That,
says St. John, is the life which brings a joyful death; for God is
love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
Oh consider this, my good friends. Consider this; lest when you
come to die the ghosts of all your sins should rise up at your
bedside, and torment you with fear--the ghosts of every cruel word
which you ever spoke against your fellow men; of every kind action
which you neglected; as well as of every unjust one which you ever
committed. And, if they do rise up in judgment against you, what
must you do?
Cast yourself upon the love of God, and remember that God is love,
and so loved us that He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. Ask Him to forgive you your sins, for the sake of that
precious blood which was shed on the cross: but not that you may
keep your sins, and may escape the punishment of them. God forbid.
What use in having your past sins forgiven, if the sinful heart
still remains to run up fresh sins for the future? No. Ask Him not
merely to forgive the past, but to mend the future; to create in you
a new heart, which wishes no ill to any human being, and a right
spirit, which desires first and utterly to do right, and is filled
with the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of love, by which God made
and redeemed the world, and all that therein is.
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