How blessed are those who know the judgment of God while still alive here.  To see the horror of their sin before they see the face of He who will judge.

I stood, this morning, with a heart aghast!  My sins so blantly laid at my feet.  Oh that my sin were something I could lay my hands on; perhaps as a part of my body black with sores.  I would gladly reach my hand to that place and rip it out myself!  But I fear it would completely cover my body from head to toe.  Then what could I do to rid myself of what now is a stench to my nostrils?  “Woe to me!  Woe, because I cannot undo what I have done.  I cannot straighten out one minute of my life, let alone my years of sins! 

I am glad to see and know that I am in such a state of affairs.  To know that what we are is a hopeless people.  Without Jesus and the Holy Spirit, how can we know we are in such disrepair?  To know that sin infests us like hideous bugs in our flesh.  To stand with a willingness to rip out that which offends.  How blessed is he who knows these things.

It is as if I had murdered.  I stand with the bloody knife in my hand and come to my senses.  My eyes widen and my mouth opens without sound.  I realize what I have just done and am murdered by myself in my own heart! 

OH! Lord have mercy on this man of foolish intent!  And is not this awareness a rending of the heart?  Those who witnessed and gave their bid for the crucifixion of the Lord went away beating their breast at what they had done.  This is sin!  This is a blessing of knowing the judgment before you arrive;  that you might beg for mercy and understanding before you see His face.

By His Grace.