To Hate Sin, Consider Your Mortality

Part 9 in a series

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Look always on sin as one that is ready to die, and consider how all men judge of it at the last. What do men in heaven say of it? And what do men in hell say of it? And what do men at death say of it? And what do converted souls, or awakened consciences, say of it? Is it then followed with delight and fearlessness as it is now? Is it then applauded? Will any of them speak well of it? Nay, all the world speaks evil of sin in the general now, even when they love and commit the several acts.

Will you sin when you are dying?

Richard Baxter (1615-1691) didn’t pull any punches then, and I’m sure he would speak even more eloquently to us today if the curtains of Heaven were drawn back to allow him to speak to us.

Will you sin when you are dying?

We all know we’re born dying.  Life is a terminal condition.  And yet we prefer not to acknowledge that fact…or at least we assure ourselves that our end must not happen for many years.

Have you ever come face-to-face with your own mortality?  It’s a powerful experience, and one that we should regularly seek. 

Now, don’t misunderstand me.  I’m not suggesting that we should become daredevils, seeking some spiritual high through reckless, life-threatening acts.  My thoughts go along with the Psalmist’s:

Psalms 90:12 (NKJV)

So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Will you sin when you are dying?  Are you even willing to know that you are dying?

A few hundred years after Baxter, Spurgeon picked up this theme in his own eloquent way.  (Remember that, up until around the time of this sermon, the usual custom had been to bury the dead in the churchyards.  Cemeteries that were separate were fairly new.)

IT IS QUITE CERTAIN that there are immense benefits attending our present mode of burial in extra mural cemeteries. It was high time that the dead should be removed from the midst of the living—that we should not worship in the midst of corpses, and sit in the Lord’s house on the Sabbath, breathing the noxious effluvia of decaying bodies. But when we have said this, we must remember that there are some advantages which we have lost by the removal of the dead. Now, I believe the sight of a funeral is a very healthful thing for the soul. The soul can there find much food for contemplation, and much excitement for thought.

We remember how when the funeral came now and then, the tolling of the bell preached to all the villagers a better sermon than they had heard in the church for many a day, and we recollect, how as children, we used to cluster around the grave; and we remember the solemn thoughts which used to arise even in our young hearts when we heard the words uttered, “Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” The solemn falling of the few grains of ashes upon the coffin-lid was the sowing of good seed in our hearts. And afterwards, when we have in our childish play climbed over those nettle-bound graves, and seated ourselves upon those mossgrown tombstones, we have had many a lesson preached to us by the dull cold tongue of death, more eloquent than aught we have heard from the lip of living man and more likely to abide with us in after years.”

(Excerpted from Sermon #200, June 13, 1858.)

I’ve already written about how God brought me face-to-face with my own mortality, and how He powerfully used that experience to bring me closer to Himself.  But it shouldn’t take a traumatic experience like that to remind us that we’re only on the very shortest leg of our journey, and that most of our living (or dying) happens beyond the grave.

Another event (my recent time of waiting for biopsy results) once again reminded me how fragile life is.  But as soon as the favorable results came through, did I forget all over again?

I know it’s almost a trite-sounding question, but don’t let its importance escape you, and I pray it won’t escape me again either:

How would our lives be different if we knew we were going to die in one month?  Or maybe tomorrow?

Think how quickly the years of your life have already flown by, and remember this:

Psalms 39:5 (NKJV)

Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor.

And remember what Jacob said when Pharaoh asked him his age:

“My pilgrimage has lasted 130 years. My years have been few...” (Genesis 47:9 HCSB)

No matter how long your pilgrimage or mine might be, it will seem so short once it’s gone.

Will we sin when we are dying…and when eternity is so close at hand?

To Hate Sin, Consider Your Calling

Part 5 in a series

Part 1  Part 2   Part 3   Part 4

We’ve been following Richard Baxter’s line of thinking in “Directions for Hating Sin.”  Written centuries ago, these words will never lose their relevance. 

Image via Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we consider his fifth “direction.”

Think what the soul of man is made for, and should be used to, even to love, obey, and glorify our Maker; and then you will see what sin is, which disables and perverts it. How excellent, and high, and holy a work are we created for and called to! And should we defile the temple of God? And serve the devil in filthiness and folly, when we should receive, and serve, and magnify our Creator?

What is worth devoting your life to?  What is worth suffering for?  Dying for?

There’s more than one way to give your life for something.  You can do it all at once…like throwing yourself in front of a train to push a child off the tracks.  Or you can do it slowly…by the consistent giving of seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, a lifetime.

If you are a believer, you are called with the highest possible calling; that of growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and glorifying Him with your life.  The nobility of your calling lies in the fact that it calls no attention to itself, but to the One being adored.

I like the image of “Knighting” in the picture above.  I like the humility of the kneeling man, the dignity of the ceremony, the honor bestowed.  But of course it pales in comparison to the bestowment of crowns which awaits the Humble Faithful in Heaven.  And of course the man on his knees in the picture probably earned his knighthood through brave and valiant deeds.

Yet you and I were saved through no merit of our own.  But we were purchased with the price of infinite worth, the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:18), not in order to continue in our futile ways, but rather to walk in the Light just as Christ is in the Light (1 John 1:7).  We are called to be pure, and holy, and beloved children of the King of Kings (Col. 3:12).  We are called to live the kind of life of goodness which, by its shining, hushes the raving madness of sinful men (1 Pet. 2:15)  Like the knight, we are called to conquest…but not over other people.  We are called to a life of victory over sin and over the wicked world system that tries to woo us away from God (1 John 5:4).

Will we turn traitor?

Spurgeon says it better than I can:

Walk worthy of your high calling and dignity. Remember, O Christian, that thou art a son of the King of kings. Therefore, keep thyself unspotted from the world. Soil not the fingers which are soon to sweep celestial strings; let not these eyes become the windows of lust which are soon to see the King in His beauty—let not those feet be defiled in miry places, which are soon to walk the golden streets—let not those hearts be filled with pride and bitterness which are ere long to be filled with heaven, and to overflow with ecstatic joy.

Brothers and sisters, consider your calling, and hate the sin that would keep you from it!

Heart Check: Prideful Comparisons and Cherished Sins

Image by waynemah via Flickr

What do you do when you realize you still love certain sins?

It’s a vital thing to realize, you know.  We often consider ourselves victims of the sins that we can’t seem to overcome.  And I suppose in some small ways that may be true.  But at the heart of the matter, we’re less victims than we are lovers.

This past Sunday, my pastor pointed my thoughts in a direction that they really needed to go.  He was talking about forgiveness, and how pride interferes with it.  And though many truths from that sermon convicted me, one in particular stood out.

I still hate other people’s sin more than I hate my own.

But surely there’s a good reason why I struggle so much with bitterness!  Other people’s sins against me are so much worse than my sins, aren’t they?

Of course they aren’t.

God’s Word never tells us to compare our sins with anyone else’s.  Did you know that?  In fact, the Bible contains some powerful warnings about making comparisons at all.

For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. (2Co. 10:12)

And of course Jesus warned us about such comparisons in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:10-14).  If we consider ourselves better than other sinners, we’re putting ourselves in deadly peril.

But our proud hearts can even twist Scriptures like these, if we’re not careful.  Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “It isn’t right to make such comparisons, because then I would be focusing on how much better I am than so-and-so, and that would be prideful.”

Focusing on how much better I am?  No, no, absolutely not!  Until we understand that our sins are truly, without question, every bit as evil as our neighbors’ sins, we cannot repent of them as we should.  And we cannot forgive or love our neighbor as we are commanded to do.

If you protest right now that I wouldn’t say these things if I knew your neighbor, then you still don’t get it.

You say that your neighbor commits adultery?  Jesus says that our lustful thoughts are also adultery (Matt. 5:28).  You say that your neighbor was convicted of murder and is now awaiting lethal injection?  Jesus says that the hatred in our hearts is equivalent to murder.  What is awaiting us (Matt. 5:22)?  You say that your neighbor bows and prays to idols every day, or is into witchcraft?  God says that our rebellion is like witchcraft, and our stubbornness is like idolatry (1 Sam. 15:23).

Do you see how easily we deceive ourselves?  How easily we despise the sins we see in others, while we coddle and excuse and even cherish those same sins in our own secret places?  It’s easy to judge outward sins, while ignoring the root of all sins, which reside in our hearts.

What do you do when you discover that you truly love your sinful thoughts and attitudes, and you’re beginning to realize that you’re loving your own destroyer?

I’ll be honest…I’ve been struggling this week.  But it’s a struggle that’s an answer to prayer.  You see, I requested a painful thing from God.

I asked Him to help me to love Him more, and to help me see how horrible my heart-sins really are, so I could hate them as I should.

I won’t participate in “spiritual voyeurism” by going into all of the gory details of my soul, but suffice it to say that God’s answer has been coming in a way that is less than pleasant.

It reminds me of a fascinating verse from the Old Testament.

God left [Hezekiah], to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.  (2 Ch. 32:31b KJV)

Some translations make it seem that God wanted to know what was in Hezekiah’s heart, but since God knows everything, I’m more inclined to believe it the way the KJV has it.  I think God stepped back and left Hezekiah to his own devices, so that Hezekiah himself would see what was in his own heart.

Has God ever done that to you? 

Spurgeon comments on this verse:

If the grace of God should leave the best Christian, there is enough of sin in his heart to make him the worst of transgressors. If left to yourselves, you who are warmest for Christ would cool down like Laodicea into sickening lukewarmness: you who are sound in the faith would be white with the leprosy of false doctrine; you who now walk before the Lord in excellency and integrity would reel to and fro, and stagger with a drunkenness of evil passion. Like the moon, we borrow our light; bright as we are when grace shines on us, we are darkness itself when the Sun of Righteousness withdraws himself.

There are many times in our lives when we need encouragement more than we need conviction.  But the opposite is also true, and I’m in one of those times when conviction is what I need most.  Not a “guilt trip,” mind you, but a work of God’s Spirit which changes my loves and desires, re-orienting them away from sin and self and towards God.

I wouldn’t have chosen to go through this the way that God is doing it.  I was hoping more for warm fuzzy loving feelings for God to increase, accompanied by a hotter hatred for my sin which would make me recoil from it.  Instead, God seems to be taking the Hezekiah approach, in which He seems to withdraw, and I get a rather nasty view of my spiritual guts.  (I say, “Seems to withdraw” because God never truly withdraws from His children.  Heb. 13:5 assures us of that.)

Why am I even sharing this with you?  If you’re someone who sees me at church on Sunday, you wouldn’t necessarily ever know about this.  It doesn’t “show,” at least not on casual inspection.

(Or maybe it does, and I’m just kidding myself.  I don’t know.)

Anyway, I’m sharing this because I’m certain I’m not the only one who ever goes through such things.  And I’m sharing it because sometimes love just has to be tenacious.  It has to hang on in the absence of feeling. 

I don’t feel warm and fuzzy towards God right now.  And my spiritual guts are ugly.  But God is still good.  He is still worthy.  He is still on His throne.  He is Holy, and righteous, and just and true.  He is the source of all joy, all peace, all hope, all that we need or could ever desire.  He faithfully walks with us through our valleys and brings us back to green pastures beside still waters.

And affirming God’s worth is what this blog is all about.

Can you help me with that goal?  I’d love to read some of your comments about how God has helped you in this area.

 

Some Thoughts on The Cross

I don’t have “The Blessing of Hunger, Part 2” ready for you yet, but this is the week in which we especially remember Christ’s suffering and death on our behalf.  In honor of that, I wanted to share some of my favorite quotes about the Cross.

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You have not the making of your own cross, although unbelief is a master carpenter at cross-making; neither are you permitted to choose your own cross, although self-will would fain be lord and master; but your cross is prepared and appointed for you by divine love, and you are cheerfully to accept it.

 

Jesus was a cross-bearer; he leads the way in the path of sorrow.  Surely you could not desire a better guide!  And if he carried a cross, what nobler burden would you desire?

Beloved, the cross is not made of feathers, or lined with velvet, it is heavy and galling to disobedient shoulders; but it is not an iron cross, though your fears have painted it with iron colours, it is a wooden cross, and a man can carry it, for the Man of sorrows tried the load. Take up your cross, and by the power of the Spirit of God you will soon be so in love with it, that like Moses, you would not exchange the reproach of Christ for all the treasures of Egypt. Remember that Jesus carried it, and it will smell sweetly; remember that it will soon be followed by the crown, and the thought of the coming weight of glory will greatly lighten the present heaviness of trouble. The Lord help you to bow your spirit in submission to the divine will ere you fall asleep this night, that waking with to-morrow’s sun, you may go forth to the day’s cross with the holy and submissive spirit which becomes a follower of the Crucified.

Spurgeon

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It is not necessary for any man to make a cross; it is our part simply to take up that which God has laid down for us.  The cross is the constant refusal to gratify our self-life; the perpetual dying to pride and self-indulgence, in order to follow Christ.  When we live only to save ourselves, to build warm nests, to avoid every discomfort and annoyance, to make money entirely for our own use and enjoyment, to invent schemes for our own pleasure, we become the most discontented and miserable of mankind.  How many there are who have given themselves up to a life of selfishness and pleasure-seeking, only to find their capacity for joy has shriveled, and their lives have plunged into gloom and despair.  They have lost their souls!

F. B. Meyer

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You will never fathom the bravery of Christ unless you bear in mind that Christ was sinless. For sin is always coarsening and deadening—"it hardens all within and petrifies the feeling." And it is when we think that Jesus Christ was sinless, and being sinless was exquisitely sensitive, that we come to realize the matchless fortitude that carried Him without a falter to the cross.

G. H. Morrison

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21st-Century Tech and 19th-Century Preachers

Image by almoko via Flickr

At various points throughout the life of this blog, readers have asked questions about how I study the Bible and where I find all of Morrison’s wonderful writings.  The answers to those two questions are intertwined, so I’m combining them today.

My main study Bible is the eSword electronic version.  It is a free download in its basic form with non-copyrighted Bible versions, but you can also download additional materials such as other translations of the Bible, devotionals, commentaries, Bible dictionaries, maps, and other valuable resources.  Some are free, others are not.  The daily devotionals have been a very rich resource for me, particularly the Morrison and Spurgeon ones.  Yes, that’s right, it’s through eSword that I discovered Morrison.  Since it’s not easy to find Morrison’s writings online, it’s worth the download just to get those devotionals.

One of the things I like to do with my eSword is to take copious notes.  You can write long notes for any verse and have them available right beside the text.  I often copy entire devotional entries into the corresponding verses’ note pages, giving rich insights every time I visit those verses. 

There are many other features of this Bible that are quite useful and helpful, but I will stop with simply recommending that you visit the eSword site and investigate it for yourself.

Another very nice downloadable Bible program is simply called “The Word,” and it’s worth checking out as well.

Whenever I’m away from home, I always have a Bible handy, thanks to MyBible 4 from Laridian Publishing.  If you use a handheld Palm, Windows, IPod or Blackberry device, you’ll want to check this program out.  I wrote earlier about how I use the Scripture Memory program that you can also download from this site, so I won’t go into that again.  Laridian also offers devotionals, dictionaries, and commentaries, as well as free and paid translations of the Bible, all for your handheld.  I highly recommend this resource.

Another excellent resource is the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.  The CCEL is for online use, but it has features you’d often expect only from a downloadable program (such as the ability to highlight text.  Your highlights will be remembered whenever you sign in).  CCEL offers a wide variety of classic Christian literature, going all the way back to the 1st Century, and moving up to extensive libraries of the greats like Jonathan Edwards, John Owen, John Bunyan, Charles Spurgeon, and more!  Definitely an invaluable resource for those of us who could never dream of amassing our own vast printed libraries.

Now it’s your turn.  Have you found any “Helpful Tech” that you’d like to share?  Or do you have any further comments on the ones discussed above?  Please leave your thoughts for us to enjoy.

Spurgeon on Psalm 119:3

Image via WikipediaSpurgeon on Psalm 119:3
(From his commentary, "The Treasury of David")

"The holy life is a walk, a steady progress, a quiet advance, a lasting continuance. Enoch walked with God. Good men always long to be better, and hence they go forward. Good men are never idle, and hence they do not lie down or loiter, but they are still walking onward to their desired end. They are not hurried, and worried, and flurried, and so they keep the even tenor of their way, walking steadily towards heaven; and they are not in perplexity as to how to conduct themselves, for they have a perfect rule, which they are happy to walk by. The law of the Lord is not irksome to them; its commandments are not grievous, and its restrictions are not slavish in their esteem. It does not appear to them to be an impossible law, theoretically admirable but practically absurd, but they walk by it and in it. They do not consult it now and then as a sort of rectifier of their wanderings, but they use it as a chart for their daily sailing, a map of the road for their life-journey. Nor do they ever regret that they have entered upon the path of obedience, else they would leave it, and that without difficulty, for a thousand temptations offer them opportunity to return; their continued walk in the law of the Lord is their best testimony to the blessedness of such a condition of life. "

This world could use some more Spurgeons, couldn't it?

Doesn't this description of the Christian life make your heart yearn? Re-read it. Savor each thought. Isn't this kind of life better than one of worldly riches and ease?

May the Lord grant each of us steady progress on this journey.

Cautious First Steps

I'm starting this blog with a bit of trepidation. As anyone who knows me can attest, I find it much easier to think than to act, to write about God's Word than to live in its light. Writing is a wonderful gift, and I'm thankful to God that He has allowed me to enjoy it. But it's too easy to abuse it, to make it a way of escaping from the harsh realities of the world around me. That is not His desire for me.

Spurgeon said, "The practice of truth is the most profitable reading of it." If that's true, and I believe it is, then I've done a lot less profitable reading than I'd like to think. So I realize this may not be the wisest time to start a new blog.

But at the same time, I do have devotions regularly, and the Lord often blesses me during those times. If I can share some of those blessings, just pass them along as they come my way, I think the Lord is pleased with that.

So, when I take notes during my private devotional times, I might just as well put some of those thoughts here, too. And then perhaps you all will pray for me that I'll live those truths in my crazy day-to-day life, and I'll make it a point to pray for all of you, too.




(Photo from Stock.xchng, by Keira)