Whiter Than Snow.
“He found me the lost and the wandering,
The sinful, the sad, and the lone;
He said, ‘I have bought thee, beloved,
Forever thou art Mine own.
‘O soul, I will show thee the wonder,
The worth of My priceless Blood;
Thou art whiter than snow on the mountains,
Thou art fair in the eyes of God.
‘O vessel of living water,
From the depths of the Love Divine,
The glorious life within thee
Flows from My heart to thine.’”
“THOUGH some of us,” Julian said, “but seldom feel a moaning in our heart because we are absent from Christ, this moaning as it were passeth never from Christ, till what time He have brought us out of all our woe, for love suffereth Him never to be without pity. And thus standeth He as it were moaning because of our sorrows.
“Only for us is He here. And what time I be strange to Him by sin, despair, or sloth, then I let my Lord stand alone, as far as is in me. But though it be so that we do thus oftentimes, His goodness suffereth us never to be alone, but lastingly is He with us, and tenderly He excuseth us, and ever keepeth us from blame in His sight.”
“But how is it we can be without blame in His sight? For surely I see that I am a sinner. Ought I not to see my sin, and that it is foul and evil?”
“Yea, verily; and also I would have thee know that our sin is more foul and horrible than we see it to be. We see it not at all but by the light of His mercy. And in sooth it needeth us to see it, and by the sight we should be made ashamed of ourselves, and broken down in regard of our pride and presumption.
“For it behoveth us verily to see that of our self we are right naught but sin and wretchedness. And truly it is the less part of our sin that our Lord showeth us―the more part is as it were wasted, which we see not. For He of His tenderness measureth the sight to us; for it is so foul and so horrible, that we should not endure to see it as it is. But He showeth us that which may lead us to contrition and grace, so that we may be broken from all thing that is not our Lord.
“For even as God hath made waters plenteous on earth, to our service and to our bodily ease, for tender love that He hath to us, yet liketh Him better that we be wholly and fully washed in His blessed Blood from all our sin. For there is no gift it liketh Him so well to give us. And thus of His great love He loth away all our blame, and beholdeth us as His dear children, innocent and unloathful.
“But is not this true for the saints who are high in His favor? and I am naught but a sinner, and without deservings?
“It is our blessed Saviour who doth the perfect work of our salvation, and all alike for all whom He saves. For he that is highest and nearest with God, he may see himself sinful and needy with me.
And I that am the least and the lowest of those that shall be saved, I may be comforted with him that is highest; for the Lord in His love hath made us all, who are to be saved, to be one. For thus there is in truth but One Man, and the blessed comfort the Lord hath showed me is large enough for us all.”
“But can we not sin again when once the Lord has washed us? How then can we feel ourselves secure?”
“Yea, verily, and truly the Lord hath learned me to be fearful for nu secureness of myself. For I wot not how I shall fall, nor I know not the measure nor the greatness of my sin. I would fain have wist it, but thereto the Lord gave me no answer. But He showed me only, full sweetly and full mightily, the endlessness and the unchangeableness of His love, and also His gracious keeping, that the love of Him and of our souls shall never be separated, world without end.
“Truly it is a lovely lesson, and a sweet gracious teaching of Himself in comforting of our soul. And it is in the soul that He hath made for Himself a dwelling-place; and we may say that He showeth Himself to us as being with us here on this earth, as it were a pilgrim through this wilderness. For He is here with us, leading us and guarding us, and shall be, till He hath brought us all into His eternal joy.
“And in the soul is His resting-place and His worshipful city, out of which He shall never arise, nor remove without end. Marvelous and solemn is the place where the Lord dwelleth.
“And therefore He willeth that we readily attend to His gracious touching in this nearness of His Presence, more rejoicing in His perfect love, than sorrowing in our often fallings. For it is the most worship to Him of anything that we may do, that we live gladly and merrily in His love, turning our hearts from the pain that we feel, unto the bliss that we trust.
“And thus, by the meekness that we get in the sight of our sin, faithfully knowing His everlasting love, Him thanking, and Him praising, we please Him.”
“‘I love thee,’ He saith, and thou lowest Me, and our love shall never be separated in twain.’ And by the great desire that I saw in our Blessed Lord, that we should live in this manner, that is to say, in longing and rejoicing, as all this lesson of love showeth, thereby I understand that all that is contrarious Co this, is not of Him, but of the enemy. And He willeth that we know it by the sweet gracious light of His kind love.
“If any man living be on earth which is continually kept from falling, I know it not, for it was not showed me. But this was showed me, that in falling and in rising, we are ever preciously kept in one love. For in beholding God, we fall not; and in beholding of our self, we stand not. And our good Lord willeth ever that we hold much more to the beholding of Him, not having the knowledge of that which we are in ourselves, until the time that we be brought up above, where we shall have our Lord Jesus to our reward, and be filled fully with joy and bliss withouten end.
“And our faith is the light that is the dawning of our endless day, in which light our good Lord the Holy Ghost leadeth us in this passing life. This light is measured to us need fully, to guide us in the night that is passing away, so that we may walk wisely and mightily.
“And at the end of sorrow, suddenly our eye shall be opened, and in clearness of sight our life shall be full of light; which light is God, in Christ Jesus our Saviour. Thus is faith our light in the night, which light is God in endless day; and this light is love. Yea, all shall be love.
“To know this love, let us all unite to pray, thanking, trusting, and rejoicing. For He beholdeth His heavenly treasure and solace, looking down upon us from the heavenly joy, and drawing our hearts from sorrow and darkness, which here are all around us.
“He loves us with love which was never slacked, nor never shall be; and in this love our life is everlasting. As those whom He made, we had a beginning; but the love wherein He made us, was in Him from without beginning. In which love we have our beginning, and we shall see it in God withouten end.”
Thus were the words fulfilled which the Lord had spoken to the heart of Julian, “Hold fast the lesson of My love, and thou shalt yet learn more and more. But never to all eternity shalt thou learn aught beside.”