Porn, The Idol

They are Burdensome

Isaiah 46:1-2 NASB

Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;Their images are consigned to the beasts and the cattle.The things that you carry are burdensome,A load for the weary beast.They stooped over, they have bowed down together;They could not rescue the burden,But have themselves gone into captivity.

Statistics have it that as much as 60% of the world’s porn sites are hosted in the USA. I believe if we had to pick one country to define “Babylon” today, it would be the USA. Regarding which state hosts the most porn, California has it at about 66%, according to most statistics which I found online.

According to the statistics I found online, too, it would appear that about 75% of Americans, at least those of the younger generation, regularly view porn, and the numbers seem to be even higher with teens and pre-teens, especially with boys, and now many children are also viewing porn.

The reason for these high statistics is the ease of access of porn in one’s home, and in the palm of one’s hand, but that is not the only reason.

The biggest reason, I believe, is the spiritual decline of the church here in America. Especially since the church united with the government and with big business, and turned Christ’s body into a corporation (turned God’s house into a marketplace), and they began to market the church to the world via the world, thus also diluting the gospel message, a large majority of the church rapidly began its decline down into the dumps.

Statistics I have read online also have it that as many as 50% to 75% of pastors have viewed or somewhat regularly view porn, as well. So, is it any wonder that the church has taken a giant nose dive down into the gutter? Is it any wonder that the gospel of our salvation has been reduced to a mere escape from hell and the promise of heaven when we die, but that death to sin and living to righteousness have been removed from the gospel?

Because of this, God has a day of judgment in mind for this nation and for the church in this nation who have partnered with the ungodly, who have turned God’s house into a marketplace, and who have removed the cross of Christ, as applied to our lives, from the gospel message.

He will judge those who have given people a false hope of salvation, which has left them still bound in slavery (addiction) to their sin, and especially to sexual sin. For, these leaders of these churches who are preaching this false gospel are giving their adherents the false notion that God requires nothing of them – no repentance, no obedience, and no submission to the cross – and that they can continue in their sinful addictions but still have heaven.

He Will Carry You

Isaiah 46:3-4 NASB

“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,And all the remnant of the house of Israel,You who have been borne by Me from birthAnd have been carried from the womb;Even to your old age I will be the same,And even to your graying years I will bear you!I have done it, and I will carry you;And I will bear you and I will deliver you.

Even before the foundation of the earth was laid, God knew us and he had a plan for our lives. He formed us in the wombs of our mothers. All the days ordained for us were written in God’s book before one of them came into being (Ps. 139). We who are in Christ by faith in him were chosen in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. He predestined us to be his possession, the work of his hands, and that we would be set apart from the world and set apart to him and to his service.

He planned to save us from our sins and to give us new lives in him. He planned for Jesus Christ, God the Son, to be our sacrificial Lamb given for us on that cross to take away the sins of the world. Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, that we might walk in the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh, that we might walk in obedience to Him and to His Word, and that we might live godly and holy lives, pleasing to him.

Throughout our Christian lives, if we are truly his, by faith, he carries us all our days. He guides us in his truth, and he provides for our needs, and he shows us the way we should go so that we might walk in it.

So, for those who are following after the lies of the enemy, and who have returned to walking in the ways of the flesh, and who have made idols to replace God in their hearts, and who are giving their hearts, time and passion to these idols, our Lord will deliver, but he will do so through divine correction, if you do not turn back to him on your own, because he will not have pornography in his house, his body.

It Cannot Answer

Isaiah 46:5-7 NASB

“To whom would you liken MeAnd make Me equal and compare Me,That we would be alike?“Those who lavish gold from the purseAnd weigh silver on the scaleHire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;They bow down, indeed they worship it.“They lift it upon the shoulder and carry it;They set it in its place and it stands there.It does not move from its place.Though one may cry to it, it cannot answer;It cannot deliver him from his distress.

Only God can save us from our sins, and we will only be saved from our sins if we submit to him and to his cross, if we die with him to sin and live with him to righteousness. For, if we walk according to the flesh, we will die in our sins, not have the hope of eternal life with God in heaven. If we sow to the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction, but if we sow to the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life. Please know this!

All the idols in the world which we might turn to in order to satisfy our sinful cravings and desires will never satisfy the deep longings of our souls. They will never bring us peace or joy or true freedom from sin’s deceitfulness, and this includes the idols of man-made religion, humanistic philosophy, men in pulpits preaching feel good messages, diluted gospels made to appeal to human flesh, and all that these false teachers and false gospels offer and produce in the way of idols of men.

If we follow these false teachers with their false gospels, and we believe we can keep on in our sinful addictions and still be saved from our sins and go to heaven when we die, we are believing in and following lies, and clever deceptions, whose author is Satan, who is the one who wants to keep us still “struggling” with sin, i.e. giving in on a regular basis. He wants us defeated and not living for the Lord, and not following our Lord in obedience.

But, these clever enchanters will be no hope for you when you are trapped again by sin’s deceitfulness and your lives are utterly ruined, and your marriages, and your home life and your families are utterly devastated by your addiction to porn. Your only hope is to surrender your lives completely to the Lord Jesus Christ in all humility, honesty, and in repentance.

Not Far Off

Isaiah 46:8-13 NASB

“Remember this, and be assured;Recall it to mind, you transgressors.“Remember the former things long past,For I am God, and there is no other;I am God, and there is no one like Me,Declaring the end from the beginning,And from ancient times things which have not been done,Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;Calling a bird of prey from the east,The man of My purpose from a far country.Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.I have planned it, surely I will do it. “Listen to Me, you stubborn-minded,Who are far from righteousness.“I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off;And My salvation will not delay.And I will grant salvation in Zion,And My glory for Israel.

The Lord means business! His will and his purposes for his church will be accomplished. He will not let his church be utterly ruined by these liars and deceivers and manipulators who have exchanged God’s truth for a lie. He will silence these deceivers who preach these false gospels which placate sin and which require no death to sin or living to righteousness. And, he will rescue his people from out of the clutches of these false teachers so that he will return his people back to their God, that they might worship him in truth.

He has had in mind how he was going to accomplish his purposes even before he made any of us. He knew who he was going to call to come against his wayward people, for forever. He will bring an enemy against the USA and against the church in America which has wandered far from him. And, he will do this in order to revive his church, and to purify her and make her holy before he returns one day to take us to be with him forever.

So, this is a call, and it is a warning to those who are stubbornly refusing to bow the knee to the Lord, who have cast him off in favor of their idols of choice, and who have given their hearts and passion over to idols of men instead of to their one and only true God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What he has planned, in the way of divine judgment, is not that far off. He will do what he said he would do. For, his house is to be a house of prayer and of holiness and purity, not a house of ill repute.

So, don’t wait until he forces you to your knees. If you are following the idols of men, and especially if you are regularly giving yourself to this idol of pornography, I pray you will repent of your sin today, and make Jesus Christ truly the Lord of your life.

10,000 Reasons

Matt Redman

Bless the Lord oh my soul

Oh my soul

Worship His Holy name

Sing like never before

Oh my soul

I'll worship Your Holy name

The sun comes up

It's a new day dawning

It's time to sing Your song again

Whatever may pass

And whatever lies before me

Let me be singing

When the evening comes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

Wednesday, April 25, 2018, 4:29 p.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for this teaching from Your Word. Bring it home to our hearts, I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!