The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Threshold Grace, by Percy C. Ainsworth

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Title: The Threshold Grace

Author: Percy C. Ainsworth

Release Date: August 24, 2004 [EBook #13267]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE THRESHOLD GRACE

_MEDITATIONS IN THE PSALMS_

BY

PERCY C. AINSWORTH

AUTHOR OF 'THE PILGRIM CHURCH.' 'THE BLESSED LIFE,' ETC.

PREFATORY NOTE

During his brief ministry Mr. Ainsworth published a series of meditations
in the columns of the _Methodist Times_, which are here reprinted by the
kind permission of the Editor, Dr. Scott Lidgett. The rare interest aroused
by the previous publication of Mr. Ainsworth's sermons encourages the hope
that the present volume may find a place in the devotional literature to
which many turn in the quiet hour.

A.K.S.

CONTENTS

I. THE THRESHOLD GRACE
II. THE HABIT OF FAITH
III. THE ONE THING DESIRABLE
IV. EYES AND FEET
V. THE SAFEGUARDED SOUL
VI. A PLEA FOR TEARS
VII. DELIVERANCE WITH HONOUR
VIII. PETITION AND COMMUNION
IX. HAUNTED HOURS
X. THE WINGS OF THE DOVE
XI. A NEW SONG

I.

THE THRESHOLD GRACE

The Lord shall keep thy going out and thy coming
in, from this time forth and for evermore.

Ps. cxxi, 8.

Going out and coming in. That is a picture of life. Beneath this old Hebrew
phrase there lurks a symbolism that covers our whole experience. But let us
just now look at the most literal, and by no means the least true,
interpretation of these words. One of the great dividing-lines in human
life is the threshold-line. On one side of this line a man has his 'world
within the world,' the sanctuary of love, the sheltered place of peace, the
scene of life's most personal, sacred, and exclusive obligations. And on
the other side lies the larger life of mankind wherein also a man must take
his place and do his work. Life is spent in crossing this threshold-line,
going out to the many and coming in to the few, going out to answer the
call of labour and coming in to take the right