TEXT: Romans 8:13

SUBJECT: Mortification #10

Tonight brings us to chapter ten of John Owen's great book, On the Mortification of Sin. As the title suggests, its goal is to help us to mortify our sins or to "put to death the deeds of the body".

Who needs to do this? Every believer, without exception. The newest convert has many sins to mortify. And so does the oldest and holiest man alive.

Why do we need to do this? Because our souls are at stake! He who mortifies his sin "lives"--says the Apostle. He who doesn't? Dies.

How do we mortify our sins? Thus far, Owen has given three rules--two general and one particular. Now, we come to his second "particular direction". Here it is: If you want to mortify your sins, you must

"Clear" means just that. You've got to see your sin as it really is (not as you wish it were). And your insight must be "abiding" and not just an occasional or impulsive thing.

John Owen's outline in this chapter is a lot clearer than in most others. He simply tells us of how great the guilt, danger, and evil of sin is.

Owen reminds us of something we all know, but are too prone to forget.

How does sin deceive us? Here's one way: Because I'm a Christian, my sins are not so bad. If an unbeliever gossips, that's really bad. But my gossip isn't so bad. Because I'm saved, my gossip is sort of sanctified!

Is this true? Does the believer's sin carry less guilt than the unbeliever's? No it doesn't. In fact, quite the opposite is true. "To whom much is given--our Lord said--"much will be required". God has given the believer more than the unbeliever. Our sins, therefore, are much worse than the sins of the lost. Much of what they do is through ignorance. But we know better! And are, therefore, more responsible for our sins.

What's more, our sins are more hurtful to others than the sins of the unsaved. When the lost man curses at work, nobody blinks an eye. But let the saved man say the same words, and others will mock God or His Gospel. Kings are notorious for their sexual misconduct. But it was David--not Pharaoh--who made others "Blaspheme" the Lord.

We may minimize our guilt, but the Lord does not. Owen says,

This is the guilt of sin. Some of it, at least. What should this do for us? Not make us wallow in sin, but to get out of it. How? By "putting to death the deeds of the body".

Owen calls this danger "manifold". He gives four examples of it.

First of all, sin has a way of hardening the heart. Hebrews 3:12-13 urges us to "Exhort one another daily". Why? Not to keep us busy, but because this keeps others from being "hardened through the deceitfulness of sin".

What does "hardness" imply? A lack of feeling. Calloused hands can grip things soft hands can't. Why? Because the callouses keep the hands from feeling anything. And so, what's a hard heart? It's one that doesn't feel anything. It feels nothing bad; it feels nothing good. It is "past feeling" Paul says somewhere.

It doesn't feel the conviction of sin; it doesn't feel the love of God. It doesn't feel anything. If you've ever been backslidden, you know what I mean. When doing well, a day without prayer shocks you. When backslidden, you hardly notice. Or, when doing well, God's mercy touches you deeply. When not so well, it's just a word.

What's so bad about being hardened? Well, the less you notice sin, the more of it you'll commit. And, the less you feel God's grace, the more you'll neglect and despise it.

Keep this in mind: Hardening of the heart is not hypothetical! It is a real thing. And mighty dangerous.

In the second place, sin brings down chastisement. As a father punishes a son who misbehaves, so God punishes His children when we deserve it.

His chastening hurts; sometimes it hurts badly. Does it work for our good? Yes it does? Should we "despise" it? No we shouldn't. Should we even thank God for it? Yes. But this doesn't mean we should court it or invite it or bring it down on us by our sinful ways!

David sinned and paid dearly. His little boy died; his family fell into chaos; he bore the shame all his life. The sad thing is: These punishments might have been so easily avoided. All he had to do was turn his head and not look at Bathsheba! That would have done it. How much heartache he would have missed if only he had pondered the discipline of God.

Thirdly, sin forfeits our peace and strength. Peace of mind is a wonderful thing! With it, the poorest man can sleep at night. Without it, the richest man tosses and turns on his silk sheets!

The fact is: You can't have both peace of mind and unconfessed sin. One or the other must give way. Now, honestly, which would you rather have?

Strength too, depends on a good conscience. "The wicked flee when no man pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion". You give up this up too when you don't fess up to your sins and mortify them by God's Spirit.

Number four: The danger of eternal destruction. John Owen was a Calvinist and believed in eternal security. He didn't think a truly saved person could ever fall away to the point of being lost forever. Yet, he was honest enough to take the warnings of the Bible seriously!

Think of Colossians 3:5-6 or Ephesians 5:3-6. Both are written to saved people. But you never get the feeling that the warnings aren't serious! Unmortified sins damn the soul. No matter what you believe or what good you do or what church you attend.

These are the dangers of sin--some of them at any rate. The dangers of sin ought to quicken us to "put to death the deeds of the body".

This, I think, is Owen's best point. What's so bad about sin anyway? Owen says three things:

First, "It grieves the holy and blessed Spirit". How?

Owen gives some ideas.

In other words, sin is more than breaking a law; it's personal. Cursing is bad; but cursing at a friend is worse. It shows no gratitude or loyalty; it hurts someone we ought to love. Who's a better friend than the Holy Spirit? Yet who do we "grieve" more often than Him?

A second example. Says Owen,

What if I knew you had a terrible enemy--someone who's done you much wrong over the years, and isn't about to change. I invite you to dinner one night and--there he is sitting at the head of the table! Would you be happy with me? Or mad and upset at my disrespect? Well, sin is the Spirit's worst enemy. And sin is not about to make things right with Him. Yet, there it is, filling our hearts, and making the Spirit feel very unwelcome.

You know, don't you, that the believer's body is "the Temple of the Holy Spirit" (see I Corinthians 6). The Temple is meant to be clean. When we sin and don't repent, however, we muddy up His House. And He's not happy about that!

Sin also "freshly wounds the Lord Jesus Christ". When we lust for evil things--Owen says--we "foil His love and gratify His adversary". He adds

We sing, "What a friend we have in Jesus". Yet how often we hurt our Best Friend.

Lastly, Owen says, unmortified sin "takes away a man's usefulness".

Your sins may not send you to hell, but they will make you less useful than you might have been. This is especially true of preachers. How much more good we might do if only we mortified our sins with more vigor and honesty!

A friend of mine was a pastor and--I think--a good man. But he had a lust for his secretary. One Friday afternoon, instead of going home to his wife and kids, he went home with his secretary (who was also married). This, of course, cost him his ministry. The good he was doing was significant; how much more he might have done! But now, he won't. He hasn't lost his soul, but he has lost much of his usefulness. All because he didn't mortify his sin.

And so, if you want to "put to death the deeds of the body", start thinking about the guilt, the danger, and the evil of your sins. May God make them plain to you and me both. For Christ's sake. Amen.