Rebaptism

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Scripture

Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on His feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing His feet and putting perfume on them.

~Luke 7:38, NLT

Quote

“True repentance declares war on the sins it once cherished. The eyes that once welcomed temptation now overflow with tears because they have offended a holy God.”

~Richard Dingley

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Peter denied knowing Christ three consecutive times and then Jesus turns and looks him in the eye; suddenly the impact of Peter’s egregious sin hit him like a cold wind in the face. Then he went out and wept bitterly. It is hard to repent without tears. I do know that some folks can fake tears, but where ever you find true repentance, you will find tears. Have you seen any lately. God told king Hezekiah, “I have heard your prayers, and seen your tears.” [2 Kings 20:5] Richard Dingley said our tears are like arrows that pierce the clouds. To weep for worldly losses but not weep for our sins is natural: the unsaved can do it. To weep for our sins and mourn their displeasure to God is something that only a spiritual person can do. “Prayers entreat but tears over come,” said Jerome. Augustine, upon reading Homer, weeps when the heroine Dido was killed. Then he thought, “O what a wretched man I am that I should weep over her and not my own sins.” I can relate. I can weep while watching a sad movie. I was visiting with an old friend in Athens a few weeks ago and he extended his heart felt sympathy to me for Hope’s early departure. When I tried to respond, I was overcome by an avalanche of tears. I wept so I could hardly speak. Later I appologized to he and his son who was standing beside his father: he said, “No, no, do not apologize. You probably needed to do that, and I think he may have been right, but that is not the kind of grief I am talking about. I am talking about grieving over our own sins. “Repentance changes not only what we do, but how we think and see things. The eyes that once delighted in sin become the eyes that grieve over it.”

Dingly painted a beautiful word picture. The eye is the front door to the soul or heart. It allows things in or keeps things out. You control the eye and the battle will be yours. His point is that we, by grace, reach a point in our lives where we grieve the very sins that we once entertained. Not only does the eye refuse to let them in, it looks upon them with hatred. We are not talking about taking revenge on people, we are talking about hating, despising, and seeking revenge on our sins especially those we allowed in or invited in. Another way of stating the same truth is that our vision clears up as we grow in grace and we begin to see sin as it actually is, and it is not a pretty sight. Things that we were once proud of are now the source of deep shame. The hammer of the law may break our icy hearts, but it is the sunshine of the gospel that melts the ice to tears. The eyes that have been the inlet of vanity becomes the outlet of sorrow.

Let me say a couple of things: this last thought I shared above is a paraphrase that comes from John Chrysostom and let me confess that I don’t weep over the right things. I have in the past but it has been a while. It is my firm conviction that the HOLY SPIRIT is the author of these mountain top moments. I pray for it to happen every Sunday but it doesn’t happen. We come in and go out just as we came in. Nothing has changed. We are in desperate need of a visitation by the Holy Spirit. He is the only One who can end this tearless drought. Wouldn’t you like to see a flood this Sunday, a flood of tears? The altar filled with people weeping over their sins. O that would be glory to me. Why? Because after the tears fall, the fire falls and we have REVIVAL Mount Carmel style. Before the fire fell Elijah soaked the altar with water: we need to soak our altar with tears, then perhaps the fire would fall. I think of Peterson’s song, Come Holy Spirit, dark in the hour, we need your filling, your love and your mighty power. Move now among us, stir us we pray; come Holy Spirit, REVIVE the church today.

Jenny’s surgery went well and she will be in DMH for at least four days.

Everyone loves Fridays, right! Only one problem with Friday, traffic is worse. I hope you have a great Friday. Thanks for reading the blog.

Extra/Extra

GRACE POINTERS: Remember July is Deacon nomination month. You have two more weeks. Write down your nomination and put it in the offering plate or give it to David Cowart. Election is August 16. Two other events coming up: September 13th we will have a special offering for Wycliff Bible Publishers. Our Morgan Baptist Association is trying to translate the gospel of John. It cost $35 to translate one verse. My prayer is that each member will translate at least one. It is a one offering event. October 26 {Monday} Grace Point will host the MORGAN BAPTIST ASSOCIATIONAL ANNUAL MEETING. It may be the first time GP has hosted {I’m not sure}. The meeting begins at 9:30 or 10:00 I think and concludes at 11:30 and we furnish the noon meal. It will be like a 49er feast. This will be in lieu of the Pastor Appreciation lunch that you have been doing. We have been feeding 20 and that number should go to 50-60 but we can do it, and I am looking forward to it.

I don’t think many pastors read the blog but here is the PASTOR APPRECIATION schedule for OCTOBER

  • Monday, October 5…Keith and Judy Blackwood
  • Monday, October 12…New Center Baptist Church
  • Monday, October 19…East Highland Baptist Church
  • Monday, October 26…Grace Point Baptist Church
  • Christmas Breakfast, December 7…{Cracker Barrel} Danville Baptist Church

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