The Promised Gift Retained, and How

Phoebe Palmer makes available in her book, The Promise of the Father, the following valuable testimony of a woman in 1837 whom she got to know very well:

"It was at this point, in my career of discipleship, that I received the promise of the Father. The sacrifice of all my entire being had now been made. The offering had not only been placed upon the altar, but it was also bound there in view of all coming time, and in contemplation of every conceivable emergency.

"Daily and hourly, since that eventful period, have I claimed it. But it is only by a continuous act of surrender, and a ceaseless act of faith, that I claim and retain the grace. Not an hour, I trust, has passed since that hallowed evening, twenty years since, in which I have not felt that I would rather die than knowingly offend God. Through grace I have been empowered to present myself to God a living sacrifice. Through Christ, who strengtheneth me, I have been enabled to keep the sacrifice upon the altar; and through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ I have retained the witness that the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all unrighteousness. Not because of the worthiness of the offerer, or the greatness of the gift, has the offering been accepted, but because of the infinite virtues of that ALTAR upon which the offering has been laid. Not on the ground that I have never erred in thought, word, or deed, but on the ground that I have, through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, kept the offering on the altar, with a sincere intention to glorify God in all things, and conscious of supreme love to my Saviour. And while I have thus kept my unworthy offering on the Christian's altar, presenting myself a living sacrifice to God, I have not dared to dishonor Christ, by doubting whether the offering is 'wholly acceptable unto God.' In view of the medium through which it is being continually presented, that is, through Christ, I dare not doubt.

"Nay, rather, I WILL, I DO believe,

'If all the sins which men have done,
In thought, in will, in word or deed,
Since worlds were made, or time begun,
Were laid on one poor sinner's head,
The stream of Jesus' precious blood
Would wash away the dreadful load.'

"Neither the worthiness of the offerer, nor the greatness of the gift, is the availing plea or ground of acceptance, but the infinitely meritorious blood of Jesus. This is the new and living way by which alone a redeemed world may enter into the holiest. And it is only by a continuance in this way, that is, by plunging deeper and yet deeper into the purple flood, that we can rise higher and yet higher in all the life of God. It is by this purifying, energizing process, that my soul, once dead in trespasses and sins, is being continually raised and sustained in newness of life. Momentarily am I being enabled to obey the command, 'Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.'

"And this spiritual life has its legitimate manifestations. If thus quickened and risen with Christ, then the life of Christ must be manifest in this mortal flesh. It is due to the glory of God to say, that, as year succeeds year, bearing me nearer the hour when this mortal shall put on immortality, I feel yet more of the blessedness of the life-giving power within. The Spirit worketh in me yet more and more mightily to will and to do. Many new and most blessed lessons is the Spirit teaching me, as I daily cast anchor yet deeper within the veil. Instead of shrinking from the cross of Christ as formerly, it is now cause of my chief glorying. I feel that Christ has taken up his abode in my heart. He is my indwelling Saviour."