"Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God." Rev_3:2

The personal piety of many, there is great reason to fear—is in a very feeble and languishing condition. It has lost much of its hold upon their hearts and consciences—as an elevating, purifying, and satisfying reality. How few there are, who know what it is—to delight in God, to rejoice in the dying love of Christ, and to exult in a clear and unclouded prospect of heaven! How little is there of spirituality of mind, of mortification of sin, of habitual watchfulness, and of wrestling prayer! There may be no gross or glaring immorality—but in the absence of what would be deemed publicly disgraceful in religious professors, there is, in instances not a few, a manifest decline in vital and experimental godliness.

There is something exceedingly insidious, pertaining to a state of spiritual declension; and hence it is a common thing, for those who are under its influence—to be in a great measure unconscious of the fact. It is said of Ephraim, "Strangers have devoured his strength—and he knows it not! Yes, grey hairs are here and there upon him—yet he knows it not!" Hos_7:10. So it is, alas! with many a professor in the present day. Instead of his soul being in a vigorous and thriving state, there has been a woeful decline—yet he knows it not. Others know it; they cannot fail to observe what an altered man he is now when compared with what he was a few years ago. They clearly perceive that the world has been gaining the ascendancy over him; that the conversation and company of the people of God are now but little relished; and that he is far less attentive to his pious duties than he was formerly. But while this is so palpable to others, it is, if not altogether, yet to a considerable extent—unknown to himself.

This may be accounted for by the fact, that declension generally comes on in a gradual manner. Had the person passed all at once into such a state, the transition would have been so great, that he could not fail to perceive it. But it stole over him imperceptibly, and thus he knew it not.

Another cause of this ignorance, is the neglect of self-examination. There are very few who rigidly scrutinize their own hearts, and it is, therefore, no wonder that their piety should decline without their knowing it. It is with many in spiritual things, as it is with some in reference to their temporal affairs; they take it for granted that all is going on well. Many a tradesman, had he examined his books in time, might have been preserved from bankruptcy; and many a spiritual bankruptcy might have been avoided, had the secrecies of the inner man been thoroughly scrutinized, with a full determination to know how matters really were.

Reader, seek to know yourself—for all wisdom centers there. Be honest with yourself, and do not allow plausible appearances to impose upon you. Be continually jealous over yourself, and that with a godly jealousy. The fruits of self-confidence have been truly disastrous; while a befitting dread of self-deception has produced the happiest results. With the Royal Psalmist, then, let your daily prayer be, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life." Psa_139:23-24