CLOSING EXHORTATION

God has forgiven you all your sins; he has sanctified you wholly. You stand to-day in the way of life; you are fully out upon the Christian way. You have on the whole armor of God. You possess the power of God's Spirit in your soul, the love of God is in your heart as a burning flame. You are tasting the sweet joys that flow from heaven's throne. In your soul is imprinted the image of Jesus. Your heart is a garden of opening buds, which emit the sweet fragrance of heaven. But, notwithstanding all this blessedness of experience, I want you to remember you are just starting on the pilgrim's way.

I thought of bringing this little work to a close with the preceding letter, but it seems that I am loath to say the last word. I wonder if there is one word more I can say to help you in your Christian race. It is impossible for me to express how my heart yearns in love and tenderness for you.

God wants to use your life on earth to his glory. He wants you so to shine in the glory and splendor of his grace that you may light others in the way. He wants the opening buds of grace in your soul to burst into full bloom. He wants to lead you higher up the mountain of joy, to the very fount of blessings. He wants to lead you down into the lowly vale where there are greater riches than gold. He wants his image in your heart to stand out in greater beauty and perfection; the features are yet too dim.

While in this life your immortal soul is wrapped about with a veil of mortality; but God wants to shine such a radiant light and amaranthine glory into your soul that the veil of mortality will not be able wholly to obscure it. It will shine out through the material part and glow in transparent beauty upon the surface.

If you will follow where he leads, he will lead you on from virtue to deeper, truer virtue; he will lead you on to fountains of sweeter joy. It may be through the vale of sorrow; but never fear nor distrust, and you will find your joy rising higher in the cup. If you will follow, he will lead you from peace on to broader, deeper rivers of peace. It may be through angry billows and past rough rocks; but if you trust him and follow on, he will bring you to yet calmer and more peaceful waters. If you will stay in his presence, he will impart unto you his own lovely character, and you will grow up into a holier life, into sweeter fellowship with God, into richer beauty and greater usefulness.

He will sometimes call you where the flowers are blooming and sweet fragrance fills the air, where the birds sing sweetly and the zephyrs blow gently; he will lead you along the rippling streams, and delight your soul with the music of the wave; he will lead you through the shady glens and leafy bowers,—until your soul will sing, "Is not this the land of Beulah?" But he may sometimes lead you through the desert, or over the rugged mountain, or across the stormy seas; he may lead you away from all that is dear to your heart; he may lead you into paths where the shadows lie deep, and thorns spring up on every side. He will lead you on to duties that may oftentimes seem too hard for you to do; but this one thing I assure you in Jesus' name: he will never call you to a duty or a sacrifice but that will prove a blessing to your soul and enrich you in his grace. You must follow on.

To get the sweetness out of your life, he may sometimes bruise you. There are flowers that emit but little fragrance until they are bruised. Many trials, no doubt, are awaiting you; but do not live them until you get to them, then his grace will be sufficient for you.

In closing, I beseech you from the fulness of my heart to follow Jesus all the way. Let nothing turn you back. Never mind the storms and cruel winds. What if the thorns prick your feet? they pierced his brow. What if the duties do seem hard and the way seems weary? Follow on, linger in his presence, breathe in of his fulness, live in humble submission, never murmur but in every sorrow draw the closer to him, never falter, labor on, and you will find joys in every sorrow, blessings in every sacrifice, and delights in every duty. He will perfume your life with the odor of heaven and make you a blessing on earth to man. He will make your life a well of water where many a weary traveler may drink and thirst no more; he will make it a tree of life where they may eat and hunger no more. And when life is done he will bring you with all your golden sheaves through the gates of glory into the haven of eternal rest, where I hope to meet you. With this, I will say farewell.