团契与门徒训练

The Destructive Power of Lust (2 Sam13:1-39)

2012.08.12Rev. Eddie Byun

Lust is deceptive, destructive, and deadly. It disguises itself as love, grows by feeding on fantasy, and carries its judgment into the next generation. But Christ's blood is stronger than lust, and in him we can repent, be set free, and begin again in purity.

Lust disguises itself as love (vv. 1-2)

Amnon's feelings for his half-sister Tamar were called love, but the story shows they were lust. He was so tormented that he made himself ill, and he could see no way to have her. Lust feels like love because it convinces us that we cannot live without the person we desire. But true love seeks the best for the other person, and Amnon's desire showed what he really wanted. Lust is deceptive, and we must not confuse it with love.

Fantasy grows into a plan and then into rape (vv. 3-11)

Amnon's cousin Jonadab, a crafty man, gave him advice that seemed friendly but led to a trap. Amnon used his father's power to bring Tamar alone into his chamber, and she pleaded with him, reminding him that such a thing is not done in Israel. Lust grows more illogical the more it is fed, and Amnon had fed his desire for so long that he lost all reason. Morning after morning he had been consumed by it, and what he filled his mind with filtered down into his heart and then into his actions. Lust is destructive, and it ends in rape.

Lust turns love into hatred and shame (vv. 15-19)

Right after the sin, Amnon hated Tamar with a hatred greater than the love he had claimed, and he ordered her to be thrown out as if she were a thing. Tamar tore her long robe, the sign of her virginity, and went away mourning, because her hope of marriage and family had died. Lust destroys our ability to see others as daughters and sons made in God's image. When the veil of lust is lifted, the person we claimed to love is revealed as a plaything to be discarded. Lust is destructive to the very people it claims to desire.

Silence and compromise drain a father's courage (21)

David heard all these things and was very angry, but he did nothing. Anger over injustice means little if we do not act, because inaction approves what has happened. Perhaps David's past sins with Bathsheba and Uriah still haunted his conscience, so he could not bring himself to condemn his own son. Compromise kills courage, conviction, and character, and it leaves the sins of the father to roll out to the next generation. Lust puts out the fire in a father and the courage in a king.

Lust is deadly, but Christ sets us free

Two years of bitterness in Absalom grew into murder, and the fruit of Amnon's uncontrolled desire ended in his death. Lust has even destroyed marriages, when husbands who believed marriage would cure their addiction found that it only destroyed their intimacy and trust. Yet there is hope, because Jesus said that whoever loses his life for his sake will find it. To conquer lust begins with trust in the power and promises of Christ. Those who repent and return to him can be healed, delivered, and set free, starting today.

Apply to Life

  • Let us examine whether our love truly seeks the best for the other person, and not just our own pleasure.
  • Let us guard our eyes and minds from what feeds lust, and take sin seriously by cutting off whatever leads us to fall.
  • Let us seek an accountability partner and confess our struggles honestly before God.
  • Let us trust in Christ and fight the flesh daily, believing that his blood is stronger than lust.

This summary was made automatically from the sermon's captions and may differ from the sermon.

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