Spurgeon: December PM
* 12/18/PM
"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well
to thy herds."
--Proverbs 27:23
Every wise merchant will occasionally hold a stock-taking,
when he will cast up his accounts, examine what he has on hand,
and ascertain decisively whether his trade is prosperous or
declining. Every man who is wise in the kingdom of heaven, will
cry, "Search me, O God, and try me"; and he will frequently set
apart special seasons for self-examination, to discover whether
things are right between God and his soul. The God whom we
worship is a great heart-searcher; and of old His servants knew
Him as "the Lord which searcheth the heart and trieth the reins
of the children of men." Let me stir you up in His name to make
diligent search and solemn trial of your state, lest you come
short of the promised rest. That which every wise man does,
that which God Himself does with us all, I exhort you to do with
yourself this evening. Let the oldest saint look well to the
fundamentals of his piety, for grey heads may cover black
hearts: and let not the young professor despise the word of
warning, for the greenness of youth may be joined to the
rottenness of hypocrisy. Every now and then a cedar falls into
our midst. The enemy still continues to sow tares among the
wheat. It is not my aim to introduce doubts and fears into your
mind; nay, verily, but I shall hope the rather that the rough
wind of self-examination may help to drive them away. It is not
security, but carnal security, which we would kill; not
confidence, but fleshly confidence, which we would overthrow;
not peace, but false peace, which we would destroy. By the
precious blood of Christ, which was not shed to make you a
hypocrite, but that sincere souls might show forth His praise, I
beseech you, search and look, lest at the last it be said of
you, "Mene, Mene, Tekel: thou art weighed in the balances, and
art found wanting."