"O wretched man that I am"
“O wretched man that I
am.”
Nor is it only the “backslidden” Christian, now convicted, who will mourn thus. The one who is truly in
communion with Christ, will also emit this groan, and emit it daily and hourly. Yea, the closer he draws to
Christ, the more will he discover the corruptions of his old nature, and the more earnestly will he long to be
delivered from it. It is not until the sunlight floods a room that the grime and dust are fully revealed. So, it is
only as we really come into the presence of Him who is the light, that we are made aware of the filth and
wickedness which indwell us, and which defile every part of our being. And such a discovery will make
each of us cry, “O wretched man that I am!“
“But,” inquires someone, “does not communion with Christ produce rejoicing rather than mourning?”
We answer, It produces both. It did with Paul. In v. 22 of our chapter he says, œ”I delight in the law of
God.” Yet only two verses later he cries, “O wretched man that I am!” Nor does this passage stand alone. In
2 Cor. 6 the same apostle says, “As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (v.10). Sorrowful because of his
failures, because of his daily sins. Rejoicing because of the grace which still bore with him, and because of
the blessed provision which God has made even for the sins of His saints. So again in Rom. 8:1 after
declaring, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,” and after saying,
“The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then
heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (vv. 16-17); the apostle adds, “But ourselves also, which
have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the
redemption of our body.” (v.23) Similar is the teaching of the apostle Peter, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations” (1 Pet. 1:6). Sorrow
and groaning, then, are not absent from the highest spirituality. A W Pink
am.”
Nor is it only the “backslidden” Christian, now convicted, who will mourn thus. The one who is truly in
communion with Christ, will also emit this groan, and emit it daily and hourly. Yea, the closer he draws to
Christ, the more will he discover the corruptions of his old nature, and the more earnestly will he long to be
delivered from it. It is not until the sunlight floods a room that the grime and dust are fully revealed. So, it is
only as we really come into the presence of Him who is the light, that we are made aware of the filth and
wickedness which indwell us, and which defile every part of our being. And such a discovery will make
each of us cry, “O wretched man that I am!“
“But,” inquires someone, “does not communion with Christ produce rejoicing rather than mourning?”
We answer, It produces both. It did with Paul. In v. 22 of our chapter he says, œ”I delight in the law of
God.” Yet only two verses later he cries, “O wretched man that I am!” Nor does this passage stand alone. In
2 Cor. 6 the same apostle says, “As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (v.10). Sorrowful because of his
failures, because of his daily sins. Rejoicing because of the grace which still bore with him, and because of
the blessed provision which God has made even for the sins of His saints. So again in Rom. 8:1 after
declaring, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,” and after saying,
“The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then
heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (vv. 16-17); the apostle adds, “But ourselves also, which
have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the
redemption of our body.” (v.23) Similar is the teaching of the apostle Peter, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations” (1 Pet. 1:6). Sorrow
and groaning, then, are not absent from the highest spirituality. A W Pink
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