FORERUNNER CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP – BOB SORGE
A Covenant with My Eyes
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“I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?” (Job 31:1).
I.
II.
TODAY WE ARE EXAMINING THE SINGLE MOST POWERFUL EQUIPPING TOOL THE
BIBLE GIVES US FOR SEXUAL CONSECRATION
A.
Job’s friends explored, in an intense theological debate, what might be the causation of Job’s
trial.
B.
Their theology—God rewards the godly with blessing, and punishes the wicked with calamity.
They saw Job’s calamity as evidence in and of itself that he was guilty of great wickedness.
C.
Job did not claim sinlessness, but to be innocent of great transgression.
HE DID NOT MAKE A COMMITMENT OR RESOLVE, BUT A COVENANT
A.
It’s a sledgehammer word. (Gen. 15, God and Abraham)
B.
“A covenant is a vow that is solemnized by a verbal or written pledge and must never be
violated—on pain of consequences.”
C.
The verse is not framed as a narrative, and hence, an invitation.
1.
The Bible commands purity.
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2.
Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. (1 Pet. 2:11)
What it doesn’t command is how you get there.
III.
MY STORY WITH THIS VERSE (DECEMBER 2006)
IV.
PICTURE YOUR LIFE AS AN ANCIENT CASTLE
A.
B.
Ancient cities were veritable castles.
1.
Invaders always targeted the gate.
2.
Your life is like that city, and you are under siege.
3.
City center represents your thought life. The iron gate represents the channel through
which sexual temptation gains entrance to your heart.
The primary gate to our sexuality is the eyes.
1.
What the eye allows determines the nature of the traffic in the heart.
2.
If your eye allows good traffic, your whole body is filled with light (Mt. 6:22).
International House of Prayer of Kansas City
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FORERUNNER CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP – BOB SORGE
A Covenant with My Eyes
V.
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3.
If your eye is bad, your heart and body become full of darkness (Mt. 6:23).
4.
When the eye gate is shut, the enemy is now on the outside of your castle and you can
fight him from a place of advantage.
C.
In the quest for purity, the real battleground is the battle for the heart. “Bringing every thought
into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). An eye covenant equips us to fight that
battle.
D.
An eye covenant is not overkill, but a proportionate response to the intensity of today’s war.
1.
Compromise is accessible, affordable, and anonymous.
2.
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3.
There’s only one way that generation will arise, by making a covenant with their eye.
Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one
hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their
foreheads…4…the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins.
These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. (Rev. 14:1, 4).
PICTURE YOUR LIFE AS A CAR
A.
B.
C.
To drive safely, you must have both a gas pedal and a brake pedal.
1.
The gas pedal is the love of Christ.
2.
The brake pedal is the fear of the Lord.
To gain victory over sexual temptation, you must have two things burning within like a blazing
inferno—The love of Christ, and the fear of the Lord.
1.
When you’re headed in the right direction, the love of Christ propels you forward into
purity.
2.
When you’re headed in a wrong direction, the fear of the Lord is a brake that stops you.
The main reason I made a covenant with my eyes is my desire to see God.
[Jesus said] “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Mt. 5:8).
1.
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2.
The man who made a covenant with his eyes was the man who one day beheld God face
to face.
“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.” (Job
42:5)
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FORERUNNER CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP – BOB SORGE
A Covenant with My Eyes
D.
I want the superior pleasures of loving Christ to so satisfy me that I am not seduced by the
inferior pleasures of the flesh.
E.
But if all you have is a strong gas pedal and no brake pedal, you are eventually going to crash.
F.
VI.
VII.
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“I know your . . . love . . . 20Nevertheless I have a few things against you,
because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach
and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to
idols.” (Rev. 2:19-20).
1.
19
2.
They had the love of Christ, but were not properly taught in the fear of the Lord.
There is only one fear that is strong enough to deter you every time in a moment of weakness
and temptation.
WHY AN EYE COVENANT IS SO FEARFUL
A.
Take the example of the marriage covenant.
B.
Five reasons why an eye covenant is so frightening.
1.
This covenant involves our sexuality.
2.
Knowing our weakness, we realize we can’t possibly fulfill this covenant in the strength
of our flesh.
3.
It’s frightening because of the one with whom we’re making the covenant.
4.
A vow provides no room for failure.
5.
Finally, vows are frightening because the Bible doesn’t let us back out.
“. . . ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom . . .’” (Job 28:28).
a)
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b)
The terror of the Lord is clean (Ps. 19:9), it’s wise (Prov. 9:10), it’s invaluable
(Isa. 33:6).
C.
It’s this terror factor that gives you strong brakes.
D.
It’s because of their frightening nature that vows should be entered into slowly, carefully, and
advisedly.
“IF AN EYE COVENANT IS THIS SCARY, WHY WOULD I WANT TO MAKE IT?”
A.
Vows get God involved in a greater way in your pursuit of consecration.
B.
Vows are helpful to us.
International House of Prayer of Kansas City
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FORERUNNER CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP – BOB SORGE
A Covenant with My Eyes
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Make vows to the LORD your God, and pay them . . . (Ps. 76:11)
C.
A vow, properly expressed, will take your intimacy with God to a higher level.
D.
Is it time to burn the bridges, sell all, and buy the pearl of an eye covenant?
VIII. “WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF I VIOLATE THE VOW?”
IX.
X.
A.
If you violate your marriage vows (adultery), nobody knows what your spouse will do. Violate a
vow with God, and He can respond any way He wants.
B.
Handling bumps. There’s a difference between a violation and a bump.
C.
When you’re bumping your way forward in your covenant, your Beloved says to you, “You have
dove’s eyes behind your veil” (Song 4:1).
HOW MIGHT JOB 31:1 SPEAK TO WOMEN?
A.
The invitation of Job 31:1 is universal.
B.
There is no universal way that women are triggered in their sexuality.
C.
The way the eye gate works, for many women, has largely to do with comparisons.
VOWS CAN BE TEMPORARY OR LIFELONG
A.
Some people in the Bible made vows for life—Samson, Samuel, John the Baptist, et al.
B.
Most Nazirites, however, vowed themselves to God for limited periods of time (Num. 6).
C.
Not every vow you make must necessarily be for life.
D.
A sample vow for twenty-four hours.
Heavenly Father, for the next twenty-four hours I make a covenant before You with my
eyes. I vow to never let my eyes settle upon a woman or man to lust or compare. When I
unexpectedly encounter a seductive image or someone I’m attracted to, I will either look
away, turn it off, or walk away. I focus my eyes on Jesus only, and set my mind on things
above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Please remind me continually of
this covenant vow, and grant me the grace to keep it. Knowing the weakness of my frame
and the greatness of Your power, I throw myself upon Your mercy and strength. Amen.
International House of Prayer of Kansas City
ihopkc.org