"Horror grips me because of the wicked, who have forsaken Your law!" Psalm 119:53
My soul, do you feel this holy shuddering at the sins of others? If not, you lack inward holiness. David's cheeks were wet with rivers of waters, because of prevailing unholiness. Jeremiah desired eyes like fountains, that he might lament the iniquities of Israel. Lot, a righteous man, was distressed all the immorality and wickedness around him. Those upon whom the mark was set in Ezekiel's vision, were those who sighed and cried because of the abominations of Jerusalem.
It cannot but grieve gracious souls--to see what pains men take to go to Hell. They know the evil of sin experimentally, and they are alarmed to see others flying like moths into its blaze!
Sin makes the righteous shudder, because it violates God's holy law, which is to every man's highest interest to keep. Sin pulls down the pillars of the society!
Sin in others horrifies a believer, because it puts him in mind of the vileness of his own heart. When he sees a heinous sinner, he cries, "He fell today--and, but for God's grace--I may fall tomorrow!
"Sin is horrible to a believer, because it crucified his Savior! He sees in every iniquity--the nails and the spear! How can a saved soul behold that cursed kill-Christ sin--without abhorrence?
Say, my heart--do you sensibly join in all this? It is an awful thing to insult God to His face. The good God deserves better treatment; the great God claims it; the just God will have it--or repay His adversary to his face!
An awakened heart trembles at the audacity of sin--and stands alarmed at the contemplation of its punishment. How monstrous a thing is sin! How direful a doom is prepared for the ungodly!
My soul, never laugh at sin's fooleries--lest you come to smile at sin itself! Sin is your Lord's enemy, and your enemy--view it with detestation, for only so, can you evidence the possession of holiness, without which no man can see the Lord.
Charles Spurgeon
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If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. -- Hebrews 6:6
The thought of Nailing Jesus to the cross personally every time I sin sickens me. I don't deserve a savior and I praise God every day that he thought enough to give me that which I could not earn on my own.
Can't go wrong with Spurgeon. Good stuff!
After reading that I realize that I've become numb to the sins of others. It's just something you accept, you know? We live in a world saturated in sin. It's not something you can change. You can't go around making people not sin. We have trouble making ourselves avoid sin. In observation I would say that most Christians today seem to be concerned with personal sin and the salvation of others, but not the sin of others.
We don't look at accountability enough. We don't confess sins to one another, we don't bear others' burdens. Have we become selfish when it comes to sin?
Another thought, looking at the verse that Spurgeon referenced... "Horror grips me because of the wicked, who have forsaken Your law!"
The verse isn't describing our hand in nailing Christ to the cross, but the sheer disrespect to a Holy God who demands perfection. Was this verse written with a heart that desired personal discipline and obedience? I don't see this verse as a weepy sentiment for sins committed, but as a disgust towards those who "have forsaken His law."
Powerful stuff.
"My soul, never laugh at sin's fooleries--lest you come to smile at sin itself! Sin is your Lord's enemy, and your enemy--view it with detestation,........"
Ho much has sin been made into comedy on TV and in the movies? Do we tend to overlook the subtle hints of it when the boob tube is on?
Ray Comfort once confronted a manager at a restuarant for a poster that was outside the mens bathroom of a barely dressed woman in a bikini. He told the manager the only intention for the poster to be there was for the lust of the viewer.
Sin is everywhere and we should never laugh at it and, as Spurgeon say's, "An awakened heart trembles at the audacity of sin--and stands alarmed at the contemplation of its punishment."
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