The following essay, I must admit, is hard for me to write.
I don't care to dwell mentally upon some of the concepts within, especially considering
some of the lamentable mistakes of my past. It has to do with a terrible lasso
of sin that the satan uses regularly to captivate and ensnare people of all
persuasions and religions into a downward spiral in their lives.
This snare is pornography.
Pornography as it stands, is a tool of the evil one to subtly and insidiously
infiltrate the lives of people with sin, which, once surrendered to, becomes a nearly
impregnable fortress; an unassailable position from which satan is free to rain
volleys of death and destruction upon our lives.
This can even be true of Christians after they become saved, if they are not vigilant.
Each of us has specific weaknesses which we must watch out for.
Why do I use the words 'subtle' and 'insidious' when I refer to pornography?
Most people do not draw those parallels when they think of pornography.
They think of some completely audacious and mentally assaulting imagry.
Well here are my thoughts on the subject.
First, pornography almost never starts with 'hardcore' exposure.
It wasn't in my case. It isn't in most others. The notorious serial killer Ted Bundy
admitted in interviews that his string of murders could be traced back to
boyhood when he began an unhealthy obsession with pornographic material,
'softcore' at first, but progressing to more and more graphic and violent images
until he began acting out his fantasies in real life.
Now this is not always the case. I don't want anyone to mistakenly assume that
I am postulating that people who watch or read pornographic material automatically
evolve into serial killers. But what I do want to say, is that sin is never neutral.
It is never satisfied. It always promises more than it delivers. And it always destroys.
And this is especially true of sexual sin.
"While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage."
2 Peter 2:19
Once we get started down a pornographic path, our minds are quickly seared
and grow callous to the material, and we must in turn seek more and more depraved
material for us to achieve the same level of arousal.
Satan absolutely loves misusing sex. Here's why.
1.) Human beings are designed to appreciate beauty.
We are designed in the image of God. As such, we are distinctly differentiated from animals
in that we can appreciate beauty in the world around us. This includes the male and female
form(s).
If you take a fine work of abstract sculpture and introduce a tiger, for example, the tiger is not going
to walk deliberately around the sculpture a few times stroking its chin and then say,
"This is absolutely phenomenal artwork. Look at the detail this artist has put here, and here.
Obviously the person who did this was talented in the extreme."
No, the tiger will promptly walk over and defecate on the sculpture.
Why? Because it is an animal.
It does possess the mental faculties and spiritual faculties than man and woman have
been designed with to differentiate between a thing of beauty and a lump of stone.
It brings great pleasure to satan to use our own appreciation of beauty, instilled in us through
the image of God, against us, and in so doing shoot an arrow at the heart of our Creator.
2.) Human beings were designed to desire sexual intimacy.
Let's face it. We were designed to desire sex. Not simply to propogate the species,
but because it is a highly enjoyable experience.
It involves physical culmination of what is supposed to be a pre-existing emotional bond.
Something which seems lacking in most relationships these days and causes much grief.
How many relationships have you seen friends have, or had yourself,
where the entire relationship was based solely on sexual experience without any other substance.
How long has the entire affair lasted? I'm willing to hazard the guess of 'not long'.
I'm certain there are exceptions to this rule.
Sex isn't meant as a method of momentary bliss and gratification.
It was designed as symbolic unity of flesh to culminate a much deeper union of souls and minds.
This is particularly ironic, since all throughout Scripture we see a remarkable symbolism used to describe the same relationship between God and the believer and God and His church.
Once again, satan gets no shortage of kicks from throwing the entire gross misuse of sexual
conduct in God's face every chance he gets.
Pornography is critical to this equation.
It simplifies sex into an object to be pursued, not a privilege to be enjoyed as a
natural result of a deeper and more fulfilling relationship.
And our entire society and culture is constructed around this misapprehension of
sexual conduct.
Gradually, just as people are when exposed to pornographic material,
our society has grown dull and insensitive to it.
We are saturated with sexually charged innuendo and messages on the television
every day. When we read magazines. Everywhere we go. Everywhere we look.
Women are objectified into sexual objects of desire for young men to look at.
And even though less of a fuss is made about it, the same is true in reverse.
The human body is glorified beyond measure. And constant coarse humor and innuendo
in every corner of our media-permeated culture reinforce these negative values.
And in my personal opinion, any fixations, or perversion aside from this basic misuse
of sexual conduct are just offshoots of the main branch.
In my case, from a young age, I began to develop a sexual deviancy; a fixation that
I associated with sex so strongly, that it damaged my relationships later in life.
And I am sure that this is what the evil one had in mind. He's not merely content to
distort and pervert something that our wonderful Creator meant for our good.
No, his goal is to destroy you utterly. And to do that, any way he can tangle up the threads
of your mind and your basic preferences, aids him in doing so.
But praise the Lord, we can be free from the shackles of bondage through the saving grace
and power of Jesus Christ! Now I want you to understand, sex itself in the
proper context of marriage, is not a shameful deed. It's not something for you to shrivel up
in a corner and be ashamed of. It was designed by God and it was designed to be enjoyable
for a reason.
Scripture states clearly:
Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
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.
Proverbs 5:15-19 (emphasis mine)
The word for ravish here implies intoxication.
It means to reel like a drunkard, to be absolutely enraptured with or taken captive by.
Usually it is used contextually in Scripture to indicate going astray or wandering or sinning
through ignorance.
But here it used in a very positive way to reinforce what God INTENDS for marriage.
In fact, it appears to be the only time in all of Scripture that this particular Hebrew
word is used in a positive manner.
Throughout all of Scripture, even in the Song of Solomon, parallels are being drawn between
our love for the Lord Jesus as the bridegroom, and ourselves as his bride.
The church is the bride of the Lord.
So it is my firm belief, that the believer is supposed to have this
yearning and passion for the Lord we serve.
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband,
that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
II Corinthians 11:2-3
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.
He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh;
but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:25-32 (emphasis mine)
This may sound bizzare at first.
But give it some thought and examination in the Scripture, and I think you will see what
I'm saying. Many things which God created in nature, seem to be in place not just for us to enjoy,
but for our edification; they paint a clear image of a parallel in the spiritual world.
Is it mere coincedence then, that when we are in love we yearn to be with our beloved,
and just a mere touch is enough to thrill us to the core;
as compared to our relationship with Christ, how we yearn for His presence,
(He IS life and from Him all life flows abundantly), and just the mere
proximity of His presence sends our hearts bounding with joy.
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Hebrews 1:3
He is our strength. We were created for Him and meant for Him.
And to steal away and follow after false gods and commit idolatry in our lives against the Lord is considered a grievous sin to him akin to the sin of adultery against your spouse in the physical realm.
Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
Deuteronomy 5:9
Let me close then, by contrasting appropriate love,
to the seduction of an adulterous woman as layed out in Proverbs.
She goes out to the street and with many a sultry intonation, entices a young stranger with many promises of wonderful sins and that they will go unnoticed; her husband is not home.
This is the same siren call that pornography and sexual misconduct has when
it beckons, but look what Proverbs says is the end of all this:
He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter,
or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;Till a dart strike through his liver;
as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
Proverbs 7:22-27 (emphasis mine)
Stern language from the Scripture, and a highly relevant warning to all the fear the Lord.
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