'The best-prepared, most eloquent sermon can be marred and rendered ineffective, by questionable practices in the preacher. The most active church worker can have the labour of his hands vitiated by worldliness of spirit and inconsistency of life. Men preach by their lives, not by their words, and sermons are delivered, not so much in, and from a pulpit, as in tempers, actions, and the thousand and one incidents which crowd the pathway of daily life.
Of course, the prayer of repentance is acceptable to God. He delights in hearing the cries of penitent sinners. But repentance involves not only sorrow for sin, but the turning away from wrong-doing, and the learning to do well. A repentance which does not produce a change in character and conduct, is a mere sham, which should deceive nobody. Old things must pass away, all things must become new.'
Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 46)
*******
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Truth! Men preach by their lives, not their words.
Our actions, and as E.M. Bounds writes- '...and the thousand and one incidents which crowd the pathway of daily life.' This is how we preach. Yes, there are those called to be preachers, and if they are called to preach they are called to live a life acceptable to God, with Godly conduct, not a life of unending self-indulgence.
Too often we use the excuse, we are only human. Too often we may excuses for our self-indulgent ways. Too often no one sees the agony of spirit over giving into the carnal nature. Instead they see us indulging our passions whether it's the passion of a bad temper, the passion of a self-righteous attitude, the passion of derision, the passion of impatience, the passion of self-protectiveness at the cost of another, there are an untold number of passions we get caught up in and we label them- 'just us' saying… "That's just the way I am. I was born with a bad temper and that's it, end of story." Instead of lamenting that temper, instead of crying out for forgiveness for that temper, we indulge it and accept it, we accept the bad conduct until we can no longer even view it as bad conduct, instead it's just the way it is and oh well, who cares. We should care! We need to care! Every bit of bad temper, every bit of self-indulgence, every tiny bit of self serving should be despised! Satan however would have us deemed crazy for such talk. Satan would have us believe it is impossible for us to change our bad conduct. Satan wants us to make excuses for it, not repent of it, seeking to have it no longer a part of us.
Yes, I'll be the first to admit that it does seem like an impossibility, us being able to rid ourselves of all our bad conduct. We are wretched, we are miserable, we are poor, blind, and naked and this is why we have to look constantly to CHRIST JESUS our SAVIOR and away from ourselves. We have to constantly live dependent upon our God for any good conduct that comes from us. We can't take credit for any of our good conduct. It is by God's grace we can do the least little bit of goodness.
This is truth-
'But repentance involves not only sorrow for sin, but the turning away from wrong-doing, and the learning to do well. A repentance which does not produce a change in character and conduct, is a mere sham, which should deceive nobody. Old things must pass away, all things must become new'
Sorrow for sin.
Turning away from wrong-doing.
Learning to do well.
Jesus said this-
Joh_5:14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
Joh_8:11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Sin no more.
Jesus' words.
Sin no more.
No longer commit the sin. No longer indulge in that carnal act.
We don't know what the man did that caused his agony for 38 years, but we do know that if he continued on in sin, it would be worse!
Sin no more.
Our conduct matters, our repentance matters.
Truly a repentance that does NOT include change isn't really repentance at all.
We sin and we repent! We desire to KNOW longer sin. We hate that we might enjoy the sin, hate that we might get pleasure from sin, we don't WANT to want to sin! It's not easy and it will never be easy. It's not about being easy, it's about eternal life with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! It's about truth, not ease. It's about suffering for truth if need be. Please, Lord, help us to repent as we need to repent as we pray to You, longing to be Yours!
In Your love!
Of course, the prayer of repentance is acceptable to God. He delights in hearing the cries of penitent sinners. But repentance involves not only sorrow for sin, but the turning away from wrong-doing, and the learning to do well. A repentance which does not produce a change in character and conduct, is a mere sham, which should deceive nobody. Old things must pass away, all things must become new.'
Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 46)
*******
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Truth! Men preach by their lives, not their words.
Our actions, and as E.M. Bounds writes- '...and the thousand and one incidents which crowd the pathway of daily life.' This is how we preach. Yes, there are those called to be preachers, and if they are called to preach they are called to live a life acceptable to God, with Godly conduct, not a life of unending self-indulgence.
Too often we use the excuse, we are only human. Too often we may excuses for our self-indulgent ways. Too often no one sees the agony of spirit over giving into the carnal nature. Instead they see us indulging our passions whether it's the passion of a bad temper, the passion of a self-righteous attitude, the passion of derision, the passion of impatience, the passion of self-protectiveness at the cost of another, there are an untold number of passions we get caught up in and we label them- 'just us' saying… "That's just the way I am. I was born with a bad temper and that's it, end of story." Instead of lamenting that temper, instead of crying out for forgiveness for that temper, we indulge it and accept it, we accept the bad conduct until we can no longer even view it as bad conduct, instead it's just the way it is and oh well, who cares. We should care! We need to care! Every bit of bad temper, every bit of self-indulgence, every tiny bit of self serving should be despised! Satan however would have us deemed crazy for such talk. Satan would have us believe it is impossible for us to change our bad conduct. Satan wants us to make excuses for it, not repent of it, seeking to have it no longer a part of us.
Yes, I'll be the first to admit that it does seem like an impossibility, us being able to rid ourselves of all our bad conduct. We are wretched, we are miserable, we are poor, blind, and naked and this is why we have to look constantly to CHRIST JESUS our SAVIOR and away from ourselves. We have to constantly live dependent upon our God for any good conduct that comes from us. We can't take credit for any of our good conduct. It is by God's grace we can do the least little bit of goodness.
This is truth-
'But repentance involves not only sorrow for sin, but the turning away from wrong-doing, and the learning to do well. A repentance which does not produce a change in character and conduct, is a mere sham, which should deceive nobody. Old things must pass away, all things must become new'
Sorrow for sin.
Turning away from wrong-doing.
Learning to do well.
Jesus said this-
Joh_5:14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
Joh_8:11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Sin no more.
Jesus' words.
Sin no more.
No longer commit the sin. No longer indulge in that carnal act.
We don't know what the man did that caused his agony for 38 years, but we do know that if he continued on in sin, it would be worse!
Sin no more.
Our conduct matters, our repentance matters.
Truly a repentance that does NOT include change isn't really repentance at all.
We sin and we repent! We desire to KNOW longer sin. We hate that we might enjoy the sin, hate that we might get pleasure from sin, we don't WANT to want to sin! It's not easy and it will never be easy. It's not about being easy, it's about eternal life with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! It's about truth, not ease. It's about suffering for truth if need be. Please, Lord, help us to repent as we need to repent as we pray to You, longing to be Yours!
In Your love!
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