Page images
PDF
EPUB

lost it by not observing and obeying the order of God, who hath told us "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation,' which latter I neglected. Once the tempter suggested, 'What you feel cannot be the blessing; perfection is something higher. You are not delivered from mistakes, ignorances, real errors in judgment, in memory, etc., etc.; therefore, though you are delivered from sinful tempers, you ought not to make a profession that you are holy.' I listened to these things, and soon discovered I had lost what God had bestowed.

"When I had re-obtained the same glorious deliverance, the bait was offered under another form. The enemy now said, 'Wait a few weeks or days, and see if the fruits of sanctification appear, before you profess so great a salvation!' I had no sooner yielded to wait for the fruits, but I began to doubt of the witness, which before I had felt in my heart; and was in a little time sensible I had lost both.

"A third time, with shame I confess it, I was kept from being a witness for my Lord by the suggestion, "Thou art a public character, a city set upon a hill; the world and professors have all an eye upon thee; and if some future trial should overcome thee, or if, as before, thou shouldest by any means lose the blessing, what a dishonour and reproach will it be to the doctrine of heart holiness!'

"A fourth time Satan prevailed over a worm by, 'It is true, thou art now freed from sin,-thou

knowest that Gospel perfection is perfect love; that love is the fulfilling of the law, not of Adam, but of Gospel grace; and that many ignorances, mistakes, etc., are consistent with perfect love; but how many thousands will not believe this! How many affirm that every transgression of the Adamic law-the law of perfect innocence suited to Adam's sinless nature. Every transgression

of this law is sin! and, therefore, if thou profess thyself free from sin, all these will give thy profession the lie. Enjoy, therefore, what God hath wrought in thy soul, and hold it fast, without declaring publicly I am freed from sin; I am holy; I am perfect in love.' But again I found, ‘He that hideth his Lord's talent, and improveth it not, from that unprofitable servant shall be taken away even that he hath.’

"Now, my friends, you see my folly. I have confessed it in your presence; and now I resolve in your presence also, henceforth I will confess my Master to all the world. And I declare unto you, in the presence of God, the Holy Trinity, I am now 'dead unto sin.' I do not say, I am crucified with Christ, because some of our well-meaning brethren say, by this is meant a gradual dying unto sin, for a man who is crucified is a long time in dying; but I profess unto you I am dead unto sin, and that as effectually as my original nature was free from righteousness. But then, if our good brethren will still insist every ignorance, every involuntary mistake is sin, we will not quarrel: then in this sense I am not freed from sin. But if I may venture to believe my Lord Jesus,

if love be the

fulfilling of the law, then I know these things are consistent with love, with a single eye, and a pure heart; and I therefore dare to reckon thus in the presence of you all; and I mean to declare myself henceforth, before men and angels, 'dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God, through Jesus Christ.'

"Mind it is still through Jesus, and in Him; not independent of Him, or separate from Him. He is my indwelling holiness. He is my All in All. He is all I want, and I wait for the more full and entire fulfilment of that prayer of His, 'Let them be one in Us.' O for the fulness of the dispensation of the Holy Ghost! O, my brothers and sisters, pray, pray for the outpouring of the Spirit! Wrestle, agonise with God till it is given.

"And now, you who are hungering and thirsting after righteousness, what wait you for? Delay not, unite yourselves to Jesus, your Holiness, by believing; take to yourselves this great salvation; take it now. You must receive it by faith: faith lays hold and says, "It is mine." "It is mine." As when you reckon with your creditor, and when you have paid all, reckon yourself free, so now reckon with God. Jesus hath paid all for thee-purchased not only thy pardon, but thine inward holiness. Now it is God's command, Reckon thyself dead unto sin,' freed from sin, and alive unto God, now, this moment. O, reckon now! Fear not; believe, believe, believe! and continue to believe every moment; for it is retained as it is received, by faith alone. Whosoever thou art that wilt perseveringly believe, it will be as a fire in thy bosom,

and constrain thee to confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and in spreading the sacred flame of love, thou wilt be saved to the uttermost.'

After Mr. Fletcher had ceased to speak, about thirty rose and witnessed for Jesus, that they also, through grace, were dead to sin, and alive to God. Numbers were so affected that they could not speak. I felt what was truly unutterable; I sank into nothing, and was lost in the fulness of the Triune God.

The War Cry, No. 50. - DEC. 4, 1880.

REPROVE.

Address to Officers.

BY COMMISSIONER RAILTON.

1. IT is an almost unknown thing for the Lord's people to continue in the zeal of their first love. Almost all fall back, after a shorter or longer time, into a much colder state, and many become backsliders in heart. These things are fully dwelt upon in Mrs. Booth's "Practical Religion,"* and especially in the chapter on "Heart Backsliding."

2. In the army men are prevented from falling back so far as this, in many cases, but, nevertheless, remain in a very poor and uncertain state, daily sinning and repenting, loading themselves and others with sorrows by their want of consistency and devotion, yet daily being brought back to the Lord, and so kept from ruin.

3. Even among the best of this latter class, who,

* "Practical Religion," by Mrs. Booth, Is. Salvation Army Book Depôt, 8 and 9, Paternoster Square, E.C.

« PreviousContinue »