Self-Examination

“Great numbers of persons care more about their cats and dogs than about their souls.”

“Proxy religion involves too great a risk: you had better see to your soul's matters yourself.”

“Most of us think too much of speech, which is but the shell of thought.”

“The most difficult book you will ever read is your own heart.”

“Get temperance of lip, life, heart, and thought.”

“Nothing is more deadly than self-righteousness, or more hopeful than contrition.”

“There is no spiritual favour which may not be a matter for heart-searching.”

“Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of.”

“Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”

“Beware of no man more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us.”

“Deliver me, O Lord, from that evil man, myself.”

“The first step toward heaven, is to see ourselves near hell.”

“Take no truths upon trust, but all upon trial.”

“Secret sins commonly lie nearest the heart.”

“There is the seed of all sins, of the vilest and worst of sins, in the best of men.”

“When God has given you your heart's desire, what have you done with your heart's desire?”

“Humble souls are fearful of their own strength.”

“When a man is truly humbled and grieved for sin, the object of his grief is sin, as a dishonour done unto God: when a man is discouraged and not humbled, then his trouble is all about his condition, and what will become of him.”

“A man may too soon think that he is in Christ; and that is when it is not so indeed.”

“The lesser we discern pride in ourselves, the more it reigns in our hearts.”

“Mortification is the soul's vigorous opposition to self, wherein sincerity is most evident.”

“It is evident that you contend against sin merely because of how it troubles you.”

“Duties are excellent food for a healthy soul; they are no physic for a sick soul.”

“There are two things that are suited to humble the soul of men, a due consideration of God, and then of ourselves.”

“Lack of a due sense of the sinfulness of our best works leads to dreams of self-righteousness and self-justification.”

“Ignorance of God and of ourselves is the great principle and cause of all our worries.”

“The person who understands the evil in his own heart is the only person who is useful, fruitful, and solid in his beliefs and obedience.”

“Wherefore this was the counsel of Zophar to Job: "If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands towards him; If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.”

“Meekness is a victory over ourselves and the rebellious lusts in our own bosoms; it is the quieting of internal conflicts, the stilling of an insurrection at home, which is often harder than to resist a foreign invasion.”

“Self-love is the greatest enemy to true Christian love, and pride is the fountain of self-love, because it is impossible that, in this life, there should be an exact correspondence between the thoughts and ways of Christians.”

“Reader, bethink thyself, how long was it since thy conscience was roused and awakened?”

“A true Christian will not hide his sins, but lay them open, the more to abase himself before God.”

“Sincerity—which is the thing sought, lies in the heart like a small piece of gold on the bottom of a river; he who would find it must stay until the water is clear, and then he will see it sparkling at the bottom.”

“Every appearance of hypocrisy does not prove the person who manifests it, to be a hypocrite.”

“You know wounds will stink: but [there is] no stink like that of sin to the broken-hearted man.”

“Sinner, hast thou obtained a broken heart? has God bestowed a contrite spirit upon thee?”

“Does sin rob you of all your liberty before God, and of all your desire and spiritual life?”

“What an excellent thing is this, that we may keep sessions in our own souls, and so need not be called to God’s assizes!”

“But on the contrary, if the Lord do let thee lye in the filth of thy sin, it is an Argument that he never set his heart upon thee.”

“O but we have need to be redeemed from ourselves, rather than from the devil and the world.”

“Again, a man may know his faith to be true by his willingness to search himself, and to be searched by others.”

“Sometimes you doubt of your acquaintance with God, and that leads you to doubt of your access to God, and acceptance with God.”

“See how the case stands between God and you; do as merchants, cast up your estate, that you may see what you are worth.”

“No man lives so miserable, nor no man dies so sadly—as he who lives and dies a stranger to his own soul.”

“Yet further, such is the deceit of a man’s own heart, as a man may suffer much out of the pride of his heart: as a man may serve himself, in serving God, so he may seek himself in denying himself in that which is the cause of God.”

“Afflictions are like pinching frosts, which will search us; where we are most unsound, we shall soonest complain, and where most corruptions lie, we shall most shrink.”

“When there was a spot in the bodies of men, they were to come to the Priest to discern whether their spot were the spot of Leprosie, or no.”

“And now, when thou hast considered all, bethink thyself withal a little of thy dealings towards him; what have been the effects and fruits of all this goodness?”

“A man may know his other debts—but he cannot number his spiritual debts.”

“The Cyprian diamond sparkles like the true diamond—but it is not of the right kind, it will break with the hammer.”

“Ah, Christians! don't make religious duties your money, lest you and your money perish together.”

“A man must first recognize and consider what his sin is, and know the plague of his heart before he can be duly humbled for it.”

“The hypocrite, no less than the true servant of God—the stony-ground hearers, no less than those who received the word into good and honest hearts—had joy.”

“Innumerable are the reasonings of the hearts of the sons of men on this account; we know not the thoughts of our own souls herein, how vile they are.”

“I thank thee that my condition is so good, and that I am so far advanced above my neighbour.”

“Did I suspect the existence of such latent virulence, such deep-seated depravity?”

“Who shall go down to Hell to know there, whether that place be prepared for him or no?”

“If it is such a foul, spreading, staining spot, how is it that men and women cannot see it for what it is?”

“Now this I say, Those that are in the greatest torment of conscience for their sin, they are in a better Case than those that go on most conceitedly, and boasting in their sin.”

“Next Moses feels, that his own might is nothing—vain are his counsels—powerless is his arm.”

“If we go to buy anything in this world, we first pull off the trappings; we pull off the mask, or else we may be cozened in the thing.”

“But God is not mocked, but hath a curious eye, and he will be looked at directly, and not asquint. 4.”

“When our hearts are hot within us, it is good for us to keep silence, and hold our peace: so David did; and when he did speak, it was in prayer to God, and not in reply to the wicked that were before him.”

“My reader, look well to your religion, look well to your hope of the future.”

“But the greater is the mercy of God, the more years ye get to advise, upon what terms, and upon what conditions, ye cast your soul in the huge gulf of never-ending eternity.”

“It is the very A B C's of Christianity, that a man should know his right place in the sight of God, and understand his deserts.”

“Are you willing to sacrifice honor, possessions, life, soul and body for the Lord‘s sake and do you yearn for felicity?”

“We are both idols and idol-worshippers, when we think highly of ourselves, for we make ourselves idols.”

“You cannot save that soul of yours, my brother—remember that!”

“Can you think seriously of this, Christians, that a heathen should excel you, and not blush?”

“I do not see that life and vigour in returning unto God, either in our persons or in our church relation, as I could desire.”

“One would wonder that any soul that knows what it is to deal with such an infinite holy God as the Lord is, one would wonder what should uphold the soul, seeing it is so defiled, and has nothing but spots in everything!”

“Good men look not on sin as a trifle; they have no excuse for it, and urge no palliation.”

“Men who have so little piety that they have no cross to bear, may well suspect the vigor and consistency, if not the genuineness, of their religion.”

“It was from the Lord! one would think that this were a Saint! what an obedient man was this to the word of God? and yet this was a wicked man, an unregenerate man.”

“So I may say to every soul, wash thy heart from thy spots; thou wilt wash thy face and hands dayly, O that dayly there might be a washing of thy heart!”

“I am little aware of what is yet in my heart; I know that after all this, I am still capable of distrust and repining.”

“It is not enough for your tongue to be silent; but your soul must be silent.”

“What endeavours to walk with God are found upon them, or seen in their ways?”

“And how can you look for any favor at God's hands, when by your own confession you have done as others have done and given consent to their wickedness?”

“If thou callest to mind the errors of the day, sleep not without a confession to God, and a hope of pardon.”

“I am firmly persuaded that there are thousands of men and women in the world who are inwardly uncomfortable, and yet will not confess it.”

“You say, 'Do what I can, yet I cannot keep my heart with God.' Soul, if you do what you can, you have the blessing of an upright, though God sees good to exercise you under the affliction of a discomposed heart.”

“I remember I have read of an old strumpet that had a false Glass continually to look in, and that presented her beautiful unto her self, and she would never look upon any other.”

“That is, the foolishness of some men, is that they take pleasure in their sins; for their sins are their foolishness, and the folly of their soul lies in their countenancing of this foolishness.”

“Who will be earnest for a physician, who thinks it is but a trivial disease?”

“Your feigned conversion and godliness is but a work of nature, consisting in abstinence from blatant evil and the performance of civil good; however, this is not conversion and godliness.”

“When you are alone you should spend your time in holy meditation, but you are spending your time in discontented thoughts!”

“I have learned to be contented; what lessons have you learned?”

“When did you ever come from an ordinance of God and say, O it was a brave day to me.”

“Now Christ elsewhere gives us this rule of nature, to judge of the tree by the fruits, to proceed by in matters of grace also.”

“Can you go whole weeks, months, and never speak to him by secret and intimate prayer, so as to take him alone, as you would do a friend, into a corner, and there pour out your heart before him, and tell him all your secrets?”

“The only way I can see another person’s faith is by observing his works.”

“And pray consider, how can ye take him or receive him as your Saviour, if he is not yours indeed?”

“Will not my cooler thoughts correct these hasty resentments, and therefore were it not better to check them now?”

“Oh, what a test of real religion, of vital godliness, of the new nature in the soul, is the hour of trial!”

“It may be that his estate, his houses, his lands are worth somewhat, but what is his heart worth?”

“Do you love your own children, your own sons and daughters — and will you not love the Son of God?”

“To seek yourself in this world is to be lost; and to be humble is to be exalted.”

“Is the seeming denial of your prayers, an occasion of despondency?”

“Men may read what the world is by evident characters, in the habits and attire that it wears.”

“What evidence have you that you have a love to these things, that can hear them reproached, scorned, contemned, and never be moved at it?”

“Is it your grief—that you fall short in your obedience unto Christ?”

“Shall a man run away with the forgiveness, and pass it over thus, so as not to concern himself about the sin forgiven any more?”

“Who, almost, hath prepared his heart to walk with God as he ought? who considers whether his walking be such as it ought to be?”

“And therefore, those who rested in their carnal privileges, and sought eternal happiness from them, perverted their true end, and could never obtain what they followed after.”

“Thus far may we travel in a religious life, and yet stop short of real and vital religion.”

“If the public good falls, shall I think to enjoy my ease and my peace, my estate and my honour upon good terms?”

“Establish it as a settled principle in your mind, that if the Holy Spirit really is in a person, it will be seen in the effects He produces on his heart and life.”

“Foolish man, put home the case to your own heart; can you give your child that which would ruin him?”

“Hence we learn that we must not pass too harsh judgment upon ourselves or others when God exercises us with bruising upon bruising.”

“And this, if it lies upon the heart as it should is a sad consideration to humble the proudest heart in the world; to think that thou livest, and God has no glory by thee, though this be the End for which God made the world.”

“Reader, perchance you fondly reason, The law is broken, but the Curse will not fall on me.”

“I will tell you what I am labouring after in my own heart; and the Lord direct you to find out what will be more useful!”

“Just so, a hypocrite would spin a web of salvation out of his own righteousness.”

“There is spiritual drunkenness, spiritual adultery, and a man may be a liar that calls God his Father when he is not, or that calls himself a Christian, and is not.”

“There is also the willfully ignorant professor, or him that is afraid to know more, for fear of the cross.”

“You prefer a soul-murdering lust to the glorious Bridegroom, like the Jews, who preferred Barabbas unto Jesus.”

“Hast thou never an old tried evidence which hath been acknowledged and confirmed again and again in open court?”

“Is it true that most of those baptized as infants grow up to be either ungodly or merely nominal Christians?”

“I can assure you, that a blameless conversation hath been a great temptation to a great many to undervalue the grace of God, and the righteousness of Jesus Christ.”

“Again when you go about any work that is difficult, take heed of any disorderly working of your heart about that work.”

“But he alone knows the innumerable backsliding, and the great perverseness of my heart.”

“Happy are we if we have the pardon of sin sealed, though at the very last hour; but why do men think pardon of sin so easy to be obtained?”

“Do you look upon your condition with an evil eye now because God was once good to you?”

“And now, Christians, think what a sin , what a shame , what a folly it is—that you should have so little love unto Jesus Christ!”

“Well, remember this once for all, such as rest on duties, such as rest on their own righteousness, or on anything on this side Christ—such shall find them to be useless.”

“If Christ has something against this church for leaving her first love, then no doubt He has something against the Church of England and against us at this day.”

“All men can see their outward blessings — but they have no eyes to behold the inward curses which lie under those outward blessings.”

“A man that is able to deny himself in prosperity, will be able to believe in adversity; if he be prosperity proof, there is no fear but he will be adversity proof too.”

“The studying, observing, and diligently keeping your own heart, will surprisingly help you to UNDERSTAND the deep mysteries of religion.”

“We try metal by knocking; if it sound well, then we like it.”

“In vain we garnish and adorn this sinful and corrupt humanity with the external beauties of holiness--it is but an embalmed corpse.”

“Men who now embrace the word, will, in times of persecution, distaste the word, if it is not rooted in their understandings, judgments, wills, affections, and consciences.”

“The only way for us to escape that terrible judgment, is to be often passing a sentence of condemnation upon ourselves here.”

“But every mourning for sin is not sufficient to entitle a man to blessedness.”

“What, then, has our service, our worship, our religion been?”

“There is such unruliness in our thoughts and affections that our judgments are not always able to rule our thoughts and affections.”

“Can you ever tell of a work of God separating you from the world, that when you wentest according to the world, God gave you a mighty call that made a separation between you and the world?”

“As your sins are nearest to yourselves, so are your graces; and as you know more evil by yourselves than others know, so you know more good by yourselves.”

“Just so, many do not possess salvation—but remain secure; they presume all is well, never seriously meditating whether they have oil or not.”

“O that I might prevail with Christians to take pains with themselves in this great work of examination.”

“His own sins stink, and so doth the sins of all the world to him.”

“Learn to put out yourselves, and to put in Christ for yourselves.”

“Do not be surprised to find yourself poor, helpless, and vile.”

“I felt that if God were to forgive me all my past sins, I should again destroy my soul, and that in less than a day’s time.”

“If this be the case with you, you never yet went out to meet the Bridegroom, you were never married to the better Husband, but continue married to the law.”

“A tree it is, without fruit, but as long as it so abideth, there is ministered occasion to doubt what manner of tree it is.”

“If I were to judge of a man for my life, I would not judge of him by his open profession, but by his domestic behaviours.”

“If we have nothing better than Church-membership to rest upon we are in a poor plight—we have nothing solid beneath our feet.”

“But, if as soon as you hear a truth that comes near to you, your heart throws it off and it will not abide with you at all, it is a dange r ous sign that your sickness is a sickness to death.”

“It's true, the Lord will not charge these spots upon thy soul that art in Christ; yet he doth expect that thou shouldst be humbled for them.”

“I do not say by your constant liveliness, for this may be lacking at some times in true believers—but you may know it by your spiritual life.”

“But you will say again, If I could once get thither, I had no cause to fear, I should never fall if I were once in heaven; but I fear the vileness of my own heart, I fear I shall be defiled with my corruptions and by Satan.”

“Thou comest to believe in Jesus Christ; let me ask thee this question, What is it thou aimest at in thy coming to him? what wouldest thou have from him? what wouldest thou have with him? what is thy intent, thy business with him?”

“In good earnest begin this work, and you will soon find that you are carnal, sold under sin, and that all former views of your lost estate were very defective.”

“But sayest thou, I will be righteous in myself that I may have wherewith to commend me to God, when I go to him for mercy?”

“Why have you been taught to look to Jesus, while others are looking to their own goodness, or resting on some mere form of religion?”

“It is like a lock: if its workings are faulty, it will be troublesome to open.”

“The time of pardoning great sins is the time of great self-loathing; such prove the holiest persons, because they have had more experience of the evil of sin.”

“Test your interest in Christ, the only Deliverer from future wrath—by these marks and evidences .”

“To empty out of a man’s heart his false faith, and to convince him he is an unbeliever, how hard is it!”

“The Lord's Supper is a love-feast.”

“Nothing could fasten Jesus to the cross but the golden link of love.”

“Godliness is the sacred impression and workmanship of God in a man, whereby from being carnal he is made spiritual.”

“Godliness consists in an exact harmony between holy principles and practices.”

“Reason makes us men; godliness makes us earthly angels.”

“Weeds grow by themselves; flowers are planted.”

“Counterfeit piety is double iniquity.”

“The latter days of churches are always perilous days, days full of danger.”

“Unless we are upon our watch and guard, and cry mightily unto God for help and assistance, we shall be all overtaken with perils and dangers in the days wherein we live.”

“How shall a man know if he has a true and special interest in Christ, and whether he may lay claim justly to God's favour and salvation?”