1 Timothy 3:1-7
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. (ESV)
Coercion of Lust
Wednesday after Holy Trinity
2 June 2010
While sin takes root in our will and we therefore are responsible for our own sin, sin comes from sin's author, the devil. He is seeking to sow the poison of lust in the lives of the faithful. Satan never bothers with those who are not in the church. He wants to overthrow the church and her children. His attacks are limited to the faithful.
Satan does not need to coerce those who are already his disciples. They are willing, even if unconscious, followers of the father of lies. So he instead sows the lust or desire which leads to unbelief, gossip, backbiting, hatred, and false doctrine only among Christians. This lust is not what the world thinks. Lust is any sinful desire leading and enticing us to break a commandment of God. Let us repent of our lustful desires that Christ our Lord would be our only hope and treasure.
Cyril of Jerusalem
"You are not the sole author of the evil, but there is also another most wicked prompter, the devil. He indeed suggests, but does not get the mastery by force over those who do not consent. Therefore, the Preacher says, 'If a ruler's anger rises against you, do not leave your post' (Ecc 10:4). Shut your door, and put him far from you, and he shall not hurt you. But if you carelessly admit the thought of lust, it strikes root in you by its suggestions, enthralls your mind, and drags you down into a pit of evils.
"But perhaps you might say, 'I am a believer, and lust does not overcome me, even if I think upon it frequently.' Don't you know that a root breaks even a rock by long persistence? Admit not the seed of lust, since it will tear your faith apart. Tear out the evil by the root before it blossoms, lest by being careless at the beginning you have afterwards to seek for axes and fire. When your eyes begin to be diseased, get them be cured in good time, so that you do not become blind and too late seek the physician."
Prayer
O Christ, grant us the grace to have the habits of holiness rather than be enticed by the devil into false belief and other great shame and vice. Amen.
For Pastor Matthew Harrison of LCMS World Relief and all the staff at LCMS World Relief that they might serve as the hands of Christ relieving the needs of the weary and hungry
For the family of Ann Miller who was bereaved of her son, John Miller, that she would grieve with the hope of the resurrection of the flesh and the life of the world to come
For all who are suffering the onslaughts of our enemy that they might have confidence in the rescue of Christ our Lord
Art: MICHELANGELO, Buonarroti The Fall and Expulsion from Garden of Eden 1509-1510