Man's religion & God's religion

"That no flesh should glory in His presence." 1 Cor. 1:29

Man's religion is to build up the creature. God's religion is to throw the creature down in the dust of self-abasement, and to glorify Christ.

{This page is a work in progress}

A mystery to yourself O, what slow learners! Take me as I am Nothing but a huge clod of dust How can they escape?	God shall supply Our infirmities Why are you in despair? Treasure in earthen vessels Trials, temptations, stripping, emptying	No fear! These difficulties! Idolatry! Inward conflicts Wounds, bruises, putrefying sores
The wilderness wanderer Temptation Idling life away like an idiot or a madman This wily devil! To bathe in the ocean of endless bliss!	The King in His beauty Can the Ethiopian change his skin? That heavenly Teacher Preserving grace before regeneration Free!	These fugitive, transitory things A sad motley mixture Enlarge my heart Our refuge! Supernatural light
Little heathen Wearied, torn & half expiring I am weak & ignorant, full of sin By the grace of God The anointing	Can I be a child of God, and be thus? The truth shall make you free! Sin cannot be subdued in any other way Two kinds of repentance Have we nothing to give to Christ?	Suffering In this scene of confusion & distraction His own sore What are we, when we have no trials? Spiritual poverty
The religion of a dead professor Have we not leaned upon a thousand things? No sight, short of this The penetrating light of the spirit All true religion	The regenerating operations of the Holy Spirit This hard school of painful experience Difficulties, obstacles & hindrances The poison fang of sin! A penitent backslider & a forgiving God!	Salvation! A peculiar people Softened, broke & melted your heart Fixed & fastened by an Almighty hand When we are reduced to poverty & beggary
As they come, they weep This is the saint's inheritance! Savoury food such as their soul loves A smoother way to glory? Seek real things	We stand upon slippery places! One grain of holiness Hidden manna Entangled, perplexed & distressed Lifeless, barren head knowledge	Poor in spirit Utter fools! The heart of God's child A spirit of delusion Husks which the swine eat
Then they cried O what painful work it is! Accepted! Blundering & stumbling on in darkness When you are in the wilderness	O what crowds of pitiable objects Trouble, sorrow & affliction From a burning hell—to a blissful heaven! Our own wisdom, righteousness & strength Oh! Sweet grace, blessed grace!	Dying Which is better? There must be continual trials Personal, spiritual, experimental knowledge Help from the sanctuary
Holy wrestling A disciple of Jesus Sovereign, supreme disposal You must not love one of these glittering baubles One unmingled scene of happiness & pleasure	The rod was dipped in love The best teacher Buried in the grave of carnality & worldliness A solitary drop of this holy anointing oil Practical atheists	Dead in sin Continual salvation The fatal mistake of thousands The great secret of vital godliness If the devil ever feels joy
Fear not! The desire of our soul O Self! Self! That dear, idolized creature Unquenched and unquenchable!	Crawl like a serpent, roar like a lion If you want to see what sin really is Hard-hearted, cold-blooded, wise-headed Our sanctuary Poor, miserable, paltry works of a polluted worm!	Mere toys & baubles Heavenly dew Coming up from the wilderness When we gaze upon the lifeless corpse There, on the other side, is my solitary soul
Even your own relatives think you are almost insane Straight paths Have nothing to do with them The foulest filth under the cleanest cloak Familiarity with sacred things	Pride, self-conceit & self-exaltation What? Will He forgive us all sins? This sacred anointing What makes the children of God so strange? With His stripes we are healed	Strangle & suffocate it! They shall never perish! All things! Without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish! Bitten by this serpent's tooth
The sin of pride They need a mighty God The Lord sometimes flogs His children home! Talk like an angel—and live like a devil This idol-making, idol-loving world	Many hard lessons Were we left wholly in its hands! Romantic dreams of pleasure & earthly joy? The love of the truth These lovers of ours	It is in these storms The incredible greatness of His power His secret power & influence All iniquity If your flesh had its full swing
A coward's castle Some beloved idol? That monstrous creature within us! The soul's natural element Godly sorrow	But our coward flesh shrinks from them! The filthy holes & puddles in which it grovels The Lord's secret power in our souls God's house When the Holy Spirit preaches the gospel	We get entangled with some idol The sins & slips of the saints Experimental knowledge Friend, can you understand my riddle? My greatest enemy?
There are many plans in a man's heart All are more or less deeply infected with it Ministers are often desirous Super-abounding grace Job's religion	The way in which the Spirit of God works The world is passing away Weary Oh, how religious he once used to be! It is a creature of many lives!	The believer's chief troubles A religion that satisfies thousands Down they sink to the bottom! Who can come out of the battle alive? God's mercy
A flowery path? Toys & playthings of the religious baby-house But oh, the struggle! Oh, the conflict! A snake, a monkey, an onion, a bit of rag The mother & mistress of all the sins	I needed no monkish rules then The strong man sinks down into a babe! Save me, and I shall be saved! Crush its viper head with the heel of our boot! What a battlefield is the heart	How can he travel through this waste-howling wilderness? If God left us for a single hour A worldly spirit will ever peep out Enticing words of man's wisdom A peculiar, indescribable, invincible power
The deep things of God The religionists of the day My leanness, my leanness! Those poor stupid people! We were not always a set of poor mopes	You were secretly lifted up with pride To walk after the flesh The very thought is appalling! I will give you rest That which is highly esteemed among men	Invincibly & irresistibly drawn Woman's chief besetting sins Not your own! Do you seek great things for yourself? We would not be such muck-worms!
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