Are You An Expert At Defending Your Own Sins?

Humbling ourselves to hear correction can be quite difficult, and seeking it out even more so.  But do we really want to glorify Christ?  Are we truly interested in spiritual growth?  Then we should take heed the truth of Scripture that tells us that, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (Js. 4:6).

I have been listening to a sermon by Mark Dever taken from 1 Samuel 8-15.  During his conclusion he shared the following story..."It was customary for the itinerant and local preachers back in John Wesley’s day to take breakfast together in City Road, where they had their main meeting place. On one occasion when Wesley was present a young man rose and found fault with one of his seniors. And the biographer says the Scotch blood of Thomas Rankin was roused and he sharply rebuked the juvenile for his impertinence. But in turn was sharply rebuked himself, Wesley instantly replied, ‘I will thank the youngest man among you to tell me of any fault you see in me. In doing so I will consider him my best friend.’"

I pray that my Lord continues to soften me and break my pride.  "The LORD is near to the borkenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit" (Psalm 35:18).  The King of glory is magnified in our weakness, not in our strength.  See your sin; see the Savior.

-Ryan

p.s. If you are interested in being helped and challenged in the area of your pride I would encourage you to read C. J. Mahaney's book, Humility: True Greatness.

Two of the Greatest Words in the Bible

I am meeting with a young man and we are spending a few weeks studying the four components of the Gospel: God, sin, Christ, response.  This week we are spending our quiet times looking at what the Bible teaches on the topic of sin or the sinfulness of man.  This morning I was working my way through Ephesians 2:1-3 which says,

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

You gotta admit it's a pretty bleak picture.  But now this leads me to the title of this post.  Yes the state of humanity is horrendeous, but then you get to the first two words (at least in the English version) of verse 4, "But God."  But God.  There is no hope for mankind except in those two wonderful words - But God.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved... (Ephesians 2:4-5)

Those two words are so glorious.  They introduce this amazing God who saves His rebellious enemies through His own plan and work in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.  I pray you have seen the wonder and awesomeness of this God and respond to Him by turning from your own self-directed-way and placing your full hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.  And if you have already done this, that you would stand amazed again today.