- Jan 1, 2024
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THE PURER I GET, THE MORE VILE I AM
When, as a believer, you've compounded sin upon sin, expecting blessings, there'll be accursedness at almost every turn!
In 2018 I was stripped of almost everything like Job, except for my house & land. And like Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4, I was lifted up with pride, and then greatly humbled. And it's been almost 7 years now. God stripped away that flesh, and showed me 2 Corinthians 7:1, "Therefore having these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
I'd always done the first part, avoiding sin in the flesh, but holding on to it in the Spirit, and in the mind, instead of being transformed by the renewing of my mind, and having the mind of Christ, and casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. (Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 10:5)
When you do that, the sin within, that you haven't purified; purified the SPIRIT, you are likely to yield to temptations. The Scripture says cleanse ourselves from ALL filthiness of the flesh AND spirit.
And now for the past few years, pressing in to the Vine, abiding in Christ, striving for holiness, in all holy conversation and godliness, pressing towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (2 Peter 3:11, Philippians 3:14), I find the purer I get the more vile I am: the purer I get, the filthier I am, and I cry out: "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24)
Indeed, the closer you get to the light, and the brighter that light shines, the more dirt becomes visible, and thus must be cleansed!
Thomas Goodwin wrote way back in the 1600s, in "Vanity of Thoughts,"
"Thoughts are to be repented of: Yea, repentance is expressed as to begin at the thoughts, "Let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts" (Isa 55:7). And a man is never truly and thoroughly wrought on until his "every thought is brought into obedience" (2 Cor 10:5), which argues that they are naturally rebellious and contrary to grace. And this also argues the power of grace, which is able to rule and subdue so great an army as our thoughts are, to command them all, now, as well as in the day when we are perfectly holy.
- Thoughts defile a man. But nothing defiles except sin, "but of the heart proceed evil thoughts... these defile the man" (Matt 15:18,19)."
Oh, don't go the stubborn rebellious way I did: do not think compromise is but a little trifle, and not of much significance. Be sure your sin will find you out, a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump: a little sin will defile the whole man: and despise not the chastening of the LORD.
"It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes." - Psalm 119:71
So, the closer you draw to the LORD, the greater you should see your sin. Things you may not have considered sin, especially thoughts, these will become more exceedingly sinful. The battle turns within, and the Sword of the Spirit pierces deeper and deeper, carving out hidden iniquities, dredging up vile affections, and slaying them by the mighty working of the Holy Ghost, whose very name portrays that attribute of God: HOLY, and as it is written, the LORD commands, Be ye holy, for I am holy.
Amen.
When, as a believer, you've compounded sin upon sin, expecting blessings, there'll be accursedness at almost every turn!
In 2018 I was stripped of almost everything like Job, except for my house & land. And like Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4, I was lifted up with pride, and then greatly humbled. And it's been almost 7 years now. God stripped away that flesh, and showed me 2 Corinthians 7:1, "Therefore having these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
I'd always done the first part, avoiding sin in the flesh, but holding on to it in the Spirit, and in the mind, instead of being transformed by the renewing of my mind, and having the mind of Christ, and casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. (Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 10:5)
When you do that, the sin within, that you haven't purified; purified the SPIRIT, you are likely to yield to temptations. The Scripture says cleanse ourselves from ALL filthiness of the flesh AND spirit.
And now for the past few years, pressing in to the Vine, abiding in Christ, striving for holiness, in all holy conversation and godliness, pressing towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (2 Peter 3:11, Philippians 3:14), I find the purer I get the more vile I am: the purer I get, the filthier I am, and I cry out: "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24)
Indeed, the closer you get to the light, and the brighter that light shines, the more dirt becomes visible, and thus must be cleansed!
Thomas Goodwin wrote way back in the 1600s, in "Vanity of Thoughts,"
"Thoughts are to be repented of: Yea, repentance is expressed as to begin at the thoughts, "Let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts" (Isa 55:7). And a man is never truly and thoroughly wrought on until his "every thought is brought into obedience" (2 Cor 10:5), which argues that they are naturally rebellious and contrary to grace. And this also argues the power of grace, which is able to rule and subdue so great an army as our thoughts are, to command them all, now, as well as in the day when we are perfectly holy.
- Thoughts defile a man. But nothing defiles except sin, "but of the heart proceed evil thoughts... these defile the man" (Matt 15:18,19)."
Oh, don't go the stubborn rebellious way I did: do not think compromise is but a little trifle, and not of much significance. Be sure your sin will find you out, a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump: a little sin will defile the whole man: and despise not the chastening of the LORD.
"It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes." - Psalm 119:71
So, the closer you draw to the LORD, the greater you should see your sin. Things you may not have considered sin, especially thoughts, these will become more exceedingly sinful. The battle turns within, and the Sword of the Spirit pierces deeper and deeper, carving out hidden iniquities, dredging up vile affections, and slaying them by the mighty working of the Holy Ghost, whose very name portrays that attribute of God: HOLY, and as it is written, the LORD commands, Be ye holy, for I am holy.
Amen.
