Every year in February, I like to open a window on the world of love and romance. This year, I want to speak with you about what I believe to be the single greatest threat to romantic love in America today and possibly in human history. I refer, of course, to the ready availability of Internet pornography. Nearly ten years ago, before Tenth Church had a website or I had my own email address, Remember those happy days? I warned this congregation in one of my very first Windows on the World that the Internet would make pornography pervasive. And now we are living in a depraved new world in which sexually explicit material is the most common and most financially profitable content available on the Internet. Sexual chat rooms abound. enabling people to commit virtual adultery with an almost infinite number of partners in the privacy of their own homes and offices. Has sin ever been so simple? Pornography is one of the largest industries in America. And the more people are exposed to it, the more pornographic our mainstream media becomes. Once regarded as a shameful sin, porn has become the norm. Pornography diminishes our capacity for the human relationships that God wants us to share for His glory. Sexual intimacy is designed to serve as the covenant cement that binds one woman to one man in a love relationship for life. But when our sexual experience is privatized through pornography, we treat sex as a means of selfish gratification rather than a joy to be shared With the man or the woman God has called us to love. When a single person uses pornography, it stifles the growth of selfless love and thus makes it increasingly difficult to have other centered relationships that build up the church and may lead to marriage. When a married person uses pornography, it defiles the marriage bed. It darkens the flame of romance and destroys the partnership of prayer. But these, of course, are not the only problems with pornography. It is a secret sin and therefore it isolates us from the spiritual community we need to grow in grace. It is a visual sin and therefore violates Christ's command not to look at someone with lust in our hearts. And since it is often accompanied with masturbation, it is an intensely physical sin and therefore more easily gains addictive control. Unless this sin is mortified. That is to say, unless it is put to death, it will only intensify. Pornography makes greater and greater demands until finally it becomes a life-dominating sin. As one of the Puritans said, sexual pictures secretly convey poison to the soul. And now this poison is only a mouse click away, a click that may eventually lead a man or a woman straight to hell. What is God's plan for putting pornography to death? It is good for us to know, whether for our own personal growth and sanctification or in our ministry to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Pastor George Scipione says at least six things are needed in any effective spiritual strategy for dealing with this sexual sin. Although, as you'll notice, they're actually the six things that are needed for dealing really with any form of sin. The first is regeneration or the new birth. This is essential to everything else. Unless we are born again, we do not have the Holy Spirit living in us and we will ultimately be powerless in our struggle against sin. But when the Spirit of God is alive in us, we can begin to grow in godliness. Walk by the Spirit, the scripture says, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Second is renewed repentance and faith. You know, when people feel guilty, particularly Christians, sometimes it is all that we can do to drag ourselves back to God. But what God invites us to do is to run straight back to the cross, believing that because Jesus died for our sins, we are fully forgiven, forgiven for as many sins as we have sinned. The third part of an effective strategy for dealing with sexual sin is a renewed mind. This is always God's plan for spiritual change, a transformed mind that leads to a transformed life. This mind may be fed by reading good Christian literature on whatever subject is of spiritual concern, but fundamentally it is formed by feeding on the very word of God. The fourth part is renewed obedience. It's not just our thinking that needs to change, but the way that we live. And this means replacing old habits of lustful sin with new habits of purity before God. Among other things, this means being wise about when and where we use various forms of electronic communication. If you can't be trusted not to look at sexual images, don't watch television when you're alone. Keep your office door open. Do whatever it takes to limit the temptation to sin. The fifth part. is regular use of the regular means of grace. Some people always seem to be looking for some special method that will guarantee spiritual change. You know, the only means that God has given us for spiritual growth are the ordinary means of the word, the sacraments and prayer. If you want to make progress in a struggle with sexual sin or any other sin for that matter, spend more time reading your Bible. Sit under the faithful preaching of the gospel. Receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper by faith. Pray daily for Christ to take control of your thoughts and actions. And then the sixth part is regular reporting to responsible shepherds. We are not designed to grow in godliness by ourselves, but only in community with other Christians. And when we are struggling with sin, particularly any form of addictive sin, we need to share our struggle in the church. Do not be afraid. A good brother or sister will not condemn you, but encourage you in the mercy of Christ. And when the struggle is intense, you may need daily or at least weekly accountability from a close Christian friend. In addition, it is always wise to make sure that a pastor or elder is aware of your situation for the purpose of prayer. And then, too, many Christians find it helpful to meet with a counselor trained to help people who are in bondage to sexual sin. Good places to find this help here in Philadelphia include Harvest USA and the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation. I tell you that anyone who does these things by faith will experience the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. And I also tell you that anyone who is involved with pornography and decides not to do these things is only pursuing his or her own destruction.