also sins of the flesh—such as adultery, unrestrained eyes, and
Our Experience 9
Many do not live before God and maintain good communion with Him. They live carelessly day after day. They may spend days on end without prayer and Bible reading. They can exist a whole week without ever seeing God's face in fellowship with Him. Day after day they live without any fear of the Lord. This shows that they lack living before God. They have no spiritual life. They have never learned the lesson of dealing with self. They have never denied themselves.
Once, two brothers quarreled over a rather small matter. As they would eat together, one brother would always pick out a few of the best-looking pieces of meat first. The other brother noticed this act. He kept silence for a day or two, but after two weeks this other brother could bear it no more and separated himself from his brother. Let me observe that the kind of person one is is often revealed not in the large but in the small things. In this regard, I am reminded of the biography of Hudson Taylor, which I love to read. As he would travel here and there to preach the gospel, the worst room and the worst bed would always seemingly turn out to be his. Yet this missionary servant of God never murmured or complained. Though this was but a small issue, nonetheless, one's reaction to such small matters reveals what kind of life one lives before God.
2. Sins of the Flesh. There are not only sins of the spirit, there are also sins of the flesh—such as adultery, unrestrained eyes, and unnatural relationships. Many fail in these matters. How many sin with their eyes, for they never control their looking. Many maintain improper friendships. Some sins of the flesh pertain to the body, whereas other sins do not.
Have you ever controlled your eyes? I acknowledge that there is much opportunity to see with the eyes in these days. We must deal with this matter before God. I know many Christians who cannot enter into victory because they fail to deal with their eyes.