September 14
“For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” (Ephesians 5:5)
When you view pornography and lust after women (or men), is that not coveting them in your heart? Based on this verse, doesn’t that make you an idolater, then? I believe viewing pornography is not too far from modern day idolatry – idol worship. Am I far off on this? Is not the viewer of pornography greedily seeking something other than God to fill the void in his or her heart and giving their life energy and devotion to it? Have they not elevated their own fleshly passions and stimulation to the point of some kind of god? Do they not bow down to it in their hearts and serve it? Are they not affectionately attached and enslaved to it? Are they not far more excited about sneaking away to view porn than they are spending time with God in His word? Of course they are, because we cannot serve demons and God. We cannot be indulging immoral, evil lusts and worship in the Spirit at the same time. This is impossible.
Do we not become like the idols we worship? (Psalm 115:8) Does not the pornography viewer become dull in mind and heart, uninterested in the things of God, unconcerned about others, even unconcerned about what might happen to his family or even him or herself? Don’t they become infatuated with the flesh and fleshly stimulation, by more and more perverse means, means far outside of God’s wonderful original design?
Think also about how often Israel provoked God with their idolatry. The phrase “he did evil in the sight of the Lord” or something like that occurs over and over and over again in the Old Testament. It was frequently idol worship that prompted that phrase to be used. Kings were judged by whether or not they removed the idols from the land of Israel; that was the defining characteristic of good kings, they removed the idols and they worshiped God.
How are you doing removing the idols of pornography and immoral images from your eyes and from your mind? Do you refuse to allow these things into your mind, or do you secretly make provision for them and look forward to indulging your fleshly desires with such stimulations? If you knew that God viewed these things as idols that made you stumble, would you be like the good kings of Israel and remove them thoroughly from you, or would you be like the evil kings that made others stumble with their idol worshiping sins?
Brothers and sisters, let us turn away from idols and the things that provoke God to wrath. Let us not be deceived along with the world and let Satan fill our minds with immoral images and thoughts and ideas, by which he will torment the Christian for years to come. Do not think lightly of these immoral evils but know for certain that God will judge you and give you a just recompense for everything you do. Viewing pornography is idolatry.