Clouds of Sin

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

Our Lord has promised never to leave us, nor forsake us. This has been a very precious verse in the lives of my wife and me over the years, and we had to often remind ourselves of the truth of it; that being said, it doesn’t mean that we will never withdraw from the Lord. Our text verse tells us that we can fail to “walk in the light” and break fellowship with the Lord as a result of it. Just as the clouds obscure the sunlight, and turn the day into a dark, and dismal day, so can sin obscure the light of God’s presence, and turn our lives into seeming chaos. We all know on a very dark and gloomy day, that the sun is there hiding somewhere behind the clouds; it is still shining, but the clouds have come between us and the brightness of it; and, in the same way, the Son is still there when we have sinned, but the light of His glory has been obscured by sin, and the brightness has been dimmed. When we finally discover that this has happened, we need to get back to the place of fellowship with Him; we need to confess that sin, humbly, and sincerely and the glory of God will shine on us once more. Let’s be sure that we get back to the light, and the fellowship of the Father in Christ, and that we dwell there so that we never stray far away again. Everyone seems to like a bright sunny day much more than the overcast cloudy day; we seem to be in higher spirits when the sun shines brightly.

Truth?

Truth is a whimsical thing in that it is defined differently by so many people. Truth is often hard to bear if it convicts us, and yet, what seems to be obviously true to one man may not be so obvious to another. Of course there is scriptural Truth, which is altogether true, and always true, but even that is left to a multitude of interpretations. So, in our search for truth, absolute truth, we still dwell among the confused and shine on the side of selfishness. Oh, we do have some truths that are unshakably true; those that we cannot refute or question and that are backed by sound doctrine, but what about the rest? We live, and practice a form of truth that is conjured up in our ideals, our own set of principles; we become our own truth and act as if there is no other. Oh what pitiful wretches we are. The flesh is so weak in the matter of truth…and yet, we owe it to others to tell them the truth! There is a truth that we can rely on—an “absolute” truth that never changes, and never will. That “truth” is the Lord Jesus Christ, “the Way, the Truth, and the Life”, and His sacrifice for sin. Truth should change lives, and Calvary does just that! Therein lies the ultimate Truth, that Jesus loves us and died for us so that we too might live a victorious life full of grace and truth.

Sin

Mankind shares one common bond, that of sin. We are all of the seed of Adam, and therefore share this bond, which cannot be broken without the grace of God. It is the strongest of bonds among men, and yet the deadliest of all; it degrades us, and defiles us before a moral and just God, and condemns us all to a fiery, burning hell, of which we deserve. Just the nature of sin merits the torments of hell; the mere thought of evil deserves the punishment of hell. In this one thing, we are all united, and all equal, and yet, we can all be made free from its grasp; no one of us is without sin, and none qualified to judge the other because of it. We share the reproaches of sin—every one of us. Let us not, therefore, be too condemning of our fellow man when we see him do that which is natural for him to do, He is only acting out of himself. Sin aligns us with the most vile of sinners, and though the bond is broken by grace, we still have its seed deep within. The bond is broken, but the flesh retains the seed, and it cannot be removed in this life. Though we deplore the atrocious acts of the manifestation of sin, we align ourselves with it ---we cannot help but do so, because we are born into it. Ah, but thank God there is a deliverance; there is hope! This hope comes in the form of Jesus Christ, the ultimate sacrifice for sin.
We will receive a new body some day, though not soon enough, I am afraid, and it will not be of sinful flesh, but of the spirit. It will be the embodiment of the Spirit in us, because Christ is in us, and we in Him, and He is the Holy Spirit. “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (Rom. 8:11) Yes, we shall be raised up into the newness of life, much “newer” than the new birth we now enjoy; much more pure and Holy, and unto a better hope. Praise the Lord for this unspeakable gift, the gift of “new life” and a new body.

Will ye contend for God...

“Will ye contend for God...” (Job 13:8)

We too often bring God down to our own level by thinking that we will take up for Him, like a big brother would for his weaker sibling! God needs not our weak defense, and we need not think ourselves to be the protector of Him, or His cause! Who do we make ourselves out to be? Our duty, indeed, our greatest joy, is to serve Him, and allow Him to fight for us! Jude tells us to “contend for the faith”, but one need not contend for God Himself, He is able to do all that needs to be done, and more! We contend, then to keep our faith, and not allow ourselves to falter under the subtleties of unbelief. Besides that, we seldom do the right thing for the situation. Let God be God, and every man a liar and a rogue.

The Tree of Knowledge

The “tree of knowledge”

of our lives is beautifully adorned and adored by those of us who like to heap knowledge in great storehouses. Knowledge that is not really practical becomes a “trinket” on our shelf of pride, a badge of honor, so we think. Our otherwise humble spirit can gloat on facts of little worth, and gain a fair showing at the table of the “upper echelon” in society circles, gained, or won in the quiet moments of life. Oh that I would use what little God has given me to glorify Him, and His. Let not wisdom rule my spirit in a showy fashion, but that wisdom be “justified of her children”. Remember, it was the desire for knowledge and wisdom that enticed Eve to sin in Eden.

Fire and Light

Spurgeon once said “There must be light as well as fire. Some preachers are all light, and no fire, and others are all fire and no light; what we want is both fire and light.” We need to light the fires of zeal under God’s children, but we also need to give them something to get excited about! The zeal is fine, but it must be accompanied by wisdom; any sermon that has the fire of God also must have the practicality of man to be effective. I speak in the both senses of this thought, the sermonizer and the hearer. The sermonizer must give practical wisdom with the encouragement of zeal, while the hearer must receive zeal, and use wisdom in applying it. Both are essential to the work of the Lord, there is no true light without fire.

Some have said “Where there is smoke, there is fire”, let not our lives be filled with smoke only, but with the fire of the Lord.