William Petruzzo

I realize often that when life is steady, things are going well, my heart toward the Lord will grow stale. It often isn’t until I’ve fallen flat on my face that I remember just how low Jesus had to reach to rescue me.

Praise the Lord that he did.

I can remember growing up the devil was mostly a conceptual idea more than an actual being. He also, on some level was something of a scapegoat. Kind of a “the Devil made me do it” attitude, although not quite so foreword with the wording. At the very least, I would think that it wasn’t entirely the sinner’s fault, because he was tempted.

I see now though that that reasoning isn’t correct. People aren’t tempted by what they’re not already inclined to do.

To use an example, I wouldn’t steal a car. I don’t mean to say that I’m superior in some way to folks who would, but that it’s just not part of my natural inclination. There’s other things I’m inclined to do, but stealing a car just isn’t one of them. If the opportunity arose to steal a car, it wouldn’t be much of a temptation because the inclination isn’t really there to begin with.

But, perhaps lying. Give me the right circumstance and the temptation to lie can be a great struggle. Because in a real and relatively active sense, that struggle is alive in me.

It strikes me that most of the time, when the devil tempts people, he does little more than remind them of what they sinfully already desire to do. I think that’s somewhat of James’ thought when he writes this:

James 1:14

… Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

Granted, James isn’t talking immediately about the devil’s temptation, but he is talking about when we are tempted, regardless of where that temptation itself originates from.

I’m reminded that we have to own our sin. Unless we take full ownership of it, we can never truly repent of it. If we don’t own it, we can never truly appreciate Jesus’ work for us, because on some level, we must believe that we didn’t need it all that badly.

Have you ever suffered a failure in sin and hesitated to return to God in prayer because of the notion of being hypocritical? Or perhaps because of the notion that you’re currently unworthy to come back. Maybe in some subtle way you think there’s a “penance” to be served. Maybe you know God isn’t angry at your for your sin, but you’re angry at yourself and you feel that you’re unworthy to approach him, so you don’t. At least for a time.

From there, maybe you’ll take a few hours or days, depending on the sin, maybe weeks or years, before you return to Jesus in prayer or in the Word—after a "sufficient" time has passed.

I suspect some of you feel this way, because it’s a tendency I have and I’m not an especially unique person. I think it’s a tendency most have. But what we usually fail to realize is that such a thought process is actually highlighting self-righteousness. I know, it sounds weird. There’s so much guilt wrapped up in the grief following sin, how can there be a shred of self-righteousness involved.

Well, in that very moment, there may not be. But when we do that, what’s really happened is we’ve revealed how highly we think of ourselves the rest of the time.

Consider this: before committing whatever sin has left you feeling guilty, desiring not to approach God, were you less sinful? Whether you feel it or not, were you any less guilty before your recent sin? Were you any less deserving of God’s judgement?

Assuming we consider ourselves soberly, of course the answer will always be no. We have not increased our guilt. The only real difference is now we’re feeling our guilt. All of a sudden we’re feeling that we’re unworthy to approach God. Are we actually any less worthy? no. But now we feel it. The self-righteous delusion that says we’re “okay” to come before God is gone and the truth of our depravity is highlighted by our self-righteous attitudes.

Of course the twist that’s so hard to grapple with in the flesh is that the very thing we desire least, is exactly what we should do. We have to do. Walk back before God, whose waiting with arms spread wide, and ask for forgiveness. Of course, without even speaking a word of confession, God has already answered the request joyfully.

You see, I think we forget that we really don’t have a righteousness of our own. We have only One righteousness. Any minute, any day, our own righteousness is filthy. The guilt that we feel after suffering a loss before sin is the guilt that exists perpetually.

When we come to terms with that and marry it to Jesus’ sufferings leading to our salvation, justification, propitiation and eventual sanctification, then He becomes outrageously wonderful. He becomes the reality that drives us day in and day out. And, when we do fail and sin, we are grieved because it reminds us why Jesus chose to suffer, but we rejoice that God’s grace would continue to spread. We rejoice all the more at the vastness of God’s love for his adopted sons and daughters!

I posted on a similar topic a few days ago.

Proverbs 13:4 says:

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,
         But the soul of the diligent is made fat.

I take this to mean we can’t just wait for a hand out from God. Not that he won’t be handing out anything, but rather that he won’t be handing things to us unless we’re diligently seeking them ourselves.

In other words, if someone is lost about what to do with their life, they can’t just sit on the couch waiting for the clouds to part and a revelation to come directly from the lips of God about what they ought to do with themselves. They need to get up and prayerfully start moving and in their diligence God will speak to them.

Another example might be someone who is in a tight financial spot. They cannot just sit back and woe their plight. They need to prayerfully and faithfully move foreword, no matter how unlikely their success. Then, in their diligence and faith, God will meet them.

But I think this also speaks of a deeper need of our heart. Our soul is craving something but only those who diligently seek it will be rewarded.

Everyone craves what is only found in Jesus. But many, in their hard heartedness, will settle for temporary, flimsy satisfactions of worldly provision. They will get nothing. But the diligent who, by the grace of God, desire the superior pleasures found only in Jesus, their souls will be made fat.

That’s pretty cool. Praise God for grace greater than my hard heart.

Several months back, I attempted to start reading John Bunyan’s All Loves Excelling. The book is a meditation on Ephesians 3:18-19:

“That you… may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

The book is only a breath over 100 pages, but perhaps it was the circumstances in life at the time, but I just couldn’t push through. I found that after about the first two chapters I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. So, I decided to shelf the book for a while and come back later.

Well, just recently I picked the book back up and started over. This time, I seem more prepared to share in Bunyan’s meditation.

In fact, tonight, all I really wanted to do was share a quick bit from the last chapter in Part 1.

Bunyan is talking about the height of God. How to man, he is utterly out of reach and beyond our grasp. But, in commenting on the Apostle’s citation of the “height” he reminds us of Jacob’s Ladder. In the vision Jacob had, he saw a ladder going up into the heavens and “the angels of God were ascending and descending on it” (Genesis 28).

In Jacob’s vision, the Ladder was Jesus (John 1:51).

The height of God is inaccessible to man. But the height of Christ is fully adequate. Just like Jacob’s dream, he is our access to the father, but faith. And, concerning such faith, Bunyan had this to say:

“All the rounds of this ladder are sound and fitly placed not one of them set further than that by faith thou mayest step by step unto even until thou shalt to the highest step thereof from whence or which thou mayest step in at the celestial gate where thy soul desireth to dwell.”

Thank you for those words of encouragement, Mr. Bunyan. Thank you Jesus, for Mr. Bunyan.

I was reading in Philippians 3 recently and some of Paul’s words struck me when I read them all together.

Paul has just gone on “boasting in the flesh”. Basically, talking about his qualifications as a Jew. Some think they would find righteousness for themselves outside of Christ because of their works or good deeds or whatever. Paul explains the foolishness of that by boasting about his, rarely matched, works-righteousness.

Paul, however, quickly shuts down his own boasting.

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Paul says that whatever it was that made him “righteous” according to his works, he consider’s “loss”. Not only that he considers everything loss, when it’s compared to the worth of knowing Christ.

The “worth” of knowing Christ?

The value. The extreme value. Knowing Christ means salvation. Knowing Christ means inexpressible joy. Knowing Christ is incomparably valuable. So to seek righteousness apart from him, is not only worthless, it’s actually bad and easily considered “loss” when you compare it to knowing Christ.

In fact, compared to the value of knowing Christ, everything is loss.

Paul has just explained that because of Christ, he has a righteousness that is not his own, but of Christ.

He goes on to explain that in the power of Christ he will do anything “by any means” to remain in Christ. That he would “attain the resurrection from the dead”. In other words, that he would “finish the race” (1 Corinthians 9:24, Hebrews 12:1).

But Paul sets the record straight. He reminds us that while he is still alive, he “[has] not already obtained this or [is] already perfect”. While he still lives, he still must fight the good fight. Stand firm. Mortify the flesh. So that by “any means”(philippians. 3:9) he might be found in Christ Jesus.”

After that sentiment and reminder (which each of us needs to be remembering constantly), he says something that keeps replaying in my mind. I’ll share the verses in their entirety.

"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained." (Philippians 3:12-16)

You know what Paul just did? He just told us one of the means by which he continues to persevere. He "forgets" what has already happened, and focus on the things to come.

That’s such an encouraging statement to me.

Have you ever been sidelined by sin? I mean, not sidelined by God because of your sin, but sidelined by you because of your sin? Like, maybe you sinned, felt ashamed and then couldn’t bring yourself to pray or pick up your bible.

I know that I have. Sometimes, I sideline myself and I always suffer more for it.

I think that part of what Paul is encouraging us with here is that we should never do that. Even in the face of personal, spiritual emotional opposition, we should let go of the things we have done, whether to qualify us or disqualify us, and look foreword to the future. And by "any means" seek to be found in Christ Jesus.

So, this week concludes the journey through Arthur W. Pink’s The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross. I’ll put up a short review tomorrow when I have more time. But to follow suit, today I’d like to quickly point out some of the thoughts Pink laid out this week that really struck me.

First, this week focused on Jesus’ “Word of Contentment”. Namely, Luke 23:46:

Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

One of the most striking things that I noticed this week was an uncanny correlation. While Jesus’ was on the cross, there are seven things recorded of him. Seven is a holy number. It was the day when God rested after having finished creating; he labored for six days, then on the seventh rested. Likewise, Jesus throughout six utterances labored and toiled in pain, and on the seventh rested with his Father.

Pink says it much better than I:

“ ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.’ This was the last utterance of the Saviour ere he expired. While he hung upon the cross, seven times his lips moved in speech. Seven is the number of completeness or perfection. At Calvary then, as everywhere, the perfections of the Blessed One were displayed. Seven is also the number of rest in a finished work: in six days God made heaven and earth and in the seventh he rested, contemplating with satisfaction that which he had pronounced “very good”. So here with Christ: a work had been given him to do, and that work was now done. Just as the sixth day brought the work of creation and reconstruction to a completion, so the sixth utterance of the Saviour was “It is finished.” And just as the seventh day was the day of rest and satisfaction, so the seventh utterance of the Saviour brings him to the place of rest - the Father’s hands.”

Pink also pointed out how this underscores what Jesus had said earlier, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” (John 10:18). Not only was Jesus setting an example of Love and proving that it was His choice, but also dying a totally unique death. No one could rob Jesus of life, but he freely gave it up. After everything was finished and completed, Jesus ‘yielded’ up his spirit.

Well worth the meditation.