1.A 23. LETTER XXIII

LETTER XXIII

It must be looked for now Without a moment’s delay It is the gift of God All of grace The way to attain it now illustrated This doctrine from Wesley From Fletcher Mrs. Palmer Dr. Peck From Charles Wesley’s poetry. MY DEAR M : In my last I endeavoured to point out the way in which the penitent believer must come into the possession of this blessing of " perfect love," or holiness of heart. If what I have advanced be true, as I am fully persuaded it is, then it follows, of necessity, that it may be received NOW this very moment without a moment’s delay. For if it is all of grace, received by a single act of believing, then we must receive it, if we ever receive it at all, now, in the present tense, without any other preparation than what God has already wrought in the heart by the operation of His Spirit, convincing us of its necessity, opening to our minds the way to attain it, demonstrating that "all things are now ready," that God is now able and willing to save us from all our sins this very moment and the moment we unhesitatingly believe, then we are saved, not indeed because we believe it, but we believe it because it is a fact,* that we "are saved by grace, through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God." The salvation which is the gift of God has come, it is even now at the door of our hearts, and all we have to do to receive and enjoy it, is to open the door, by removing the bar of un belief with the key of faith, and let the Saviour, who stands at the door, with "all his great salvation," into our inmost souls and when this is done we are saved, so that we may " reckon ourselves dead unto sin, and alive unto God, through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Here is the key-stone of the arch which binds the whole spiritual building together THROUGH OCR LORD JESUS CHRIST. As I before said, it is not the simple act of believing that saves us, but it is the truth believed it is the object on

* There are two facts to be believed in order to be sanctified : The first is, that God is now ready and willing to sanctify us just as we are; and we must hold on to this truth until He does it; and, secondly, when He does it, we shall believe it, because it is done, and we have a witness of the fact. Hence the assertion in the text, that "we are saved, not because we believe it, but we believe it because it is a fact" a fact already revealed to the heart by the Holy Spirit, and therefore we believe it as an established fact, supported by competent testimony. And any man who believes himself sanctified before he has this evidence of the fact, believes an error, though he was fully authorized to believe, the moment he set himself to seek it with all his heart, that God was then ready and willing to save him from all his sins and sanctify him wholly. which the soul reposes that brings salvation it is the believing in the LORD JESUS CHRIST this is the truth that saves us, because there is an efficacy in the name of Jesus Christ, not found in any other name in the whole range of intelligences. It is therefore through this grand connecting medium between heaven and earth, between God and man, that this great salvation is brought to the soul of him who hangs upon Him by a single act of believing, and then, on this sole condition, HE saves us by an amazing act of GRACE.

It is like this : A man is standing on a dangerous precipice. He cannot go back for fear of falling into the hands of his enemies, who have driven him to this place. He cannot leap the chasm because it is so wide. He dare not descend for fear of falling into the yawning gulf. In this dilemma he hears a voice calling to him from the bottom of the gulf, " Let your self fall, and I will catch you, and land you safely on the other side. To convince you of the truth of what I say, here are A, B, and C, and some dozen others, all of whom were once in the same predicament in which you find yourself, and they all threw themselves into my arms, and they are now safely landed on the other side of the gulf. Let them speak, and testify for me." They all, with one consent, confirm the truth of what that strange voice had asserted. The poor, trembling man is thus induced to throw himself into the hands of his friend, and the next moment he finds himself safe over the gulf, joining the others in a song of praise to the benevolence, fidelity, and strength of their friend.

Just so the trembling, penitent believer finds himself standing upon the verge of despair. He has been seeking after deliverance from inbred sin for days and months. During all this time he has been striving to fit himself more perfectly for the blessing by prayer and fasting, mortifying the flesh, and other good works, but he could not grasp the prize of perfect love. Here he stands, half believing, half doubting, trembling as upon a precipice, afraid to go back and not daring to venture forward, when the voice of Jesus Christ, his Almighty Friend, salutes his ears, saying, " All things are possible to him that believes. Throw yourself, by a simple act of faith, into my arms, and I will hold you fast. Here are my friends, and your friends, all of whom will testify that they were once in a similar predicament to yourself, but they cast their souls into my hands, and I sup ported them." To the truth of this they all testify. Finally the seeking soul cries out, "Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief!" Help instantly comes. His inward distress is now removed, his soul is now filled " with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

He now wonders why he did not sooner believe, and enter into rest, not duly consider ing that all this time God has been preparing his heart for the reception of this very blessing, in this very way, and that therefore he has finally received it at the time and manner which God had himself prescribed, with the exception of his hesitancy in taking God at his word; for this unbelief he is now ashamed, because he knows that it was dishonouring to God to discredit his word, inasmuch as all "his promises are yea and amen, to the glory of God the Father." In respect to the duty of all those who have solemnly consecrated themselves to God, to believe that he is now, this very moment, able and willing to save them from all their sins, without a minute’s delay, all our writers on this subject agree. Thus Wesley, vol. vi, p. 505, says :

" Nay, but ask that it may be done now; to-day, while it is called to-day. Do not call this setting God a time. Certainly, to-day is his time as well’s to-morrow. Make haste, man, make hnste! Let " Thy soul break out in strong desire, The perfect bliss to prove;

Thy longing heart be all on fire To be dissolved in love."

Mr. Fletcher, also, in vol. ii, p. 639, says :

" Hence it follows that the most evangelical method of following after the perfection to which we are immediately called, is that of seeking it now, by endeavouring fully to lay hold on the promise of that perfection through faith, just as if our repeated acts of obedience could never help us forward."

Mrs. Palmer says :

" Yes, THERE is A SHORTER WAY!! I am sure this long waiting and struggling with the powers of darkness is not necessary." " How many, whom infinite love would long since have brought into this state, in stead of seeking to be brought into the possession at once, are seeking a preparation for the reception of it!" " God requires present holiness." Way of Holiness, pp. 17, 18, 19.

Dr. Peck says, Christian Perfection, p. 407 : " We must believe that this blessing is for us noiv. The faith that the blessing may be had some time or another at some future indefinite period will not prevail. It must contemplate the provision as within our reach as now at hand. It will not admit of delay. It knows no inconvenient season. It says, Surely now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation." In this, then, we are all agreed, that every thing is fully prepared by the wisdom and goodness of God; the "fallings are killed," "the table is spread," and all things are now ready for the reception of the blessing of entire sanctification; so that whenever the penitent believer is prepared, by being willing to part with all his sins, to surrender his whole heart to God, he may receive the promised cleansing by a simple net of faith in Jesus Christ.

This, I believe, is in conformity to the experience of every sanctified soul. Do you not remember, my dear M., when you cried out, in the language of the poet " Into thy gracious HANDS 1 FALL, And with the arms of FAITH EMBRACE;

King of Glory, hear my call!

O raise me, heal me by THY GRACE! Now righteous through thy GRACE / am; No condemnation now I dread;

1 TASTE SALVATION in thy name;

ALIVE in thee, my living Head." And in respect to the earnestness with which the soul, in this state, is taught to look for a present blessing, fully believing that God is now, this very moment, able and willing to save to the uttermost, is fully expressed in a number of our hymns. Take the following as a sample :

" Rock of Israel! cleft for me, For us, for all mankind, See, thy feeblest followers, see, Who call thy death to mind : Still the fountain of thy blood STANDS FOR SINNERS OPEN D WIDE; Now, e en NOW, my Lord, mv God, I WASH MK IN THY Mnr.

Now e en NOW, we all plunge in, And DRINK the purple wave; This the antidote for sin, Tis this our souls shall save : With the LIFE OF JESUS fed, Lo! from strength to strength we rise, Folio w djjy our Rock, and led To meet Thee in the skies."

Equally expressive are the following words of the same inimitable poet, whose words of fire, I am sure, I cannot too often quote, especially for you, and for all those Methodists who ad mire the poetical genius of Charles Wesley. He says, in the 326th hymn, " Now, e en NOW, I yield, I yield, With ALL MY SINS to part; Jesus, speak my pardon seaVd, And PURIFY my heart; Purge the LOVE OF SIN AWAY, Then I into NOTHING FALL; Then I see the perfect day, And CHRIST is ALL IN ALL." And to show you, my dear M., how fully the poet has taught us to rely most implicitly on the grace of God in Christ Jesus, for this great salvation, I will quote one more verse from the 308th hymn. It reads as follows :

"Jesus, thou art our King! To me thy succour bring Christ the mighty one art thou, Help for all on thee is laid : This the word; I claim it NOW; Send me NOW the promised aid." May God help you, my dear M., who 1,,-m. obtained this invaluable blessing, to hold it fast by faith, and to prove the genuineness of your faith by good works, and especially the work of inviting all your Christian associates to seek for the high prize of " perfect love." ^ That this good work is advancing in the Church, I greatly rejoice to believe, and my sole object in writing these letters, is to contribute my mite towards its deepening and widening in the hearts of all God’s professing people, as well as to communicate strength and comfort to the heart of my friend.