The Scriptures teach us that we must not automatically assume that affliction is the result of God’s chastisement for sin. The friends of Job made a serious mistake in this matter, and the disciples of the Lord, who wanted to know who had sinned—this man or his parents—such that he was born blind, made the same mistake.
So we must not reason simplistically in a straight-across fashion like this. But when we learn that affliction is sometimes not the result of sin, we leap to the false conclusion that affliction is never the consequence of sin. That is not true either. God is not mocked and a man reaps what he sows.
But you are a child of God. If you are here under affliction, and you suspect that unconfessed sin may be at the bottom of it, never forget that the love of God is at the ultimate bottom of it.
When we are behaving foolishly, God uses all manner of things to get our attention. If you avoid the sin of morbid introspection, it is never out of place to run a spiritual inventory. It is never out of place to surrender everything in principle—God can be trusted with that. It is never out of place to ask God to minister His grace to you here, through the bread and wine, in such a way as to reveal to you anything you have not yet understood about yourself.
We sometimes hang back from praying that way because we are afraid of the answer. But remember, the love and mercy of God is always at the bottom of it. The Spirit of God leads you into sweet conviction, never into horrendous condemnations. You are in Christ. There is no condemnation. This is a Table of consolation, not condemnation. But if you treat sweet conviction as if it had to be condemnation, then perhaps that defensive spirit is the thing that God’s grace is removing from you. And love is at the bottom of it.
So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.