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F.B. Meyer · Citado em PreceptAustin
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Meyer - A fatal snare again entangled Samson. -- How many great men have been too weak to resist the wiles of the flesh. Those who do great exploits for God must ever watch against these. This story should remind us of the death of Christ. In His weakness as He hung upon the Cross, the power of hell compassed Him in, and anticipated an easy victory, but He laid hold on the doors of death, the gate into the unseen, and plucked them up, bars and posts and all, and put them upon His shoulders and carried them up to the top of the everlasting hills, which lie towards the city of Rest (Eph 4:8+). AMEN! This chapter (among many lessons) shows how desire (lust) can deceive a person into believing a lie. From whence does that desire originate? From ourselves, from our mortal enemy, Sin, which continually entices us with the desires of deceit (Jas 1:14, 15+, cf 1Pe 2:11+). If Sin's desires were not deceitful they would not be so enticing! Therefore, the writer of Hebrews wisely exhorts us to "encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." (Hebrews 3:13+) We must continually “Keep watching and praying" lest we fall prey to Sin's siren song and "enter into temptation," for as Jesus warned our "spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. (Mt 26:41+) It has been well said that "There is a great deal of deceitfulness in sin; it appears fair, but is filthy; it appears pleasant, but is pernicious; it promises much, but performs nothing. The deceitfulness of sin is of a hardening nature to the soul; one sin allowed prepares for another; every act of sin confirms the habit; sinning against conscience is the way to sear the conscience; and therefore it should be the great concern of every one to exhort himself and others to beware of sin." (Matthew Henry) Keil and Delitzsch - Samson’s Fall and Death.—Samson’s judicial labours reached their highest point when he achieved his great victory over the Philistines at Lechi. Just as his love to the daughter of a Philistine had furnished him with the occasion designed by God for the manifestation of his superiority to the uncircumcised enemies of Israel, so the degradation of that love into sensual lust supplied the occasion for his fall which is related in this chapter. “Samson, when strong and brave, strangled a lion; but he could not strangle his own love. He burst the fetters of his foes, but not the cords of his own lusts. He burned up the crops of others, and lost the fruit of his own virtue when burning with the flame enkindled by a single woman.” (Ambros. Apol. ii., David. c. iii.) Keil & Delitzsch - His Heroic Deed at Gaza.—Samson went to Gaza in the full consciousness of his superiority in strength to the Philistines, and there went in unto a harlot whom he saw. For Gaza, see Josh. 13:3. בֹּוא אֶל is used in the same sense as in Gen. 6:4 and 38:16. It is not stated in this instance, as in Judg. 14:4, that it was of the Lord. (Commentary) ILLUSTRATION - ENEMY ATTACK - In his book, From the Shadows, former CIA director Robert Gates relates a near-catastrophe that took place during the Presidency of Jimmy Carter. Carter's national security advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was once awakened and informed that the Soviet Union had launched an all-out nuclear attack. One minute before he was to have called the President, word arrived that the first information had been in error. Someone had accidentally inserted military exercise tapes into the missile-defense computer system. Thankfully, Brzezinski's wake-up call was a false alarm. He remained calm and in control in a situation in which he might have fallen prey to fear or panic. He knew that if we fail to control our passions, our passions control us. That's what happened to Samson. Unable to control himself, in the end he fell victim to an ""enemy attack."" PARALLEL PATTERN OF SAMSON'S LIFE IN JUDGES 14-15 AND JUDGES 16 EVENT Jdg 14-15 Jdg 16 Sees woman Woman betrays secret Samson bound Samson calls on Lord Jdg 16:28, 30 Philistine slaughter Judgeship Acknowledged Ray Pritchard (see full sermon Little Steps to a Big Fall) - You may wonder why I bring up this story at this time. And then maybe you don’t. It does have an amazingly contemporary sound, doesn’t it? It’s a story of reckless behavior by someone who should have known better. It could have been ripped from the pages of any newspaper in America. I don’t want to make a political point other than to note that what happened in the White House isn’t unique or new in any sense. It’s as old as the human race. Certainly the story of Samson and the prostitute of Gaza stands as a cautionary tale to all of us. Here are some of the obvious lessons: 1) Just because we think we have conquered a certain sin doesn’t mean it will stay conquered forever. 2) The price of long-term spiritual victory is continued vigilance coupled with self-discipline and regular accountability. 3) God sometimes lets us suffer the consequences of our sin as a means of grace so that when we are humbled, we will return to him with a truly broken heart. 4) A healthy sense of our own sinfulness and an honest admission of our weakness can protect us from foolish mistakes and stupid choices. 5) A lifetime of obedience can be ruined in a moment of sinful passion. 6) If we think that we are somehow immune to certain temptations—and that what others have done we would never do—we are arrogant, self-righteous fools. We may be in greater danger than the people we criticize. 7) God lets some people fall so that others will learn not to sin. 8) Judgment and forgiveness are not mutually exclusive. We may be judged and forgiven at the same time. Write two verses of Scripture over this tragic story of Samson and the prostitute at Gaza. The first is Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” The second is 1 Corinthians 10:12, “Therefore if any man thinks that he is standing firm, let him take care lest he fall.” Where is the grace of God in all of this? We see it in two ways. First, the grace of God appear at the end of Judges 16 when blind Samson—having been captured and publicly humiliated by the Philistines–returns to God just before he dies. Second, we see God’s grace in the fact that this strange story of Samson and prostitute is recorded in the Bible. It is a “severe mercy” and a warning from God who loves us too much to let us take our sin lightly. Why did Samson go to Gaza? Because he was self-confident. Because he had lived for twenty years without ever dealing with his basic problem. And since he’d lived problem-free for twenty years he felt like he didn’t have a problem anymore. Oh, Samson, what a fool you were. And what fools we are if we don’t learn from what his mistakes. We read this story, Lord, and a thousand fugitive thoughts go through the mind. We watch Samson throwing his life away and we say, “How stupid.” Grant that we might have a better estimate of our own weakness. Help us to see that what happened to Samson could so easily happen to any of us. Renew within us the spirit of self-discipline. Show us anew the danger of dabbling with temptation. Lead us to the place where we will yield our desires to you. Thank you for the alchemy of the Holy Spirit, through which the base metal of our passions is transformed into pure gold for your kingdom. Amen. (Little Steps to a Big Fall) In another message Pritchard writes - The story of Samson and Delilah, found in Judges 16, really could be titled “Didn’t you used to be Samson?” It’s the story of a man who having reached the pinnacle of his career and having accomplished everything a man would want to accomplish, in one sudden, violent turn went from the top right down to the bottom. It’s the story of a man whose name was a household word, whose picture was on every wall, whose deeds were celebrated by poets and priests. It’s the story of a man who had it all and who in a moment lost it all. The amazing thing about the story of Samson and Delilah is that it comes at the height of his career. That really is the most shocking fact. In the end, Samson was tricked by the same thing that tricked him in the beginning. And in that one fact is the shock and surprise. Or perhaps it is no shock and no surprise at all that after all these years, the thing he struggled with in the beginning—that thing reached out and bit him on the heel and finally brought him down.....The story begins in Judges 16:1 where Samson does a very unusual thing. One day Samson went down to Gaza where he saw a prostitute. Gaza was a Philistine city. It was about 25 miles away from Zorah, where he grew up. Gaza was not only a Philistine city, it was also the headquarters for the Philistines. It was the place where they had the temple of Dagon. It was a crazy thing for Samson to do. It would be like Mikhail Gorbachev coming to Washington, D.C. one Friday night, and hoping he wouldn’t be recognized. The odds weren’t in his favor. Everybody in Gaza knew Samson; he was Public Enemy Number One. Maybe he thought he was far enough away that either they wouldn’t recognize him or maybe word wouldn’t get back to Israel. Who knows? It was a crazy, insane chance to take. In one sense it wasn’t a “chance” at all, because there was absolutely no chance the mighty Samson could slip in and out of the capital city of the Philistines unobserved. No chance. None whatsoever. It’s like the stories we sometimes hear about certain preachers and politicians who take such reckless chances with their private lives that it almost seems as if they have a professional death wish. Maybe that’s what is happening here. Maybe Samson is fed up with the unending pressure of 20 years at the top of the heap. Maybe he’s so fed up with the humdrum that he almost doesn’t care if he does get caught. That kind of thing happens all the time, and more so as successful men approach the mid-life years. So Samson leaves his own people again. He goes to the capital city of the Philistines and there he sees a prostitute. He went in, the Bible says, to spend the night with her. By the way, Samson is the only man in the Hall of Fame of Faith in Hebrews ll, who ever slept with a prostitute. This famous man of God went in to spend the night with a prostitute. (Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places) Related Resources: Dealing with Lust, Holiness, Godliness Ephesians 5:3, 4ff Exposition Proverbs 4:23 Exposition 2Corinthians 7:1 Exposition Jehovah Nissi: Exposition of Exodus 17:8-16 1Thessalonians 4:3ff Exposition Galatians 5:16ff Exposition 1Timothy 4:7ff Exposition 2Corinthians 10:3-5 - Exposition James 1:13; James 1:14; James 1:15 - Exposition Proverbs 5:1-14; Proverbs 5:15-23; Proverbs 6:20-35; Proverbs 7:1-27 - Exposition Study of our fallen flesh Deceitfulness of Sin Read Nu 32:23+, Pr 5:22 - Captured by Iniquity and Held by Cords of one's own Sin Sin will take you further than you ever wanted to stray! Cost you more than you ever dreamed you would pay! Keep you longer than you ever thought you would stay! Harlot (02181) (zanah) (see Harlot • Harlotry) means a prostitute. Prostitutes like the woman whom Samson visited at Gaza were common in the ancient world. In fact, prostitution has been a part of religious rites since at least 3000 a.d. In Babylon, Syria, Canaan, Arabia, and Phoenicia intercourse with a temple prostitute was believed to induce fertility among humans, animals, and crops. The historian Herodotus tells of a Babylonian custom that required every woman to sit in the temple of the goddess Ishtar until chosen by a stranger for sexual relations. A desirous man would toss a coin in a woman’s lap. If she accepted the coin and his sexual advances, she would have paid her obligation to the goddess and be free to return to her normal life. In Israel, however, ritual prostitution was forbidden (Dt 23:17). Laws existed to prevent priests from marrying prostitutes (Lev 21:7), and income from prostitution could not be used to pay vows in the temple (Dt 23:18). Nevertheless, commercial prostitutes practiced their trade rather freely in Hebrew society. They were easily recognizable by their hairstyle, head ornaments, or perhaps a special mark on their foreheads. Their clothing and jewelry signaled their availability, and like streetwalkers everywhere, they frequented particular locales well known as meeting spots. Payments were accepted in money, grain, wine, or livestock. It was even common to accept a pledge until the payment could be fulfilled. ESV Study Bible - Hebrew has two words for prostitutes. One (qadesh) refers to “cultic prostitutes” who served pagan gods (Gen. 38:21-22; Deut. 23:17; 1 Kings 14:24). The word here (zonah) signifies a second type, the common, “secular” variety (cf. Gen. 38:15). (See context ESV Study Bible) Sin Saps Us Return to the Lord. Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity; receive us graciously." —Hosea 14:2 Sin saps us of our God-given strength. We become spiritually weak and decrepit, but often we imagine that we’re just as hardy as ever. That’s the deceitfulness of sin. Gradually we drift away from God. We lose our desire to spend time in His Word and in prayer. The current of this world carries us away from friends and godly influences. We drift deeper into sin—our pathetic, feeble state evident to all eyes but our own. I think of Samson, that man of towering strength who pillowed his head in the lap of sin, then rose from his sleep and said, “I will go out as before … and shake myself free!” (Judges 16:20). But he didn’t know that the Lord had taken away his strength. Many years later, the prophet Hosea confronted the people of Israel and said that they too had lost their strength because of sin, and they didn’t realize it (Hosea 7:8-16). So Hosea commanded them to “return to the Lord. Say to Him, ‘Take away all iniquity; receive us graciously'” (Jdg 14:2). Sin can sap us too. That’s why we must deliberately take time to ask the Lord to expose our sin (Psalm 139:23-24). When we turn in repentance to Him, He will receive us graciously, set us free from sin’s domination, and arm us again with strength. —David Roper Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. —Psalm 139:23-24 Sin adds to your trouble, subtracts from your energy, and multiplies your difficulties. ARE YOU DRIFTING FROM GOD? Then Mull Over the Discussion on Backsliding John Piper (The Anatomy of Backsliding on Ps 119:176) notes that at the terminus of one of the most wonderful psalms in Scripture, the psalmist makes a declaration the picture of which is that of the confession of one who has become backslidden! I have gone astray like a lost sheep (What should we pray when we have gone astray?). Seek thy servant, (Why should God seek His servant?) for I do not forget thy commandments.
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Meyer writes that… A third time Samson fell under the deadly fascination of a woman. -- Nor did he escape this time so easily. By the promise of great riches, the Philistine lords successfully bribed Delilah to ascertain the secret of his strength. A true woman uses her influence over those she loves, to augment rather than to sap their strength; but Samson, to his own undoing, sought love outside the limits set by religion. Whenever men or women act thus they forfeit their purity, and hand themselves over to the enemies of God, and of their souls, for their destruction. Licentiousness robs men of wit and courage For many are the victims she has cast down, And numerous are all her slain. Her house is the way to Sheol, Descending to the chambers of death. (Pr 7:26-27). What a warning to us not to tamper with any secret Delilah sin. Notice how Delilah tried again and again to obtain Samson's secret, and how he dallied with her, until at last he yielded. Let us learn that when temptation comes to us, it is a mistake merely to evade it, or to parry attacks, as if to throw the tempter off the scent. These lines of defense are taken one after another, and the foe presses into the citadel, which in turn must yield. Let us beware of scissors, even though apparent love holds them, as they steal over the locks while we are steeped in unconsciousness of the havoc that they make; lest our strength goes from us, and we become "like other men" There are hours in our life when, though we know it not, our strength departs. Oh, the horror of he wist not (Judges 16:20). Judges 16:20 And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. I will go out Dt 32:30. Isa 42:25. Hos 7:9. the LORD had departed Nu 14:9, 42, 43. Jos. 7:12. 1Sa 16:14; 1Sa 18:12; 1Sa 28:14-16. 2Chr 15:2. Isa 59:1, 2. Jer 9:23, 24. Mt. 17:16, 20. 2Co 3:5. Judges 16 Resources Related Passages: Numbers 14:9; 42; 43+ “Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.”...42 “Do not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the LORD is not among you. 43 “For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, inasmuch as you have turned back from following the LORD. And the LORD will not be with you.” Joshua 7:12+ “Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst. 1 Samuel 16:14 Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him. 1 Samuel 18:12 Now Saul was afraid of David, for the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. ONE OF THE SADDEST PHRASES IN SCRIPTURE - HE DID NOT KNOW And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free." You would think that by then Samson would have been alert to danger, but his conscience was defiled and his moral senses were destroyed. Samson even deceived himself by thinking he had everything under control (v20), but he was wrong. The rest of the story shows the tragic end of the believer who will not let God have his way with his life. From v20 on, Samson does nothing but lose. He loses his hair, the symbol of his NazIrite dedication; for that dedication had long since been abandoned. Then he loses his strength, but he is ignorant of it until he is overpowered. How futile it is for the servant of God to try to serve the Lord when out of His will. Next Samson loses the light, for the Philistines put out his eyes. He loses his liberty, for they bind him with fetters of brass. He loses his usefulness to the Lord, for he ends up grinding corn instead of fighting God’s battles. Samson also lost his testimony, for he was the laughingstock of the Philistines. Their fish-god Dagon, not the God of Israel, was given all the glory. C. H. Mackintosh observes: The lap of Delilah proved too strong for the heart of Samson, and what a thousand Philistines could not do was done by the ensnaring influence of a single woman. Bush - Will go out—and shake myself free. Shake myself free from the fetters with which I am bound, and rid myself of the enemies that would be upon me. It is not indeed expressly stated that he was bound at this time, but the probability is that such was the case, that Delilah had slyly tied his hands while he was asleep. (resource) F B Meyer warns that "Through neglect of watching and prayer --or by reason of carelessness in the walk and conversation--it is quite possible to break that holy connection between ourselves and heaven which is the secret of deliverance, and the talisman of victory. There is always a Delilah ready to sheer off the locks of our strength, if we allow ourselves to sleep in her lap. And out strength may be gone ere we know it. "He wist not that the Lord had departed from him." (Judges 16:20.) But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him: Jehovah had departed from him - When he lost his long hair, the Lord left him; and he was as weak as other men. His power was from the Lord, not from his hair; but the hair was the sign of his Nazirite vow. The Spirit who had come upon him with such power had now departed from him. Nu 6:7 reads literally “because the consecration (nezer) of his God is upon his head.” The basic meaning of the nezer is “separation” or “consecration”; but it is also used of a royal crown (2Sa 1:10; Zec 9:16; Ps 89:39). Samson’s long hair was his “royal crown” and he lost it because of his blatant sin. Since Samson didn’t discipline his body, he lost both his crown and his prize (1Co 9:24-27+). This reminds me of Jesus' words to the church at Philadelphia "Behold, I come quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown." (Rev 3:11+). Did not know - 5 times in Judges - Jdg 2:10 Jdg 13:16 Jdg 14:4 Jdg 16:20 Jdg 20:34 MacArthur on he did not know that the LORD had departed from him - Here was the tragedy of the wrath of abandonment. His sin had caused him to forfeit the power of God's presence. This principle is seen in Ge 6:3; Pr 1:24-31; Mt 15:14; Ro 1:24-32. See note on Jdg 10:13, 14." (See context in The MacArthur Bible Commentary or borrow the MacArthur study Bible)
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Meyer has a pithy comment writing that… If we desire to be pure and good, Christ-like and God like, we must live in fellowship with Christ; beholding and reflecting His glory, even the lowliest and most sinful may become changed into His image. How different to Moses is the unveiled glory of Christ. Let us beware of anything that might bring a veil between Him and us, and nothing will so soon do this as sin, and inconsistency. Moses wist not that his face shone, and Samson wist not that the Lord had departed from him (Jdg16:20). There is a tragic as well as a blessed unconsciousness. Let us see to it that we watch and pray, that we may not be taken unawares, and deprived of our purity and strength whilst wrapt in unconsciousness. (F B Meyer. Our Daily Walk) William Arnot in his excellent commentary on Proverbs writes… "The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways." Proverbs 14:14. IF the secret history of backsliders were written, many startling discoveries would be made. Whatever the enormity it may end in, backsliding begins unseen in the heart. The Christian in name, whose fall resounds through the land, filling the mouths of scorners with laughter, and suffusing the faces of disciples with shame, did not descend to that depth by one leap from the high place on which he formerly stood. He does not by a sudden resolution of mind turn from virtue into vice. He does not even abandon his Sabbath school, or desert the prayer-meeting, by a deliberate judgment. A slipping begins secretly and imperceptibly in his heart, while appearances on the surface are kept unchanged. He ceases to watch and pray. He admits vain thoughts, and gives them encouragement to lodge within him. Having no hunger for righteousness, he neglects the bread of life. He grows weary of religious exercises and religious society. If he continue to attend them, it is a bodily service, endured for the purpose of maintaining the place which he has attained. Duties become more irksome, and forbidden indulgence more sweet. There is a weighing beam exposed to public view, with one scale loaded and resting on the ground, while the other dangles high and empty in the air. Everybody is familiar with the object, and its aspect. One day the curiosity of the passengers is arrested by observing that the low and loaded beam is swinging aloft, while the side which hung empty and light has sunk to the ground. Speculation is set on edge by the phenomenon, and set at rest again by the discovery of its cause. For many days certain diminutive but busy insects had, for some object of their own, been transferring the material from the full to the empty scale. Day by day the sides approached an equilibrium, but no change took place in their position. At last a grain more removed from one side, and laid in the other, reversed the preponderance, and produced the change. There is a similar balancing of good and evil in a human heart ; the sudden outward change results from a gradual inward preparation. All engineering proceeds upon the principle of reaching great heights or depths by almost imperceptible inclines. The adversary of men works by this wile. When you see a man who was once counted a Christian standing shameless on a mountain-top of open impiety, or lying in the miry pit of vice, you may safely assume that he has long been worming his way in secret on the spiral slimy track by which the old serpent marks and smoothes the way to death. On the same branch of an apricot-tree that leant against the south side of a garden wall, I have seen two fruits, large and luscious, hanging side by side, and ripening apace in the sun. They were of equal size and equal loveliness. Their stainless bosoms peeped from beneath the leaves, to bask in the noonday heat. Nothing in nature could be more lovely to look upon, or more rich in promise. Yet, ere to-morrow's sun is hot, one of them grows black on the side, and bursts, and collapses, and becomes a mass of rottenness, while the other remains in undiminished beauty and fragrance by its side. Whence the diverse fates of these twin beauties I Especially, why did the catastrophe happen so suddenly 4 It happened thus :—yesterday, when you stood looking on the two, admiring their equal beauty, one of them was hollow in the heart. If then you had taken it in your hand, and turned it round, you would have seen corruption already pervading its mass. On the dark side, next the wall, it has been pierced and entered. Its inside has been scooped out and devoured, while it continued to present to the passenger as fair an appearance as ever ; and see, black, crawling, loathsome creatures are nestling and reveling in that hollow heart, beneath that beauteous skin. Thus are fair promises in the garden of the Lord suddenly blighted. You have known two standing long side by side in a goodly profession, and laboring hand in hand for the kingdom of Christ. One of them falls headlong into a pit of vice, and next day the whole neighborhood rings with the scandal. Diverse are the emotions, but all are moved. Christ's enemies sneer, and his members sigh. How sudden the fall has been, sorrowing disciples say to each other in a suppressed whisper, when they meet,—how sudden and unexpected! No, friends ; it was not a sudden fall. In the heart, unseen, there has been a long preparation of backsliding. Vain thoughts have lodged within, and vile thoughts have been welcome visitors. Persons first vain and then vile have by degrees found their way into his presence, and charmed him, so that he cannot want them, though he knows they are stinging serpents. By such a process his heart has been hollowed out, and inhabited by creatures more loathsome than crawling vermin, while the skin of profession was kept whole, and its fairest side turned to public view. A cry of wonder rises from the crowd, when the hollow shell falls in, because they did not know its hollowness until the fall revealed it. There is a warning, in such a case :—beware of backsliding in heart ; small beginnings may issue in a fearful end. But there is encouragement even here to disciples who are humble, and trustful, and watchful. There is no such thing as a sudden collapse of a sound heart. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength." (Proverbs 14:14 The Backslider) THE FROST BELL - Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23. Philemon 1:24 ~60-63A.D. as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers. Col 4:14 5 yr before 2Ti Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and also Demas. 2Ti4:10 ~67A.D. for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Awaiting death by execution, Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy from Rome while confined in a chilly, dank dungeon. He was so cold that he asked for his cloak, and so lonely that he begged Timothy to come as soon as possible. He was also keenly disappointed in Demas — a former companion in the work of God. How pathetic his plaintive words, which may be paraphrased as follows, "Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas has deserted me, having fallen in love with this present world." It is hard to understand how Demas could so cruelly abandon the imprisoned apostle: However, knowing that a grave sin of this nature is always preceded by a backsliding in heart, we can be sure that Demas had been cooling off spiritually for some time before he forsook Paul to seek the pleasures of the world. Prior to the development of thermostatically controlled heat, many greenhouses were equipped with a "frost bell." This was an electrical device connected to the thermometer which warned the owner when the mercury fell to the danger point. At the signal, he would hurry out to stoke his fires, thus saving his crop of fruit or flowers. It isn't necessary to attach a frost bell to determine when a Christian is growing spiritually cold. If prayer, Bible reading, and Christian service begin to become burdensome and the allurements of the world begin to make their appeal, it's time to re-kindle the fires of one's spiritual life. This can be done only through humble confession of sin and a renewal of dedication to Christ. Vain world, I turn away, tho' thou seem fair and good; That friendly, outstretched hand of thine is stained with Jesus' blood. If in thy least device, I stoop to take a part, All unaware, thine influence steals God's presence from my heart! —Mauro While the Christian must live in the world, he must not allow the world to live in him. —Bosch Judges 16:20 F B Meyer (Our Daily Homily): He wist not that the Lord was departed from him. Beware of unconscious deterioration! Grey hairs may be here and there upon us without our knowing it. The Lord may be gone out on feet so noiseless, that we are not aware that His Spirit has glided along the corridor, and through the doorway, whispering, Let us depart. Deterioration is unconscious because it is so gradual. The rot that sets in on autumn fruit is very gradual. The damp that silences the violin or piano does its work almost imperceptibly. Satan is too knowing to plunge us into some outrageous sin at a bound. He has sappers and miners engaged long before the explosion, in hollowing subterranean passages through the soul, and filling them with explosives. Spiritual declension blunts our sensibility. The first act of the burglar is to gag the voice that might alarm, and poison the watch-dog. So, sin blinds our eyes, and dulls our keen alertness to the presence of evil. Thus, the stages of our relapse are obvious to all eyes but our own. We are drugged as we are being carried off captives. The progress of evil within us is a matter of unconsciousness, largely because we are quick to discover reasons to justify our decadence. We gloss over the real state of affairs. We call sins by other names. We insist on considerations which in our eyes appear to justify our conduct. We still attend to our religious duties, and try to persuade ourselves that it is with us as in times past. To avoid deterioration we must ever watch and pray, and realize that we are the temple of the Holy Ghost. Then shall the peace of God as a sentry guard our hearts and our thoughts in Christ Jesus. F B Meyer (Our Daily Walk) - If we desire to be pure and good, Christ-like and God like, we must live in fellowship with Christ; beholding and reflecting His glory, even the lowliest and most sinful may become changed into His image. How different to Moses is the unveiled glory of Christ. Let us beware of anything that might bring a veil between Him and us, and nothing will so soon do this as sin, and inconsistency. Moses wist (knew) not that his face shone, and Samson wist (knew) not that the Lord had departed from him (Judges 16:20). There is a tragic as well as a blessed unconsciousness. Let us see to it that we watch and pray, that we may not be taken unawares, and deprived of our purity and strength whilst wrapt in unconsciousness. Spiros Zodhiates records the "pathetic story of Origen, a church father of antiquity, who had fallen into great backsliding. After a period of time, he began to turn back to the Lord again, and coming into a congregation, desired to preach. He opened the Bible randomly at the fiftieth psalm and began to read these words in the sixteenth and seventeenth verses: "But unto the wicked, God says, what have you to do to declare my statutes, or that you shouldest take my covenant in your mouth? Seeing you hate instruction, and cast my words behind you." Upon reading the words, Origen remembered his own backsliding and coming under great conviction he started to weep. He wept so bitterly that all the congregation was moved to weep with him. There is no doubt that preachers may be able to accomplish far more for their Lord by humbling themselves and confessing their shortcomings rather than by proudly declaring the truth while hiding their own sin. (1 Corinthians Commentary) BACKSLIDING LIKE THE FALL OF AUTUMN LEAVES!