Lord, hear our prayer:
Father, we come with a great sense of anticipation; we come expecting to meet you here. We come, and we know that you will not disappoint us. We come seeking your face, longing to give you praise and glory. We have come that we might be made strong in Christ and be renewed by the power of your Holy Spirit. In our precious Redeemer’s name we ask.
Amen.
Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.
Monday Reflecting
“You will not be forgotten by Me!” – Isaiah 44:21.
He may leave you long without succor. He may allow you to toil against a tempestuous sea until the fourth watch of the night. He may seem silent and austere, tarrying two days still in the same place, as if careless of the dying Lazarus. He may allow your prayers to accumulate like unopened letters on the table of an absent friend. But at last He will say: “O man, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.”
~ F. B. MEYER
Monday June 5, 2023
Proverbs 3:19
The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens.
It tells us in Proverbs 3:19 and Jeremiah 10:12 that the Lord founded the earth, established and stretched out the heavens by wisdom, understanding and discretion. Those are two of many verses in the Bible that tell us about the wisdom of God. . . .
It is necessary to our humanity that we grant God two things at least: wisdom and goodness. The God who sits on high, who made the heaven and the earth, has got to be wise, or else you and I cannot be sure of anything. He’s got to be good, or earth would be a hell and heaven a hell, and hell a heaven. We have to grant goodness and wisdom to God, or we have no place to go, no rock to stand on, no way to do any thinking or reasoning or believing. We must believe in the goodness and in the wisdom of God, or we betray that in us which differentiates us from the beasts—the image of God Himself.
So we begin with the assumption—not a guess, not a hope, but a knowledge—that God is wise.
Before the days of modern navigational aids a traveler made the Atlantic crossing in a boat equipped with two compasses. One was fixed to the deck where the man at the wheel could see it. The other compass was fastened up on one of the masts, and often a sailor would be seen climbing up to inspect it.
The passenger asked the captain, “Why do you have two compasses?”
“This is an iron vessel,” replied the captain, “and the compass on the deck is often affected by its surroundings. Such is not the case with the compass at the masthead; that one is above the influence. We steer by the compass above.” Do we also as Christians?
~ Prairie Overcomer
Following Jesus isn’t like developing a crisis-aversion system. So often, it’s tempting to treat our faith in this way—relying on Him when things get tough or when others expect us to do so. But He wants us to rely on Him continually.
After Jesus miraculously fed the crowds, He told them that He was the bread of life. But they were fickle. They wanted evidence—another sign. Instead of feeding their transient desires, Jesus delivered hard teaching: “The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me and I in him” (John 6:54–56).
For the Jews, this teaching would have been shocking and strange—drinking blood was forbidden by Old Testament law, and He was speaking about His own body. They followed Jesus because they wanted a sign, a prophet, or a Messiah. A sacrifice was not part of their plan.
But a sacrifice was exactly what they needed. Forgiveness and eternal life were discarded by some, but not by all. Simon Peter’s simple confession is actually quite stunning in the midst of all the confusion: “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68–69). The disciples didn’t put hope in a transient sign—in one meal. And although they didn’t always understand Jesus’ teaching, they recognized that He was the true bread of life, and they relied on Him for sustainment even when His teaching seemed strange to their ears.
The question has been raised concerning the story of the woman taken in adultery and whether it is truly a part of Scripture? If it is, where then does it belong in the Gospel record? John 7:53–8:11 is not found in some of the ancient manuscripts; where it is found, it is not always in this location in John’s Gospel. Most scholars however, seem to agree that the passage is a part of inspired Scripture regardless of where it is placed.
To many of us, the story fits perfectly, right here! In fact, the development of the entire chapter can easily be seen to grow out of this striking event in the temple. Our Lord’s declaration on His being the Light of the world (John 8:12) certainly fits, and so do His words about true and false judgment (John 8:15–16, 26). The repeated phrase “die in your sins” (John 8:21, 24) would clearly relate to the judgment of the woman; and the fact that the chapter ends with an attempt to stone Jesus shows a perfect parallel to the opening story. The transition from John 7:52 to 8:12 would be too abrupt without a transitional section.
Our Lord found Himself in conflict again and again with the Jewish religious leaders; but this time, they set a trap, hoping to get enough evidence to arrest Jesus and get Him out of the way for good. However, their plot failed; but a controversy did follow. In this chapter we see a series of contrasts that reveal the graciousness of Christ as compared to the wickedness of man.
She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” – John 8:11.
The Feast of Tabernacles had ended, but Jesus took advantage of the opportunity to minister to the pilgrims in the temple. During the feast, word had quickly spread that Jesus was not only attending but openly teaching in the temple (see Luke 21:37). He taught in the court of the women at the place where the treasury was situated (John 8:20). The scribes and Pharisees knew where He would be, so they hatched their plot together.
They would not be likely to catch a couple in the “very act” of adultery; so we wonder if the man (who was never indicted!) was part of the scheme. The Law required that both guilty parties be stoned (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22) and not just the woman. It does seem suspicious that the man went free. The scribes and Pharisees handled the matter in a brutal fashion, even in the way they interrupted the Lord’s teaching and pushed the woman into the midst of the crowd.
The Jewish leaders, of course, were trying to pin Jesus on the horns of a dilemma. If He said, “Yes, the woman must be stoned!” then what would happen to His reputation as the “friend of publicans and sinners”? The common people would no doubt have abandoned Him and would never have accepted His gracious message of forgiveness.
But, if He said, “No, the woman should not be stoned!” then He was openly breaking the Law and subject to arrest. On more than one occasion, the religious leaders had tried to pit Jesus against Moses, and now they seemed to have the perfect challenge (see John 5:39–47; 6:32-51; 7:40-52).
Instead of passing judgment on the woman, Jesus passed judgment on the judges! No doubt He was indignant at the way they treated the woman. He was also concerned that such hypocrites should condemn another person and not judge themselves. We do not know what He wrote on the dirt floor of the temple. Was He simply reminding them that the Ten Commandments had been originally “written with the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18), and that He is God? Or was He perhaps reminding them of the warning in Jeremiah 17:13?
Robert Hawker: Piercing Heaven – Puritan’s Prayers
Grant, dearest Lord, that though we still live in this world, yet never, never may we forget our relationship to you. Though we are outcasts, yet we are Jesus’ outcasts.
Lord, be our hiding place, so that you are all we need, like “rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”
Oh for a word, a whisper of Jesus. I cannot live without it. I dare not let you go, unless you bless us. None of all the past enjoyments or experiences will do us any good, until you again shine in upon my soul. Come then, Lord Jesus! I fly to you as my God, my Savior, my portion, my all!
I see my daily, hourly, continual need of you. You are our hope and Savior! Keep me, Lord, near you, for without you I am nothing.
Precious Jesus, help me to see my clear part in you, from my union with you. And dear Lord, make me so strong in your strength, that during the whole period of my present warfare, I may be “terrible as an army with banners” to all who would oppose my way to you, and in you.
Yes, Lord! Let sin, and Satan, and the world, be united against me; yet do you put on me the whole armor of God, that I may “fight the good fight of faith, lay hold of eternal life, and be made more than conqueror through him who loves me.”
Amen.
COMING third of the patriarchs, we have Jacob and we find that he is the example of divine justification. Jacob, the crook, the rascal, the cheat, the liar, the thief, the conniver, the supplanter, becomes the example of justification. That really is something divine. “Whom He called, these He also justified.” – Romans 8:30. Why did God choose Jacob? Why would He call him? Certainly not on the basis of his worth; certainly not on the basis of his own merit. Then on what basis did He call him? It was again on the basis of sovereign grace, appropriated through faith.
Esau, his brother was a gentleman compared with Jacob. Esau was a home-loving boy, kind to his father as far as the record goes. When Isaac, the old man, wanted comfort in his old age, he called Esau, not Jacob. You may search the record and you will find nothing derogatory to Esau, except that he sold his birthright and despised the promise of God. But from every other standpoint, morally and otherwise, there is nothing bad recorded about Esau. He was a pretty good fellow, as fellows go. But now look at Jacob. He schemed with his mother, took the goat skins about his neck to fool his father, and when poor, old, blind Isaac becomes suspicious, Jacob tells a brazen, boldfaced lie and more or less says, “Don’t worry father, I wouldn’t lie to you.” It was Jacob who stole the birthright from his brother Esau, cheated his father, connived with his mother and then ran away, and then almost ruined his uncle Laban. Yet, to God, he was justified rather than Esau.
Jacob is the kind of person God justifies. God does not save good people. A man must be a sinner to be saved. He has to be absolutely helpless before God can do anything with him. Grace is unearned favor to the unworthy, and the more unworthy a man is, the greater he needs the grace of God. That is why the Lord chose folks like you and me—not because we were better, but in spite of what we are. God’s grace is exalted, not in choosing nice people, but rather “not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” – 1 Corinthians 1:26. God has taken the foolish things of this world, the base things of this world, because of His grace (1 Corinthians 1:27). Thus He steps aside again from the natural course of things and puts aside Esau, the eldest, first from the human standpoint. Of course, Esau deserved to lose his birthright from the standpoint of human responsibility, for he despised it; but that is the human side. Paul, however, is not talking about the human side in Romans 8. He is dealing with sovereign grace. In grace God chose Jacob, good-for-nothing Jacob, because he believed the promise, and even that belief was a matter of grace. So again we see, “Whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified.”
Leaders Have a Sense of Mission (Nehemiah 1:5).
ALMOST by definition, leaders have an end to which they are headed. This sense of mission helps to guide their decisions and determine their strategy.
Nehemiah’s mission grew out of his knowledge of the Law and his awareness that the destruction of Jerusalem had come about through God’s judgment of his people’s sins (Nehemiah 1:5–8). At the same time, he knew that God was willing to forgive their sins and restore them to the land (Nehemiah 1:9). Therefore Nehemiah determined that he would see to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, in accordance with the Lord’s promises, and he began to devise a strategy toward that end (Nehemiah 1:10-11).
Nehemiah did not dream up a sense of mission out of his own agenda or self-interest. He responded to the news of Jerusalem’s plight with tears, prayer, fasting, humility, and seeking the Lord’s will (Nehemiah 1:4). As he prepared to go before the king, he probably did not know exactly what he should say or do, only that he needed to go to Jerusalem. Nor could he have known all that he would encounter once he arrived at the ruined city. Nevertheless, convinced that God wanted the Holy City to be revived, Nehemiah stepped forward as a change agent, and his leadership proved strategic.
For Saturday June 3, 2023
Luke 10:41
Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried
and troubled about many things.”
Achan, an infamous Israelite in the Old Testament, brought great trouble into Israel’s camp by violating the ban on taking plunder from the conquered city of Jericho (Joshua 7). By the time of the monarchy, Achan’s name (in a play on words) was being spelled “Achar”—the Hebrew word for trouble or disaster (1 Chronicles 2:7). Until Achar—Israel’s troubler—was dealt with, there was no peace or victory in the camp.
Trouble doesn’t always enter our lives on two legs. It’s usually more subtle, coming in the form of schedules, finances, family matters, vocational problems, personal challenges, and the endless to-do lists that rob us of time we could be spending with God. Like Joshua, we must remove trouble from the camp if we are going to have peace. Nowhere were trouble and tranquility so clearly juxtaposed as in the house of Mary and Martha. Jesus chided Martha for being distracted—“worried and troubled about many things”—but praised Mary for focusing solely on Him (Luke 10:38–42).
What troubles have you allowed to separate you from Jesus? There’ll be no peace until they have been removed.
Peace is such a precious jewel that I would give anything for it but truth.
MATTHEW HENRY
I am ready to preach the gospel – Romans 1:15
“Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman? Or an image that teaches lies? For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it.” – Habakkuk 2:18-19.
The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. – 1 Thessalonians 1:8-9.
Chesterton and Augustine had similar experiences in their long journey to faith. After exhausting himself looking for answers among philosophers, Augustine found satisfaction by reading the Bible. Only by having the inconsistencies of philosophy firmly planted in his mind did he grasp the coherence of Scripture. Chesterton was led to faith by the doubts of skeptics and agnostics, because he saw in them the inconsistencies for which they attacked Christianity.
Swinburne accused Christ of making the world “grey”—unhappy. Yet, in Atlanta the poet gave this account of paganism, “I gathered that the world was, if possible, more gray before the Galilean breathed on it than afterwards.” Even Swinburne said that pagan life was dark. Yet, curiously, he maintained that Christ had darkened it. He denounced Christianity as pessimistic, but was himself a pessimist. It appeared to Chesterton that “those might not be the very best judges of the relation of religion to happiness who . . . had neither the one nor the other.”
Indeed, if his detractors claim that Christ was a pessimist, they had better be optimists. For if Christ brought unhappiness to the world, they must prove it was happy before he came. If faith in Christ raises problems, unbelievers must prove that disbelief produces answers.
The Order – Continued
From last lesson: He bore our sin and shame—the sin that hid God’s face from us—the sin that deserved eternal death. He bore it there. He paid it there for me—for you. Now we are redeemed and saved from hell and damnation because He loved us so.
It was this same Jesus who found me when I was lost and condemned in sin, hating God, reviling His Word, cursing His Son, murdering the Prince of Life. It was He who loved me enough to take my guilt and to make it His responsibility; to save me and to make me a son of God; to put a song in my heart, a testimony on my lips and the assurance of eternal life in my soul. That same Lord Himself will descend from heaven one of these days—that precious, adorable Lord—my Lord and my God—my Savior and my King. I shall look upon Him. I shall see the Lord Himself. O friend, that is for you, too, if you have believed on Him. Can you begin to imagine the thrill that will sweep over us when for the first time we behold Him, see Him, the One who died for us to save our poor, hell-bound, sin-smitten souls from eternal destruction? Yes, the Lord Himself will descend.
Notice that while we ascend—the Lord descends. However, He does not come to the earth at this stage of His coming. It is definitely stated that we shall meet Him in the air. He descends and we ascend, but we meet above the earth. It is important to note this carefully, as there is a time when the Lord shall descend to the earth.
The Prophet Zechariah tells us that when the Lord descends to the earth, “His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives” (Zechariah 14:4). He will march into Jerusalem with His saints, who have previously ascended in the Rapture, to meet Him in the air. In this prophecy we are told about the second stage of the coming of the Lord. It describes the actual coming again of the Lord Jesus to the earth—with His saints.
The first phase of this coming is the “Thief Aspect” and the other is the “Judgment Aspect” of the coming again of our Lord.
We read in Titus 2:13, “Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” The “Blessed Hope” is His coming in the air for His saints; His glorious appearing is His coming with His saints to the earth. Between these two, we have the time spoken of as “the day of the Lord”—the seven years of judgment and tribulation.
Scripture Reference: Luke 24:44-53
Sin is the common denominator of us all, all of mankind is cursed with it. It is the guilt of us all. The best man in the Old Testament, Job, cried, saying: “Have I sinned? What have I done to You, O watcher of men?” (Job 7:20). Vice is against society. Crime is against law and order. Sin is against God. That is why in Psalm 51:4 David said, “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight.” We only sin against God. We violate law. We scorn the law. We disobey all of the prerogatives and mandates of men. But sin is against God and God alone.
No need to say to me, “Do not sin.” I have sinned. To lecture me about it, to speak to me about it, to ask a reform concerning it has no pertinency whatsoever. I have already sinned.
What I want to know is, what is a message in a word for me when I have sinned? “What shall I do, O watcher of men, for I have sinned?” The answer to that question is the address of the gospel message. That is what the Bible is all about. The stain in my soul and the sin in my life, is there a forgiveness of my sins of which somebody knows? Is there a way of salvation so that, even though I have sinned, I still might see the face of God?
The whole Bible has to do with the purging, the forgiveness of our sins. In the Garden of Eden the Bible tells of forgiveness of sins, beginning with a covering. The Lord slew an innocent animal and poured out its blood, and the earth drank it up. God took skins of an innocent animal which laid down its life to cover the nakedness of our first parents. In the Temple worship the mercy seat was sprinkled with the blood of atonement. The message of the prophets such as Isaiah is:
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.” – Isaiah 1:18.
“All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” – Isaiah 53:6.
The ministry of the Lord Jesus is that He shall save His people from their sins. The Lord Himself came to give His life as a ransom for many. The blessed installation and introduction of the Lord’s Supper is, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” – Matthew 26:28. It is the preaching of the apostle Peter. When the convicted people cried, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”, the reply as recorded in the next verse is: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:37-38). The Beloved Apostle John wrote, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans:
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:6–8.
This is the glorious apocalyptic revelation:
“To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” – Revelation 1:5–6.
“Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. – Revelation 7:13–14.
The message from our Lord Himself is that Christ suffered and was raised from the dead and that forgiveness and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all people. That is the good news. That is the message. That is the gospel! Let us be enthusiastic and diligent to spread that good news to all men!
Lord, hear our prayer:
Lord, we come to lift up our voices in praise, our hearts for healing and our lives for wholeness. We come to celebrate your glory, to declare your worth, and to receive your Holy Spirit so that our lives may bear fruit for your praise. We come from the darkness to be filled with your light. We come as we are that we might go in the power of the Spirit. In the name of Christ Jesus, hear us.
Amen.
Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.
Friday Reflecting
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love.” – Jeremiah 31:3.
Get up into the high mountains, believing children of God, and view the everlasting love of your Father toward you in Jesus! Recount all that that love has brought for you before you had any being! Is it likely to drop you now because of any unworthiness it perceives? Can anything appear in us which was not anticipated by One Who before taking us for His own possession sat down and counted the cost? Is there not comfort in knowing that your keel is caught by a current which emanated from the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will, and is bearing you toward His heart? “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things! To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
~ F. B. MEYER
Friday June 2, 2023
John 3:9
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
I am prepared to hear some one say: “I have begun to seek God; I tell Him everything and conceal or spare no sin from Him. But the things you have described during the past week as God’s new creation, these things I have not experienced. Not the nearness of God, not the peace and rest, not the joy and bliss, not the aversion toward sin, and not the desire to do the will of God. What I have experienced so far has been principally fear and restlessness, even anxiety, with a few brief seasons of rest between.
“What then is my condition?”
In reply I would say first that every birth is painful. And the spiritual pains which you are experiencing in the form of restlessness, doubt, fear, and anxiety, are birth pains.
The Holy Spirit is in the full process of creating the new life within you. But this new life cannot be born unless the old at the same time dies.
That which you are now experiencing, the pain and restlessness of your soul, is life’s beginning: death. You must be made aware of the sinful things in your life and in your heart, that these things must die. Only to see this is a terrifying experience which may well cause you despair.
But do not permit yourself to become frightened or bewildered. It is the work of God in your soul. It is painful, but necessary. Thank your merciful God who is now putting to death your old life and transforming you into a soul that hungers for His grace.
And remember this: you experienced the new birth the moment you turned in all sincerity to your Savior and confessed your sins. But that which you have felt so far is essentially only the mortifying aspect of this birth.
But it, too, is part and parcel of the vital secret of Christianity.
Testifying before the Senate Agriculture Committee on the value of the peanut, George Washington Carver, who as an infant was traded for a broken-down racehorse, said that he got his knowledge of peanuts from the Bible. Asked what the Bible said about peanuts he replied, “The Bible does not teach anything regarding the peanut. But it told me about God, and God told me about the peanut.”
The Bible is a passionate book. It’s about a God who is impassioned for His people and who ultimately sends His Son to die for them so that they can be saved from themselves. And it also portrays the passion seen in romantic love.
Song of Solomon 5:1–4 is full of wit, wordplay, and euphemism. It’s dramatic, like a play. The man is full of zeal for the woman he loves, and the woman is excited to see her man. And this isn’t a Michael Bolton ballad or Kenny G song. There is haste. There is anxiety—you can almost hear the heart palpitations. This isn’t the stuff for the unmarried, and it is definitely not the stuff for kids or teenagers. This is true romance as God designed it.
The woman says, “I slept, but my heart was awake” (Song of Solomon 5:2). She may be asleep, but her love for the man is not. That is both the type of love we must have in marriage and the type of love we must have for our God—never sleeping, always wide awake.
Jesus makes a similar contrast between subtle love (or necessary love) and real love: “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. [God provided them the manna shortly after the exodus (Exodus 16).] This is the bread that comes down from heaven [being Jesus and His message], so that someone may eat from it and not die” (John 6:49–50).
What fills our minds and keeps our hearts awake at night says who we really are; we will dedicate ourselves to what we care most about. Let us dedicate ourselves to love of family, others, and Christ.
Scripture Reference: Luke 24:44-53
The gospel message, according to our Savior, concerns His death for our sins on the cross and His resurrection from the grave for our justification. The gospel message addressed to the human heart concerns itself with the forgiveness of sin. When I hold the Bible in my hand and turn through its pages, I find that the whole written Word of God has to do with sin. The scene opens in the Garden of Eden when the Lord said to our first parents, “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). This is the curse of the world.
If one sins against a friend, something dies within him. If one sins against a partner, something will die between them. If one sins against his home, something will die in it. If one sins against himself, something will die in him. When one sins against God, something dies between him and the Lord. When sin is added to anything, to any gift, any virtue, any achievement, it will spell grief and misery and death. A gun plus sin will produce violence and murder. Success plus sin will produce egotism, pride, and overbearing ostentation. Money plus sin will produce greed, bribery, and blackmail. Love plus sin turns to lust. A home plus sin will produce an atmosphere like hell. Alcohol plus sin, a car plus sin, any gift of God plus sin is damned to misery and perdition. God said, “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” There is a curse in sin.
Too many people, including many Christians, sadly buy into the lie that the ends, justify the means. It doesn’t matter what I do if something good comes from it. That is justifying sin and all it will bring is misery, discontentment and death. I’ve seen it take place first-hand in others. Again, there is a curse in any sin.
There is an everlasting stain about sin. Sin is in your soul, in your memory, in your heart, in your life, and piece and parcel with you. Sin carries with it an everlasting stain.
In the book of Genesis, Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days.” – Genesis 49:1. One of those sons was to receive the blessing. He was to be the one through whom the Messiah was to come. So he turned to his firstborn son. The blessing should have been given to Reuben, but the patriarch said:
“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. Unstable as water, you shall not excel, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it— he went up to my couch.” – Genesis 49:3–4.
As Reuben stood there that day at the head of the twelve patriarchal sons of Jacob, he drew himself up to his full height. He was the firstborn; surely the blessing would be his. But Jacob pointed out to him a secret sin that he thought had been forgotten and buried; and it was as vivid, and as scarlet that day when Jacob looked upon him as on the day when he committed it. Your sins will be that way when you stand before the judgment bar of Almighty God. They were committed in youth, in childhood, in the dark, in secret; but they will be as vivid in the day of judgment as they were the day when you committed them.
If Reuben did not receive the blessing, then the second son, Simeon, should have received it. If he did not, then the third son, Levi, should. Jacob turned to them and said:
“Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place. Let not my soul enter their council; let not my honor be united to their assembly; for in their anger they slew a man.” – Genesis 49:5–6.
What Jacob was referring to is recorded in the Bible and had happened over forty years before. It was a murderous and bloody sin that the two brothers had committed. I would think that Simeon and Levi, as they stood there, thought that what they committed forty years ago had been buried and forgotten in the passing of time. But in the great hour of judgment their sin, too, was as vivid, and as crimson as the day that they committed it. We do not get beyond the everlasting stain of sin in human life.
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FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 