# The harlot in your bosom!



## Blueridge Believer (Mar 4, 2008)

(Thomas Watson, "The Godly Man's
Picture Drawn with a Scripture Pencil")

"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the
sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with
perseverance the race marked out for us." Heb. 12:1

There is usually one sin that is the favorite—the sin 
which the heart is most fond of. A godly man will not 
indulge his darling sin: "I kept myself from my iniquity."
(Psalm 18:23). "I will not indulge the sin to which the 
bias of my heart more naturally inclines." 

"Fight neither with small nor great—but only with the 
king." (1 Kings 22:31). A godly man fights this king
sin. If we would have peace in our souls, we must 
maintain a war against our favorite sin, and never 
leave off until it is subdued.

Question: How shall we know what our beloved sin is?

Answer 1: The sin which a man does not love to have 
reproved—is the darling sin. Herod could not endure 
having his incest spoken against. If the prophet meddles 
with that sin—it shall cost him his head! "Do not touch 
my Herodias!" Men can be content to have other sins 
reproved—but if the minister puts his finger on the 
sore, and touches this sin—their hearts begin to burn
in malice against him!

Answer 2: The sin on which the thoughts run most, is 
the darling sin. Whichever way the thoughts go, the 
heart goes. He who is in love with a person cannot 
keep his thoughts off that person. Examine what sin 
runs most in your mind, what sin is first in your 
thoughts and greets you in the morning—that is 
your predominant sin.

Answer 3: The sin which has most power over us, and 
most easily leads us captive—is the one beloved by the 
soul. There are some sins which a man can better resist. 
If they come for entertainment, he can more easily put 
them off. But the bosom sin comes as a suitor, and he 
cannot deny it—but is overcome by it. The young man in
the Gospel had repulsed many sins—but there was one 
sin which soiled him, and that was covetousness. 

Mark what sin you are most readily led captive by—that 
is the harlot in your bosom! It is a sad thing that a 
man should be so bewitched by lust, that if it asks him 
to part with the kingdom of heaven—he must part with 
it, to gratify that lust!

Answer 4: The sin which men most defend, is the 
beloved sin. He who has a jewel in his bosom, will 
defend it to his death. The sin we advocate and 
dispute for, is the besetting sin. The sin which we 
plead for, and perhaps wrest Scripture to justify it
—that is the sin which lies nearest the heart.

Answer 5: The sin which a man finds most difficulty in 
giving up, is the endeared sin. Of all his sons, Jacob 
found most difficulty in parting with Benjamin. So the 
sinner says, "This and that sin I have parted with—but 
must Benjamin go! Must I part with this delightful sin? 
That pierces my heart!" A man may allow some of his 
sins to be demolished—but when it comes to one sin, 
that is the taking of the castle; he will never agree to 
part with that! That is the master sin for sure.

The besetting sin is, of all others, most dangerous. 
As Samson's strength lay in his hair—so the strength 
of sin, lies in this beloved sin. This is like a poison 
striking the heart, which brings death. A godly man 
will lay the axe of repentance to this sin and hew it 
down! He will sacrifice this Isaac; he will pluck out 
this right eye—so that he may see better to go to 
heaven.


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