A Heart That is Established in Grace

"Many there are who, at first, fail in the full apprehension of the utter ruin of nature, as looked at in God's presence, though their hearts have been attracted by the grace of God, and their consciences tranquilized, in some degree, by the application of the blood of Christ. Hence, as they get on in their lives, they begin to make deeper discoveries of the evil within, and, being deficient in their apprehensions of God's grace, and the extent and efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ, they immediately raise a question as to their being children of God at all. Thus, they are taken off Christ and thrown on themselves, and then they either take upon themselves ordinances in order to keep up their tone of devotion, or else fall back into thorough worldliness and carnality. These are disastrous consequences and all the result of not having 'the heart established in grace'." C H Mackintosh (Plymouth Brethren Pastor, England 1879)