Samuel Ward in his Sermons (pp.36 – 40) urges us to withdraw apart from all company to seek the Lord and the strengthening of our faith. How must we do this? By prayer, reading and meditation so that we can put strength and life into faith itself. We are to live by faith. Faith is to be active. A believer should go through the world as deep in thought shutting out all that would obstruct his purpose. He hears and sees nothing of the world which would hinder him. We must resolve in our hearts to not miss one day. We must redeem time – using 15 minutes or so here and there to listen to the Lord.
Culture & Country
On What have You Set your Mind?
The mind set on the flesh - is death
The mind set on the Spirit - is life & peace
The flesh may give pleasure now – but its ways are the ways of death – it brings remorse & pain
The Spirit is life-giving & peace–rewarding
Choose life & peace
Kill Sin
“Mortification is the soul’s vigorous opposition to self” – so says John Owen in his Mortification of Sin. Mortification is our work & the Spirit’s work in killing sin; in fighting sin. Sin will not go away & will not leave us alone. It is like the weeds of the ground; if you do not tend your garden & its flowers, the weeds will come & destroy all that you have worked for.
Thus sin can destroy joy in a moment. It can reduce faith to apprehension in the stroke of a heartbeat. So we must labor hard at weeding out sin & its remaining strength. We are in a spiritual war. This war is in the good providence of God & is designed to wean us from all worldly attachments & allurements. Providence is that means of God by which he reveals to us the hidden power of our corruption, the wickedness of our hearts, so that we might be humbled.
Why does God do this? He does this, so that we might cast ourselves upon him with no strength of ourselves retained. God drives us to seek him by reducing us. All this activity of God is providential & gives God the glory & brings good to us. So we must wage war against sin. it will not lie down & go away – but providence is working.
Safe by Unalterable Decree
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