The Deadly Epidemic
There is an epidemic that is destroying our society today and it has it’s death grip in people especially men from 11 year olds to men married with children. Pornography is a $13 billion dollar a year industry. In 1999 web-site revenues were 1.2 billion dollars. Statisticians tell us there are 100,000 porn sites on the web - with an estimated 200 new sites surfacing everyday. Currently more than 50% of requests on search engines are for porn. 10,160 porn movies were released in 1999 alone and there are 450 porn magazines being published today. One article I read said there are more porn outlets today than there are McDonalds!
Another astounding figure is that more than 300 million x-rated videos are distributed each year. This is more than the entire population of the US. Furthermore, the deceit of Satan is evident. Twenty-five percent of porn sites have brand names (barbie.disney.nintendo,nba...) in their metatags to attract hits from search engines. A computer trainer in our office in error went to the wrong website when trying to access www.whitehouse.gov and exposed her class of trainees to a porno website.
Pornography is not only a plague on society but also it is very addictive. The body produces a hormone called adrenaline. When a person feels in danger, stressed or excited adrenaline is used by the body for a short time. This sometimes gives “super” power to an otherwise weak person. This is a normal function of the body, but this use of adrenaline is something that the body begins to crave and becomes, in a sense, habit forming. If you were to ask a race car driver why they drive their cars at the point of loosing control, they would tell you that they were just having fun. This “fun” as they call it, is the bodies craving for the “adrenaline rush” which gives the person a good or calm feeling.
This is basically what a person, who views pornographic material, does to their bodies.
They get that “feeling good” caused by the adrenaline flow caused by excitement. This
craving of the body makes the person’s desire for more, somewhat uncontrollable. It
starts with viewing a few pictures, moves into viewing short film clips, on to viewing
X-rated movies, and then to “porno” movies. Many move on to calling those 900 phone numbers, sexual relationships, child molestation, incest, rape, and in some cases murder. If you think that this is reaching for extremes, just look up some court cases and see for yourself.
In Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus is speaking to the multitude and said, "You have heard that it was said, ’YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” The unwillingness to forsake sin is a mark of the unregenerate soul. How do you stand when it comes to forsaking sin? Prayer partners, pornography is within the Church. Even pastors have fallen prey to its grasp. Sin must be called sin and not whitewashed down and made to look like the sin cannot be controlled. Paul wrote to the Romans and told them that they have the power to overcome any sin, if they want to overcome it.
In Christianity there is a very definite connection between what we believe and how we are to behave! When the prodigal son of Luke 15 came home to the father -- he had to leave the pig pens far behind, and so do we. After all, to be a Christian means that we have become united in fellowship with Jesus Christ -- and if we are to share in his life we must follow in His footsteps. We are to make a habit of setting our minds, our thoughts and our attention upon heavenly things; upon God, Christ, The Holy Spirit, righteousness, heaven, on as Paul says in Phil 4:8. It is easy to let our minds wallow in the things of this world but we are not of this world even as Christ is not of this world. Therefore we must SEEK THINGS ABOVE.
The Bible says in Colossians 3:5-6, “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience.” My brothers and sisters, recognize such sins come from the desires of our flesh. Basically, they are the sensual sins resulting from the evil desire of our old nature.
In preparing this article, one Bible writer said we must approach the slaying of these sensual sins (THAT SEEK TO DESTROY US) with the passion of a Phinehas. Do you remember Phinehas in the Bible? He was a man that took a stand for God’s Holiness. Listen to this passage of Scripture in Numbers 25: 6-12: “Then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear through both of them-through the Israelite and into the woman’s body. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000. The LORD said to Moses, "Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them. Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him.” The Israelites had become so immoral and immersed in adultery and idolatry that they proudly strutted their sins before Moses (a type of Christ) and the assembly (the church) challenging them to act in defense of God’s holiness. But Phinehas took a stand and said in his heart, “No More!” I will defend God’s honor and his actions turned away God’s anger upon his people.
Prayer partners, anytime we see these desires begin to awaken in our lives we need to grab our spear and thrust it right through them. Because they have no place in the life of a Christian and they bring dishonor to God. And they are as Paul says the reason that God’s wrath is coming. God said, "Phinehas...has turned away my anger from the Israelites. For he was as zealous for my honor, as I am." Are you zealous for God’s honor? PAUL SAYS THAT in Colossians chapter 3 that we are not just to put them aside -- we are not to just wound them -- we are not to just ask them to leave -- we are to play around with them and try to convert them -- we are not to rationalize or explain them away but rather we are to KILL THEM. We are to thrust our spear through them, through them -- because we know that if we allow them to live - then we will die...our faith will be destroyed.
Paul mentions 5 things that we are to put to death. The first four are related. Paul says; immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire…” This raises the question of what is sexual sin? Now, that used to be a pretty simply question to answer - BUT TODAY - we live in such a sex-saturated culture that the answer has purposefully been clouded. The Bible defines sexual sin as any type sex outside of the marriage of a man and women and any type of activity that causes and feds immoral lusts and passions. So we are not only talking about the sex act itself, but also anything that feds these shameful evil desires. I was amazed to discover that Paul talks about sexual sin more than any other sin, he addresses sexual in nearly every one of his letters.
This being true, why would God, spend so much time with this one sin? First, sexual sin is different then any other sin. The Bible tells us, "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have received from God? You are not your own: you were bought with a price. THEREFORE honor God with your body..." (1 Cor 6:18-20) It has been said that sexual sin will take you further than you want to go and cost you more than you want to pay. Satan is constantly developing new ways of putting this sin up in our face...TV - Music - Video – Internet - Movies – Magazines – Billboards, etc. Be on guard. Be sensitive when you are tired and exhausted. You become more vulnerable.
Second, sexual sin destroys many people and renders them ineffective in God’s service. Have you ever wondered why Satan uses sex so much? - Because it works so well. It has been his ace in the hole for thousands of years. Need you be reminded it was sexual sin that brought down the man who was perhaps the “greatest” servant - soldier, worshiper and man of God in the O.T. [see 2 Samuel 11] That is why the Apostle Paul tells us to “have nothing to do with sexual sin...." Instead, the Apostle tells us: “Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;” {1 Th 4:1-3 RSV} The great truth that every Christian must learn is that, as the apostle says in his Corinthian letter, "you are not your own," {1 Cor 6:19b RSV}. You no longer belong to yourself. You must no longer let your own desires take first priority in life. Rather, "you are bought with a price," {cf, 1 Cor 6:20a}.
Everybody wants to be a whole person. The Old Testament speaks about "the beauty of holiness" {1 Chr 16:29, 2 Chr 20:21, Psa 29:2, 96:9}, the inner attractiveness that is apparent when someone begins to function inwardly as he or she was intended. So to "flee immorality" means to have none of those things going on in your life. The reason is, it destroys the wholeness that both you and God want. Our bodies. They are the vessel, as he tells the Corinthians, "the temple of the Holy Spirit," {1 Cor 6:19a RSV}. They are not to serve in bondage to the whims and desires of the flesh. Be a Phinehas. As a Christian you must crucify the flesh and live by the faith of the Son of God that loves you and gave Himself for you.
