the basis on which pardon can be righteously vouchsafed, but the very
certainty of its being vouchsafed. The stanza is this:

"But never shall my soul despair
Thy pardon to secure,
Who knows Thine only Son has died
To make my pardon sure."

The whole matter of suffering is dealt with at length in the twelfth
chapter of The Hebrews. Over and over again it is described as
chastening. It is not penalty. The penalty has been paid. Suffering
henceforth is Fatherly chastisement. And the intention and effect of
chastisement are clearly intimated. It is said that we are not to
despise the chastening of the Lord; for that He chastises us for our
profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness. Again it is said
that chastening afterwards yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness.
That is the idea exactly. There is no word of punishment. The punishment
has been endured in the sacrifice of Christ; and it is now clearly
recognized that His sacrifice was offered on behalf of the whole world.
But the necessity for chastisement remains. It is one means of our
spiritual development, and but for the necessity for it, it would never
be inflicted. Hence Jeremiah could say, "He doth not afflict willingly,
nor grieve the children of men."

An example may make this clearer. Take the case of Manasseh. He was one
of the worst kings of Judah. It is recorded of him that "he built altars
for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord;"
that "he made his children to pass through the fire;" that he "made
Judah and Jerusalem to do worse than the heathen;" that he "shed
innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to