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Skriven 2006-06-26 18:54:02 av Texas (8:8/2)
Ärende: Thank Him Dwell Acceptably
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From: "Texas" <texas@familynet-international.org>

       Faith's Checkbook

      Charles H. Spurgeon
      Jun 26, 2006



June 27
Thank Him; Dwell Acceptably
"Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto Thy Name: the upright shall dwell
in Thy presence" (Psalm 140:13).

Oh, that my heart may be upright, that I may always be able to bless the name
of the LORD! He is so good to those that be good, that I would fain be among
them and feel myself full of thankfulness every day. Perhaps, for a moment, the
righteous are staggered when their integrity results in severe trial; but
assuredly the day shall come when they shall bless their God that they did not
yield to evil suggestions and adopt a shifty policy. In the long run true men
will thank the God of the right for leading them by a right way. Oh, that I may
be among them!

What a promise is implied in this second clause, "The upright shall dwell in
thy presence!" They shall stand accepted where others appear only to be
condemned. They shall be the courtiers of the great King, indulged with
audience whensoever they desire it. They shall be favored ones upon whom
Jehovah smiles and with whom He graciously communes. LORD, I covet this high
honor, this precious privilege. It will be heaven on earth to me to enjoy it.
Make me in all things upright, that I may today and tomorrow and every day
stand in Thy heavenly presence. Then will I give thanks unto Thy name ever
more. Amen.


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==

The Unrepenting Repenter
By Jim Elliff

The believer in Christ is a lifelong repenter. He begins with repentance and
continues in repentance. (Rom. 8:12-13) David sinned giant sins but fell
without a stone at the mere finger of the prophet because he was a repenter at
heart (2 Sam. 12:7-13). Peter denied Christ three times but suffered three
times the remorse until he repented with bitter tears (Mt. 26:75). Every
Christian is called a repenter, but he must be a repenting repenter. The Bible
assumes the repentant nature of all true believers in its instruction on church
discipline. A man unwilling to repent at the loving rebuke of the church can be
considered nothing more than "a heathen and a tax collector." (Mt. 18:15-17)


What Is Repentance?


Repentance is a change of mind regarding sin and God, an inward turning from
sin to God, which is known by its fruit—obedience. (Mt. 3:8; Acts 26:20; Lk.
13:5-9) It is hating what you once loved and loving what you once hated,
exchanging irresistible sin for an irresistible Christ. The true repenter is
cast on God. Faith is his only option. When he fully knows that sin utterly
fails him, God takes him up. (Mt. 9:13b) He will have faith or he will have
despair; conviction will either deliver him or devour him.

The religious man often deceives himself in his repentance. The believer may
sin the worst of sins, it is true; but to remain in the love of sin, or to be
comfortable in the atmosphere of sin, is a deadly sign, for only repenters
inhabit heaven. The deceived repenter would be a worse sinner if he could, but
society holds him back. He can tolerate and even enjoy other worldly professing
Christians and pastors well enough, but does not desire holy fellowship or the
fervent warmth of holy worship. If he is intolerant of a worship service
fifteen minutes "too long," how will he feel after fifteen million years in the
eternal worship service of heaven? He aspires to a heaven of lighthearted ease
and recreation—an extended vacation; but a heaven of holiness would be hell to
such a man. Yet God is holy, and God is in heaven. He cannot be blamed for
sending the unholy man to hell despite his most articulate profession (Heb.
12:14). What Are the Substitutes for True Repentance?

1. You may reform in the actions without repenting in the heart. (Ps . 5 1:
16-17; Joel 2:13)

 This is a great deception, for the love of sin remains. (1 Jn. 2:15-17;
Acts 8:9-24) At this the Pharisees were experts. (Mk. 7:1-23) The heart of a
man is his problem. A man may appear perfect in his actions but be damned for
his heart. His actions are at best self-serving and hypocritical. What comes
from a bad heart is never good. "Does a spring send forth fresh water and
bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a
grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh." (Jas.
3:11-12)

2. You may experience the emotion of repentance without the effect of it.

Here is a kind of amnesia. You see the awful specter of sin in the mirror and
flinch out of horror yet immediately forget what kind of person you saw (Jas.
1:23-24). It is true, repentance includes sincere emotion, an affection for God
and a disaffec tion for sin. Torrents of sorrow may flood the repenter's heart,
and properly so (Jas. 4:8-10). But there is such a thing as a temporary emotion
in the mere semblance of repentance; this emotion has very weak legs and cannot
carry the behavior in the long walk of obedience. Your sorrow may even be
prolonged. Yet if it does not arrive at repentance, it is of the world and is a
living death—and maybe more (2 Cor. 7: 10). It is an old deceiver. Judas had
such remorse but "went and hanged himself." (Mt. 27:3-5)

3. You may confess the words of a true repenter and never repent. (Mt.
21:28-32; 1 Jn. 2:4; 4:20)

Confession by itself is not repentance. Confession moves the lips; repentance
moves the heart. Naming an act as evil before God is not the same as leaving
it. Though your confession may be honest and emotional, it is not enough unless
it expresses a true change of heart. There are those who confess onl y for the
show of it, whose so-called repentance may be theatrical but not actual. If you
express repentance to appear successful, you will not be successful at
repenting. You will speak humbly but sin arrogantly. Saul gave the model
confession (1 Sam. 15:24-26) and later went to hell. Repentance "from the teeth
out" is no repentance.

4. You may repent for the fear of reprisal alone and not for the hatred of sin.

Any man will stop sinning when caught or relatively sure he will be, unless
there is insufficient punishment or shame attached (1 Tim. 1:8-11). When there
are losses great enough to get his attention, he will reform. If this is the
entire motive of his repentance, he has not repented at all. It is the work of
law, but not grace. Men can be controlled by fear, but what is required is a
change of heart. Achan admitted his sin after being caught but would not have
otherwise. Find his bones in the Vall ey of Achor; his soul, most likely, in
hell. (Josh. 7:16-26)

5. You may talk against sin in public like a true repenter but never repent in
private. (Mt. 23:1-3)

The exercise of the mouth cannot change the heart. Your sin is like a
prostitute. You are speaking against your lover in public but embracing her in
the bedroom. She is not particular about being run down in public if she can
have your full attention in private. "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not
know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?" (Jas. 4:4)

6. You may repent primarily for temporal gains rather than the glory of God.

There are gains for the repenter, but the final motivation for repenting cannot
be selfish. Self is a dead, stinking carcass to be discarded. We are to repent
because God is worthy and is our respected authority, even if we gain nothing.
Inde ed, our repenting may appear to lose us more than our sin had gained. (Mt.
16:24-26; Phil. 3:7-8) And this is a test of true repentance.



continued tomorrow ..........



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64152 USA
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