The Common Complaint of All True
Christians by Thomas Reed I have sinned against the Lord. 2 Samuel
chapter 12 verse 13 This is the common complaint of all true
Christians. They desire an entire conformity
to the mind of God. They pant after universal holiness. They labor to get their affection
supremely fixed upon Christ and heaven. They long for the complete
victory over indwelling sin and the perishing vanities of the
world. Yet they find, to their inexpressible grief, that when
they would do good, evil is present with them, mixing itself with
all their holy aims and desires, so that they are constrained
to cry out, O what a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me
from this body of death? Romans chapter 7, verse 24. This experience greatly humbles
the Christian pilgrim while traveling through the wilderness world.
He sees that he has no righteousness of his own. He knows that of
himself. He can do nothing to please God.
This makes Christ unspeakably precious to him. This conviction
of inward pollution, unseen by the eye of man, drives him to
the throne of grace, so that he may receive mercy and find
grace to help him in his time of need. Feeling his inability
to think one good thought or exercise one holy affection,
without the grace and power of Jesus, drives him to sit daily
at his feet, to hear his word, to receive out of his fullness,
to imbibe his spirit, and to copy His example. Such is the
experience and practice, not of one, but of all the faithful
servants of Jehovah. Oh, that I may be found among
these chosen vessels of the Lord. I have to mourn over my spiritual
deadness, lukewarmness, and earthly-mindedness. I am grieved that my heart is
so cold towards God, when He is so gracious and merciful to
me. By the grace of God, I abhor these evils. Have mercy on me,
O God, according to your unfailing love, according to your great
compassion. Blot out my transgressions, wash
away all my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, for I know my
transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Psalm 51, verses
1-3