Preface: The following post is from December of 2021....and as in everything else....it is even worse today....
Richard Sibbes was one of the more famous Puritan preachers....and he was known for exalting the beauties of Christ....so much so that the heart softens....and the hearer cannot but fall in love with the Savior....and so it must be with the Christian or we wind up doing our 'good works' if you will....out of obedience only....and not out of love....therefore not being 'good' works at all.
When we read God's Word....we are not just reading about Christ.....we are....reading Christ....every passage is as if standing before Him....gazing at His glory....enraptured by the majesty before us. The whole world....and all of its baubles....and all of its demands....and all of its threats and the fears associated with them....melt away in the searing holiness of the One....the One who actually loves us! We can be as Peter....who walked on water....gazing at Jesus before him....but when we take our eyes of of Him....we begin to sink.
This is the challenge of the day. Our nation is crumbling fast. This is where we live....and raise our families....it should be natural that at times like this we turn toward Christ even more....for this is not a mere muse that we have proclaimed to love....but the creator of all things....who holds the universe together by His will....who alone determines....and for His reasons alone....what will become of us....but we turn....to the loudest noise....and we sink slowly into the muddy battlefield....our love....if indeed there was love....fades....as we turn from beauty to the beast.
It can be put in mathematical terms....if every minute that we have spent listening to other voices....taking our advice from those who care nothing for the beauty of Christ....but only the glittering parade float with His name on it....if every minute had been spent....seeking His guidance....searching the Scriptures....renewing our minds....the equation would have proven sound....the algebraic proof....evident in our nation. As it is....nothing works....nothing balances the books....nothing cures....nothing even softens the symptoms.
We fell out of love....we strayed....we no longer cherished His letters to us so as to have to reread them every day....no longer had faith in our beloved....or gazed at His beauty....or walked in discernment....but turn to the parade behind us....no longer brought glory to Him....no longer were nourished by the food of His words....or given light from His countenance....or peace from His presence....yet as He approaches in judgment to take what is His....he tells us to get our houses in order....for His love has remained faithful even if ours has not.
