But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. James 1:14
If there is any silent killer in the bible, it is lust. It is silent because you may not see it at all in the face, but it is doing internal destruction. This will lead us into three major scriptures. This silent killer is why a lot of people will get to the gate of heaven, and it will be shut. Yes, you did not do anything physically, but right there in the heart lust has made you an offender. James 1:14 says ‘but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. That temptation you are having, that thing that is seducing you, the reason it is able to do that to your life is because there is lust for that thing inside of you. That lust is the magnet, and it is what draws people away and is enticed. All the ‘it’s a mistake’ is no mistake, there is lust inside. That lust is the inner zoo that is attracting other animals. I’m tempted, I’m tempted. There is no temptation, it’s the lust in you that is drawing you into perdition.
James 1:15 also says, ‘Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.’ Everything starts from that lust. The lust conceives, gives birth to sin, and the sin brings death. So, a three-cord circle-lust, sin, death. Every man or woman is drawn away because of that lust in the heart. You can say ‘the woman was seducing me’ NO, it is the lust in you that drew you to it. I didn’t know what we were doing before it happened. NO, it is the lust in you that is drawing it. The danger of lust, you cannot read it on the face. Many years ago, a preacher was preaching at the pulpit, and he was talking about God’s judgement, about hell fire, explaining to people the danger of living a loose life. As he preached, there was a young lady at the front seat crying bitterly. The crying was so bitter that after the sermon the minister went to her. He told her to confess her sin to the Lord, repent and everything would be all right. She explained she was not crying because of the sermon but was crying because she said in her heart ‘this preacher is very handsome. How I wish he was my husband.’
The lust could not show on the face but was right there inside the heart. This is why it is a silent killer. Meaning that many people are dead while they are walking about. Many men are dead they are just moving about. Lust in the heart. A woman in this church said she was tired of all the messages preached at MFM saying she needed motivational sermons. So, she took her husband away from the church to another. There, he sat beside a woman with a very short skirt whose lap was exposed. The holy spirit told her to look down and when she did, she saw her husband’s hand on the woman’s lap, and he was massaging it. The curious thing is that the woman did not mind so the wife gave a blow to the husband and told him to remove his hand. By the next Sunday, she was back at MFM.
That’s why we say there must be a difference between those who have just closed from a night club and those who have closed from church. Lust is a very dangerous thing. Lust when it has conceived, gives birth to a baby called sin, which will now bring death. Meaning that once lust is present, and you don’t deal with it at that level, it will certainly give birth to a baby, and a baby will bring death. Jesus made this plain in Matthew 5:27. Meaning that you may be on your seat and be a rapist although you are not touching anybody, but in your heart, you are doing it. Jesus is saying that lust in your heart, although you have not carried out any physical activity, has made you liable for judgement. As far as heaven is concerned, you are already guilty. If you undress a woman in the laboratory of your heart, the bible says you are a fornicator, adulterer, and rapist. So, a person can arrive at the gate of life and be accused of these things without physically touching anyone. Many are guilty of undressing others in the laboratory of their heart. The bible says being angry and having hatred is murder. When God judges sin, he judges your intentions, your principles, your motives, your reasons, your way of life, your thought processes, the secret lurking of your heart, the longings of your heart, the cravings of your heart. He doesn’t just look at what your hands and legs are doing, he looks at the tablet of your heart. That’s where he will look.
When God judges sin, He judges your intentions, your principles, your motives, your reasons, your way of life, your thought processes, the secret lurking, the longings, and the cravings of your heart.
The bible says no liar will enter into the kingdom of God. Whether you are an occasional, professional, academic, husband, romantic, wife or commercial liar, all these kinds of things are what God will judge. 1 John 2:15 is a very clear picture. Lust is the root that bears gall and bitterness. Lust is the reason why the practice of righteousness is so difficult for so many people. Lust is why many people enjoy sin more than righteousness. Lust is the foundational solution to the sin problem. Once you deal with lust, sin will not come your way. Lust is the wicked blood running in your veins. Lust is that dark spot in your mind. Lust is that evil plant in the garden of your heart. Lust is the little foxes that spoil the vine. Lust is that seductive feeling in your emotions. Lust is the evil route in the garden of your heart. Lust is the wrong connection in the live wire of your spiritual life. Lust is the silent killer that dismantles your inner anointing. Lust is the fuse cutter of divine power. Lust is the strange fire in your spiritual life. Lust is a slow poison. Lust is the mind polluter. It pollutes the minds of the people. Lust is a terrible destroyer.
Age is not a barrier to lust, sending one to hell fire. Both young, old, middle age are ravaged by lust., and it is a terrible matter when a man is controlled by lust, and it is not dealt with. But know for sure that lust will certainly have a baby which is sin, and that sin will bring death. Lust is the mind polluter. Lust is what the bible calls the death in the pot. Lust is that giant, clever, silent killer. Lust is that power neutralizer. Lust is the paralyzer of spiritual power. It is the spiritual backbone breaker. Lust is the foundation of every sinful practice because before you begin to carry out a sinful activity, the lust for it has started in the heart. When lust is conceived, it will bring forth sin and sin when it has finished will bring forth death. Check your heart this morning. Is it really right with God? Or is it filled with quietly, cleverly, concealed lust? Lust must not be conceived because the baby born will be sin. Lust is so horrible; it will make a giant look like a dwarf. Lust draws peoples heart away from God. Lust empowers sorrow and it makes sorrow manifest.
Lust disables your ability to think properly. Lust deadens your communication with the Holy Spirit. Lust bypasses the voice of scripture. Lust destroys the plan of God for your life.
The terrible thing is this, lust can drain you of your common sense. Common sense is gone. I was there in my counselling room many years back, a 68-year-old bishop came and said he wanted to see me. I didn’t know him ; he was just wearing Bishop attire. So, they told me, I said okay, and this bishop came inside, and he said Dr Olukoya good afternoon. I hear that you people pray here. I want you to give me some prayers that can deal with my wife who is a witch. So, I asked, bishop why do you call her a witch? He said one day, madam did not tell me she was coming to the office. She came and caught me and my secretary. Doing what I asked? We were playing with each other, he answered. What play? I asked. This sixty-eight-year-old bishop was sleeping with his secretary in his office, and the wife who did not announce she was coming just came and found them. I asked him what happened afterwards, he replied when she saw us, she issued a curse saying you this man, since this is what you are doing here, I decree that your manhood will not work again any time you want to use it outside our home. The man explained since the day she pronounced the curse; it has been so. I explained to him she was not a witch but used the authority the bible had given to her. I admonished him that at his age he was supposed to be advising the younger ones, yet he is doing foolish things. I told him off very well, and he rose up in anger telling me he was told Daniel Olukoya is a strange man. I informed him we do not have the kind of prayers he is looking for at MFM. Lust had drained his common sense.
Lust has converted useful men into sawdust. If there is domestic wickedness in your family and you are sleeping around, those girls/women you are attracted to have been programmed by domestic wickedness to deal with you. Lust disables your ability to think properly. Lust deadens our communication with the holy spirit. Lust bypasses the voice of scripture. Lust of the heart hooks people to pornography. Lust destroys the plan of God for our lives. Lust is when you look in order to fulfil evil desires. We can lust after alcohol, food, clothes, shoes, women, men, and many other things. Lust is a burning and overpowering desire to satisfy our desires. All sexual sins stem from lust. Lust destroys the mind. Lust is the animal in us. Lust is an illusion. Lust is not inborn, it is acquired. It starts with a desire and develops into a feeling till it possesses the person. Handle lust before marriage so that you can have a successful home and lasting marriage. Lust must be dealt with before it totally destroys everything.
The Way Out
- Surrender your life to Jesus
- Love God above all things
- Destroy all the doors of lust in your life-physical and spiritual.
- Regularly remind yourself that lust is a sin.
- Go for deliverance if you cannot control yourself.
- Stay busy and be careful of the possibility of falling.
- Spend as little time as possible in the presence of anyone who makes you to lust.
- Kill all strange thoughts.
- Fill your mind with the thoughts of God- Philippians 4:8.
- Realize that God has provided a way of escape from temptation-FLEE.
- Do not put yourself in situations where you know temptation will be great.
- Don’t make it easy for the enemy to pull you down.
- Do not be overconfident when it comes to sin.
- Take radical action against any form of impurity in your life.
- Sanctify your environment if impure thoughts or feelings are harassing you.
- Scan your environment and prayerfully seal off sexual enhancers around you.
- Practice self-discipline.
- Make a lifelong commitment of studying, meditating, applying, memorizing, scriptures.
- Get married if you are of age instead of living in sin.
- Watch and pray so as not to enter into temptation.
Prayer to Overcome Lust
- My father, break the idol of lust in my heart in the name of Jesus.
- I fire back every arrow of lust in the name of Jesus.
- Every load of iniquity suffocating my spirit man, clear away by fire in the name of Jesus.
- The enemy of lust shall die in my place in the name of Jesus.
- The power of lust waiting to celebrate my destruction, you are a liar, die in the name of Jesus.
