WE ARE ALL AS AN UNCLEAN THING.

 

JUNE 11.
 
We are all as an unclean thing.
Isaiah 64:6
 

THIS is our state by nature,
  whatever we may be made by grace.
 
We were born filthy,
  hence the ancient inquiry and reply,
  “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
       Not one.”
 
The uncleanness of our heart soon appeared in our lives,
  we loved the filthy, and pursued the forbidden object.
 
Uncleanness separates from God,
  and disqualifies for heaven.
 
There shall in no wise enter there,
  any thing that defileth, or
  that worketh abomination, or
   that maketh a lie.
 
We must be cleansed, or perish.
 
Our sacrificial cleansing,
  or the removal of our guilt,
  can only be by the sacrifice of Jesus;
  his blood must be sprinkled upon us, or
  guilt will not be removed from us.
 
Our inward cleansing, or sanctification,
  is by the Holy Spirit using the glorious gospel.
 
The truth must be applied to us,
  become a powerful principle within us.
 and the rule that regulates and guides us.
 
The more we feel its power,
  the more we shall discover and
   deplore our uncleanness; and
   the more we shall long, pray, and
  strive for true holiness, or conformity
    to the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Every truly sanctified soul mourns
  daily over inward defilement,
  and cleaves to the Lord Jesus.
 

O could I find some peaceful bower,

Where sin has neither place nor power;

This traitor vile I fain would shun,

But cannot from his presence run.

 
James Smith 1849