In John Owen’s Mortification of Sin, he notes that one key way the Spirit helps us put sin to death is by working more and more of His fruit in us. Owen famously said, “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.” And he was right. But we often forget that the leading way the Spirit kills our sin is by turning into a chef and cooking up all sorts of good things inside of us. He cooks up joy, the aroma of which suffocates our depression. He bakes peace that kills that vaporizes that aroma of stress and anxiety. Love sizzles on the skillet in our hearts and that judgmental and selfish spirit that would rest in our flesh gets crowded out.

Keep these things in mind as you go through life in general and as you confess your sin in particular. Sometimes, when you kneel, there is that big stinker of a sin to own before the Lord. If that is the case today, then go right ahead and confess that one. His grace and favor toward you abounds and whatever that sin, it cannot match the blood of Christ’s cross.

But at other times, you might not have that big one staring you in the face, so what are you to confess? Well, confess that your kindness hasn’t been what it ought to have been. Your patience hasn’t abounded. Your self-control could have filled the house like a pleasing aroma.

Every time of confession is an opportunity to admit that our hearts aren’t as large as they ought to be. And it is a time to ask our Father to enlarge them so that there simply wouldn’t be any more room sin. They’re looking to find a room in which to lodge. But the Spirit has taken up so much space there is now that neon sign shining out front, saying, “No vacancy.” 

Jared Longshore – March 10, 2024

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One of the high callings placed upon our lives is letting our reasonableness be made known to all. I say this is a high calling, and it always is. But it is particularly high in times of decay. You must let your reasonableness be known to all while everyone plunges head over heels into an abyss of irrationality. You must not be pushy when everyone is shoving. You must not be demanding over small things when the order of the day is to screech on the internet over the slightest offense. 

So you must let your reasonableness be made known to all. But that does not mean that it is your duty to get unreasonable people to acknowledge your sanity. You must let your light shine amid the darkness. But only God can give the blind eyes to see. Do not be shocked because the decaying doesn’t recognize the fruitful or because the void cannot comprehend substance. Your duty is to be fruitful, be substantial, do good works and ask the Lord to bring the growth. Your assignment is not to shave off the corners of your normalcy in order to get the fringe to accept it. Neither is your assignment to fall into begging other Christians to see how normal you are. 

We are dealing with a battle over the definition of normal at the moment. But you will be far more persuasive if you actually carry on with doing reasonable deeds than you will by protracted conversations about your reasonable deeds. The proof is in the bright-eyed children, the happy marriage, the sourdough, the respectful and hardworking football team, the generous financial gift, the robust psalms, the honorable business, and all the feasting, gratitude, and joy. If you want to see our reasonableness, we say with the Apostle Paul, “these things have not been done in a corner.”

Jared Longshore – February 25, 2024

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Given the recent uptick accusations that have come our way, there are many exhortations I want to give you. Things like “let your reasonableness be known to all.” “rejoice not when your enemy falls.” “Vengeance belongs to the LORD.” “don’t be a hot head.” So more along those lines will certainly be coming your way. But I want to lead off with this one: 

Amid accusations from the enemy, you must keep up the full court press. 

You must keep the tempo moving. In the words of the apostle, you must be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58). When the enemy hurls his accusations at one of the saints, one of his strategies is to get the others to flinch. And you must not flinch. He wants you to lay off, and lay low (granted, you may be in a particular season where you need to lay low in a certain regard, if that’s you then make sure you do that). But, on the whole, you must understand that the false accusations come when you have started to do something that the enemy does not like. And that is why we rejoice.

This is an exhortation particularly to those of you who might be thinking, “If this keeps up, what are they going to do my son? What are they going to do to my grandchildren?” 

This is the kind of thing that a follower of our Lord might have thought when the rumors had boiled over and out of Jerusalem that the power brokers in town were planning to kill Jesus. And imagine sitting there with our Lord only a couple days journey from that Jerusalem, and he tells you by the fire, “When I get there, I will enter the temple with a whip and turn over their tables.” “Oh,” you say, “so you will be turning the dial up, not down. I see.” 

Note well, we can turn the dial up. Because the dial we are turning up is righteousness and good works. We can keep the pressure on. Because the work we are doing is the work of kindness, godliness, indeed works of love, the work of the Lord. So don’t get in the flesh. And if the flesh is the only thing that can motivate you then you must remain unmotivated and repent.

But, don’t for a minute slow down or hesitate in your public Christian living and your bold witness, and your work of dominion. You can’t work at the plow while looking back, and our Lord has told us that such a man is not fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). 

Jared Longshore – February 18, 2024

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Here is your exhortation in a nutshell: Killing sin is a different thing than getting into a tizzy over it. And you must not get into a tizzy over sin. Confessing sin, yes. Forgiving sin, yes. But no tizzys allowed.

By all means, let zeal for the house of the LORD consume you as it did our Savior. If the question is, “Should we not model Jesus who turned over tables at the sight of flagrant sin?” then the answer is, “Yes, indeed, we should.” But taking it to the high and mighty who slam the door of the kingdom in people’s faces is a different thing than getting fussy because a fellow covenant member slandered you or wronged you.

Now, if Eli heard this word when he was failing to restrain his vile sons, he would be tempted to misunderstand it and  misapply it. So don’t be like Eli who failed to honor God and love his sons. And remember our options are not: Neglectful Eli on the one hand and Frazzled Freddy on the other.

If you get all worked up in disbelief over the shortcoming of a fellow Christian, you can pretty much guarantee sins will start compounding.

So here is a little test for when you are considering how another Christian has missed the mark. Whether it be a sin you simply observe or a sin that has been committed against you or your children, either way, consider the Apostle Paul’s question, “What do you have that you didn’t receive?” Answer that question honestly, and your attitude toward your brother or sister will be just right. What do you have that you did not receive?

Jared Longshore – February 4, 2024

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Anything worth doing is worth doing well. That is good old fashioned advice, the kind we won’t shake a stick at. But, that advice is missing a key ingredient, namely, the only way to do anything well is to do it unto the Lord.

I grant that pride and some natural stubbornness can motivate a man to climb Mount Everest or put in more hours at the gym than the next guy. But these sources of energy will fail you, deceive you, and at the end of the day, they don’t provide the horsepower that devotion to the Lord provides. 

Paul said, “whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). “Whatsoever ye do” means nothing is excluded. Whether you change diapers, plow driveways, run suicides, shoot jump shots, complete math homework, shuttle children from one end of town to the other, cook dinner, or answer e-mail, you must do it unto the Lord.

And this is no sentimental statement. You can’t do a lousy job and then claim to fix it by singing the doxology over it. “There is my lame work,” we say. “And now I will sanctify it with a benediction.” No, you may not do that. A benediction is not a bit of hocus pocus that turns the fruits of our laziness into the fruits of the diligent. “But I sang the doxology unto the Lord,” comes the reply. OK, fine and good. But the text said that your work was to be unto the Lord.

This kind of life is not like the one Israel lived when making bricks without straw for Pharaoh. We server our Father who loves us and gave His Son for us. He accepts C+ offerings so long they are offered up in faith. He then sends us back out with training to do greater works than before. And those works must be unto the Lord.

Jared Longshore – January 28, 2024

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