The Sifford Sojournal

Our journal of what we pray is our sojourn of life along the narrow way, even the old paths, submitting to the Bible as a light unto both.

Category: David’s Digest (Page 9 of 15)

David’s Digest: Coming Boldly to the Throne

February 13, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Heb 4:16 – “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.“

It seems to me this verse can be used to approach God in ways that we might approach just anyone, or in any way we might feel. And while the Bible declares God to be the friend and father of saints, I believe it cannot be forgotten that He is almighty God, holy King and majestic Lord! Would we approach an earthly king or even a civil magistrate just however we felt like it? I think not.

The following are some gleanings that I believe accurately reflect how we should and should not approach God, and for what reasons most importantly:

First, how did Esther approach her king and husband no less? Here is from Esther 4:15-5:2:

15 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,

16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

1 Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.

2 And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.

Esther recognized the authority of her king over her in that she knew she was transgressing the law and that he could punish her to death for it, and she came in proper apparel fit for the presence of a king showing reverence. She and her people had also prepared themselves beforehand in humility.

I believe these show us we need to be dressed in Christ’s righteousness to approach God, and only this way dressed shows reverence to His holiness and respect for His declared order (John 14:6 – “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.“), and that approaching God belligerently or in pride (“God I have something to say to you!” under the guise that “Oh, God is big enough to handle it!”) could very well bring down the King’s wrath upon us.

The following is from JC Ryle on prayer, which you can read in full here, that discusses improper and proper prayer boldness:

(g) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of boldness in prayer. There is an unseemly familiarity in some men’s prayers, which I cannot praise.

But there is such a thing as a holy boldness, which is exceedingly to be desired. I mean such boldness as that of Moses, when he pleads with God not to destroy Israel: “Wherefore,” says he, “should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains…Turn from thy fierce wrath” (Exo 32:12). I mean such boldness as that of Joshua, when the children of Israel were defeated before Ai: “What,” says he, “what wilt thou do unto thy great name?” (Jos 7:9).

This is the boldness for which Luther was remarkable. One who heard him praying said, “What a spirit—what a confidence was in his very expressions! With such a reverence he sued, as one begging of God, and yet with such hope and assurance as if he spake with a loving father or friend”.

Here also I fear we sadly come short. We do not sufficiently realize the believer’s privileges. We do not plead as often as we might, “Lord, are we not Thine own people? Is it not for Thy glory that we should be sanctified? Is it not for Thine honor that thy gospel should increase?“

Finally, here is what Puritan commentator Dr. John Gill says about Heb 4:16, indicating the main reasons for coming before the throne of God:

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace
Either to Christ, who is before spoken of as an high priest, and who was typified by the mercy seat, to which there seems to be an allusion; and coming to him as a priest upon his throne is very proper: to him saints come for pardon and cleansing, and for a justifying righteousness, for the acceptance of their persons, and the presentation of their services, and for every supply of grace; and to him they may come “boldly”, since he stands in the relations of a Father, husband, and brother, and from him they may expect receive mercy, since it is kept for him, and with him, and is only dispensed through him; and in him they may hope to find grace, since all fulness of it dwells in him; and help in every time of need, since their help is laid on him.

Or else to God the Father, since Christ, the high priest, is the way of access to God, and it is by him the saints come unto the Father; who is represented as on a “throne”, to show his majesty, and to command reverence; and as on a “throne of grace”, to encourage distressed souls to come unto him; and to express his sovereignty in the distribution of his grace:

And this coming to him is a sacerdotal act, for every believer is a priest; and is not local, but spiritual, and with the heart, and by faith; and chiefly regards the duty of prayer, and a drawing nigh to God in that ordinance with spiritual sacrifices to offer unto him:

And this may be done “boldly”; or “with freedom of speech”; speaking out plainly all that is in the heart, using an holy courage and intrepidity of mind, free from servile fear, and a bashful spirit; all which requires an heart sprinkled from an evil conscience, faith, in the person, blood, and righteousness of Christ, a view of God, as a God of peace, grace, and mercy, and a holy confidence of being heard by him;

And such a spirit and behaviour at the throne of grace are very consistent with reverence of the divine Majesty, with submission to his will, and with that humility which becomes saints. …

The end of coming hither is,

that we may obtain mercy;
the sure mercies of David, the blessings of the everlasting covenant; particularly pardoning mercy, and the fresh application of it, and every other blessing of grace that is needful: and there is reason to expect it, since there is mercy with God; and it is with Christ, as the head of the covenant; and it is ready for those that ask it; and it has been obtained by many, and is everlasting.

And find grace to help in time of need;
the Syriac version renders it, “in time of affliction”; which is a time of need, as every time of distress is, whether from the immediate hand of God, or through the persecutions of men, or the temptations of Satan: and help at such times may be expected; since not only God is able to help, but he has promised it; and he has laid help on Christ; and gives it seasonably, and at the best time; and it springs from grace, yea, it is grace that does help; by which may be meant, the discoveries of God’s love, and the supplies of grace from Christ: which may be hoped for, seeing God is the God of all grace; and he is seated on a throne of grace; and all fulness of grace dwells in Christ: to find grace often, signifies to find favour with God, to be accepted by him, as well as to receive grace from him.

May God grant us a holy awe, fear, and reverence of Him, for who He is, and what He has done, His great works throughout time, the salvation of sinners, the revelation of Himself through Christ, Christ’s righteousness, His infinite graces, mercies and love, and the gift of His Spirit; and may these bring us to humility before Him and cause us to love Him in return!

— David

David’s Digest: Complete Christian Comfort

November 27, 2017 / / 3 Comments

It seems to me that Christians find most if not all of their Christian comfort from the fact that the Lord Jesus has forgiven them their sins. But complete comfort comes from not only being justified before God, free from the guilt and pollution of our sin by Christ, but also comes from obedience to the commands of God, in Christian graces existing in our hearts and acted out, and mortification of the carnal man, in a sanctified life.

Christ bought sanctification through His atonement, and thus, it is required for the full effect of Christ’s work for us in our Christian lives.

We can draw comfort from the propitiation for our sin, and it seems to me many do, but complete comfort must also include a sanctified, holy life.

I would suggest that, a person who believes they are Christian but does not have the desire for, nor the evidence of, the sanctification process in their life, does not have grounds for Christian comfort.

The following is from Puritan Thomas Manton regarding this topic, in volume 18 of his works, in a sermon on Acts 10:34-35:

[1.] How much they are mistaken who think sanctification hath no influence upon our comfort and peace. Some good people are overtender in this point; they pretend they would fetch all their comfort immediately [directly] from Christ. And is Christ the less author of it because sanctification is the matter of it? As if sanctification were not from Christ as well as justification. He is both to us: 1 Cor. i. 30, ‘He is made unto us of God wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.’ But they think this is to fetch comfort from something more in ourselves than justification is; for the one is an adherent privilege, as the other an internal qualification. 

True; but though it be in us, it is not of us. It floweth from the same grace of God, and the same power and merit of the Lord
Jesus. And something there must be in us, or how shall we make out our title and claim, or know that the grace of God belongeth to us? If we look only to justification, and suspect all comfort that is elsewhere derived, we are in danger of falling into the gross part of the error of Poquinus and Quintinus, who in Calvin’s time asserted it to be the only mortification to extinguish the sense of sin in the heart. But this is not to mortify sin, but to mortify repentance and holiness, to crucify the new man rather than the old, not to quiet conscience, but outface it. Surely where there is sin there will be trouble. Sanctification is one means of applying the grace of God, as well as justification; and we must look to both benefits, and the mutual respect they have to one another.

But because this prejudice is drunk in by many not ill-meaning people, let us a little dispossess them of this vain conceit.

(1.) As to Christ. It is certain that a sinner can have no hope of acceptance with God but by Christ : 1 Tim. i. 15, ‘Christ came to save sinners;’ and Mat. i. 21, ‘He shall save his people from their sins.’ 

(2.) It is as true that ‘whosoever is in Christ, he is a new creature’, 2 Cor. v.. 17. So that the dispute will lie here; to clear up our interest in Christ, whether we are new creatures; for till that be determined, we can have no solid peace and comfort within ourselves,

(3.) None is a new creature but he who feareth God and worketh righteousness; for that is the description of a new creature, that all old things are passed away, and all things are become new; a new heart, a new mind, and a new conversation [behavior]; for a new heart is only sensibly discovered by newness of life, Rom. vi. 4. Well, then, our proposition is fully reconcilable with the grace of Jesus Christ.

[3.] With respect to the Spirit, who is our sanctifier and comforter. First a sanctifier, and then a comforter, and therefore a comforter because a sanctifier. Otherwise the Spirit would cause us to rejoice we know not why, and the comforts of a christian would be fantastical and groundless; at best we should rejoice in a mere possible salvation. But holiness is God’s seal and impress upon us: Eph. i. 13, ‘In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.’

When his sanctifying work is interrupted, so is his comforting work disturbed also, Eph. iv. 31. David’s bones were broken, and he lost his joy, when he fell into great sins, Ps. li., and Ps. xxxii. And it is true in others, who, when they have been lifted up to heaven in comfort, have fallen almost as low as hell in sorrow, trouble, and perplexity of spirit, when they grew remiss, negligent, and disobedient to the motions of the Holy Ghost. If we intermit a course of holiness, the frowns of God will soon turn our day into night; and the poor forsaken soul, that was feasted with the love of God, knows not whence to fetch the least support. Such is the fruit of our careless and loose walking.

May God sanctify us by His Spirit because of Christ; may He grant us a desire to be obedient and live holy lives, including obedience to His commands in living out the graces of His Spirit and mortification of the carnal man and a putting away of things in this world that feed it; and may we diligently ask Him for these things to be put in our hearts.

You can read excellent writings about sanctification and mortification in Mount Zion’s “Free Grace Broadcaster” publications on sanctification and mortification.

— David

David’s Digest: Distance & Difference

October 9, 2017 / / 0 Comments

I believe it is all too easy to forget who God really is and become too familiar with Him. And we can end up thinking that God is like us. And although the Bible refers to Him as a friend of Christians, and that man was originally made in His image, which is what is restored, over time and finally in heaven, in those He saves, we are quite far and quite different from Him, a gap that is impossible to overcome in and of ourselves.

However, thanks be to God for making a Way to close on those, which is through Christ! The fact that it took a mediator at all, and that it took Christ — God taking on the nature of man to Himself — to accomplish this, should evidence the distance and difference between God and man.

Puritan Thomas Manton discusses this in his works vol xviii, sermon upon 1 Cor viii 6. You can read the entire sermon here.

I believe it is important to understand this distance and difference, to put us in our proper perspective to ourselves, so we have a proper one of God — that in essence He is infinitely far and different from us; to elevate Christ that much more in the great love and condescension of God toward us; and to give us great hope and love returned, that God, who is so far and different, would bother to deal with sinners thus.

From Thomas Manton:

I. The necessity of a mediator in this lapsed and fallen estate of mankind. Two things infer and enforce this necessity — distance and
difference. Distance by reason of impurity, and difference by reason of enmity; both these occur in the case between God and men. God
is a God of glorious majesty, and we are poor creatures. God is an holy God, a God of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and we are sinful creatures. As creatures, we are unworthy of immediate access to God; as lapsed, and under the guilt of sin and desert of punishment, and unable to deliver ourselves, we cannot draw nigh to him with any comfort.

1. Our distance, which is so great that it is a condescension for God to take notice that there are such creatures in the world: Ps. cxiii. 6, ‘Who humbleth himself to behold the things which are in heaven and earth.’ The excellency and majesty of God is so great that either angels or men are unworthy to approach his presence. Now, as inferior and mean people dare not approach the presence of a great prince but by some powerful friend and intercessor at court, so our distance produceth our fears and estrangedness, and backwardness to draw nigh unto God, and so hindereth our love and confidence in him. Well, then, to depend upon one so far above us, that he will take notice of us, take care of us, relieving us in our necessities and straits, and help us out of all our miseries, and finally save us, requireth a mediator; one that is more near and dear to God than we are, which can be no other than Jesus Christ, as I shall show by-and-by. When a sinner looketh only at God as in himself, he is confounded and amazed, as quite out of the reach of his commerce.

2. Difference. A mediator is chiefly one used between disagreeing parties: Gal. iii. 20, ‘Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.’ There must be two parties, and usually two differing parties. There is God angry, and man guilty. Conscience of guilt presents God terrible, and taketh away all confidence from the guilty sinner, so that of ourselves we cannot approach in a friendly manner to an offended and provoked God: Heb. xii. 29, ‘For our God is a consuming fire;’ and ‘Who can dwell with devouring burnings?’ Isa. xxxiii. 14. Who shall interpose and stand between God and us, the power of his wrath, and our weakness and obnoxiousness [liableness] to his righteous vengeance.

II. That none but Christ is fit for this high office, that, though God be high, and just, and holy, yet poor creatures and sinners may have access to him. A mediator must be one that can take off the distance, and compromise the difference between us and God: ‘that there were,’ saith Job, ‘a day’s-man between us, that might lay his hands upon both!’ Job ix, 33. Now, considering this, Jesus Christ is the only fit interposing party; therefore he is called ‘the Mediator of the new covenant,’ Heb. xii. 24, ‘And to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant,’ and ‘The Mediator of a better covenant,’ Heb. viii. 6.

1. As to the distance; so in his person he is God-man. Our mediator must be one in whom God doth condescend to man, and by whom man may be encouraged to ascend to God. Now in Christ God is nearer to man than he was before, and so we may have more familiar thoughts of God. The pure deity is at so vast a distance from us while we are in the flesh, that we are amazed and confounded, cannot imagine that he should look after us, concern himself in us and our affairs, love us, show us his free grace and favour. Now it is a mighty help to think of God manifested in our flesh, 1 Tim. iii. 16; ‘The Word made flesh,’ John i. 14. So that while we are here in the flesh, yet we may have commerce with God. It is a mighty encouragement to consider how near God is come to us in Christ, and how he hath taken the human nature into his own person; for surely he will not hide himself from his own flesh, Isa. Iviii. 7. He came down into our flesh that he might be man, and familiar with man. This wonderfully reconcileth the heart of man to God, and maketh the thoughts of him comfortable and acceptable to us, so that we may encourage ourselves in free access to God.

2. As the person of the Redeemer, so his work; which is to take away the difference and quarrel between us and God. To understand this, observe, that the mediation between the two differing parties must be carried on so that God, who is the supreme and offended party, may be satisfied. Now God stood upon these terms that the honour of his governing justice should be secured: Rom. iii. 25, ‘Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins.’ And that the repentance and reformation of sinful man should be carried on: Acts v. 31, ‘Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins.’ These must be done, otherwise man must lie under his eternal displeasure. If the one be done and not the other done, no reconciliation can ensue. Therefore we must not look to Christ’s mediation with God so as to overlook his work with man, nor so look to his work with man as to overlook his mediation with God: Heb. iii. 1, ‘Consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Jesus Christ.’ We have both here. The work of an apostle lieth with men; the work of an high priest with God. He hath an office with God and man, and both are necessary to bring about our salvation. And Christ cannot be a complete Saviour without doing both. To be barely a prophet would not serve the turn, but he must be a priest to satisfy God’s justice also by the merit of his sacrifice. In short, his work with God is that of a priest; his work with man is that of a prophet and king.

[1.] His work as a priest is to pacify God’s wrath, procure his grace, love, and favour for us; and this he doth under two relations — as a sponsor and intercessor.

(1.) As a sponsor and surety. He was the surety of a better testament: Heb. vii. 22, ‘By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament’ So –

(1st.) By way of satisfaction, he undertook something to be paid and performed for us. He undertaketh to satisfy God’s justice by the sacrifice of himself, and so make way for his mercy on easy terms. The pacifying of God’s justice was a great part of his mediation: Heb. ix. 15, ‘For this cause he is the Mediator of the new testament, that, by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance;’ that is, that penitent and believing sinners might be acquitted from the curse due to them by the first covenant, and so made capable of eternal life. What they owe he hath paid.

(2d.) By way of caution, undertaking for those whom he reconciled to God that they shall perform what God requireth of them in the new covenant. Having purchased the Spirit, he hath enabled them to repent, and believe, and mortify and crucify the flesh, and obey the gospel: Rom. vi. 6, ‘Knowing that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.’

(2.) As an intercessor. He is in heaven dealing with God in our behalf. He hath not cast off his relation or affection to his people upon his advancement: Heb. viii. 2, ‘A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.’ In all his glory he is the church’s agent, appearing for us as our attorney in court, Heb. ix. 24; pleading for us, and answering all accusations as our advocate: 1 John ii. 1, ‘And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.’ And maintaining a correspondency between us and God, as an ambassador between two states, promoting our desires and prayers: Rev. viii. 3, ‘And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.’ And obtaining all necessary graces for us.

[2.] His work with men, as a prophet and king.

(1.) As a prophet, and so as a messenger of the covenant, Mal. iii. 11. He showeth us the way how we may be reconciled with God, persuading us also to be so reconciled to God. For we are ignorant and obstinate, loath to part with sin and submit to God’s terms; therefore he revealeth, and persuadeth us to accept, the conditions of the new covenant, and to cast away all our rebellion against God, and enter into his peace: 2 Cor. v. 20, ‘Now then we are ambassadors for Christ; as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.’ They plead in his name, and by virtue of his power.

(2.) As a king and lord; so he maketh these terms part of the new law for the remedying of lapsed mankind: Heb. v. 8, ‘Though he were a son, yet he learned obedience by the things he suffered.’ And not only so, but he subdueth us to himself,’ Luke xi. 21; by strong hand rescueth us out of the power of the devil, and giveth us grace to serve him acceptably, Heb. xii. 28; and taketh us into his care, and ruleth us and protecteth us, till we enter into everlasting life. His lordship is a great part of his mediation.

Thanks be to God for His great condescension, love, mercies and graces! May Christ increase, and we decrease, and may we worship the Lord forever for who He is and what He has done!

— David

David’s Digest: Sins of the Heart

September 14, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Some time ago I had come across someone giving the example that as long as someone who desires homosexual relations doesn’t act on them, they are okay in God’s eyes, the idea being that if someone abstains from an outward manifestation of sin, they are keeping themselves from actual sin. This idea is what prompted this blog post.

The Bible speaks otherwise of this idea, and calls this concupiscence.

Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines this as:

Lust; unlawful or irregular desire of sexual pleasure. In a more general sense, the coveting of carnal things, or an irregular appetite for worldly good; inclination for unlawful enjoyments.

This is not just in the sexual realm — it covers all carnal desires of the heart.

Here is where concupiscence is mentioned in the Bible:

Rom 7:8 – “But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.“

Puritan commentator John Gill says of the concupiscence here:

“The law forbidding every unclean thought, and covetous desire of unlawful objects, sin took an occasion through these prohibitions to work in him, stir up and excite concupiscence, evil desire after all manner of things forbidden by the law; hence it is clear that not the law, but sin, is exceeding sinful.”

Col 3:5 – “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:“

Here Dr. Gill says it

“includes every fleshly lust and inordinate desire, or every desire after that which is not lawful, or does not belong to a man; as what is another’s property, his wife, or goods, or anything that is his.”

1 Thess 4:3-5 – “3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: 4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; 5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:“

Again Dr. Gill, regarding fulfilling the lust of concupiscence:

“for a man so to possess his vessel, is to cherish the sin of concupiscence, the first motions of sin in the heart, by which a man is drawn away, and enticed.”

Acts of sin are only the outward workings of the evil—yes, sinful—desires of the heart. In fact, sin starts in the heart:

Prov 4:23 – “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.“

Luke 6:45 – “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

And here are scriptures talking about the sins of the heart, which is by nature sinful:

Gen 6:5 – “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.“

Psa 28:3 – “Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.“

Psa 58:2 – “Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.“

Psa 101:4 – “A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.“

Prov 6:18 – “An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,“

Prov 10:20 – “The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.“

Prov 21:4 – “An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.”

Jer 4:14 – “O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?“

Matt 15:18-20 – “18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.“

Acts 8:22 – “Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.“

1 John 3:15 – “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.“

Finally, Puritan Thomas Manton has some words in regards to heart sin:

This is from Manton, vol xviii, sermons upon Proverbs x 20, sermon II, the full text which can be read here:

(4.) That we must make conscience not only of our words, but thoughts. Men are cautious in their speeches and how they discover themselves; but they think thoughts are free. No; heart-sins are sins as well as the sins of the tongue and life : Prov. xxiv. 9, ‘The thought of foolishness is sin’; they are contrary to the law of God. Therefore David saith, Ps. cxix. 113, ‘I hate vain thoughts.’ Usually we take more liberty in our thoughts than in our words and actions. Men will not rob, steal, murder, or assault the chastity of a neighbour’s wife; but let their hearts run riot in coveting, and that is theft in the heart; or lusting, and that is adultery in the heart: Mat. v. 28, ‘Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart’; or malice and revenge, and that is killing in the heart.

And this is from Manton, vol xviii, sermons upon John i 29, sermons II, the full text which can be read here:

Others, if they would be freed from sin, they respect only the preventing the outward act, but you must abstain from the lust [desire] : 1 Peter ii. 11, ‘I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts [desires], which war against the soul.’ If they look after the heart and inward man, it is some branch of sin, not the root, or the change of the heart, and so die impenitent. Evil practices do not flow from a present temptation, but an evil nature. All these lose their labour; they neither get rid of trouble nor prevent the act, nor are free from the breach of God’s law, but Christ would make a thorough cure.

May God change our heart to ones desiring Christ, His righteousness and holiness; may He keep our hearts pure, removing sinful desires; and may He grant us the desire and strength to pray and fight against the sinful desires of the heart!

— David

David’s Digest: My Heart Is Good

August 17, 2017 / / 2 Comments

“My heart is good!”

Have you said that, or heard that said? I believe we all think it to some degree, and certainly want to believe it.

But what does the Bible say?

Gen. 6:5 – “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Gen. 8:21 – “And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.”

Jer. 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Rom. 3:10-12 – “10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

Rom. 8:7 – “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”

Mark 10:18 – “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”

Ezek. 36:26 – “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”

The heart of fallen man by nature is a heart of stone, a dead heart, a desperately wicked heart, is enmity against God, not subject or able to be subject to the law of God, with no desire to seek for God and no good in it. Only some One good can bring goodness to it, and that is the good God, removing the dead heart and giving a lively heart. It is His act of putting His goodness there.

And even if you are truly a Christian, you recognize and lament the evil that is still within you.

Prov. 20:9 – “Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?“

From Puritan John Gill’s commentary:

Who can say, I have made my heart clean

The heart of man is naturally unclean, the mind, conscience, understanding, will, and affections; there is no part clean, all are defiled with sin; and though there is such a thing as a pure or clean heart, yet not as made so by men; it is God that has made the heart, that can only make it clean, or create a clean heart in men; it is not to be done by themselves, or by anything that they can do; it is done only by the grace of God, and blood of Christ: God has promised to do it, and he does it; and to him, and to him only, is it to be ascribed;

I am pure from my sin?

the sin of nature or of action: such indeed who are washed from their sins in the blood of Christ; whose sins are all pardoned for his sake, and who are justified from all things by his righteousness; they are pure from sin, none is to be seen in them, or found upon them in a legal sense: they are all fair and comely, and without fault in the sight of God; their iniquities are caused to pass from them; and they are clothed with fine linen, clean and white, the righteousness of the saints: but then none are pure from indwelling sin, nor from the commission of sin; no man can say this, any more than the former; if he does, he is an ignorant man, and does not know the plague of his heart; and he is a vain pharisaical man; yea, a man that does not speak the truth, nor is the truth in him, (1 John 1:8)

And Prov. 28:26 – “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.“

Dr. Gill again:

He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool

Since the thoughts and imaginations of the thoughts of the heart are only evil, and that continually; they are vain and vague, sinful and corrupt; the affections are inordinate, the conscience defiled, the understanding darkened, and the will perverse; there is no good thing in it, nor any that comes out of it, but all the reverse; it is deceitful and desperately wicked: he must be a fool, and not know the plague of his heart, that trusts in it; and even for a good man to be self-confident, and trust to the sincerity of his heart, as Peter did, or to the good frame of the heart, as many do, is acting a foolish part; and especially such are fools as the Scribes and Pharisees, who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others, when a man’s best righteousness is impure and imperfect, and cannot justify him in the sight of God; it is moreover a weak and foolish part in men to trust to the wisdom and counsel of their heart, to lean to their own understanding, even it, things natural and civil, and not to ask wisdom of God, or take the advice of men, and especially it, things religious and sacred; see (Proverbs 3:5 Proverbs 3:6)

but whoso walketh wisely

as he does who walks according to the rule of the divine word; who makes the testimonies of the Lord his counsellors; who consults with his sacred writings, and follows the directions of them; who walks as he has Christ for his pattern and example, and makes the Spirit of God his guide, and walks after him, and not after the flesh; who walks with wise men, and takes their advice in all matters of moment, not trusting to his own wisdom and knowledge; who walks as becomes the Gospel of Christ, and in all the ordinances of it; who walks inoffensively to all men, and so in wisdom towards them that are without, and in love to them who are within; who walks circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time

he shall be delivered

he shall be delivered from the snares of his own deceitful heart, which he will not trust; and from the temptations of Satan; and from all afflictions and troubles he meets with in the way; and from a final and total falling away; and from eternal death and destruction: “he shall be saved”, as some versions render it, even with an everlasting salvation. The Targum is, “he shall be protected from evil.”

Finally, here is a warning I believe we should consider from Puritan Thomas Manton from his 2nd sermon on Mark 3:5, which you can read in full here:

4. None are so confident of the goodness of their hearts, as those that have an hard heart: for the more any spiritual disease increaseth upon us, the less it is felt. There is hope whilst there is some complaining of sin, that there is some tenderness left.

The hardest heart must needs be the most confident, because they use no recollection and reflection upon themselves; Jer. 8:6, ‘No man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done?’ What am I, what have I done? Yea they slight their danger, take up every vain pretence and allegation to maintain their carnal peace and quiet: Deut. 29:19-20, ‘And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst. The Lord will yet spare him, &c.’

Broken-hearted christians are sensible of the holiness of God, and what an hard matter it is to hold communion with him, and observe their own weakness and unworthiness; and therefore they complain of the badness of their hearts, that there is no greater bent towards God, and are always suspicious of their spiritual condition.

May God grant us an understanding of our carnal hearts and His holiness, may we humbly recognize from Whom any goodness in our hearts we might have comes, and may we diligently seek it from Him!

— David

David’s Digest: Sin and The Christian

July 6, 2017 / / 2 Comments

It seems to me often when people believe they are saved, even if they realize they are a sinner, they lose perspective of sin and their relation to it, almost that their sin in their life generally has mystically disappeared. In fact, we were told one time at a church I attended in the past to not look at ourselves as sinners saved by grace, as we now have a new identity and should look at ourselves that way.

While when someone is saved their sins are washed away from a penal perspective, and they are removed out from under the eternal wrath of God (ie. they are not held as guilty due eternal punishment), it’s not actually like they never sinned, and it’s not like they don’t continue to sin throughout their lives. A saved person still carries with him the carnal man, the corrupt nature, and while they have a new nature as well, the sin nature continues, with its same traits and same evil efforts and desires, although dethroned as ruler, but at war now with the new man.

Rom 8:7 – “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”

We continue to carry this carnal man with us during our time here in this life, and this is what Paul laments during his ministry:

Rom 7:24 – “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

Here is what Puritan John Gill says from what Paul desired to be delivered:

from the load of sin, and burden of corruption, under which he groaned, and still bespeaks him a regenerate man; for not of outward calamities, but of indwelling sin is he all along speaking in the context: wherefore it is better by “this body of death” to understand what he in (Romans 6:6) calls “the body of sin”; that mass of corruption that lodged in him, which is called “a body”, because of its fleshly carnal nature; because of its manner of operation, it exerts itself by the members of the body; and because it consists of various parts and members, as a body does; and “a body of death”, because it makes men liable to death: it was that which the apostle says “slew” him, and which itself is to a regenerate man, as a dead carcass, stinking and loathsome; and is to him like that punishment Mezentius inflicted on criminals, by fastening a living body to a putrid carcass: and it is emphatically called the body of “this death”, referring to the captivity of his mind, to the law of sin, which was as death unto him

While reading Puritan Thomas Manton, in his sermons on Genesis 24:63, in Sermon VII, he wrote something I thought most excellently laid out the perspective a Christian should continue to have for sin, and you can read the full sermon here:

4. None are exempted from bewailing the evil of sin. Though the children of God shall never feel it, nor have the dregs of God’s displeasure wrung out to them for it, yet they must bewail the evil that there is in sin. The death and merit of Christ doth not change the nature of sin, nor put less evil into it, why should we look upon it with a different eye after conversion than we did before? Sin is still damning in its own merit and nature, and it is still the violation of an holy righteous law, and an affront to the holy God, and an inconvenience to the precious soul. Sin is the same as it was before, though the person be not the same. Nay, the children of God are not altogether exempted from the effects of sin neither, it is a disease, though not a death, and who would not groan under the heat of a burning fever, though he be assured of life?

God hath still a bridle upon you to keep the soul in awe. And though the godly can never lose their right in the covenant, that doth remain, yet they may lose the fruition of it, and this is enough to make a child of God mourn: Notwithstanding all the privileges of grace, you may be branded, though not executed; and though the Lord hath made them vessels of mercy, yet he doth not use and employ them as vessels of honour, but they are set aside as useless vessels.

Sin will still be inconvenient, it will bring disgrace to religion, and discomfort to your souls, and furnish the triumphs of hell, and make Satan rejoice, and eclipse the light of God’s countenance; and who can brook the loss of God’s favour, and of intimate communion with him without sadness, and bemoaning his case? I may ask you that question, Job xv. 11, ‘Are the consolations of God small with thee?’ Do you make so little reckoning of those rich comforts of the Holy Ghost?

Though you cannot be damned, for there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ, Rom. viii. 1., yet your pilgrimage may be made very uncomfortable; and he that prizeth communion with God, would not lose the comfort of it for the least moment.

Besides, if there were no inconvenience, yet love is motive enough to a gracious person? Where is your love? Christians! You sin against mercy, the warm beams of mercy should melt the heart, Ezek. xxxvi. 31, ‘Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loath your selves in your own sight for your iniquities, and for all your abominations.’ As long as there is love in the heart, you can never want [lack] an argument to represent the odiousness of sin. Put the matter in a temporal case; it would be ill reasoning for an heir to say, I know my father will not disinherit me, therefore I do not care how I offend him. Where is your love to God, if you do not hate sin? Psa. xcvii. 10, ‘Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.’

Though your right in the covenant be safe, yet you should still have the evil of your own doings in remembrance.

May these things be on the forefront of our remembrance, may it keep us humble and in awe of divine grace and mercy, may it elevate the perfectly righteous Lord Jesus Christ, and may God grant us a hatred of sin because it’s an affront to the One we love!

— David

David’s Digest: It’s Not Easy Being Saved, Part 8 – Going from Strength to Strength

April 20, 2017 / / 0 Comments

This is Part 8 of a series of writings from Puritan Thomas Manton’s excellent case showing that it is no easy thing to be saved. This part comes from his sermon on Psalm 84:7. While this is a different sermon than the original discussed in the first six parts, as with the last part, I came across this one and thought it was relevant to the topic of how difficult is the path to salvation. This is the final planned part of this series.

These sections below are only part of the sermon, so I hope you will take the time to read the entire thing, as the whole sermon is beneficial, and you can find it here:
https://books.google.com/books?id=dTpDAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA314&lpg=PA314

And here are the previous blog posts:
Part 1 – Astonishment at Rich Men’s Difficulty
Part 2 – Doubt at Difficulty, but Generally Proved
Part 3 – Human Nature & the Habit of Worldliness
Part 4 – The Power of Worldliness
Part 5 – Why This Is Important
Part 6 – How to Use This Information
Part 7 – Living for Worthless Shadows

From Thomas Manton:

Psalm 84:7 – “They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.”

Application.

2. As it is a duty.

Use 1: It showeth the folly of them who count an earnest pursuance of eternal life to be more than needs, and that a little holiness will serve the turn. Oh no! A christian should always be growing and always improving, still pressing nearer and nearer towards the mark, going on from strength to strength. There is no nimium [too much] in holiness; you cannot have too much holiness, or too much of the love of God, nor of the fear of God, nor of faith in him.

There are many that come near and never enter: Luke xiii. 24, ‘Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.’ Certainly he that knoweth what was lost in Adam, and must be recovered in Christ, cannot think he can do enough or too much.

How hard a matter is it to keep what we have! Such is the vanity, lightness, and inconstancy of our hearts in good, and so furious are the assaults of sundry temptations, and so great is our impotency to resist them; our proneness to turn from the ways of God so great; so strong, subtle and assiduous are our spiritual adversaries; so many are these difficulties, discouragements, diversions, and hindrances which we have to wrestle with and overcome in the way to heaven, that it concerneth us to give all diligence to advance in our christian course.

Once more, there is so much promised, that certainly a man knoweth not what christianity meaneth if he striveth not to be more holy. So exact is our rule, and strict, so holy is our God, so great are our obligations from all the means and providences of God, that such a vain [useless] conceit cannot possess the soul of a serious christian.

Use 2: It reproveth those who, if they have gotten such a measure of grace, whereby they think they may be assured they are in a state of grace, they never look further, but set up their rest, and think hereafter Christ will make them perfect when they die. Consider—

1. They hazard their claim of sincerity that do not aim at perfection; for where there is true grace, there will be a desire of the greatest perfection; as a small seed will seek to grow up into a tree. He that is truly good will be growing from good to better, and so is best at last; the more his light and love is increased, the more he is troubled about the relics of sin, and grieved at his heart that he can serve God no more perfectly.

2. All promises are accomplished by degrees; and so far as we hope for anything, we will be endeavouring it: 1 John iii. 3, ‘Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure.’

3. According to the degrees of grace so will our glory be. The vessel is filled according to its capacity. They that are growing here have more in heaven. He that improved ten talents hath a reward proportionable, and so he that improved five, Matt. xxv. As our measures of grace are, so will our measures of glory be, all according to their size and receptivity. As there are degrees of punishments in hell, so of rewards in heaven. He that loved God more on earth has more of his love in heaven.

Use 3: It showeth the miserable estate of them that do not go strength to strength, but from weakness to weakness; that waste their strength by sin, that are fallen back, and have lost the savouriness of their spirits, and their delight in communion with God, and grow more careless and neglectful of holy things, weak in faith, impatient under the cross, formal in holy duties; their heart is not watched, their tongue is not bridled, their conversation is more vain [useless], they wax worse and worse. Oh! take heed of such a declining estate. When men fall from their first love: Rev. ii. 4, ‘I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.’ First faith: 1 Tim. v .12, ‘Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.’ Or first obedience: 2 Chron. xvii. 3, ‘The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David.’ David in his later time fell into scandalous crimes.

Use 4: Is to persuade you to go on from strength to strength. It is the gift of God’s free grace, and the work of the Spirit: Eph. iii. 16, ‘That he would grant you to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.’ By maintaining and actuating grace, notwithstanding all difficulties.

May the Lord grant us a desire to be more like Him in His holiness; that He grant us to daily grow in His graces and never grow slack; to be troubled about the relics of sin and grieved we cannot serve Him better; may we continuously pray for these things; and may He see us through to the end in His faith, with patience and thankfulness, through all the difficulties of being saved!

— David

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