CHAPTER V A PERSONAL TESTIMONY BY PHILIP MAURO, ATTORNEY-AT-LAW, NEW YORK CITY
I came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ on May 24th, 1903, being then in my forty-fifth year. I did not at that time fully understand what had happened to me, and only learned subsequently, through the study of the Scriptures, that, by the grace of God through faith in His Son Jesus Christ, I had been quickened (Eph. 2:5), and had passed from death unto life (John 5:24). I FORMAL PROFESSION NOT AN ANCHOR FOR THE SOUL For many years previous to that time I had been drifting steadily away from even a formal profession of Christ. There was no aspiration in my soul beyond the gratification of self; and all the exertion which I was putting forth had for its sole object the acquisition and accumulation of means for ministering to that gratification through life. I do not except from this category the consideration bestowed upon my family (who would doubtless give me a good character as an indulgent husband and father), for I count these as within the definition of “self.” ¡ The things which I valued, such as reputation, the good opinion of men, success in business enterprises and the like, engrossed my time and thought, and beyond these, which were all of a temporal nature, there was no object in view. I can now clearly see that I had unconsciously made money a god to trust in and to bestow my affections upon, and can there fore comprehend the statement of Scripture that covetousness is idolatry. 105
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