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Staying
Moral in an Immoral World |
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A Pocket Paper Robert J.
Morgan A couple of weeks ago, TV Guide ran a cover story entitled “Has Network TV Gone Too Far?” focusing on the amount of sex, violence, and profanity on the tube. I wish I could read from the article, but I can’t. It’s just too lurid and very troubling. What it said basically was this: There are virtually no remaining restraints on sex, profanity, and violence on television. The floodgates are open, and it’s only going to get worse and worse. The cable stations have sunk to new depths of sleaze, and network television feels it must follow suit if it wants to maintain its share of the audience. Katrina and I have two or three programs that we videotape and watch. One has been Ed, a program about an attorney who moved back to his small hometown and opened a bowling ally. For the last two seasons, we’ve been wondering if Ed and his childhood sweetheart would get together. In this years opening episode, they did. But the success of this relationship, as it turned out, depended on how successful they could be at fornication—and that’s what the entire show was about. Ed is among the “cleaner” shows on television, and we were very disappointed by that storyline. But it brings up an important question for us. How can we stay moral in an immoral world? We live in a society that is sex-saturated. If you turn on the television or radio, if you peruse the magazines at the checkout counter, if you try to rent a video—everything is all about sex. How can God’s people remain pure? How can you develop a personal morality strong enough to withstand the seduction of this current age? Today, I’d like to tell you about a man who once saw sex in the city. This man lived long ago, but just like us he had a window on the world. His window wasn’t a television set, but a real window in a real city. And through that window he saw something that has served as a powerful lesson for the Lord’s people for 3000 years. This story is found in the Bible, in Proverbs 7. This is a longer passage than I usually read on a Sunday morning, but I think we need to hear the entire chapter. It is a remarkably relevant passage: My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman; they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words. At the window of my house I looked out through the lattice. I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who lacked judgment. He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in. Then came out a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. (She is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home; now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.) She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said: I have
fellowship offerings at home; today I fulfilled my vows. So I came out to meet you; I looked
for you and have found you! I
have covered my bed with colored linens from With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk. All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into the snare, little knowing it will cost him his life. Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say. Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths. Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death. There is a basic premise behind this chapter and it is this: Sex outside of marriage is a violation of the character and the laws of God. We don’t know if this young man is engaging in premarital sex or extramarital sex, but in either case it’s wrong. One of the Ten Commandments says: “Thou shalt not commit immorality.” Ephesians 5 says, “But among you there should not even be a hint of sexual immorality.” Sex itself isn’t bad; it’s a gift of God. But premarital sex, extramarital sex, post-marital sex, and homosexual behavior is a perversion of God’s plan and a violation of God’s holiness. The devil wants us to think that immorality is desirable, good, pleasing, pleasant, upright, and the norm for human conduct. The entertainment industry is on a vast evangelistic mission to spread that propaganda and to shape our culture accordingly. But the devil can never alter the character or the standards of a holy God. And so, as the writer of Proverbs 7 stood in the window of house and peered through the latticework, he witnessed a scene that has three storylines. Seduction The first is seduction. This young man was seduced, and it was a very powerful seduction. He was presented with a temptation so attractive and so powerful that he seemed unable to resist it. He is called in verse 7 a youth, a young man, so we would suppose that he was full of hormonal energy. Verse 13 says that a woman met him, embraced him, and passionately kissed him. Then, having ignited this masculine hormonal energy, she said to him, “Let’s go to my place.” Verse 21 says: “With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him…” The devil’s in the same business today. He wants to seduce us with immorality. How does he do it? He does it by plastering our television shows and movies with stimulating sexual images. He does it with men and women who don’t dress modestly. He does it with magazines that scream sex at us all the time. He does it by getting us too involved with a platonic friendship at work. And he does it with pornography on the internet. There was an article on this
subject this week by Paul Strand, the Everyone is
aware that it is easy to become addicted to cocaine or heroin. But how about pornography? A group of counselors and therapists
is warning this addiction may soon become an epidemic. Pornography may be the new addiction
of this new century. Researchers
are finding that when people indulge in porn, they release powerful chemicals
in their brain and body. Mark Kastleman, author of The Drug of the New
Millennium, said, “There are a growing number of therapists and
psychologists who are saying that this is as addictive as cocaine,” or
alcohol, or even heroin. He explained
that, when people view porn, “It causes the brain to release what we
call endogenous drugs or endogenous chemicals. ‘Endogenous’
meaning ‘produced from within.’ So where cocaine or alcohol seek
to mimic the brain's natural chemicals, pornography releases the real
deal.” Pornography
has always been around. But today, what once was a hidden, isolated problem,
has become a widespread crisis. What’s the reason? Blame the Internet,
because of what Kastleman calls the three A's. It's accessible, affordable, and
anonymous. And the anonymity is
the real key, especially with religious people. They can do it without anyone
knowing. So you don't stagger
around with a hangover the next day, you don't have needlemarks in your
arms." Roughly 40
million people in the (One man)
said, “I was a leader in my local church organization. I worked with
youth groups. I served in the community. And yet I had this secret
life.” (Another said)
I developed a dual lifestyle. On
one hand, we went to church every Sunday... Yet, on the other hand, I had this
addiction.” Kastleman says we live in
such a stressful time, and religious believers usually don't allow themselves
typical stress-relievers like smoking and drinking. They want to avoid these
vices and the appearance of evil.
But Internet porn is secret.
Kastleman said, “Now suddenly you have a little mouse where you
hit a button, and instantly you get this flood of brain chemicals. No one
knows you're doing it and it's completely affordable or no cost at
all.” We have never seen anything like this in
the history of the world, such a powerful tool as the internet for seducing
men and women into immorality via pornography. Is the devil seducing anyone in this
room today? Are we being seduced
by an evil and corrupt culture?
How many here are battling this temptation? It’s as old as Proverbs 7. Verse 21 says: “With persuasive words she led him
astray; she seduced him….” Destruction So there is the storyline of seduction; but the second storyline here is destruction. What began with pleasure ended horribly. This young man paid a very high price for his evening of pleasure. Look at verse 22ff: All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a
deer stepping into a noose till
an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing
it will cost him his life… Verse 27 says: “Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.” Now we don’t know what
happened to his young man. Perhaps
he caught a sexually transmitted disease that eventually took his life. Perhaps the woman’s husband
found out what had happened and it led to a fight. But more likely, what the writer is
saying here is that this young man’s immorality took him down a road
that led him away from God, away from holiness, and away from eternal
life. This young man’s
immorality put him on the broad road that leads to destruction, and right
now—3000 years later—this young man is in hell because of the
moral choices he made, beginning with that one-night stand in The Bible says: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7-8). Instruction But there is a third storyline here, too. This is not only a story of seduction and destruction, but it is one of instruction. The whole purpose of Proverbs 7 is to instruct us, to warn us, to help us avoid the tragic mistake this young man made on that long-ago evening. A careful reading of this chapter gives us three powerful weapons for staying moral in an immoral age. First, we have got to store up
God’s commandments within us.
Look at the way the chapter opens: My
son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live;
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them
on the tablet of your heart…. They will keep you from the adulteress,
from the wayward wife with her seductive words. The Scriptures are a very powerful weapon. The book of Hebrews says: “For the Word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword.” The book of Psalms says, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might now sin against Thee.” When Jesus was tempted by the devil, three times He responded with Scripture. The devil doesn’t have any tool as powerful as the pure, unbridled Word of God. And if you and I will fill our minds with the Word, we’ll have the ammunition we need to fend off the attacks of the devil. In other words, turn off that television and spend some time in personal Bible study. Forgot about renting that movie, and spend the time instead memorizing a chapter of the Bible. Starve you immoral habits and feed your soul. Burn your pornography, and bury yourself in the Bible. Second, whenever possible avoid
the temptation. Look at verse
6: At the window of my house I looked out through the lattice. I saw among the simple, I noticed
among the young men, a youth who lacked judgment. How do we know he lacked
judgment? Because of verse
8: He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the
direction of her house at twilight, as the day was fading. This young man wasn’t just an innocent victim. He was looking to be seduced. He was walking along in that direction. It might have been unconscious. Perhaps he had been fantasizing or thinking about sex, and his feet just took him in that direction. Or perhaps he very deliberately made up his mind to go into that part of town. In either case, he put himself in the line of fire. He opened himself to the temptation. He walked right into it because he lacked judgment. Recently I read about something
that happens every day in But positioned there to meet them is a welcoming committee of prostitutes and drug dealers whose only goal is to ensure them and drag them back to their previous way of living. Now that’s like you and me. When we come to Jesus Christ we’re set free from the prison of our old way of life. We take on a new identity. We’re given a new lease on life. But the world and the devil gathers around us, trying to ensnare us all over again. What do we do? We fill ourselves full of Scripture and head straight toward the bus stop, without glancing to the left or the right, without pausing, without hesitating. Here’s my question: What change do you need to make in your lifestyle that will lessen the temptation you’re under? How can you walk down another street, away from the seducer’s neighborhood? What change do you need to make in your life today? And then there is a third way
of escape in verses 24-25: Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay
attention to what I say. Do not
let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths. In other words, make up your mind that you are not going to sin against God in these ways. Make up your mind that you’re going to stay moral in an immoral age. We have to set our standards in advance, before we face the temptation. If you’re a young person here, a teenager or a college student, you need to determine in your heart that you are not going to cross certain lines of physical involvement with a member of the opposite sex. Let’s compare this young man to three other men in the Bible. Let’s compare him to Joseph. Joseph was an attractive, muscular young single man in the book of Genesis. A married woman began fantasizing over him, tempting him, teasing him, wanting to sleep with him. One day, just like the woman in Proverbs 7, she grabbed him and tried to kiss him. Joseph’s response was exactly the opposite of young man’s in Proverbs 7. He turned and fled, leaving his cloak in her hands. He realized, as Charles Spurgeon put it, “Better to lose your coat than your character.” The second young man is Daniel. He found himself in a highly immoral society, but it says that he made up his mind that he would not be defiled. We have to make up our minds in advance that we aren’t going to be defiled. You have to determine in your heart to live a clean and pure life. The third young man is Jesus Christ Himself. The Bible says that though He was tempted in all ways as we are, yet He remained without sin. I mention Christ, because it all boils down to this: You and I don’t have the strength ourselves to remain victorious. In our own strength alone, we can’t stay pure. But Jesus Christ, who never sinned and who never sins, lives within us. He can strengthen us. He can live His life through us. And in Jesus Christ we can be more than conquerors. Have you ever given Him your life? Have you received Him as your Lord and Savior. Have you received His forgiveness? No matter what you’ve done in the past, He can give you a new start and a new life. There is a tremendous battle going on. Our culture is sinking into the sewer, drowning in filth, and the devil wants to drag us along as well. But we are God’s people, and holiness becomes us. Purity is our lifestyle. The Bible says: Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Or as John put it: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and the lusts thereof. But whoever does the will of the Father in heaven lives forever.” Copyright StatementWe grant permission for any edition of The Pocket Paper to be photocopied for use in a local congregation or classroom, provided no more than 1,000 copies are made, the material is distributed free, and the copies include the notice: "Copyright (year) The Donelson Fellowship."For any other use, advance permission must be obtained from The Donelson Fellowship church office. |
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