SEEKING THE LORD IS A DUTY, IS A PRIVILEGE;
ENCOURAGING PROMISES.

And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.—1 Chron. xxviii. 9.

I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.-Proverbs viii. 17.

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By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth I sought him, but I found him not. The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.—Song of Solomon iii. 1-4.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near : let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.— Isaiah lv. 6, 7.

Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.--Jeremiah xxix. 12, 13.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.― Matthew vii. 7, 8.

And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.—Matthew xxviii. 5.

But without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him.-Hebrews xi. 6.

SELF-DECEPTION IN RELIGION IS DISHONOURING TO GOD-IS RUINOUS TO IMPENITENT PROFESSORS.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it ?-Jeremiah xvii. 9.

And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their coveteousness.-Ezekiel xxxiii. 31.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.-Matthew xxiii. 14.

He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.-Mark vii. 6, 7.

For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.-Romans x. 2-4.

For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.— Galatians vi. 3, 7, 8.

If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.— James i. 26.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.—1 John i. 8.

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.-Revelation iii. 15-17.

SELF-DEDICATION TO GOD IS REQUIRED OF ALL TRUE INSTRUCTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS.

CHRISTIANS.

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.-Joshua xxiv. 15.

For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.-Job xxii. 26, 27.

Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noon-day.-Psalm xxxvii. 4-6.

In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves unto the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.-Jeremiah l. 4, 5.

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. -Luke xv. 18, 19.

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. -Acts ii. 41.

Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.-Romans vi. 13.

And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God..—2 Cor. viii. 5.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.-Galatians ii. 20.

For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.-2 Timothy i. 12.

SELF-DENIAL IS NECESSARY AND BENEFICIAL TO THE
FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST.

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: so Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.-Genesis xii. 1, 4.

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Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?—Matthew xvi. 24-26.

Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee. And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.-Luke xviii. 28-30.

And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.—Acts xx. 22-24.

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord : for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. Philippians iii. 7, 8.

By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.-Hebrews xi. 24-27.

SELF-EXAMINATION AND CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, RELATIVE TO PERSONAL SALVATION.

Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes and I have walked in thy truth.Psalm xxvi. 1-3.

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.—Psalm cxxxix. 23, 24.

He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.-John xxi. 17.

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I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with For I delight in the law of God after the inward man : but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.-Romans vii. 21-25.

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.-1 Corinthians xi. 28.

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates ?—2 Corinthians xiii. 5.

According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.-Philip.

i. 20, 21.

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.-2 Peter i. 10, II.

For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.-1 John iii. 20, 21.