Consecration for All Time and Eternity

The consecration of ourselves to God must be made for ALL COMING TIME. It is true, that there may be specific consecrations of a modified character, restricted to particular objects and occasions, and limited also to definite periods. A person, for instance, may devote himself exclusively, for a limited time, to the one important object of erecting a place of public worship. And regarding him as giving to this one object all his powers of body and of mind, we may properly speak of him, in an imperfect or modified sense of the term, as CONSECRATED to this particular work. But it is quite obvious, that such instances of consecration are exceedingly different from the one under consideration; which is fundamental and universal in its character, and which would be inconsistent with itself, if it were applied to one ob­ject to the exclusion of others; which takes into view the very being and nature of the soul; which considers the principles of man's departure from God and also the principles involved in his restoration; which recognizes the full amount of God's immutable and infinite claims; and which, therefore, on the grounds of truth and rectitude, as well as of safety and of happiness, cannot be made for a less period than all time and eternity.

—edited from The Interior of Hidden Life (2nd edition 1844) Part 1, Chapter 4.

Delibrate Consecration

The consecration of ourselves to God, which is so inseparable from the progress and perfection of the divine life, should be made DELIBERATELY. — A consecration, made in this manner, viz. with calmness and deliberation, is due to our own characters, as rational and reflecting beings. As God has made us perceptive and rational, he desires and expects us, especially in important transactions, to act in accordance with the principles he has given us. It is not reasonable to suppose, that God would be pleased with a consecration, made thoughtlessly and by blind impulse, rather than by deliberate reflection. Man has deliberately rebelled and gone astray, and it is due to himself and his Maker, it is due to truth and to holiness, that he should deliberately and reflectingly submit and return; that his repentance of sin should be accompanied with a clear perception of his sinfulness; that his determination to do God's will should be attended with some suitable apprehensions of what He requires; and that his fixed purpose of future obedience should be sustained by the united strength of all appropriate considerations.

— edited from The Interior or Hidden Life (2nd edition, 1844) Part 1, Chapter 4.

Assurance and Consecration

ASSURANCE of faith, like all other forms of religious faith considered in distinction from natural faith, is the gift of God. No one has it without the divine blessing. But here, as in every other case of God's dealings, we see no other course but to take the position as almost a self-evident one, that there are reasons in the divine mind for every occurrence or fact and also for every modification of the divine conduct; and that God, in imparting the immense blessing of assurance of faith, does not, and cannot act accidentally. In other words, there is some antecedent fact, some preparatory condition, in connection with which this great blessing takes place. Not a meritorious condition, it is true; nothing which lays God under obligation; but still a preparatory antecedent or condition actually existing in the view of the Divine Mind, and as an indispensable part of the divine arrangement. And that condition, as the matter presents itself to our view, is CONSECRATION. Not a consecration in part, but in whole; a solemn and a permanent giving up of the whole being to God. If with any inferior degree of consecration there may be an inferior degree of faith, there cannot be a perfection or assurance of faith, without a consecration corresponding to it. It must, therefore, be a consecration, such as was described in the chapter on that subject, both of body and of spirit, both of persons and of possessions, ENTIRE, PERMANENT, and IRREVOCABLE.

— The Interior or Hidden Life (2nd edition, 1844) Part1, Chapter 8.

The Nature of Assurance of Faith

In respect to the nature of assurance of faith, we may remark here, after an examination of various statements and illustrations on the subject, that it appears to consist essentially in two things; First, in a general but unwavering confidence in God's character, administration, and promises; and, secondly, in a confident belief of our personal acceptance with God through Christ. And accordingly it is not limited to the second particular, as some persons may be inclined to suppose; but the second element, viz. that of a particular or personal acceptance, which probably, in the popular view of it, is the striking or characteristic trait, has its basis in a prevailing or assured faith of a more general character.

— The Interior or Hidden Life (2nd edition, 1844) Part 1, Chapter 8.

Jehovah, Sov'reign of my Heart

Jehovah, sov'reign of my heart!
My joy by night and day!
From Thee, oh may I never part,
From Thee ne'er go astray.

Whene'er allurements round me stand,
And tempt me from my choice;
Oh, let me find thy gracious hand,
Oh, let me hear thy voice.

This vain and feeble heart, I know,
To worldly ways is prone;
But penitential tears shall show,
There's joy in Thee alone.

With God all darkness turns to day;
With Him all sorrows flee;
Thou art the true and living way,
And I will walk in Thee.

— American Cottage Life (1850).

Think Not That the Blest...

Think not that the blest, whom the Lord hath befriended,
Though scorned by the world, and though smitten with grief,
Will be left by the arm, that has once been extended,
To suffer and perish without its relief.

Oh, no! When the clouds of affliction and sorrow
Encircle their souls with the darkness of night,
Thy mercy, Oh God, like the sun of to-morrow,
Shall gleam on the shadows and turn them to light.

He leaves us awhile to the billow's commotion,
To see if our faith in the storm will remain;
But soon He looks out in his smiles, and the ocean
Is hushed from its threats, and is quiet again.

— American Cottage Life (1850).

Holiness Joins Us to God

It  is of the nature of holiness to unite with whatever is like itself. It flies on eagle's wings to meet its own image. Accordingly the soul, so long as it is stained with sin, has an affinity with what is sinful. But when it is purified from iniquity, it ascends boldly upward and rests, by the impulse of its own being, in the bosom of its God. The element of separation is taken away, and a union, strong, sincere, and lasting, necessarily takes place. "He, that is joined unto the Lord, is one spirit." — 1 Cor. vi. 17.

— Religious Maxims (1846) XXXV.