Repentance
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is constantly at work to attract the minds of men from the unsatisfying
pleasures of sin to the infinite blessings that may be theirs in Him.
To all these souls, who are vainly seeking to drink from the broken
cisterns of this world, the divine message is addressed, “Let him that
is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life
freely.”
Revelation 22:17
.
You who in heart long for something better than this world can
give, recognize this longing as the voice of God to your soul. Ask
Him to give you repentance, to reveal Christ to you in His infinite
love, in His perfect purity. In the Saviour’s life the principles of God’s
law—love to God and man—were perfectly exemplified. Benevolence,
unselfish love, was the life of His soul. It is as we behold Him, as the
light from our Saviour falls upon us, that we see the sinfulness of our
own hearts.
We may have flattered ourselves, as did Nicodemus, that our life
has been upright, that our moral character is correct, and think that
we need not humble the heart before God, like the common sinner:
but when the light from Christ shines into our souls, we shall see how
impure we are; we shall discern the selfishness of motive, the enmity
against God, that has defiled every act of life. Then we shall know that
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our own righteousness is indeed as filthy rags, and that the blood of
Christ alone can cleanse us from the defilement of sin, and renew our
hearts in His own likeness.
One ray of the glory of God, one gleam of the purity of Christ,
penetrating the soul, makes every spot of defilement painfully distinct,
and lays bare the deformity and defects of the human character. It
makes apparent the unhallowed desires, the infidelity of the heart, the
impurity of the lips. The sinner’s acts of disloyalty in making void
the law of God, are exposed to his sight, and his spirit is stricken and
afflicted under the searching influence of the Spirit of God. He loathes
himself as he views the pure, spotless character of Christ.
When the prophet Daniel beheld the glory surrounding the heav-
enly messenger that was sent unto him, he was overwhelmed with a
sense of his own weakness and imperfection. Describing the effect
of the wonderful scene, he says, “There remained no strength in me:
for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no
strength.”
Daniel 10:8
. The soul thus touched will hate its selfishness,
abhor its self-love, and will seek, through Christ’s righteousness, for