peace and freedom, I pray God will make it possible for me to talk with you. I talked with a personal worker, but did not dare tell her the sordid details of my past. “ At thirteen, I was baptized. At fourteen, I went forward in a dedication service. My joy knew no bounds. In the next three years I changed my letter to a larger, more modern church. At 17, in a summer conference, I stood wtih a young man I loved, as we dedicated our lives for Christian service. The following year, while in nurses’ training, I found he had married another. Dis couraged and broken-hearted, I went to a large metro politan city. To my astonishment, the “ good” girl friend whom I had taken in to live with me while her fine hus band was overseas, had taken to running around with other men. Soon I, too, was going with them, dancing, drinking, and involved with several. “ I became very infatuated with a sailor and eventu ally took time off from work to meet him. We planned to be married. He wanted to wait till he had a longer ‘leave,’ but even so we did not deny ourselves. Several months later, a shipmate of his told me of his wife and three-year-old baby. This news came after I had spent all my money preparing a home for us. “ After thirteen years of such awful living, I wonder if there is any peace. Last night I know I should have been at the foot of the cross. Can you help me to know how to begin life again? On my knees I beg God to show me His will for my life.” What a heart-breaking appeal! I would not print it if I could not follow it with another letter from the same girl. It came after about a week of consultation and prayer with a consecrated and wise pastor’s wife. The solution was sought by God’s power alone. “ I want to say a personal ‘thank you’ from my heart. I feel so humble and yet so wonderfully free since the guidance God gave me, as well as His forgiveness. For the first time in my life, I am free from the torments of sin that had bound me. Now I’m standing on the promises of God, praying His way for my life. His Word is becoming alive and real. Prayer has become such a joy in my heart even in the few days since I found Christ as Saviour.” A large area of the psychologist’s theory of “ guilt complex” can be explained by the simple old-fashioned truth of Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin. Thousands of people crowd our cities whose maladjustment to society stems from the fact that God and His church have had no chance in their lives. For some strange reason, men these days turn to psychology and psychiatry rather than to Christ and His ministers. Our spiritual leaders have been so lacking in compassion that men have lost confidence in the churches. Rare is the minister who has time or desire to counsel with the scores of people who need him. People who rule churches have cluttered his schedule with everything else. Modern sophistication has it well covered, but sin still rankles deep in the heart. Walking among us are the leaf-covered Eves; the blood-spilling Cains; the Bath- sheba-taking Davids; the leprous Naamans; the com promising Lots; the avaricious Achans; the Absaloms, Dinahs, Hophnis and Phinehases who are all guilty and needy of the grace of God (Romans 3:22-23; Galatians 3:22). Man has willfully broken contact with heaven. Our rebellion, transgression, disobedience, ungodliness, im piety, iniquity, deviation and insubordination make sin self-evident. We have incurred an infinite liability, an indebtedness which we are completely unable to meet except for the grace of God. We must re-convince the world today that the cor rect diagnosis of our spiritual dilemma irresistibly
drives us to the fact that sin is the core of our trouble. Society calls it “ indiscretion.” Scholars often label it “ ignorance.” Religious “ Eddyism” says it is an “ error of the mortal mind.” The Darwinian die-hards insist that it is “ a trace of the brut^ in man.” Rationalists suggest that we must “ cull” the “ defect.” Liberals indi cate that it is a rather annoying “amiable weakness or a touch of selfishness.” Some may label it an “ accident” or an “ infirmity”—but God calls it sin! Let us recognize it and deal with it God’s way. A leper never laughs at his falling fingers. A nar cotics addict never smiles at his terrible tremor. The man with cancer does not consider it funny. The asth matic never carelessly shouts over his labored breathing. The diagnosis of diphtheria, malaria, or meningitis brings no joy. Strange then that those with the great est malady, the vilest diseases, the most cutting pain, can go on carelessly. Men with cancer of the soul or lep rosy of the heart, diphtheria of the spirit, must not ignore the burning eyes of sin. A Bible teacher once counseled me: “ If it’s a secret sin, confess it to God; if it’s a sin against one person, confess to God and him; if it has affected three people, confess to God and the three; and if it has affected an entire church or community, confess it to God and the entire church—at prayer meeting night.” I could wish this piece could cover the specific prob lems of broken homes, divorce, complicated moral situa tions and difficulties, but I can merely recommend that if you have such problems resulting from sin, counsel with the most godly pastor you can find. He will be glad to kneel with you and help you to get the matter settled. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” ; “ It is appointed unto man once to die and after death the judgment” ; “The wages of sin is death” — all of these are fearful truths. We can only meet them with God’s gracious answers: “My grace is sufficient for thee” ; “My strength is made perfect in weakness’ ; “ The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” What sweetness and satisfaction can come to the needy heart when God speaks forgiveness for sin! It was midnight in a Midwest city where I was preaching. There she was on her knees hard against the altar of a great warm church. Beside her, Christian mothers knelt as though the sobbing girl were their own child in trou ble. Look at her! How quickly the commerce of sin and Satan can write “ counterfeit,” “ cheap” and “ sham” across the beautiful face of a willful child. Lips that God had once penciled with the clean brush of purity are now carelessly coated with the unhappy admission of loss. Fingers are now yellow with nicotine and clutching for something steadfast. Clothing is studded with cheap jewelry (a cry for beauty when the precious pearl of chastity is gone), yesterday’s garments of laughing abandoned. Hair once brushed smoothly over unburdened childish shoulders now is bleached in dis array, faded, sheenless. A face is lifted with tired eyes, hungry for escape, for truth, for God’s love, for spiritual answers and hope! Out of that tight throat comes one heart-rendering whisper, “Oh God, I’m sick of it all! I’ve seen the seamy side of life. Now is there any peace and forgiveness for me and my fatherless child?” This is one picture of the results of sin I shall never forget. There is no impossible case with God. Today that sin-scarred heart can sing of His complete forgiveness as she stands in the sun of His salvation. The choir friends who stand around her are no more surely saved by grace than is she. The price tag on sin is terrifying . . . but the gift card of forgiveness is ours through the acceptance of Jesus Christ our Lord.
NOVEMBER, 1965
15
Made with FlippingBook Online document