Hidden Sin # 2 (and others)

Hidden Sin # 2 (and others)

The subtlety of satan is great. He is said to deceive the whole world (Rev. 12:9). Suppose he should have deceived you! If you are acting under his influence - you have deceived yourself! Your sin may be hidden from men, it may be hidden from yourself - but it is not hidden from God! His eyes are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. He searches the heart and tries the thoughts! He knows exactly what is your state - and it would be well for you to know it; for if it is bad - it may now be changed; or if it is good - you may rejoice and blessed God for it.

The revealing day is coming; then if wrong, God will set our iniquities before His face, and our secret sins in the light of His countenance. He will expose every secret sinner. He will show to the whole world what you have been doing in the dark! Hear His own word, "For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil!" (Ecc.es. 12:14). The sins that are hidden now - will be hidden no longer! But then shall be brought to pass the fearful prediction written, "The sinners in Zion (God's professing people) shake with fear! Terror seizes the godless! Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?" (Isaiah 33:14).

Fear now may drive us to the Saviour - but there will then be no Saviour to flee to! The Judge on the throne will act justly and impartially, and will render to every man according to his deeds. Many will be condemned - who expected to be acquitted! many will be driven to hell - who were sure of being invited to Heaven! Every false covering will then be stripped off, every deceitful heart will be laid bare - and no longer will anyone say, "My way is hidden from the Lord!"

But there is another and better sense in which our sins may be hidden, and that is, by obtaining the pardon of them. If we detect our sins, if we confess them before God, if we plead the blood and obedience of Jesus for their pardon - God will blot them out! He will cover them, so as to cancel them forever. Then we shall know what the Psalmist meant when he exclaimed, "Oh, the blessedness of the man whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Oh, the blessedness of the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit!" (Psalm 32:1, 2).

When God forgives the penitent sinner, who stands before the throne of His grace, pleading the merits of His Son - He casts all his sins behind his back - or he throws them into the depths of the sea! They are thus covered, hidden, and concealed forever!

Let us, therefore, conceal our sins no longer; let us confess them before God, and obtain the pardon of them. Let us never profess before our fellow men - what we do not really possess. Let us make our lives - the index of our hearts!

~James Smith~

(The End)
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A Showy and Expensive Style of Living

"Tell those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give generously to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them" (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

It is the incumbent duty of rich Christians, to consecrate a large portion of their affluence, to upholding the cause of truth. Let them, in order to abound more and more in such undefiled religion, avoid all unnecessary worldly conformity, and all expensive modes of living.

There is, in the present age, a disposition, even in professing Christian, to a showy and expensive style of living, which cannot be more effectually repressed, than by the plain and simple habits of those who are known to have an easy access to all the elegancies and splendors of life.

Rich Christians ought to be far more anxious to give - then to hoard their fortunes. When we enter their mansions and see magnificence in every room, luxury on every  table; when we see their extravagant dress and decor, we cannot help saying, "How much ought a disciple of Jesus, who lives in this manner, to give away to the cause of Christ, before he is justified in such an expenditure!"

Vices to which rich Christians are more exposed, and against which they should vigilantly guard, are pride, haughtiness, love of money, idleness, self-indulgence, luxury, extravagance, and worldly conformity.

The virtues to which they are called are gratitude to God; humility and meekness to men; frugality and temperance towards themselves; liberality, together
 with tender sympathy to their poorer brethren; and a generous regard to the support of the cause of pure religion and general benevolence.

~John Angell James~