By Dr. Ronnie Wolfe - Nov. 19, 2013
Oh, our sin! How deep and shameful it is! How strong and willing to bring us down to the pit! Oh, how lonely it makes our emotions, and, oh, how it surprises us when it awakes suddenly in our minds when we least expect it!
Oh, our sin! Deep as the abyss of hell, long as eternity, and dark as a deep, dark cave! How present is its curse! How unrelenting its force! Oh, how it leads us into temptation, feeds us with its food of folly, leaves us broken-hearted, and needs us for its ever-hungry appetite!
What desperate want we have! What longing to leave it! What hate to have it! How impossible to leave it, for it is our inherent curse, our ever-present visitor, who refuses to depart!
Oh, if we could simply pray for its departure! If we could push it aside! If we could only leave it at the curbside, hide it in a closet, or throw it into the ditch!
Oh, if there were only one who could come and succor our deep depravity! If someone could by hard or easy effort vanquish this canker, this cancer!
If there were or could be someone who could for our sin be a pure satisfaction, willing and able to take this burden; then how thankful would we be!
Oh, how I sought it, and I found it! I heard of a man from a place from where comes no good, and yet he came, the good Shepherd! He called my name through his word, and I heard him and followed him! I understood his work promised from timeless eternity! I saw in spirit the death he died and the life he claimed from the dead!
This man, Jesus, took sin, my sin! He personally carried it to a cross, was hung between heaven and earth, was punished in my place, and paid for my sin. This debt of sin I owed to his Father, and his Father took his death and life as payment, and upon my surrender in faith to this Christ, my heart was relieved, and my sin is gone; and he leads me in the paths of righteousness.
Oh great release! Oh, great love! Oh, desired dedication to him! I can ask no more, but there is more! Past sin is gone! Present sin is forgiven! Future sin is under the blood; and my heart’s desire is that I sin not. But when I do sin, I have a great Lawyer, who will plead my case before the great Judge and win my case against my sin. Then one day, it may be soon, I will be released from this inherent depravity and be made free from this old sinful body to live eternally with my good Shepherd and my Lord, Jesus.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
A Letter To A Close Friend
Dear Friend,
I often wonder how close to death each of us is. Whether we are close enough to see the door creaking open, or whether we are so far from it that it is hidden in the fog of wonder, death is our portion upon which the Lord has cast his sovereign will due to our sin.
But now that sin has taken its journey into the depths of the sea, and now that sin has been sown up in a little bag, and since God remembers them no more, death does not seem to be so mysterious, because God has revealed much of it to us in his word. Death does not seem so lonesome, since we know that, though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we need fear no evil, for he is with us. Death does not seem so fearful, for he has cast away our fear of it, not the fact of it, but the result of it. Even the Lord feared at his death, but he looked for the joy that was beyond it. We, too, shall fear in death, no doubt; but we joy in the result of it.
Heaven is waiting; the Devil is defeated; Christ is ready in his own time to literally "bring us to God." We shall see him as he is, and I think we shall not only be blessed and honored to see him face to face, but we shall also be somewhat surprised at his beauty, his glory, and his majesty.
I am not sure that it is very Scriptural to desire that the Lord will come quickly, but sometimes a weak body and a longing soul can hardly do otherwise. Pain and weakness are pushing me in that direction often in these senior days.
May God give you and your family grace for whatever he has for you. We love you and pray for you often. To God be the glory!
Pastor Dr. Ronnie Wolfe - November 5, 2013
To my friend, Bro. Glenn Archer
I often wonder how close to death each of us is. Whether we are close enough to see the door creaking open, or whether we are so far from it that it is hidden in the fog of wonder, death is our portion upon which the Lord has cast his sovereign will due to our sin.
But now that sin has taken its journey into the depths of the sea, and now that sin has been sown up in a little bag, and since God remembers them no more, death does not seem to be so mysterious, because God has revealed much of it to us in his word. Death does not seem so lonesome, since we know that, though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we need fear no evil, for he is with us. Death does not seem so fearful, for he has cast away our fear of it, not the fact of it, but the result of it. Even the Lord feared at his death, but he looked for the joy that was beyond it. We, too, shall fear in death, no doubt; but we joy in the result of it.
Heaven is waiting; the Devil is defeated; Christ is ready in his own time to literally "bring us to God." We shall see him as he is, and I think we shall not only be blessed and honored to see him face to face, but we shall also be somewhat surprised at his beauty, his glory, and his majesty.
I am not sure that it is very Scriptural to desire that the Lord will come quickly, but sometimes a weak body and a longing soul can hardly do otherwise. Pain and weakness are pushing me in that direction often in these senior days.
May God give you and your family grace for whatever he has for you. We love you and pray for you often. To God be the glory!
Pastor Dr. Ronnie Wolfe - November 5, 2013
To my friend, Bro. Glenn Archer
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