Quote on God's Holiness and Man's Sin -- Stephen Charnock

A 17th Century presbyterian Puritan pastor, Stephen Charnock, discussed God's Holiness and how much God hates sin. In one of Charnock's sermons he collected different analogies that the Bible uses to describe how much God hates sin. I'll quote a short passage from one of Charnock's sermon.

“[Because of God's holiness,] He cannot look on sin without loathing it, He cannot look on sin but His heart riseth against it.  It must needs be most odious to Him, as that which is against the glory of His nature, and directly opposite to that which is the lustre and varnish of all his other perfections... 

The vilest terms imaginable are used to signify [sin].  Do you understand the loathsomeness of a miry swine, or the nauseousness of the vomit of a dog? These are emblems of sin (2 Peter 2:22).  Can you endure the steams of putrefied carcasses from an open sepulchre? (Romans 3:13) Is the smell of the stinking sweat or excrements of a body delightful?  The word filthiness in James 1:21 signifies as much.  Or is the sight of a body overgrown with scabs and leprosy grateful to you?  So vial, so odious is sin in the sight of God.

It is no light thing, then, to fly in the face of God, to break His eternal law ... to trample the transcript of God's own nature under our feet, to cherish that which is inconsistent with His own honour, to lift up our heels against the glory of His nature... Sin, in every part of it, is an opposition to the holiness of God..." See Isaiah 1:5-6

(Charnock, "God's Holiness" p. 251, The Works of Stephen Charnock V. II -- Discourse of the Existence and Attributes of God).

Do you see your sin the way the Holy God sees your sin?

If you know your sin, Hebrews 4:13-16 is a great comfort.

有罪的人 Believing that You are a Sinner in Need of a Savior

2009-6-14

路加福音18章9-14節 --"有罪的人" -- 印主烈 牧師

Luke 18:9-14 -- "Believing that You are a Sinner in Need of a Savior" -- Pastor Joel H. Linton

蒙召後靠聖靈行事 Walking with the Spirit

2009/6/7

加拉太5章13—26節 -- "蒙召後靠聖靈行事" -- 田天德 傳道

Galatians 5:13-26 -- "The Holy Spirit Leads us out of Sin" -- Caleb Tian

通過真正重要的考驗 Passing the Test that Really Matters

2009/4/19

雅各書一章12-18節 - "通過真正重要的考驗" - 康 牧師
James 1:12-18 -- "Passing the Test that Really Matters" - Pastor Tim

傳揚耶穌基督的好消息 Telling the Good News of Jesus Christ

On August 31, 印主烈 牧師 Pastor Joel H. Linton preached on "傳揚耶穌基督的好消息 Proclaiming the Good News of Jesus" from Romans 羅馬書 10:1, 13-21.

罪：靈魂的毀滅與痛苦 Sin: The Ruin and Misery of the Soul - Jonathan Edwards

親愛的弟兄啊，你們是客旅，是寄居的。我勸你們要禁戒肉體的私慾，這私慾是與靈魂爭戰的。彼得前書 2:11

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul." - 1 Peter 2:11 (NIV)

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罪是靈魂的毀滅與痛苦，具有毀滅的本性。倘若神不對罪加以約束，無需再做什麼就足以叫靈魂陷入徹底痛苦之境。－愛德華茲（1741）

"Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable. The corruption of the heart of man is a thing that is immoderate and boundless in its fury; and while wicked men live here, it is like fire pent up by God's restraints, when as if it were let loose it would set on fire the course of nature; and as the heart is now a sink of sin, so, if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into a fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone."

- Jonathan Edwards, A.D. 1741

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Q: 罪是什麼？
A: 凡不遵守神的律法或是違背神的律法，就是罪。
--- 韋斯敏斯德小要理問答（十四）

Q: What is sin?
A: Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.

--- Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 14, A.D. 1647

恨惡己罪的人有盼望 Hope for People who Hate their own Sin

On June 15, 印主烈 牧師 Pastor Joel H. Linton preached on "恨惡己罪的人有盼望 Hope for People who Hate their own Sin" from - 羅馬書7章24節 -- 8章13節 Romans 7:24-8:13

Suggested Reading: the book of 1 John 約翰一書

Thinking about Idolatry 拜偶像 （拜邪神 Pài Siâ-sîn）

拜偶像

耶穌說上帝給我們最大的誡命就是要愛祂，因此最大的罪就是不愛上帝，這罪也叫“拜偶像”，就是愛其他人事物超過愛獨一真神、造我們的主。在紐約牧會的Tim Keller牧師說：“生命若不是以上帝為中心，必走向空虛，如果把生命建造在神以外的人事物上，不但渴望無法滿足時會受傷，就算渴望得到滿足，我們也一樣會受傷。很少人可以完全實現生命中所有偉大的夢想，因此人很容易會活在幻想中，以為他們如果能如願成功、致富、受歡迎或變的更美，他們就可以活的快樂又平安，但事實並非如此。” (Translated by Melody Chen)

Thinking about Idolatry

Jesus said that the greatest commandment from God was to love Him. Our failure to love God is our greatest sin. This sin is also called "idolatry": we love something else much more than our Creator, the true God.

Rev. Tim Keller, a pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, wrote: "A life not centered on God leads to emptiness. Building our lives on something besides God not only hurts us if we do not get the desires of our hearts, but also if we do. Few of us get all of our wildest dreams fulfilled in life, and therefore it is easy to live in the illusion that if you were as successful, wealthy, popular or beautiful as you wished, you would finally be happy and at peace. That just is not so." (The Reason for God - pp. 166-167)

律法顯明人的罪性 Seeing the True Sinfulness of Sin

On May 25,田天德 傳道 Caleb Tian preached on 講道題目："律法顯明人的罪性 The Law Exposes Your Sin" from 經文：Romans 羅馬書 7:7-20

Suggested Reading: Genesis 創世記 3:1-5
Genesis 3:1-5, Proverbs 9:17, Romans 3:23

與基督合而為一 Implications of Being United to Christ - May 4, 2008

On May 4, 田天德 傳道 Caleb Tian preached on "與基督合而為一 Implications of Being United to Christ" from 羅馬書6章1-11節 Romans 6:1-11.

Recommended reading: 以弗所書二8-9 Ephesians 2:8-9

"Jesus Already Paid for Past, Present and Future Sins of His Sheep" - April 20, 2008

On April 20th, 印主烈 牧師 Pastor Joel H. Linton preached on "Jesus Already Paid for Past, Present and Future Sins of His Sheep" - from 羅馬書5章9-11節 Romans 5:9-11

為什麼人們應該行為良善？Why should people do good?

會前默想

為什麼人們應該行為良善？ 為什麼人們應該改變他們的行為？

你改變行為的動機不應該是出於義務感或律法主義。律法主義想藉著遵守一連串的律法，來尋求上帝的接納。律法主義者會告訴你：“如果你想成為好基督徒，你應該做這做那，不然你就是個糟糕的基督徒。”

但是福音的訊息並非如此，聖經說上帝早知你是個糟糕的罪人，上帝喜愛並接納祂的子民是因為基督耶穌的緣故，而不是因為你做了什麼。如果你已信主，上帝就認你為祂的孩子，給你全新的心，上帝改變人是從內心開始。你若信了福音，就會想要改變，以更像愛你至深的救主。

- 印主烈 牧師
(Translated by Melody Chen)
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Opening Meditation for Sunday:

Why should people do good? Why should they change the way they behave?

Your motivation to change should not be out of obligation or legalism. Legalism is trying to follow a list of rules in an effort to be accepted by God. Legalists will tell you, "In order to be a good Christian, you should be like this, or you ought to do that. Otherwise you are bad."

But the message of the Gospel is different. The Bible says that God already knows you are a bad sinner. But God loves and accepts His people because of Jesus Christ, not because of what you do. If you are a believer, God adopted you as His child and He gave you a new heart. God changes people from the inside. Believing the Gospel makes you want to change and be more like the One who loves you so much.

- Pastor Joel H. Linton