Deceitfulness of Sin
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ignorance in this direction, and here comes the danger. One man has
been drawn aside who is hard to be persuaded when once he has set his
feet in a wrong track, and many who thought they were only following
the man as he followed Christ are betrayed into following him when
he has turned his back upon his Saviour.
Pride dwells in the heart of Brother D, and it will be exceedingly
difficult for him to yield; but unless he makes a full surrender to Christ,
the enemy will continue to work through him. And if he does not at
once take a decided stand, I fear he never will.
The-----and-----churches have taken a heavy responsibility. The
full result of the work they have done will not be known until the
judgment. You need heavenly wisdom, brethren, for sin has many
disguises. The want of spiritual vision makes you stumble like blind
men. Had you had singleness of purpose, it would have been in your
conference an element of tremendous power. But the very things
I feared have come. There was work to be done that has been left
undone. The companies that I saw would have been raised up as the
result of well-directed effort, and the meetinghouses that would have
been built,—where are they? Your unbelief has held the work. You
have done comparatively nothing yourselves, and when one would
work, you hedged the way so that he could not labor to any advantage.
Some are slow, very slow, and they pride themselves in it. But this
indolent sluggishness is a defect of character of which no man should
boast. Make a firm resolve to be prompt, and with divine help you
will succeed. Let your consecration be complete; bind property and
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friends on the altar of God, and when the heart is prepared to receive
the heavenly influence, bright beams from the throne of God will flash
into your soul, quickening all its dormant energies.
Some men have no firmness of character. They are like a ball of
putty and can be pressed into any conceivable shape. They are of no
definite form and consistency, and are of no practical use in the world.
This weakness, indecision, and inefficiency must be overcome. There
is an indomitableness about true Christian character which cannot be
molded or subdued by adverse circumstances. Men must have moral
backbone, an integrity which cannot be flattered, bribed, or terrified.
I greatly fear for the church. As Paul expressed it: “I fear lest by
any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your
minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” Paul