to my heart. And dark and sad
has ever been the view of myself bestowed by that grace
which brings salvation, long shining as it were to make
my darkness visible; but this do I esteem one of His rich
mercies, who will have no rival in His children's hearts,
and teaches us our own utter depravity and sinfulness;
that we may, without any reserve, fly to Him, "who has
borne our sins in His own body on the tree, that we might
be saved from wrath through Him." And if it is of
grace, that while we were yet sinners, "we were reconciled
to God by the death of His Son," it is by grace also,
that "being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
It is "not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to His mercy He saveth us, by the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy
Ghost." And here I find abundant need to take heed
that I "receive not the grace of God in vain;" for truly
Christ cannot be ours, if we will not be his. But though
I have to lament many a revolt, and many a backsliding,
and many a denial in heart of Christ my Saviour, yet
the Lord, who turned and looked on Peter, has not forsaken
me; the fountain set open for sin has been, I
believe, set open for me; and still does He continue to
"heal my backslidings, and to love me _freely_." For
the future I have sometimes many a fear, because of
this deceitful heart of mine; and at others I can trust
it in His hands, whose grace will be sufficient for me to
the end,--that end, when I may realize, what I now
assuredly believe, that the "_gift_ of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord." And now, my dear
----, are we not one, essentially one, both one in Christ?
I know that, uniting in the acknowledgment, and, above
all, I trust, in the experience, of the great truths of the
gospel, we differ in their applications and influences on
subordinate points, and I believe this must be expected
to be often the case while "we see through a glass
darkly;" but we shall, I trust, "see eye to eye, when
the Lord shall bring again Zion;" and He will keep that
which we have committed unto Him against that day.
The Lord's "commandment is _exceeding broad_," and it
is no wonder that our narrow minds cannot adequately
appreciate the whole, or that, while we believe the same
things, we sometimes view them in different order and
proportion, often being nearer each other