“If we say we have
fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie" 1 John 1:6.
We must either
renounce our hope of going to heaven or resolve to walk in the only path that
will lead us there. It is vain breath, which does not set the sails of our
affections and the movement of our feet in the direction of our desired
destination.
It empowers us for
communion with God. Communion with God is so wonderful that many pretend to
have it when they do not even know what it is. It is like the man who brags
about knowing the king but never has seen his face or met him. God's Spirit
calls it a lie when a man says he knows the Lord but entertains unrighteousness
too: "If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we
lie"1 John 1:6. Communion is rooted in union, and union in likeness.
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" Amos 3:3. There is a
big difference between communion with God and familiarity with ordinances. A
man may live with ordinances every day but still be a stranger to God. Not
everyone who walks around in the palace talks with the prince.
Ordinances are a
kind of exchange where holy saints trade with God by His Spirit for heavenly
treasures, an enriched filling of grace and comfort. But because an unholy
heart has nothing to trade with God, the Father will not communicate His pure
grace to him. Even the holy person under the power of a temptation is unfit to
have communion with God until he overcomes the sin.
Solomon explained
it like this: "A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a
troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring" Proverbs 20:26. How much more
true when a saint falls before the wicked one and yields to temptation, his
spirit clouded with impurity! If we know better than to drink from a troubled
spring, though wholesome in itself, but wait until it settles and becomes clear
again, how can we expect God to taste communion with a godly person before his
stream runs clear with repentance for sin?
Quoted material from, ”The Christian in Complete
Armour Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare” by Gurnall and James S Bell. http://www.moodypublishers.com/pub_productDetail.aspx?id=41823&pid=53617
No comments:
Post a Comment