ABOUT PIMPLES, WARTS AND ROUGHNESS

Ever been confused, perplexed, mystified, shocked and disappointed by the lapses in faith, errors in judgment, downright foolish actions, and sin/stupidity spasms experienced by men like Noah, Abraham, Moses and David, etc. Ever wondered why God reveals these details to us?

This has been done to underscore the fact that the flesh of the greatest heroes of the faith was no better than anybody else’s flesh. They weren’t able to do anything they did or be anything they were because they were more richly endowed brain-wise, brawn-wise or otherwise than anyone else. All they had going for them, and all we’ll ever have going for us, is the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. “The flesh profiteth nothing” —It never has, and it never will— therefore, “No flesh should glory in His presence” (John 6:63;1 Cor. 1:29).

A. W. Pink wrote: “The strongest are as weak as water when the power of the Spirit is withdrawn; the most mature and experienced Christian acts foolishly the moment he be left to himself; none of us has any reserve strength or wisdom in himself to draw from: our source of sufficiency is all treasured up for us in Christ, and as soon as communion with Him be broken, as soon as we cease looking alone to Him for help, we are helpless.” See John 15:5.

Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), the great Lord Protector of England, wasn’t a handsome man. When painting his portrait, Sir Peter Lely tried to “air brush,” as it were, as many of Cromwell’s physical defects as possible out of his work. Noticing this, Cromwell stopped Lely, saying, “I desire you would use all your skill to paint your picture truly like me … the roughness, pimples, warts, and everything as you see me.” This is what God, for our sakes, has done relative to the heroes of the faith, and it is what we should do relative to ourselves.