Affirmance

“ We are all apt to be partial in judging of ourselves and our own actions, and to think too favourably of our own character, as if there was nothing amiss in it: Every way of a man, even his by-way, is right in his own eyes. The proud heart is very ingenious in putting a fair face upon a foul matter, and in making that appear right to itself which is far from being so, to stop the mouth of conscience. 2. We are sure that the judgment of God concerning us is according to truth. Whatever our judgment is concerning ourselves, the Lord ponders the heart. ”

“ And shall we not fall upon our faces before God, and make confession, and get down on our knees under the burden of the terrible load, and say, "I know I am a believer, but I am not living as I should to the glory of my God. I am under the power of the flesh and all the self-confidence, and self-will, and self-pleasing that marks my life." ”

“ I nowise mean to ask, Have you a conscience so void of offence, have you a heart so pure and clean, that you fear no fullest exposure of what is in you to the gaze of men and angels?—as to God, he knows it all now! What I mean to ask is, Do you so love the truth and the right, that you welcome, or at least submit willingly to the idea of an exposure of what in you is yet unknown to yourself—an exposure that may redound to the glory of the truth by making you ashamed and humble? ”

“ Who is wise and understanding among you? let him shew by his good life his works in meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, glory not and lie not against the truth. This wisdom is not a wisdom that cometh down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where jealousy and faction are, there is confusion and every vile deed. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without variance, without hypocrisy. ”

“ And what other, more joyful for myself and more useful to people my life could become, if I had trusted the voice of the truth, God, for the first time spoken in me, not yet subjected to temptations of my soul, if I would believe that voice and gave in to it? ”

“ Faithful, confident reliance on man and on God is the last and hardest virtue! And wherefore? Because we must first have earned a FAITH in ourselves. Let the conscience pronounce: "Trust in thyself!" Let the whole heart be able to say, "I trust in myself," and those whomever we love we shall rely on, in proportion to that love. ”

“ It must have a direct and almost invincible tendency to impress that mind with a conviction of the sincerity of our love of the Truth, of the reality of our devotion towards its great Author, of our deep feeling of its necessity as the only guide to purity and happiness, and of our ardent desire that all men may know and receive and embrace it. ”

“ Today I will accept the truth about myself. I will arise in glory, and allow the light in me to shine upon the world throughout the day. I bring the world the tidings of salvation which I hear as God my Father speaks to me. ”

“ Are you sincere in all your religious practices? In your confession, do you look more to what is in your heart, than outside it? Do you always make a good intention and often say: “All for the greater glory of God”? ”

“ And, in effect, what was more natural to man than to confess his God, the author of his being and of his felicity, his end and his principle; than to adore his wisdom, his power, his goodness, and all those divine perfections of which he hath engraved upon his work such profound and evident marks? ”

“ Here is the significance of the thought I had in mind at the opening. We talk about humbling ourselves. When we can bend with reverence in the presence of that which is above us, the very bending is exaltation; for it indicates the capacity to appreciate, to admire, to adore. Thus we climb up into the ability to worship God, the infinite Spirit, our Father, in spirit and in truth. ”

“ I have testified to Thy oneness through Thine Own Self before the dwellers of the heavens and the earth, bearing witness that, verily, Thou art the All-Glorious, the Best Beloved. I have attained the recognition of Thee through Thine Own Self before the dwellers of the heavens and the earth, bearing witness that Thou art in truth the Almighty, the All-Praised. I have glorified Thy Name through Thine Own Self before the dwellers of the heavens and the earth, bearing witness that Thou art indeed the Lord of power, He Who is the Most Manifest. ”

“ Not that I would shake the confidence of any sound believer, whose graces are of the right kind: build your confidence sure: see that you get the certain marks of salvation, and make sure, by observing your own hearts, that these marks be in you, and then you cannot be too confident. But as you love your souls, take heed of a groundless confidence. Take heed of being confident before you have tried. ”

“ For how should I know what the piety of the heart may be, or what quantum of error in the understanding may consist, with a saving faith in the intentions and actual dispositions of the whole moral being, in any one individual? ”

“ It is in this our utmost need, that we are met by the dictates of revelation, and are called to humble the pride of our reason before that display of the harmony and integrity of the divine character. We there learn the truths, far beyond the inductions of human science, and the utmost conceptions of human thought,—that an atonement is made, a sacrifice offered;—and that the exercise of forgiveness is consistent with the perfections of the Deity. ”

“ Finally, O God, grant that the consideration of what thou art, and what we ourselves are, may both humble and lay us low before thee, and also stir up in us the strongest and most ardent aspirations towards thee. We desire to give up ourselves to the conduct of thy Holy Spirit: lead us in thy truth, and teach us, for thou art the God of our salvation. Guide us with thy counsel, and afterwards receive us unto glory; for the merits and intercession of thy blessed Son, our Saviour. ”

“ Go back to the days of your youth; take a close view of the use you made of affluence and influence; not comparing yourself with others, but judging yourself by the law of God, the only standard of right and wrong, truth and error. Seek for humbling views of yourself in yourself. If the Holy Ghost enlighten, you will find sufficient grounds. Seek for consolation in the free promises of God, through Jesus Christ, of which there are also abundance, even to the chief of sinners. ”

“ Continually affirming establishes the belief in the subconscious.
It would not be necessary to make an affirmation more than once if one had perfect faith! One should not plead or supplicate, but give thanks repeatedly, that he has received. ”

“ And if any of you should at any time fall from what you now are, if you should again feel pride or unbelief, or any temper from which you are now delivered; do not deny, do not hide, do not disguise it at all, at the peril of your soul. At all events go to one in whom you can confide, and speak just what you feel. God will enable him to speak a word in season, which shall be health to your soul. And surely He will again lift up your head, and cause the bones that have been broken to rejoice. ”

“ Where is there an honest man or woman on the face of this earth—one who has any knowledge of the Supreme Being, any feeling of the operation of an invisible agency, but what pleads with that God, whether they know him or not, to dictate their minds, affections, and conduct? ”

“ It was evident to me, that conscience, the most holy portion of the human being, must, if it continued the fountain of truth regarding God—contain also the fountain of truth and certainty in—every thing. ”

“ I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and grace.
13. I have not kept thy loving-kindness and thy truth away from men; I have declared them to the multitudes. ”

“ For our glorying is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward. ”

“ It behoves each one of you to manifest the attributes of God, and to exemplify by your deeds and words the signs of His righteousness, His power and glory. The very members of your body must bear witness to the loftiness of your purpose, the integrity of your life, the reality of your faith, and the exalted character of your devotion. ”

“ Thus the Great Affirmation makes us children of the Great King, at once living in obedience to that Power which is above us, and exercising this same power over all that world of secondary causation which is below us. ”

“ For three days last past, I had much converse with God, and vehement desires to live wholly to his glory. I have enquired into the reason of mine affliction, and think, God did it to humble me, that I should not be puffed up with the praises of the people. They cannot indeed too much admire the truths of God, nor be too thankful to him for them. ”

“ A veneration for truth, a love of order, peace, and simplicity of heart, appear to be the objects of their constant concern and feeling: from a knowledge of such being truly their state of mind, the best future behaviour may reasonably be anticipated from every one of them; and, being allowed to express my own individual opinion, I cannot hesitate to declare my conviction, that, if duly protected, and not exposed to more than common temptation, they will realize 245the most favourable expectations, and even for ever set an example of propriety to others in their situation. ”

“ Is not my essence thought?' 'You ought to know your own essence best,' all creation will reply. 'I am confident,' says one, 'that I never do cease to think,—not even in the soundest sleep.' 'You do, for a long time, every night of your life,' exclaims another, equally confident and equally ignorant. ”

“ Forget thyself and do thy best, as unconscious of vain-glorious thoughts as though thou wert a wind or a stream, an impersonal force in the service of God and man. Obey conscience, and laugh in the face of death. Convince thyself that the best thing for thee is to know truth and to make truth the law of thy life. ”

“ This we can no more tell you until we arrive at it, and reflect the image and likeness of Spirit, than we can state the personality of God, in the words of the apostle, “till we come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ,” until we reach the full idea of Life, Truth, and Love, the infinite Principle of man and spiritual creation. ”

“ If you have any sensibility or imagination, this will establish such an intercourse between you and the Supreme Being, as will be of infinite consequence to you in life. It will communicate an habitual cheerfulness to your tempers, give a firmness and steadiness to your virtue, and enable you to go through all the vicissitudes of human life with propriety and dignity. ”

“ A proud conceit of themselves and confidence in themselves, as if the point were indeed gained by eating forbidden fruit, and they were as gods, independent and self-sufficient, infallible in their knowledge of good and evil and therefore fit to be oracles, irresistible in their power and therefore fit to be lawgivers, that could prevail with their tongues, and, like God himself, speak and it is done. ”

“ Revealing himself through our spirit, He abides with us for ever. Imaged within us in juster proportions, as we reject impurity, and impose the harmony of His will upon all our desires, He guides us into all truth, and causes us to feel within, the blessed intimations of His sympathizing Spirit. ”

“ And may not our ignorance in these respects be specially ordained to test the faith of man—to check presumptuous confidence—to repel palsying despair; in a word, to make man walk humbly with his God, in constant and implicit dependence upon him? ”

“ How needful is it, then, that the [47] soul, lifted upon the wings of reverence and humble confidence, should rise above itself and every creature by entire detachment, and should be able to say within itself: He Whom I seek, love, desire, among all, more than all, and above all, cannot be perceived by the senses or the imagination, for He is above both the senses and the understanding. ”

“ The practical outcome of that exalted and all-accepting faith in the scheme of things, and in man, toward whom all has led up and in whom all concentrates as the manifestation, the revelation of Divine Power is a changed [Pg 44] estimate of himself; a higher reverence for, a loftier belief in the heritage of himself; a perception that pride, not humility, is the true homage to his Maker ”

“ And it is observable that he who had but two talents, gave up his account as cheerfully as he who had five; for our comfort, in the day of account, will be according to our faithfulness, not according to our usefulness; our sincerity, not our success; according to the uprightness of our hearts, not according to the degree of our opportunities. ”

“ There shouldst thou humble thyself, confessing thy sins, and praising thy God and Father, Who both chastises and consoles.
There dispose thyself to accept with unruffled peace, readiness, and confidence from the hands of God's unfailing Providence and marvellous wisdom all that is sent thee of prosperity or adversity, whether touching thyself or others. Then wilt thou obtain remission of thy sins; [72] bitterness will be driven from thy soul, sweetness and confidence will penetrate it, [91] grace and mercy will descend upon it. ”