Search
Your Own Heart
Examine yourselves,
to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves. Do
you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail
to meet the test! 2 Cor. 13:5, R.S.V.
Nothing is more treacherous than the deceitfulness of sin. It is the
god of this world that deludes, and blinds, and leads to destruction.
Satan does not enter with his array of temptations at once. He disguises
these temptations with a semblance of good. . . . Beguiled souls take
one step, then are prepared for the next. . . . Oh, how Satan watches
to see his bait taken so readily, and to see souls walking in the
very path he has prepared! . . .
There is a necessity for
close self-examination, and to closely investigate in the light of
God's word, Am I sound, or am I rotten, at heart? Am I renewed in
Christ, or am I still carnal at heart, with an outside, new dress
put on? Rein yourself up to the tribunal of God, and see as in the
light of God if there is any secret sin, any iniquity, any idol you
have not sacrificed. Pray . . . as you have never prayed before, that
you may not be deluded by Satan's devices; that you may not be given
up to a heedless, careless, and vain spirit. . . .
One of the sins that constitute
one of the signs of the last days, is that professed Christians are
lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Deal truly with your own
souls. Search carefully. How few, after a faithful examination, can
look up to Heaven and say, ". . . I am not a lover of pleasure
more than a lover of God." How few can say, "I am dead to
the world, . . . and when He who is my life shall appear, then shall
I also appear with Him in glory."
The love and grace of God!
Oh precious grace! more valuable than fine gold. It elevates and ennobles
the spirit beyond all other principles. It sets the heart and affections
upon Heaven. While those around us may be engaged in worldly vanity,
pleasure-seeking, and folly, the conversation is in heaven, whence
we look for the Savior; the soul is reaching out after God for pardon
and peace, for righteousness and true holiness. Converse with God
and contemplation of things above transform the soul into the likeness
of Christ.
From Maranatha - Page 49
