The double-edged sword, or straight sword is referenced many times in the scriptures, particularly in the Old Testament. It was indeed a weapon of choice, known for its ability to cut you severely from more than one direction, but mostly for it's piercing ability. With a pointed end and sharp sides, you could easily thrust it deep into the enemies body.
But as we know, the scriptures also use this weapon in a spiritual sense. The most familiar to us is in describing the power of the Word of the Lord to cut and pierce ones heart. This refernce is found in a number of places both Old and New Testament. Yet the bible uses this sword to also describe the damaging affects of a certain sin in Proverbs chapter 5. The sin of sexual immorality, or adultery.
I was listening just the other day to a sermon by John Piper, one of my favorite authors and pastors. A man of God that I admire for his love of Christ and his unwavering desire to preach the word of God clearly and without compromise. I can't remember the topic of this particular sermon because something he said during it captured my attention and has stayed with me since. He was mentioning the fact that he had no T.V. in his house and was embarrassingly unfamiliar with the things that people discuss everyday that originate from televison programs. But then he something like this, "I dont watch T.V. because of all the crap on it. I am not even able to watch a commercial without having impure, immoral sexual thoughts."
Now I must admit that my very first thought when he said this was comforting to me. I thought that; "Gee, I must not be in quite as bad a shape as I thought I was." When my first thought should have been, "Gee, We are ALL in worse shape than I thought we were." As I read the scriptures, it is clear to me that the two sins that trouble, and potentially destroy men the most are the sins of Pride, and of Sexual Immorality.
It's interesting to me that I wasnt looking for scripture this morning related to sexual sin, in fact I was studying the topic of wisdom. I have been following a train of thought that began with God's Words, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." And this morning, I started be searching the scriptures for passages about wisdom. I started in Proverbs, where else? The first four chapters of the book are all about wisdom. Solomon sums up a great discourse on wisdom with these words at the end of chapter 4; "20 My son, attend to my words; Incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep them in the midst of thy heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, And health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life. 24 Put away from thee a wayward mouth, And perverse lips put far from thee. 25 Let thine eyes look right on, And let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26 Make level the path of thy feet, And let all thy ways be established. 27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: Remove thy foot from evil. " Then Solomon moves right into Chapter 5 and warns us of the double-edged nature of sexual sins. I don't think it just coincidence, that the first warning of something that will drag us off course from wisdom would be this particular sin.
I have had the priviledge this past year to do a lot of discipling work with other men. One of the things I love best about the work, is the honesty that comes between Christian brothers, the openess and accountability. Men are very willing in this type of environment to talk openly about struggles with sin. Pride is often discussed. Anger, selfishness, money issues.........they all jump right out. But it is rare that you get many open discussions about lust, and impure desires. And in a world that bombards men with lustful pictures and words everywhere we turn, I can't imagine that its not having a destructive affect on many, if not most of us.
Men, read Proverbs Chapter 5. Take to heart the serious warnings about the subtle, but very dangerous affect of sexual sin. It truly is a double-edged sword.
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