The fear of Hell whips him
off some favorite vice!
(Charles Spurgeon, "Flowers from a Puritan's Garden" 1883)
"A wolf may be scared from his prey--
yet he keeps his ravenous nature."
He has not lost his taste for lambs--
though he was obliged to drop
the one which he had seized.
Just so, a sinner may be forced
to forego his beloved lust--
and yet remain as truly a sinner
as before. He may give up
his drinking, for fear of losing
his job, or dying of disease--
but he would be at his liquor
again if he dared.
The fear of Hell whips him
off some favorite vice--
and yet his heart pines for it,
and in imagination he nourishes it.
In the sight of GOD,
each man is as his heart is!
The muzzled wolf is still a wolf,
the silenced swearer is still
profane in heart,
the lewd thinker is still immoral.
Something is done when a wolf
is scared, or a transgressor
driven out of his evil ways--
yet nothing is done which will
effectually change the wolf, or
renew the ungodly heart.
A frightened sinner--
is a sinner still.
Like the frightened dog,
he will return to his vomit!
And like the sow that was washed,
he will wallow in the mire again
as soon as opportunity offers!
(John 3:7)
This is the only effectual cure for sin!
While the nature is unchanged--
it is but the outside of the cup
and platter which is washed.
(Psalm 51:6)
is what GOD desires, and
until that is given, we remain
under divine wrath.
Any thief will turn honest
under the gallows--
and yet if he were set free,
he would rob the first house
he came to!
A scare is not a conversion.
A sinner may be frightened
into hypocrisy--
but he must be wooed by GOD
to repentance and faith. Divine
love tames, and divine grace transforms.
May the GOD of all grace deal thus with each of us!
~ ~ ~ ~
GraceGems has published William Nicholson's uplifting short article,
"GOD, the Father of His Redeemed People!"
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