Just Looking
1 Corinthians 6:9 (NKJV) 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
FORNICATORS - The Greek word is pornos {por'-nos}, from which we get "pornography". It is a general word for unlawful and immoral sexual relationship and it includes any kind sex outside of marriage: pre-marital, extra-marital (adultery), homosexual, etc.
According to Matthew 5:28 “If a man looks on a woman to lust after her, he has committed adultery with her already in his heart.”, fornication/adultery and looking at pornography is the same thing.
GROUP DISCUSSION: When does “looking” become sin?
1 John 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” Psalm 101:3 “I will set no unclean thing before my eyes.”
Job 31:1 (NIV) 1 “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.
AMP 29 If your right eye makes you stumble and leads you to sin, tear it out and throw it away [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand makes you stumble and leads you to sin, cut it off and throw it away [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
The word “pornography” comes from the Greek porneia, porneuo, and porne. Porneia is translated “fornication” in the King James Version (Mat 5:32; John 8:41; Rom 1:29; 1 Corin 6:9,13,18; Gal 5:19; Rev 19:2; etc.). Porneuo is the verb “to commit fornication,” as in 1 Corin 6:18. Porne is translated “harlot” in Mat 21:31-32; 1 Corin 6:15; and Rev 17:5.
GROUP DISCUSSION: Why do you think the eyes are so powerful in leading us into sin?
What we look at does affect us spiritually – and can cause us to sin. David “SAW” Bathsheba naked, before he got ideas to sin with her. Jesus said that if a man “looks at a woman to lust after her, he has committed adultery with her already in his heart”; etc. The sin takes place even before the action is executed. Scripture gives many examples of men being enticed by the sight of a woman. Shechem saw the woman before he raped her. David saw the woman bathing before he had sex with her. Judah saw the harlot before he had sex with her. It was the same for Samson, and many other great men in the bible.
Genesis 34:2 “And when Shechem … the prince of the land, SAW HER, he took her and lay with her by force.” 2 Samuel 11:2-5 “Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he SAW A WOMAN BATHING; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, ‘Is this not … the wife of Uriah the Hittite?’ And David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her… And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, ‘I am pregnant.‘” Genesis 38:2-3 “And Judah SAW there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; and he took her and went in to her. So she conceived and bore a son and he named him Er….” Genesis 38:15-16 “When Judah SAW HER, he thought she was a harlot…. So he turned aside to her by the road, and said, ‘Here now, let me come in to you’; …And she said, ‘What will you give me, that you may come in to me?'” Judges 16:1 “Now Samson went to Gaza and SAW a harlot there, and went in to her.” Judges 14:2-3 “So he came back and told his father and mother, ‘I SAW a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.’ Then his father and his mother said to him, ‘Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?’ But Samson said to his father, ‘Get her for me, for SHE LOOKS GOOD TO ME.‘”
GROUP DISCUSSION: What can you do right away when you see something you shouldn’t?
1 Corinthians 7 – A Solution to Sexual Immorality 1 Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality (this includes looking at pornography or women lustfully, masturbation, adultery and fornication), let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. 3 Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
When husbands or wives deprive one another (I’m too tired, I have a headache, etc.) it opens the door for Satan to tempt you in your marriage. It is important to come together in marriage as it is a spiritual union, not just physical. It is also important to fast and pray together with consent and agreement. If you do this, your marriage will be bulletproof!
1 Corinthians 7:7 7 For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. (People are different and have strengths and weaknesses in different areas) (The Message) 7Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me—a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.
GROUP DISCUSSION: For singles—what makes self-control difficult? For married people—how does marriage help?
8 But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; 9 but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
GROUP DISCUSSION: What does it mean to burn with passion?
Genesis 3:6 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Here is the essence of what we need to know about ourselves, about our problem, and how to avoid it. The enemy’s objective was to remove Adam and Eve from the foundation of the Word of God. Once he does this, we are at his mercy.
The supreme objective of Satan in your life is to undermine and discredit the Scriptures. When he has you in a place where you no longer believe and accept the authority of Scripture, you are in trouble. You are a casualty. He is subtle in this way. First thing he does is questions Gods Word. When you entertain the question, THEN he denies the Word. Whatever you do, do not be moved away from the Scriptures of the Word of God. The enemy tries to get you to look at the wrong things so he can convince you away from the truth of the Word of God. Like Peter when he walked on the water, it was only so long as he kept his eyes on Jesus and when he started to pay attention to the wrong things, his faith failed.
Proverbs 4:20-26 20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; 22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.
