02.B19. Miscellaneous Topics and Suggestions

Chapter 34 MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS AND SUGGESTIONS

There are certain general questions of a miscellaneous character -- questions which require special consideration before I close this treatise. I place them together, not because they are naturally connected, but because neither would demand a separate chapter.

Section A -- Giving Testimony in respect to Facts of Personal Experience. In many minds there is a strong prejudice against public testimony to facts of personal Christian experience. Such testimony, it is said, reveals pride of heart in the first instance, and tends to increase the evil in the next. Perhaps those who entertain such sentiments need a word of caution and admonition here. We should be very careful about impugning motives, "judging a brother, and setting at naught a brother." Let us for a moment contemplate the impeachment under consideration. I have been sick, apparently unto death, we will suppose, and have found a sovereign remedy in the use of a certain medicine, and have found by observation that the same medicine has had the same efficacy in all similar cases to which it has been applied. To commend the use of the medicine on the part of all who need it as I did, I state the fact of its efficacy in my own case and that of others. Is there good ground to impeach motives, and affirm a tendency to promote pride, on account of such testimony?

I become conscious of a spiritual necessity, a disease of the mind -- a want for which no remedy exists in myself; or in any finite objects in the universe around. I look to Christ as the great Physician of the soul, and that all-overshadowing want is perfectly met. As a means of commending this "precious faith" to all others, I tell them of "the great things which God hath done for me," how, when I sought unto Him, "He had mercy on me." I tell them, also, how it is that "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keeps the hearts and minds, by Christ Jesus," of all who, "by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make known their requests unto God." Why is the motive to be impeached in such case any more than in that first presented? Why is a tendency to induce pride affirmed in one case any more than in the other?

Those who object to such testimony do, in fact, condemn the example of Christ, of the prophets, apostles, and all the sacred writers. Why did Christ testify to the fact of the saving power that resided in Him, and that the Father always heard when the Son prayed to Him? That men might "believe that Jesus is the Christ, and, believing, might have life through His name." Why did He direct the demoniac of Gadara to "go home to his kindred and friends and tell them how great things the Lord had done for him, and how He had mercy on him?" That, hearing, "they might believe, and that, believing, they might have life through His name.

Let us see if we cannot find an example of inspired wisdom -- an example bearing directly upon the subject before us. "I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord." "That which we have seen and heard," says the apostle John, "declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." "These things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." Here is personal testimony to the fact of the highest attainment that can be made by a creature of God, "fellowship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." The reasons which justify such professions are obvious. The testimony was true, in the first instance, and was requisite to induce all believers to seek and attain the same divine fellowship and fulness of joy of which the apostle was possessed. Paul gives this testimony to his own attainments through the faith of Christ: "I am crucified with Christ" -- "By whom I am crucified to the world, and the world to me" "I thank my God, whom I serve with a pure conscience" I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content," and "I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me." His motive in giving such testimony to his own personal attainments is undeniable -- that "we may believe, and therefore speak," as he did. Those who question the propriety, expediency, and necessity of such testimony, have not, it is quite evident, taken their views on this subject from the Word of God. All depends upon the validity of the testimony, and the motive which prompted it. If I, for example, in what I have written of my own inner life, have consciously misstated facts, or "have sought my own glory," then Christ will put me to shame before Him at His coming. But if my single purpose has been to make known to you, reader, facts as they are, and to secure in you a full understanding and appreciation of your privileges and immunities as one of "the sons or daughters of the Lord, the Almighty," and as "a believer in Jesus," then I may reasonably expect the everlasting "smile of the Lord as the feast of my soul," on account of what I have written. "These things I have written, that your joy might be full."

Section B -- Proposed Remedies for Pride of Heart.

Pride of heart on the one hand, and subjection to appetite on the other, constitute the primal sins of human nature, and are the main sources of sin in all its forms. "Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat." If the grace of Christ were not adequate to save us from these primal sins, our salvation would be an impossibility. The remedy which the gospel prescribes for pride, for example, is very simple and of ready application -- namely, that we consider the spirit of pride, in all its forms and manifestations, as morally criminal in itself, and a great sin before God; that we sincerely repent of, and confess it as such; that we look to Christ to be saved from the penalty, and delivered from the spirit and power of the sin, and to perfect us in the opposite virtues, meekness and humbleness of mind. In the Scriptures, permit me to add here, self-ignorance is never represented as an element of humility, or as promotive of the same; nor is self-knowledge prohibited, or referred to as an element of pride, or as conducive to the same. On all subjects in common, believers are represented as "children of the light and of the day," and as living and acting "according to knowledge." While we are prohibited "thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think" -- that is, to think ourselves better than we really are -- we are positively required "to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith" that is, to understand our moral states, gifts, and adaptations as they are. Nothing is more particularly required of us than self-knowledge in the widest acceptation of the term. Nor does pride, according to the Bible, consist in our holding in high regard the virtues of which we, as believers in Jesus, become possessed. When our characters, through faith in Christ, take on "the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit," they take on adornings "which, in the sight of God, are of great price," adornings on account of which "Christ is glorified in us," and "God is not ashamed to be called our God." "Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our consciences, that, in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have our conversation in the world." When our Saviour uttered these words, "Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother," He intended to impress our minds with the conviction of the infinite importance and worth of such obedience.

It is equally manifest, also, that just commendation for moral excellence, in all its forms and manifestations, meets with the divine approval. In the Sermon on the Mount, our Saviour told the young converts before Him that they were "the salt of the earth," and "the light of the world." In the presence of Mary and the company assembled at the house of Simon, the Saviour affirmed that "she had done a good work upon Him," and that what she had done should "in all the world, wherever His gospel should be preached, be told as a memorial of her." "O woman! great is thy faith." "I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel." Such was the conduct of our Saviour everywhere, and such also are the examples and teachings of the Bible throughout. One of its most striking peculiarities, that which most especially manifests the divine integrity of its writers, is the fact that men and things are set before us, with their good and bad qualities, just as they are. Commending goodness and good men is as absolutely required of us as is testifying against sin and bad men.

Nor, let me add once more, is the fact that we receive with gratitude and joy the approbation of our own consciences, and the approval and manifested favour of God, and of all the good in heaven and on earth, any evidence at all of pride in us. All this is the revealed reward of righteousness, and it would be no reward at all if we did not enjoy it. The perfection of Christian character, and the best evidence of true humbleness of mind, is a just and righteous appreciation and treatment of all objects of thought, both in relation to ourselves and others. Pride, on the other hand, makes self its centre, and the exaltation of self its supreme aim, and thus becomes the source and fountain of envy, detraction, defamation, self-boasting, and flattery, when commending others will secure personal ends. You meet an individual who always keeps himself; and only the bright sides of his character, before you. You know very well that pride is at the bottom of such representations. You meet with another individual, who manifests a just regard for persons and things, speaks of them as they are, and of himself but as a means of doing good. Here is "the honest man," and here too is the truly humble man. The reader will naturally infer from the above, that I do not approve of not a few of the representations we have in respect to pride and its remedies and preventions. In a very important article, one written by an individual who has great wisdom in teaching the essentials of the life of faith, I find the following statement and advice, which, of course, I do not approve: --

"Years ago I came across this sentence in an old book: ’Never indulge at the close of an action in any self-reflective acts of any kind, whether of self-congratulation or of self-despair. Forget the things that are behind the moment they are past, leaving them with God.’ It has been of unspeakable value to me. When the temptation comes, as it always does, to indulge in these reflections, either of one sort or the other, I turn from them at once, and positively refuse to think about my work at all, leaving it with the Lord to overrule the mistakes, and to bless it as He chooses." In another Book, "that dearest of Books, that excels every other," we find this precept: "Let every man prove" (determine the real character of) "his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another." If we have spoken or acted in any form for Christ, we are required absolutely to reflect upon what we have done, and know its character as it is. If we have spoken or acted well, we should thank God for the grace given to us. If not well, we should humble ourselves before the Lord, and seek grace and wisdom for the future. The whole life of the believer should be one of self-reflective activity. We should know what we have done, what we are doing, and what we ought to do in the future.

It is quite common with individuals to suppose it conducive to humility, and a sure preventive of pride, for Christians to hold a low estimate, of the Christian virtues of which they may be possessed. Because the prophet confessed that all "the righteousnesses" of a "disobedient and gainsaying people," were "as filthy rags," not a few believers suppose that humility requires that they employ the same language to represent the divine virtues with which Christ has adorned their character. If Christ, reader, has saved you from your sins, and has adorned your character and life with any form of Christian virtue -- and you are not His at all unless He has done so -- you do injustice to truth and to the honour of your Saviour when, in such confessions as the above, you represent Him as having put upon you a mass of "filthy rags." If; on the other hand, you do not place an infinite value upon those virtues, and do not seek to be perfected in the same, you will be certain to lose what you have received. Not a few individuals fail utterly to distinguish between flattery, which is a grievous sin, and a just appreciation and commendation of excellence wherever, and in whomsoever, it appears. A flatterer is one who idolises self and particular individuals, and appreciates excellence nowhere else, or who, for personal gain, and irrespective of truth, praises all he meets, and generally decries them behind their backs. Such an individual is "a spot in our feasts of charity," and "a cloud without water" everywhere. Christian integrity, on the other hand, judges and speaks truthfully of all men, and approves and commends goodness, and reprobates and reproves wrong, wherever they appear. The personal commendation of such persons has no tendency to promote pride, but everywhere conduces to "love and good works." Christ helped the special gifts of James and John by naming them "sons of thunder," and of Peter by naming him "a rock," and rendered permanent the integrity of Nathaniel by calling him an "Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." Just commendation is one of the divinely-appointed means by which we are to "support the weak, comfort the feeble-minded," and encourage the timid. Should any desire to understand what kind of encouragement and commendation young converts should receive "for their work and labour of love," let them read the Epistles to the Thessalonians. Take the following as an example: -- "And ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: so that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the Word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak anything." How such commendations tended to strengthen and encourage those converts to persevere and endure unto the end! Not a few of my pupils remind me, when I meet them, of the life-benefits which they received from words of encouragement and commendation at particular crises of their student-lives. The prejudice which exists in the Churches against true and just commendation of virtuous deeds and manifestations has no foundation in Scripture teaching or example.

Section C -- Confessing Sin.

If you, reader, have sinned against God, by doing what you ought not, or omitting to do what you ought, if you are living below your known and acknowledged privileges, "an evil thing and a bitter" is written against you in the book of God. Careless and general confessions, my brother, will not meet your case. Your humiliation must be deep and unfeigned, or those sins will stand against you at the eternal judgment. If; with "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ," you shall "confess your sins," you will be "forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness." If you fail to do this, your expectation of being "saved from death" will be "as the giving up of the ghost." God will not accept at our hands, as the condition of pardon, any general, formal, and unheart-felt confessions of sin. "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Are you thus, my brother, really and truly repenting of the sins which you admit to characterise your daily life? I refer to such as admit this to be the fact in their case.

We are now prepared to understand and appreciate one of the most offensive and alarming features of ordinary religious service. In such services, the Church publicly acknowledges herself, and that before God and the world, guilty of sins of the most inexcusable and aggravating character, of "doing many things which ought not to be done, and of leaving undone many things which ought to be done." Yet those sins are confessed with a manner and spirit which clearly indicate that said sins are very little, if at all, cared about, and the absence of all serious intention to abandon them. No custom whatever can have a stronger tendency to "sear the conscience," harden the heart, and "render our bands strong." In all such confessions, we say to men of the world, If you are anxious about your sins, you concern yourselves about that of which we have very little regard. By such confessions, young disciples are schooled into hardened indifference to their covenant vows. Yet, perhaps most professing Christians seem quite satisfied with a prayer, however cold and formal it may be, if it contains a confession of daily sin, and greatly dissatisfied with one, however fervent, if it wants such confession. For one, I never gratify such a prejudice, and, as I view the subject, I should peril my immortal interests by so doing. That of sinners I am one of the chief, I well know, and confess this fact most sincerely. Hence I am always at home in the utterance of the Lord’s Prayer. Sins of "this present time" I publicly confess when my conscience convicts me of the same, when such sins are publicly known, and I am conscious of unfeigned repentance for what I confess. Secret sins, when convicted of them, I adjust between conscience and God. I do not feel authorised, but prohibited by the Word of God, to make confession before a congregation that all believers present are living in the daily commission of known sin. I should "judge my brethren, and set at nought my brethren" by so doing. If we should be solemnly sincere anywhere, it should be in our confessions of sin. The fearful influence of the habit of making heartless confessions is manifest in this, that those who are most zealous about their general confessions will not allow you to admonish them in the most gentle manner for any specific sin, nor even for a common fault. "Thus saith the Lord, Be ye not mockers, lest your hands be made strong."

Section D -- Important Misapprehension. In his work entitled "The Higher Life," one of the most valuable publications of the class that has yet appeared, Dr Boardman makes a statement to this effect: "The brethren at Oberlin had made most important attainments in the divine life. For what they had attained, they sought a name, asking, ’Is it manna?’ They at length designated these attainments by the words ’Christian perfection,’ or ’entire sanctification.’ In doing this," as Dr B. infers, "they greatly erred. They should have gone forward preaching Christ without giving a name to the attainments they had made." In this our brother is fully right, supposing him to have been correctly informed of the real facts of the case. Through misinformation, however, he has most essentially erred in his statement of facts. No question like this ever arose among us, namely, What shall we call this state to which we have attained? In the term "Higher Life," Dr Boardman does not, as I understand him, merely present a name for personal attainments consciously made, but a revealed privilege to which "believers in Jesus" are authorised to expect to attain. So with us in the use of the terms above designated. In all our writings, such terms are employed exclusively to represent what we regard as revealed privileges of the sons of God, and never in any instance to represent mere personal attainments. The question, what attainments we have made, lies wholly between our consciences and our God. The question, what are our revealed privileges, is to be settled, not by an appeal to the conscious or visible attainments of any individual or class of individuals, but wholly and exclusively by reference "to the law and to the testimony." The Spirit of the Lord does know, and He only can know, what "things are possible with God" on the one hand, and what "things are possible to him that believeth" on the other. In determining the possibilities of faith, we must refer exclusively to what God, by His Spirit, has taught us on the subject. In my endeavours to find the true revealed answer to such inquiries, I judge, that I may truly say, that I proceeded with the greatest care and circumspection. I at once perceived that if God, as many suppose He has, has absolutely revealed the fact that no believer in Christ ever has been, or ever will be, in this life, saved from all sin, that settles for ever the whole question. My first inquiry therefore, was directed to all those passages which, as I had supposed, and many do suppose, do teach the doctrine of Christian Imperfection, that is, of the continued sinfulness of all believers in Jesus. In my examinations, I determined to take each passage by itself; and, in the clear light of the known and acknowledged laws of interpretation, determine its real meaning, and then its bearing upon the inquiry before us. This I did, and, to my surprise, found that not one of these passages presented the remotest evidence in favour of the doctrine it had been supposed to teach. In the work on "Christian Perfection," all these passages are fully explained, and the explanation there given has never yet been replied to.

I then turned to the inquiry, What do the Scriptures directly and positively teach in respect to the privileges of "the sons of God" in this life? On this subject, as I found, the teachings of the Bible are of the plainest and most absolute character possible. In regard to what is revealed respecting Christ’s power to save from sin, let this one passage suffice: "Wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him." The original word rendered uttermost is, as I have said, and as every Greek scholar knows, one of the strongest words that can be found in the Greek or any other language, being compounded of two words, pantos, which means a1l, and telos, uniformly translated in our New Testament perfection. That Christ, in the most absolute sense, is able to save us from all sin, is undeniable. What can be the object of revealing this fact in this absolute form, but to induce us to trust Christ thus to save us? Any other supposition affirms that His grace and love are limited, while His revealed power to save is unlimited.

Equally explicit are the teachings of inspiration in respect to the provisions of grace for our present salvation from sin. "Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish;" "who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Hence we are told that "we are complete in Him," and "can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us," and that "all things are possible to him that believeth." If such revelations do not authorise us to look to Christ to be saved from all sin, expecting to receive nothing less from Him, they do not authorise us thus to trust Him for anything at all. But what of the promises which are given unto us for the revealed purpose that "by these we might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust"? Take one of these as an example of the rest. "Faithful (trustworthy) is He that calleth you, who also will do it." No promise can be more explicit and positive than is this. In regard to the nature of the blessing promised, no candid inquirer after the true meaning of the Word will err in judgment "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." The original term rendered wholly, like that rendered uttermost in the passage above cited, is compounded of two words -- one olos, meaning all and the other telos, meaning perfection. The promise before us presents to our faith sanctification in this utter fulness, or it authorises us to expect nothing at all. In the remaining portion of the verse, preservation in this entirely sanctified state is also designated. Nothing less can be implied by the words, "your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," To limit such promises is to "limit the Holy One of Israel" in a form which does peril to our immortal interests. In the midst of such revelations, which abound everywhere in the Scriptures, stands this as the crowning glory of the whole: -- "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, Amen." I accordingly hold and teach "Christ as the power of God and the wisdom of God unto salvation to every one that believeth," and as a Saviour from sin as fully and perfectly in the sphere of our sanctification, as in that of our justification. I dare not limit His grace in the one sphere any more than in the other. If I am asked, "Do you, as Paul did, serve God with a pure conscience?" I answer, as Paul did, "Yes." But do you never commit a sin? I answer such a question in the words of Paul, "I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but He that judgeth me is the Lord." But is it not well, since people are so much prejudiced against the word perfection and kindred terms, to avoid, their use? To such questions my reply is ready. "I give place by subjection" to such prejudice, "no not for an hour." Since these terms are most frequent in the teachings of our Saviour and of His inspired apostles, and represent their most important and impressive truths, I should convict myself of being "ashamed of the gospel of Christ," if I should avoid presenting that gospel in "the words which the Holy Ghost teacheth." We should more than suspect our doctrines, when they induce in us prejudice against words employed under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, as Christ and all inspired writers employ those under consideration. A prejudice which, as this undeniably does, tenders wholly inoperative upon the heart and conscience large portions of the most important teachings of Christ and of His inspired apostles, is a prejudice to be repented of, and not gratified. Who does not know that, when very many ministers and members of our churches meet with a passage containing any of the words under consideration, they pass such passage by without reflecting upon it at all? Such relations to the Word of God are most perilous to our highest spiritual interests. It was by no inadvertence that the Spirit of God put such words into the New Testament, and it is no indication of veneration in us for the wisdom of that Spirit, when we become prejudiced against words and forms of language which He so frequently employs, and that to represent the most important truths of God.

Section E -- Great and Little Faith

Much is said, by our Saviour especially, about great and little faith. The latter considers the difficulties to be overcome in the accomplishment of needed and required ends, and becomes appalled and doubtful in view of the same. The former thinks of the power of Christ to do all that we need, and "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think," and of His absolute fidelity to His promises, and consequently "rejoices in the hope of the glory of the Lord." The latter thinks of the vastness of our necessities, and of the absence of all visible means to meet them, and thus becomes "careful and troubled about many things." The former thinks of the wealth and. resources of our Father in heaven, and of His omnipresent "help in trouble," and "by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, makes known its requests unto God," and, as a consequence, is "kept by the peace of God, which passeth all understanding." The language of the latter is, "If thou canst do anything, help us, and have mercy on us." The language of the former is, "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean," and "Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." The former takes a feeble hold of the love and promises of Christ, and with doubting expectation approaches the throne of grace." The former magnifies the love of Christ, and laying hold, with a death-grasp, upon the promised help, replies to every difficulty and seeming repulse, "Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their master’s table." The latter, consequently, receives rebuke when it obtains the blessing sought, while the former receives both the blessing and the divine commendation, "O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee as thou wilt;" "I will; be thou clean;" and "Verily, verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel." Had the disciples been possessed of great faith, they would have reasoned thus amidst the terrors of that night-tempest, namely: "We are just as safe here as Christ is. The Father will not suffer Him, nor a hair of His head, to perish here, and Christ will care for us as the Father does for Him. He will live, and because He shall live, we shall live also." Thus their quietness and assurance would have been absolute under those very circumstances.

Remember this, reader, that Christ is most pleased with you and with me, when He sees in us this great faith which counts it a very small and easy thing for Him, with His infinite power and boundless love, grace, and resources, to meet all the necessities of creatures so small as we are, and which never doubts or questions His absolute fidelity to His promises. The firmer our grasp upon His plighted word, the more ineffable is His delight in us, and the more deeply is His heart moved towards us. Nothing will be impossible to us if our faith does not fail.

There is still another equally essential particular in which great and little faith differ the one from the other. The latter is not only staggered by things vast and difficult, really counting these as "too hard for God," but equally so at the minute, counting our daily and momentary cares and perplexities as of such a trifling character as to be beneath the notice of the Almighty, and thus, failing alike in respect to the vast and the minute, finds true rest and peace nowhere. Great faith counts nothing that concerns us as God’s sons and daughters as above the power or beneath the notice and care of our heavenly Father, and thus in a "universal trust and confidence, and continued prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving""in all things" alike, finds peace, quietness, assurance, and deliverance everywhere. Little faith opens its ear to "the prattle of infidelity" against the physical value of prayer," loses all confidence in regard to God’s control of physical events, and in regard to all His promises in respect to our temporal concerns. Great faith, on the other hand, "looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein," and rests with absolute assurance upon the testimony and promise of the Author of the universe, regarding Him as better informed in respect to His relations to His own works than creatures of yesterday can be.

We often hear about "trusting Christ in the dark" that is, counting Him faithful that hath "promised," when we have nothing but God’s naked word to lean upon, and all is darkness and tempest around us. Permit me to give a single fact here in illustration of this great truth. In the early settlements in America, people are accustomed to dig their cellars beneath their rude habitations, and to enter those cellars through trap-doors in the centre of the main room of the house. An a father, without a light, was in his cellar one day, a little child looked over the brink into the palpable darkness beneath. "Do you see me, my child?" asked the father. "No, pa; it is all dark down where you are, and I can’t see anything there." "Well, I see you, and my arms are right beneath you. Step right off now, and you will drop into my arms. Don’t be afraid at all. I won’t let you fall." Thinking a moment, the child said, "Pa, I will do as you tell me," and stepping off, found itself safe and happy in those arms. How lovingly did that father receive that trusting child to his embrace! So reader, beneath every one of "the promises are "the everlasting arms." With God’s promise to receive you, do not fear to let go every hold, and drop into those "everlasting arms," however dark all but the naked promise may appear. When you shall become thus trustful, you will "enter into rest."

Section F -- When the Gospel will Exert its Full Power over our Hearts and Character.

One question more demands our special attention before closing this chapter. The question is this -- When, and upon what conditions, will the gospel exert its full power upon our hearts and character? My method of attaining this high end is this: -- My desire and aim is, that each truth, each precept and promise of the divine Word, shall exert its own distinct and utmost influence upon my mind. When I meet with any such truth, promise, or precept, I place myself before it, and abide in its presence until, through the Spirit, it sheds its full influence upon my mind. I read, for example, the following absolute command of Christ: - "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." I do not turn away from this precept, saying obedience to it is not expected of creatures. I read the prayer, on the other hand, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is done in heaven," and I thus understand clearly the meaning of the precept.

I read still further the solemn asseveration, "Whosoever, therefore, heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man that built his house upon a rock;" and "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man that built his house upon the sand." I hence conclude that Christ was in earnest when He uttered this command, and expects me to heed it; to regard myself as without excuse for not rendering the obedience required, or for resting at all when consciously coming short of that obedience. I accordingly look to Christ, as the Mediator of the new covenant, to have Him put this, His own precept, "in my heart, and write it in my inward parts," and cause me to keep it. So when I read of Christ’s power to save, and of the provisions and promises of His grace, I conclude that God is in earnest in such revelations, and means what He says. Without limiting the meaning of what is written, without adding to or taking from the sacred Word of God, "counting Him faithful that hath promised," and not saying to myself; "Christ will not do this, and will not do that," I look to Him to "save me unto the uttermost," as He is able to do; to render His own provisions of grace fully effective in my experience; to render real in me, in all their fulness, every one of "the exceeding great and precious promises;" and, finally, to do in and for me "exceeding abundantly above all that I ask or think." Thus to believe, and thus to trust, I recognise my obligation as absolutely infinite, and I do thus believe and trust. In the same manner do I treat the admonitions of the gospel, such, for example, as the following: -- "Fear Him who, after He hath killed the body, hath power to cast into hell;" "Be sober, be vigilant;" "Watch unto prayer;" "Hold fast till I come;" "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;" "We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast even unto the end;" and "Let no man take thy crown." While, with "full assurance of faith," "full assurance of hope," and "full assurance of understanding," I sit under the canopy of God’s "exceeding great and precious promises," I desire to have all such admonitions throw their full and solemn shadows over my mind. Thus trusting, thus believing, and thus heeding all that is written, we shall "walk in the light, as God is in the light," and our "feet shall never stumble." Heeding a part, and disregarding a part, of what God has written for our instruction, consolation, and admonition, we shall "walk in darkness and have no light," and shall very likely be rejected at last as "reprobate silver." And now, reader, "I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." "These things have I written unto you, that you may believe, and that believing you may have life through His name." THE END.