I've been thinking about sin this week.....

I once heard a pastor describe sin like this:

Consider the smallest sin you can think of... something that most would not even think of as sin. Have that sin in your mind.

Then consider that smallest sin is so repulsive to our infinitely Holy God that He vomits in disgust and His Spirit is grieved.

Then ask yourself why you don’t view that smallest sin the same way as your God.

peace to you

 

Two saints of old who were acutely aware of their sin were Augustine and Martin Luther.
Revival comes to the believer when we become acutely convicted by our sin and recognize our only hope is in Christ's mercy and grace extended to us.
Praise God for the sense of sin God has given to you. I recommend you read Romans 7:21-8:39.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Its interesting how sin can, at times, look so wholesome.

 

I read this yesterday right after I was severely tempted to return to a sin that I had repeatedly labeled at prodigal daughter eating from the pigpen.

2 Peter 2:20-22

20, For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21, For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
22, But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.


This isolation is weakening me, but I need to think of it as childbirth that is uncomfortable and taking a long time, but will birth something new and wonderful when it is over. I need to wait this out in pain, because I know the alternative. I know what awaits me if I return to my sin, when it reaches its natural conclusion. And feeling this right now will sensitize me to the needs of others in the future to prevent them from reaching the place of temptation that I am in right now. It is important not to leave some people in isolation.

God does not see some sin as worse than others, but some sins bring us more immediate pain while here on earth. I am gaining a heart to make sure I come up alongside some people long before they get this isolated. Some people need some help not to sin. Instead of judging, we need to love and include people more.

 

I’m reading a biography of Martin Luther now, “Here I Stand”.
Amazed and convicted by Martin Luther’s perception of sin and how it was the primary instigation for his involvement in the Reformation.

Silly but true, this week I’ve been trying to imagine Jesus as my friend, sitting beside me... am I still willing to sin in his presence after all he has done for me?

Rob

 

He thought of sin in his life....

http://www.battlefocused.org/jonathan_edwards_resolutions.pdf

 

John Owen...mortification of sin.

There are two evils which certainly attend every unmortified professor; -the first, in himself; the other, in respect of others:-
1. In himself. Let him pretend what he will, he hath slight thoughts of sin; at least, of sins of daily infirmity. The root of an unmortified course is the digestion of sin without bitterness in the heart. When a man hath confirmed his imagination to such an apprehension of grace and mercy as to be able, without bitterness, to swallow and digest daily sins, that man is at the very brink of turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, and
being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. neither is there a greater evidence of a false and rotten heart in the world than to drive such a trade. To use the blood of Christ, which is given to cleanse us, 1 John 1:7, Tit. 2:14; the exaltation of Christ, which is to give us repentance, Acts 5:31; the doctrine of grace, which teaches us to deny all ungodliness, Tit 2:11,12 to countenance sin, is a rebellion that in the issue will break the bones. At this door have gone out from us most of the professors that have apostatized in the days wherein we live. For a while they were most of them under convictions; these kept them unto duties, and brought them to profession; so they "escaped the pollutions that are in the world, through the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ," 2 Pet. 2:20: but having got an acquaintance with the doctrine of the gospel, and being weary of duty, for which they had no principle, they began to countenance themselves in manifold neglects from the doctrine of grace. Now, when once this evil had laid hold of them, they speedily tumbled into perdition.

 

The Spiritual Watch
QUESTION. What is the holy frame and posture in which I should keep my heart?

ANSWER 1. Keep your heart AWAKE. Song of Solomon 5:2: "My heart awakes!" Psalm 108:2: "I will awaken early." Though we have been sluggish—yet now it is high time to awake out of our sleep! Take heed of sleeping in ignorance, impenitence, and carnal security; the heart is naturally asleep, and sin may be compared to sleep.

A man who is asleep has his senses tied up. Just so, a sinner whose heart is asleep in sin has his spiritual senses tied up. He is not sensible of sin or wrath (Ephesians 4:9). He is going to hell—but does not know it; he sleeps himself into hell.

Though the senses are bound fast in sleep—yet the imagination is let loose, and the man dreams he is at a banquet. So when the heart of a sinner is asleep in sin—yet his fancy is still quickened. He imagines that he is an heir of the promise, that God loves him.

Sleep hinders from action. He who is asleep cannot work. So a sinner who has fallen asleep in sin, cannot work out his salvation.

A man who is asleep is in danger of being robbed; his money or jewels may be taken away. So while the sinner is asleep, he may be robbed of his precious soul. Oh, therefore keep your heart awake; let the judgment of God on sinners be as a drum to awaken you! Make David's prayer from Psalm 13:3 your own: "Enlighten my eyes, that I sleep not the sleep of death."

ANSWER 2. Keep your heart JEALOUS. Towards others exercise charity; towards yourself exercise jealousy. The better the heart is, the more suspicious it is. Satan has a party within us; the heart is not true to itself, therefore it needs guarding and caution. Little did Hazael know what was in his heart (2 Kings 8:13). Had one come to Noah and said, "Noah, you will be drunk shortly!" he would have sternly defied him. There is the seed of all sin—in every person's heart! Where will the heart not run—if we do not guard it? It will run to idolatry, atheism, and immorality! Be ever jealous. Jealousy breeds vigilance, and vigilance breeds safety. Let your heart be ever in your eye! Keep it in with the curb and bit of mortification!

ANSWER 3. Keep your heart SERIOUS. Take heed of a light heart. Zephaniah 3:11: "His prophets are light." The heart of the wicked is vain, and in this sense is said to be worth little (Proverbs 10:20). If you put a feather on the scale, it weighs nothing; just so "feathery" is the heart of a sinner. Vanity swims on the top—and deceit lies at the bottom of a sinner's heart! Christ said of the sparrows, "Are not two of them sold for a farthing?" (Matthew 10:29). Thousands of the sinner's thoughts, are not worth a farthing! A light heart is like a ship without a ballast—it soon overturns.

A vain heart will be unstable. Light things are blown in every which way. A flashy professor is not broken for sin; sin seldom lies heavy on a light heart. Keep the heart serious; fix it upon God. Psalm 57:7: "O God, my heart is fixed." Grace solidifies the heart, and keeps it from floating in levity. Balance your heart with the thoughts of hell and judgment!

ANSWER 4. Keep your heart HUMBLE (1 Peter 5:5). That is the best frame of heart, which fits a man for God's presence. The humble heart is the valley where God delights to walk. The humble heart is the house where He will take up residence. The humble heart has a low esteem of itself—and a high esteem of others (Philippians 4:3). The more humble the heart is—the more fertile in grace it is; those meadows which lie low are the richest grounds. Keep your heart humble; view your own deficiencies—and others abilities. The abscess of pride kills. The eagle lifts up the tortoise into the air—and then throws it down upon a rock and breaks it. Just so, the devil lifts the heart up in pride—and so destroys it!

ANSWER 5. Keep your heart HEAVENLY. Colossians 3:1-2: "Seek those things which are above." Keep your heart down with the weight of humility—yet mount it up with the wing of heavenly-mindedness. When the heart is touched with the influence of the Spirit, it ascends.

Thus you have seen the holy frame and posture, the heart is to be kept in.

 

Hebrews11;
24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;

25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God,
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

 

The most effective treatment for phariseeism is drastic. I guess I needed it. Thankfully the Lord is long-suffering and most people get to skip the treatment. I can say there is a treatment, that while not a cure, is quite effective, but I do not recommend it. LOL.