The greatest temptation of godly believers is that they endeavor to sanctify themselves by themselves; and therefore, they abstain from certain dresses and foods, or keep many verses to please God.
All the churches and groups that prevent a certain fashion, or the using of radio or TV have not yet recognized the bitter truth that outer observances and appearances are not the cause, but the result of our sins. They resemble those who cut the grass from above the ground and do not pull them up by the roots. They work in vain, for it is necessary to uproot evil from our minds, and then the bad fruits will disappear automatically.
Do you believe that no man is good of himself? Christ teaches us the bankruptcy of oneself, for the heart of man is the fountain of poison and evil. Dear reader, be true and confess what you think during the day, and what you imagine during the night. Accept the words of Christ as a surgeon’s scalpel, which opens the interior to bring out all what is within.
The Son of God mentioned that your first sin, which is leaking out of your interior, is your lusts and impurities, and even fornication and homosexuality. Do not lie, but tell God frankly about your lustful thoughts, unclean sayings, and known works that he may forgive and heal you.
Christ calls you a murderer, not because you killed or shot anyone with a gun, but because you hate the others and refuse them in your heart, and wish they would be ended quickly that you might never see them any longer. Yet, Jesus teaches you to love your enemies and forgive your adversary completely. Christ also shows you that the thought of stealing crops up out of the heart of each man. More observably, you have become a thief. Do you have anything in your hand, which does not belong to you? Did you rob the others of their time, thoughts, and small or big things? Give back all what is not yours to its owner, and confess your lust before him. All men wish to have money and properties to inure themselves without God. We often do not observe that we rob the Most High, who has the whole earth, of his right. Did you extract your body, strength, and mind from God, or did you put yourself as his own at his command? Examine yourself: did you recognize your situation in Jesus’ Spirit? Do not be proud. Confess your truth.
Your heart is filled with malice, cheat, and hatred to men. You pamper yourself with luxury. Your self has become your own idle. You worship to the name of yourself, making your life a measure to the others, and blaspheming against God with your prayers, because you do not love him with all your heart, but you drive at yourself with your malicious wishes. You turn night and day around the hateful, haughty ego.
How often did you use the name of God in vain, during the day, without making him the center of your life and your thoughts? Be aware that you are proud, haughty, and arrogant. This is exactly the original sin of Satan who separated himself from God, and loved himself haughtily.
Dear brother, Do you admit with us that you are really fool, and that you will never know God and yourself, unless the Holy Spirit enlightens your mind and leads you to the repentance of faith and renewal in the love of the Lord?