Sword & Trowel 2016: Issue 1
decline into a lukewarm and sickly state, but under certain conditions it becomes almost inevitable. Facilis decensus Averni – easy is the descent to hell; down, down, down. It is easy work to slide impercepti-
bly down; and he must be watchful to the highest degree who does not fi nd himself descending by the mere force of fallen nature into backsliding of heart, and active departure from his God. In order that declensions may not continue, that blessed Spirit who has been pleased to make us the temples in which he dwells, gives us seasons of complete restoration, renewing us in the spirit of our minds. I am not referring now to those daily cleansings and quickenings which are the result of his indwelling, nor
do I speak of that one great and per- fect purifi cation bestowed upon us when we fi rst believed, but my mind dwells upon that mercy of which David sang: ‘He restoreth my soul;’ ‘Who satisfi eth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s;’ that boon for which he pleaded in the plaintive words of the fi fty-fi rst psalm: ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.’
Concerning such visitations of
grace, let us draw a comparison be- tween this building and our souls. As soon as we left this Tabernacle, the workmen busied themselves in unsettling everything, creating clouds of dust, dragging in timbers and lad- ders, and manufacturing wholesale confusion. Scaffolds sprang up as
On Returning to the Renovated Tabernacle
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