Holiness - Now Or Never

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Excerpts from an article by J. C. Ryle (from the 19th century):

........"Suppose for a moment, that you were allowed to enter heaven without holiness. What would you do? What possible enjoyment could you feel there? To which of the saints would you join yourself--and by whose side would you sit? Their pleasures are not your pleasures, their tastes are not your tastes, and their character is not your character. How could you possibly be happy in heaven--if you had not been holy on earth?...
........People may say, in a vague way--that they "hope to go to heaven after they die". But surely, they do not consider what they say.We must be heavenly-minded and have heavenly tastes, in the present life--or we shall never find ourselves in heaven, in the life to come.
........Are you holy? I do not ask whether you attend church regularly, whether you have been baptized, or whether you are a Christian. Are you yourself holy this very day--or are you not? Why do I ask so straightly and press the question so strongly? I do it because the Scripture says, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord". It is written--it is not my imagination; it is the Bible, not my private opinion; it is the Word of God, not of man: "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14)...
........You may say, "At this rate very few will be saved!" I answer, "I know it. It is precisely what Jesus told us in His Sermon on the Mount--'Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there are who find it!' " Few will be saved, because few will take the trouble to seek salvation--men will not deny themselves the pleasures of sin for a season.
........You may say, "These are hard sayings, the way is narrow!" I know it is. The Lord Jesus said so eighteen hundred years ago. He always said that men must take up the cross daily, and that they must be ready to cut off hand or foot, if they would be His disciples. The religion that costs nothing--is worth nothing!"
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Humility...

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...is not thinking less of myself, but thinking of myself less.
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What Are You Living For?

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Any life that is lived for self is a wasted life.

"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it." --Luke 9:24

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