March 26
And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. — Matt. xiii. 58.
,,, There is but one sin in the world, properly speakirc:, and that March 26,. - r i y i t,?
is the sin of not loving God. The sins we commonly speak of are but different manifestations of this one sin — different in degree, diverse in various respects, diverse in enormity, but the enormity is chiefly to be determined by the measure of the revelation made of the character of God unto us. God becomes manifest in Christ; and lo! this unknown God is found to be a Being of most amazing love, humbling Himself to the meanest of mankind, bearing all things, suffering long, seeking not His own, answering the insults and contradictions of sinners with words and acts of incredible blessing.
Thus dods the glorious Being, who upholdeth all things by the word of His power, draw near to you with papers of manumission, whereby you may escape the captivity of sin and Satan, the liability to death and hell; with hands pierced in the conflict with him who has the power of death, winning for you a path to life and glory; and now the universe looks on to see how you will receive the words of this Redeemer. It is possible for you to commit a sin of greater magnitude than you conceive of by simply neglecting the words of Christ. How fearful the alienation of the heart from God when such a surpassing embodiment of Divine love fails to overcome the indifference of that heart!
The terrible thing about the sin of unbelief is that its life is a life ot slumber. It makes no noise in the heart. It has no visible shape. An angry word that falls from your lips has a reverberation in the depth of your heart; but unbelief is simply a state, and does not ordinarily reveal itself by any overt symptom. It is the atmosphere in which you move; and, as you never moved in any other, it does not shock you. But it is the sin of sins, and until you learn to hate it above all sins, there is little hope of your deliverance from sin.
A warmer tone oi spiritual life would change the atmosphere which unbelief needs for its growth. It belongs lo the fauna of the glacial epoch; and when the rigours of that wintry time begin to melt, and warmer days to set in, the creatures of the ice have to retreat to arctic wildernesses, and leave a land no longer suited for their life. Dig down to the living Rock, Christ and His infinite love lo you, and let it be the strong foundation, built into which you and your love may become living stones, a holy temple, partaking of the firmness and nature of that on which it rests.