Holiness, Godliness, Usefulness
12/03/2013, by John Kincaid
Lesson 74: Ice Water: Bucket #4
The flesh turns some sins into pets. We grow attached to some sins that we consider “respectable” (Jerry Bridges book). We think of them as harmless pets, even though in reality they are animals that could turn on us and bite.
King David admitted that his unconfessed, cherished sins blinded him to God, festering like infected wounds, and killing his love for God.
Psa.40:12 evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.
Psa.38:5 My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness
Before St. Augustine was saved, he could not go 1 night without a lover – he was in love with lust. As God began to convict him of sin, Augustine prayed “give me purity – but not yet.”
About This Series
The goal of this series is to become more useful in serving the Lord Jesus Christ, as an instrument in the Redeemer's hand. The theme verses for the series are Ephesians 4:22-24, Philemon 11, 2 Timothy 2:21
- to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
- and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
- Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.
- Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.