that sexual abuse by clergy is increasing, perhaps because of sexual freedom gained from recent societal changes” (Advocate Web).
The battle begins in the mind with adultery, fornication, uncleanness, and lasciviousness start with just a simple though but if you don’t reject those thought you will open the door to the flesh, the world and evil supernaturalism. (See Ephesians 6:12). If you react to the thought it will lead to you making a choice and if it is the wrong choice it can lead to a habit. If you continue to indulge in that habit you will become enslaved which will lead to you loses control.
III. Actions
The Bible does not teach a double standard. There is a very high standard for Christians in general and there is a higher standard for Christian’s leaders. Martin Luther once said, “It is no small thing to stand before men in the place of God.” That what James wrote when he wrote, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment” (James 3:1).
If you are already a Christian leader or aspire to Christian leadership, God require more of you and me than He does those He calls us to lead. Don’t allow your position to become a stumbling block and cause a weaker brother or sister in the Lord to fall away from God. We must count the cost. We must not aspire to Christian leadership unless we are willing to die to self, to fleshly lust, and to the pride of life.
The battles are not won in the pulpit, on the platform, or from the podium of a classroom, but in secret when no one is watching you and by prayer and fasting. The warfare with the flesh, with the world, and with Satan intensifies when you become a Christian leader. “The higher the level, the bigger the devil.” What you do with your eyes, hands, feet, mind, and imagination when no one is watching will determine if you will become a victim or conqueror over sin.
I struggle with sin as all of us do, but sexual sin is always premeditated. There is always appoint at which a person can resist and flee from sexual stimulation. No one just happen to fall into sexual sin. The sin usually been floating around in one’s imagination before one act out it physical experience.
Paul admonishes us to flee from these things and from youthful lust 1Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22. Run from the source of temptation, “your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). I had to experience this kind of temptation when I first became a leader in the church. You may not be able to stand against a lust demon that is out of control. Don’t let your title or position have you to believe that you are Superman or Wonder Woman.
Just three years ago during one Sunday school class, a woman came in demanding to have sex with any of the men that were sitting in the class, when some of the women tried to calm her down and bring order that demon became violent and disrupted and starting telling the women they wanted them. It was good that the class was not full with new believers that day. She was taken into another room which the demon was cast out of her. Two months later, the woman never recalled her action.
I went to a conference four years ago in Philadelphia and sat into a class about Spiritual Warfare that deals with sexual immorality. The speaker was an evangelist and she was telling her testimony how God delivered her from a homosexual relationship. She stated although she was a leader in the church, she was able to slip pass the pastor and other leaders because they never would suspect a woman engaged in an illicit sexual affair. She stated that God was convicting her of the relationship but she did not have any control of herself. As she continue to serve as leader in the church for another year, she finally was exposed by one of the women she was having a relationship with because she got caught cheating.
Church leader must take Biblical actions and take that leader out of their position. Another way to prevent sexual misconduct is conducting a background check of anyone that has contact with children or wants to be in a leadership position in the church.
In closing, if the reader has any involvement with pornography, I appeal to break that habit now. Find a prayer-share healing partner. Find someone, (a mature Christian) that you can be accountable who will pray with you and encourage you and will check on you, and someone you can go to when you are temptations attempt to take control of you.
James 5:14-16 says, “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, And the prayer of faith shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven. Confess your faults one to another (mature Christian) that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
Prayer: Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, I lift before You those of the Body of Christ who are out in the field carrying the good news, Your voice with Your Holy Word. Lord, I also lift those that are Your children in the Body that are joint heirs with You. I pray now that they will hide your Word in their hearts that they may not sin against You. Lord I pray that they shall lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience Father, the race that you set before us, looking to Your Son Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy endure the cross for us, despising the shame for us, and Father he is seated at your right hand on the throne. Father, I thank you because you will not allow us to suffer to temptation that is common to us but You are faithful Lord, you have made a way of escape. Order our steps by your Spirit that we shall walk through the door of deliverance and claim victory in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen
