Lust

Happy Sunday. Last week we began a new series on the seven deadly sins. We looked at sloth last week; today we will talk about lust. In our society, there's an advertising idea that sex sells. Advertisements are more and more provocative.

We're targeted daily by these ads. Have you ever been in a room with a child watching a good TV show, and suddenly you had to scramble for the remote because of a commercial? We're bombarded on a daily basis with messages using sex and lust, and it's causing problems.

When I started my ministry as a youth director many years ago, I asked my father for advice. Daddy had been in the ministry for decades, and he was a very wise man. I remember exactly what he told me. He said, "If you ever take a girl home, make sure there's a boy in the car with you."

I was 21 years old at the time, and I'm not sure that I really appreciated his advice, although I did follow it. As I look back on his words, I now see how valuable that advice was. Dad was encouraging me to be careful because he knew the truth of scripture. First Peter 5:8 comes to mind: "Discipline yourselves," we are told, "keep alert, because like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour."

Lust is one of those things that devours people. My father had seen people fall. You've seen it too. From the political world, there are many names, like Gary Hart or John Edwards or Bill Clinton, and I could mention many, many more that if paid a price because of out-of-control desires. Sadly, in the world of ministry, there are names like Jim Baker and Jimmy Swaggart and Rabbi Zacharias, to name a few.

There are many biblical examples of this sin. Solomon wrestled with lust; Samson did. But today we'll look at a chapter from the life of David. I'll read from Second Samuel chapter 11. There we are told, "In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab in the Israelite Army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite Army and laid siege to the city of Rabba. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem."

As the story goes, we're told, "Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. He looked out over the city, and he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath." He watched her for a while, and the lust took over. We're told, "He sent someone to find out who she was. He was told, 'She was Bathsheba, the daughter of Ilium and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.' Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to the palace, he slept with her."

Lust damaged David. If you know the rest of the story, you know that David had Bathsheba's husband killed, and if you read chapter 12, you'll see that there were more horrible consequences because of lust. David didn't think of what he, of all of that, of consequences when he was on the roof. All he had to do was turn away.

I heard this a long time ago about lust, and it's so true: it will take you farther than you want to go, it'll keep you longer than you want to stay, and it'll cost you more than you want to pay. Look at Jesus's warning found in Matthew chapter 5. There Jesus said, "You've heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

Jesus goes on to say, "If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out, throw it away. It's better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." Jesus continues, "And if your right hand causes you to sin," he says once again, "cut it off, throw it away. It's better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell."

Jesus is using hyperbole here. This is really not about the eyes; it's about the heart. Surely a blind person or a person without hands could still lust. It's about the heart.

Believe it or not, the Book of Job speaks a great deal about this topic. Listen to this from Job 31. Job said, "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman, for lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished. It is a fire that burns all the way to hell. It would wipe out everything I own." Powerful, true words from Job.

I love how verse 1 begins there. Job says, "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman." Yes, we do make a covenant as believers. We make a covenant each and every day with the Holy Spirit to help us on our way. He's promised that help is there.

Hear this from Galatians chapter 5: "So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide our lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves." Going back 42 years, my dad gave me some great advice that day. On the rooftop long ago, David needed to just stay away from the edge. Maybe that's what Dad was saying: stay away from the edge.

We live in a society where we are on the edge and able to see anything we want at any time. Be careful. Guard your eyes. Guard your heart.

Pray with me. Father, thank you for protecting us, for the Holy Spirit that gives us strength to battle anything and everything. As we look at these seven deadly sins over the next several weeks, we ask that you would continue to bless us with your strength and your presence, and help us always to be overcomers. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.

God bless. Thanks for joining me today.