Proverbs 27:23

Every wise merchant will occasionally take stock, when he will settle his accounts, examine what he has on hand, and determine decisively whether his trade is prosperous or declining. Every person who is wise in the kingdom of heaven will cry, “Search me, O God, and try me”; and they will frequently set apart special seasons for self-examination, to discover whether things are right between God and their soul.

The God whom we worship is a great heart-searcher; and long ago his servants knew him as “the Lord who searches the heart and tries the reins of the children of men.” Let me urge you in his name to make diligent search and solemn trial of your state, lest you fall short of the promised rest.

What every wise person does, what God himself does with us all, I exhort you to do with yourself this evening. Let the oldest saint carefully examine the fundamentals of his piety, for gray heads may cover black hearts; and let not the young professor despise the word of warning, for the greenness of youth may be joined to the rottenness of hypocrisy.

Every now and then a cedar falls among us. The enemy still continues to sow tares among the wheat. It is not my aim to introduce doubts and fears into your mind; no, truly, but I hope, rather, that the rough wind of self-examination may help to drive them away.

It is not security, but carnal security, which we would kill; not confidence, but fleshly confidence, which we would overthrow; not peace, but false peace, which we would destroy. By the precious blood of Christ, which was not shed to make you a hypocrite, but that sincere souls might show forth his praise, I implore you, search and look, lest in the end it be said of you, “Mene, Mene, Tekel: thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.”