The Mortification of Sin

John Owen’s The Mortification of Sin is a classic work on sanctification based on Romans 8:13, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death [mortify-KJV] the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Published over 300 years ago, this small book is by no means an easy read but it continues to have a profound impact.

Jerry Bridges, a leading author on godliness and writer of The Pursuit of Holiness and The Discipline of Grace, said in his opinion Owen's Indwelling Sin in Believers and The Mortification of Sin are "the most helpful writings on personal holiness ever written.” Bible scholar J.I. Packer gives similar praise. “I owe more to John Owen than to any other theologian, ancient or modern; and I owe more to [The Mortification of Sin] than to anything else he wrote.”

Killing Sin

Today the word "mortify" seems strange but it simply means to kill sin. Owen urges in one place, "Be killing sin or sin will be killing you."

The killing of sin is one side of sanctification; the other is spiritual-mindedness (Romans 8:6). Paul used metaphors like “putting on” and “putting off” for these two daily duties of holy living. We are to "put on" the new--be increasingly focused on Christ and the new life--and "put off" the old--be increasingly disengaged from what remains of our old patterns of thought and conduct apart from Christ.

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.  (Ephesians 4:22-24)

Put to death [mortify-KJ] therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry….But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator…..Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” (see Colossians 3:5-12)

Aspiration & Mortification

John Stott in Men Made New (pp. 91-92) helpfully explains two theological terms for the two sides of sanctification.

Aspiration is the process of setting our mind on the things of the Spirit. “Those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit”(Romans 8:5). Aspiration, Stott writes, is:

a whole-hearted giving of ourselves, in thought and energy and ambition, to ‘whatever is true and honorable, just and pure, lovely and gracious’ (see Phil. 4:8). It will include a diligent use of the ‘means of grace,’ such as prayer, Bible reading, fellowship, worship, the Lord’s Supper, and so on.

Mortification means:

a ruthless rejection of all practices we know to be wrong; a daily repentance, turning from all known sins of habit, practice, association or thought; a plucking out of the eye, a cutting off of the hand or foot, if temptation comes to us through what we see or do or where we go. The only attitude to adopt towards the flesh is to kill it.

Stott says aspiration and mortification should both be viewed as life-giving processes:

Both hold the secret to life, in the fullest sense. There is no true life without the death called mortification, and there is no true life without the discipline called aspiration. It is while we put to death the deeds of the body that we shall live (vs 13); it is while we set our minds on the things of the Spirit that we find “life and peace” (vs 6).

Why Owen Wrote

Three things moved John Owen to write “The Mortification of Sin.” First, as a doctor of souls, he had discovered that most believers were not able to stand up against temptation. He said he had observed in the general condition of believers "a great disability” in the handling of temptations.

Second, Owen was moved by the “dangerous mistakes” of spiritual leaders who emphasized harsh bodily discipline as the path to holiness. Their teaching was not Christ-centered and grace-based; it was a man-focused, man-empowered attempt at holiness. Owen said such people were “unacquainted with the mystery of the gospel and the efficacy of the death of Christ.” These men had:

imposed the yoke of a self-wrought-out mortification on the necks of their disciples, which neither they nor their forefathers were ever able to bear. A mortification they cry up and press, suitable to that of the gospel neither in respect of nature, subject, causes, means, nor effects; which constantly produces the deplorable issues of superstition, self-righteousness, and anxiety of conscience in them who take up the burden which is so bound for them.

False mortification

The apostle Paul opposed fleshly asceticism in Colossians 2:16. “They have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (see 2:16-23).

Third, Owen wrote out of a desire to glorify God and adorn the gospel by being holy in his personal life and by fostering holiness in others.

I hope I may own in sincerity, that my heart’s desire unto God, and the chief design of my life in the station wherein the good providence of God hath placed me, are, that mortification and universal holiness may be promoted in my own and in the hearts and ways of others, to the glory of God; that so the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be adorned in all things.

If I Die Before I Wake

I was four years old when my grandfather died and I distinctly remember sitting in my mother's lap as she replaced the phone and began to cry. I was of course too young to comprehend the reason for her tears, but in time I must have understood somewhat, for I’ve always traced the beginning of my fear of death to that moment.

 
And my bedtime prayers did not dispel those fears. "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." Take my soul? Before I wake? It's a good prayer and I'm glad I learned it from my mother and sister. I’m sure it was meant to comfort me, but in some way it contributed to a sense that my death was ever at hand.
 
In my fifth grade Bible class the teacher had us memorize Psalm 23, the Shepherd psalm, in the King James version. There the psalmist says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” Believers find great comfort in that verse. But I did not. I did not yet know the Shepherd, and all I got from that verse was a disturbing image of walking in a valley with Death casting a dark shadow over me.
 
Understand, I wasn’t always ruminating on these things, and I suspect my family will be surprised to hear I had such thoughts at all. But I was concerned enough to wonder if I'd live to age seven, and then when I did, if I’d live to age nine, and then it was eleven and so on. By no means the only factor in my turning to Christ at age nineteen, the fear of death and, sometimes, the fear of having to face God, certainly played a part.
 
So it was an incredible thing how I immediately found freedom from the fear of death when I became a Christian. And it was not at all an unusual thing. For the Bible says Jesus died that "through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage" (Hebrews 2:14-15).

"If our death problem is solved,” says Pastor John Piper, “we are the freest of people."

If you have two minutes, you might enjoy listening to John Piper's excellent remarks on the power of the gospel to take away the fear of death.

Here's the link: The Power of the Gospel and the Fear of Death

What Famous People Said About Jesus

I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him. --Napoleon

I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history. -- H.G. Wells

A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act. -- Mahatma Gandhi

Jesus was the greatest religious genius that ever lived. -- Ernest Renan

As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene....No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life. -- Albert Einstein

No one else holds or has held the place in the heart of the world which Jesus holds. Other gods have been as devoutly worshipped; no other man has been so devoutly loved. -- John Knox

Even those who have renounced Christianity and attack it, in their inmost being still follow the Christian ideal, for hitherto neither their subtlety nor the ardour of their hearts has been able to create a higher ideal of man and of virtue than the ideal given by Christ of old. -- Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of school, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times. –- Historian Philip Schaff

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.-- C.S. Lewis

Buddha never claimed to be God. Moses never claimed to be Jehovah. Mohammed never claimed to be Allah. Yet Jesus Christ claimed to be the true and living God. Buddha simply said, "I am a teacher in search of the truth." Jesus said, "I am the Truth." Confucius said, "I never claimed to be holy." Jesus said, "Who convicts me of sin?" Mohammed said, "Unless God throws his cloak of mercy over me, I have no hope." Jesus said, "Unless you believe in me, you will die in your sins." -- Unknown

Fundamentally, our Lord's message was Himself. He did not come merely to preach a Gospel; He himself is that Gospel. He did not come merely to give bread; He said, "I am the bread." He did not come merely to shed light; He said, "I am the light." He did not come merely to show the door; He said, "I am the door." He did not come merely to name a shepherd; He said, "I am the shepherd." He did not come merely to point the way; He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." -- J. Sidlow Baxter

The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity. If the resurrection did not take place, then Christianity is a false religion. If it did take place, then Christ is God and the Christian faith is absolute truth. -- Henry Morris

To holy people the very name of Jesus is a name to feed upon, a name to transport. His name can raise the dead and transfigure and beautify the living. --John Henry Newman

God will answer all our questions in one way and one way only. Namely, by showing us more of his Son. -- Watchman Nee

I have one passion. It is He, only He. -- Count Zinzendorf

Bing Crosby recites "ONE SOLITARY LIFE"

St. Patrick's Breastplate--A Prayer

Warfare prayers have a long history in the life of God's people. Typically these are prayed aloud or sung. Verbalizing better enables us to focus our thoughts, appropriate the truth of our position and resources in Christ, and assert our firm stand against evil powers.

St. Patrick's Breastplate is a prayer attributed to the famous 5th century missionary to Ireland. It was written in the style of a druidic incantation for protection on a journey and was no doubt inspired by Ephesians 6:10-18.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength,
The invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.
 
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth
With his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion
With his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection
With his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent
For the judgment of Doom.
 
I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
 
I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun, radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire, speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind, depth of sea,
Stability of earth, firmness of rock.
 
I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear, alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers

Between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power
That may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that
Corrupts man's body and soul.
 
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me
Abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me,

Christ behind me, Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength,
The invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.
 

Growing Old Reaching High

“The righteous flourish like the palm tree….They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright.” Psalm 92:12, 14

I turn fifty-nine in a few days and I’m asking some of the same questions I asked as a young man. What am I going to do next? What do I need to know? Who will I learn from? What if I fail?

On the one hand, I see the sands in the hourglass piling at the bottom. If there is a holy sense of carpe diem, I feel it. Time is running out. What can I do today to love God and others better? How can I seize the opportunities and make each day count?

On the other hand, I see that more and more people are living to 90, even 100 years in good health. Perhaps I should be contemplating the possibility of quite a long life. And such a life will most certainly include some aches and pains and diminished capacities.

We naturally associate aging with frailty. But the Bible depicts old age as both a time of frailty and potential. Attitude makes a difference. J. Oswald Sanders said, “It’s attitude, not arteries, that determines the vitality of our maturing years.”

Moses thought to deliver his people from Egypt when he was 40, but he was 80 when God finally made it happen. Abram was 100 years old before God fulfilled the promise of a son he gave to Abram long before. Caleb was young when he spied out the Promised Land and saw a mountain he wanted for himself, but not until he was 85 years old, after enduring 40 years of testing in the wilderness, did God give Caleb a second chance to take that mountain. And at 85 Caleb was still eager to get after it:

And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.”  Joshua 14:10-12

Caleb had a vision that waited a long time, but finally God brought him back and he conquered the sons of Anak in the fortified cities of the hill country.

What’s your vision? Mine was always to become a faithful man of God--a person who reflects the character of Jesus and bears spiritual fruit in the lives of others. For me, mountain-taking is the daily overcoming of the world, the flesh and the devil through faith in Christ and the power of his Holy Spirit. When I was younger I did not realize how very difficult it is to do these things and do them consistently. And then after many setbacks I doubted that I would ever become a man of God.

So it has been strengthening for my faith to consider how Abraham, Moses and Caleb experienced fresh grace and blessing from the “God of the Second Chance” late in their lives. So also Job, “And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning” (Job 42:12).

For all we know the Sovereign Lord has ordered our lives in just such a way that only in our last years, after many failures and adversities have softened our hearts and humbled us and caused us to feel weak and dependent on God, are we able at last to move forward with the dreams of our youth and begin claiming the high country.

A Heart Where Gratitude Sings

 From Sylvia Gunter's weekly devotional newsletter...

Journal of Gratitude

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. Psalm 100 Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life. Psalm 23:6 We often neglect to tell those who matter most how much God blesses us through their lives. Our family relationships are richer when we express our gratitude to God for them and tell them so. Gratitude starts with humility, acknowledging that we enjoy blessings because of God's mercies. A friend's personally designed Christmas card read, "Thou hast given us so much. Give us one thing more...a grateful heart." Reflect on every person for whom you are grateful and for what you are grateful. Take out pen and paper, and share the overflow of your heart with your family. Your thanksgiving blessing will become a treasured legacy. Pray with me, "Lord, make my heart a habitation where gratitude sings." These thoughts will get you started. Your own journal of gratitude will be longer and much more specific. Father, from whom every family on earth is named, we give thanks- for time together as a family for our continuing love relationship with You through Jesus for our love relationship with each other for life, health, bright minds, and physical safety for food, clothing, a comfortable house, a clean bed for enjoying being together with laughter for the uniqueness of each one for the rock of strength that prayer is for us for faithful friends who encourage us by praying for our family for seeing God's hand of grace at work in our lives as we experience more of Him for God's plan for our lives and His enabling to keep us in His will each day for weaknesses through which God shows Himself strong in us for wisdom and guidance in daily circumstances for strength for daily demands of job and family for hope, peace, victory, satisfaction, and fulfillment for financial blessings for spiritual strength in spiritual battles for Your patience in the testing, struggles, and refining that we grow through for Jesus' sufficiency for today's grace for forgiveness received and forgiveness extended for hearts of obedience for more than we could ever deserve! Thanks, family, for who you are and all you mean to me. With love...

Adapted from Journal Of Gratitude In The Empty Nest Season Of Life, Prayer Essentials For Living In His Presence Vol 1, page 75 © Sylvia Gunter, 2000, The Father's Business, P O Box 380333, Birmingham, AL 35238.

Trample Sins in the Death of Christ--Brooks

From Thomas Brooks "The Crown and Glory of Christianity" (1662).

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" Colossians 3:5

While a darling sin lives and keeps the throne in the heart, grace and holiness will be kept exceeding weak and low. But when your darling sin is dethroned and slain by the power and the sword of the Spirit—grace and holiness will quickly grow stronger and stronger, and rise higher and higher.

When a man has eaten poison, nothing will make him thrive, until he has vomited up the poison. Beloved sins—they are the poison of the soul, and until these are vomited up, and cast out by sound repentance, and the exercise of faith in the blood of Christ, the soul will never thrive in grace and holiness!

If ever you would attain to higher degrees of holiness, then fall with all your might upon subduing and crucifying your most raging corruptions, and your most daring lusts!

Oh do not think that your golden and your silver idols will lay down their weapons, and yield the battle, and lie at your feet, and let you trample them to death—without striking a blow! Oh remember that besetting-sins will do all they can to keep their ground, and therefore you must arise with all your strength against them, and crush them to powder, and burn them to ashes!

Oh deal with your most enraged lusts, as the Philistines dealt with Samson—pluck out their eyes, and force them to grind in the mill of mortification, until their strength is utterly consumed and wasted.

I have read of five men, who being asked what was the best means to mortify sin, gave these answers. Said the first, "The best means to mortify sin, is to meditate on death."

Said the second, "The best means to mortify sin, is to meditate on the judgment day."

Said the third, "The best means to mortify sin, is to meditate on the joys of heaven."

Said the fourth, "The best means to mortify sin, is to meditate on the torments of hell."

Said the fifth, "The best means to mortify sin, is to meditate on the death and sufferings of Christ."

Doubtless the last man hit the nail on the head!

The daily sight of a bleeding, groaning, dying Savior—is the only thing which will subdue and mortify darling sins! O friends! Never leave looking up to a crucified Christ, until virtue flows from Him to the crucifying of those special besetting sins which do most obstruct and hinder the growth and increase of holiness.

Recognizing "Darling Sins"

"If I had cherished inquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened" Psalm 66:18

In Puritan writings, “the sin which clings so closely” in Hebrews 12:1 is frequently called a darling sin. "While a darling sin lives and keeps the throne in the heart," wrote Thomas Brooks, "grace and holiness will be kept exceeding weak and low." 

Darling sins are cherished sins. Other sins we may abhor but we are fond of these and play with them and feed them and protect them.

Often darling sins are not viewed as sins at all; they are blind spots and may even appear virtuous to us. We may regard our pride as confidence, our lust as love, a hot temper as mere feistiness, unbelief and fear as cautiousness, a critical spirit as an analytical mind, coveting as admiring, defiance as independent thinking, presumption as boldness, and gossip as concern.

The devil insinuates thoughts into our minds to keep us in a darling sin by re-framing, covering over, minimizing, justifying, and excusing.

“It’s no big deal.

“Everybody does it.”

“It’s only a little one.”

“It’s not as bad as my other sins.”

“I don’t do it very often.”

“It doesn’t hurt anyone.”

“No one will even notice.”

“Most people do worse things.”

Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). To be among God's intimates, we must be pure and undivided in heart. Could it be we don't sense closeness with God because a darling sin has crowded Him out?

Reflection: What are my darling sins? Am I being honest with God about them?

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, you know me through and through. Show me the sins I am cherishing. Do a mighty work in me by your Holy Spirit that I might repent and give myself completely to you. In Jesus name. Amen.

rev 1/17/12

Why Did God Allow Evil?

John MacArthur speculates on the question, "Why did God allow evil?" in "The Origin of Evil," a message given in 2000. MacArthur's answer is, essentially, that God allowed evil because he wanted to make himself known, he wanted to manifest his attributes, his grace and mercy and also his wrath, and because God wanted to eliminate the possibility of evil forever.

The audio version is posted on Youtube in three parts: Part One,  Part Two and Part Three. The passage below begins near the end of Part Two:

Now the question then comes up...why would God allow sin? There's no specific statement but I think you can make a fairly reasonable speculation beyond which I cannot go and don't find any value in tempting to go. And it is this...what did sin coming into the world bring about? Well it brought about, I would say, three things. And these are the three reasons why I believe God allowed evil.

Number one, it brought about the salvation of sinners, right? God had to allow sin; God had to decree sin in the plan though never the author of it, in order that He might save sinners. Well, why did God want to save sinners? To put on display attributes that otherwise never would have been manifest, right? 

How is God going to show grace if there aren't any sinners? How is God going to show mercy if there aren't any sinners? That was a part of God's nature that God wanted to display for His own glory throughout all eternity. So God provided a means by which He could demonstrate grace, demonstrate mercy. He also wanted to show love, love that is so far reaching that it can reach even His own enemies who hate Him. How is He going to show that if He doesn't have any enemies?

So God allows evil in order that He might demonstrate grace and mercy and forgiveness and salvation. Secondly, He allows evil in order that He might display His wrath...in order that He might put His wrath on display, His anger on display, His judgment on display. How would God ever reveal that part of His true and eternal nature if there were not an opportunity to judge sinners? And so, all you can do is look at redemptive history and you see the salvation of sinners and the damnation of sinners and that is what goes on and you see ultimately a place prepared for those who are damned and a place prepared for those who are saved and you must conclude then that the eternal purpose of God was to save some and judge some in order that He might demonstrate both His grace and His wrath.

And then I like to throw a third thought in there. I believe that God allowed sin in order that He might forever destroy it. As long as His creatures have any measure of freedom, as long as His creatures have intelligence, that is they can know and reason, that is they can process that knowledge toward behavior, and choice, that is they can choose what to do, as long as they have that capacity there is a potential for them to fall short of the standard. Right? To make the wrong choice. Well it didn't take long for them to do it. We don't know how long it was before Lucifer made the wrong choice before God. We don't know how long it was even in the Garden before Adam and Eve made the wrong choice, but it was certainly before they had any children. They had their children probably around the age of a hundred or a little more. 

So there is choice and the potential of a wrong choice is there. A measure of freedom is given to the creatures by which they can choose to honor God, by which they can choose to dishonor. As long as that is there, then the reality, the potential reality of evil exists when the wrong choice is made. And I believe that once the wrong choice is made, then God goes into action and one, He can demonstrate His grace and salvation; two, He can demonstrate His wrath in judgment; and three, He can then finally destroy evil. It's almost as if God wanted evil to come to the surface so that He could excise it. 

That's what's going to happen when the whole of redemptive history is complete, when all the saved are saved and all the lost are cast into the lake of fire, then death and hell are thrown into the lake of fire. What does that mean? No more death and no more hell and no more judgment. Why? Because there won't be anymore sin. And when you go to heaven, there's nothing there that smacks of a sinful world, right? There's no more sorrow, no more sadness, no more sin, no more dying, no more death.

A Humble Guy Shines for Christ

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of the opportunity.”  Ephesians 5:15-16

Ruth Bell Graham, in her book “Legacy of a Pack Rat,” tells a story about a professor and a man who shined his boots: 

    Alexander Grigolia had immigrated to America from Soviet Georgia, learned English, earned three doctoral degrees, and became a successful professor at the University of Pennsylvania. But despite his freedom and achievements, he had a misery in his heart that he couldn’t dislodge.

    One day while getting a shoeshine he noticed that the bootblack went about his work with a sense of joy, scrubbing and buffing and smiling and talking. Finally Dr. Grigolia could stand it no longer. He said in his funny-sounding accent, “What always you so happy?” 

    Looking up, the bootblack paused and replied, “Jesus. He loves me. He died so God could forgive my badness. He makes me happy.” 

    The professor snapped his newspaper back in front of his face, and the bootblack went back to work.

    But Dr. Grigolia never escaped those words, and they brought him eventually to the Savior. He later became a professor of anthropology at Wheaton College, and taught, among others, a young student named Billy Graham.