down this temple to view,
To see what rents must be mended,
And what must be builded anew;

"Perhaps as He looks o'er the building
He will bring my work to the light;
And seeing the marring and bungling,
And how far it is all from right;

"He will feel as I felt for my darling,
And will say as I said for her,
'Dear child! she wanted to help me,
And love for Me was the spur;

"'And for the great love that is in it
The work shall seem perfect as Mine;'
And, because it was willing service,
Will crown it with plaudit Divine.

"And there, in the deepening twilight,
I seemed to be clasping a Hand,
And to feel a great love constraining,
Far stronger than any command.

"Then I knew by the thrill of sweetness,
'Twas the Hand of the Blessed One
Which should tenderly guide and hold me,
Till all the labor is done.

"So my thoughts are never more gloomy,
My faith is no longer dim,
But my heart is strong and restful,
And mine eyes are unto Him."

A clean heart then does not mean sinlessness, the eradication of sin,
that sin is taken out of us; for though sin is taken out of the _heart_
that is cleansed--for a clean heart must be clean!--yet "the flesh," the
self-life, remains in the _man_, "latent if not patent," ready to manifest
itself should the counteracting power of the indwelling Christ the Saviour
even for a moment be withdrawn. This "flesh" is evil (Rom. vii. 18) and,
therefore, while "the flesh" is in us "sin" is in us, and hence our
constant need of the cleansing Blood. As we trust for continuous cleansing
we get it. "The Blood ... _cleanseth_"--resent progressive tense--goes on
cleansing, therefore guilt is never allowed to gather, for as sin appears
the Blood cleanses it away and so keeps us clean. Blessed present tense!
Thus it is possible for us _always_ to walk in the Light.

Then as Christ exercises His counteracting power over "the flesh" we are
being "cleansed from all unrighteousness," delivered from doing the "not
right," and, by continuous trust in our omnipotent Saviour, we may know
continuous deliverance, continuous victory over sin; we need never know
defeat. A Christian mother had just kissed good-night to her little
daughter, and was busy in the dining-room arranging the table for dinner,
when she heard little feet on the stair. Wondering what was the matter,
she slipped into the window recess and hid herself behin