The Scottish preacher Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847) preached a sermon that ended uo having lasting influence for many generations of Christians. It’s title had to be in the Top Ten greatest titles of the second millennium. The title itself is worth meditating on. And as good titles do, it captures the essence of the sermon. It was called “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection.”
When it comes to the daily battle against sin and temptation, he says, “But what can not be thus destroyed, may be dispossest – and one taste may be made to give way to another, and to lost its power entirely as the reigning affection of the mind.” What is the reigning affection of your mind? Have you ever thought of sin as an affection which reigns in your mind?
The solution is not merely focusing on how bad and destructive sin is. “A moralist will be unsuccessful in trying to displace his love of the world by reviewing the ills of the world. Misplaced affections need to be replaced by the far greater power of the affection of the gospel.” That’s worth pondering. Better, it’s worth crying out to God to give us the greater power of the affection of the gospel.
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