We continue our series on Warning Signs for Christians today…Shut the Front Door! Part 4…Pornography, Adultery & Fornication. Who in the world would want to tackle this one??? I looked around for guest writers but no one was raising their hand! So here we go!  I loved the interaction yesterday. It makes it so much more interesting to have discussion. Of course I kept it short yesterday, we could have went into much detail in many ways in the scripture but time prohibits, and I don’t want to lose you or bore you! So today is a little longer…there was no good place to cut it off. Please leave your thoughts! You can catch up on the series with Part one here, Part two, and Part three.

Pornography—Pornography?!

This subject is only for the men! Oh, not so. Women need to be warned about the dangers of this modern-day trick of the enemy just as much as men do. “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5 NIV.

• 18% of college women are spending time online for sexual purposes.
• 56% of divorce cases involve one party who is obsessed or addicted to pornography.
• Christians watch it too! Those who identify themselves as fundamentalists are 91% more likely to look at pornography.
• 50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women say they are addicted to pornography.

Idle time on the internet can be dangerous. “Surfing” without protection on your computer is just unwise. All desktops, laptops, any devices in your home should have an internet filter to protect your computer from any unwanted images popping up. They are inexpensive, easy to install and, best of all, they work!

Secondly, all computers should be in out in the “open” in your homes as much as possible.

Now with laptops and iPads, privacy has become even easier to obtain and that is not always a good thing. If you are alone too much you might be tempted to look at things that are not godly. That is why the filter is so helpful and brings accountability.

Monitor your children! Yes, it is your business! If they are living in your home you should be aware of what they are doing on the internet, period. You do not want them to get caught in Satan’s trap of the sin of pornography. He reaches for the very, very young today and once they have been caught, the shame will follow them for years to come. He follows them with guilt and reminds them of their sin over and over again, even if they have repented, it seems they can never rid themselves of this shameful past. The images play in their head for a very long time.

You can keep that from ever happening by making sure again that there are controls on your computers, filters that protect these sinful images from popping up on your PC. It only takes a few minutes and it will save them from a lifetime of hurt.

The Lord desires for us to walk with Him with a pure heart and the way to do that is to fill our hearts and minds with things that are holy and pure. Fill your home with Christian music and things that are uplifting to God, spend time with Him each day and in His Word. Invite Him into your home and your life!

“I will walk within my house with a perfect heart…. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes…” Psalms 101:2-3.

Chat Rooms are another dangerous area that have lured many in to just talk about seemingly innocent subjects at first. Then before you know it, their new “friends” are all of a sudden their “best friends” and they confide in them more than they do their husbands, wives or family members!

It seems “safe”. They don’t know you, you can tell them anything and they won’t share your secrets. They don’t know your friends, your “circle” and surely they wouldn’t repeat it since they have no one to repeat it to!

It is especially vulnerable for teens. Pedophiles, online predators, cyber stalkers are plentiful in this arena. They strike up conversations with young people and eventually convince them to meet up. Sometimes the teenagers think they are meeting other teens! Other times they might think they have “fallen in love”. Many have been lured in this fashion to run off wit,h or even been taken, by stalkers on the internet!

It is also very addictive.

You can find yourself disconnecting from reality in no time. It is as if the rest of your life doesn’t exist any longer, you must now connect with your “new family”. This is very dangerous because eventually you will want to leave and be with this person that you have never met, know nothing about, except what they have told you…which all could be false!

Fornication, Adultery and Lust

If you struggle with lust, you must take this to prayer!

“Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:22.

Memorize this verse and repeat it every day, several times a day until you have it in your heart!

Flee youthful lusts…these come from the heart. There is something in the heart that must be dealt with. Even though we are “in Christ”, and we are filled with His spirit, we are flesh and live in a world filled with sin. These things are continually tempting us and nipping at our heels, constantly trying to trip us up.

We have to be careful where we let our mind wander, where we let our eyes wander and where we let our feet wander…

“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul…” 1 Peter 2:11 NKJV.

Men and women should not even find themselves in compromising situations with others of the opposite sex that are not their spouses. Ever. Even if you do not have any feelings toward him/her, they may be struggling with issues that you are not aware.

If you are not married, then you must take serious the saving of yourself for your future husband or wife.

Today’s society makes it so acceptable to live together before marriage and saving your virginity has become almost laughable. But there is One who still says it is important. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God…” 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 NKJV.

Sexual intimacy outside of marriage is called fornication and it is a sin.

“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man.” Matthew 15:19-20. Again, we see it is a matter of the heart.

There must be a relationship with the Savior! If you are not spending time with Him, if you do not know Him, then the enemy can creep in and start whispering in your ear that these things are okay and you will begin to justify sins.

• Everyone else is doing it.

• He will leave me if I don’t sleep with him.

• Just this once won’t matter.

Yes, friend, it does matter. God’s Word says it matters. “Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.

After your marriage, you have committed to one, it is a covenant relationship just as God’s relationship with the Church as His Bride! The Bible is very plain about stepping outside of the marriage covenant and having an intimate relationship with another, it is called adultery.

It was mentioned in the previous verses with fornication as well. “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Hebrews 13:4.

When you stood before God and an assembly of family and friends, you took an oath that stated something similar to “…til death do us part”. Words were said over the two of you that pronounced you as “One flesh”.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24 ESV.

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; …” 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 ESV.

That you know how to control your own body…and then he showed up. He pays attention to you, your husband used to look at you that way you think. But life got in the way. He is busy working two jobs to help pay the mortgage and the newer car you wanted and to put away for the kids’ college education. He is tired when he comes home at night and so are you.

If you aren’t careful, and you listen to those lies, one will lead to another and before you know it you will respond to that look he gave. That will lead to a lunch date and then you are in trouble.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10 ESV.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Latest Census Report, 2009:

• Number of marriages: 2,096,000

• Marriage rate: 6.8 per 1,000 total population

• Divorce rate: 3.6 per 1,000 population (44 reporting States and D.C.)

True, in today’s society the marriage covenant has been trampled upon. Divorce is at an all-time high. Don’t let the enemy convince you that divorce is the answer to every problem. He will tell you that the new boyfriend loves you and you love him; isn’t that what life is all about? He will whisper, “Life is too short to be unhappy.”

But if you loved one another enough to get married, and there is no abuse in the home, it can work again. Put Christ first and see Him work a miracle.

You have to resist and put a stop to it from the very beginning. The Bible is very clear about how to fight the devil! “…Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7. Resist, resist, resist. But wait, we left out something…part of that verse is missing! It seems we hear it quoted that way so often we forget the first part of it. But that is the most important section! Let’s see what it says:

“Submit yourselves therefore to God…”

Aha! That’s the key! Submission! If we submit to Him first then we will be able to resist the devil and he will have to flee from us! Makes it so much easier doesn’t it?

Especially when it comes to the subject of adultery, run; don’t walk, away from old Lucifer! He may be sly and crafty but you have the power within you, the Holy Ghost power to overcome any trick of the devil.

“He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail.” 1 Samuel 2:9 ESV.

He will guard the feet of the faithful ones. If we strive to be faithful to Him, desiring to be LIKE HIM, realizing we are not perfect but striving for perfection, we can live an overcoming life!

Join us tomorrow for Part 5 of this series on Warning Signs for Christians when we tackle GOSSIP!