Email Us

Find a Congregation Near You!

 The Cornerstone 

This is the Stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the Chief Conerstone." Acts 4:11

Pulbished to Support the Work of the West End Church of Christ, Richmond, Virginia

Volume 6 *   Number 23*   June 4,  2006

Lasciviousness & Licentiousness

Mark 7:21-23 "For from within, out of the heart of man, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these things come from within, and defile the man."

Lasciviousness is not a word that is used very often. In fact many people do not even know what it means. When the word sensual is used people understand that to mean physical gratification of the sexual appetite. Today the word sensual is used to promote magazines, clothes, and even cars and the women who are dressed immodestly around the product, support the idea of gratification and wantonness. Sensuality is what Jesus had in mind when He used the word lasciviousness. Unrestrained wantonness and gratification is what defiles a man. It is lust that is found within the heart that manifests itself in that which is evil.

"For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." Jude 4

Licentiousness is not a word that is used very often either. In fact many people do not even know what it means. It means one does not have any regard for accepted rules or standards.

God’s laws are laid aside, not accepted and the word conveys the idea of no restrain in sexual conduct.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Our country is running amuck because of lasciviousness and licentiousness are promoted. No restraint of the eye or flesh is needed. These two words teach against partying. (See also I Peter 4:3) The party scene indulges in that which is condemned in the Word of God, yet today it is portrayed as glamorous, free spirited, and fun. The "who cares" ideology of this country mocks God (though God is not mocked Galatians 6:7) as young and old, do what they will with no restraint or regard for the will of God. It is not hard at all to understand why so many want to remove God from anything and everything.

Brethren, these two words teach against dancing because dancing is lascivious. Men and women do that which is unseemly. I once read that dancing is nothing more than a vertical manifestation of a horizontal desire. Can anyone deny this to be true when MTV, Video One and the award shows all promote filthy dance moves to arouse wantonness? There is a reason I do not have cable in my house.

These two words address what is wrong with immodest apparel. (See also I Timothy 2:9) Immodesty reveals that which should be covered up, because that which is revealed excites the senses of gratification and wantonness. Don’t you know that corporations have figured out that less sells more? You can’t even get a hair cut, go through the check out line or sit in a doctors office without being confronted with this evil.

What can we do to protect ourselves from this sin that is swirling all around us?

Do Not Make Provisions for the flesh

Romans 13:13-14 "Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts."

Turn the TV off! Take your own book to the hair salon, look at the candy bars instead of the magazines.

Cling to that which is Good

Romans 12:9 "Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good."

Christians should be abhorred by that which is evil. Cling to the good so think on the things Paul mentions in Philippians 4:8.

Dress modestly

Do not be the source of that which is lascivious and teach your children to do the same. If confronted with that which is indecent, then look the other way, or get away. In fact Jesus said "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." Matthew 6:29 In context Jesus is addressing lusting after a woman having committed adultery with her in the heart. This is a serious matter.

Perhaps in some small way, a better understanding of these words has been presented. Christians are called to be holy. (I Peter 1:16) Lascivious and licentious behavior is not holy.

Stacy Crim

 

Doing Good to Please God

Stephen Bradd

When you do good for someone else, "do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing" (Matt. 6:3). The idea here is that a Christian's generosity should be a natural part of his life. It should come so spontaneously, and with so little thought, that one part of the body should almost be able to engage in it without the other parts knowing. This figure of speech clearly forbids one from boasting about personal acts of goodness. This statement does not demand that good works be done secretly or that they cannot be made known by others (e.g., Mark 12:41-44; Acts 4:32-37; II Cor. 8:1-5). Jesus is not forbidding the publicity of good works; He is forbidding the attitude that desires publicity.

But Stephen, are you certain Jesus isn't teaching us to do all good deeds secretly? Yes, I am certain, in spite of the fact that the next verse mentions good deeds being done in secret and rewarded openly (Matt. 6:4). If one concludes that all good deeds must be done secretly, then he will contradict what our Lord taught earlier in Matthew 5:16 - "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." A Christian's goal in life should be to work in such a way that others will not see him but his good deeds. That is what the focus should be on--the good deed--not the mortal man or woman doing good. This is the difference between "letting your light shine" and "shining your light."

Ultimately, one must desire that the praise be given to God for good works accomplished and not to one's self. Friends, do not rob God of the glory that is rightfully His by focusing your praise upon the creation rather than the Creator, and do not rob yourself of the "reward" that Almighty God has in store for you when you seek His approval rather than the glory of men.

Weatherly Heights Bulletin , Huntsville, AL &

  Back to Current Year Bulletins