Power and Porn Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Power and Porn -------------------------- Date: 3/15/2001 Keywords: "Holy Spirit" "Power" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passages*: 1 Thessalonians 1:5-7 5. for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7. so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. Matthew 9:35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Mark 16:15 And [Jesus] said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." Questions 1. According to the verses above, what does it take to transmit the gospel effectively?   2. How could a Christian’s pornography habit hinder spreading the gospel?   Practical help "Gospel" means "good news." Jesus preached the gospel of a kingdom where the poor in spirit would find admission, the sad would find comfort, the gentle would win, the pursuit of living for God would be obtainable, forgiveness would spread, pure hearts would see God, and conflict — both inside ourselves and with others — would be settled (Matthew 5:3-11). The price would be persecution by an ignorant and sin-filled world, but the reward for those who would carry this gospel to the world would be worth it in the end. Jesus died on the cross to enable this beautiful kingdom to be opened to you and me, and the world is dying to hear the message. More than any other aspect of our lives as Christians, sharing this incredible good news should be what we are about, according to our Lord. But it takes more than words to get the message across, says the apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 1:5. True, we are aided by the Holy Spirit, who provides us with power and conviction, but the Spirit can be quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19) when we choose to follow our own lusts instead of God’s commission. I think Paul’s defense of the gospel to the Thessalonians was powerful because he was able to say, "You know what kind of men we proved to be…." The bottom line is this. As a Christian, you cannot effectively share the gospel and live a deceptive life entangled in pornography. James says this about the man who lives a double life. "For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" (James 1:7-8). eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2001 by eXXit *"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."