1 / 87

Eph. 5:3-5

THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY:. Making Sex an Idol. Eph. 5:3-5. [By Ron Halbrook ]. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY:. Making Sex an Idol. Introduction: 1. Eph. 5:3-5 Idol: obsessed with sexual desire.

nowles
Download Presentation

Eph. 5:3-5

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol Eph. 5:3-5 [By Ron Halbrook]

  2. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol Introduction: 1. Eph. 5:3-5 Idol: obsessed with sexual desire

  3. 3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 1. Eph. 5:3-5 Idol: obsessed with sexual desire

  4. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol Introduction: 1. Eph. 5:3-5 Idol: obsessed with sexual desire • Pornography: depict erotic or lewd sexual scenes in writing or pictures 2. Study porn threat to morals, homes, & nations • God’s purpose for sex: what it can & cannot do • Walking in love in a sex-saturated society • Overcome the sin & devastation of pornography!

  5. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol I. God’s Purpose for Sex: What It Can & Cannot Do A. Man Created to Have Fellowship with God • Gen. 1:27 In God’s image to know & love Him 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

  6. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol I. God’s Purpose for Sex: What It Can & Cannot Do B. Sex: Marital Love-Commitment-Companionship • Gen. 2:24 Unity in Godhead, & in marriage 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

  7. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol I. God’s Purpose for Sex: What It Can & Cannot Do B. Sex: Marital Love-Commitment-Companionship • Husband, wife serve each other as if one person: sexual intimacy symbolizes lifelong commitment to each other “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, in adversity as in prosperity, and forsaking all others, to love & to cherish, ‘til death do us part”

  8. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol I. God’s Purpose for Sex: What It Can & Cannot Do C. Sex: Offspring in Context of a Loving Family • Ps. 127:3 Children: God’s love & our love 3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

  9. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol I. God’s Purpose for Sex: What It Can & Cannot Do C. Sex: Offspring in Context of a Loving Family • Conceived & raised in unselfish nourishing love, not born of uncommitted selfish lust

  10. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol I. God’s Purpose for Sex: What It Can & Cannot Do D. Reflect Reverential Fear of God • Heb. 13:4 Stewards of our sexual nature 4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

  11. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol I. God’s Purpose for Sex: What It Can & Cannot Do D. Reflect Reverential Fear of God • Prov. 5:18-19 God origin of sensual love 18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. 19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

  12. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol I. God’s Purpose for Sex: What It Can & Cannot Do D. Reflect Reverential Fear of God • Prov. 5:22-23 Satan offers enhancement BUT 22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;the cords of their sins hold them fast. 23 For lack of discipline they will die,led astray by their own great folly. (NIV)

  13. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol I. God’s Purpose for Sex: What It Can & Cannot Do E. Cannot Satisfy Apart from God • Only God’s design produces true fulfillment!!! GOD’S DESIGN OF SEXUAL NATURE Proper function promotes physical, emotional, psychological well-being SATAN’S SUBSTITUTE Soul-less sex

  14. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol I. God’s Purpose for Sex: What It Can & Cannot Do E. Cannot Satisfy Apart from God • God designed sexual intimacy: Husband & wife serve each other as one flesh, one person • Neuroscience: brain trained by sexual arousal to find fulfillment in mate • Neuroscience: porn retrains the brain by sexual arousal to seek fulfillment with a dehumanized image

  15. This is not only a spiritual reality, but also a neurological one. When a husband and wife restrict themselves to each other, directing their sexual energies toward one another, they will find that they occupy each other’s thoughts…. they will be more closely bound to each other. (Wm. Struthers, “The Effects of Porn on the Male Brain,” Christian Research Journal, 34, 5 (2011). http://www.equip.org/articles/the-effects-of-porn-on-the-male-brain-3/ ) • Neuroscience: brain trained by sexual arousal to find fulfillment in mate

  16. The unfortunate reality is that when he acts out (often by masturbating), this leads to hormonal and neurological consequences, which are designed to bind him to the object he is focusing on. In God’s plan, this would be his wife, but for many men it is an image on a screen. Pornography thus enslaves the viewer to an image, hijacking the biological response intended to bond a man to his wife and therefore inevitably loosening that bond. (Wm. Struthers, “The Effects of Porn on the Male Brain,” Christian Research Journal, 34, 5 (2011). http://www.equip.org/articles/the-effects-of-porn-on-the-male-brain-3/ ) • Neuroscience: porn retrains the brain by sexual arousal to seek fulfillment with a dehumanized image

  17. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol I. God’s Purpose for Sex: What It Can & Cannot Do E. Cannot Satisfy Apart from God • Porn trains the brain to crave something which cannot satisfy: vicious cycle addicts • Satan enslaves with cold crude cruel counterfeits for sensual love: porn, voyeurism, fornication, adultery, polygamy, rape, incest, pedophilia, necrophilia, homosexuality, sex change, etc.

  18. PORNOGRAPHY IS… • A lie from Satan our adversary & accuser • A fantasy, a mirage • Advertising for fornication • Salt water • Poison Kool-Aid • A monster who will not be denied • A revolving door with no exit • A house of horrors • A spider’s web • A sin—like all sin, leading to eternal torment

  19. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History A. Satan Master of Deception: Evil Is Good • Gen. 3:5 Markets sin as greatest blessing 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

  20. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History B. Pornography: Ancient Ad for Fornication • Derived from Greek pornographos, writing about prostitutes

  21. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History C. Pornography & Fornication Throughout History • Pompeii filled with erotic frescoes & symbols • Religious porn & prostitution common in Babylon, Canaan, India, Greece, Rome, etc. • Goddesses Diana & Aphrodite sex symbols

  22. Fifty years ago an American girl would have been ashamed to be seen in public with too little on. Now she’s embarrassed to be seen with too much on— even if she’s in church (Schuchardt, Christianity Today, 12-2003) THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History C. Pornography & Fornication Throughout History • 15th century: rapid spread by printing press • 19th century: rapid spread by photography • 1953 Hugh Hefner’s Playboy magazine • 1957 protected as free speech by Supreme Court • 20th-21st centuries: internet & electronic media

  23. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History D. Women Bow to Idol of Sex • Mary Quant (1965 mini-skirt designer): “Good pornography is erotic,” “I love vulgarity”— clothes draw attention to hips, breasts, crotch

  24. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History D. Women Bow to Idol of Sex • Clothing battle began in Eden (Gen. 3:7, 21) “aprons” covered waist & upper thigh VS “coats,” “tunics” covered shoulders to knees • Roman silk clothes a flimsy gauze— pagans protest clothes “made of glass”… “render women naked,”etc.

  25. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History D. Women Bow to Idol of Sex • Sex chat rooms; sexting porn messages, videos

  26. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History E. Multitudes Bow to Idol of Sex • Materialism, indulgence, & evolutionary philosophy erode religious, moral, & legal restraints • Religious leaders complicit: “Peace, peace, when there is no peace” (Jer. 8:11) • Positive preaching & pop psychology, NOT warn against hell & specific sins Joel Osteen

  27. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History E. Multitudes Bow to Idol of Sex • Political leaders liberalize laws: alcohol, drugs, divorce, abortion, homosexuality, & porn Modern liberals employ the rhetoric of ‘rights’… to deligitimate the idea of restrains on individuals by communities….Why there is a right for adults to enjoy pornography remains unexplained and unexplainable. (Robert Bork, Slouching Toward Gomorrah, p. 151)

  28. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History E. Multitudes Bow to Idol of Sex • Rationalize: danger of censorship imposing morals • All law based on morals & values: only issue is which ones? • Censor child porn? Mutilation-&-murder porn? Threats to harm officials? Bomb threats? God, Christ, & the Bible in the public square?

  29. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History E. Multitudes Bow to Idol of Sex • Entertainment industry avidly spreads porn: many people avidly consume it! • U.S. porn sales $10-$14 BILLION per year: more than professional football, baseball, & basketball combined! • Annual worldwide sales $100 BILLION! $3,000 per sec.

  30. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History E. Multitudes Bow to Idol of Sex • Pornography & sex deified—people, rules, & standards bow “Sex is now being made into the measure of existence” while “modesty, fidelity, abstinence, chastity, delicacy, and shame…are today ridiculed.” (Robert Bork, Slouching Toward Gomorrah, p. 149)

  31. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History F. Harmless or Harmful??? • Porn not undermine “relationships, immortal souls, or our republic” (AARP Magazine, Mar.-Apr. 2004, p. 28)

  32. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol F. Harmless or Harmful??? • Effect on marriage: • Violate vow to love mate only • Dehumanize woman in images & wife: disposable sex toy • Undermine wife’s sense of companionship & self-worth: how can she equal the images? • Undermine wife’s sense of security & trust: Who or what does he want? He lies & hides.

  33. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History F. Harmless or Harmful??? • Effect on male • Reprogram mind to lose interest in wife • Perverted desire leads to rape, child molesting, incest, murder • Ted Bundy: “you look for more potent, more explicit, more graphic kinds of material” until reaching “that jumping off point”

  34. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History F. Harmless or Harmful??? • Effect on children • “Pornography can reach in & snatch a kid out of any house today” (Ted Bundy) • Parents: guard & guide use of electronic media • Monitor, require open spaces & open doors: “Trust but verify”

  35. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History F. Harmless or Harmful??? • Effect on children • Be selective, use filtering devices • Enforce family rules with discipline • Build character: daily Bible reading & prayer • Eph. 6:4; Col. 3:21 Father’s perversion leads to child molesting: provoke anger, rebellion, lifelong wounds, & infidelity! I know!!!

  36. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History F. Harmless or Harmful??? • Effect on wife & mother • Deep revulsion, pain, & shame living with porn: loss of peace, trust, & security • Verbal, emotional, & physical abuse: she is “the problem” (spying, puritanical, unforgiving, etc., etc., etc.) • Struggle to convince husband to repent

  37. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History F. Harmless or Harmful??? • Effect on wife & mother • Lack total knowledge & control of events: Child exposed to porn? Molested? Intimidated? • Wrenching dilemma: How protect child & self? What options? What leverage? Greater danger if expose it to family, friends, elders, counselor, or gov’t? Leave temporarily?

  38. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History F. Harmless or Harmful??? • No one immune: elders, deacons, preachers, etc. • Depravity unlimited! • Pedophile websites: “bestiality, torture, bloodletting, & sadistic injury” (Judge Bork) • Kidnap children: castrate & murder 6 year old; rape, mutilate, & murder 7 year old girl

  39. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol II. Porn & Sex: False Gods Throughout History F. Harmless or Harmful??? • Satan as sex god sets porn’s anti-agenda: • Anti-God • Anti-Male • Anti-Female • Anti-Children • Anti-Family • Anti-Sex • Anti-Morality • Anti-Community • Anti-Nation

  40. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol III. Eph. 5:1-21 Walk in Love in Sex-Saturated Society A. Christ Our Perfect Example of God’s Love • Vv. 1-2 Follow God’s love in Christ Amoral self-indulgent lust Moral purity based on self-denial & selfless service VS 1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmellingsavour.

  41. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol III. Eph. 5:1-21 Walk in Love in Sex-Saturated Society B. God’s Wrath Against All Forms of Immorality • Vv. 3-6 Zero tolerance for immorality

  42. 3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. • Vv. 3-6 Zero tolerance for immorality

  43. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol III. Eph. 5:1-21 Walk in Love in Sex-Saturated Society B. God’s Wrath Against All Forms of Immorality • Greco-Roman world: “fornication…regarded as a matter of moral indifference,…indulged in without shame or scruple” (Salmond, Ephesians: 352) • “Not…once named” = “not even a hint” (vs. 3 NIV)

  44. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: TEMPORAL & ETERNAL WRATH: Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Making Sex an Idol III. Eph. 5:1-21 Walk in Love in Sex-Saturated Society B. God’s Wrath Against All Forms of Immorality • Covetousness in sexual context (Eph. 4:19; 5:3,5; Col. 3:5): more, more, more = idolatry! • Desire inflamed, restraint loosened: dance, touch, dress, songs, speech, pornography, etc. • Porn spiral dismantles character: can’t stop, lie, grosser, act out, child porn, STD, divorce, suicide

  45. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol III. Eph. 5:1-21 Walk in Love in Sex-Saturated Society C. Reject & Rebuke Immorality, Shine as Lights! • Vv. 7-14 The light of Christ shining in darkness

  46. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. 14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. • Vv. 7-14 The light of Christ shining in darkness

  47. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol III. Eph. 5:1-21 Walk in Love in Sex-Saturated Society C. Reject & Rebuke Immorality, Shine as Lights! • In this dark evil world, the light brightly shines: goodness, righteousness, & truth! • Light exposes evil as evil, & calls for repentance • False values &morals imposed by false mantras: cannot legislate values & morals, no one harmed, right to privacy, & pluralism

  48. Making Sex an Idol

  49. THE THREAT OF PORNOGRAPHY: Making Sex an Idol III. Eph. 5:1-21 Walk in Love in Sex-Saturated Society D. The Life Guided by the Holy Spirit • Vv. 15-21 Life praising God & serving others

More Related