p. 151 | Practical Questions by M. Wood

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 22, 1872

Practical Questions.

By M. Wood

Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? What then are the fruits which we daily bring forth? What is the general tenor of our thoughts? If sinful thoughts arise, do we cherish them? Are we fond of retaining them? or have we obtained the mastery over our imaginations so as to be able almost instantly to suppress them, when contrary to purity and holiness?

Do we find delight in secret retirement, meditation, reading the Scriptures, and prayer? Are we careful of our words? Are they not light and trifling? Do we love to discourse about God and the second appearing of our Lord and Saviour? Is Jesus, that endearing name, often upon our tongue, not from mere profession or religious parade, but from a heart-felt love to him? What is the nature of our actions? Do they spring from a lively faith, that by them our faith may be known, as a tree is known by its fruits? Are we careful to maintain good works, knowing that if a child of God, we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them?

By some persons this train of self-examination may be termed legal; but where these evidences of grace in the soul are wanting, all pretension to gospel liberty is a delusion of Satan. M. Wood.

Boston, Mass.