A Tale of Two Faces

Pastor Darryl Bentley

Midland SDA Church

July 25, 2009

 

Homiletical Idea:  As Christians we must be careful that we do attempt to lead a double life.  Once we profess to belong to Christ we have solemn obligation to life for Him fully.  We must be careful that we do not have a form of godliness while denying God’s power in our lives.

 

The Double Life

            I want to tell you all a story about a lady named Lucinda.  Lucinda was raised in a Seventh-day Adventist home.  She had good Adventist parents who loved the Lord and their children.  Lucinda’s parents made great sacrifices so that they could send her to Adventist schools and it was this investment in Christian education that prompted Lucinda to want to be a teacher herself as she reached adulthood.

            Lucinda attended Atlantic Union College where she received her degree in elementary education and she went on to Andrews University and completed her masters.  Lucinda was set to accomplish her life-long dream of becoming a teacher in the Adventist school system.

            She was hired, went to work and was very successful by all appearances.  Her students loved her and she was able to connect with parents very easily.  In short, Lucinda was loved by everyone who knew her.  She was so loved that the day the news came most people refused to believe what they heard.  Everyone said it was not possible that such a loving, committed, successful person would ever attempt to take their own life, but that is exactly what happened when Lucinda went home one Friday after school.

            She was unmarried and lived alone.  She left school around 4:30 that day and by 5:30 she was finishing off a bottle of whiskey and because she was so ashamed of the double life she had been leading she decided to crush up a bottle of sleeping pills and end her life.

You see Lucinda had been a closet alcoholic since she had been in school.  While she was AUC she met some friends who talked her into trying alcohol.  For whatever reason she liked it so much she could not stop.  Each weekend she would go on wild drinking binges with her so-called friends and try to sober up enough to make it to class by Monday morning. 

Instead of turning to God and seeking help for her problem she thought she could manage it on her own. She refused to admit that she had a drinking problem to herself or anyone else.  She would play the role of a devoted Christian educator by day and on Sabbath and she would drive miles away to neighboring towns to buy her booze.  She became empty and numb inside.  She had been in church long enough that she knew all the code language.  She had been raised in the church so she knew when to smile, but inside her heart was broken.  Inside she had only darkness and the cold chill that comes from being separated from God.

            When the weight of deceit and anxiety came crashing down upon her she caved in and as she had trained herself to do she turned right back to her old standby: Jack Daniels.  That demon of alcoholism led her into the deepest pit of despair one can know, and in her hopelessness she thought death was the only way that she could find relief from the lies and deceit that formed her life.

 

Secret Sins in Our Lives

            Many of us may hear this story and ask ourselves, “How could someone hide the fact that they are an alcoholic for so many years?”  The saddest part of this story to me is that many of us do much the same thing in our own lives.  Sure, you and I may not be alcoholics, but what secret sins so we hold close to our hearts?  If the record books of heaven were opened this morning and the recording angel was asked to turn to your name what would be written there?  Would we be embarrassed if our record was read aloud this morning?

 

Empty Leaders

            Turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew.  In chapter 5 we find that Jesus is on the mountain surrounded by the multitude of people who longed to hear His life-changing teachings.  We will not take the time to read it all but if you were to do an in-depth study of what’s going on here you would quickly realize that Jesus was trying to tell the group that day and us today that there is a certain way that we need to live our lives when we belong to God.

            Jesus was Jewish and grew up immersed in Jewish culture.  He was fully aware of the hypocrisy within the Jewish leadership.  He knew that they twisted the teachings of God to fit their own plans and to advance their own causes instead of the cause of God, and Jesus speaks out against this type of so-called godliness in chapters 6 and 7 too.  Notice what the Bible says in Matthew 7:28, 29.

 

Amazed?

            Now why were the people amazed at His teaching?  Why does the Bible say that Jesus taught with authority and not like the scribes?  Jesus taught with authority because He was the genuine article.  Jesus spoke with truth and conviction because He was filled with the Holy Spirit and not pride of life that dominated the religious culture of the day.

            They were amazed at His teaching because they were used to putting up with a religious front that was passed off as piety.  They were fed a steady diet of false righteousness.  They were amazed because for the first time in their lives they were coming face-to-face with God and truly understanding what it meant to live for God completely without the falsehoods that served to separate them from God.

 

Ingrained Culture

Jesus was not the only One to recognize the hypocrisy of the Jews.  In Philippians 3:5 the apostle Paul tells us that he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews; meaning that he was a Jewish as you could possibly get.  If there had been a poster campaign in Paul’s day promoting Phariseeism then Saul—as he was known prior to conversion—would have been the poster child for that campaign.  From the time he was a very young boy Saul was indoctrinated into Jewish teaching and tradition to the “nth” degree. 

 

Mentoring a Young Pastor

            So it is very safe to say that Saul, now Paul, knew what to look out for when it came to avoiding the life of a hypocrite; the life of living with two faces.  Having been a member of the Council of the Sanhedrin, Paul knew first-hand how his former colleagues operated.  Paul knew the dangers that can come in if one does not live their life fully surrendered to Christ.  I think that is why Paul was so zealous in mentoring the young pastor Timothy as he did.

           

Timidity and Fear

            Paul may have written more than two letters to Timothy, but two is all that we have record of.  In his second letter Paul is aware that Timothy is discouraged and waning in his faith. 

 

Show Yourself Approved

            As Paul continues through his second letter he changes gears a bit.  He moves from encouraging Timothy in chapter 1 to reclaim his faith to then assuming that he has.  Paul switches from gently encouraging to softly rebuking and admonishing.  Paul knew that there were people in Timothy’s congregation that were teaching heresy.  Paul even calls them by name (verse 2:17).  He tells Timothy to avoid ignorant and foolish speculations that lead to quarreling (Verse 2:23).  In the previous verse he tells Timothy to grow up and flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, peace and love.  Paul knows it is in seeking these things that we find safety.

 

Rough Times Coming

            A he encourages he also wants to warn.  In chapter 3 Paul wants Timothy to realize that it is going to get worse before it gets better.  Today, friends, you and I need to realize that this world is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better.  Jesus said that the last days of earth’s history will resemble the days of Noah when men’s hearts were filled with thoughts of evil continually.

            **Read 2 Timothy 3:1-4**.  Notice how Paul characterizes people in the last days.  The sad part about this is that these people are not in the world; they are in the church.  Notice what verse 5 says.   It says that they have a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.  In other words, these horrible people mentioned in the previous verses are people who go to church, but inwardly they have not been converted.

            These are people who profess God with their lips and deny Him in their lifestyle.  They are people who love to appear pious and holy in the sight of men, but inwardly they are devoid of the Spirit of God.  Inwardly, they are operatives of Satan.  Paul says, “Avoid such men as these.”  He does not say go to them and try to win them over.  He says avoid them.  Why does he say avoid them?  Because Paul knows that no amount of coaxing, teaching, or pleading will cause them to change.  They will only change when they allow Christ to melt their heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh.

 

Not So Obvious

            I know that as we read through this passage some of you may be wondering, “Does the pastor think that our church is full of this kind of people?”  The answer is no.  I do not think that our church is full of these horrible kinds of people.  The reason I bring this message to you all today is because I am afraid that there might be some Lucindas among us today. 

I have not received a vision from God showing me the secret sins of our church family.  But I know in my own life there have been things that I have struggled with in the past.  There have been things that I dabbled in behind the scenes of life while pretending to be something totally different in public and at church especially.  And I know that if I had my struggles then there are probably some of you who have struggles too.

You may not be a closet alcoholic who secretly drinks, but… 

1.      You may have a weakness for pornography. 

2.      You may have a weakness for gambling.  I see people buy these scratch-off lottery tickets and throw their money away.  The Bible does not condone gambling and as Christians we should avoid it all together. 

3.      Perhaps your secret sin is that when you are home you treat those in your family like garbage. 

4.      Maybe you cheat on your taxes. 

5.      Maybe you cheat on your spouse.

6.      Maybe you watch shows on TV that fill your mind with garbage.

7.      Maybe you play video games that desensitize you to human suffering and death.

The list could go on and on, but the bottom line is that if we have any secret sin in our lives then we are separating ourselves from God and if we are separated from God then we are lost.

Death in Victory

            So now the question comes as to how we avoid falling into this trap of cherished secret sin.  I wish I could tell you that the answer is simple, but it’s not.  I wish we could easily have victory over sin, but it does not come easily.  Victory over sin only comes through death.  As a former military man I was trained that victory comes in the death or surrender or both of your enemies.  Victory in this Christian walk comes the same way; through death. 

            Not in our physical death, but death in a spiritual sense.  In order to overcome sin you and I must die to sin.  We must surrender all that we have to Jesus, and prayer must be the foundation of your daily existence. 

It was prayer that revived our Lord when He was weary.  It was prayer that kept Him surrendered to the will of the Father, and it was prayer that led Him to think more of others than Himself.  It was prayer that strengthened Christ to endure and it is with prayer that we must combat the devil too.  Between prayer and study of God’s Word we will find our surest defense against satanic attack in our lives.

 

The Rest of the Story

About 15 minutes after Lucinda took those 50 sleeping pills and passed out in her living room a good friend of hers came by to drop in and visit her.  When Lucinda did not answer the doorbell her friend decided to go over to the window in the front room and see if she could get Lucinda’s attention. When her friend walked to the window she could see Lucinda draped unnaturally over the sofa almost in the floor.

            Her friend immediately forced open the door and rushed over to Lucinda.  The smell of alcohol was strong and there was a whitish-blue powder around Lucinda’s mouth.  911 was called and I am very happy to tell you today that Lucinda is alive and well.

            After getting her stomach pumped and sobering up Lucinda came clean with everything she had been doing over the years.  She was admitted into a Christian alcohol rehabilitation program and today Lucinda has been sober for nearly 12 years.  Today Lucinda is so in love with Jesus Christ that she beams all over.  Today Lucinda leads only one life, and that is a life devoted to living for Christ no matter what.

 

Wrap-up and Appeal

**Read Hebrews 12:1-3**.  As we close our service today I want to give you an opportunity to start fresh.  I want to give you the chance to begin your death to self today.  You can start new today.  You can have victory over sin, but you have to want victory more than you want life itself.  Because wanting victory means that you want to give it all to Christ.  Won’t you come today and let Jesus change your life forever?  Let us pray.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pornography Addiction and Industry Statistics

1.      As of 2003, there were 1.3 million pornographic websites; 260 million pages (N2H2, 2003).

2.      The total porn industry revenue for 2006: $13.3 billion in the United States; $97 billion worldwide (Internet Filter Review).

3.      U.S. adult DVD/video rentals in 2005: almost 1 billion (Adult Video News).
Hotel viewership for adult films: 55% (cbsnews.com).

4.      Unique worldwide users visiting adult web sites monthly: 72 million (Internet Filter Review).

5.      Number of hardcore pornography titles released in 2005 (U.S.): 13,588 (Internet Filter Review).

6.      Adults admitting to Internet sexual addiction: 10%; 28% of those are women (Internet Filter Review).

7.      More than 70% of men from 18 to 34 visit a pornographic site in a typical month (comScore Media Matrix).

8.      More than 20,000 images of child pornography posted online every week (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 10/8/03).

9.      Approximately 20% of all Internet pornography involves children (National Center for Mission & Exploited Children).

10.  100,000 websites offer illegal child pornography (U.S. Customs Service estimate).

11.  As of December 2005, child pornography was a $3 billion annual industry (Internet Filter Review).

"At a 2003 meeting of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, two thirds of the 350 divorce lawyers who attended said the Internet played a significant role in the divorces in the past year, with excessive interest in online porn contributing to more than half such cases. Pornography had an almost non-existent role in divorce just seven or eight years ago." (Divorcewizards.com)

Christians, Pastors and Church Pornography Statistics

1.      A 1996 Promise Keepers survey at one of their stadium events revealed that over 50% of the men in attendance were involved with pornography within one week of attending the event.

2.      51% of pastors say cyber-porn is a possible temptation. 37% say it is a current struggle (Christianity Today, Leadership Survey, 12/2001).

3.      Over half of evangelical pastors admits viewing pornography last year.

4.      Roger Charman of Focus on the Family's Pastoral Ministries reports that approximately 20 percent of the calls received on their Pastoral Care Line are for help with issues such as pornography and compulsive sexual behavior.

5.      In a 2000 Christianity Today survey, 33% of clergy admitted to having visited a sexually explicit Web site. Of those who had visited a porn site, 53% had visited such sites “a few times” in the past year, and 18% visit sexually explicit sites between a couple of times a month and more than once a week.

6.      29% of born again adults in the U.S. feel it is morally acceptable to view movies with explicit sexual behavior (The Barna Group).

7.      57% of pastors say that addiction to pornography is the most sexually damaging issue to their congregation (Christians and Sex Leadership Journal Survey, March 2005).

 

Statistics on Women with Pornography Addiction

1.      28% those admitting to sexual addiction are women (internet-filter-review.com).

2.      34% of female readers of Today's Christian Woman's online newsletter admitted to intentionally accessing Internet porn in a recent poll and 1 out of every 6 women, including Christians, struggles with an addiction to pornography (Today’s Christian Woman, Fall 2003).

 

 

Statistics on Pornography's Effect on Families and Marriages

1.      47% percent of families said pornography is a problem in their home (Focus on the Family Poll, October 1, 2003).

2.      The Internet was a significant factor in 2 out of 3 divorces (American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers in 2003 - divorcewizards.com).

Statistics on Child Pornography Use

1.      9 out of 10 children aged between the ages of 8 and 16 have viewed pornography on the Internet, in most cases unintentionally (London School of Economics January 2002).

2.      Average age of first Internet exposure to pornography: 11 years old (Internet Filter Review).

3.      Largest consumer of Internet pornography: 12 - 17 year-old age group (various sources, as of 2007).

4.      Adult industry says traffic is 20-30% children (NRC Report 2002, 3.3).

5.      Youth with significant exposure to sexuality in the media were shown to be significantly more likely to have had intercourse at ages 14 to 16 (Report in Pediatrics, April, 2006).

"Never before in the history of telecommunications media in the United States has so much indecent (and obscene) material been so easily accessible by so many minors in so many American homes with so few restrictions."
 - U.S. Department of Justice, Post Hearing Memorandum of Points and Authorities, at l, ACLU v. Reno, 929 F. Supp. 824 (1996).

Statistics on Online Perpetrators

1.      1 in 7 children who use the internet have been sexually solicited - 2005. (Internet Filter Review)

2.      1 in 4 kids participate in Real Time Chat. (Family PC Survey, 2000).

3.      1 in 5 children (10 to 17 years old) receives unwanted sexual solicitations online (Youth Internet Safety Survey, U.S. Department of Justice, 2001).

4.      2 in 5 abductions of children ages 15-17 are due to Internet contact (San Diego Police Dept.).

5.      76% of victims in Net-initiated sexual exploitation cases were 13-15, 75% were girls. "Most cases progressed to sexual encounters" - 93% of the face-to-face meetings involved illegal sex (Journal of Adolescent Health, November 2004).