OR, THE MOUNTAIN CLAMBERERS. A TALE OF PROGRESS. BY JANE ANNE WINSCOM, AUTHOR OF "VINEYARD LABOURERS," ETC., ETC. "They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 346 & 348 BROADWAY. M.DCCC.LIX. PREFACE. THIS little volume is intended for the encouragement of those who are endeavouring to fulfil life's great end, -to glorify their God on earth, and to be rendered meet for His eternal kingdom. It is for those who are wishing, and for those who are striving; for the dwellers in the valley, who look wistfully on the hills above, for the clamberers on the mountain side, who are going from strength to strength, trusting to appear before their God in Zion. It is especially intended for the young, and the ardent, and the aspiring. We do not wish to chill any one's ardour, nor to check any one's aspirations. We wish them to go "higher and higher," even until there is no mountain beyond,—until they reach the land that is above the clouds of earth, until they stand before the throne of God, and drink at the fountain head of the pure river of life, whose waters, clear as crystal, flow in Heaven's Paradise. The mount of duty up which the Christian must ascend is of tertiary formation. The primary rock is the Love of Christ; and that which lies directly on it, is Faith in His precious sacrifice. Then rise all the duties and graces which Scripture enjoins; "add to faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, charity." Love is the base, and love is the crowning peak; even as the primary granite, the foundation of God's mountain pyramids, is likewise the rock that forms the highest peaks, that overtops all the other layers, and points its naked summits towards the sky. Let the mountain clamberer's first step, therefore, be, to believe in the love of the Son of God; and as he clambers from ridge to ridge, as he surmounts duty after duty, still let his eye be on the highest point, the preserving love of Jesus. And when the last step is taken, when the highest summit is reached, the Everlasting Arms, which have continually preserved him, shall bear him from the Pisgah of earth to the Canaan of heaven. Transforming grace shall then become transforming glory, and for progress from strength to strength, shall be substituted change from glory to glory. |