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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJabez Burns Sermons: 854. Eze 36:31. Self-Loathing
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Eze_36:31. Self-Loathing
"Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations."—Eze_36:31.
The text is to be understood only by looking at the connection in which it stands with Eze_36:25-27. "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them."
Now, the work of the Spirit of God, so far from producing self-complacency and satisfaction, just produces the opposite effects. How different the mind of God, and the mind of his renewed people! He pardons, and their sins are never more remembered; he upbraideth not. But though the godly man is forgiven, yet he often remembers with grief his evil doings, and loathes himself before God. Self-loathing is one of the genuine effects of the converting and renewing grace of God.
No one can remember his former evil life, and not feel deep regret and shame on account thereof. So says the Apostle in regard to the believers who had been made free in Christ Jesus from the bondage of sin. "For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death."—Rom_6:20-21. And it is this feeling of penitential sorrow, and holy shame, which is expressed so graphically in the text.
Let us then consider,
I. The spirit the text describes.
And,
II. Why it should be cherished? I. The spirit the text describes. Now, the spirit of the text is described under three particulars.
1. A remembrance of the past.
The past ought to be remembered. It is alike connected with the present and the future. Life is one whole. And as the days or seasons of the year, its events are all linked together. Many live entirely without reflection; they consider neither the dispensations of God towards them, nor yet their own conduct with regard to the Most High. This want of thought and consideration, is most detrimental to the mind, and is often the main hindrance to a knowledge of ourselves.
The traveller often takes a retrospect of his journey. The mariner attends to the log, to know the latitude in which he is sailing, and notes down the daily events of the voyage. The philosopher does this, and keeps a record of his intellectual discoveries, and advances in knowledge. So should the Christian do this, and his real self-improvement and moral elevation are absolutely connected with it. This remembrance was continually enforced on the Israelites of old. "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee, these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knowest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord, doth man live."—Deu_8:2-3.
The spirit in the text is,
2. A remembrance of our past evil doings. Many only remember what they deem the good they have done, while their sins are forgotten. Now this ought not so to be. It is well to keep up the remembrance both of the omissions of good, and the commissions of evil; and true piety will ever do so. How late, says one, before I gave my heart to God! How deadly my example and influence, says another, before I became renewed in my mind! How base, and vile, and brutish, says another, was I while carnal and sold under sin! How profitless my existence, and perverted my powers, before God had my heart, says the abased follower of Jesus.
God says, he will produce this remembrance in his people. "And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God."—Eze_16:62-63. So Paul remembered his former state, and says—"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus."—1Ti_1:12-14.
Three things should never be forgotten as to our past sins—First, the Being against whom we did this evil—our Creator, Benefactor, Preserver, Redeemer,—the greatest and best of beings. Second, the voluntariness of our sins. They were the free acts of our own wickedness. We might have temptations, but the sins were our own. Third, often the aggravated circumstances of our sins. Favored as we were with light, and means, and mercies, friends and influences for good; yet despite all, we sinned against God.
The spirit of the text includes,
3. A deep abhorrence in connection with the remembrance of the past.
"Loathe" yourselves, as a person loathes that which is foul; or as a person would loathe a plague: the feeling is one of distaste, disapprobation, and disgust; holy indignation against our hearts, and spirits, and lives.
God infinitely abhors evil, and as we have his spirit so shall we. We shall behold sin as the abominable thing God hates; as the defiler of man, the destroyer of the soul, and the peopler of perdition. Would that this spirit were more often directed against ourselves! How ready we are to indulge in it against others! Even as David, when the parable of Nathan was delivered to him, immediately pronounced sentence against the oppressive and unjust evil-doer; so we never find it difficult to express indignation against the sins of men around us; but how indulgent we are in general with regard to ourselves. We loathe that pride, and that vanity, that avarice, that sensuality, that unbelief, and that cruelty in others, but how many of these may dwell and ramble in our own souls! Ah! we might often look nearer home, and let our censures tell on ourselves with much profit.
How needful to keep to the spirit of the text, and cherish self-abasing views and feelings with respect to our own hearts. Let us survey the foul imagery there, condemn the treason there, and mourn over the fearful defilement there; and thus carry out fully the sentiments of the text, and loathe ourselves in our own sight, for our iniquities and our abominations.
Let us then notice,
II. Why the spirit of the text should be cherished.
And here many reasons might be assigned. But we notice,
1. This is in accordance with the renewed state of our mind.
This spirit is the necessary result of divine grace in the soul. We now see and think and feel differently, yea oppositely, to what we formerly did. Then we saw no evil in sin, and therefore felt none; but now being new creatures, old things have passed away, and all things have become new. When in darkness, we could not discern the fearful and polluted condition of the chambers of our souls. But when God gave both light, and eyes to see, then did we perceive that all within was vile, and were led to exclaim, as Isaiah did—"Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips." Hence how the best and holiest have thus expressed themselves, as Abraham, Job, David, Daniel, Paul.
2. Gratitude to God should produce it. It is only by recognizing the deep-seated. character of the disease that the skill of the physician is displayed. In the heinousness of sin, is exhibited the richness and grace and mercy of God.
Now this remembrance and self-loathing honors God, as it shows the wondrous compassion he has shown to objects so utterly unworthy of his regards, as is essential to true and unfeigned gratitude for the mercy we have received.
3. It is necessary to our own safety.
We ought not to forget past sins, that we may never rise from the depths of true humility. How Paul felt this, even thirty years after his conversion! he writes to Timothy and describes himself as the chief of sinners. Besides, these past evil events of our lives should be beacons—there is that hidden shoal, that sunken rock, that perilous current that terrible Maelstrom. Now how clear it is, that this state of mind is essential to our safety. Forgetfulness may be fraught with imminent danger to our best interests. How the Psalmist and the prophets, and Stephen and Paul, reminded the Jews of the sins of their nation, and of their evil doings, which had justly brought on them calamities and woe. But how much better if Israel had remembered, and been admonished, and avoided the danger into which they so repeatedly fell. Now just so it is with ourselves; we must remember and keep up the self-loathing, if we are to be spiritually safe. The inferior creatures often by dint of their instincts, avoid the snares which are laid for them, and escape. How much more circumspect should rational beings act, especially when they have been blessed with supplies of that wisdom which cometh from above.
4. It will ever lead us to rely on the provisions of the divine mercy.
With this spirit we shall never dream of trusting to ourselves; of taking matters into our own hands. Divine grace alone will ever be our hope and refuge. The love and mercy of God in Christ will be our abiding trust. His precious blood, his efficient grace our daily resource. No hand can safely lead us but the hand of our heavenly Father; no power protect but his; no mercy bear with us, and save us but his. His abiding covenant—the all-prevailing sacrifice and intercession of Jesus our Lord, will set before us the only ark of safety, the only path to purest blessedness and eternal life.
5. It should lead us to pity, and be compassionate to others.
Hear what is said of Christ's sympathy and compassion as our great High Priest—"For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity."—Heb_5:1, Heb_5:2. Then if we have his spirit, and loathe ourselves, we shall be quite ready to hearken to the injunction—"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."—Gal_6:1. And to do this, let the words of the apostle James never be forgotten:—"Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him, let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."—Jam_5:19, Jam_5:20.
In conclusion:
(1.) We urge the spirit of the text on all God's people. Persons often used to set apart days for humiliation and prayer; whether we do so or not, we should labor to keep up a deep sense of our unworthiness, and this will lead to the self-loathing the text enforces.
(2.) We would address the unrenewed sinner. The subject is of the utmost importance to you. Have you ever looked at the extreme evil of sin—looked at it through the medium of God's word—of his holy law—as that which is utterly opposed to his purity? Have you thought of it, as crushing the Saviour to the ground in Gethsemane, and nailing him to the rugged tree? Have you thought of it as opening the pit of blackness and woe for all the finally incorrigible and impenitent? Oh! if not, now think, and ponder, and play, that you may be delivered from its guilt, indwelling, and power; especially that you may be led to hate and loathe it with all your hearts.
(3.) How odious is self-righteousness! No marvel that Jesus who was so compassionate to the vilest, so tender-hearted towards the worst, was so fearfully faithful to the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees. And how he exposed their self-complacency and base hypocrisy:—"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."—Mat_23:25-28.
How we should guard against being partakers of such a spirit; and the effectual way to do it will be to allow the truth of the text ever to dwell in our hearts, so that it may produce within us all lowliness and humility to the honor of God and the glory of his grace.