What is science? The method by which man tries to conceal his ignorance. It should
not be so, but so it is. You are not to be dogmatical in theology, my brethren, it is
wicked; but for scientific men, it is the correct thing. You are never to assert anything
very strongly; but scientists may boldly assert what they cannot prove, and may
demand a faith far more credulous than any we possess. AM97

The mythology of science is as false as the mythology of the heathen; but this is the
thing which is made a god of. GF31

I mean the unscientific Christian, who will trouble his head about reconciling the
Bible with science. He had better leave it alone, and not begin his tinkering trade.
The mistake made by such men has been that in trying to solve a difficulty, they
have either twisted the Bible, or contorted science. GF31

If scientists agree to our believing a part of the Bible, we thank them for nothing: we
believe it whether or no. GF34

Instead of being humbled in the presence of scientific infidels, we ought to pity them;
they affect to look down upon us, but we have far more cause to look down upon
them. TD94:8

Facts of science, as they call them, are always questioned: this is unquestionable.
1191.503

One said to his minister, “My dear sir, surely you ought to adjust your beliefs to the
progress of science.” “Yes,” said he, “but I have not had time to do it to-day, for I
have not yet read the morning papers.” 2013.153

The great scientists live by killing those who went before them. They know nothing
for certain, except that their predecessors were wrong. 2013.153

Though it be veiled in the language of philosophy, the scientific jargon which makes
God into insensible force is covert atheism. 2118.665

Men say of each affliction, “It might have been prevented if so and so had occurred.”
Perhaps if another physician had been called in, the dear child’s life had still been
spared; possibly if I had moved in such a direction in business I might not have been
a loser. Who is to judge of what might have been? In endless conjectures we are lost,
and, cruel to ourselves, we gather material for unnecessary griefs. Matters happened
not so; then why conjecture what would have been had things been different? It is
folly. You did your best, and it did not answer: why rebel? To fix the eye upon the
second cause will irritate the mind. 1090.17

Is there anything you do that you could not tell to Jesus? Is there anything you love
that you could not ask him to bless? Is there any plan now before you that you could
not ask him to sanction? Is there anything in your heart which you would wish to
hide from him? Then it is a wrong thing; be you sure of that. The thing must be evil,
or else you would not wish to conceal it from him whom, I trust, you really do love. 2779.230

A world without God is a world without fear, without law, without order, without
hope. 2118.663

When you feel yourself to be utterly unworthy, you have hit the truth. 849.24

I find I cannot speak or think well-enough of my Lord, nor ill-enough of myself.
Nothingness and emptiness, vanity and sin are my sole and only heritage by nature,
and all my fulness lies in Christ, and every excellence I can ever claim must come
from him and him alone. 1243.393

I feel growingly my unworthiness: I sink lower and lower in my own judgment. I was
nothing; but I am less than nothing. 1246.424

Ah, dear friends, you have not seen God aright if your abhorrence turns upon your
fellow-men; but if the one man you abhor is yourself, you are not mistaken! 2009.104
Do you know what self-loathing means? Some of you do, I know. And I am sure that
in proportion as you truly love, reverence, and worship God, in that proportion you
are full of abhorrence of self. 2009.104

The saint most ripe for heaven is the most aware of his own shortcomings. 2073.130

I tell you our strength, whenever we have any, is our greatest weakness, and our
fancied wisdom is our real folly. 1300.354

Self-satisfaction is the death of progress, and at the same time the discovery of
falsehood. 1796.461

Beware of those matters in which you think you cannot err. Men who have been wise
in great difficulties have blundered fearfully where all was simple. 2050.594

Brothers, let us confess ourselves fools, that we may be wise; for otherwise we shall
fall into that other condition, of professing ourselves wise, and becoming fools. Let us
ignore our wisdom, even if we have any. 2050.595

It is a great work, a divine work, to bring people to confess that they are not yet saved,
for the most of mankind have the notion that, somehow or other, all is well with them
in the sight of God. 3035.183

Trust Christ, but do not trust yourself. 3556.144

He is truly great in power who hath power over himself. ME107

Your spiritual nature ought to keep your mental nature under control, and your
mental nature ought to keep your bodily or animal nature entirely in check. 3552.87

He who thinks he never was a fool is a fool now. He who never owns that he is wrong
will never get right. PP59

Somehow we can see frailty of life, as well as all the other frailties which we possess
in common, much more clearly in other people than we can in ourselves. 635.338

The supply of deceivers is sure to be maintained, since the text tells us that all the
ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; there is a propensity in human nature
which leads men, even when they are most wrong, to judge themselves most right. 849.14

We must, therefore, judge ourselves very severely, lest our natural tendency to
falseness should lead us to false assertion as to ourselves, and then should urge us on
till we delude ourselves into the foolish belief that we are what we proudly represent
ourselves to be; and then should dare in the desperation of our pride to think God
himself untrue. 1241.362

To deceive another requires a measure of cunning, but to deceive yourself needs far
more. 1241.365

When everybody else believes a flattering falsehood concerning you, you come at last
to believe it yourself, or at least to think that it may be so. 1245.413

In nothing do men make more mistakes than concerning their own characters. 1274.43

How readily do we believe a lie when it fosters in us a high opinion of ourselves. 1677.484

The Word of God knows more about us than we can ever discover about ourselves.
We are partial to ourselves, and hence we are half-blind. Our judgment always fails
to hold the balance evenly when our own case is in the weighing. What man is there
who is not on good terms with himself? 2129.89

There are great numbers of people who do not want to learn too much about their sin.
2411.211

Take nothing for granted, my brethren, but your own possibility of self-deceit. 3264.406

I hazard this assertion, that there is nothing in the faith of that man who does not
exercise self-denial. 120.101

Do not imagine that the appearance of sadness indicates sanctity; it often means
hypocrisy. To conceal one’s own griefs for the sake of cheering others betokens a
self-denying sympathy which is the highest kind of Christianity. 1138.596

We are dead to sin that we should live unto righteousness; and now our very power
to enjoy sin, if indeed we are resting in Christ, is gone from us. We have lost now, by
God’s grace, the faculty which once was gratified with these things. They tell us we
deny ourselves many pleasures. Oh, sirs, there is a sense in which a Christian lives a
self-denying life, but there is another sense in which he practises no self-denial at all,
for he only denies himself what he does not want, what he would not have if he could.
1143.659

Christians live by dying. Kill self and Christ shall live in you, and so shall you,
yourself, most truly live. The way upward in true life and honour is to go downward
in self-humiliation. Renounce all, and you shall be rich; have nothing, and you shall
have all things. Try to be something, and you shall be nothing; be nothing, and you
shall live; that is the great lesson which Jesus would teach us, but which we are slow
to learn. 1391.10

To give up the world will be no new thing for you or for me: we have given it up many
times already. 2011.131

We must either deny ourselves, or we shall deny our Lord; if we cleave to self-
confidence, we shall not cleave to him. 2034.397

I do not believe you can do much good without having a great deal taken out of
yourselves; and when men are so very particular and careful about themselves, and
will only serve God if it does not cost them anything, I believe that no earthly good
can come of that. 3024.56

Beware of no man more than of yourself: we carry our worst enemies within us. PT57

The well-instructed believer is very much afraid of himself; he dares not go into
temptation, for he feels that a man who carries a bomb-shell within him ought to
mind that he keeps away from sparks, and that he who has a powder-magazine in his
heart ought not to play with fire. 437.128

Distrust yourself, dear friend, for you accurately gauge your own judgment when you
do that. 2893.354

When I hear my Master say, “One of you shall betray me,” I may have a shrewd
suspicion that he refers to Judas, but it will be wiser for me to say, “Lord, is it I?”
rather than to ask, “Lord, is it Judas?” 2936.245

Self-esteem is a moth which frets the garments of virtue. 1114.309

Anything which leads to self-esteem leads to the utmost jeopardy. If you have a lowly
opinion of yourself, I congratulate you; for this is a main element of safety. 1657.245

She (Ruth) had little self-esteem, and therefore she won the esteem of others. 1851.401

You will be much more likely to come to an honest conclusion if you rather suspect
yourself too much than believe in yourself too much; I am sure that, in speaking thus,
I am giving you sound teaching. GS162

It is a common thing for people to mind Number One, but not so common to see
people mend it. PP46

We ought to use our neighbours as looking glasses to see our own faults in, and mend
in ourselves what we see in them. PT67

It is certain that you can detect other men’s faults, but you cannot detect your own.
The lookers-on often see more than the players, and we sometimes perceive more at
a distance than when we approach nearer. The fact is that partiality to ourselves
blinds us to our own imperfections, and makes us see the mote in our brother’s eye
though there is a beam in our own. 673.67

Self is an unpleasant subject for study, anatomy is nothing to it: to dissect a corpse is
not half so disagreeable as to examine your own character. 1337.77

Would your life, if now ended, be a life worth living? Suppose it were now threatened
to be cut short, would you not pray with anguish, “Lord, let me live a little longer,
that I may distribute more of my money to thy cause, may bear better testimony to
thy truth, and may set my house in order.” Set your house in order at once, my
brother. Give away a full portion of your substance immediately. Begin to work for
Jesus at once. Why should you hesitate? You blame the sinner when he delays; surely
the saint is to be blamed, too, when he also lingers. 2086.287

He that is not willing to search himself should stand self-suspected by that
unwillingness to look at his affairs. If you are right, you will not object to be weighed
in the balances. 2088.304

I never met with a hypocrite who thought himself one; and I never shall. If you are
afraid of yourselves I am not afraid of you. If you tremble at God’s Word, you have
one of the surest marks of God’s elect. Those who fear that they are mistaken are
seldom mistaken. If you search yourselves, and allow the Word of God to search you,
it is well with you. 2088.311

You who do not like self-examination are the persons who need it most. 2098.424

Self-suspicion will be healthy; suspicion of others may be cruel. We are not judges;
and even if we are, we had better keep to our own court, and sit on our own
judgment-seat, dispensing the law within the little kingdom of our own selves. 2107.534

If you dare not think about your state, be sure that there is something wrong in it. 2157.431

Our tendency is to decry the particular form of sin that we find in others. We hold up
our hands as if we were quite shocked. Better look in the looking-glass than look out
at the window. 2432.459

It would be well if we all reviewed each day before we fell asleep; some folk, if they
knew themselves better, would not brag as loudly as they now do. A keener eye
might, perhaps, make their tongue less talkative. 2793.400

I have heard of a minister who, wishing to bring the truth home to the hearts and
consciences of his people, said that he should like to pass a Reform Act,—that
everybody should reform one person, and then all would be reformed. He meant that
they should all reform themselves, but one man said, “The minister is quite right;
everybody is to reform one, and I am going home to reform our Mary.” That is often
our idea,—that we must reform somebody else; but if we could bring ourselves to feel
that weeding our own garden, and watering our own plants, and fulfilling our own
vocation is what God requires of us, how much better it would be for the entire
Church of Christ. 3057.449

When I think that my brethren have many faults, I may well remember how many I
have myself, and instead of thinking how badly some people do, I ought to suspect
that I might have done a great deal worse if I had been in their place. Indeed it
strikes me that the wise man is rather delighted that things are as well as they are,
than displeased that they are not any better, for he knows that the best of men are
but men at the best. 3163.463

I had never known the loathsomeness there was in my heart if the spade of
tribulation had not turned over the green sods of my profession, and made me see
therein holes and places where loathsome things did creep and crawl within. 3239.100

It is the hypocrite who goes on peacefully, without fear, confident where there is no
ground for confidence. But these fears abound, and, in some respects, they are
healthy. Better to go to heaven doubting, than to hell presuming. 3362.330

You can always find reasons, such as they are, when you want to pursue a career of
self-indulgence. 2111.582

How much does a man love himself? None of us too little, some of us too much. 145.305

By nature we love our own will and way; and it goes against the grain for us to bring
ourselves into such complete subjection as the law of the Lord requires. 2209.326

If you trust the living God, you will do the right, and bear the loss or the shame; but
if your faith fail you, self-love will create such respect for your own good name, such
fear of ridicule, such unwillingness to be singular, that you will slide from your
integrity, and choose a smooth and pleasing road. 2209.327

When certain persons come to me with their sentimental sorrows, I wish the Lord
would fill them with the love of souls, and make their hearts break with anxiety for
their conversion: then would their griefs be of a nobler sort. You would no longer
weep over a mole-hill if you began to move mountains. 1425.419

There is no attribute of God which self-righteousness does not impugn. WA6

Self-righteousness arises partly from pride, but mainly from ignorance of God’s law.
116.73

Ever since man became a sinner he has been self-righteous. When he had a
righteousness of his own he never gloried of it, but ever since he has lost it, he has
pretended to be the possessor of it. 350.17

They who are best acquainted with mankind will tell you that self-righteousness is
not the peculiar sin of the virtuous, but that most remarkably, it flourishes best
where there appears to be the least soil for it. 849.15

The fact that Christ died for the ungodly renders self-righteousness a folly. 1191.500

Would God have taken the trouble to make another righteousness if thou couldst
have made one of thine own? 1899.258

Alas, that folly should be so desperately entrenched in the heart of man, that he will
spend his whole life in a persevering attempt to insult his Maker by preparing a
righteousness of his own, when his Maker has already wrought out, and brought in,
a righteousness perfect in every respect! 1899.259

We have not any one of us a righteousness that will stand the test of the all-
searching eye of God, and in our heart of hearts we know it is so. 2452.78

Our imaginary goodness is more hard to conquer than our actual sin. Man can sooner
be cured of his sicknesses than be made to forego his boasts of health. Human
weakness is a small obstacle to salvation compared with human strength; there lies
the work and the difficulty. Hence it is a sign of grace to know one’s need of grace.
3156.378

Rely on self! Let night rely on her darkness to find a light; let emptiness rely on its
inefficiency to find its fulness; let death rely on the worms to give it immortality; let
hell rely upon its fire to make it into heaven—such trusts as these would be equally
strong with those of the sinner who relies upon himself for salvation. 3331.580

He is the physician for any form of disease, except that form of disease which consists
in not being diseased. 3369.411

He who can do all things without Christ will end in doing nothing. 1733.423

Self-sufficiency is inefficiency. The fulness of self is a double emptiness. He that has
no sense of his weakness has a weakness in his sense. I believe, brethren and sisters,
that any man whom God uses for a great purpose will be so emptied out that he will
wonder that ever God uses him in the least degree; and he will be ready to hide his
head, and long to get out of public notice, because he will feel himself to be utterly
unworthy of the favour which God manifests towards him. 1733.424

There are a great many of you who appear to have a large stock of faith, but it is only
because you are in very good health and your business is prospering. 2945.351

Only when a man is saved does he forget self. TN128

The sorriest thing in the world to enjoy is yourself. I can enjoy other people better
than I can myself: to enjoy yourself needs a very depraved appetite, for selfishness is
sordid, and, like the serpent, has dust appointed to be its meat. 1305.419

While you can help yourselves, do so, and while you have a right to expect help in
times of dire necessity, do not be everlastingly expecting everybody else to be waiting
upon you. 1512.5

We cannot rise to the standard of friends of God if self is our ruling force; God is not
selfish, and he is not the friend of the selfish. 1962.273

I believe that selfishness is the front-door key of despair; for it never did any good to
anybody; so, when it gets into trouble, nobody brings it comfort, and everybody says,
“Who will bemoan thee? Whence shall I seek comforters for thee?” 2322.401

I say this because I have often found that men naturally draw this inference: “We are
to help one another; therefore, please help me.” The proper inference would be, “We
are to help one another; where is the man whom I am to help?” 2831.230

Are there not some people, who seem to feel that they are the centre of all creation,
and that all things were created for their honour and glory? 2831.232

Any man who is selfish is an unsaved man, for the chief point in salvation is to save
us from ourselves. As long as you live simply within your own ribs, you live in a
dungeon. 2831.238

Beloved, depend upon it, our miseries grow at the root of our selfishness. Where
selfishness begins, sorrow begins; and where selfishness is dead, grief is dead. 3073.5
Remember that our sorrows usually spring out of ourselves; and that, when self is
conquered, sorrow is to a great extent banished from the human heart. 3076.39

Who are you that everything should happen just as you wish? Should the weather be
fine simply because you want it to be so when a thousand fields are gasping for rain?
Should you have the channels of trade turned in your direction when, if that were the
case, scores of others would be beggared? Is everything in this world to be so
arranged that you shall be the darling and pet of providence? 3184.76

Unselfishness brings with it necessarily a measure of joy. 1827.122

Here is the pith of the second table—“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Have
you ever tried to do that—to love your neighbour as yourself? You have been a little
kind, and sometimes generous; but the standard of loving your neighbour as
yourself—have you ever reached to that? Has your charity been equal to your
self-love? 2210.343

I would no more associate with one who denied the faith than with a drunkard or
thief. AM311

With deep regret we abstain from assembling with those whom we dearly love and
heartily respect, since it would involve us in a confederacy with those with whom we
can have no communion in the Lord. DG32

Fellowship with known and vital error is participation in sin. Those who know and
love the truth of God cannot have fellowship with that which is diametrically opposed
thereto, and there can be no reason why they should pretend that they have such
fellowship. DG35

The life of separation may be a path of sorrow, but it is a highway of safety; and
though a separated life may cost you many pangs, and make every day a battle, yet
it is a happy life after all. ME194

Would that we could see the wall of separation between the church and the world
made broader and stronger. It makes one sad to hear Christians saying, “Well, there
is no harm in this; there is no harm in that,” thus getting as near to the world as
possible. ME341

If we would follow the Lord wholly, we must go right away into the wilderness of
separation, and leave the Egypt of the carnal world behind us. ME358

It is ill for an heir of heaven to be a great friend with the heirs of hell. It has a bad
look when a courtier is too intimate with his king’s enemies. Even small inconsistencies
are dangerous. Little thorns make great blisters, little moths destroy fine garments, and
little frivolities and little rogueries will rob religion of a thousand joys. ME577

Evil acquaintances, and even those who are but neutral, must be forsaken, they can
confer no benefit, they must inflict injury. TD45:10

Courtesy is due from the Christian to all men, but the unholy intimacy which allows
a believer to receive an unregenerate person as his bosom friend is a sin. “Be ye not
unequally yoked together with unbelievers” applies not only to marriage, but to all
other intimate unions which amount to yoking together. I would not, as a Christian,
link my name in the same firm with an ungodly man, because, whether I choose it or
not, however high my integrity may be, if my partner chooses to do doubtful actions
I must be held responsible in a measure for his sins both before God and men. 704.439

Now, I have heard of some professed Christians, wanting to see, they said, the ways
of the ungodly, going into low places of amusement, to spy out the land, to judge for
themselves. Such conduct is dangerous and worse. My dear friends, I never found it
necessary, in my ministry, to do anything of the kind, and yet I think I have had no
small success in winning souls. I must confess, I should feel very much afraid to go
into hell, to put my head between the lion’s jaws, for the sake of looking down his
throat. I should think I was guilty of a gross presumption if I went into the company
of the lewd and the profane to see what they were doing. 755.335

If there is no visible difference between you and the world, depend upon it there is no
invisible difference. 882.416

Faith works in us separateness from sinners. 1177.31

A sheep in the midst of wolves is safe compared with the Christian in the midst of
ungodly men. 1300.355

If you are a child of God you are spoiled for the world. 1341.129

If you were God’s children you would loathe the very thought of the world’s evil joys,
and your question would not be, “How far may we be like the world?” but your one
cry would be, “How far can we get away from the world? How much can we come out
from it?” 1906.340

If God had meant to bless the family at Padan-aram by letting his chosen ones dwell
among them, why did he call Abraham out at all? If Isaac may do good by dwelling
there, why did Abraham leave? If there is no need of a separate church now, what
have we been at throughout all these ages? Has the martyr’s blood been shed out of
mere folly? Have confessors and reformers been mad when contending for doctrines
which, it would seem, are of no great account? 2047.561

I would rather go to “the house of mourning” with the children of God, I would rather
be chained in a dungeon wrist to wrist with a Christian, than I would live for ever
with the wicked in the sunshine of happiness. 3108.423

If God comes forth, in wondrous grace, to call any of us to work in His vineyard, it is
not because He needs us, but because we need Him; He does not set us to work
because He needs workers, but because we need work. GS141

We are not saved by service, but we are saved to service. WE6

I know that, if I am fit to be used, He is sure to use me; and if He does not use me, it
will most probably be because there is some unfitness in me. Try to know why you
get baffled in holy service, for it will be wise to know. WE42

Serve your Lord as if no eye beheld you; but do not blush though all the eyes in the
universe should gaze upon you. Let not self, in either case, come in to defile the
service. WE98

We serve God or the devil in all that we do. 878.363

The servant of Christ finds his honour in the service itself. 1118.357

We are never so happy and never so truly helping ourselves as when we are
altogether serving him. For my part, I can say of him that I love my Master, I love
his service, I love his house, I love his children, and I love everything about him; and
if he were going to discharge me at the end of this life, I would beg him to let me live
here for ever, for I could not bear to be dismissed. It is one of my dearest hopes in
going to heaven that he will employ me still. 1258.574

Dear friend, what are you doing? What have you been doing? And what do you
contemplate doing? 1259.580

It certainly is so, that we are fit for Christ’s service so long as we feel that we have as
yet done nothing, and are merely at the beginning of our purposed service. 1474.283

I would rather create an ounce of help than a ton of theory. 1754.677

Discouragement comes readily enough to us poor mortals who are occupied in the
work of God, seeing it is a work of faith, a work of difficulty, a work above our
capacity, and a work much opposed. 1918.483

Moreover, the enemy contrasts our work with that of others, and with that of those
who have gone before us. We are doing so little as compared with other people,
therefore let us give up. We cannot build like Solomon, therefore let us not build at
all. Yet, brethren, there is a falsehood in all this; for, in truth, nothing is worthy of
God. The great works of others, and even the amazing productions of Solomon, all fell
short of his glory. 1918.484

Instead of being discouraged because what we do is unworthy of God, and
insignificant compared with what was done by others, let us gather up our strength
to reform our errors, and reach to higher attainments. 1918.485

Every man must serve somebody: we have no choice as to that fact. Those who have
no master are slaves to themselves. Depend upon it, you will either serve Satan or
Christ, either self or the Saviour. 2208.323

Unfortunately, in our work for God, we generally fall into one of two blunders. Either
we get a lot of machinery, and think that we shall accomplish everything by that; or
else we are like some whom I have known, who have confided so much in prayer that
they have done nothing but pray. 2233.622

If you are to serve God, wait till he calls you to his work; he knows where to find you
when he wants you; you need not advertise yourself to his omniscience. 2243.76

I do not believe there ever was a man who was his own master, but that every man
has a master of some kind or other. 3337.29

Idleness is the mother of vexation. A Christian who does but little for Christ, unless
he is prevented from doing it by suffering, will, as a rule, be a miserable man. 3422.428

God has not one single servant for whom He has not appointed a service. GS74

Even so, Christians are not to be praised for neglecting duties under the pretence of
having secret fellowship with Jesus: it is not sitting, but sitting at Jesus’ feet which
is commendable. ME261

No one of us, then, can be exempted from the work of spreading the gospel because we are engaged in some other work. WE136

As an arrow which falls short of the mark, as a fig tree which yields no figs, as a
candle which smokes but yields no light, as a cloud without rain and a well without
water, is a man who has not served the Lord. He has led a wasted life—a life to which
the flower and glory of existence are lacking. 1296.302

Because we could not do much, we have half resolved to do nothing! 1918.483

I have heard it sometimes said by wicked men, when they would arraign the justice
of the Most High, that it is unjust that God should condemn men for the use of the
powers which he himself has given them. This most subtle evil has often grieved the
hearts of those who are weak and ignorant, and have not seen its untruthfulness—
for to speak plainly of it, it is a gross lie. God does not condemn men for the use of the
powers he has given them; he condemns them for the misuse of those powers; not for
employing them, but for employing them as they ought not to employ them; not for
thinking, not for speaking, not for doing, but for thinking, speaking, and doing,
contrary to his law. God damneth no man for the use of the powers which he hath
given him, let that be again repeated—but he doth condemn them for the abuse of
those powers, and for their impudence in daring to turn those powers, which he hath
given them, for his honour, against his service, and against his throne. 148.325

This sin is not uncommon in our day; let our midnight streets and our divorce courts
be the witness. Perhaps the saddest proof that society is far from pure is found in the
fact that seducers and fornicators, if they be but gentlemen, may enter respectable
society. Brand the miscreants, I say. If the woman be shut out as a harlot, what shall
be done unto the lustful maker and cherisher of harlots? 466.474

There are men—and seamen to be found among them—who are not satisfied with
being ruined themselves, but they thirst to ruin others. They lay traps for precious
souls, and they are vexed that their victims should escape them. They are angry
because certain poor women are not altogether in their power. Woe unto the men
who lead women astray! I have heard of sailors who, in every port they enter, try to
ruin others. I charge you to remember that you will have to face these ruined ones at
the day of judgment. You sailed away, and they never knew where you went; but the
Lord knew. It may be, when you lie in hell, eyes will find you out, and a voice will cry
aloud, “Are you here? You are the man that led me to perdition!” You will have to
keep everlasting company with those whom you dragged down to hell; and these will
for ever curse you to your face. I say there are men who would like to have full licence
to commit wantonness, and they are grieved that they are hindered in their carnival
of sin. May God grant that you may be stopped altogether; and instead of lusting to
pollute others, may you have a desire to save them! May God grant that the channel
of evil may be blocked for you, and may you be piloted into the waters of repentance
and faith! 2206.295

Not necessarily in the bonds of wedlock should we all be, but always in the bonds of
purity; and those who sin against that which is pure, in their intercourse with one
another, shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Nothing could be more explicit than
this inspired declaration of the apostle. If any persons live in lust and uncleanness,
God will not permit them to defile his true Church on earth, or to profane his temple
above. It is quite possible that I may be speaking to some people upon whose ears
this message grates very harshly,—for all sorts of hearers come to this place,—and
they will be the first to say, “The preacher should not mention such a subject.” My
answer to that remark is,—Then, you should not commit such iniquity, and give me
cause to speak of it. 2661.62

Perhaps there are some here who will say, “I know I have been very chaste all my
life, for the command saith, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery,’ and I have never
broken it; I am clean there.” Ay, but now hear Christ explain the command, “He that
looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in
his heart.” Now, then, who amongst us can say that we have not done that? 3392.63

Servants of Satan, here is your livery! Do you say you will not put it on? Listen: “His
enemies will I clothe with shame.” God will put it on you. You would not wear the
robe of righteousness; you shall not be able to decline to wear the robe of shame. God
himself here stands, as it were, and declares that he will dress his creature in the
proper garment for him to wear. You must put it on; there is no escape. You must
wear it. Here is your eternal convict’s dress, and, convicted of being an enemy of God,
you must wear it—of all dresses the most terrible. To be clothed with pain would be
far less dreadful than to be clothed with shame. 3333.607