Confessions of a Church: Foolish in Exalting Yourself
The Psalm writer wrote: Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received. This is the word of God. It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.
Proverbs 30:32-33 If you have been foolish in exalting yourself Or if you have plotted evil, put your hand on your mouth. For the churning of milk produces butter, And pressing the nose brings forth blood; So the churning of anger produces strife.
We have been foolish in exalting ourselves. Every time we sin, we tell lies about the nature of God. God is Holy, Holy, Holy. As His image bearers, our sin is a direct assault on His Holiness. Psalm 7:11 tells us that God is angry with the wicked every day. Our sin is an evil, rebellious plot to satisfy the lusts of our flesh at all cost, and for us to go on sinning willfully after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgement and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries (Hebrews 10: 26,27).
Time and again in scripture we see how God in His righteous anger responds to rebellion.
He removed Adam and Eve from the garden.
He struck Israel with a plague in the wilderness.
He opened up the ground and sinners were swallowed up.
Jonah was swallowed by a fish.
Israel was carried off into captivity.
God took David's son born from adultery and murder.
Reprobates are given over to their depravity, to do things they know are worthy of death.
God does not wink at sin. He does not make allowances for it.
Our sin churns the anger of God and He hates it, with a perfect hatred. Those who do not repent will likewise perish and spend an eternity being ground underfoot by the fury and fierceness of the winepress of God's wrath. He is not satisfied or pleased by the death of the wicked, so an eternity of torment awaits those who choose the fleeting, vain pleasures of sin, over the perfect, spotless Lamb of God.
God's Just nature will not allow Him to sit back and do nothing about sin. His very being demands that payment be made, that justice be satisfied, and as we heard on Friday, He provided a means of atonement for His people by the death of His Son on the cross, who is worthy "to receive glory and honor and power;” (Revelation 4:11).
God hates sin, and it will be paid for one way or the other. Either you in your rebellion will spend an eternity in hell having God's wrath poured out upon you for your sin, or you can look to the risen Savior, the LORD Jesus Christ. Jesus made payment for the sins of all His people. He satisfied the wrath of Almighty God, and because God is full of Grace and Mercy and does not wish that any should perish, He grants that those of faith may have Christ's righteousness, His sinless life, His payment for sin, credited to their account.
Speaking of Abraham, Paul in Romans 4 says:
Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
Brothers and sisters, I plead with you today, turn from your sins and with eyes of faith look to the blessed hope found in our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Who satisfied the wrath which sin deserves.
If you are able at this time, please kneel as we call upon the Name of the LORD.
O SON OF GOD AND SON OF MAN,
Thou wast incarnate, didst suffer, rise, ascend
for our sake;
Thy departure was not a token of separation
but a pledge of return;
Thy Word, promises, sacraments, show thy death
until thou come again.
That day is no horror to us,
for thy death has redeemed us,
thy Spirit fills us,
thy love animates us,
thy Word governs us.
We have trusted thee and thou hast not betrayed
Our trust;
waited for thee, and not waited in vain.
Thou wilt come to raise our bodies from the dust,
and re-unite then to our souls,
by a wonderful work of infinite power and love,
greater than that which bounds the oceans’ waters,
ebbs and flows the tides,
keeps the stars in their courses,
and gives life to all creatures.
This corruptible shall put on incorruption,
this mortal, immortality,
this natural body, a spiritual body,
this dishonoured body, a glorious body,
this weak body, a body of power.
We triumph now in thy promises as we shall do
in their performance,
for the head cannot live if the members are dead;
Beyond the grave is resurrection, judgment,
acquittal, dominion.
Every event and circumstance of our lives will be
dealt with --
the sins of our youth, our secret sins,
the sins of abusing thee, of disobeying thy Word,
the sins of neglecting ministers’ admonitions,
the sins of violating our conscience --
all will be judged;
And after judgment, peace and rest, life and service,
employment and enjoyment, for thine elect.
O God, keep us in this faith,
and ever looking for Christ’s return.
In His name we pray, Amen.
Prayer adapted from a Valley of Vision prayer titled "The second coming".
Please join me in standing, and listen to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to his church:
Romans 6:8-11 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!
From the 4/4/2021 liturgy of Sovereign King Church written by Aaron Sabie.
Image by Rebecca Matthews from Pixabay
