Addicted to Pleasure

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Now, here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Hi, this is Robert Jeffers, and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory. The key word is to be balanced. We need to remember: God made us not only spirit, we are made body, soul, and spirit.

And that means we have certain natural drives toward pleasure that are God-given desires. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. Have you ever sat down to watch an hour's worth of television and ended up staying there the whole night? or maybe scooped yourself a bowl of ice cream, only to eat the entire carton?

Well today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Jeffress warns that pleasure can become addictive. But first, let's take a minute to hear some important ministry updates. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. I'm thrilled you decided to join us as we continue the practical series called.

Coming home to the Father who loves you. What if I told you that the very gifts God designed for your enjoyment could become the chains that bind you?

Well, on today's program, we're exploring a sobering truth. Satan doesn't tempt us with obviously evil things. Instead, he twists the good gifts from God and makes them toxic. And then, after we've engaged in these so-called harmless indulgences, the pleasure reveals a dark side that few Christians recognize until it's too late. In this study I want to show you the biblical balance between enjoying God's blessings and falling into spiritual slavery.

The line between blessing and bondage is thinner than you think. And as a compliment to this study, I've written a book for you and your family. It's called Coming Home to the Father Who Loves You. Perhaps you have a prodigal in your life, a child, grandchild, or another loved one. who has wandered from their Christian faith.

this book can create an open door to invite them back home. My book is yours to day. When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, It'll arrive at your home with a special prayer card. conveniently printed to display at home. or tuck into the pages of your Bible.

It contains a prayer for your prodigal. More details on these resources will come later in today's program. But right now, let's open our Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. I titled today's message, addicted to pleasure. In 549 BC, the Persian king Cyrus had one goal, and that was to capture the strongly fortified city of Sardis in Asia Minor.

There's only one thing that stood between Cyrus and achieving his goal. It was the fact that the city of Sardis was located on a 1500-foot plateau. Surrounded on every side by steep cliffs. And with no way of access to the city. That's why the residents of Sardis did not lie awake at night worrying about a foreign invasion.

They were safe. Or so they thought. But Cyrus was resolved to capture the city, so he offered to his soldiers a prize to any soldier who could figure out how to penetrate the city of Sardis. A man named Hierodes, a soldier, accepted the challenge. Day after day, Hierodes would stand at the base of that plateau and look up at the city and see the soldiers marching around and observing and looking for a way to penetrate the fortress.

One day he saw one of those soldiers in the Sardian uh garrison accidentally drop his helmet over the cliff. The soldier went down a passageway on one of the cliffs, went to the base of the cliff, retrieved his helmet, and then climbed back up the cliff back into the city. That night, Hierodes led his soldiers up that same passageway into the city. and the city of Sardis fell. The Sardians lost that city for two reasons.

Number one, they overestimated their immunity from enemy attack. And second, they underestimated the resolve of their enemy. destroy them. You know, the same thing is true about Christians who fall into spiritual defeat. I believe one reason so many Christians fall is, first of all, they overestimate their own immunity from Satan's attacks.

They think because they've had a miraculous conversion experience or miraculous answers to prayer in the past, or even been successful in saying no to temptation, that somehow they are permanently immune from Satan's attacks. Remember the words we talked about in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 12? Paul said, Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Don't ever overestimate your immunity from Satan's attack. But you know an equally fatal mistake is to underestimate our enemies' resolve to destroy us.

We saw several weeks ago, we all have an enemy, an adversary, the devil. He has a method, a scheme, a blueprint with your name at the top of it right now. It is a detailed plan to bring you down. In his plan is included a plan to destroy your marriage. To destroy your children.

To destroy your witness for Christ. and to destroy your relationship with God. On Sunday nights, we're using the story of the prodigal son as an analogy, a metaphor, for how it is that we wander away from our Heavenly Father and find ourselves in the far country. What is it that caused the son to leave the security of his father's home? It's the same thing that Satan uses to lure us away from God.

Preoccupation with money. A thirst for pleasure, a drive for success, money. Pleasure, success. Satan doesn't have to have any more original ideas. The old ones work just fine.

Thank you very much. And that's what you find working in the prodigal son's life. We saw the last two weeks how God can use money, a preoccupation with money, to sever our relationship with God. Tonight, we're going to talk about pleasure. Let's first of all talk tonight about what the Bible says about pleasure.

And let me enter this discussion by asking you a question. Is it wrong? to ever choose watching a television program over reading your Bible. Is it wrong to spend time flipping through your favorite catalog instead of flipping through the scriptures or praying? Is it wrong to dream about your next vacation instead of dreaming about the wonders of heaven?

Is pleasure wrong? You know, the fact is, a lot of Christians go to one of two extremes when it comes to this whole idea of pleasure.

Some people, tired of their own slothfulness and laziness and lack of spiritual discipline, they decide to go on a hyper-intensive plan to become disciplined in their life. And so they say, from this moment on, No more sweets. No more watching TV, no more reading anything except Christian books. No more talking to people on the telephone and praying instead. They are going to become disciplined.

And that hyper-intensive program of discipline lasts. Oh, a couple of weeks. couple of days, maybe even a couple of hours. And people give up. They realize they can't do that.

And so they go to the other extreme. They say, well, if I can't discipline myself, what's the use of even trying? And they give themselves to a life completely focused on pleasure. The key word is to be balanced. We need to remember: God made us not only spirit, we are made body, soul, and spirit.

And that means we have certain natural drives toward pleasure that are God-given desires. Let's look and see what the Bible says about this whole issue of pleasure. In Ecclesiastes 9, Solomon spends the first opening verses talking about the inevitability of death. He said, We're like the animals in one way, we're all going to die. Nobody gets out of this world alive.

We're going to die. He talks about the inevitability of death. And therefore, what does he say we ought to do, given the fact that we're all going to die? This blows some people away, what Solomon says. He says, go then, eat your bread in happiness, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart.

for God has already approved your works. If you know you're going to die, you know what the Bible says you ought to do? You better enjoy the life God's given you right now.

Now, again, imbalance. Yes, you better make sure your relationship with God is right. Yes, you better make sure you've invested in eternity. But you better enjoy this life as well because it's the only one you get. You only get one life on this planet anyway.

And the fact is, as wonderful as heaven is going to be, there are some things you won't be able to do in heaven that you're able to do right now. The Bible says we're to do more than just endure the life we have here on earth. God wants us to enjoy it. You say, Well, aren't we supposed to work as well? Yeah, Solomon talks about work.

But in Ecclesiastes chapter 2, verse 22, he says, For what does a man get in all of his labor and his striving with which he labors under the sun? Because all of his days, his task is painful and grievous. This too is vanity. There is nothing better for a man than to eat and to drink and to tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen, that it is from the hand of God.

See, God wired us in such a way that we're not to work 14 hours a day, seven days a week, just grinding it out. God wants us to enjoy. the life he's given us here on earth. But the Bible also sounds some warnings about pleasure, especially about becoming a lover of pleasure. In Proverbs 21, verse 17, jot it down.

Proverbs says, He who loves pleasure will become a poor man. Or Luke 8, verse 14, and the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, they go their way, they are choked with worries and riches and the pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. Or 2 Timothy 3, verse 2. For men in the last days will become lovers of self, of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers. In verse 4, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

Again, Pleasure is like money. It is neither good nor evil in and of itself. But the Bible says we need to be careful about pleasure. In fact, tonight we're going to see from the Scripture that pleasure, as good as it can be at sometimes, is wrong in three specific cases in our life. Jot them down.

First of all, pleasure is wrong when it is in excess. A few years ago, some years ago, when I was pastoring in Wichita Falls, we were going through a particularly busy time, a stressful time. We were gearing up for a building campaign, and so I just decided we were going to do something fun. Our family one weekend, I said, you know, we need to get out of Dodge. And so we loaded up the car and we actually came to Dallas and checked in at a very nice hotel.

And that Friday afternoon, after we unpacked, we went to one of our favorite malls and we forgot our diets and had a great Mexican meal of sour cream enchiladas and then went to a late movie that night and then slept in the next morning and then went to the store and bought a few things we didn't need but we just wanted and went to another movie and came home Saturday night exhausted and ready for Sunday. And no, not really, but we came home that night. It was just a great, fun weekend. Was there anything wrong with that? Yeah.

Except for this. When the next weekend rolled around, guess what I wanted to do? The only problem is, neither my wallet nor my schedule would allow me to do that. Pleasure can be addictive. That's the problem with pleasure.

I want you to notice, again, there's nothing wrong with pleasure, but it has to be in balance. Here is the balance that God gives us between work and pleasure. It's found in Exodus 20, verses 9 and 10. God said, Six days you shall labor and do all of your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord our God, and in it you shall not do anything. any work.

And of course, Jesus said, Man was not made for the Sabbath. Sabbath was made for man. The Sabbath is a gift from God to us to remind us of this schedule. We need to work, work, work. Work, work, work, rest.

Six days on, one day off. That is God's plan for how we're to do our business. Notice, by the way, it doesn't say we are to work, rest, rest, rest, work, work, rest, rest, rest, rest, work, work. Doesn't work that way. God says, six days you shall work, the seventh shall be a Sabbath.

There's supposed to be the A balance in what we do. Let me say a word about retirement. That's what is so dangerous about retirement. This whole idea that you work for 30 years of your life or so so that you can spend the final twenty or thirty years doing nothing except entertaining yourself. Listen.

God's plan to keep you spiritually strong is to keep you productive, keep you involved in your local church. I don't care whether you're retired or not. If you are gone from the church more often than you're here, you're putting your spiritual life in danger. Whatever your schedule is, God says we are not to forsake the assembling together of ourselves. That verse doesn't just apply to people who are not retired under the age of 55.

Pleasure is wrong in our life, first of all, when it is in excess. Secondly, Pleasure is wrong when it becomes our life focus. It's wrong when it becomes our life focus. I remember. period of my life in which I was going through uh Dry spot spiritually.

And so I started memorizing Colossians chapter 3. It begins with set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. And about during that time, as I was studying and memorizing Colossians 3, I read a writer who said If you want to know what the focus of your life really is, ask yourself these three questions. What do you talk about most often? Secondly, what do you think about most often?

And third, if somebody were to give you a check for $20,000, How would you spend it? Your answer to those questions: what do I talk about most often? What do I think about most often? And how would I spend $20,000? That perhaps better than any other question will tell you.

what the real focus of your life is. Peter said it this way in 2 Peter 2.19. For by what a man is overcome, By this He is enslaved. If there is something in your life, it may be. A T V program.

It may be a hobby. If that is what is at the focus of your life. That has become an idol to you. Your pleasure is out of balance whenever it becomes your life focus. And number three, and most obviously, Pleasure is wrong when it violates the teaching of God's Word.

Pleasure is wrong when it violates the teaching of God's Word.

Now, up to this point, as we've talked about pleasure, we haven't talked about sexual immorality. But what I want you to see for the next few moments is there is a relationship. Between becoming a lover of pleasure, pleasure in excess. You know, whether it's sporting events on TV or sour cream enchiladas, there is a relationship between having pleasure out of balance in your life and eventually falling into sexual immorality. Remember in Luke chapter 15, it tells us that the prodigal son spent all of his money.

He got his share of the estate, and it says it went out and he spent his money on loose living.

Now, whenever we hear the phrase loose living in our language, we think of immorality. A person is loose morally. But that's not what the word means in Greek. The word means simply wasteful and extravagant living. In fact, it's the same word that James uses in James 5, verse 5, when he says, You have lived luxuriously on earth and led a life of wanton or wasteful pleasure.

Now there's no hint at that point When he went into the far country, he did anything immoral. He just had loose, luxurious, wasteful, extravagant living. But here's what's interesting. In verse 30, after the son has come home, listen to what the older brother said about this younger brother. He said to his dad, but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth, with harlots.

You fattened the calf for him. In other words, we get some more insight into what he did out in the far country. Not only did he live a luxurious life, But that life with a lack of discipline That life that was focused on entertaining himself eventually did lead him to sexual immorality. What I'm saying to you is there is a relationship between pleasure and excess. Even if it's nothing that's bad or wrong, not being able to control your pleasure and eventually falling into immorality.

There is a relationship between the lack of discipline, a focus on pleasure, and sexual immorality. By the way, you see that in the life of King David as well. When we think about David, The one episode that comes into our mind, of course, is that episode with Bathsheba. But I want you to see from the scripture what led to David's fall into sexual immorality. It was his lack of personal discipline.

In 2 Samuel chapter 11, the story opens with these words. Then it happened in the spring, At a time when the kings go out to battle, That David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But here's the key. But David stayed at Jerusalem.

Now as king David should have been out with his men He should have been fighting side by side with them. But I imagine David said to himself, you know, I've already paid my dues. I've spent time out with those men. I am Tired of lugging around this heavy armor in the hot Palestinian sun, I'm going to let somebody else do it now. After all, I'm king and it's good to be the king.

I think I'll just stay at home and let somebody else do the work. And so, because he neglected his responsibility, he was home when he shouldn't have been home. And of course, it was that evening. Look at what happened in verse 4. That David looked across the way.

He saw Bathsheba, the wife of one of his men, bathing on the roof next door. And 2 Samuel 11:4 says, And David sent messengers and took her. And when she came to him, he lay with her. And when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. It was David's focus on pleasure, not working too hard, a lack of discipline that eventually led to his fall into sexual immorality.

Once you say yes, To even harmless things. Once you say yes to them in excess, you are training yourself to become indulgent. and you're setting yourself up. for sexual immorality. I mentioned a few weeks ago Oscar Wilde, the famous playwright and dramatist whose life ended in disgrace.

I want you to listen to his own personal testimony. about how his desire for pleasure became his downfall. Oscar Wilde wrote, The gods have given me almost everything. but I let myself be lured into long spells of senseless and sensual ease Tired of being on the heights, I deliberately went to the depths in search of new sensations. What paradox was to me in the sphere of thought Perversity became to me in the sphere of passion.

I grew careless of the lives of other people. I took pleasure where it pleased me, and passed on. And I forgot that every little action of the common day Makes or unmakes character. and that therefore what one has done in the secret chamber One has some day to cry aloud from the housetop. I cease to be Lord over myself.

I was no longer the captain of my soul, and I did not know it. I allowed pleasure to dominate me. And I ended. and horrible. disgrace.

How can we keep a preoccupation with pleasure? From severing our relationship with God. and causing our lives to end in horrible disgrace.

Well, next week, we're going to look at some very practical ways to develop disciplined. and a message I'm calling Lessons from the Pentathlon.

Someone is listening to Pathway to Victory at this very moment. And God's Spirit is prompting you to make some dramatic, life-changing decisions. Could it be you? You've been addicted to pleasure. You know it's causing damage to your soul.

It's wrecking your relationships. And worst of all, It's put a barrier between you and God. Isn't it time to come home to the Father who loves you? He's ready and waiting to forgive you. and to restore your relationship with him.

let me urge you to take your first step to day. I've written a book called Coming Home to the Father Who Loves You. Whether you're the prodigal running from God or someone you love is far from home. The biblical principles in this book will guide you. This isn't a pamphlet.

My book is more than 200 pages in length. With a study guide at the end that includes thought-provoking questions for group study. and a copy is yours. When you give a generous gift to support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory, it'll arrive at your home with a prayer card I've written for you. It's conveniently printed to fit into your pocket or purse, and it's called A Prayer for Your Prodigal.

Thank you for giving generously the pathway to victory. It might surprise you to learn how many people benefit from these daily programs, but conversely, how few actually support this non-profit effort with their contributions. Our times make this urgent.

So thanks for stepping forward today with your much-needed gift. God will deploy your generosity to pierce the darkness with the light of His Word. Here's David with all the details. A copy of the book Coming Home to the Father Who Loves You by Dr. Robert Jeffers is yours today when you give a generous gift to support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory.

Request your copy by calling 866-999-2965 or give online at ptv.org.

Now, we regularly hear from listeners who say that the teaching on pathway to victory has really become a trusted source of biblical wisdom and encouragement in their spiritual journey. And with your generous gift today, you'll also receive a prayer for your prodigal. It's a meaningful reminder to stay committed in prayer for the one in your life who's drifted from God. Again, call 866-999-2965 or online, go to ptv.org. You could write to PO Box 223-609 Dallas, Texas, 75222.

That's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas. 75222. I'm David J. Mullins.

Listen again Thursday when Dr. Jeffress shares a message called Lessons from the Pentathalon. That's right here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.

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