Description
LEAVING LUST VEGAS
Leaving for Good
November 2, 2007
Ed Young
Good morning to our campuses all around in Miami, Plano, Downtown Dallas, Downtown Fort Worth, and also here in Grapevine. What a gorgeous day today is, this weekend. Phenomenal. Also, I want to welcome our television audience around the world. So thanks for showing up here at Fellowship Church. Give yourselves a round of applause. How many people got fooled because of the time change? I did. I got up early and my son walked downstairs and met me in the kitchen and I was scurrying around making coffee quickly to get here. I thought it was like 30 minutes before the service kicked off. And he was like, Dad, it’s not 9:30; it’s 8:30.” So anyway. I’m glad I’m here.
Sometimes I don’t feel like going to church; I really don’t. Now and then Lisa will have to punch me in bed and say, “Honey, you have to go to church.” I say, “I don’t want to go.” She says, “You pastor the church!” But I’m here. And every time I go to church I’m glad that I come to church, and I know you’re the same.
Today I’m beginning a seminar on a very controversial subject. I’m talking about lust. I’ve called it Leaving Lust Vegas. I will never forget the first time I went to Las Vegas. To be frank with you, I was blown away by the signage, because no one does signage like they do in Las Vegas. And for those of you who have been to Las Vegas, you know what I’m talking about. And I remember thinking to myself, “Wow, Vegas does not have very much say, but they know how to say it! Yet, the church, we have everything to say, yet so often we don’t know how to say it.”
Now when it comes to this place called Lust Vegas, because believe me, Lust Vegas is a place we can go mentally, emotionally or physically. When it comes to Lust Vegas, our culture knows how to advertise it. They know how to say it. Strangely, though, the church—are you ready—for this the body of Christ has been strangely silent over this issue.
It is fascinating to study church history, to think about the landscape of North America and also our world. A lot of people just don’t talk about lust. Have you ever wondered why? Well I think there are several reasons.
Number one, a lot of masculine men have been tentative to go to church because they feel like the church is a feminine. I have talked to a number of masculine men over the years and they say, “You know, the church is led by a feminine leaders. It is pretty much a place for women, children and weak guys.” So they’ve concluded to themselves, “The church is irrelevant. The church is not real and raw. I’m going to do something else.” That is one of the reasons why the church has failed to talk about lust, because it’s packed with women and children and weak men. And so often, weak men lead these churches.
Another reason why the church has been afraid to talk about lust is because it’s very controversial. You’re wading into barracuda infested waters. People do the push back. You might get some flak and fallout. But around here, we want to be very open and honest, very frank about what God was so open and honest and frank to create and to talk about. We talk openly and honestly about sex and sexuality. In fact, the first phrase ever uttered about you or me was a sexual phrase. “It’s a boy. It’s a girl.”
So we love to face controversy and we just simply say what God says about it. So if you have a problem with it, you have a problem with God.
Another reason I feel that many pastors are afraid to tackle this issue is because they themselves are enslaved to lust, and they themselves might have unfulfilling sex with their spouses. Have you ever thought about that?
So because of those things, they think, “I’m just not going to talk about sex, sexuality or lust. Especially, I’m not going to talk about leaving Lust Vegas.”
Also, the church, stay with me now, has allowed secular psychologists and behavioral experts and counselors to take sex from the theologians, from the pastors, and we have allowed them to pirate sex. Now, whenever you talk to anybody from a secular mindset, an evolutionary mindset, they simply say that we’re educated animals. And we have animalized humans and humanized animals. The secular world basically has that mentality.
Now of course, we know that the Bible says that we’re made in the image of God; we’re different from animals. We’re not animals. We’re not dogs in heat, salmons who are about to spawn or deer in rut. No, we’re not that. We’re human beings with the freedom of choice.
But we have allowed these people to hijack sex. And now and then the church has said, “Hey, don’t lust.” While the world is saying, “Hey, do it with whomever, whenever and however.”
I’m glad, though, that many churches are changing in this realm. I’m glad as I travel around the world that I see so many churches talking open and honestly about sex and sexuality. I’m so glad that so many churches are bold enough to wade into these barracuda infested waters and say, “Okay, here is the deal.” Because and you can write this down the way we deal with desire determines our destiny. And our destiny determines the way we deal with desire.
When I say “sex,” you think about certain things. Let me do a little cheer that will make you very uncomfortable. Are you ready to get uncomfortable? I’m going to say “sex” and you say God. One, two, three, I say “sex” you say “God”. Sex, God, sex, God.
Now a lot of you are acting like you’re not uncomfortable, but you are. Some of you are thinking “That is so sacrilegious. Where are the exits here? I’m ready to leave.”
Whoa. God is the author of sex. He is the one who thought it up. And what’s so sad is again, because we have allowed the secular world to hijack sex and sexuality, we have not talked about it like God has talked about it.
So that’s simply what we want to do. We’re not doing anything new or cool or hip or innovative. We’re simply telling you, here is what the Bible says about sex and sexuality.
When I say lust—this is very important—I’m not talking about desire. When I say lust, I’m not talking about desire. When the Scriptures talk about lust, the Scriptures are not talking about desire. Desire is given to us from God himself. We have a desire to live, a desire to eat and drink, a desire to relate and a desire for sex. God gave us sex before the fall of man, before sin entered the human equation.
Lust happens, the trigger point of lust occurs, when an attraction turns into an elicit sexual action that is mental, physical or emotional. The way I have written about it and the way I have discussed it over the years and here’s an easy way to remember it: Lust occurs when a God given desire has gone haywire. Lust occurs when this desire is downgraded into depravity, when we see people as objects who just have a bunch of parts. That’s where lust comes in.
A lot of people are saying, “Well Ed, I can’t help myself, man. Lust is a must. I just can’t withstand the pressure and the pull. I have just got to lust.”
Listen to me very carefully. Whenever we talk about lust I’m talking about us. Lust is about us. I can’t say it’s about you and you can’t say it’s about me. Lust is about us. It’s about everybody. It is something that we deal with.
But here is the good news about this topic. Here is the good news about this place called Lust Vegas and believe me, it’s a place. We can leave Lust Vegas. When we leave this destination, when we leave this geographical location mentally, physically or emotionally, our great God can and will and wants to replace that with something that is totally and completely amazing.
And throughout this series, not only am I going to talk to you about lust, sexual lust, when a God given desire has gone haywire. I’m also going to talk to you about what’s on the other side of lust, what happens when we leave Lust Vegas. Because simply put, sexual sin is an onramp to death. There is no sin like sexual sin. Yes, I understand sin is sin; however, sexual sin is on a ‘hole notha’ level. Why can I say that? I can say that because of research. I can say that because of reading about it throughout Scriptures. I can say that because of all of the conversations and all of the counseling I have done for all of my life.
Sex is multifaceted and multidimensional. We cannot park our brains or our hearts or our emotions or our spirituality outside the bedroom door of a hotel or our mind and engage in lust without it leading to destruction. So I know that many of you in a crowd this size are on this onramp to sexual sin and you’re cruising down this onramp and it’s getting deeper and darker and more diabolical and more destructive. But the great news is you can put the blinker on by the power of the Holy Spirit himself and you can exit, you can make a U-turn and go if way that God wants you to go.
Leaving Lust Vegas. That’s what we’re talking about. Leaving Lust Vegas and allowing the Lord to lead us into greatness. Are you going right now toward Lust Vegas? Are you spending time in Lust Vegas? Or, are you under the lordship of Jesus Christ? Do you trust God enough with your sexuality, with all of your desires, to put the cards on the table, to roll the dice and say “God, I have tried to do it my way, down my freeway, I’m ready to do a U-turn and go your way.” Are you ready to do that? That’s why this series is going to be very, very difficult for all of you to attend.
Already we have had a power outage here at Fellowship Church just hours before we kicked this whole series off. And I knew that we would have whacky and wild stuff like that, because we are taking hell by the square foot here at this church. So this series will not be easy for you to attend. I can tell you right now that the enemy himself does not what want you to hear this information. And he’s going to give you every excuse imaginable not to show up here for this seminar over the next several weeks, or if you’re watching by television over the next several television shows. You’re going to have games come up and fun fixes and trips and this and that.
Commit to say, “Come hell or high water I’m going to be here, engaged, ready to go.” Because I believe that this topic robs more people of more stuff than almost anything I know. It definitely keeps the men in the house tyrannized and paralyzed from becoming the kind of people that God wants you to become.
And speaking of men, men basically have two issues that keep us from really being leaders and warriors like God wants us to be. You might want to write these down. There are two barriers: money and honey. Now, when we get a read on money and honey, when we put those things under the lordship of Jesus Christ, then we will understand the divine desire and we can see how this desire, because now it’s God’s desire through us, will give us a phenomenal destiny. If we don’t, we will never, ever, ever go to the level that God wants us to live on.
And I understand about lust. People say women lust and women log onto porn. I understand what you’re saying. But the bottom line is guys, we have failed in this realm. We have not really become the kind of masculine men that God wants us to become.
And sadly, too many of us—are you ready for this? Too many of us live vicariously through the Dallas Cowboys or the Miami Dolphins or through Chuck Liddell or Rampage Jackson or Kimbo Slice. Or maybe we watch some kind of movie like 300. And we live vicariously through these individuals and these teams when we’re missing the main battle. Here guys will get into all that stuff, but when it comes to lust they’re like, “Man, I just can’t help myself. I just have to lust.”
How pathetic, guys, is that? How a feminine is that? How weak is that? You’re telling me the NFL is where it’s at? Guys, you’re telling me the octagon is where the battle is? Come on, man! The battle is right here. The battle is in life. The battle is on the lust field.
And once you allow God to get control of this in your life, you’ll go to another level. But see, the devil knows when you go to another level it is going to kick him and mess him around and totally screw him up and his plan up for your life. So he’s going to keep you down and all hooked up and jacked up in money and in honey and you’ll waste your life struggling with these things as opposed to living in victory. Because you know what? We’re victors, not victims.
Now that’s easy to say, that’s very simple to say, and I have heard people say that. I have heard pastors say that. We’re victors not victims. And they’re right. But so often, I will say “So I’m a victor. Tell me about the battle.”
Because we’re in a battle. And the battlefield is where? It’s the mind. We think that lust is out there. Lust is out there at the kennel clubs—I mean gentleman’s club. Some of you will get that later. Or we think lust is out there by the swimming pool at the resort. Lust is out there online. Lust is out there in the magazines. Lust is out there on my iPhone. That is where lust is.
No, brother, you have it all wrong. Lust is in you. It’s not out there, it’s in you.
“What?”
I’m just telling you what Jesus said. Guys, warriors, I’m looking for some people to stand up and say, “You know what? It’s great, I enjoy watching NFL and ultimate fighting or a movie like 300. But the faith fight is where it’s at.”
That’s where we need warriors. That’s where we need men to be men. And the reason so many women are hooked into porn is because men, we’ve led them there and we have not been men.
Mark 7:21 34, here is what Jesus said. Pretty important words. “For from within…” I didn’t say it. Don’t be looking at me. See lust is not out there, it’s in there. Jesus said “For from within, out of a men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”
Look at Matthew 5:27 28. In the Old Testament we have the Ten Commandments. You have heard of those. One of the Ten Commandments goes, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Does everyone understand that? Let me explain that. It means that sex is for the marriage bed. It means that you don’t sleep in the wrong bed. If you sleep in the wrong bed, you’re committing adultery.
We’ve decaffeinated adultery, we call it “having an affair.” Or instead of fornication we call it “friends with benefits.” Instead of homosexuality it is an “alternative lifestyle.”
No, let’s just call sin what it is. And here is what Jesus said about adultery. Jesus took adultery here to an HNL, a holy notha’ level. Because in the Old Testament you could get away with some lust. Because all it says here we go by the black and white, the B-I-B-L-E, that’s the book for me, the Bible. In the Old Testament it says, “Just don’t sleep in the wrong bed and you’re cool. You could look and lust and lust and look and that’s fine.”
But look what Jesus said in Matthew 5:27 28. Ouch, this hurts all of us. Guys, this one will get up in your grill. I’m just telling you what Jesus said. If you have a problem, you don’t have a problem with me, you have a problem with Jesus. Here is what Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery…’”
“Yes, I’m down with that. I will just have sex with my wife but I can look at a menu. I don’t have to order, but I can look at a menu. I like that, Jesus. Thank you.”
But it continues, it is going to get quiet. “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
We probably had this going on in the lobby before services. How many people in here have looked lustfully at a member of the opposite sex and committed adultery? Come on, what are you doing with your hands down? Don’t be lying to me. I know, you’re sitting by your spouse. You don’t want to leave with broken ribs. I see those elbows all the time; don’t think I don’t see those. We’re all sinners. It comes from within. It comes from within.
Now you might be going, “Well Ed, what about the culture? What about the ever changing culture? Lust is out there in the culture.”
But what is the culture? What is culture? Culture is simply and outward reflection of the inward condition of our heart. So when we talk about lust, it is an issue of the mind. Lust is about us. It is about the man. It is about the woman. It is about the junior high student. It is about the high school student. It is about the college student. It is about the single adult. Whether you’re 15 or 75, lust is about us.
So let’s talk about it and get freed up about it, because lust looses a lot of its luster when we drag it out into the light. Because too many of us are living secret lives and we think we’re the only ones who struggle with it. We think it’s a secretive thing. We think we’re doing it in a clandestine fashion, because remember, “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. What happens here stays here.”
That is a brilliant line. Where did Las Vegas think that up? They probably paid some advertising exec a squillion dollars for that one. But the guy is a plagiarist. He plagiarized the devil’s MO. That guy needs to be sued for plagiarism. Do we have any lawyers in the house? Track it down, because the guy who made up “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” plagiarized. The devil’s been saying that for thousands of years. “What happens in the hotel room stays in the hotel room. What happens between two consenting adults stays between two consenting adults. What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. What happens online stays online. What happens in the mind stays in the mind.”
Brilliant strategy. Obviously, the strategy is working. “What happens in the mind stays in the mind.” That sounds good. But it doesn’t work, because the way I think determines the way I feel. And the way I feel determines the way I act. If I think wrong, I’m going to feel wrong. Then I’m going to act wrong. Conversely, if I think right, I’m going to feel right and I’m going to act right. So that’s totally jacked up. “Whatever happens here,” the enemy whispers to us, “stays here.” Lust. It’s about us.
Lust, also—have you noticed this—lust has gone prime time. Am I the only one who has seen this? Lust is prime time. Back in the day you had to look for it; now it will look for you. You check into a hotel room and it is easier to see a bunch of naked bodies having sex than it is to go down the hall and get a bucket of ice.
It has gone from, 50 years ago, Playboy magazine in the brown wrapper underneath the counter at some convenient store to now a normal red blooded junior high guy is going to have at least one nude photograph of his girlfriend on his cell phone.
Some of the parents are like, “What?!” Parents, wake up and smell the espresso; I just had some. Parents, get your heads out of the sands of denial, because too many here are living in denial. And I’m not talking about the river.
How has lust gone prime time? This is going to have kind of weird. If you have your Bibles, turn to the book of Genesis 13, because this tells us how lust has gone prime time. You think, “That’s an old book.” It is an old book. Genesis, the beginning of time.
Just to give you the Cliff’s Notes of the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve had the perfect environment. They were created in the image of God. They sinned. They kicked God out of the oval office of their lives and they sat in that nice leather chair and they did what they wanted to do. Sex had been given to them before sin ever entered the human equation. Sex primarily is for enjoyment, secondarily for procreation.
After sin, suddenly Adam and Eve were confused over their nakedness. They were confused over their sexuality. Read the book of Genesis, because you pretty much have every sexual sin imaginable going on after the fall of man. And from that point on it has been a sexual free fall until the abyss of rebellion.
Satan does not work overtly; he works covertly. He inches us. It is gradualism from the Playboy in the brown paper wrapper under the counter at the convenient store now to watching people have sex on your iPhone. How did that happen? What happened?
Well, I will tell you what happened. Abraham and Lot happened. Abraham and Lot were multibillionaires. They were traveling together. Abraham was Lot’s uncle. Lot, of course, was Abraham’s nephew. To give you just a short story, they parted ways, because their corporation was so huge they split the assets up. And Abraham, father Abraham, a man of faith, gave Lot first choice.
“Lot, you can either go this way or that way.”
Lot looks at the ugly land and decides that it doesn’t look that great, kind of like west Texas. No, I’m kidding, west Texas is beautiful. Kind of like central Florida. No, I’m kidding. I love central Florida, too. But you know what I’m saying, It was kind of some ugly land. And Lot looked that way and was like, “I don’t want to go there.”
So he looked at some other land, some beautiful land and saw in the distance the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah—wickedness on steroids. They were crazy. So the Bible says that Lot chose the beautiful area on the outskirts of Sodom and Gomorrah.
So now we see Satan’s strategy. It’s right here in Genesis 13:12, “Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plane and pitched his tents near Sodom.”
That is unbelievable. What are you doing, Lot? Lot, I will say it again, pitched his tents near Sodom. And as you keep reading, one day you will find that Lot and his family were living in Sodom. And then you will see that Sodom is living in them.
“I will just get near Sodom. I will just kind of hang out on the outskirts. I will just be right there on the edge and the ledge.”
Gradualism. Inch by inch, little by little, Lot moved into Sodom and Sodom moved into Lot.
That’s why we’re in the condition we’re in today. We’re on the freeway of sexual sin and it gets deeper and darker and more diabolical.
Proverbs 27:20, “Death and destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man.”
You lust, you look at porn and porn is simply lust, lust is porn you scream for more and more and more. My boy Mic Jagger back in the 60’s was a prophet. “I can’t get no satisfaction.”
Isn’t that hilarious? Someone better sue Mic Jagger. He is plagiarizing Scripture, too.
Then Steve Hirsch, CEO of Vivid Entertainment, the largest adult film company in the world – in fact, the porn star that I talked to several weeks ago right here at Fellowship Church is one of the stars in this company. And while we were talking to one another, on the lights that were used in this interview I saw on the side, Vivid Entertainment. Here is what Steve Hirsch, the man in charge (of the industry), is saying about porn. He says, “Not only does hardcore pornography not shock people today, but I think they want more – harder and harder and harder and harder.”
It always screams for more and more and more. It over promises and under delivers. And in our freedom to have this sexual liberation, because the word revolution or liberation is a change for better. In our freedom, we move into enslavement. It is ironic. The devil goes, “What happens here stays here,” and we go for it. We move into Lust Vegas and then in our search for the sexual hit and the thrills and the chills of this and that, we find ourselves incarcerated by sexual sin, by lust.
Again, we’re in a battle. We’re warriors. And whenever you fight a battle, what happens? You dominate. Because remember, we’re not fighting not for victory, but from victory. You dominate, you incarcerate. You have to take captive people. You capture people in battle. And then you infiltrate. You take hell by the square foot.
So we dominate, we incarcerate and we infiltrate. And guys, warriors, masculine men, are you in the battle? Are you in the game? Or are you going to spend the rest of your life living vicariously through pumped up football players and fighters and other athletes and actors? That’s fine and dandy, but are you playing in the real game or have you mailed it in? Have you said, “You know what, I’m just weak, I’m just effeminate, I can’t do it. Lust is too strong. I’m just a deer in rut. I’m a dog in heat. I’m a salmon ready to spawn. I just can’t help myself.”
How pathetic is that? And you are going to allow the enemy to continue to rob you and to keep you from being the best that God wants you to be because of money and honey? Give me a break! Because guess what, your body is not your body. You think it’s yours? Oh, really? My body is not my body. I will be talking about this more and more. My body is for God. It’s God’s. Your body is for God. And if you’re married, a holy notha’ level. Do this with me, a salute. All the married men with me. Your body and my body is God’s, number one. Number two, my body is not by body. My body is Lisa’s body.
The Bible says the wife is in charge of the husband’s body. The husband is in charge of the wife’s body. So what are you doing looking at this and that and surfing this and that? You’re dragging God’s body into the game of lust? You’re dragging your wife’s body what?
Now some of you who are not believers, you’re just in total and complete ignorance. And you know what? Pornography is an industry of ignorance. Steve Hirsch, this porn star, and others, they don’t know what they’re doing. They’re just doing what we naturally do. We’re natural born sinners. But it’s my prayer as people hear this information, as people see this information, as people watch this information, they’ll go, “Wow! I’m not an animal. I’m not an object with parts. I’m made in the image of God. Whoa, maybe there’s something more than just recreation and procreation and doing deals and dying. Maybe there’s more to life than that!” Because there is.
Lust is always looking for leverage, isn’t it? Everywhere we turn it’s looking for leverage and it will find you. Guys, we’re warriors. And how many coaches have said this before? “Games are won by defense.”
I played a lot of sports and that’s partly true. That’s a good coach’s line. Defense is key. Yes, it’s half the game. But you better put the ball through the hoop. You better score some touchdowns. You better put the puck in the net. How about offense, coach? We have to have some offense.
And too many Christian guys are always on the defensive. How about some offense? How about some offensive energy? Satan is about offensive energy.
1 Peter 5:8, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.”
John 10:10, Jesus gives us Satan’s strategy. It is your life and my life. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”
S, K, D “steal, kill and destroy.” He says, “I’m going to steal from you and I’m going to kill you and I’m going to destroy your life and your marriage and your family and your money. Because here’s what I’m going to do…” He’s putting the cards on the table. He’s saying, “Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to tell you time and time again, ‘What happens here stays here. Everything is cool. Everything is compartmentalized. Everything is in a neat little package. You just stay there. Everything will be fine. What you do there will not affect who you are here.’”
Man, it is working, isn’t it?
So my challenge to all of you, men, women, students, whoever; my challenge for you is to develop a sexual strategy. The devil has one. We need to have one.
If I walked up to you and said, “What’s your sexual strategy?” could you give me your sexual strategy? I have one. Lisa has one. A lot of other people have sexual strategies, because if we’re going to win and act like victors and not victims; if we’re going to really have the confidence of winners and take hell by the square footage; if we’re going to dominate and incarcerate and infiltrate this whole thing, we have to have a sexual strategy. We have to be defensive and offensive.
That’s why 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us, “…take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.”
Again, I’m a warrior and I take captive every thought. You’re going to have sexual thoughts. You’re going to have leadings to go to Lust Vegas. I do and you do. We either are going to be led to Lust Vegas and listen to the lies, “What happens here stays here.” Or we allow the Lord, the Holy Spirit of God, to lead us into God’s desire for this situation.
But having a thought, that’s not the sin. It’s what you do with it.
A friend invited Lisa and me to this resort that I will not mention. It was kind of a private thing. A lot of jet set people were here at this place and a lot of the beautiful people. So Lisa and I were just out with this person catching some rays. I had these sunglasses on, the wrap around dark sunglasses. You couldn’t see my eyes. Guys? And you know people were walking here and there.
So this lady who was with us, she is not a believer and no one knew, of course, that Lisa and I were in the ministry in this place. So she said, “I want to introduce you guys to some people.”
All of the sudden she calls down the beach and this woman comes walking up to us. Guys, I’m telling you, she would embarrass any Victoria’s Secret model. And she had on about what they wear.
So here I am, it was a perfect condition. Right by Lisa, but I had the wrap around black sunglasses on. She couldn’t see my eyes. What did I do? And this girl is walking toward us and this other lady is introducing us to her and she is standing right in front of me in all of her glory.
And I’m thinking to myself, “I’ve seen more cotton in an aspirin bottle than what this girl has on.” And it was a perfect situation. My eyes were blacked out.
You have that image? The guys are like yes, I have it. I will tell you next week what I did. That’s why again, you have to come back. I don’t have time. I have already talked for 42 minutes and 38 seconds. What do you do in a situation like that? I wasn’t looking for that. We just went to this resort. This lady was nice enough to invite us and pay for us. Unbelievable yachts were everywhere. We stayed there for several hours and then, “I want you to meet this girl.” And then, I didn’t say it out loud because Lisa was there, but I’m thinking, “Wow!”
What do you do? That’s next time.
Develop a sexual strategy. Do you have a sexual strategy? I’m going to go through it right now, because if I don’t I will talk even longer next time.
Geographically, that’s part of your sexual strategy. Where are the places that you go, that you frequent, that would cause you to move into Lust Vegas? Where? Maybe places you drive by, maybe places you frequent.
How about relationally? How do you spell relational relief? Who do you hang out with, maybe who feeds the fires of your lust? Because some of you, I’m talking to students now; some of you need to stop your relationship with this person now. Now! I will say it again. Now. I have had to do this throughout my life. Now.
But I’ll just gradually kind of do the Lot thing.”
Now! Some married couples, you’re hanging around with the wrong people. You’re messing around with these people. These people are taking you to the wrong places. Cut the relationship off now.
“What if they don’t like me? What if they call me a snob and a holy roller?”
Who cares? Your purity and your purpose before God are more important than that. And there are certain people that I’m just not going to hang out with. There are certain forces out there that Lisa and I are not going to subject ourselves to because you know what? The pull is too strong. That’s why we need the church.
How about emotionally? Ladies, you would rather read porn than see porn. I know some of you want to see porn. But again, I believe that the guys have messed that up. We’re the ones who have led you into that. But women want to experience that and we want to get I’m acting like a women now—we want to get emotionally connected.
“He understands me. He can really give me security. And he has got the money, so I’ll give him the honey so I can get the money.”
Do you know what I’m saying to you? Ladies, ladies, ladies, ladies, don’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t commit pornography by the way you dress. That’s a whole other subject. I will talk about that later. I’m going to challenge every lady here to wear a burlap sack for the rest of their lives.
And you watch, I will get several e mails, “What did you mean by burlap sack?” I hope you know when I’m kidding. I think most people do.
How about technologically? If you don’t have a filter on your computer, don’t use your computer until you get a filter. Because lust dealt with effectively is lust dealt with radically. We have had filters on our computers for a long, long time. It is awesome accountability. Because if we go on the wrong website it is reported to others and we need accountability. Accountability emerges from affinity.
I’m telling you, if you want the best for your life, I’m telling you we need to get serious about these things because the temptation is there.
Think about this. I have so much stuff. I have to get this out. I don’t have too much time for this. But think about Adam and Eve, again. Adam is created. All of the sudden God gives him Eve; he presents Eve to him in all of her glory. We don’t know what Eve looked like. Eve, though, guys, was Adam’s standard of beauty.
Look at your spouse, guys. That’s your standard of beauty. Ladies, look at your husband. That’s your standard of beauty. Okay.
Let me tell you how bad porn is. This is just one aspect of porn. Porn is lust and lust is porn. I don’t care if you’re married, guys, to the lady I saw at the upscale resort who would embarrass any Victoria’s Secret model and make Angelina Jolie go, “Oh my goodness.” This girl was that beautiful. What if you were married to her? Just for a second, ladies, don’t worry. Guys, just picture yourself married to her.
Now, here’s a computer. I’m married to this lady, but guess what? I can go online and see women that would rival Solomon’s harem. I can see black and white and Asian and Hispanic and voluptuous and waif-like and muscular and overweight and skinny doing all of these things. I can see different sizes of breasts and butts and all that stuff.
You know what? That girl can’t compete with that. She can’t be all of that. There’s no way. I don’t care what you look like. Nor can we, guys.
That’s just one aspect of porn that will totally destroy your relationships and your family. Have a filter on your computer.
Also, don’t have any of the movie channels. Whenever I go over to someone’s house and see movie channels, I know that guy’s lusting. When people say, “I like the other movies.” Come on, now. I know you’re joking. You might like the other movies, but I know what comes on at night on Hell’s Box Office—Home Box Office. I know what comes on at night on skinemax—Cinemax. Take them out. The temptation is too great.
Again, if you want the best guys, do you want to fight? Do you want a battle? You’re going to tell me you’re going to live vicariously through Tony Romo and Terrell Owens and Chuck Liddell and this new James Bond cat? That’s the deal? That’s the fight? That’s great to see that and to live through that and get inspired by the big athletes and actors. But there’s more. There is more.
So I’m happy that you’ve sat here for almost an hour and listened to me, because I have simply told you what the Bible says just in the embryonic stages of this thing called lust. I’m not talking about desire. Desire is awesome. Desire determines our destiny and our destiny determines our desire. But next time we’re going to talk about the resort. We’re going to talk about the woman. We’re going to talk about the sunglasses. We’re going to talk about the fact that Lisa couldn’t see my eyes, nor could anybody else. What did I do? What would you do? What should we do to take our sexuality to a ‘hole notha’ level?
[Ed ends in closing prayer.]