No Longer a Slave of Lust (Part 2)
Series: No Longer Slaves
Chuck Sligh
March 17, 2019
NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com.
TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to James 5 and 1 Timothy 2.
INTRODUCTION
Illus. – Bent over his desk, penknife in hand, Thomas Jefferson sliced at the pages of his Bible, deleting select passages and pasting them together to create a bible to his liking. It became known as the “Jefferson Bible,” two pages of which you see on the screen.
What didn’t make it into the Jefferson Bible was anything that conflicted with his personal worldview. Hell?—It can’t be…Clip, clip, clip. God’s wrath against sin?—Nope…Clip, clip, clip. The supernatural?—Uh-uh. Clip, clip, clip.
In this next slide you see an example of Jefferson’s revisions of God’s Word where he retained only five words of Luke 14:4: “And they held their peace.” Let me read all of verse 4—all 16 words God inspired: “And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go.” As a deist, Jefferson denied the supernatural…so he just clipped it out.
If you’re a Christian, I’m sure you shudder at such arrogant presumption. But to be honest, many Christians and churches have created a bible of our own making. Not a physical one, perhaps, but a cut-and-paste job just the same. Because if we ignore any portion of God’s Word, whether intentionally or conveniently—we too are guilty of Jefferson’s offence.
I believe churches have done that with two neglected scriptures we’ll examine today. Today’s sermon is the last in our series, “No Longer Slaves,” and we’ve covered a range of things that enslave people—worry, fear, anger, discontent, misery, and last week, lust.
Last week, we saw how pervasive lust is, what the Bible says about it (which is basically a zero-tolerance policy), and how we can keep from getting enslaved to lust.
First we said we each have a PERSONAL responsibility to fight against lust—to say “no” to lust triggers, and when we can, to control our exposure level to lust triggers.
Second, we saw that SPOUSES have a responsibility to lovingly help one another from lusting by meeting one another’s sexual needs.
But I believe THE CHURCH has a role to play in helping all of us with lust. And both of the scriptures we’ll look at are neglected today—scriptures that many in the church have, for all intents and purposes, clipped out of their Bibles. Today, let’s paste them back where they belong by seeing two ways the church and God’s people can help one another keep from being enslaved by lust.
I. FIRST, WE MUST BE A COMMUNITY OF MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY.
James 5:16 says, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
Somewhere along the way the church changed from being a HOSPITAL for sick people to experience healing to a THEATER where actors play a part. You see, we’re all sinful creatures. Yes, God is working in areas in our lives and we’re growing in God’s grace. Some of us are in Intensive Care, while others of us are just outpatients. But the truth is, we ALL still struggle with the cancer of sin to some degree.
But you know what we do?—We hide our sins and try to put on a mask of SANCTITY, or a mask of VICTORY, or a mask of “I’ve got it together spiritually,” when in reality, sometimes we’re massively failing in a certain area of our lives. If we play-act a false spirituality, and don’t honestly admit it when we’re struggling with an area of failure, we have to hide our sins lest someone realize we’re faking it.
But the Bible is clear that we should not hide our sins:
• Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who covers his sins shall not prosper…”
• Job, the most righteous man in his day, said, “…I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom.” (Job 31:33)
• When David sinned with Bathsheba, his secret guilt was so strong that he said in Psalms 32:3-4 – “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.”
Some sins are simply a matter of saying, “Okay, that’s sin, and I’m not doing that any more by God’s power…and then we just stop doing them.” But let’s be honest; those aren’t the things we really struggle with the most, are they? We conquered those long ago soon after we found Christ. The things that trouble us now are what we often call our “besetting sins”—those sins we confess and forsake—but which are so deeply rooted in our old, sinful nature that time and again we find ourselves falling back and doing them again.
I believe that’s what James was addressing in James 5:16, because he doesn’t say to confess our SINS, but our FAULTS, which suggests an entrenched pattern of behavior. I go only to GOD for cleansing for sins—not some mere mortal—and God promises in 1 John 1:9 that “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” But with our FAULTS—those character flaws and personal weaknesses that are deeply ingrained in us—God says you need to confess to trusted brethren who can make you accountable and answerable to change. You need spiritual people to whom you can confide your faults and who can pray for you and check to see how you’re doing in that area on a regular basis.
Christians have largely clipped this verse out of their Bibles because they have such a hard time HUMBLING themselves to someone and admitting, “I’m really struggling with lust. In fact, I’ve developed a porn addiction and I need someone to pray with me and for me; someone to help me; someone to keep me accountable; someone to admonish me when I need it.”
That’s HARD to do, but Peter says in 1 Peter 5:5 that “…God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble.” – If there’s anything you need in the time of temptation, it’s God’s grace, but God says if you’re too proud, He’ll RESIST you.
No wonder so many believers remain in a state of prolonged defeat, because you can’t defeat sin in your life if God is RESISTING you!
I believe the church must recognize that our men and women struggle in this area of lust. But not just lust: Some of you struggle with anger, bitterness, envy, greed, envy. It’s time we started confessing our faults one to another!—Not in a public forum, like in church, but with an accountability partner who can discreetly call us out, pray for us and encourage us. It’s time we pasted this verse back in our Bibles!
So, the church first needs to become a place of MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY.
II. SECOND, WE MUST BE A COMMUNITY OF MUTUAL RESPONSIBILITY.
We as believers need to see that we can be a stumbling block to others in this area of lust by our actions and by our dress and that God will hold us responsible for it if we are. Men can cause women to lust by being too familiar or going beyond the bounds of acceptable behavior, and men, you should make sure that in your actions with women you’re always above reproach.
With men, lust is triggered by what we SEE. So, ladies, I want to talk frankly with you for a few minutes. Ladies, when your clothes are so tight that they leave little to the imagination, you have no idea how easy it is to let our imagination run. When we see some cleavage, it’s hard for us to concentrate because we’re fighting our thoughts and the urge to “take a peek” when you look away momentarily. The more flesh you show, the more we men have to CONCENTRATE on your face, not what’s flashing—and then we’re criticized because we don’t pay enough attention! – That’s not the problem; the problem is we’re in a battle—right there while we’re talking to you.
You see, everywhere we turn—at work, in the neighborhood, in the PX, in the commissary, on the computer, on TV, at the theater, in magazines, in books, in music videos, on billboards—we’re bombarded by sensual images. There’s not much we can do to control these things, but listen to me: WE SHOULDN’T HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT WITH OUR CHRISTIAN SISTERS!
Now I know what many of you are thinking: Come on guys, just get a GRIP! Just calm down, for crying out loud. JUST DON’T LUST, okay?!! Wow!—I wish it were that easy!
Illus. – Ladies, don’t slam men because of the way we’re hormonally hard-wired. What if a man said to a woman at that “time of the month,”—“You shouldn’t be so hormonal and emotional. You need to learn to not be so sensitive.” You’d call him a jerk, or clueless—after hitting him with your handbag. You’d say, “You guys shouldn’t put down how women feel. YOU ought to be a woman for a month or two and you’d sing a different tune.” But that’s what many women do with the hormonal struggle we men deal with every single day of our lives! Women say, “What’s wrong with you? You need to just calm down.” Well, YOU ought to try being a MAN for a while in a sex-drenched world! I guarantee that you’d sing a different tune too!
I’m just being up front and honest with you this morning. I’m pleading with you to help us men with this struggle.
So, look with me at 1 Timothy 2:9-10 – “Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.”
This is another of those passages that Christians have largely cut out of their Bibles.
Some have done so because they came from a legalistic background where everything they wore was governed by rules, which always seemed to translate into old-fashioned, dowdy, out-of-style attire, and you’re just not gonna go there. We at Grace understand that—and we agree. We’re just as concerned about the danger of legalism and we’re not going to give you a list of rules and nobody’s going to judge your dress. But on the other hand, let’s not snip this scripture out of our Bibles either. The Holy Spirit wrote it, right? Do you think maybe He had a reason for it?
Some have clipped this passage out because they don’t want to focus on outward things because the Bible is all about our HEART, our INNER person. Right on, sister; we’re in 100% agreement! But we don’t believe you should dress modestly because it will somehow make you look “godly” on the outside, but to HELP OTHERS be godly on the INSIDE by helping to mitigate temptation in their thoughts. So, the focus is not really on YOU or OUTWARD things, but on OTHERS and THEIR inward heart—and that’s a truly biblical way to live!
Some have clipped it out of their Bibles because they just don’t CARE what the Bible says about modesty.
This is sometimes simply a matter of REBELLION. But aren’t we supposed to obey God in ALL things? Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) If you’re a believer, how can you just clip this passage out of your Bible?
But sometimes it’s more a matter of a low SELF-ESTEEM than rebellion. Because some women struggle with how they feel about themselves, they look for ways to be noticed, and some women tell me there’s nothing that makes them feel more feminine than being noticed by men. But once you see yourself as complete in Christ; once you see that in Christ you are accepted and loved and cherished; and once you see that you do not need validation from men to be fulfilled—or anyone for that matter—you’ll no longer struggle with your self-esteem.
This verse has been clipped out of the Bible for too long by too many people and in our churches, so let’s paste it back in and see what God is telling us in this passage. Let me point out first that Paul is NOT teaching here that women should dress dowdy, or that they can’t wear jewelry. There are many references to stunningly beautiful, yet godly, women in the Bible. So, what is Paul teaching in 1 Timothy 2:9-10? Bible scholars say Paul was concerned that some in the church in those days were imitating the dress and adornment of the women of the Roman aristocracy at one end of the spectrum and the temple prostitutes on the other. The women in the Roman aristocracy were known for their expensive clothes and jewelry and elaborate hairstyles designed to attract attention to themselves. On the other end of the spectrum, temple prostitutes dressed seductively with what we would call the “slutty look” today.
So, Paul says that women should wear “respectable” apparel in verse 9. He wanted the SAVIOR, not seductive STYLE to be the focus of women’s appearance.
So, Paul gave THREE BIBLICAL GUIDELINES:
First, in verse 9 his first guideline is “modesty,” which means “propriety.” It means avoiding clothes and adornment that are extravagant or sexually revealing or alluring. Modesty can be defined as “humility expressed in dress.” It’s a desire to be concerned about OTHERS instead of drawing attention to yourself or provoking sensuality. It means to be beautiful without resorting to showy or sensual enticements.
The second guideline is “self-control,” in verse 9 which, means “restraint.”— Restraint for the purpose of purity; for the purpose of exalting God, not ourselves.
The third guideline is in verse 10 where Paul teaches that a woman’s dress should be “what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.”
Paul is very clear that “good works” are to be what’s most noticeable about a women who professes godliness—not her wardrobe, or her curves, or her jewelry, but her GOOD WORKS—an observable lifestyle of serving others. So ladies, which are you more trying to project to the outside world?—Clothing or character; jewelry or generosity; makeup or ministry? Clothing, jewelry and makeup are not wrong; they should just be the accessories of what’s truly important, your good works.
You say, “Why should I care if what I wear is a temptation to others? If men lust, that’s THEIR problem.” As I said last week, there is a sense in which you are absolutely right. Each of us is personally responsible for our behavior and thought life regardless of how those around us are dressed. If I give in to lustful thoughts, I cannot project blame on the object of that lust. God says to each of us: YOU are responsible for your reactions to lust triggers.
But there’s another side to this story.
• Paul said in Philippians 2:4 – “Look not everyone on his own things, but…also on the things of others.” – Folks, we MUST care for OTHERS in order to help one another grow spiritually.
• In his ode to love in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul reminds us that love “does not seek her own.”
• Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:3 – “We put no stumbling block in anyone's way…”
• In Galatians 5:13 he declares, “For, brethren, you have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty for an opportunity for the flesh, but by love serve one another.”
If we love one another, we’ll be careful not to do things that tempt them to sin. By watching our dress to be able to better serve others instead of ourselves, we’re using our liberty in a responsible fashion.
Illus. – It’s true an alcoholic has obligation to resist the temptation to drink if they are exposed to alcohol. – But I’m not going to deliberately put a can of beer in front of him because it’s his duty to resist—not if I love him.
C.J. Mahoney writes of a college student who sent him a letter after he had preached a message to women encouraging them to show love to their male brethren by dressing modestly and with self-control. – Listen to what this male college student wrote:
When women that I’m friends with dress immodestly, it definitely has a negative effect on our friendship. When a woman dresses immodestly, it doesn’t make it easy to see her as a sister in Christ. There’s a constant battle going on as I’m talking with her. Communication becomes more difficult because as I’m trying to listen to her, I’m also trying to fight temptation. I think some women aren’t aware that even little things can distract guys a lot—showing even a little part of their stomach, wearing bags that have straps that go between their breasts, etc.
I’m so grateful for the friendships God has given me with the godly women in my church. I’m so appreciative of the sacrifices they make in order to glorify God and serve and care for the guys. I heard of one girl who went shopping and really liked the shirt she was trying on. But then she thought, “No, I can’t do this to the guys.” That was the first time I had ever heard of anything like that, and it made me so grateful. It is such a blessing to have friends who care for me enough to be selfless and to sacrifice what might look attractive in order to help me and other guys with sexual lust.
When women dress modestly, it’s attractive and it makes me want to hang out with them more. I think modesty is so attractive and helpful in friendships because it makes it easier for a friendship to be centered around God and for fellowship to be unhindered.
CONCLUSION
The solution to lust is multilayered: PERSONAL responsibility; MUTUAL MARITAL responsibility; and COPORATE responsibility we all have in the church for one another.
1. As a church community, let’s individually say, “I’m going to be available for someone struggling with a fault in his or her life”—whether it’s lust or any other sin—gossip, envy, jealousy, materialism, covetousness, anger, worry, fear—WHATEVER it may be.
And if anyone is struggling with a sin—and the truth is, we all struggle with SOMETHING that Satan too often exploits—then first of all, experience God’s forgiveness by confessing your sin to the Lord and forsaking it. But then ask God to lead you to someone who is, like you, striving to serve God and obey Him with whom you can share your struggle and who can pray for you, and who has the liberty to ask you how you’re doing in your struggle, and whom you’re willing to take rebuke from as well as encouragement. 2. And as a church community, may we each seek God’s guidance about how to serve one another and care for one another in every way, but especially with helping men in this battle.
A young female college student wrote C.J. Mahoney after hearing the same sermon the male student heard and she wrote him, saying this:
I had a vague idea that guys were more affected by sight than girls, but I never realized how pervasive the temptation was. Now, knowing a little bit of what guys go through every day, I have an ardent desire to serve my brothers in Christ. I want to make the church a haven for them..…After your message, I no longer have a desire to dress immodestly; rather, my concern is to protect the guys and help them in their walk with God.
Amen to that!
