 We know of a man who spent the first 14 years of his marriage addicted to pornography. Over that span, he graduated from magazines to videotapes and ultimately to computer pornography. His addiction to pornography alienated him from his three children, from God, and almost cost him his marriage.
Pornography is a sin that is not only invading our society…it is invading our churches…it is invading Christians. It is destroying families and relationships with God.
Pornography is everywhere! It is not just found on the Internet, local convenient stores, or video stores, it is found on network television. A December 1998 episode of NYPD Blue, for instance, featured new series star Rick Schroeder lying nude in bed with an equally nude female co-star draped over him.
What's the bottom Line? Gone are the days when pornography was just associated with dirty theatres in bad neighborhoods and wrapped-up magazines under the counter at the convenience store. Gone are the days when persons had to make a deliberate, premeditated choice to get involved with porn. In the "Information Age," by contrast, we each must make a deliberate, premeditated choice not to get involved.
As we consider the words of Scripture, I pray that you will stay away from pornography. Or, if you have already fallen prey to pornography’s grip, I pray that you will allow the Lord God to heal you and create a new heart in you (Psalm 51:10).
We will present several points on pornography:
The Longford report defines pornography as "the commercial exploitation of sex designed to stimulate sexual excitement." Pornography is designed for one purpose…stimulate sexual excitement. When we speak of pornography, we do not distinguish between soft-core and hard-core pornography. We have gotten so sophisticated as a society, that we try to distinguish between a crime within a crime. Have you ever read a newspaper that described a murder as "particularly brutal." It doesn't matter whether a fellow is murdered by chopping his head off or by shooting him very cleanly through the head. All murder is brutal! Likewise, we do not distinguish between soft-core and hard-core pornography. Pornography is pornography. And pornography is dirty and filthy and perverted and wrong, whether it is soft or whether it is hard. A soft bullet will kill you just as surely as a hard bullet. A dull knife will kill you just as surely as a sharp knife. Soft-core pornography will kill you spiritually as surely as hard-core pornography will kill you. Even the word pornography itself is a very interesting word. It comes from a combination of Greek words. The Greek word porne, means "harlot" or a "prostitute", and the Greek word graphos from which we get the word graphic or graph, and it means "to write" or "to depict graphically." So the word literally means to write about or graphically depict the life and actions of a harlot or a prostitute. In other words, it means to depict graphically the use and abuse and perversion of sex in any form or fashion…that is what we mean by pornography.
We are being sold a bill of goods today that tell us that pornography is an innocent exercise. It is a harmless pastime. We ought to have the right to look at it if we choose. We want to tell you that there is not a more destructive force to the life and soul of people. It destroys everything it touches.
To defeat pornography we must determine in our hearts not to engage in it! Psalm 101:3-4 "I will not set before my eyes anything that is base. Perverseness of heart shall be far from me. I will know nothing of evil." If the moment at which you finally ask yourself, "Will I or won’t I permit porn in my life?" is when you’re already reaching for the magazine on the top shelf at Waldenbooks, or when you’re already typing in the URL of a porn site, you’ve already lost the battle. At that point, no amount of last-second "willpower" will be sufficient to cancel the action you’ve already set into motion. The time to ask the question, "Will I or won’t I?" is beforehand. In fact, it’s right now. We must predetermine in our mind that we will not engage in sexually sin. To defeat pornography we must discipline our senses! Job 31:1 "I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a virgin?" In other words, Job made a covenant that he would not fix his eyes upon potential objects of lust. Job’s use of "covenant language" here indicates that he takes his commitment seriously; Israelites understood that the penalties were steep for breaking a covenant (especially when the name of God was invoked in the making of the covenant—either directly, as with the Israelite’s Sinai Covenant with the Lord, or indirectly, as Job does here by suggesting that he will incur divine punishment if he breaks the covenant. We must make a covenant with God promising Him that we will not allow our eyes to take in the filth of the world. We must turn away from the things that cause us to lust. We must maintain purity. We must have discipline over our senses.
When a minister by the name of Joe Wright, who pastors Central Christian Church in Kansas, was asked to open the new session of the Kansas State Senate, everyone was expecting the usual politically correct generalities. But on January 23, 1996, what they heard instead was a stirring prayer, passionately calling our country to repentance and righteousness. The response was immediate—with a number of legislators walking out during the prayer. In six short weeks Central Christian Church logged more than 5,000 phone calls. Commentator Paul Harvey aired Pastor Joe Wright's prayer on the radio and received a larger response to this program than any other program Paul Harvey has ever aired. In addition, Central Christian Church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea. Here is that Prayer: Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask Your forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that's exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that... Pastor Wright’s prayer reminds us that the proliferation of pornography is just one symptom of a deeper problem: collectively drifting away from God. If you are struggling with Pornography, chances are you are drifting away from God. Pornography is not your big problem. Your relationship with God the is main problem. When you get your life in tune with God, then your desire for pornography will wear away. If you struggle with pornography, rededicate your life to God, and your struggle with pornography will lessen each day. 
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