The general contempt of religion acts upon the Christian's judgment no less than upon his affections.

Posted : 17 Jul, 2013 05:08 AM

Psalm 119:128 Therefore I esteem all Your precepts concerning all things to be right: and I hate every false way.





The general contempt of religion acts upon the Christian's

judgment no less than upon his affections. Is wickedness

breaking loose to make void the law? Therefore he esteems it

to be right. His judgment-instead of being shaken- is more

determined. How beautiful is it to see the leaven of grace

pervading the whole man! In the fervor of his heart he loves

the commandments even above fine gold; but yet his "love will

abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment."

His is an intelligent and universal regard to them- esteeming

all the precepts concerning all things to be right. This constitutes his separate and exclusive character. He is readily

known from the thoughtless worldling. But his difference from

the professor, though really as marked in the sight of God, is

far less perceptible to general observation. Consisting more in

the state of heart, than in any external mark of distinction, it is

often only within the ken of that eye, whose sovereign

prerogative it is to "search the heart," and to "weigh the

spirits."

Many profess to esteem the precepts to be right, so far as

they inculcate the practice of those moral virtues, of which

they may present some faint exhibition, and demand the

abandonment of those sins, from the external influence of

which they may have been delivered. But when they begin to

observe the "exceeding breadth of the commandment"-how it

takes cognizance of the heart, and enforces the renunciation

of the world, the crucifixion of sin, and the entire surrender of

the heart unto God; this searching touchstone separates them

from the church, and exposes to open day the brand of

hypocrisy upon their foreheads. "Herod did many things." And

so the enemy still will allow a partial subjection to the

precepts. But-as he well knows-one sin holds us his captive

as well as a thousand. The willful contempt of one precept is

the virtual rejection of all. All, therefore-not many-is the

Christian's word. He fails in some-yes, in all-but all are the

objects of his supreme regard-every duty, and every

circumstance and obligation of duty-the evangelical as well as

the moral precepts-teaching him to renounce himself in every

part (his sins as a source of pleasure, and his duties as a

ground of dependence): and to believe in the Son of God as

the only ground of hope. He never complains of the strictness

of the precepts!- but he is continually humbled in the

recollection of his nonconformity to them. Every way, however

pleasing to the flesh, that is opposed to the revealed will of

God, is hated, as false in itself, and false to his God. This

"godly sincerity" will apply to every part of the Christian Directory. So that any plea for the indulgence of sin (as if it

admitted of palliation, or was compensated by some surplus

duty, or allowed only for some temporary purpose) or any

willful shrinking from the universality of obedience-blots out all

pretensions to uprightness of heart. If holiness be really loved,

it will be loved for its own sake; and equally loved and

followed in every part. By this entire "approval of things that

are excellent," we shall "be sincere and without offence unto

the day of Christ."

O my soul, can you abide this close test? Have you as much

regard to the precepts, as to the privileges, of the Gospel? Is

no precept evaded, from repugnance to the cross that is

entailed to it? Is no secret lust retained? Are you content to let

all go? If my hatred of sin is sincere, I shall hate it more in my

own house than abroad; I shall hate it most of all in my own

heart. Here lies the grand seat of hypocrisy. And therefore

may the great Searcher of hearts enable me to search into its

depths! May I take the lamp of the Lord to penetrate into its

dark interior hiding-places of evil! May I often put the question

to my conscience, 'What does the Omniscient Judge know of

my heart?' Perhaps at the time that the Church holds my

name in esteem, the voice of conscience, as the voice of God,

may whisper to me "That which is highly esteemed among

men is an abomination in the sight of God." Some false way,

yet undetected within, may keep me lifeless and unfruitful in

the midst of the quickening means of grace. Let me look into

my house-my calling-my family-my soul; and in the course of

this search how much matter will be found for prayer,

contrition, renewed determination of heart, and dependence

upon my God! "O that my ways were directed to keep Your

statutes! I will keep Your statutes; O forsake me not utterly."

And oh! let my spirit be wounded by every fresh discovery of

sin. Let my soul bleed under it. But specially and instantly let

me apply to the "fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness."

Here let me wash my soul from the guilt of sin, and regain my peace with God. And to Him, who opened this fountain, let me

also repair for a large supply of spiritual strength. May His

power and grace sharpen my weapons for the spiritual

conflict, until every secret iniquity is overcome, and forever

dispossessed from my heart!

And just as sin, besides its guilt, brings its own misery; so

does this wholehearted purity carry with it its own happiness.

Can I forget the time, when, under Divine grace and teaching,

I made a full presentment of myself, when I began to estimate

myself as an hallowed, devoted thing-sacred-set apart for

God? Was not this the first sunshine of my happiness? Nor

was this offering made with momentary excitement, notional

intelligence, forced acquiescence, or heartless assent. My

judgment accorded with the choice of my heart. All was right

in His precepts. All that was contrary to them was abominable.

And will not this form the essence of the happiness of heaven,

where every aspiration-every motion-every pulse of the

glorified soul-in the eternity of life-will bear testimony to the

holiness of the service of God?



by

Charles Bridges

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