“This is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53).
Not being reconciled to the fact of
sin—not recognizing it and refusing to deal with it—produces all the disasters
in life. You may talk about the lofty virtues of human nature, but there is
something in human nature that will mockingly laugh in the face of every
principle you have. If you refuse to agree with the fact that there is
wickedness and selfishness, something downright hateful and wrong, in human
beings, when it attacks your life, instead of reconciling yourself to it, you
will compromise with it and say that it is of no use to battle against it. Have
you taken this “hour, and the power of darkness” into account, or do you have a
view of yourself which includes no recognition of sin whatsoever? In your human
relationships and friendships, have you reconciled yourself to the fact of sin?
If not, just around the next corner you will find yourself trapped and you will
compromise with it. But if you will reconcile yourself to the fact of sin, you
will realize the danger immediately and say, “Yes, I see what this sin would
mean.” The recognition of sin does not destroy the basis of friendship—it
simply establishes a mutual respect for the fact that the basis of sinful life
is disastrous. Always beware of any assessment of life which does not recognize
the fact that there is sin.
Jesus
Christ never trusted human nature, yet He was never cynical nor suspicious,
because He had absolute trust in what He could do for human nature. The pure
man or woman is the one who is shielded from harm, not the innocent person. The
so-called innocent man or woman is never safe. Men and women have no business
trying to be innocent; God demands that they be pure and virtuous. Innocence is
the characteristic of a child. Any person is deserving of blame if he is
unwilling to reconcile himself to the fact of sin.
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