The Sin of Accomodation

"By degrees we get familiar with sin.  I am fearful that even preaching against sin may have an injurious effect upon the preacher.  I frankly confess that there is a tendency with those of us who have to speak upon these themes, to treat the m professionally rather to make application of them to ourselves, and thus we lose our dread of evil in some degree just as young doctors soon lose their tender nervousness in the dissecting room."   These words of that 19th century preacher, Charles Spurgeon, still resonate as words of truth.  And, while he is talking about preachers in this sermon from "The Essential Works of Charles Spurgeon" it is a word which transcends the type of work we do to the lives we live.  

 

There was more than one reason I underlined it.  Chief among them was the way it reminded me of how easy it has become for us to sleep with our sin.  Instead of finding ourselves under conviction, as the old timers used to talk about it, we have learned to live with our sin without allowing it to bother us too much.  No one seems to take sin seriously these days.  Seldom do we use the word and when we do, it is usually with the disclaimer, "Everyone does it!" which supposedly makes it all right, or at least provides some personal excusing justification.

The Apostle Paul spoke of being dead to sin.  He used some harsh and definite language which he used the image of crucifixion of the sin in us.  Nothing vague about his view of the seriousness of sin.  According to his Spirit inspired writing, what we rightfully deserve for our sin is death.  Thus, our only hope of handling sin is not within us, but on the cross where the Savior died.  It is no wonder there is little cross preaching in our day.  No one senses any need for it.  Listening to the popular common consensus is dangerous.  It is a dead end street, but the cross of God takes us beyond the death we deserve to the life given by grace.