My mom died 8 years ago today.

“Today, true mortification is all but lost between the rigid, stubborn frame of spirit which is earthly, legal, harsh, critical, consistent with wrath, envy, malice, and pride, on the one hand, and pretences of liberty, grace, and I know not what, on the other.” – John Owen (The Mortification of Sin, abridged)

I liked the “I know not what” part. Having a sense of the certainty of something, but not knowing exactly… I like that he said that.

“Let a man pretend what he will, little concern over sin is a serious offence to the grace and mercy of God!” – John Owen (The Mortification of Sin, abridged)

“Others are hardened in their own sin by persuading themselves that they are in just as good a condition as the unmortified professor. They see their [the unmortified professor's] zeal for religion, but it is not accompanied by righteousness. They view their worldy and selfish lives. They see them talk spiritually but live vainly. They hear them mention communion with God, and yet they are in every way conformed to the world. They see them boast of forgiveness of sins, and yet never forgive others. Thus, as they see the stain of sin in the unmortified professor, they harden their own hearts in their unregeneracy.” – John Owen (The Mortification of Sin, abridged)

In the previous post I did a recap of the event.

I went to the Death To Performance event because when I first saw it, I thought, “yes, I see that struggle in myself”. That is, the struggle to perform and be accepted and thinking through what that breeds in me. I do not want to live and die on, or for, my performance and abilities. BUT, I do want to live and die on, or for, God’s ability and performance. That is what living a Gospel centered life is about. So that is why I went.

The overarching takeaway for me was sanctification. I am going through a class at church that is dealing with sanctification, as well as reading books on it, and the Lord is continually working it in my heart.

One of the things that bothers me is that we trust God to justify us, that is, we call on Jesus to save us, and He truly does… and He truly begins a good work… and He will truly continue that work. But so many times we do not trust God to set us apart. That is, there is no evidence of our faith for sanctification. Faith without works is dead.

So on the one hand, people feel the need to perform and they become steeped in legalism and “do not touch, do not taste, do not handle” or on the other hand, people say God will change me in time, I trust Him to do it… and yet there is no evidence of that trust.

The Bible is very clear that “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.“ – Romans 8:13. So, just as in salvation, we must be saved, but we cannot do it, so in being set apart, we must be set apart, but we cannot do it. We must “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Therefore we come to be set apart the same way we are saved. We pray for it… we believe and receive… by faith… and there is evidence of that faith.

So then we can see why Jesus gave us the example to pray in John 17 “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” If God is already doing the work in the disciples why would Jesus pray for the work to be done… because that is our trust, that is our faith… we are partnered in it. Paul continually prayed for the sanctification or the set apartness or the enlightening or the understanding of all the churches that he ministered to. David prayed for his own set apartness:
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!” – Psalm 119: 36
“Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.” – Psalm 19:13

Just as we pray, “Lord save me”, so we must pray “Lord set me apart, sanctify me”. I am afraid that too many times, myself included, we are comfortable at the pace of our sanctification… or the pace being slow… we are ok with the level of sin… and do not realize that having less sin in our life is so much better than having more. We are not often enough staggered by sin’s oppositeness to all that is good and all that is from God.

Wisdom is needed from God on being set apart and dwelling with others at all different levels in their own walk with Jesus and not being self righteous, or legalistic… but the fear of merely appearing that way, should not hinder one from yielding to the sanctifying work of the Spirit in one’s own life. That is what I love about Jesus. He hung out with fishermen and tax collectors and was perfectly holy and set apart… and in that, sometimes the consciences of others cannot help but be pricked.

In the end, the performance is all of God. So we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that it is God working in us both to will, and to do for His good pleasure. Then when we are given any crowns we are going to cast them right back at the feet of Jesus because it was Him doing the work all along… He graciously asks us to join in.

“For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.” – Colossians 1:29

Welp. At the conference, I received a copy of John Owen’s The Mortification of Sin. So, I shall soon see what he had to say on the subject.

I recommend you go and check out www.comeandlive.com

They have some really good music for you… for FREE. Yes, I said free. It is all free.

An album that I highly recommend you getting is the Ascend the Hill album. There are certain parts to songs on that album that I listen to over and over again. I even made a clip to listen to over and over again. Here it is for your enjoyment. It is only a minute long:

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You Blow Me Away
You’re beautiful, so wonderful, You’re glorious You are.
So marvelous, so majestic, so powerful, You are Jesus.
You’re beautiful, You’re wonderful, You’re glorious, You are.
So marvelous, so majestic, so powerful, You are.
You’re beautiful, You’re wonderful, You’re glorious You are.

I love to relish in this truth about Jesus.

I just heard these quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and I wanted to help myself remember them and so, you get to read them too. Enjoy.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

“Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.”

I know that Dr. King gave the same speech more than once and I read the following quote and was not sure if it was at a different time or had been changed. Either way, I like it as well.

“A man of conscience can never be a consensus leader. He doesn’t take a stand for consensus. He is ultimately a molder of consensus. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in moments of great challenge and controversy.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“The enjoyment of [God] is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams. But God is the ocean.” — Jonathan Edwards

Just some notes from a sermon I listened to recently that I thought had some excellent truths. I believe it was from John Macarthur’s recent series on abstaining from sexual sin… but I am not positive. ::::

The key to controlling your body (and not letting it control you) is the Holy Spirit. Walking in the Spirit. (Gal 5:16-17) The key to walking in the Spirit is being filled by the Spirit.  (Eph 5:17-18). The key to being filled by the Spirit is letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. (Col 3:16) The key to letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly is hiding the Word in your heart that you may not sin. (Psalm 119)

Not a superficial reading of your daily devotion. Abide in the Word!

Whether you like it or not, your life and mine is an open book. God knows the hearts of all and searches the mind and heart.

“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:13

Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. Psalm 139:4

The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the innermost parts of his being. Proverbs 20:27

“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” I Chronicles 28:9

‘And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. Rev 2:23

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23-24

“I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:10

“…You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all…” Acts 1:24

“… His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men, The LORD tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.

Some thoughts for your day… I like the first couple the best.

“Pessimism is not in being tired of evil but in being tired of good. Despair does not lie in being weary of suffering, but in being weary of joy.”

“I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean.”

“I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.”

“It is not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong.”

“You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it.”

–G.K. Chesterton