The little hell?

-Spurgeon, THE BELIEVER SINKING IN THE MIRE

"Rescue me from the mire, and do not let me sink."
-Psalm 69:14

God's own people are at seasons allowed to sink
in the 'mire of inward corruption'.

There are times when believers have such a sight of
the little hell within their own hearts that they
are ready to despair of the possibility of their being
completely sanctified, and made fit to be partakers of
the inheritance of the saints in light.

Our God at seasons permits the fountains of the great deep
of human depravity to be broken up, and then what floods of sin
come pouring forth! We little know what lies secret in our
deceitful hearts- envyings, blasphemies, murders, and lust.
There is enough in the heart of any man to make a full-grown
devil, if restraining grace did not prevent it!

The best of God's children know this; and I think the holier
they are, the more likely they are to feel the conflict within.

It is the fashion in our country for men to wear 'black' coats;
I suppose it is because they do not show the dirt so much as a
white garment- but if we wore white garments the filth would
reveal itself, and we should have to change them very often.

So, my brethren, the more a Christian is like his
Master, the more clearly he sees his own faults.

Oh, Lord, grant us grace to see much of our sins
through the tears of repentance, and to see much
of the Savior through the eye of faith.

"Rescue me from the mire, and do not let me sink."
-Psalm 69:14