Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened….—1 Corinthians 5:6-7
No sin is private. It may be secret but it is not private. It is a great error to hold, as some do, that each man’s conduct is his own business unless his acts infringe on the rights of others. “My liberty ends where yours begins,” is true, but that is not all the truth. No one ever has the right to commit an evil act, no matter how secret. God wills that men should be free, but not that they be free to commit sin….
Coming still closer, we Christians should know that our unchristian conduct cannot be kept in our own back yard. The evil birds of sin fly far and influence many to their everlasting loss. The sin committed in the privacy of the home will have its effect in the assembly of the saints. The minister, the deacon, the teacher who yields to temptation in secret becomes a carrier of moral disease whether he knows it or not. The church will be worse because one member sins. The polluted stream flows out and on, growing wider and darker as it affects more and more persons day after day and year after year. (Piper)
“Lord, this is especially true of us who are leaders in the church. Show to me and my fellow-servants this morning the horror of the consequences of our sin. Keep us pure and faithful, for Your glory. Amen.”
00Wafiq Harris-Ashbyhttp://www.hoperoadnazarene.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/hrn-logo-520x140-1.pngWafiq Harris-Ashby2015-11-21 08:05:402015-11-21 08:05:40THERE ARE NO PRIVATE SINS
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)
Every one of us needs help. We are not God. We have needs. We have weaknesses. We have confusion. We have limitations of all kinds. We need help.
But every one of us has something else: we have sins. And therefore at the bottom of our hearts we know that we do not deserve the help we need. And so
we feel trapped. So what can we do? We can try to deny it all and be a superhuman who doesn’t need any help. Or we can try to drown it all and throw our lives into a pool of sensual pleasures. Or we can simply give way to the paralysis of despair. But the word of God declares that we have another option; Jesus Christ through His office of High Priest shatters that despair with hope and to rescue us. Because we have a great High Priest, the throne of God is a throne of grace, and the help we get at that throne is mercy and grace to help in time of need. Let us draw near with confidence. You are not trapped. Who the Son sets free, is free indeed!
00Philip Holderhttp://www.hoperoadnazarene.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/hrn-logo-520x140-1.pngPhilip Holder2015-11-20 07:42:362015-11-20 07:42:36WE ALL NEED HELP…
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.'”—Leviticus 19:1-2
Whoever would be filled and indwelt by the Spirit should first judge his life for any hidden iniquities; he should courageously expel from his heart everything which is out of accord with the character of God as revealed by the Holy Scriptures. At the base of all true Christian experience must lie a sound and sane morality. No joys are valid, no delights legitimate where sin is allowed to live in life or conduct. No transgression of pure righteousness dare excuse itself on the ground of superior religious experience. To seek high emotional states while living in sin is to throw our whole life open to self deception and the judgment of God. “Be ye holy” is not a mere motto to be framed and hung on the wall. It is a serious commandment from the Lord of the whole earth.
00Philip Holderhttp://www.hoperoadnazarene.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/hrn-logo-520x140-1.pngPhilip Holder2015-11-19 06:28:272015-11-19 06:28:27BE YE HOLY…
THERE ARE NO PRIVATE SINS
/in Steadfast HopeYour glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened….—1 Corinthians 5:6-7
No sin is private. It may be secret but it is not private. It is a great error to hold, as some do, that each man’s conduct is his own business unless his acts infringe on the rights of others. “My liberty ends where yours begins,” is true, but that is not all the truth. No one ever has the right to commit an evil act, no matter how secret. God wills that men should be free, but not that they be free to commit sin….
Coming still closer, we Christians should know that our unchristian conduct cannot be kept in our own back yard. The evil birds of sin fly far and influence many to their everlasting loss. The sin committed in the privacy of the home will have its effect in the assembly of the saints. The minister, the deacon, the teacher who yields to temptation in secret becomes a carrier of moral disease whether he knows it or not. The church will be worse because one member sins. The polluted stream flows out and on, growing wider and darker as it affects more and more persons day after day and year after year. (Piper)
“Lord, this is especially true of us who are leaders in the church. Show to me and my fellow-servants this morning the horror of the consequences of our sin. Keep us pure and faithful, for Your glory. Amen.”
WE ALL NEED HELP…
/in Steadfast HopeBE YE HOLY…
/in Steadfast HopeAnd the Lord spoke to Moses, saying “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.'”—Leviticus 19:1-2
Whoever would be filled and indwelt by the Spirit should first judge his life for any hidden iniquities; he should courageously expel from his heart everything which is out of accord with the character of God as revealed by the Holy Scriptures. At the base of all true Christian experience must lie a sound and sane morality. No joys are valid, no delights legitimate where sin is allowed to live in life or conduct. No transgression of pure righteousness dare excuse itself on the ground of superior religious experience. To seek high emotional states while living in sin is to throw our whole life open to self deception and the judgment of God. “Be ye holy” is not a mere motto to be framed and hung on the wall. It is a serious commandment from the Lord of the whole earth.