Now, this is our series on the truly Christian marriage, and in doing so, we are in a section in which we've talked about God's perspective on sex, as well as God's parameters regarding sex. And now, we want to look today at the plague of pornography. You know, I've touched on this briefly over the years, but I've never devoted a message specifically to this. As you will see today, this is a serious, serious problem. A plaguing problem. Not only in the lives of many unbelievers, but in the lives of even many believers in Christ. And it could be a problem in your life. And so let me invite you to take your Bibles with me and open them to the book of Matthew. Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. Now, keep in mind that in New Testament times, they did not have televisions. They did not have the Internet. They did not have computers. They did not have the printing press. And therefore, they did not have accessibility to some of the means of communication that we have today that has created a serious problem with pornography. And yet, that is not to say that the Word of God has nothing to say on this issue. For in Matthew chapter 5, and what is called in chapters 5, 6, and 7, the Sermon on the Mount, written specifically with the principles of Christ's kingdom in view, it is kingdom oriented, it is not directly church truth, and yet, by virtue of the fact that it communicates transferable, permanent, biblical principles that are true in every dispensation. There are truths that we can draw out of the Sermon on the Mount with a church-age perspective in order to intersect with principles that apply for us today. And that is why the Schofield Bible indicates that while the Sermon on the Mount sets forth the principles of Christ's kingdom and is law-oriented, nevertheless it has moral principles that apply to us today. And we see this in Matthew chapter 5 about the problem of unbridled sexual lust. In Matthew chapter 5 we begin in verse 27. The Lord Jesus is speaking and He says, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not commit adultery. Now, this was the sixth commandment. This was very clear. This was part of the law. They knew this. And remember that when it comes to the Sermon on the Mount that was spoken to the disciples, it was set in contrast to the thinking of the Pharisees who were big on the external but were miserable and failing on the internal. And as a result, it says, you shall not commit adultery. And at this point, they're all saying, yes, yes, yes, we agree. Verse 28, but I say to you, and the word I is emphatic in the Greek text. I as an authority, in fact, I as the very Son of God wants to clarify this issue. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart. In other words, just because you have not done the external action does not mean you haven't committed the internal sin. Verse 29, if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Cast it from you. For it is more profitable for you than one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you, for it is more profitable for you than one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. Now, as we begin examining this passage of Scripture, we see The Lord Jesus in verse 28 saying, But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If you think of this problem of unbridled lust, who does this apply to? And the phrase that is used here is the word whoever. And in the context, Jesus Christ is referring to a man. who looks at a woman, though this truth is not limited to men and is actually applicable to all. And as you see the stats on pornography, you're going to see that there is a certain percentage of women that struggle with this problem just like men, though the percentage with men is much greater. A second thing we see in this verse, 28, but I say to you that whoever looks at a woman, What bodily sense does this especially involve? The word looks refers to the act of seeing with your eyes. It's through the eye gate that one looks at a woman to lust after her. And that is why we even teach the kids in vacation Bible school, be careful little eyes what you see, because we recognize that one can be tempted via the eye gate. Now, what is also interesting to note is that the word looks is in the present tense. It's speaking of something that's repeated. It's not talking about an incidental or inadvertent glance that you just didn't really have this thought in your mind and you just saw something, saw a woman, maybe scantily clothed, or something popped up on your computer. Not something you chose, in this case. And by the way, do you have a choice in this matter? And the answer is yes, for the word looks is in the active voice. In this case, you chose to look. Now, we're going to address two things when it comes to this. One, the case where you're tempted and you weren't choosing that, but it came to you, versus what the Lord Jesus is going to say here about you're looking because something already has been chosen in your heart. We're going to have to look at both sides of this issue. Now, what is the purpose of this looking? But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her, And the word lust here is the Greek word epithumeo. It means to lust or desire, and in this context, sexually. Now, keep in mind, sexual desire in itself is not wrong. We are made that way with hormonal changes that happen in puberty by virtue of the fact that God biologically wired us that way. The problem is not with having sexual desire, but how that desire is fulfilled and handled in our lives. Now, according to this verse, who is the object of this looking and lust? But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her. Now, we also know that in light of the perversion of our society and the degradation that transpires when righteous standards are not upheld and when people cave into their flesh, that we have a problem of homosexuality and lesbianism as well, which Romans chapter 1 directly addresses that which is unnatural, that which is not biological, that which is behavioral, that which is sin and even deserving of death. But in this context, he's talking about a man looking at a woman. And what motivates this ongoing looking and lusting at this woman? But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." In other words, something's already happened in the heart that causes him to look. Now again, we recognize it can be the other way around, as we'll see in James in a moment. But in this case, he's looking because he's already lusting. He's not lusting because he's looked. In other words, he goes to the porn site because he's already lusty. He goes to the scantily clad beach because he's already lusty. He goes into the adult bookstore because he's already lusty. And you know what is amazing is whoever looks at a woman to lust for her, in those days they dressed very modestly, almost like Islamic people today, Islamic women. There's not a lot to see. Because they're so close. And yet, this still is an issue. Now that is not to suggest that you shouldn't dress modestly. You should. And you should not, women, unnecessarily provoke men sexually by how you dress. But this is still an issue for men, according to the Lord Jesus, even when one was dressed very modestly. And it is particularly a man problem, though, again, it's not limited to that. Now, what does Jesus label this sin? I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery. It's the aorist active indicative of moquetto. It means to commit adultery, in this case, by choice. It's active voice. You choose to do this. What's really nice is as a new believer in Christ, you do have other choices. And the Lord says, though you actually haven't committed the act of sexual intercourse, you've done it already in your heart, you're lusting for that reason, you're fantasizing, you're undressing, you're involved sexually with that individual in your mind and in your heart. And He says, That individual has already committed adultery with her and the word already means already or means now. This is what's motivating the looking in this case. And let me just say that this is a serious, serious problem in our day. Never in the history of mankind can you, in a sense, indulge all the lusts of your flesh with a click of a mouse, a computer mouse, and go in almost any direction you want to go in almost any area of your life. And it's right there in living color. Now, where did this sin originate, does the Lord Jesus say? But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. That's where it originated. It's the heart. The eyes are a factor, but the heart is the problem. It's what the Lord Jesus would also say in Matthew 7. It's not what goes into a man that defiles a man. It's what comes out from the heart. And we know according to Jeremiah 17, the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know? Unless we're all born with a sin nature and a heart that is deceitful and desperately wicked, and unfortunately when we get saved, Though we get a new nature and we get the Holy Spirit, that sin nature is still there. And those patterns and grooves that have been developed over time don't immediately go away. And when we fail to walk in the Spirit, we can go back to those very things like 2 Peter says, a dog returning to its vomit. Now what can one do to prevent sin? Well, address your heart and don't make provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust. And remember here in the Sermon on the Mount, being kingdom-oriented and not church, age, grace, truth first and foremost, there's no mention of your position in Christ. There's no mention of the power of the Holy Spirit. There's no mention of the cross. There's no mention of the resurrection even. This is kingdom principles. We're going to find that in the epistles. We find the problem addressed, and we see it's a heart problem, but we're not really going to find the solution we really need, but we are going to see some indication of how to address the problem as we look at verse 29. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, cast it from you. For it is more profitable for you than one of your members perish, then your whole body be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off, cast it from you. It is more profitable for you than one of your members perish, then your whole body be cast into hell." In other words, what he's saying here is take this seriously and take dramatic action that's necessary in order to address it. Now, he's not saying literally pluck out your eye and cut off your hand. I mean, if that was the case and we took this literally, there'd be a lot of believers walking around minus at least one eye. Then you could be a left eye luster instead of a right eye. I mean, obviously that's not what he's saying here. What he's saying here is address your heart and don't make provision for the flesh because it's through the eye that you, again, have that provision made. Now go with me next to the book of James. I want to hit the other side of this for a moment. And I look at some solution to this before we go into the stats and such about pornography. In James chapter one. We have a little different. Issue being addressed here. The Lord Jesus said the person was looking to lust after her because he's already committed adultery with her. But what about the inadvertent glance? What about the accidental? What about when you come walking along? What about when you see someone in some kind of situation and you're tempted? Well, in James chapter 1, we read in verse 13, Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God. I want you to know God never tempts you. He tests you for good. He never tempts you as a solicitation to evil. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, he gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren." Now he says here, each man is tempted when he's drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Now the idea here is of a hunting or a fishing kind of situation. We will let this represent a hook, you know, the end of a line, a pole here. as some of you were involved. And no one throws out a hook without some kind of bait on it. Well, you might. You're never going to catch anything. You might snag something if you're really on a good day, but you hide this with some kind of bait. And this bait is designed to attract this fishy, you know. I never knew how to do fish. Here, we'll go like this. This looks better. Okay. Okay. To this. And in the same way, we are tempted when we are drawn away by our own desires. We're drawn away from the outside by our own desires inside and enticed. Now, you know, if I were to put a dollar, let's say a ten dollar bill up on the stage right here today and walked away, some of you wouldn't think twice. You'd never take that thing. That just isn't your area of weakness in your flesh. You just wouldn't do it. Or some of you, you know, you might take it before I'm out of the door. In fact, we had a guest speaker once here who put his wallet down on the stage and someone stole it, right here, two or three years ago. Fortunately, he didn't have any money in it, per se, But it happened. And in the same way, what he's saying here is, to be tempted is not sin. Temptation yielded to a sin. And he moves from hunting terms into verse 15 to medical terms. When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. So you've got, when it comes to conception, you've got two things going. You've got to have an egg and you have to have a sperm. You don't have an egg and a sperm, and guess what? You're not going to have a conception. Now sometimes we know, in some cases, there's double eggs. You get a double egg and you get sperm that you know that you can have twins. And as I said before, this is the reason why Men have such a lousy sense of direction. It's because it's a biological thing. It takes about two million sperm to find one egg. It's just biological. Now, it says here that when lust hath conceived, and so you've got desire on the one hand. We'll put desire here. You have the temptation here. You've got a temptation. It comes along and you have your desire, or I should say your volition here. Let's just get this right here. You've got a desire. You see something, for example, that's tempting to you. And now you have a choice to make. And if you yield to your flesh and you make that choice, you've got conception. You've got the beginning of sin. And sin, when it's finished, brings forth death. And in this context, death It's talking about temporal death. In other words, living a life as a believer out of fellowship with the Lord. In some cases, like a hell-like existence. And verse 16 says, Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Literally, stop being deceived about the effects of temptation and stop being deceived about the effects of sin when you yield to temptation. Now, it doesn't say that Jesus Christ is going to give you victory over temptation. What it says is Jesus Christ is going to give you victory over sin. Because we are still tempted. And guys are tempted in this area. That is normal. That is not abnormal. The question is, will lust be conceived or not? Will volition line up with desire or not? So that sin is result. So here's a case, a little different than the Lord Jesus' in Matthew 5, in which the person perhaps sees something and there's some desire that's there, but will their volition go along with it? Will they look again? Will they yield to this? And then commit adultery. So it can go both ways. Now go with me if you would to Romans chapter 6. Now, it is so good to know that as a believer in Jesus Christ, if indeed you are today, that God is providing not only salvation from sin's penalty so that you know you're going to heaven instead of hell, but He has provided salvation from sin's power for you as you await the day that one day you'll be saved from sin's very presence when you go to be with the Lord. And in Romans chapter 6 verse 1 we read, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? We died to sin. Now death speaks of separation. Sin here has a definite article in front of it, the sin. In other words, we died to the sin nature. Now immediately you might ask, well, when did I die to the sin nature? Well, verse 3 answers, or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Now, it's not talking here about water baptism. It's talking about being baptized by the Spirit into Christ. In other words, when you were saved, the Holy Spirit took you and he crucified you with Christ. Spiritually speaking, he buried you with Christ. And you were raised with Christ, a new creation in Christ. What was true of Christ now has become true of you as you are in Him. And in doing so, you have died to sin. And you now are alive to God. Now, before you were saved, it was the other way around. You were alive to sin and you were dead to God. Now, what's changed? What's changed? Has sin changed? No. Has God changed? No. What's changed? Your relationship to God and your relationship to sin. So, verse 6 goes on to say, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin, for he who has died has been freed from, literally, the sin, the sin nature. Now, you've seen this before, but it bears repeating. Allow this box to represent your body. Inside of this box, there is a soul, the real you, where there's mentality, emotion, volition, and conscience. You also were born with a human spirit, but the human spirit was dead, in the sense that it was separated from God. It showed you there was a God, but there was no plug-in, as it were, no relationship That's why you need to be born again. You're also born with a sin nature that naturally puts me first. And this manifests itself on the positive side in human good, which is like a filthy rag, and the negative side, which speaks as far as overt sins are concerned. Before we were saved, the sin nature was our master and worked in collusion with the world system whose God is the devil. Now, by virtue of the fact that we were unsaved, unregenerate, we did not have the spiritual resources nor position in Christ in order to have victory over the world. Therefore, we were in just some form of bondage, either to human good by way of legalism or by way of mysticism, or we were involved in some form of license. But in every case, it's bondage before we're saved. But by virtue of our new position in Christ and his accomplishment on the cross when he died for our sins as well as for our sin nature, God has provided through the cross victory so that the cross now has separated us from that which previously was our master. The human spirit has been regenerated, so you're born again. You have a new nature that has desires for God you never had before, along with the Holy Spirit, who can not only teach you the Word of God, show you more about Jesus Christ, and your blessings in Him, so that you can build up divine viewpoint in your thinking to replace the human viewpoint that's been built up. But through the Holy Spirit, there can be the fruit of the Spirit produced in your life, as well as divine good, things that bring honor and glory to the Lord. As you reckon this to be true, yield yourself to the Lord in order to obey what He says. And that's why verse 11 goes on to say, Likewise, you also reckon yourself to be dead indeed to literally the sin, the sin nature, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. You see, the sin nature is still there, but you're no longer legally a slave to it. You have a choice now. And the Lord Jesus Christ is your new Lord. And thus you are to, verse 12, Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in its love." Sin wants to reign as a king in your body. And by the way, when one is enslaved to pornography, indeed, that is the case. The sin nature is reigning as a king in their body. Now, the whole implication of that statement is, one, you have a sin nature. Number two, that sin nature wants to reign. Number three, you can allow that to happen, though you don't need to. That is why verse 13 goes on to say, therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourself to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Why? For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you're not under law but under grace. And so what he's saying here is, you need to know these truths, and this is where some believers break down, they don't know it. Secondly, you're to reckon or believe these things to be true, so as to yield yourself to the Lord in order for obedience to result in your life. Now that same appeal is made also in verse 19. It says, I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you, before you were saved, presented your members as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were, before you were saved, slaves of the sin nature, you were free from one thing in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in those things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now, having been set free from the sin nature due to your position in Christ, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness in the end. Guess what? It's everlasting life. And so, again, the appeal is made to yield. Now, go to Romans 12 for a moment. Romans 12. And it's like Paul having addressed in Romans 7, powerless sanctification, and Romans 8, powerful sanctification through the Holy Spirit, picks it up in chapter 12, verse 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present, same word, same voice, same tense as Romans 6. You present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And so here we're encouraged to present ourselves to the Lord. Now, let me just show practically how this works. When you are tempted, immediately you can recognize, you know, I'm dead to the sin nature. I'm alive to God. I don't need to yield to this temptation here. But I do not have the strength in myself. Thank you for the cross. Thank you that I'm reckoning myself dead to the sin nature, alive to you right now. I'm presenting myself to you, Lord, to be empowered by the Holy Spirit and enabled by Him to have victory here." And indeed, He gives you the victory. Now, the Word of God comes into play in this as well. Verse 2, do not be conformed to this world. which is constantly bombarding you with sexual messages, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, occupying your mind with the Lord and His Word, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And this is where the intake of the Word of God on a regular basis, on the launching pad of your thinking, is so essential. You're going to have victory over sin by means of the Lord. And so we see here the problem of unbridled lust. We see the difference between temptation and sin. And we see that for the believer, in light of their position in Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit and the perspective and promises of the Word of God, that we can be transformed and we can have victory over sin in our life. Even the plague of pornography. And again, as I stated earlier, it is a plague. What are the stats? There's more stats here than you'll be able to write down, so you might just want to listen closely because it is an enormous problem. Every second, 3,000. And $75 is being spent on pornography. I'm not talking about every minute, every second. Every second, 28,258 internet users are viewing pornography. These stats are, I think, a couple years old. Every 39 minutes, a new pornographic video is being created in the United States. The pornography industry has larger revenues than Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple, and Netflix combined. A survey on porn use of 1,351 pastors showed that 54% had viewed internet pornography within the last year, and 30% of these had visited within the last 30 days. In 2000 Christianity Today survey, 33% of clergy admitted to having visited a sexually explicit website. 53% had visited such sites a few times in the past year. And 18% visit sexually explicit sites between a couple of times a month and more than once a week. And so we see that this is a widespread problem. In a survey of over 500 Christian men at a men's retreat, over 90% admitted that they were feeling disconnected from God because lust, porn, or fantasy had gained a foothold in their lives. 70% of Christians admitted to struggling with porn in their daily lives. 50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women were addicted to pornography. Now, I understand that the word Christian might be used loosely here, but you still see the problem. 20% of the church-going female participants struggle with looking at pornography on an ongoing basis. 9.4 million women access adult websites every month. 34% of female readers of Today's Christian Woman online newsletters admitted to intentionally accessing internet porn in a recent poll. 29% of born-again adults in the United States feel it is morally acceptable to view movies with explicit sexual behavior. 57% of pastors say that addiction to pornography is the most sexually damaging issue to their congregation. Now, I'm saying all of this just to show you this is a real, real problem. We're talking about a plague here. And that's why I use the term plague. In fact, Nearly 900 theaters show X-rated films, and more than 15,000 adult bookstores and video stores offer pornographic material outnumbering McDonald's restaurants in the United States by a margin of at least three to one. Each year, nearly 100 full-length pornographic films provide estimated annual box office sales of 50 million. Approximately 70% of the pornographic magazines sold eventually end up in the hands of minors. And about 1.2 million children are annually exploited through child pornography and prostitution. And then some people actually think the world's getting to be a better place to live. And that the solution is education or something else. Now, having seen the stats, who does it involve? This plague of Purnima, who does it involve? I think the better question is who doesn't it involve? Who doesn't it involve? It involves sometimes kids, teenagers, college age, adults. It involves men and women. It involves saved and unsaved. In fact, I was at a missionary forum in Florida two years ago. A pastor's forum put on by a missionary organization. And one of the sessions was devoted to the problem of pornography on the mission field. Because missionaries out there on the field have just usually them and their wife, maybe another couple and a computer in order to do language translation, emails, da, da, da, da, da. And they're experiencing an increased problem with pornography on the mission field. Well, when does it begin? Well, oftentimes quite young and usually for sure by college age. If you talk to men, a lot of times they will say they were exposed quite young to this from a brother or a friend. They went over to a friend's house and his dad had books or films or whatever, and now it's just using the Internet. What does it include? It usually includes masturbation in some fashion. And that's why the passage in Matthew is so appropriate because, again, there's an adultery committed in the heart in this case. In fact, according to those stats, thinking of who is affected and how early, nine out of ten children aged between ages of eight and 16 have viewed pornography on the Internet. 9 out of 10. 8 to 16. The average age of first internet exposure to pornography, 11 years old. Youth with significant exposure to sexuality in the media were shown to be significantly more likely to have had intercourse at ages 14 to 16. From the U.S. Department of Justice, never before in the history of telecommunications media in the United States has so much indecent and obscene material been so easily accessible by so many minors in so many American homes with so few restrictions. And so we see here, It's very problematic again. How can it affect your life and marriage? How can it affect your life and marriage? And the stuff I found was just amazing about this. And these weren't put out by Christian organizations usually. For example, the Family Policy Institute of Washington. says regarding the family in pornography, married men who are involved in pornography feel less satisfied with their conjugal relations and less emotionally attached to their wife. Wife's notice and are upset by the difference. In other words, when a guy's involved in pornography, oftentimes sexual desire is siphoned away that should be directed towards his wife. Pornography uses a pathway to infidelity and divorce and is frequently a major factor in these family disasters. Now remember, this is the Family Policy Institute of Washington. Among couples affected by one spouse's addiction, two-thirds experience a loss of interest in sexual intercourse. Both spouses perceive pornography viewing as tantamount to infidelity. Pornography viewing leads to a loss of interest in good family relations. The family Policy Institute goes on to say about the individual in pornography, pornography is addictive and neuroscientists are beginning to map the biological substrate of this addiction. Users tend to become desensitized to the type of pornography they use, become bored with it, the flesh is never satisfied, and then seek more perverse forms of pornography. Many view pornography regularly have a higher tolerance for abnormal sexuality, including rape, sexual aggression, and sexual promiscuity. Prolonged consumption of pornography by men produces stronger notions as women, as commodities, or as sex objects. By the way, you know when the Lord Jesus said, whoever looks at a woman to lust after her, You know, in so many cases, it doesn't matter who the woman is. It's a body that the man's looking at, not the person beneath it. And that's set forth here as well. Pornography engenders greater sexual permissiveness, which in turn leads to greater risk of out-of-wedlock births and STDs. These in turn lead to still more weaknesses and debilities. Child sex offenders are more likely to view pornography regularly or be involved in its distribution. Family Policy Institute went on to say other effects of pornography. Many adolescents who view pornography Initially feel ashamed. Diminish self-confidence and sexual uncertainty, but these feelings quickly shift to unadulterated enjoyment with regular viewing. Goes on to say the presence of sexually oriented businesses significantly harms the surrounding community, leading to increases in crime and decreases in property values. It's kind of interesting, some quotes here. Psychologist Edward Donnerstein of the University of Wisconsin found that brief exposure to violent forms of pornography can lead to antisocial attitudes and behavior. Male viewers tend to be more aggressive towards women, less responsive to pain and suffering of rape victims, and more willing to accept various myths about rape. Dr. Dolph Zimmerman and Dr. Jennings Bryan showed that continued exposure to pornography had serious adverse effects on beliefs about sexuality in general and an attitude towards women in particular. They also found that pornography desensitizes people to rape as a criminal offense. These researchers also found that massive exposure to pornography encourages a desire for increasingly deviant materials, which involves violence like sadomasochism and rape. Feminist author Diana Russell notes in her book, Rape and Marriage, the correlation between deviant behavior, including abuse, and pornography. She also found that pornography leads men and women to experience conflict, suffering, and sexual dissatisfaction. And researcher Victor Klein, University of Utah, has documented in his research how men become addicted to pornographic materials, begin to desire more explicit or deviant material, and end up acting out what they have seen. In fact, jumping ahead here, Michigan State Police Detective Daryl Polk. found that of the 38,000 sexual assault cases in Michigan from 1956 to 1979, in 41% of the cases, pornographic material was viewed just prior to or during the crime. This agrees with research done by psychotherapist David Scott, who found that half the rapists studied used pornography to arouse themselves immediately prior to seeking out a victim. The final report of the 1986 Attorney General's Commission on Pornography lists a full chapter of testimony from victims whose assailants had previously viewed pornographic materials. The adverse effects ranged from physical harm, rape, torture, murder, sexually transmitted disease, to psychological harm, suicidal thought, fear, shame, nightmares. How can it affect your life in marriage? You know, dear friends, pornography attacks the dignity of men and women, creating the image of God. It also distorts God's gift of sex, which should be shared only within the bounds of marriage. And it frequently promotes sexual perversion and addiction, which is condemned by God. And it can become very, very addicting. And you know, I've had to talk to men over the years that have struggled with this issue. It can become an addiction. And there's a lot of evidence to support this. And it can have devastating effects on one's marriage and one's family. And so from this, we can see what the problem is. We can see it's a serious problem. We can see the Bible addresses this. We can see that there is victory available over it. And this is where I want to end today. in light of what we've seen. Because to address this problem and not, again, explain the spiritual victory available would be very problematic. How is spiritual victory possible over this? And I've covered this recently in 1 Corinthians 6. We looked at the carnal believer in license, point three. But let me just touch on this again. To have spiritual victory over sin, period, but in this sin particularly, in the context of 1 Corinthians 6, did involve porneia, sexual sin. You need to realize your new position or identity in Christ and that you have been legally freed from the sin nature's right to rule and your life as you are alive and set apart unto God in Christ. And that's what we saw in Romans 6. And you need to go back to that time and time again. The sin nature is there. The world is there. But you know what? I'm a new creation in Christ. And the cross can keep at bay the sin nature. And only the cross. You know, you've heard the story that inside of you, you have a white dog and you have a black dog. And the white dog is the new nature and the black dog is the sin nature. Which one wins? The one you feed. Well, that's only a half truth. Because you can try to starve that sin nature out, but I'll tell you, it's still there. And apart from reckoning yourself dead to sin and alive to God, you're still going to fail. Now, that's not to suggest that you don't need to feed your mind the right things, and that's point number B. You need to rebuff wrong perspectives in your thinking by the regular renewing of the Word of God in your life. You know, when Nazi Germany lost on the Russian front in World War II, it's because they got so spread out that the Russians backtracked and cut off the food supply, and the Russian winter did the rest. And in the same way, when we quit feeding our souls the Word of God, when we keep loose focus of what the Lord has done and provided for us, We start to just fall right back, and the Russian winter of the sin nature just seems to regain the foothold in our life that it had. Thirdly, you need to recognize the seriousness of sexual sin so as to flee from it by relying on the Lord for victory. 1 Corinthians 6.18 says fleeing sexual immorality. And you're going to need to flee pornography. You're going to have to do what's needed. You might have to get rid of your computer. The problem with it is that if you get rid of your computer, you can always go to a library and find something somewhere else or buy another one or do something because you still have that internal problem you're going to have to address. You need to flee from it. I'm going to mention a couple of programs today that could help you in that area. Furthermore, you need to remember that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and that It is only by His power that practical victory can be enjoyed. It's not a matter of just gritting your teeth and saying, I'm going to have to have victory over pornography. That's not it. It's realizing, you know, I can't have victory in myself. But I'm dead to sin and I'm alive to God and I yield myself to Him and occupy my mind with His Word and I know as I rely on the Lord, the power of the Holy Spirit is there to walk in the Spirit so I won't fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Now, sometimes you need motivation for that. I pointed out in 1 Corinthians 6 that you need to recognize that you've been bought by the blood of Christ, which provides for you great motivation and impetus for a godly walk as it points you back to Calvary. Do you not know that you've been bought at a price? Start to think about what the Lord has done for you, what He's provided for you, the sacrifice He has made And let the love of Christ motivate you to live for Him who died for you. And lastly, you need to face the reality of your sexual desires and address them through getting married in the will of God and being sexually satisfied in your marriage. And that's why right on the heels of 1 Corinthians 6, it's 1 Corinthians 7 that gives those very instructions. But, you know, Romans 13 verse 14 says, But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and don't make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. And in some practical ways, you need to put up safeguards. I mean, even alcoholics anonymous know that if you want to have victory over drunkenness, you don't get an apartment above a bar. And in the same way, you need to take precautions as well. Now, what are some practical preventers one can utilize for you or your family? Well, there are some software programs out there to block pornography. The one that we've had installed in our computers is called Safe Eyes. And it's kind of interesting how a lot of these software programs all have the word eyes in there. And it kind of reminds me of what 2 Peter 2 says about false teachers having eyes full of adultery. Eyes again, safe eyes. But there's also one called covenant eyes in which there's a certain amount of accountability beyond safe eyes that a lot of people have found helpful. But you know, in doing this, you're blocking these sites for your kids. So that they don't inadvertently go there, or maybe intentionally go there. And by the way, you kind of get what you pay for when it comes to these things. And sometimes your kids are more computer savvy than you are. You can hardly turn the thing on while they're buzzing all over the world. But that doesn't mean you can't find someone to help you install these programs. You can buy these right online, usually. SafeEyes, I think, was $50. and can be put on three computers, 50 bucks a year, and yet it's worth the investment. And so there are some practical things you can do as well. Now I went quickly today. You may want to get this tape and re-listen to it again. And yet, I hope that you can see that one, this is a serious problem. Two, it involves sexual sin. Number three, there is spiritual deliverance provided by God's grace. Number four, there is some practical help available to you out there. There is great motivation, great enablement, great power available through the grace of God. And yet, it's something that you must address in your life because it's not going away and can so adversely affect you. You know, just the hearts of some that I've dealt with over the years and the pain this can be in their marriage. in their own lives, the plague that it is. Oh, would to God they would avail themselves to the grace of God. And some have, and there's been victory by the grace of God. Let's pray. Father, thank You again that when Christ died, He died for every sin. And that on that cross not only died for our sins, but the wonderful truth of identification is that we died with him as well. so that the sin nature's right to rule in our life has been broken. We were buried with Christ and raised a new creation in Christ in order to walk in newness of life to the power of the Holy Spirit in a way different than before we were saved. And that all the assets to do this are available to us, to be appropriated by us moment by moment as we yield to you and walk by faith so that the Spirit of God can produce victory in our life and obedience to your will as a byproduct. Thank you, Father, also for 1 John 1 9, that when we do sin, you are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness when we confess them to you. And Father, I just pray for anyone here who is plagued. with pornography. I pray that you would show them that their only hope is in Christ. And in learning the Word and appropriating these wonderful blessings in Christ and the victory that is already ours in Him. For parents, give them much wisdom with their children in these areas. Not only to give them the right perspective, but also, Father, to even prevent things unnecessarily in their life. So, Father, I just pray for this. And thank You again, in Jesus' name, Amen.