Meditation

A dear friend recently gave me the book Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. I had heard many good things about this book, so I was pleased to receive a copy. I've only read a few chapters at this point, but there is so much wisdom on every page! I already know this is one book I will periodically return to in the coming years. And don't be surprised if I share a number of excerpts with you as I progress through the pages.

In the chapter entitled "The True Foundation," Lloyd-Jones makes the point that the first principle we must understand before we can ever hope to enjoy our salvation is conviction of our sin. It appears paradoxical, but we must be made miserable about our sin before we can experience true Christian joy. "Indeed the real trouble with the miserable Christian is that he has never been truly made miserable because of conviction of sin. He has by-passed the essential preliminary to joy, he has been assuming something that he has no right to assume." (p.28)

"We go astray because we are not truly convicted of our sin. That is why I say that this is in particular the problem of all those who have been brought up in a religious or Christian manner. Their chief trouble often is their wrong idea of sin. I remember such a person putting this very dramatically to me on one occasion. She was a woman who had been brought up in a very religious home, who had always attended a place of worship and been busily and actively engaged in the life of the Church. She was then a member in a church where a number of people had been converted suddenly from the world and from various kinds of evil living - drunkenness and such like things. I well remember her saying to me: 'You know, I almost wish that I had not been brought up in the way I have been brought up. I could wish that I had been living their kind of life in order that I might have their marvelous experience'. What did she mean? What she was really saying was that she had never seen herself as a sinner. Why not?...That kind of person thinks of sin only in terms of action, in terms of sins...in terms of particular actions only. So their tendency is to think that because they have not been guilty of these particular things, that they are not really sinners at all...Their thinking is in terms of actions, particular actions, and of comparisons with other people and their experiences and so on. For this reason they have never had a real conviction of sin, and because of that they have never plainly seen their utter absolute need of the Lord Jesus Christ. They have heard it preached that Christ has died for our sins and they say that they believe that; but they have never really known its absolute necessity for themselves." (pp.28-29)

"The essential point is, that the way to know yourself a sinner is...to come face to face with the Law of God...'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is...Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' (Mark 12:30-31) Forget all about the drunkards and their like, forget all the people you read about in the press at the present time. Here is the test for you and me: Are you loving God with all your being? If you are not, you are a sinner." (p. 30) This realization should drive us daily to the cross, God's remedy for our sinful state and the source of our joy.