28 OCTOBER (UNDATED SERMON)
Self-humbling and self-searching
‘Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.’ Song of Solomon 1:6
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 2 Corinthians 7:5–12
Do you know what it is to fret because you have spoken an unadvised word? Do you know what it is to smite upon your breast, because you were angry? You were justly provoked perhaps, but still, being angry, you spoke unadvisedly. Have you ever gone to a sleepless bed, because in business you have let fall a word, or have done an action which, upon mature deliberation, you could not justify? Does the tear never come from your eye because you are not like your Lord, and have failed when you hoped to succeed? I would give little for your godliness, if you know nothing of this.
Repentance is as much a mark of a Christian as faith itself. Do not think we have done with repenting when we come to Christ and receive the forgiveness of our sins by the blood that once did atone. No, we shall repent as long as we sin and as long as we need the precious blood for cleansing. While there is sin, or a proneness to any kind of sin, lurking in us, the grace of God will make us loathe the sin and humble ourselves before the Most High on account of it.
Now, I think our text seems to say just this: there were some that admired the church. They said she was fair. She seemed to say, ‘Don’t say that; you don’t know what I am, or you would not praise me.’ There is nothing that brings a blush to a genuine Christian’s face like praising him, for he feels, ‘Praise such a heap of dirt as I am? Give any credit to such a worthless worm as I am? No, do not cast admiring glances at me! Do not say, “That man has many virtues and many excellences!” ’ ‘Look not upon me, because I am black’.
FOR MEDITATION: On earth only a sinless Christian would need no more repentance, but there is no such person in existence (1 John 1:8–10). A Christian needs to go on repenting (Luke 17:3–4) and it is tragic when professing Christians appear to have ‘advanced’ beyond the desire to repent or have lost the willpower to do so (2 Corinthians 12:21).
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 3), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2005), 309.
Self-humbling and self-searching
‘Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.’ Song of Solomon 1:6
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 2 Corinthians 7:5–12
Do you know what it is to fret because you have spoken an unadvised word? Do you know what it is to smite upon your breast, because you were angry? You were justly provoked perhaps, but still, being angry, you spoke unadvisedly. Have you ever gone to a sleepless bed, because in business you have let fall a word, or have done an action which, upon mature deliberation, you could not justify? Does the tear never come from your eye because you are not like your Lord, and have failed when you hoped to succeed? I would give little for your godliness, if you know nothing of this.
Repentance is as much a mark of a Christian as faith itself. Do not think we have done with repenting when we come to Christ and receive the forgiveness of our sins by the blood that once did atone. No, we shall repent as long as we sin and as long as we need the precious blood for cleansing. While there is sin, or a proneness to any kind of sin, lurking in us, the grace of God will make us loathe the sin and humble ourselves before the Most High on account of it.
Now, I think our text seems to say just this: there were some that admired the church. They said she was fair. She seemed to say, ‘Don’t say that; you don’t know what I am, or you would not praise me.’ There is nothing that brings a blush to a genuine Christian’s face like praising him, for he feels, ‘Praise such a heap of dirt as I am? Give any credit to such a worthless worm as I am? No, do not cast admiring glances at me! Do not say, “That man has many virtues and many excellences!” ’ ‘Look not upon me, because I am black’.
FOR MEDITATION: On earth only a sinless Christian would need no more repentance, but there is no such person in existence (1 John 1:8–10). A Christian needs to go on repenting (Luke 17:3–4) and it is tragic when professing Christians appear to have ‘advanced’ beyond the desire to repent or have lost the willpower to do so (2 Corinthians 12:21).
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 3), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2005), 309.
28 OCTOBER (UNDATED SERMON)
Self-humbling and self-searching
‘Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.’ Song of Solomon 1:6
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 2 Corinthians 7:5–12
Do you know what it is to fret because you have spoken an unadvised word? Do you know what it is to smite upon your breast, because you were angry? You were justly provoked perhaps, but still, being angry, you spoke unadvisedly. Have you ever gone to a sleepless bed, because in business you have let fall a word, or have done an action which, upon mature deliberation, you could not justify? Does the tear never come from your eye because you are not like your Lord, and have failed when you hoped to succeed? I would give little for your godliness, if you know nothing of this.
Repentance is as much a mark of a Christian as faith itself. Do not think we have done with repenting when we come to Christ and receive the forgiveness of our sins by the blood that once did atone. No, we shall repent as long as we sin and as long as we need the precious blood for cleansing. While there is sin, or a proneness to any kind of sin, lurking in us, the grace of God will make us loathe the sin and humble ourselves before the Most High on account of it.
Now, I think our text seems to say just this: there were some that admired the church. They said she was fair. She seemed to say, ‘Don’t say that; you don’t know what I am, or you would not praise me.’ There is nothing that brings a blush to a genuine Christian’s face like praising him, for he feels, ‘Praise such a heap of dirt as I am? Give any credit to such a worthless worm as I am? No, do not cast admiring glances at me! Do not say, “That man has many virtues and many excellences!” ’ ‘Look not upon me, because I am black’.
FOR MEDITATION: On earth only a sinless Christian would need no more repentance, but there is no such person in existence (1 John 1:8–10). A Christian needs to go on repenting (Luke 17:3–4) and it is tragic when professing Christians appear to have ‘advanced’ beyond the desire to repent or have lost the willpower to do so (2 Corinthians 12:21).
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 3), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2005), 309.
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