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O you filthy creature!
(Philpot, "The
Eternal God the Refuge of His Saints")
"Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me
from this life that is dominated by sin?" Romans 7:24
No doubt you have your enemies—and so have we all.
But I will tell you where you have an enemy—and a
greater enemy than ever you have found in others—
yourself! I have often felt that I could do myself more
harm in five minutes, than all my enemies could do me
in fifty years! I need not fear what others may do or
say—I fear myself more than them all—knowing what
I am as a sinner—the strength of sin—and the power
of temptation.
Be sure of this—that YOU are the worst
enemy you ever had . . .
your sin,
your lust,
your covetousness,
your pride,
your self-righteousness.
God Himself will make you feel your enemy.
You shall see something of his accursed designs;
how sin has deceived you, betrayed you, brought
guilt upon your conscience, and made you a burden
to yourself. You shall be brought to feel, and say,
"There is nothing I hate so much as my own vile
heart—my own dreadfully corrupt nature. O what
an enemy do I carry in my own bosom! Of all my
enemies, he is surely the worst! Of all my foes,
he is the most subtle and strong!"
Have you not sometimes felt as though you could
take your lusts by the neck and dash their heads
against a stone? Have you not felt you could take
out of your breast this vile, damnable heart, lay
it upon the ground, and stamp upon it?
And when tempted with . . .
pride,
or unbelief,
or infidelity,
or blasphemy,
or any hateful lust,
how you have cried out again and again with
anguish of spirit, "O this heart of mine!"
We hate our sins, and would, if possible, have no
more to do with them, and would say to this lust,
idol, or temptation, "O you filthy
creature! What
an enemy you are to my soul! O that I could
forever be done with you!"
"Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me
from this life that is dominated by sin? Thanks be to
God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord."
Romans 7:24-25
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