Mortifying Sin
A Bone-marrow Transplant
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Teaching Ministries
December 1, 2002
Adult Sunday School
Class #12
Key Points:
Mortification begins when we see God "terrible majesty"—the examples of Job (chapters 38-42), Isaiah (chapter 6), Habakkuk (chapter 3) are illustrative.
When the soul sees what God is like in His glory, sees what it is like in its sickness, it buries its face in the dirt (this is good!). Then the healing starts. God's radiating majesty kills the rotten marrow of sin and replaces it with humility.
We get the strongest doses of God's majesty when we meditate on the Word (Isaiah 40:12-25; Job 38-42; Psalm 68 are good places to focus).
It may not be enjoyable to focus on His greatness and our "smallness" but in the midst of this humiliation mortification begins.
Meditate on the excellence of God's majesty and your own infinite, inconceivable distance from Him. This will prompt you to recognize your evil heart, a recognition which strikes at the root of any indwelling sin within you.
Sin doesn't breathe well in an atmosphere of fear and reverence before God. It suffocates. Can you imagine your lust (or other sin) being cheery and prosperous when you are on your face before a holy God?