We will be breaking into our
consecutive studies that would normally be the focus of our
attention on the Lord's Day morning. And as I cast about in my mind
as to what would be most beneficial as a one-shot ministry, as it
were, my mind was greatly influenced in the selection of our subject
matter this morning by two things. Number one, the experience of
the ministry down in Chattanooga last week, during which ministry
I had opportunity to counsel with numerous young people and
adults as well, and one of the areas of great concern to which
I came back again and again in my counsel is the area that I
want to set before you this morning. And so I've selected this because
I've been forced to think much about this subject, this great
area of biblical concern and truth by virtue of the ministry
of the past days. And then secondly, I've been
forced to it by the realization of my own attempts to walk with
God And I find myself coming back again and again to these
fundamental principles and having to preach them to myself as though
I had never heard them before. And if that's true of me, I have
reason to believe it would also be true of you. And the area
of concern this morning and possibly this evening, Mr. Morey's been
most kind in preparing a message for tonight. I asked him to do
it earlier in the week. not knowing just where my own
throat would be and how things would be with reference to the
demands of the coming week at the conference, and I frankly
don't know how far I'll get this morning, but at least for this
morning I want to direct your attention to some of the principles
of the Word of God concerning the great biblical duty of mortification
of sin or how to deal with remaining sin in my life as a Christian. And in order to set this biblical
truth in its proper biblical framework, we must remember three
fundamental propositions clearly set forth in the entirety of
the Word of God. Now, some of this material was
given in greater length and in different messages over a long
series of studies on sanctification, but we're pulling together now
some of the main lines of biblical concern. When we talk about a
Christian dealing with remaining sin in his life, we must understand
that we're talking about a problem, an element of Christian experience
that rests down upon three solid biblical principles. And I will
not assume that everyone understands these principles. I shall therefore
take time to articulate them, and then we shall build upon
them. The first principle is this. that all men by nature
are under the dominion of sin. And when we say men, we're not
being chauvinist. We are using the term men as
a synonym for mankind, which includes men and women, boys
and girls, and if there's anything in between, it includes them
as well. All mankind by nature are under
the dominion of sin. Now turn to Romans 6 for some
of the clearest assertions of this fact. When Paul writes to
the church at Rome, and he contrasts again and again in chapter 6
of Romans their previous condition before the gospel came, their
present condition after the gospel has come, not in word only but
in power, He constantly describes their previous state as one of
slavery to sin, an absolute bondage to sin. They are under the lordship
of sin. Verse 17, But thanks be to God
that whereas ye were slaves of sin, In other words, he describes
their relationship to sin as nothing less than absolute servitude. And as real as was the bondage
of a slave to his master was their bondage to sin. Verse 19,
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your
flesh as ye presented your members as servants to uncleanness and
to iniquity unto iniquity. He's saying this servitude to
sin was not an abstract concept. It was a real servitude. When
sin spoke, you came and presented yourself as its willing bond-slave. Its orders you carried out by
the use of your faculties, your members, your eyes, your ears,
your hands, your feet, your affections, your mind, all that constitutes
you as a human being was the bond-slave of sin. Sin was the
master to whom you yielded willing obedience. And this dominion
was pervasive. Verse 20, you were absolutely
free in regard of righteousness. In other words, you had an exclusive
slavery to sin. It was a practical slavery. Verse
19, you presented your members, and it was a perpetual slavery. You were continually the slaves
of sin. Now, all men by nature are under
the dominion of sin. Jesus asserted this when he said,
whosoever committeth sin is the bondservant of sin, John 8, 34. Now certainly if you've been
here through the expositions of Romans, Ephesians 2, 1 to
3, you have no question about the truth of this assertion.
All right, now the second assertion is this, and this is the biblical
background for any consideration of the doctrine of how to deal
with remaining sin. All men by nature under the dominion
of sin, Proposition 2, some men by grace have been delivered
from the dominion of sin. In expounding the doctrines of
grace, Paul asserts in verse 6 of Romans 6 that certain men
have been delivered from sin's bondage, knowing this, that our
old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be
done away that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin. He says there are certain of
us who though by nature were part of the all men under sin's
dominion, by grace we have been delivered from that dominion. Verse 17, God be thanked that
whereas ye were, that was your past, ye were the slaves of sin,
ye are now, he says, made free from sin and become servants
to righteousness. That is, you've been delivered
by grace from the dominion of sin. And we know it's by grace
because he says, God be thanked. He doesn't say, thank yourself.
Congratulate your preachers. Congratulate your church. God
be thanked. Grace has been operative in your
deliverance. He reasserts this in verses 18
and 22, but the classic statement of it is verse 14. For sin shall
not have dominion over you, for ye are not under law, but under
grace. What does he say? He's not saying
sin ought not to have dominion over you. Eventually sin shall
not have dominion over you. He says the moment you come into
the orbit of the efficacious work of grace, you are delivered
out of the orbit of sin's dominion. We are either bound to sin as
our master under the condemning power of the law, or having been
delivered from the condemning power of the law through union
with Christ, we are in the orbit of grace and sin's dominion has
been broken. Grace and righteousness and God
are the new masters. Now, this new dominion is pervasive. Verse 14, sin shall not loathe
or mourn it over you. It is practical. Verse 13, you
will present your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God, and it is perpetual. Verse 22, you are having your
fruit unto righteousness. Now, do you see the great cleavage
between these two conditions? All men by nature under sin's
dominion, a dominion that is pervasive, practical, and perpetual. Some men by grace are delivered
from the dominion of sin, a deliverance that is also pervasive, practical,
and perpetual. But now the third proposition
is this. Those delivered from the dominion
of sin still have remaining sin. with which they must contend
to the end of their days. Those delivered from the dominion
of sin still have remaining sin, which they must contend with
to the end of their days. Isn't it interesting, in this
very chapter, chapter 6 of Romans, in which Paul asserts our deliverance
from sin's dominion, He also exhorts us in verse 12, let not
sin therefore reign, that you should obey the lust thereof,
indicating that though we've been delivered from its dominion,
it will still seek to usurp a place of influence in our lives. He
says, let it not become a usurper. Also, it's interesting that the
chapter of Emancipation, Romans 6, is followed by that searching
section on the remains of sin which cause such inward agitation. And Romans 7 verses 14 to the
end are the classic statement of what happens to a man who
has been delivered from sin's dominion, yet remaining sin within
him. Listen to the words, verse 20
and following of Romans 7, But if what I would not, that I do,
it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me. I find then the law that to me
who would do good, evil is present. I delight in the law of God after
the inward man, but I see a different law in my members, warring against
the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity under the law
of sin which is in my members. Romans 6, the chapter of emancipation. Romans 7, the latter part, dealing
with this problem of agitation that comes from remaining sin. Now, never forget this. Any interpretation
of Romans 7 which negates the clear truth of Romans 6 is not
biblical. There are people who love this
latter part of Romans 7, and they say, oh, well, I'm still
chasing around with harlots, and I'm still cussing and swearing,
and I don't care to read the Bible or pray, and I have no
hunger after holiness, but you see, I've accepted Christ, and
it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. They're
still under sin's dominion! Don't you find consolation in
Romans 7 until you can face the truth of Romans 6. But on the
other hand, any preaching of Romans 6 It isn't followed by
Romans 7. It's not biblical either. And
to whip the consciences of God's people with the truth that their
dominion, the deliverance from the dominion of sin, means that
they attain a state in which there is no longer agitation
from remaining sin is to say that they've gone in their experience
beyond the apostle Paul. And when anyone goes beyond him,
I'm scared of what they've got, and I'm not about to buy the
product. No, the deliverance from sin's dominion is real,
Romans 6, but the agitation of remaining sin is equally real. It's the same thing in chapter
8. In chapter 8 of Romans, Paul asserts in categorical terms
that we are delivered from bondage to the realm of the flesh. If
we are Christians, verse 9 of Romans 8, but ye are not in the
flesh. That is, flesh is not the realm
in which you move as the dominant principle of life, but in the
Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of
God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. You see, if the Holy Spirit has
not delivered you from the dominion of sin, you are not a Christian.
But the very chapter that asserts deliverance from sin's dominion
goes on to say, verses 12 and 13, So then, brethren, we are
debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh. If ye live after
the flesh, ye must die. But if by the Spirit ye put to
death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Though we're no
longer in the flesh, we've got to put to death the deeds of
the flesh. We're delivered from its dominion.
but not from its present agitation. And the same thing is true in
Galatians chapter 5, verses 19 through 24 are an assertion that
we no longer move in the realm of the flesh, but in the realm
of the Spirit. Verse 24 says, They that are
Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
But verse 17 says, The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and
the Spirit against the flesh. And these two are contrary, the
one to the other, so that ye may not do the things that ye
would. There is conflict. And in the three most definitive
statements in the New Testament of this second principle, that
all believers are delivered from sin's dominion in those very
contexts, we are told this third principle, those delivered from
the dominion of sin still have remaining sin with which they
must contend to the end of their days upon earth. Now, my friends,
in twelve minutes, I've given you what it's taken God years
to teach me, and what I say humbly, some men never, never understand,
and because of it, they are in darkness all their days, and
they lead others down the road of their own darkness. Those
are the three fundamental principles that undergird everything I want
to share with you concerning how we deal with the problem
of remaining sin. Now, as we come to the principles
that must guide us as to how we must deal with this problem
of remaining sin, some would raise a hand and say, Oh, but
Pastor Martin, isn't this some kind of a works righteousness? We are to deal with remaining
sin. I thought it is God who sanctifies
us. Yes, it is. But never forget
this distinction. When God lays hold of a rebel
sinner to bring him out of the dominion of sin into the glorious
liberty of the sons of God, the sinner has nothing to do with
that initial deliverance. Paul emphasized that in verse
17 of Romans 6. The authorized version is weak
in its translation. It was almost embarrassed by
the emphasis of Paul. But verse 17 says, God be thanked
that whereas ye were slaves of sin, ye became obedient from
the heart to that form of teaching, whereunto ye were delivered.
He said, here the gospel came as a form of teaching, and ye
were delivered into its mold. And when God put you into the
mold of the gospel, then having given you a new heart, you obeyed
from the heart that teaching unto which you were delivered.
God be thanked, you were delivered. You see the emphasis upon what
the theologian would call monergism? It's all of God. God be thanked,
ye were delivered. So then, in our being brought
into the orbit of grace, in that sense we are passive. It is all
of God. But, once we are quickened to
become new creatures in Christ, we are no longer passive. We
are consciously, deliberately, volitionally active in the process
of our sanctification. And do you see how modern theology
has got it reversed? They say, you've got to add something
to get in, and once you get in, don't do anything, just rely
and relax and abide. That's got it backwards. God
says, which were born not of the will of man, nor of the will
of the flesh, but of God. God must bring us in. But having
been brought in, He's brought us in living creatures who are
to be active. And of course, the key text is
Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 and 13. And I want you to
look at it for a moment as the finger pointing in the direction
of the instruction that I wish to give in our remaining time.
Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 and 13. So then, my beloved,
even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but
now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling, for it is God who worketh in you both to
will and to work for his good pleasure. I need no greater proof
that the Bible was inspired of God than these two verses. No
man would ever have put those two things together. If man were
writing the Bible, this is how he'd write it. So then, my beloved,
as you've obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now in my
absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for
unless you do, God will never work in you. That's how man would
have written it. You work or God won't work. Or
man would have written it this way. Since it is God who worketh
in you both to will and to do, don't you work but just sit back
and let him work. That's how man would have written
it. Left to himself, man will always err in thinking that God's
work is suspended until we work. And that's one of the cardinal
errors of the deeper life teaching. that the process of sanctification
goes no further than we allow God to let it. Right? On the
other hand, there's the cursive, legalistic spirit that would,
or the pietistic spirit that would say, well, since God is
working, then I don't need to work. Now, these are wrong. This
text says, my working and God's working are concurrent realities. Work out with fear and trembling. What kind of fear? Not the slavish
fear that has torment, 1 John, but the realization that I'm
in the orbit of God and of Christ and the blood of the everlasting
covenant in heaven and glory. I'm in the orbit of the only
things that will matter when time winds down and eternity
is ushered in. I am to carry out to completion
the saving purposes of God as far as my responsibility in fear
and trembling. Listen, this is a death struggle,
this matter of the Christian life. We're not on a fool's errand. We're not having mock battles
like they may have at some of the battlegrounds down in the
area of Philadelphia or other places in Gettysburg. where young
men, all dressed up in confederate suits and in the suits of the
enemy, come out with real-looking guns that make real sounds, but
there are never any bullets in them. My friend, you and I are
not in that kind of a battle. We're in a real death struggle.
And remaining sin would kill us if it could. If you live after
the flesh, you'll die. That's what Paul says. This is
serious business. Work out your salvation with
fear and trembling. But it's not the fear and trembling
that wonders what the issue will be. It's a fear and trembling
in the confidence that Almighty God who put me in the way is
going to keep me there and land me safely home at last. For it
is God who worketh in you, both to will and to work, for His
good pleasure. God's working and our working
are concurrent realities. May I use another term? They
are confluent experiences. That is, they flow together.
God's working and my working. But not only are they concurrent
realities, they are interdependent necessities. How are you to grow
as a Christian dealing with remaining sin? Your working is essential
to that growth. But so is God's. And if God doesn't
work, you won't make an ounce of progress, but if you don't
work, you won't make any progress either. Concurrent realities,
confluent experiences, interdependent necessities. And some of you
may wonder, what in the world is he blowing his fuses about,
my friends? Listen. If God the Holy Spirit will write
these things upon your heart, you'll be saved from errors on
the left hand and on the right for the rest of your days. And
if he doesn't, you're going to be exposed to errors on the left
hand and the right. Now, those are the three introductory
principles. Now, to talk about what we must
do in mortification, I've established it is absolutely biblical to
talk this way. Now then, what are the things
that we must do if we're to make progress with remaining sin? Well, the first one is this.
And of course, I'm deeply indebted to my spiritual mentor in so
many areas, the great Dr. John Owen, for some of the thoughts
that I share with you, and I'm not at all embarrassed to say
so. He's God's gift to the Church, and he's been so helpful to me.
Here's the first, and there's no significance in the order
except the first and the last are most vital, and everything
must be seen sandwiched in between. The first is this. Keep your
heart well supplied with gospel motives and gospel principles. Keep your heart well supplied
with gospel motives and with gospel principles. You say, what
in the world are you talking about, Pastor? Well, you know
me well enough to know if I say something that's a little obtuse,
I usually pause long enough to explain what I mean. What do
I mean, keeping the heart furnished with gospel motives and gospel
principles? Well, I'm using the term gospel
motive as an antonym to legal motives. Legal motives and principles
would be such things as the fear of hell, the fear of the consequences
of my sin, and even perhaps the fear of God's chastening rod,
but those fears that are divorced from the central truths of the
gospel of the grace of God. You see, there are unconverted
sinners who fear hell who still go right on in their sins. They
fear what their sin may do to their reputation, to their family,
to their business. They go right on in sin. Legal
motives have no power to shrivel up the roots of sin. It's only
gospel motives that do. Legal motives may put a paper
barrier for a while between me and my sin, but paper barriers
will be broken down. And the only kind of reinforced
concrete barriers between a saint and his sin are gospel motives. Gospel motives. That's what I
mean by gospel motives. Now, what do I mean by keep the
heart well furnished? Well, I mean that the heart,
in the words of the writer to the Proverbs, is the seat of
what we are. Guard thy heart, Proverbs 4.23,
for out of it are the issues of life. As a man thinketh in
his heart, so is he. Jesus said, Make the tree good,
that's the heart, and then the fruit will be good. Out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, for from within, out
of the heart proceed. And he mentions the sins. Now
the heart must be kept well furnished with gospel motives. It must be like my garden is
right now, with all the rain we've had and my three children
being little mini-farmers, cultivating every day and taking care of
it. Everything is lush and thick and green. It's a garden well-furnished
with well-cared-for plants and vegetables. Left to itself, it'll
become a garden full of weeds. The human heart is like that.
Left to itself, remaining sin in the human heart will fill
the heart with the weeds of indifference to gospel motives. And therefore
we must keep the heart well furnished by spiritual cultivation, by
spiritual planting and watering and nurturing. Having described
what I mean by keeping the heart well furnished with gospel motives,
what are those gospel motives and how will they work? Well,
let me give you two illustrations from the Scriptures. The first
one is the great Apostle Paul. Will you turn, please, to 2 Corinthians,
chapter 5? You want to see a man whose heart
is well furnished with gospel motives? You turn to the Apostle
Paul. Having stated in verses 12 and
13, well, let's read them, 2 Corinthians 5, We are not again commending
ourselves unto you, but speak as giving you occasion of glorying
on our behalf, that ye may have wherewith to answer them that
glory in appearance and not in heart. Here were these people
that were trying to undermine Paul's authority And Paul says,
the only reason I'm talking the way I'm talking is to give you
some ammunition to refute those that would undercut my authority
as an apostle and therefore my influence over you. Verse 13,
For whether we are beside ourselves, it is unto God. One of the accusations
they apparently made is that Paul has gone bananas. Whether
we be beside ourselves, he said, if there are times when I appear
as a deranged man, in your eyes and in the eyes of others, it
is unto God. That is, it is because of my
relationship to God and His to me, and because of the truth
that has come from God and to which I am obligated in the Spirit
of God, if I seem to be a man deranged, it is unto God. And he says, if I appear sober
and rational, it is unto you. So no matter what the outward
expression may be, what is it that's really driving me? Verse
14, for the love of Christ constraineth us. That is not our love to Christ,
but Christ's love to us, Paul says, is a powerfully constraining
influence that affects the totality of my life and my experience
both as a man and as an apostle and a minister of Christ. Now
that's what it means to have a heart well furnished with a
gospel motive. as Paul contemplated, day after
day, the amazing measure of Christ's love to him. that He, the sinless
One, He, the ineffably glorious One, should come from the bosom
of the Father, take to Himself a true humanity, in that humanity
live a life of poverty and suffering, in that humanity go to the cruel
death of the cross, all of which was done why He was bound to
His people in eternal cords of love, And he says, as I think
upon that love, it forges a vice that holds me. It constrains
me. To change the analogy, it weaves
an unbreakable rope. It forges a chain that binds
me to a life of abandonment to the one who loved me and gave
himself for me. There's a man whose heart is
well furnished with gospel motives. Take one more example from the
Apostle Paul. Suppose you had been following
him around the Roman Empire for three or four weeks, and you
saw him working all night, making tents to provide bread for himself
and his companions, and you saw him catch a few winks here and
there, and then he's in the synagogue preaching, expounding, witnessing,
out in the marketplace, reasoning, disputing, alleging, and opening
that Jesus is the Christ. You see this man almost obsessed
And you see the outflow of an energy that was superhuman and
a zeal and a devotion. And finally, you can take it
no longer, and you come up and you tap on the shoulder and say,
Mr. Paul, man, I've been watching you for one solid month, and
I'm a reporter from the New York Times. And you're creating a
little bit of stir even halfway across the world. And we'd like
to know what in the world makes you tick. Have you got an hour
or two to sit down and lay out before me your philosophy of
life? Paul would say, well, my time is precious, but even if
I had an hour or two, I don't need it. I'll give you my philosophy
of life in less than seven seconds. You know what my philosophy of
life is? Here it is. Write it down, Mr. Reporter.
He's waiting for some great, profound opening up of some mysterious,
high-falutin' concert. And he says, no. For to me, to
live, is Christ. That's it. That's it. No more. No less. A paraphrase of that verse, Philippians
121. Life! means Christ to me. That's it. The poor reporter's
disappointed. Imagine, send him back not even
a one-liner to the New York Times. That's it. He's saying the totality
of that which constitutes life, and think of it, his life was
as complex as yours and mine. Involved eating, drinking, sleeping,
caring for temporal, physical needs, It involved his legitimate
call in life, relationships to men and to God, to people, to
responsibility. But he said, in every single
area, see me eating, see me drinking, see me praying, behold me witnessing,
preaching, nurturing, writing letters, and at every point,
one thing dominates, Jesus Christ. It wasn't sentimental. It wasn't
some kind of mystical, ethereal thing. No, no. It was the Christ
of divine revelation, the Christ of the Old Testament Scriptures,
the Christ of space, time, history, the Christ who appeared on the
Damascus Road, the Christ who commissioned Him. Life means
Christ to me. That's a gospel motive, furnishing
a man's heart. And then the Old Testament illustration
is from the life of Joseph. that godly young man down in
the midst of an affluent and no doubt sensuous situation in
Potiphar's house. And you remember the record in
Genesis, how that Potiphar's frustrated wife cast her eyes
upon this handsome young man, and day after day sought to entice
him with her words, and when her words would not prevail,
one day when the circumstances were ripe for Joseph's fall,
she laid hold upon him physically. And what was his answer when
she said, lie with me? Did he say, how can I do this
great wickedness and ruin my reputation? Run the risk of being
booted out of your husband's house? No, no. What was his answer?
How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? He said, it's unthinkable, Mrs.
Potter. It was God who moved the hearts of my brothers when
some would have killed me. It was God who moved the heart
of my oldest brother to say, no, let us put him in the pit,
let us sell him. It was God who ordered my coming
here into this place. It is God who has preserved me.
It is God with whom I hold loving communion. How dare I sin against
so gracious a being as my covenant God? That's the heart being furnished
with a Gospel motive. Now do you get what I'm driving
at? If you are to make any success in dealing with remaining sin,
you must keep your heart well furnished with Gospel motives. Having defined what a Gospel
motive is, having illustrated it, now the great question is,
how in the world do you do that? All right, I'm going to answer.
You know me well enough to know I won't raise questions in your
mind without attempting to answer them. And I'm going to answer
it by three exhortations, one positive and two negative. You
know me well enough to know that that's usually the way we handle
things as well. I'm really in a rut, am I not? All right? Three
exhortations, one positive, two negative. Now, if you're serious
about dealing with remaining sin, then you're going to be
serious about keeping your heart well furnished with gospel motives.
That will mean Positive, you will seriously employ all the
means of grace, public and private, which are calculated to keep
the heart supplied with gospel motives. What are the tools that God has
ordained to keep the heart well cultivated and watered and lush
with gospel motives? It's the public gathering with
His people, the singing of psalms and hymns of praise to Christ
as God. Coming with God's people and
hearing brethren with some measure of a facility of public prayer,
leading us to the throne of grace in amazement that we should be
given access to so wholly of God through the blood of the
everlasting covenant. coming to the Lord's table where
we take into our hands and set before our eyes the visible emblems
of His true humanity and of His giving of Himself unto death
on behalf of His people. The public means of grace are
calculated to keep the heart well furnished with gospel motives. Where there is true biblical
preaching, Christ will be the center of that preaching. He
will be the one that is set before us. When promises are given,
it will be shown that they are yea and amen in Christ. When duties are laid upon our
consciences, it will be made plain that they are duties to
be performed because we belong to Him and in the strength and
virtue that flows from Him. Jesus Christ in that sense is
central to all biblical preaching. That doesn't mean the preacher
just stands up and says, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Nor
does it mean he will only expound the explicitly Christological
passages, those passages where Christ, as it were, leaps from
the very obvious word. No, no. It will mean, in the
encompassing of the whole counsel of God, we will see all truths
as flowing out of Christ and flowing back into Christ when
there is true biblical preaching. That's how the heart is kept
well furnished with gospel motives in the public means of grace.
And then in the private means of grace, it's a curse that new
converts are told, now you're a Christian, read your Bible.
And so it's something you do. No, no. The advice you give a
new convert is, seek the Lord in the pages of His Word. There's
all the difference in the world. Seek the Lord in the pages of
His Word. See the difference? Did not our
hearts burn within us? Why? Because we were fascinated
as to how He opened up prophecy and compared scripture with scripture?
A lot of people say, oh, that's a deep Bible study. You've jumped
all over the scriptures and there's been some little obtuse opening
up of some little mysterious thing. I know these people that
are prophecy addicts. They're just like that. They
get a preacher who begins to really expound the scripture and they're
disappointed. They say, we're not fed. We like prophecy. We like to tie the toe into the
beast's ear, and have the dragon stick his tongue into the image's
left ear, and all the rest. No, no. No, no, dear people,
listen. Listen! Listen. It is seeking Christ
in His Word. When I've been away from home,
I know where my wife is. She's back within the walls of
that split-level house in 25 Meadowbrook Lane. But boy, I'm
not seeking that house. When I come through that door,
my eyes look for one thing. And I'm not content to have the
walls where she's found. I'm not content till she's there.
Right there! Now I'm content. My friend, you'll
never find Him outside these walls. You go looking for Jesus
in visions, in ecstasies, you'll find something, but it won't
be Him. He's within these walls. But, oh my friend, don't be content
with the walls. Don't be content until you can say, My Beloved
is mine and I am His. When I found him whom my soul
loved, I held him, and I would not let him go. And I'm not embarrassed
to say I make a veritable pest of myself when I've been away
from home a week. I'm going to follow my wife all over that
house, and I can't keep my hands off her. And she wouldn't want
it any other way. What about our heavenly bridegroom?
That's how the heart is kept well furnished with Gospel motives. We seek Him in the Word. There's
the necessity of private meditation upon the Scriptures, private
prayer. Why? Not because prayer and reading
the Scriptures are some duties imposed upon us. They are means
to keep Gospel motives living in the heart. Let me ask you
very simply this morning, how well furnished is your heart?
with gospel motives this morning? Hmm? Why did you come to this
place this morning? Because all good Christians,
quote, go to church on Sunday? Or can you honestly say, I came
to see the face of my Beloved? I came to hear the voice of my
Beloved. What is your prayer as you sit
here? Oh God, give me a new sight of the Lord Jesus. Give me a
new appreciation of His grace, of His work, past, present, and
future. New insight into His will for
me. New understanding of His grace
and mercy. Dear ones, that's what the public
acts of worship are all about. Where two or three are gathered
in my name, It doesn't say, my word is there, my sacraments
are there, my ministers are there. I am there! And if we don't see
Him in word, sacrament, and through the preaching, we've missed the
central issue. Keep the heart well furnished
with gospel motives. And how do you do it? The first
positive exhortation is, diligent use of the means of grace, public
and private, with an eye to their purpose and their intention. But now there is a negative exhortation,
two negative exhortations, and the first one is this. Beware
of anything which bleeds away the vigor and the reality of
gospel principles in your heart. Beware of anything which bleeds
away the reality and the vigor of gospel principles in your
heart. Now, what am I trying to say? Just this. Many times
we fall into entangling relationships with our besetting sins, with
our indwelling corruption, not directly, not immediately, but
indirectly and immediately. In other words, the heart is
first of all stripped of the lushness of gospel motives, then
it is set up for a fall into sin. Now, there are many things
perfectly innocent in themselves. Let me descend to particulars.
Is there anything intrinsically sinful with the relationship
between a young man and a young woman? No, the Bible says it's
one of the great mysteries, the eagle in the air and the way
of a man with a maid, one of the life's great mysteries. Nothing
sinful. It is not good for a man to be
alone. I will make an help answering to his needs. But now I must
ask myself, what is this relationship with this young man or young
woman doing to my heart's ability to maintain a well-furnished
set of gospel motives? Do I find that time spent with
him or her bleeds away the vigor of gospel motives? Or do I find
that that relationship is being owned of God to intensify my
awareness of gospel motives? Now, if it's bleeding your heart
of the vigor of gospel motives, one of two things is true. Either
the relationship is in itself sinful, or you've allowed sinful
elements to enter it. And I've talked with so many
young people who wonder why in the world they're making no progress
in grace. Well, the simple reason is elements have entered the
relationship between a young man or young woman that are bleeding
away all the vigor of gospel motives. You can't go around
with a conscience laden with the guilt of inordinate physical
contact, and then find gospel motives vivid and living in your
heart, you can't do it. It's impossible. The one negates
the other. How can you glory in Christ crucified
when you know in some sense you're crucifying Him afresh by succumbing
to carnal and fleshly appetites? One or the other has got to go.
The contemplation of Christ crucified will shrivel and crucify your
lust, or your lust will shrivel and crucify the contemplation
of Christ crucified. It's the same way with inordinate
television watching. Many things perfectly innocent, not many
on the television, there are a few left. You've got to ask yourself, does
my television watching release my mind from the demands of duty
and refresh it sufficiently to come back to duty with greater
vigor? Or is it dulling the mind and indisposing it to prayer,
indisposing it to meditation, indisposing it to stay awake
on a Sunday morning so that I come dull and lifeless and lethargic
and Christ can be set before me gloriously and I don't even
see Him? because my mind and my spirit have been so dissipated
by inordinate television watching on Saturday night. My friends,
we're in a death struggle, and until you're prepared to deal
ruthlessly with anything in your life that bleeds away the vigor
and reality of gospel principles, you will make no progress in
dealing with remaining sin. You can pray and fast one week
a month, and you'll make no progress. You can agonize and pray and
get something that someone would call a baptism and speak in 45
different languages. And when you're all done and
come back to earth, there'll be no progress! Because it's
a heart well furnished with gospel motives. It is the heart that
goes on in this area of dealing with sin. And then the second
negative exhortation is this. Beware of falling back under
legal principles. See, if the devil can't get us
to be bled of gospel motives and principles by dallying in
innocent things to the point where they cripple us, or dallying
in forbidden things, then he'll get us so strict that we fall
under a subtle form of legalism. And it goes something like this.
Oh boy, I'm really going to make progress because I've been good
for the past four days. God must really smile on me because
I've blown my stack for the past week. I haven't allowed my eyes
to look lustfully upon any woman for the past week. Therefore,
you see what's happened? No longer am I preoccupied with
Christ, who is my all in all. As Daft, what was his name? Daft
Jimmy? Some of you read the little track.
Daft, no not Jimmy, something else. He was a man that was very
limited in his mental faculties and he was brought before a session
of elders to give account of himself and his conversion and
they asked him questions about did you go through great legal
terrors and all that. Poor guy didn't know what he
was saying and he says my name is so and so and that is all. I am a sinner and Christ is my
all in all. And every question they asked
him it was I am a sinner and Christ is my all in all. Well,
did you go through great things? No, I don't know about that,
but one thing I know, I am a sinner. That is all, but Christ Jesus
is my all in all." They didn't know what to do but to admit
him into the community of the visible saints. Oh, daft Jimmy,
or whatever his first name was, it's left me. Jimmy doesn't sound
right, but that's what I'm going to call him, and I'm sure he
won't object where he is today. That's the heart of it. And when
you move beyond that, then you have become daft. When you approach
any day with any other posture than, I am a sinner, that's all. But Jesus Christ is my all in
all. Without me, ye can do what? Nothing. Abide in me, and I in you, as
a branch cannot bear fruit of itself. Beware of falling back
onto legal principles, that unless I do and perform, I have no right
to look and to trust. No, no. My doing and performing
flows out of my looking unto Jesus. It is not the prerequisite
to look. I am to look that I may do, not
do that I may look. See the difference? And you say,
that double talk? No, my friends, that's two different
worlds. We're in two different ballparks
with two different games, two different bats, two different
balls, two everything. I do not do that I may look.
I look that I may do. And don't let legal principles
come in. And when you've fallen before
some indwelling corruption and you've been crippled, don't go
around in a form of Protestant penance for three or four days,
moaning and groaning and licking your wounds. Come immediately
to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness. Come immediately
before the Lord Jesus and say, Lord, I've sinned. I've sinned. I've sinned against light and
privilege and grace. But Lord Jesus, you're ever there
as my great high priest, pleading the merits of your precious blood
on behalf of the likes of me. Well, Mr. Moore, if it's all
right, I think I'll finish the sermon tonight. All right? I
think this is enough for this morning. It's 20 after 12. I've enlarged on the first principle.
God willing, we'll cover four more tonight. The middle three
They'll be briefer, and the last one will be heavier, because
we end with Christ where we started. And I'd be violating the very
thing I said about preaching this morning if we started and
ended anywhere else but with Christ. But now, I do want to
round out this morning's study with the exhortation. What about
some of you who sit here this morning that are still where
the first principle described us? All mankind by nature are
under the dominion of sin. My friend, is that where you
are? If you've not sat here this morning saying, oh, God teach
me how to fight sin, that's the clear evidence that you're still
under the dominion of sin. It's the mark of a man who's
been delivered from sin's dominion that he pants and longs to know
how to conquer in the conflict with remaining sin. It's the
man who's been regenerate that says, when I would do good, evil
is present with I find a law in my members." Is that your
honest confession this morning? Then, dear child of God, remember,
that struggle is going to be with you to the end of your days.
You'll save yourself all kinds of heartache, all kinds of disillusionment,
if you just don't run down every path that is paved by sometimes
well-meaning people who say, you're weary of the struggle,
weary of the conflict, come listen to us. My friend, There is no
such path. You're going to be in this path
of conflict to the end of your days, but thank God in the midst
of it, God has furnished us with principles to help us in mortifying
the deeds of the flesh. The first one is this, keep that
heart of yours well furnished. There are some of you who've
never had your heart touched by gospel motives. That's why
you love your sin. That's why you don't care about
holiness. But once you get a sight of Christ crucified and in the
embrace of faith, He becomes yours! You'll know what we're
talking about this morning. May God grant that you'll embrace
Him, and having a heart furnished with gospel motives, you then
will be enabled to begin to wrestle with that remaining sin. May
the Lord help us, and may we together pray and have our expectation
from Him that God will teach us and help us to walk in the
light of these practical exhortations for our prophet and for his glory. Let us pray.