September 25th, 1876.
My Dear Sister in the Lord,-Time or quietness to write in I find not; yet amid the turmoil of the way He has granted me to write a few words to some in affliction and trial, of whom the number at the present time is large. We talk of the wilderness, and of having renounced all to follow Him; but how little do we know how this one thing to do-to forget that which is behind, and to look to that which lieth before, and to press on to the mark of the prize of the high calling of God. The battle of life becomes hotter and hotter, the road more steep and slippery, but all this only to wean us more and more from ourselves.
I hear the 29th and 30th November are the days for the Manchester meetings. May the Lord prepare hearts for a blessing, and pour a large one out. One's path as walking with God has to be learned, and the Savior is patient enough in teaching it; but how one learns the contrast between what His mind and heart presented to God's eye, and what one's own heart and mind present to Christ's. Safe and saved in Him forever, but what has He saved? And how does the completeness of the salvation in Him make us see how little we have attained to saying, " Lord, I come to do Thy will, and Thine only." " Thy will my will. Nothing owned by me as my desire or will till it is known to be Thy desire and will first." A conqueror in all things, practically victorious, I asked Him to make me. Not free from Satan only, and from all judgment to come, but, therefore, free from the world and from self. How little do we know what it is, having conquered, to stand fast.
The doctors send out patients wholesale hence to Sydney, New Zealand, &c., and very rashly in many cases lately it has been ordered; but let any one propose to go out thither to look out, and look up, a few poor sheep of the Master's, and the same doctors are terrified at the mad folly. But if we walk humbly before the Lord, and humbly with Him, He will be with us. And sure I am He loves to say, " It is well it was in thine heart." I do count on the prayers of the poor of the flock. Monday, the boat starts at three. Four or five saints on board to break bread together, if the Lord will.
Love to all at the table. Most affectionately,
G. V. W.