O Wretched Man!

I am convinced that if I never suffered for my sin I would certainly never repent.  God is so wise in the ways that He chastens and leads us back to Him.  Under the burden of a guilty conscience a man will consider confession of sin and repentance, but usually not before!  When we fall into sin even as believers and our sins separate us from God.  This is not typically enough to get our attention:  God must go to great lengths to cause us to see the desperately wicked condition of our flesh.

When King Saul became proud, arrogant, rebellious, and disobedient, God sent an evil spirit to torment him.  Instead of encouraging Saul to repent and offer sacrifice for atonement, though his advisers recognized that God had withdrawn His Spirit and sent an evil spirit instead, they suggested he find a man to play the harp to comfort him (1 Sam. 16:14-23).  The young man they found to play was a young shepherd, David.  When the unclean spirit would begin to torment Saul, David would play soothing music and Saul would feel refreshed and well.  But on two occasions Saul threw a spear at David, hoping to pin him to the wall.  His sin so polluted his mind and the wickedness of the demon so influenced his heart that he sought to war against and destroy the one who came only to comfort.  In a fitting twist before his untimely death Saul sought the help of a medium to conjure up the dead.  Spiritually and literally he fell on his own sword.

So it is with us and the Holy Spirit:  God has sent the Holy Spirit to convict men of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:7-14).  In my own life I have found that it is not so often my sin itself that causes me to seek God, but the misery the conviction the Holy Spirit brings which moves me to repent.  Sin begins so subtly and secretly, so sweet with desire, that I do not recognize the sin.  God must chasten us so we will notice the foothold and legal right we have given Satan in operate in our lives through our willful sin.  We are called to administer the "rod of correction" to our children, for a man chastens a son whom he loves.  Proverbs 3:11-12 states, "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction; ¹² For whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights."  God does not want us to dread His rod of correction or hate the feelings of conviction, no matter what form it might take:  He desires that we hate our sin and repent.

God appeared to King Solomon and blessed him richly with wisdom, peace, prosperity, and abundance.  But Solomon's heart became unfaithful to God and was drawn away from walking in obedience to Him through his many foreign wives.  His life was filled with idolatry and Solomon built altars to demons and worshiped them.  God stirred up adversaries against Solomon, and promised to later rend the kingdom from the hand of his son.  1 Kings 11:14, 23 reads, "Now the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was a descendant of the king in Edom...²³ And God raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his lord, Hadadezer king of Zobah."  Solomon saw his adversaries as a threat, but he didn't see the destructive force of his sin at all.  When Solomon's servant Jeroboam was told by the prophet Ahijah he would be king over Israel, Solomon sought to slay him.  Even with all his great wisdom, Solomon did not discern his sin as the root cause of his adversaries being stirred up by God against him.  He saw the problem as being apart rather than within his own heart.

God would rather our bodies be destroyed by Satan leading to repentance for the salvation of our souls.  If all we encountered was refreshment in in midst of our sins we would no doubt run down the broad path leading to destruction.  1 Corinthians 5:4-5 says, "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁵ deliver such a one (a professing believer in gross sin) to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."  We would never dream of such harsh intervention.  But God knows the deceitfulness of a man's heart that works to his utter ruin.  Unless the LORD builds the house they labour in vain who build it, and unless the LORD chasten a man he would freely choose to make his bed in hell.

Paul writes in Romans 7:21-25:  "I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. ²² For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. ²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."  Only Christ can deliver us from this body of death, the Lamb of God who was made sin for us.  As He rose from the dead in victory over sin and death, so we have been granted the victory of Christ's blood by grace through faith.  Having been risen with Christ we are to live unto Him and no longer to serve the flesh, sin, or Satan.

Do you have peace with God?  You can have it now if you will invite God to search your heart, repent, and trust in Jesus Christ.  Instead of seeing your adversaries or unsettled conscience as the problem, understand that the root cause is likely sin.  We know that the flesh wars against the Spirit:  in your life right now who is winning?  If the Holy Spirit convicts you, do not grieve Him by resisting or justifying yourself:  repent, believe on the LORD Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.