To Miss D——
A little child learning to walk — The Divine Sympathy proportioned to our feebleness — “I will hold thy right hand “— Shrinkings from duty —” I have ordained you” — The weak made strong —” Worldly Christians V — A light in the world.
Your note came to hand, and has been cause of thanksgiving to the God of all grace, who hath made such great grace abound toward you. As you have received the Lord Jesus to the full salvation of your soul, I have been longing to hear how you have been enabled to walk in him.
A Little Child learning to Walk.
You speak of yourself as a little child coming to its parent, just learning to walk. Sweet and inspiring thoughts present themselves to my mind, in viewing this as your state. I regard my sister as having entered upon the road, which, by the fiat of the Lord of the way, “shall he called, The way of holiness y He who hath cast it up for the express purpose that the redeemed of the Lord may walk therein, is with her every moment, guarding every step, and assuring her in every strait, “I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee.” The little child just learning to walk, commands more of the careful attentions of the parent, than one who, by previous training, has attained a firm gait. The love and ceaseless attentions of your Saviour are bestowed upon you, just in the proportion that your feebleness demands.
You are not favored with the companionship of many friends, who are walking in the highway, and you feel your loneliness. But O, what are earthly companions and loves, compared with the companionship and love of such a Friend as your Jesus purposes to be. Keep close to his side, and you will ever hear him saying to you, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”
“But why do I grasp him with a trembling hand?” you ask. Let me in reply again refer you to the precious words:” I the Lord will hold thy
Divine Sympathy. Expect a Daily Cross.
right hand.” While your trembhng hand is held in the firm, unyielding grasp of the Almighty, need you fear? Commune with your Saviour upon this question, and he will assure you that his strength is your strength. He knows the weakness of your flesh, but does he love you less because you cleave to him tremblingly. No! rather does he look upon you with yet greater tenderness, while he compassionately says, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” When prone to sing,
“I hold thee with a trembling hand,”
may you ever be constrained to add,
“He holds me with his mighty hand,”
“Aye, he encompasseth my entire being within the hollow of his hand.”
“Why do I feel it a cross to declare what he has done for me,” you inquire. Expect a daily cross. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” In reference to some duties, even sanctified humanity may shrink; but if the human will is subject to the divine will, and submissively says, “Not my will but thine be done,” I do not see why this does not imply a perfect state of the affections. I hope my dear sister will ever, through grace, “Cast aside that enthusiastic doctrine, that
we are not to do good, unless our hearts are free
Ordained for a Great Work. What a Worm may do.
to it.” With David, may you ever be disposed to call upon all that fear the Lord, and tell what great things he hath done for your soul.
And now, my dear sister, do not be startled, when I tell you that you have been ordained for a great work. Not by the imposition of mortal hands, or a call from man. No, Christ, the great Head of the church, hath chosen you, “and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit.” O my sister, yours is indeed a high and holy calling. Alas for you, if you are not found faithful to the trust committed!
But you have much to encourage you. Why should you not bear much fruit? “It is God that worketh in you.” You are One with Him, who of God is made unto us Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption. 0 how mighty may you be as an instrument in the hand of God! “He holds you by the right hand, and with you, though but a worm, he may thrash a mountain.”
How powerless, and even unseemly, were the instruments through which the walls of Jericho fell. Had the combined force of the mighty of the earth been called into requisition, for the accomplishment of this enterprise, then the excellency of the power might have been ascribed to men, not to God. And now our God will not give his glory to another. When he intends that the strong citadel which sin has raised in the hearts of men should
Don’t Reason. Worldly-minded Christians.
be assailed, if he chooses instruments as impotent, or as unlooked-for, as were those rams’ horns, we will not question his wisdom. Let us not say, “What doest thou? but, without reasoning, resign ourselves into his hands.
In regard to the individuals to whom you have referred, I could but exclaim, 0 how strong and high is the barrier which renders the hearts of some, who profess love to the Saviour, impervious to the light, respecting the doctrine of salvation from all sin. May we not fear, that in many instances, it is because “the god of this world hath Winded the minds of them which believe not?”
Worldly-minded Christians! Does not the expression imply an agreement between Christ and Belial? an agreement which the Sciiptures most strongly deny. Yet, alas! in what a variety of ways is the friendship of this world courted, by some who profess union with Christ. Should it be said to such, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of this world is enmity with God; whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God,” they would be amazed; yet this passage exhibits the true state of worldly professors toward God.
May you, my beloved friend, keep your garments unspotted. Amid a crooked and peiTcrse generation, may you shine as a light in the world. If this prayer is answered in your experience, your
Expect Persecution. Specified Wants.
daily walk and conversation will be a reproof to such professors as would join in affinity with the world. Expect persecution from such. “If ye will live godly in Christ Jesus, ye shall suffer persecution;” therefore make up your mind to this, and may God give you great courage, and ever, through sustaining grace, may you be
“Bold to take up, firm to sustain,
The consecrated cross.”
Your sister in Christ.