Killing lust -law

But holiness can be learned only at the cross

This is a painstaking lesson to learn, but one that we must, if we are to mortify lust [i]God's[/i] way. This is coming from a brother that has tried to learn holiness from reading the Bible cover-to-back multiple times, from memorizing entire chapters of scripture, from trying to "work something up" in the prayer closet, from exercising staunch willpower and determination, from attempting to manipulate my thought process, from fasting twice a week, from [i]preaching holiness[/i] in the pulpit and [i]repentance[/i] on the street, from surrounding and inundating myself with the sermons and writings of other holy men of God, from coveting the prayers of others, to meditating on the blood of Jesus to cleanse me through and through, and to basically anything and everything under the sun to help accomplish the killing of lust and the cleansing of my heart to usher me into a holy, God-intoxicated lifestyle.

But I found that none of the abovementioned things could keep my heart right for long. Something else was lacking.

It has taken me years and years of folly and toil to learn the secret of holiness and how the Spirit accomplishes the true mortification of lust through faith. I have discovered that it is by gazing on Christ alone, on the crucified One, on the Serpent in the wilderness. It is as we look soley upon Jesus - the Author and Finisher of our faith - that we are thereby made more and more like him and our inner men are progressively conformed to His perfect image.

It is a sight of the dying Jesus--which kills lust"

I was training my eyes and thoughts to look upon and think on things [i]about[/i] Jesus other than Jesus Himself. I was looking at the distant, victorious crowns, I was looking at the spiritual success by other men of God and measuring my progression by their standards. I was even looking at my own mind and heart, keeping a watch on how [i]they[/i] were keeping watch! I never realized the simple truth was found in just looking to Him.

Well, brethren, now that I've found the object to gaze upon, the rest of my life will be spent on learning how to [i]discipline[/i] my heart and mind and spiritual eyes to maintain a steady gaze. This is easier said than done! This is true Christian warfare, and the fight is indeed for an invaluable cause! I think Satan would try to keep the cross shrouded in the cloak of darkness, hidden from gaze of the sin-smitten. Let it thunder, let the rocks split, but to keep the cross in darkness and occluded from the eyes of the child undergoing temptation is his perogative. As darkness covered the land when Jesus hung dead and cursed, so darkness attempts to cloud our minds and fog our gazes when death-inspired lusts are conceived in our heart.

Learning to look upon Christ is a discipline we all must learn.

Brother Paul

Bless you, Brother Paul...eloquently written and so profoundly true!

so profoundly true!

Saints,

I can't resist. This thread is begging to be turned into a discussion regarding "looking" or "gazing" unto Jesus. I'd like to quote a few sections from Tozer's [i]The Pursuit of God[/i], and, in particular, from the chapter "The Gaze of the Soul":

"[i]Looking[/i] on the Old Testament serpent is identical with [i]believing[/i] on the New Testament Christ. That is, looking and believing are the same thing. While Israel [i]looked[/i] with their external eyes, believing is done with the heart. Faith is the gaze of the soul upon a saving God....and our Lord Himself looked always up at God. 'Looking up to heaven, he blessed, he brake, and gave bread to His disciples (Matt. 14:19).' Indeed, Jesus taught that He wrought His works by always keeping His inward eyes upon His Father. His power lay in His continuous look at God (John 5:19-21)...from all this, we learn that faith is not a once-done act but a [i]continuous[/i] gaze of the heart at the Triune God."

Tozer again concering the secret of "looking" unto Jesus:

"At first this may be difficult, but it becomes easier as we look steadily at His wonderous Person, quietly and without strain. Distractions may hinder, but once the heart is committed to Him, after each brief excursion away from Him the attention will return again and rest upon Him like a wandering bird coming back to a window."

Isaiah 53:1-12
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? [2] For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. [3] He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
[4] Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. [5] But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. [6] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7] He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. [8] He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. [9] And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
[10] Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. [11] He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. [12] Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Vs 3 says: "and we hid as it were our faces from Him".

We need to see the "our" in Verses 4,5
Our griefs, our sorrows, our transgressions, our inquities, and our peace and our faces will be turned to the loviness of the cross.
Only by looking upon Him, in this light, will we reflect His image.

In His Love

pastorfrin

...but once the heart is committed to Him

This hurdle is sometimes hard to clear.

One must first get rid of all idols before one can be truly committed to Jesus. Many times I have thought I was truly committed to Christ, only to have an idol appear where there once was none.

Great thread.

Many times I have thought I was truly committed to Christ, only to have an idol appear where there once was none.

This is the story of my life, dear brother.

Time and time again I have to remind myself that [i]there is nothing good in me[/i]. This endearing truth is sometimes distorted when a believer is enjoying a prolonged victory over some besetting sin. I speak from personal experience. Paul said to take heed when when you stand, lest you fall. Committing my heart to God (and keeping it committed) is delicate work. I know that my flesh is intransigent and bequiling. Owen said that when sin's waters are calm, they are the deepest.

The hidden idols of the heart...oh, my brother. They are there. They are there, and graciously unmasked by God through various evocative situations in life. You may think, for example, that you've gained mastery over the idol of money, because simply, there's been no recent situations to rouse that specific idol in your life. So, you rest assured in your stance of idol mastery, you lower your guard, and then - WHAM! Your brother-in-law needs to borrow $1,500.00 and you know he has a track record of poor money management. You're perplexed! That old, ugly idol rears its head, unmortified in all its splendor. It's like venturing through a mysterious jungle, slashing away through all the overgrowth, triumphantly thinking you'll discover the city of gold, when you hear the roar of a tiger and turn around just as he leaps for your throat...

Such are idols, and how they can often pop up out of nowhere, and with unprecedented influence. I believe that God brings the occasion to flush our idols into broad daylight for mortification. He flushes them out by way of divers temptations, with the resolve to foster patience in us, and that through such patient mortification, [i]we[/i] may be made perfect by looking unto Christ.

Brother Paul

So much is being said that has reflected the state of my soul these past four days.

Time and time again I have to remind myself that there is nothing good in me. This endearing truth is sometimes distorted when a believer is enjoying a prolonged victory over some besetting sin. I speak from personal experience. Paul said to take heed when when you stand, lest you fall. Committing my heart to God (and keeping it committed) is delicate work. I know that my flesh is intransigent and bequiling. Owen said that when sin's waters are calm, they are the deepest.

So, so true. It's amazing how one moment we can be feasting on the mountain, and the next find ourselves in the miry clay of sin.

Truly gazing upon the cross of Christ, and what He finished there, is power.

"[b]Behold[/b] the Lamb of God, which [b]taketh away[/b] the sin of the world."

One must first get rid of all idols before one can be truly committed to Jesus. Many times I have thought I was truly committed to Christ, only to have an idol appear where there once was none.

When God shows you an idol or sin you committed learned to obey the Spirit quickly, draw near to God and confess your sin and God will cleanse you from it and you can continue to walk perfect before Him. He shows us our short comings in order to refine us, not condemn us, that we may go on walking from glory to glory.

Keep looking up and believe!

"I would emphasize this one committal, this one great volitional act which establishes the heart's intention to gaze forever upon Jesus. God takes this intention for our choice and makes what allowances He must for the thousand distractions which beset us in this evil world. He knows that we have set the directions of our hearts toward Jesus, and we can know it too, and comfort ourselves with the knowledge that a habit of soul is forming which will become after a while a sort of spiritual reflex requiring no more conscious effort on our part."

A.W. Tozer from "The Gaze of the Soul"