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weekly sermon 3-1-09 Think On These Things! For those of you who come here often, you know the nature of my messages. Most of my messages deal with how we are to act, live, and approach our Gospel, or living by faith. All of these messages deal with the mind. What I mean is, you must have yourself in the proper frame of mind to be able to live by faith and according to the Gospels.
This past week I had a conversation with an individual concerning a state of mind. The actual topic of this discussion dealt with a subject that most folks secretly hide, if involved, or have total disgust for, or completely enjoy. The topic that was brought to me was pornography. I gave Biblical advice to this individual as to why pornography was a sin.
We all know the obvious reasons such as lust for another, cheating hearts, or ungodly minds. I was asked by this individual to write a message from God concerning this topic. God led me to several passages of scripture that really deals with such a subject. As we all know the Bible is full of answers to every problem in our lives even this one. Some folks do not know where to look because some things are not spelled out in plain English to them, they are not spoken to through the Holy Spirit, or they do not have their minds in the proper place to fully receive the message.
Let us look at a few passages of scripture that explains things concerning pornography. Turn with me if you will to Ezekiel 23:14-17, "And [that] she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion, (15)Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity: (16)And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea. (17)And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them."
The Lord had came to Ezekiel concerning two women, one named Aholah and the other named Aholibah. These two women were sisters and played harlots in Egypt. The way to know these two women, the Lord told him, was by their names, Samaria and Jerusalem. Ezekiel 23:4, "And the names of them [were] Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus [were] their names; Samaria [is] Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah." As we can see here the Lord was talking about two parts of the country and the way they acted toward Egypt. Samaria was bad with her whoredoms, but her younger sister Jerusalem was much worse.
In the scriptures above the Lord describes how Jerusalem had taken her whoredoms to a farther level than Samaria. Jerusalem saw pictures of men upon a wall that were scantily dressed. It states that the images of the men were Chaldeans. The Chaldeans were men that dabbled in witchcraft, sorcery, and the magical arts. From this we can apprise, they were not great Godly men. This would of course make it easier for Jerusalem to fall into any evil traps. Once Jerusalem allowed herself to be taken by the scanty pictures on the wall of the men, they came to her bed and defiled her.
God purposely allowed Babylon to come to Jerusalem for the purpose of defiling her because of the wrong things they had done. As we can see if we do not think on the things we should be thinking on then we will also be defiled before God. It says in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things."
Think about that last passage for a moment. We are to keep our minds on things that are honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. I understand that this does not specifically have anything to do with pornography, but it does tell us to think on these things. I do not believe pornography would fall in any of those categories.
Look with me in James 4:3-7, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume [it] upon your lusts. (4)Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. (5)Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? (6)But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. (7)Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
There are many passages of scripture that deal with lust, but this one is the one that was given to me by God to post, and I believe I know why. Lust is not specific to pornography, but pornography sure causes lust to raise her ugly head. Pornography is of this world, making it a friend to this world. In this scripture above, we see that if we are a friend to this world or its worldly things, then we are an enemy to God. Also notice the last passage there, "submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
Give your complete body, mind, and soul to God. If you completely submit to God and resist the devil, then he MUST flee. Think about that for a moment. Look at what was just told to you. I want you to notice the power that was just given to you. God, as we know, is Lord of all and the devil is called the ruler of the air. The air is, of course, the earth. You have just been given the power to tell the ruler of the earth to get away from you and he MUST get away from you. What power is this that has been given us that we power over rulers? This is the promise of God to us all.
In closing I will just say that looking upon sexually oriented material for the purpose of influencing sexual pleasure or desires is very much a sin. On the same token, turning from this act of unfaithfulness, whether it be to your spouse, or to your God, and resisting the evils of the devil, then you truly will be in a position to stand before God with all power given to you and refer to yourself as a Christian.
Is your mind on thoughts that it should not be on, are you friends with the world, therefore making you an enemy to God, or have you been riding with the devil to the pornography sites? Resist this devil and he must flee, the power given to you by your God that will save your soul.
If you have answered yes to any of these questions, but would like to turn to God's saving grace, then all you have to do is say a simple prayer with me.
Say this simple prayer with me, Dear Lord, I want you to be the Lord over my life, forgive me of my sins, and give me the gift of everlasting life. Amen.
If you have said this simple prayer, then we believe that you have received salvation. We would love to rejoice with you, so please drop us a note, in our link, to let us know and confess Jesus before man, so that we may send you a few things that we hope will help you in your new Christian walk.
With Love in Christ,
Pastor Stone
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