Mar
11
2010
We cannot play with sin
“Be careful how you treat God, my friends. You may say to yourself, ‘I can sin against God and then, of course, I can repent and go back and find God whenever I want him.’ You try it. And you will sometimes find that not only can you not find God but that you do not even want to. You will be aware of a terrible hardness in your heart. And you can do nothing about it. And then you suddenly realize that it is God punishing you in order to reveal your sinfulness and your vileness to you. And there is only one thing to do. You turn back to him and you say, ‘O God, do not go on dealing with me judicially, though I deserve it. Soften my heart. Melt me. I cannot do it myself.’ You cast yourself utterly upon his mercy and upon his compassion.”
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Revival (Westchester, 1987), page 300.
6 Comments
[...] Ortlund quotes from Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ book on revival reminding us that we cannot play with sin. Oh that I might take that lesson to [...]
Wow. Excellent post.
Soul surgery. I am thankful that the Lord raised up men of the likes of Dr. ML-J, Edwards and Owen to pierce my hard heart and turn to life.
[...] HT: Ray Ortlund [...]
[...] or Grace i read this article today: “Be careful how you treat God, my friends. You may say to yourself, ‘I can sin against [...]
While I certainly agree with the last part about the ultimate remedy, I am not sure I would tell the Christian that God is punishing them with hardness of heart for their sin. This morning I read Eph 5:1 “Be imitators of God *as dearly loved children*” and I am reminded of Romans 8:15 which tells us to fight sin not out of a spirit of fear, but from a spirit of sonship. In other words, I want to stop sinning not because I’m afraid of punishment. I want to stop sinning because I want to imitate God in Christ and I want to be satisfied fully in him and be free from my sinful habits so that I can love others.