Homer wrote:Hi TK,
Long ago, reading Charles Finney, and perhaps others, I think I got a lot of help in this matter. The idea is that God has established a perimeter beyond which we sin. We can satisfy the desires of the flesh within that perimeter. For example, if we are hungry, eat but do not be a glutton. Share with those who have no food. Desire sex? Be married and do not lust, and so on.
Within that perimeter we have freedom in Christ. Beyond the boundary of His will we must not go. "Put to death the deeds of the body"; those that are beyond the perimeter.
That doesn't make sense to me. In fact - strong language warning - that's ridiculous! Going beyond "the perimeter"
is the temptation, and you
cannot satisfy the sinful desires within the perimeter. If you could, they wouldn't be sinful desires!
Sure, you (or anyone) can
easily get a a godly, fit, curvy/strong, beautiful/handsome, 25 year old woman/man to fall in love with you and marry you after a few days of courtship (and perfectly maintain all of those attributes for 50 years of marital bliss), but our flesh will still, at some point, desire
another godly, fit, curvy/strong, beautiful/handsome, 25 year old woman/man. Sure, you (or anyone) can
easily study and train for years and then work hard for a couple decades and eventually have the wherewithal to acquire comfort and financial security, but our flesh will still want to get there a few months earlier through a bit of cheating and lying. (That was all sarcasm, just to be clear!)
Everything's like that, isn't it? ... except for those temptations which truly have no godly outlet. All we can do is steer clear of anything that triggers temptations (which might mean "cutting off" our most important asset), keep God and His message at the forefront of our minds, and pray for the ungodly desire to be taken away, trusting that he will provide a way of escape so we can endure. But it can be tough.
Sorry for the rant! Perhaps I'm missing something?
I am glad that many people enjoy sermons. I admit, they have never done anything for me. I read something like what TK quoted, and it just sounds like blather. Very, very few sermons, if any, have ever beat just a straight reading from the gospels or epistles, for me. (If they were any, it's only because they used scripture to address a modern topic that is not directly addressed in scripture.)