y for twenty years. I lived in the same house with him in his
seasons of relaxation as well as occupation, but never saw him in such
a temper that I could reprove. His soul was like a spring, continually
overflowing with the most amiable, benevolent emotion. In his last
years, in particular, he was like a shock of corn fully ripe and fit
for the heavenly garner, or like a beautiful tree whose vigorous and
luxuriant branches were weighted with a diversity of the richest
fruit.' Bramwell trod consistently the pathway of the holy, a worthy
successor of Enoch, who 'walked with God', and was translated after
receiving the testimony that his way pleased God.
I would like to refer to several features of this pathway of the holy
which appeal strongly to me.
1. The way of Holiness is a _pathway of the purified_. The prophet
intimates plainly that nothing unclean can pass that way. The hearts of
men and women who are to walk there must be washed from their moral
defilements. I heard of a good man who said, 'Many years ago the Lord
took me out of the mire; some years after, He took the mire out of me'.
I think you quite understand his meaning. Sin is a foul, slimy, miry
thing, defiling whoever it touches. This must be purged away if you are
to walk in the way of Holiness; and it can only be purged by the 'Blood
of Jesus Christ which cleanseth us from all sin'.
2. The way of Holiness is _a pathway of light and learning_. It is a
way of advancing knowledge. There is a point where the path commences,
when one knows for the first time that the Blood cleanses, and the Holy
Spirit sheds abroad the love of God in the heart; but each succeeding
step brings fuller light, and things unknown are revealed.
Familiar intercourse with God brings deeper realizations and knowledge
of Divine and spiritual things, so that yours does indeed become the
path of the just 'which shineth more and more unto the perfect day'. As
a result, your own heart is enlarged, your spiritual capacities
increased, and, growing in grace, you advance in knowledge and favour
with God. Those who walk this pathway are they to whom the Lord
whispers His secrets, and whose souls He fills with heavenly delights.
Oh, that we could induce you to step up from the lower to this higher
and better pathway!
Let me give you a note from the personal experience of another of God's
saints who walked the higher way, one who habitually lived on that
level, and who expressed himse
|