8 years
My mom died 8 years ago today.
Giving and Receiving Truth
The person proclaiming truth needs to humble themselves, but the person receiving the truth needs to humble themselves as well.
If someone can receive the truth, regardless of how it is said to them, that is a gift from God.
Like a what
“Quietude, which some men cannot abide because it reveals their inward poverty, is as a palace of cedar to the wise, for along its hallowed courts the King in his beauty deigns to walk” – Charles Spurgeon
“And yet some people actually imagine that the revelation in God’s Word is not enough to meet our needs. They think that God from time to time carries on an actual conversation with them, chatting with them, satisfying their doubts, testifying to His love for them, promising them support and blessings. As a result, their emotions soar; they are full of bubbling joy that is mixed with self-confidence and a high opinion of themselves. The foundation for these feelings, however, does not lie within the Bible itself, but instead rests on the sudden creations of their imaginations. These people are clearly deluded. God’s Word is for all of us and each of us; He does not need to give particular messages to particular people.”
– Jonathan Edwards
“A truly humble man is sensible of his natural distance from God; of his dependence on Him; of the insufficiency of his own power and wisdom; and that it is by God’s power that he is upheld and provided for, and that he needs God’s wisdom to lead and guide him, and His might to enable him to do what he ought to do for Him.”
– Jonathan Edwards
I need to remember these
“Today, true mortification is all but lost between the rigid, stubborn frame of spirit which is earthly, legal, harsh, critical, consistent with wrath, envy, malice, and pride, on the one hand, and pretences of liberty, grace, and I know not what, on the other.” – John Owen (The Mortification of Sin, abridged)
I liked the “I know not what” part. Having a sense of the certainty of something, but not knowing exactly… I like that he said that.
“Let a man pretend what he will, little concern over sin is a serious offence to the grace and mercy of God!” – John Owen (The Mortification of Sin, abridged)
“Others are hardened in their own sin by persuading themselves that they are in just as good a condition as the unmortified professor. They see their [the unmortified professor’s] zeal for religion, but it is not accompanied by righteousness. They view their worldy and selfish lives. They see them talk spiritually but live vainly. They hear them mention communion with God, and yet they are in every way conformed to the world. They see them boast of forgiveness of sins, and yet never forgive others. Thus, as they see the stain of sin in the unmortified professor, they harden their own hearts in their unregeneracy.” – John Owen (The Mortification of Sin, abridged)