“The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18). We are bidden to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

“Only those who are living up to the light they have will receive greater light. Unless we are daily advancing in the exemplification of the active Christian virtues, we shall not recognize the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain. It may be falling on hearts all around us, but we shall not discern or receive it.”6

John the Revelator declares: “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God” (Revelation 14:1, 5).

What Bible story immediately comes to mind when we think of beguilement? “And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he [Jacob] said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?” (Genesis 29:25).

Laban caused Jacob to think one thing and then switched the person for the sibling. The Bible says that Leah was tender-eyed, while Rachel was well-favored. This wasn’t simply about good looks. Rather, it was about a personality. I get the impression that Rachel was more of the proactive, leading type. After all, she was the one who had been out tending Laban’s flocks. In any case, she was the one to whom Jacob had become attracted over the years. Laban had previously seemed to encourage the prospect was not honest with Jacob about the political excuse he was coming up with to try to justify the substitution.

The book Patriarchs and Prophets states the following: “…Laban, desiring to retain so valuable a helper, practiced a cruel deceptionin substituting Leah for Rachel.”7

How would you feel if you were Jacob and someone did that to you? This is what guile does.

“Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” (Psalm 32:2). We can’t even have guile in our mind/spirit if we want to be sealed.

“Love not the world, neither the thinsgs that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:15–17).

“The evils condemned in God’s word, must be overcome. You must individually battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil.”8

John the Revelator was asked, “What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, these are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:13, 14).

“Those only who have partaken of the sufferings of the Son of God, and have come up through great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb can enjoy the indescribable glory and unsurpassed beauty of heaven.”9

The True Witness appeals to us: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (Revelation 3:19). “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19, NKJV).

“Genuine conversion is needed ... ‘casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.’ Into this work every individual needs to put all the intensity of his entire being. Personal religious experience is needed in every church. Why?—Because those who are not under the working of the Holy Spirit will not stand amid the perils of the last days.”10

“Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.” (Hosea 6:1–3).

“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” (1 John 5:1, 4).

“Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33)

“Be cheerful, and bid adieu to gloom and doubts. In indulging these doubts, you dishonor God. There is peace in believing, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Believing brings peace, and trusting in God brings joy. Believe, believe! my soul says, believe. Rest in God. He is able to keep that which you have committed to His trust. He will bring you off more than conqueror through Him who hath loved you.”11

The apostle Paul admonishes us: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

When Christ was in Gethsemane before His betrayal and crucifiction, He instructed the disciples to be watching and praying: “And said unto them, Why sleep ye? Arise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation” (Luke 22:46).

“Prayer unites us with one another and with God. Prayer brings Jesus to our side, and gives to the fainting, perplexed soul new strength to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. Prayer turns aside the attacks of Satan.”12

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

“When one turns away from human imperfections to behold Jesus, a divine transformation takes place in the character. The Spirit of Christ working upon the heart conforms it to His image. Then let it be your effort to lift up Jesus. Let the mind’s eye be directed to ‘the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ John 1:29.”13

The Lord explains, “Without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me” (John 15:4).

This is how Christ overcame. He said, “I do nothing of myself” (John 8:28), but “My Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10).

What is our key to victory? Let’s open to 1 John 5:4: “And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). What kind of faith? Galatians 5:6 speaks about that “faith which worketh by love.” (Galatians 5:6).

“All should have a living faith,—a faith which works by love, and purifies the soul.”14

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:3).

“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me” (John 14:21).

Christ promises, “He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21).

“Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. (James 1:22).

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12, 13).

“ It will cost us an effort to secure eternal life. It is only by long and persevering effort, sore discipline, and stern conflict, that we shall be overcomers. But if we patiently and determinedly, in the name of the Conqueror who overcame in our behalf in the wilderness of temptation, overcome as he overcame, we shall have the eternal reward. Our efforts, our self-denial, our perseverance, must be proportionate to the infinitive value of the object of which we are in pursuit.... Wrongs cannot be righted, nor reformations in character made, by a few feeble, intermittent efforts. Sanctification is not a work of a day or a year, but of a lifetime. Without continual efforts and constant activity, there can be no advancement in the divine life, no attainment of the victor’s crown.... You have need of constant watchfulness, lest Satan beguile you through his subtlety, corrupt your minds, and lead you into inconsistencies and gross darkness. Your watchfulness should be characterized by a spirit of humble dependence upon God. It should not be carried on with a proud, self-reliant spirit, but with a deep sense of your personal weakness, and a childlike trust in the promises of God.”15

“And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled” (Luke 14:23).

“While hungering and thirsting after salvation yourselves, you will have a longing desire to aid in saving precious souls; and your humble, pathetic appeals to those out of Christ will move hearts. You should carry the truth to homes. Show those in error that you love them. Indifference here is sin.”16

“There are many, many believers who carry too light a burden in behalf of souls unsaved. There never was a time when the world was in greater need of the light of heavenly truth, than it is at the present time. On every hand are cities unwarned. Souls are perishing, and what are the light-bearers doing? There needs to be manifested a burden fo r souls, such as many have never yet realized. In self-denial and self-sacrifice, with Bible in hand, God’s chosen messengers are to search out the honest in heart, and reveal to them the way of life everlasting.”17

“Let Christians put away all dissension and give themselves to God for the saving of the lost. Let them ask in faith for the promised blessing, and it will come.”18