Text: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is
Eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:23.
Good morning, sin-sick Christian! As your eyes read this humble Bible Lesson, buried down in the deepest canyons of your mind and soul you know you carry a vile and loathsome Spiritual disease: you and I are blighted by the curse of original SIN. You and I are very real sinners, in desperate need of a real Saviour, and the only real Saviour from our sin, is the Holy and altogether lovely, Jesus, the risen Christ.
“Among the things which David brought to his own
remembrance, the first and foremost were (1)
his past trials and his past deliverances.
The great point, however, in David’s Psalm is to bring to remembrance;
(2) the depravity of our nature. There
is, perhaps, no Psalm which more fully that this describes human nature as seen
in the light which God, the Holy Ghost, casts upon it in the time when he
convinces us of sin.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 183)
“And when He (God the Spirit) is come, He will reprove
the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe
not on Me (Jesus Christ); of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye
see Me no more; of judgement, because the prince of this world (Satan) is
judged.” (John 16:8-11)
For any remedy or cure from a deadly disease the
doctor must first make a successful diagnosis.
The most successful diagnosis for the fallen condition of mankind is
that we are, in fact, smitten by what is called ‘Spiritual leprosy’ – inherent
and wilful sin!
“There is, perhaps, no Psalm which more fully than
this describes human nature as seen in the light of which God the Holy Ghost,
casts upon it in the time when He convinces us of sin. I am persuaded that the description here does
not tally with any known disease of the body.
It is very like leprosy, but it has about it certain features which
cannot be found to meet in any leprosy described by ancient or modern
writers. The fact is, it is a Spiritual
leprosy, it is an inward disease which is here described, and David paints it to
the very life, and he would have us to recollect this.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 183)
However, the good news to all of us smitten with this
Spiritual leprosy is this: ‘There is a Balm in Gilead’. (Jeremiah 8:22; Jeremiah 46:11) The precious
Blood of Christ Jesus heals us from the leprosy, and recurrences, of our vile
sin. Hallelujah!
“For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee
of thy wounds, saith the Lord...”
(Jeremiah 30:17)
“...The Blood of Christ Jesus His Son cleanseth
(cleanses and continues to cleanse) us from ALL sin.” (1 John 1:7)
There is no Physician like the Physician of souls, Christ Jesus, the Son
of the Living Lord God. All glory and
praise to His Holy Name! Amen.
Verse 1. “O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy wrath. Rebuked I must be, for I am an erring child and Thou a
careful Father, but throw not too much anger into the tones of Thy voice; deal
gently although I have sinned grievously.
The anger of others I can bear, but not Thine.” (C.H.Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 183)
Verse 2. “Thine
arrows stick fast in me. Oh,
then, as Thou hast stretched forth Thine arm of anger, O God, to shoot these
arrows at me, so stretch forth Thine arm of mercy to draw them forth, that I
may rather sing hymns than dirges unto Thee; and that Thou mayest show Thy
power, as well in pardoning as Thou hast done in condemning.” (Sir Richard Baker 1568-1645)
When the Lord God convicts us, ‘His people’, of our
sins, His convicting power is like being pierced to the very soul with the
sharpest of deadly arrows. (John 16:8)
“Arrows are (1) Swift, (2) Secret, (3) Sharp, (4)
Killing instruments. They are
instruments drawing blood and drinking blood, even unto drunkenness
(Deut.32:42); afflictions are like arrows in all these properties.” (Joseph Caryl 1602-1673)
Our impeccably Holy Lord God MUST punish all sin –
that is why Christ, Himself God of very God, had to go personally to the Cross
for us, to pay sin’s terrible price.
“God’s anger and sin are the two efficient causes of
all misery; but the pro-cataretic cause indeed is sin; God’s anger, like the
house that Samson pulled down upon his own head, falls not upon us but when we
pull it upon ourselves by sin.” (Sir
Richard Baker 1568-1645)
Verse 5. “My wounds stink and are corrupt because of
my foolishness. It is expedient
to have a perfect knowledge of the filthiness of sin. We also learn from them to think humbly of
ourselves, to depend on the grace of God, to keep a stricter eye upon
ourselves, lest perhaps we fall into the same or more grievous sins. (Gal.
6:1)” (Herman Witsius 1606-1708)
Verse 6. “I am
troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.” The truly regenerate man/woman will still fall into
sin, but we find that we cannot remain in that tormented condition too long – repentance
is the passport to renewed cleansing from our Spiritual leprosy, and renewed
fellowship with our Holy Father in Heaven.
His free grace, because of what Christ suffered on Calvary’s Cross for
us, ‘His people’, is always granted to the born again child of God. (1 John 1:8-10) Glory!
Thought:
There is only one cure for the leprosy of sin; one Holy Balm that Eternally
heals – it is the precious Blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living
God. Come now to Him and be both
redeemed and recleansed from all vile sin.
(Acts 4:12)
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