Genesis 6:3

And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

As I was reading through Scripture and Matthew Henry's Commentary this morning, I was struck by the callousness and coldness of my heart in the area of sanctification. Henry had this to say (emboldened text my emphasis):
This, of course, is not meant to make downcast the believer, who might be tempted to despair due to the medieval whip; rather, it is but a reminder of God's work toward sinners. Thankfully, we are not bastards, but sons, and the Lord does not leave us to our own destruction. He has means by which He does this, of course, one of those being Scriptural precepts and examples from which we may draw application to our own lives.

Let such passages be a fearful and reverent reminder of God's Holiness, but also His patience; His wrath and hatred of sin, but His mercies toward repentant sinners; His justice toward the impenitent men, but his longsuffering and loving discipline toward His children. Blessed be the Lord God Who will save us from our sins and conform us to the likeness of His Son. May we be reminded of such wonderful yet terrible truths when our judgments are clouded by sin and our practice muddied with iniquities. Then let us cling to that mercy that is found only in Christ, trusting not in our merit, but His. Upon considering such, may we be all the more driven to holy and biblical piety, casting off the sin which so easily entangles.

The Lord is good to His children.

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Josh Hicks, Chloë's Dad
Christ Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church, RPCGA
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It is God that multiplies our sorrows.... God, as a righteous Judge, does it, which ought to silence us under all our sorrows; as many as they are, we have deserved them all, and more: nay, God, as a tender Father, does it for our necessary correction, that we may be humbled for sin, and weaned from the world by all our sorrows; and the good we get by them, with the comfort we have under them, will abundantly balance our sorrows, how greatly soever they are multiplied. - Matthew Henry

No, it's not meant to downcast the believer, but it sure does explain why we sometimes feel "isolated" from our God.

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Scott
PCA
North Carolina


"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)"
Hebrews 10:23

I think Edwards captures this teaching well in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Although it may at first produce grief, it ultimately leads to the repentence of the elect. We must always take the warnings of scripture seriously and to act while it is still called today.

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PuritanGeek
Member of LakeOPC
Wickliffe, Oh
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