第261章 MANSOUL'S MAGNA CHARTA(4)

6. 'And till the glory breaks suddenly upon you， and as long as you yet live in this life of free grace I shall give and grant you leave and free access to Me in My palace at all seasons， there to make known all your wants to Me； and I give you， moreover， a promise that I will hear and redress all your grievances.' At all seasons； in season and out of season. There to make known all your wants to Me. And all your grievances. All that still grieves and vexes you. All your wrongs. All your injuries. All that men can do to you. Let them do their worst to you. My grace is sufficient for all your grievances. My goodness in you shall make you more than a conqueror. I undertake to give you before you have asked for it a heart full of free， full， and everlasting forgiveness and forgetfulness of all that has begun to grieve you. No word or deed， written or spoken， of any man shall be able to vex or grieve the spirit that I shall put within you. You will immediately avenge yourselves of your adversaries. You will instantly repay them all an hundredfold. For， when thine enemy hungers， thou shalt feed him； when he is athirst， thou shalt give him drink. For thou shalt not be overcome of evil， but thou shalt overcome evil with good.

7. 'All these grants， privileges， and immunities I bestow upon thee； upon thee， I say， and upon thy right seed after thee.' O

Almighty God， our Heavenly Father， give us such a seed！ Give us a seed right with Thee！ Smite us and our house with everlasting barrenness rather than that our seed should not be right with Thee.

O God， give us our children. Give us our children. A second time， and by a far better birth， give us our children to be beside us in Thy holy Covenant. For it had been better we had never been born；

it had been better we had never been betrothed； it had been better we had sat all our days solitary unless all our children are to be right with Thee. Let the day perish， and the night wherein it was said， There is a man-child conceived. Let that day be darkness；

let not God regard it from above； neither let the light shine upon it， unless all our house is yet to be right with God. O my son Absalom！ My son， my son Absalom！ Would God I had died for thee， O

Absalom， my son， my son！ But thou， O God， art Thyself a Father， and thus hast in Thyself a Father's heart. Hear us， then， for our children， O our Father， for such of our children as are not yet right with Thee！ In season and out of season； we shall not go up into our bed； we shall not give sleep to our eyes nor slumber to our eyelids till we and all our seed are right with Thee. And then how we and all our saved seed beside us shall praise Thee and bless Thee above all the families on earth or in heaven， and shall say：

Unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood， and hath bestowed upon us a free， full， and everlasting forgiveness， and hath made us partakers of His Divine Nature， to Him be our love and praise and service to all eternity. Amen and Amen！

第一章EMMANUEL'S LAST CHARGE TO MANSOUL： CONCERNING THEREMAINDERS OF SIN IN THE REGENERATE

'Hold fast till I come.'--Our Lord.

There are many fine things in Emmanuel's last charge to Mansoul， but by far the best thing is the answer that He Himself there supplies to this deep and difficult question，--to this question， namely， Why original sin is still left to rage in the truly regenerate？ Why does our Lord not wholly extirpate sin in our regeneration？ What can His reason be for leaving their original sin to dwell in His best saints till the day of their death？ For， to use His own sad words about sin in His last charge， nothing hurts us but sin. Nothing defiles and debases us but sin. Why， then， does He not take our sin clean out of us at once？ He could speak the word of complete deliverance if He only would. Why， then， does He not speak that word？ That has been a mystery and a grief to all God's saints ever since sanctification began to be.

And the great interest and the great value of Emmanuel's last charge to Mansoul stands in this， that He here tells us， if not all， then at least some of His reasons for the policy He pursues with us in our sanctification. Dost thou know， He asks， as He stands on His chariot steps， surrounded with His captains on the right hand and the left--Dost thou know why I at first did， and do still， suffer sin to live and dwell and harbour in thy heart？ And then， after an O YES！ for silence， the Prince began and thus proceeded：

1. Dost thou ask at Me why I and My Father have seen it good to allow the dregs of thy sinfulness still to corrupt and to rot in thine heart？ Dost thou ask why， amid so much in thee that is regenerate， there is still so much more that is unregenerate？ Why， while thou art， without controversy， under grace， indwelling sin still so festers and so breaks out in thee？ Dost thou ask that？

Then， attend， and before I go away to come again I will try to tell thee， if， indeed， thou art able and willing to bear it. Well， then， be silent while I tell thee that I have left all that of thy original sin in thee to tempt thee， to try thee， to humble thee， and to thrust， day and night， upon thee， what is still in thine heart. To humble thee， take knowledge， take warning， and take forethought. To make thee humble， and to keep thee humble. To hide pride from thee， and to lay thee all thy days on earth in the dust of death. I tell thee this day that in all thy past life I

have ordered and administered all My providences toward thee to humble thee and to prove thee， and to make thee dust and ashes in thine own eyes. And I go away to carry on from heaven this same intention of My Father's and Mine toward thee. We shall try thee as silver is tried. We shall sift thee as wheat is sifted. We shall search thee as Jerusalem is searched with lighted candles. I