Denying Unwanted Feelings, First Part

Despite the indisputable fact that he was born of godly oldsters, put aside from his birth to be a Nazirite, and raised to the enviable position of judge in Israel, he never conquered his bias toward lust.

Many things that illustrate his lustful bent might be noted from the record of his life in the book of Judges. The 1st recorded words from his mouth were : I saw a lady ( 14:2 ). He was interested in the other sex precisely on the supposition of outward appearance : Get her for me, for she looks good to me ( 14:3 ). He judged Israel for twenty years, then went right back to his old practice of chasing women—a harlot in Gaza, and eventually Delilah ( 15:20-16:4 ). He became so preoccupied with his lustful wishes, he did not even know the Lord had departed from him ( 16:20 ). The outcome of Samson’s unlawful affairs are familiar to each one of us. The robust man of Dan was taken captive and turned into a slave in the enemy’s camp, his eyes were gouged out of his head, and he was allocated to be the grinder in a Philistine jail. The swarthy pride of Israel, who once held the highest office in the land, was now the bald clown of Philistia, a pathetic hollow shell of humanity. His life, once crammed with guarantee and grace, was now a picture of hopeless, defenseless despair.

The scented memories of erotic pleasure in Timnah, Gaza, and the legendary valley of Sorek were now crushed by the putrescent stink of a Philistine dungeon. Without realizing it, Solomon wrote another epitaph—this one for Samson’s tombstone:. His very own iniquities will capture the wicked,. And he’ll be held with the cords of his sin. And in the greatness of his folly he’s going to go astray. The same words could well be chiseled in the marble over plenty of other crypts. I suspect, for instance, of the silver-throated orator of Rome, Mark Antony. In his early manhood, he was so consumed with lust that his mentor once roared in disgust:.

In a position to conquer the world but unable to withstand an enticement. I think of the man I met many years ago—a fine itinerant Bible teacher.

He claimed he’d been keeping a private list of men who were once excellent expositors of the Scripture, able and respected men of The Lord God. Who have castaway their religion on the shoals of moral defilement. In the previous week, he announced, he had entered the name ofnumber 42 in his book. This downcast, sordid statistic, he claims, made him be additional wary and discreet in his very own life. Maybe , by this point, he has added a pair dozen more.

A chill ran down my backbone when he told that story. Whether by savage attack or sophisticated recommendation, the minds of a good range of folks are vulnerable to its attack.

Its appealing voice can infiltrate the most intellectual mind and cause its victim to believe its lies and reply to its appeal. Bolt your front door and it will rattle at the window, crawl into the sitting room thru the Television screen, or wink at you out of a mag in the den. How does one handle such an assertive intruder? Try this : when lust advises a rendezvous, send Jesus Christ as your representative. Have Him inform your unneeded suitor that you would like zilch to do with unlawful wish. Have your Lord remind lust that since you and Christ have been united together, you are now not in thrall to sin. ( Read Romans six. ) his expiration and resurrection freed you from sin’s stranglehold and gave you a new Master. And that new Master isn’t frightened to slam the door in lust’s face, irrespective of how far it has slinked in.