PORNOGRAPHY HardCore Sin 1 Peter 2 9 11

PORNOGRAPHY Hard-Core Sin 1 Peter 2: 9, 11 -12

Epidemic of Pornography üA Christian must… • Abstain from every form of evil, 1 Ths. 5: 22 • Be holy as God is holy, 1 Pet. 1: 1516 • Make “no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” Rom. 13: 14 • Not take fire into his bosom, Prov. 2 6: 27

Effects of Pornography üSpiritual death (Rom. 6: 23; Gal. 5: 21) üDegrades society (Prov. 14: 34) (women, marriage, sexuality, family, etc. ) üTrivializes violence and sex crimes üAn addictive, self-perpetuating cycle 3

Defining Pornography üLegally: • I may not succeed in defining pornography, “but I know it when I see it. ” Justice Potter Stewart (Jacobellis v. Ohio, 1964) • 1973: “Community standards” applied to determine obscenity (Miller v. Calif. ) 4

Defining Pornography üPractically: • Pornography is “predominantly sexually explicit and intended primarily for the purpose of sexual arousal. ” (Final Report of the Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography, p. 8) • “Sexually explicit pictures, writing or other material whose primary purpose is to cause sexual arousal. ” (illusionsprogram. net) 5

Defining Pornography üBiblically: • Pornographic images contain, depict and promote fornication • Viewing pornography contributes to further lust, lewdness, fornication and violence 6

Defining Pornography üBiblically: • Derived from porneia (fornication), Matt. 15: 19; Rom. 1: 29 • porneuo: to commit fornication (1 Cor. 6: 18) • pornos: whoremonger, harlot (Eph. 5: 5) 7

Defining Pornography üBiblically: • Proceeds from heart (Matt. 15: 19) • Linked with “all unrighteousness” and “wickedness” (Rom. 1: 29) • The body is not for it (1 Cor. 8

Defining Pornography üBiblically: • Flee from it (1 Cor. 6: 18) • Not to be named among saints (Eph. 5: 3) • Abstain from it (1 Ths. 4: 3) • Repent of it (2 Cor. 12: 21) 9

Pornography Fuels, Feeds and Foments Evil Lusts üLust of flesh and eyes, 1 Jno. 2: 16 (2 Pet. 2: 14) üEnticement to sin, Jas. 1: 1416 üEmboldens acts of fornication, uncleanness, passion and evil desire, 10

Pornography Fuels, Feeds and Foments Evil Lusts üGives occasion for lustful sins, Matt. 5: 28 -29 üTraits of pornography, 2 Cor. 12: 21 üUncleanness: impurity of lustful living (slaves of uncleanness, Rom. 6: 19) 11 üFornication: sexual immorality

Presence and Growth of Pornography in America Alarming Growth ü 1967: Total retail of all hard-core in U. S. no more than $10 million (perhaps < $5 mil. ) ü 1996: Americans spent $8 billion ü 1985 -1996: Growth from 75 to 665 million hard-core video rentals per year 12 ü 2006: 957 million video sales and

Pornography Time Statistics Every second $3, 075. 64 is spent on pornography Every second 28, 258 Internet users are viewing pornography Every second 372 Internet users are typing adult search term into search engines Every 39 minutes A new pornographic video is being created in th United States 13 13

Presence and Growth of Pornography in America Appalling Acceptability üIncreasingly respectable • “Soft-porn” on cable and satellite TV • Sports Illustrated, Vogue, Cosmopolitan • Victoria’s Secret “fashion shows” üBig business • 2006: Total U. S. revenue - $13. 3 14

Presence and Growth of Pornography in America Appalling Acceptability üTerminology (“soft porn”) • Adult film (victimless crime) “I call it adult entertainment, not porn, because we’re not sleazy guys walking around selling chicks. I mean, in one sense we are, but we’re not in there watching it go on, we’re not watching the girls. ” (Andrew Strauss purveyor of pornography)

Presence and Growth of Pornography in America Appalling Acceptability üViewed positively in marriage ü“Has pornography affected your sex life? ” Of the 50 percent of those surveyed that said pornography has affected their sex lives, 72 percent said it has been in a positive way. (Oprah. com sex survey) 16

Presence and Growth of Pornography in America Types of Pornography üAdult magazines • More Playboy and Penthouse circulated than Time and Newsweek üVideos • 2006: 957 million rentals • 1997: 25, 000 hard-core video stores 17

Presence and Growth of Pornography in America Types of Pornography üMovies and Television • About 900 theaters show porn films • Movie ratings have softened üInternet • No longer the “dirty little secret” • Estimated 372 million porn web

Presence and Growth of Pornography in America Types of Pornography üInternet • 12% of all websites are pornographic • 25% of all search engine requests • 35% of all downloads are pornographic • Every minute about 1. 7 million 19

Presence and Growth of Pornography in America Types of Pornography üInternet • U. S. revenue in 2006 was $2. 84 billion • 72% Internet porn users are men • 70% porn traffic occurs during 9 -5 workday 20

Presence and Growth of Pornography in America Things are Getting Worse! üAbout Internet pornography: “Some of the stuff on there, I mean, I wouldn’t even publish it. ” (Larry Flynt, founder of Hustler) “But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. ” (2 Tim. 3: 13) 21

Why does it Exist? üRefusal to respect God and one’s fellow man, Rom. 1: 21 -29; Matt. 7: 12; 22: 37 -39 üMoney. Porn is a commodity in demand, and many are getting rich at the moral expense of our nation, 1 Timothy 6: 10 üLust: 2000 university study claimed 22 at least 200, 000 Americans are

Why does it Exist? üEntertainment. Seeking to “escape the real world, ” they plunge themselves into the bondage of sin, 2 Peter 2: 19 üPrevious sexual abuse. “It is believed that 70% of women involved in pornography are survivors of incest or child sexual 23 abuse. ”

Where does it Exist? üMainstream media (movies, television, magazines, books) üAdvertising. cf. Fashion magazines, men’s magazines, billboards, etc. üHotel rooms. Pay-per-view porn movies (several $100 millions per year) üThe Internet. 24

Where does it Exist? üCell phones. Teenagers e-mailing photos üIn your home? Psalm 101: 2 -4 • On your computer • On your TV (cable, movie channels, PPV) • In magazines, catalogs, books • Monitor your children and yourself! 25 üCannot hide sin from God! Num.

Remedy for and Protection Against Pornography Prov. 4: 23 üPurify your heart, Jas. 4: 7 -8; Phil. 4: 8 üMake a covenant with eyes, Job 31: 1 ücf. King David, 2 Sam. 11: 2; Matt. 5: 28 üSet nothing wicked before your eyes, Psa. 101: 3 (Rom. 13: 14) 26

Remedy for and Protection Against Pornography Prov. 4: 23 üThe cycle of lust, enticement, sin and death can be broken! 2 Cor. 6: 17 -7: 1 • Repent & sever contact, Matt. 5: 29 -30 • Use prayer, Jas. 5: 13 (Phil. 4: 67) • Meditate on God’s word, Psa. 27

Live soberly, righteously and godly For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age… (Titus 2: 11 -12) 28

Abstain from lusts, live honorably and do good works Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. (1 29

Set your mind on things above If then you were raised with Christ, Seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your Life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 30

Repentance and Forgiveness is Possible! …and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced. 2 Corinthians 12: 21 31