The Scriptures And Sin # 4

 The Scriptures And Sin # 4

This is what each of us is required to do: "Accept instruction from His mouth and lay up His Words in your heart." (Job 22:22). It is particularly the commandments, the warnings, the exhortations - which we need to make our own and to treasure. We need to make our own and to treasure. We need to memorize them, meditate upon them, pray over them, and put them into practice. The only effective way of keeping a plot of ground from being overgrown by weeds, is to sow good seed therein; "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21). So the more Christ's Word dwells in us "richly" (Colossians 3:16), the less room will there be for the exercise of sin in our hearts and lives.

It is not sufficient merely to assent to the veracity of the Scriptures - they require to be received into the affections. It is unspeakably solemn to note that the Holy Spirit specifies as the ground of apostasy, "They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved." (2 Thess. 2:10). "If truth lies only in the tongue or in the mind, only to make it a matter of talk and speculation - it will soon be gone. The seed which lies on the surface, the birds in the air will pick up. Therefore hide it deeply; let it get rom the ear into the mind, from the mind into the heart;  let it soak in further and further. It is only when Scripture has a prevailing sovereignty in the heart, that we receive truth in the love of it - when it is dearer than our dearest lust, then it will stick to us." (Thomas Manton).

Nothing else will preserve from the infections of this world, deliver from the temptations of satan, and be so effective a preservative against sin - as the Word of God received into the affections, "The law of his God is in his heart - none of his steps shall slide." (Psalm 37:31). As long as the truth is active within us, stirring the conscience, and is really loved by us - we shall be kept from falling.

When Joseph was tempted by Potiphar's wife, he said, "How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" (Genesis 39:9). The Word was in his heart, and therefore had prevailing power over his lusts. Joseph loved the ineffable holiness, and the mighty powr of God, who is able both to save and to destroy.

None of us knows when he may be tempted, therefore it is necessary to be prepared against it. Yes, we are to anticipate the future and be fortified against it, by storing up the Word in our hearts for coming emergencies. "I have hidden Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You." (Psalm 119:11).

Here is another important rule by which we should frequently test ourselves. Are my thought being formed, my heart controlled, and my ways and works regulated by God's Word? This is what the Lord requires: "Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!" (James 1:22). This is how gratitude to and affection for Christ are to be expressed: "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14:15).

For this, Divine assistance is needed. David prayed, "Make me to walk in the path of Your commandments" (Psalm 119:35). "We need not only ilight to know our way, but a heart to walk in it. Direction is necessary because of the blindness of our minds; and grace is necessary because of the weakness of our hearts. It will not answer our duty to have a mere notion of truths, unless we embrace and pursue them" (Manton). Note the path of Your commandments." Not a self-chosen course, but a definitely marked-out one. 

Has your study of the Bible made you more humble, or more proud? Has it raised you in the esteem of your fellow men, or has it led you to take a lower place before God? Has it produced in you a deeper abhorrence and loathing of self, or has it made you more complacent?

"Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all." (1 Timothy 4:15).

~A. W. Pink~

(The End)