Of every Character and Circumstance:
SUBJOINED TO EACH CHAPTER
THE several hints given in the first chapter of this Treatise, which contains a particular plan of the design, render it unnecessary to introduce it with a long preface. My much honored friend, Dr. WATTS, had laid the scheme, especially of the former part. But as those indispositions with which God has been pleased to exercise him had forbid his hopes of being able. to add this to his many labors of love to immortal soul; he was pleased, in a very affectionate and importunate manner, to urge me to undertake it: And I bless God with my whole heart, not only that he hath carried me through this delightful task, (for such indeed I have found it) but also that he hath spared that worthy and amiable person to see it accomplished, and given him strength and spirit to review so considerable a part of it. His approbation, expressed in stronger terms than modesty will permit me to repeat, encourages me to hope that it is executed in such a manner as may, by the Divine blessing, render it of some general service. And I the rather hope it will be so, as it now comes abroad into the world, not only with my own prayers and his, but also with those of many other pious friends, which I have been particularly careful to engage for its success.
Into whatever hands this work may come; I must desire that, before any pass their judgment upon it, they would please to read it through, that they may discern the connexion between one part of it and another; which I the rather request, because I have long observed that Christians of different parties have been eagerly laying hold on particular parts of the system of Divine truth, and have been contending about them, as if each had been all; or as if the separation of the members from each other, and from the head, were the preservation of the body, instead of its destruction. They have been zealous to espouse the defence, and to maintain the honor and usefulness of each apart whereas the honor, as well as the usefulness seems to me to lie much in their connection, and suspicions have often arisen betwixt the respective defenders of each, which have appeared as unreasonable and absurd as if all the preparations for securing one part of a ship in a storm were to be censured as a contrivance to sink the rest. I pray God to give to all his ministers and people more and more of the spirit of wisdom, and of love, and of a sound mind and to remove far from us those mutual jealousies and animosities which hinder our acting with that unanimity which is necessary in order to the successful carrying on of our common warfare against the enemies of Christianity. We may be sure these enemies will never fail to make their own advantage of our multiplied divisions and severe contests with each other. But they must necessarily lose both their ground and their influence, in proportion to the degree in which the energy of Christian principles is felt to unite and transform the heart of those by whom they are professed.
I have studied in this Treatise the greatest plainness of speech, that the lowest of my readers may, if possible, be able to understand every word; and I hope persons of a more elegant taste and refined education will pardon what appeared to me so necessary a piece of charity. Such a care in practical writings seems one important instance of that honoring all men, which our amiable and condescending religion teaches us; and I have been particularly obliged to my worthy patron for what he hath done to shorten some of the sentences, and to put my meaning into plainer and more familiar words.
I must add one remark here, which I heartily wish I had not omitted in the first edition, viz. That though I do in this book consider my reader as successively in a great variety of supposed circumstances, beginning with those of a thoughtless sinner, and leading him through several stages of conviction, terror, &c. as what may be previous to his sincerely accepting the Gospel, and devoting himself to the service of God; yet I would by no means be thought to insinuate, that every one who is brought to that happy resolution, arrives at it through those particular steps, or feels agitations of mind equal in degree to those I have described. Some sense of sin, and some serious and humbling apprehension of our danger and misery in consequence of it, must indeed be necessary to dispose us to receive the grace of the Gospel, and the Saviour who is there exhibited to our faith. But God is pleased sometimes to begin the work of his grace in the heart almost from the first dawning of reason, and to carry it on by such gentle and insensible degrees, that very excellent persons, who have made the most eminent attainments in the Divine life, have been unable to recount any remarkable history of their conversion. And so far as I can learn, this is most frequently the case with those of them who have enjoyed the benefit of a pious education, when it has not been succeeded by a vicious and licentious youth. God forbid, therefore, that any should be so insensible of their own happiness as to fall into perplexity with relation to their spiritual state, for want oft being able to trace such a rise of religion in their minds as it was necessary on my plan for me to describe and exemplify here. I have spoken my sentiments on this head so fully in the eighth of my Sermons on Regeneration, that I think none who has read and remembers the general contents of it can be ill danger of mistaking my meaning here. But as it is very possible this book may fall into the hands or many who have not read the other, and have no opportunity of consulting it, I thought it proper to insert this caution in the preface to this; and I am much obliged to that worthy and excellent person who kindly reminded me of the expediency of doing it.
PHILIP DODDRIDGE
1, 2.That true religion is very rare, appears from comparing the nature of it with the lives and characters of men around us.—3. The want of it, matter of just lamentation.—4. To remedy this evil is the design of the ensuing Treatise.—5, 6. To which, therefore, the Author earnestly bespeaks the attention of the reader, as his own heart is deeply interested in it.—7 to 12. A general plan of the Work; of which the first fifteen chapters relate chiefly to the Rise of Religion, and the remaining chapters to its Progress,—Prayer for the success of the Work.
1. WHEN we look around us with an attentive eye, and consider the characters and pursuits of men, we plainly see, that though, in the original constitution of their natures, they only, of all the creatures that dwell on the face of the earth, are capable of religion, yet many of them shamefully neglect it. And whatever different notions people may entertain of what they call religion, all must agree in owning that it is very far from being a universal thing.
2. Religion, in its most general view, is such a Sense of God in the soul, and such a conviction of our obligations to him, and of our dependence upon him, as shall engage us to make it our great care to conduct ourselves in a manner which we have reason to believe will be pleasing to him. Now, when we have given this plain account of religion, it is by no means necessary that we should search among the savages of distant Pagan nations to find instances of those who are strangers to it. When we view the conduct of the generality of people at home, in a Christian and Protestant nation, in a nation whose obligations to God have been singular, almost beyond those of any other people under heaven, will any one presume to say that religion has a universal reign among us? Will any one suppose that it prevails in every life; that it reigns in every heart? Alas! the avowed infidelity, the profanation of the name and day of God, the drunkenness, the lewdness, the injustice, the falsehood, the pride, the prodigality, the base selfishness, and stupid insensibility about the spiritual and eternal interests of themselves and others, which so generally appear among us, loudly proclaim the contrary. So that one would imagine, upon this view, that thousands and tens of thousands thought the neglect, and even the contempt of religion, were a glory, rather than a reproach. And where is the neighborhood, where is the society, where is the happy family, consisting of any considerable number, in which, on a more exact examination, we find reason to say, “religion fills even this little circle?” Where is, perhaps, a freedom from any gross and scandalous immoralities, an external decency of behavior, an attendance on the outward forms of worship in public, and, here and there, in the family; yet amidst all this, there is nothing which looks like the genuine actings of the spiritual and divine life. There is no appearance of love to God, no reverence of his presence, no desire of his favor as the highest good: there is no cordial belief of the Gospel of salvation; no eager solicitude to escape that condemnation which we have incurred by sin; no hearty concern to secure that eternal life which Christ has purchased and secured for his people, and which he freely promises to all who will receive him. Alas! whatever the love of a friend, or even a parent can do; whatever inclination there may be to hope all things, and believe all things the most favorable, evidence to the contrary will force itself upon the mind, and extort the unwilling conclusion, that, whatever else may be amiable in this dear friend—in that favorite child—"religion dwells not in his breast.”
3. To a heart that firmly believes the Gospel, and in views
persons and things the light of eternity, this is one of the most mournful considerations
in the world. And indeed, to such a one, all other calamities and evils of human
nature appear trifles, when compared with this—the absence of real religion, and
that contrariety to it which reigns in so many thousands of mankind. Let this be
cured, and all the other evils will easily be borne; nay, good will be extracted
out of them. But if this continue, it “bringeth forth fruit unto death;” (
4. I doubt not but there are many, under the various forms of religious profession, who are not only lamenting this in public, if their office in life calls them to an opportunity of doing it; but are likewise mourning before God in secret, under a sense of this sad state of things; and who can appeal to Him that searches all hearts as to the sincerity of their desires to revive the languishing cause of vital Christianity and substantial piety. And among the rest, the author of this treatise may with confidence say, it is this which animates him to the present attempt, in the midst of so many other cares and labors. For this he is willing to lay aside many of those curious amusements in science which might suit his own private taste, and perhaps open a way for some reputation in the learned world. For this be is willing to wave the labored ornaments of speech, that be may, if possible, descend to the capacity of the lowest part of mankind. For this he would endeavor to convince the judgment, and to reach the heart of every reader: and, in a word, for this, without any dread of the name of an enthusiast, whoever may at random throw it out upon the occasion, he would, as it were, enter with you into your closet, from day to day; and with all plainness and freedom, as well as seriousness, would discourse to you of the great things, which he has learned from the Christian revelation, and on which he assuredly knows your everlasting happiness to depend; that, if you hitherto have lived without religion, you may be now awakened to the consideration of it, and may be instructed in its nature and importance; or that, if you are already, through Divine grace, experimentally acquainted with it, you may be assisted to make a farther progress.
5. But he earnestly entreats this favor of you that, as it is plainly a serious business we are entering upon, you would be pleased to give him a serious and an active hearing. He entreats that these addresses, and these meditations, may be perused at leisure, and be thought over in retirement; and that you would do him and yourself the justice to believe the representations which art here made, and the warnings which are here given. to proceed from sincerity and love, from a heart that would not designedly give one moment's unnecessary pain to the meanest creature on the face of the earth, and much less to any human mind. If he be importunate, it is because he at least imagines that there is just reason for it, and fears, lest, amidst the multitudes who are undone by the utter neglect of religion, and among those who are greatly damaged for want of a more resolute and constant attendance to it, this may be the case of some into whose hands this treatise may fall.
6. He is a barbarian, and deserves not to be called a man,
who can look upon the sorrows of his fellow creatures without drawing out his soul
unto them and wishing, at least, that it were in the power of his hand to help them.
Surely earth would be a heaven to that man who could go about from place to place
scattering happiness wheresoever be came, though it were only the body that he were
capable of relieving, and though he could impart nothing better than the happiness
of a mortal life. But the happiness rises in proportion to the nature and degree
of the good which he imparts. Happy, are we ready to say, were those honored servants
of Christ, who, in the early days of his church, were the benevolent and sympathizing
instruments of conveying miraculous healing to those whose cases seemed desperate;
who poured in upon the blind and the deaf the pleasures of light and sound, and
called up the dead to the flowers of action and enjoyment. But this is an honor
and happiness which it is not fit for God commonly to bestow on mortal men. Yet
there have been, in every age, and blessed be his name, there still are those whom
he has condescended to make his instruments in conveying nobler and more lasting
blessings than these to their fellow-creatures. Death has long since veiled the
eyes and stopped she ears of those who were the subjects of miraculous healing,
and recovered its empire over those who were once recalled from the grave. But the
souls who are prevailed upon to receive the Gospel, live for ever. God has owned
the labors of his faithful ministers in every age to produce these blessed effects;
and some of them “being dead, yet speak” (
7. In forming my general plan, I have been solicitous that this little treatise might, if possible, be useful to all its readers, and contain something suitable to each. I will therefore take the man and the Christian in a great variety of circumstances. I will first suppose myself addressing one of the vast number of thoughtless creatures who have hitherto been utterly unconcerned about religion, and will try what can be done, by all plainness and earnestness of address, to awaken him from this fatal lethargy, to a care (chap. 2), an affectionate and an immediate care about it (chap. 3). I will labor to fix a deep and awful conviction of guilt upon his conscience (chap. 4), and to strip him of his vain excuses and his flattering hopes (chap. 5). I will read to him, O! that I could fix on his heart that sentence, that dreadful sentence, which a righteous and an Almighty God hath denounced against him as a sinner (chap. 6), and endeavor to show him in how helpless a state he lies under this condemnation, as to any capacity he has of delivering himself (chap 7). But I do not mean to leave any in so terrible a situation: I will joyfully proclaim the glad tidings of pardon and salvation by Christ Jesus our Lord, which is all the support and confidence of my own soul (chap. 8). And then I will give some general view of the way by which this salvation is to be obtained (chap. 9); urging the sinner to accept of it as affectionately as I can (chap. 10); though not thing can be sufficiently pathetic, where, as sin this matter, the life of an immortal soul is in question.
8. Too probable it is that some will, after all this, remain insensible; and therefore that their sad case may not encumber the following articles, I shall here take a solemn leave of them (chap. 11); and then shall turn and address myself as compassionately as I can, to a most contrary character; I mean, to a soul overwhelmed with a sense of the greatness of its sins, and trembling under the burden, as if there were no more hope for him in God (chap. 12). And that nothing may be omitted which may give solid peace to the troubled spirit, I shall endeavor to guide its inquiries as to the evidences of sincere repentance and faith (chap. 13); which will be farther illustrated by a more particular view of the several branches of the Christian temper, such as may serve at once to assist the reader in judging what he is, and to show him what he should labor to be (chap. 14). This will naturally lead to a view of the need we have of the influences of the blessed Spirit to assist us in the important and difficult work of the true Christian, and of the encouragement we have to hope for such divine assistance (chap. 15). In an humble dependence on which, I shall then enter on the consideration of several cases which often occur in the Christian life, in which particular addresses to the conscience may be requisite and useful.
9. As some peculiar difficulties and discouragements attend the first entrance on a religious course, it will here be our first care to animate the young convert against them (chap. 16). And that it may be done more effectually, I shall urge a solemn dedication of himself to God (chap. 17), to be confirmed by entering into a communion of the church, and an approach to the sacred table (chap. 18). That these engagements may be more happily fulfilled, we shall endeavor to draw a more particular plan of that devout, regular and accurate course, which ought daily to be attended to (chap. 19). And because the idea will probably rise so much higher than what is the general practice, even of good men, we shall endeavor to persuade the reader to make the attempt, hard as it may seem (chap. 20); and shall caution him against various temptations, which might otherwise draw him aside to negligence and sin (chap.21).
10. Happy will it be for the reader, if these exhortations and cautions be attended to with becoming regard; but as it is, alas! too probable that, notwithstanding all, the infirmities of nature will sometimes prevail, we shall consider the case of deadness and languor in religion, which often steals upon us by sensible degrees (chap. 22); from whence there is too easy a passage to that terrible one of a return into known and deliberate sin (chap. 23). And as the one or the other of these tends in a proportionable degree to provoke the blessed God to hide his face, and his injured Spirit to withdraw, that melancholy condition will be taken into particular survey (chap. 24). I shall then take notice also of the case of great and heavy afflictions in life (chap. 25), a discipline which the best of men have reason to expect, especially when they backslide from God and yield to their spiritual enemies.
11. Instances of this kind will, I fear, be too frequent;
yet, I trust, there will be many others, whose path, like the dawning light, will
“shine more and more unto the perfect day.” (
12. Such a variety of heads must, to be sure, be handled but briefly, as we intend to bring them within the bulk of a moderate volume. I shall not, therefore, discuss them as a preacher might properly do in sermons, in which the truths of religion are professedly to be explained and taught, defended and improved, in a wide variety, and long detail of propositions, arguments, objections, replies, and inferences, marshalled and numbered under their distinct generals. I shall here speak in a looser and freer manner, as a friend to a friend; just as I would do if I were to be in person admitted to a private audience by one whom I tenderly loved, and whose circumstances and character I knew to be like that which the title of one chapter or another of this treatise describes. And when I have discoursed with him a little while, which will seldom be so long as half an hour, shall, as it were, step aside, and leave him to meditate on what he has heard, or endeavor to assist him in such fervent addresses to God as it may be proper to mingle with those meditations. In the mean time, I will here take the liberty to pray over my reader and my work, and to commend it solemnly to the Divine blessing, in token of my deep conviction of an entire dependence upon it. And I am well persuaded that sentiments like these are common, in the general, to every faithful minister to every real Christian.
A Prayer for the Success of this Work, in promoting the Rise and Progress of Religion.
“O thou great eternal Original, and Author of all created
being and happiness! I adore thee, who hast made man a creature capable of religion,
and hast bestowed this dignity and felicity upon our nature, that it may be taught
to say, Where is God our maker? (
“Thou ‘knowest, O Lord, the hearts of the children of men;’
(
“O may it have that blessed influence on the person, whosoever he be, that is now reading these lines, and all who may read or hear them! Let not my Lord be angry if I presume to ask, that, however weak and contemptible this work may seem in the eyes of the children of this world, and however imperfect it really be, as well as the author of it unworthy, it may nevertheless live before thee; and, through a divine power, be mighty to produce the rise and progress of religion in the minds of multitudes in distant places, and in generations yet to come! Impute it not, O God, as a culpable ambition, if I desire that, whatever becomes of my name, about which I wou1d not lose one thought before thee, this work, to which I am now applying myself in thy strength, may be completed and propagated far abroad: that it may reach to those that are yet unborn, and teach them thy name and thy praise, when the author has long dwelt in the dust; that so, when he shall appear before thee in the great day of final account, his joy may be increased, and his crown brightened, by numbers before unknown to each other, and to him! But if this petition be too great to be granted to one who pretends no claim but thy sovereign grace to hope for being favored with the least, give him to be, in thine Almighty hand, the blessed instrument of converting and saving one soul; and if it be but one, and that the weakest and meanest of those who are capable or receiving this address, it shall be most thankfully accepted as a rich recompense for all the thought and labor it may cost; and though it should be amidst a thousand disappointments with respect to others, yet it shall be the subject of immortal songs of praise to thee, O blessed God, for and by every soul whom, through the blood of Jesus and the grace of thy Spirit, thou hast saved; and everlasting honors shall be ascribed to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, by the innumerable company of angels, and by the general assembly and church of the first-born in heaven. Amen.”
1, 2. It is too supposable a case that this Treatise may come into such hands.—3, 4. Since many, not grossly vicious, fail under that character.—5, 6. A more particular illustration of this case, with an appeal to the reader, whether it be not his own.—7 to 9. Expostulation with such.—10 to 12. More particularly—From acknowledged principles relating to the Nature of Got, his universal presence, agency, and perfection.—13. From a view of personal obligations to him.—14. From the danger Of this neglect, when considered in its aspect on a future state.—15. An appeal to the conscience as already convinced.—16. Transition to the subject of the next chapter. The meditation of a sinner, who, having been long thoughtless, begins to be awakened.
1. SHAMEFULLY and fatally as religion is neglected in the world, yet, blessed
be God, it has some sincere disciples, children of wisdom, by whom even in this
foolish and degenerate age, it “is justified:” (
2. But among the thousands that neglect religion, it is more than probable that some of my readers may be included; and I am so deeply affected with their unhappy ease, that the temper of my heart, as well as the proper method of my subject, leads me, in the first place, to address myself to such: to apply to every one of them; and therefore to you, O reader, whoever you are, who may come under the denomination of a careless sinner.
3. Be not, I beseech you angry at the name. The physicians of souls must speak plainly, or they may murder those whom they should cure I would make no harsh and unreasonable supposition. I would charge you with nothing more than is absolutely necessary to convince you that you are the person to whom I speak. I will not, therefore, imagine you to be a profane and abandoned profligate. I will not suppose that you allow yourself to blaspheme God, to dishonour his name by customary swearing, or grossly to violate his Sabbath, or commonly to neglect the solemnities of his public worship; I will not imagine that you have injured your neighbors, in their lives, their chastity, or their possessions, either by violence or by fraud; or that you have scandalously debased the rational nature of man, by that vile intemperance which transforms us into the worst kind of brutes, or something beneath them.
4. In opposition to all this, I will suppose that you believe
the existence and providence of God, and the truth of Christianity as a revelation
from him: of which, if you have any doubt, I must desire that you would immediately
seek your satisfaction elsewhere*.” I say immediately; because not to believe it,
is in effect to disbelieve it; and will make your ruin equally certain, though perhaps
it may leave it less aggravated than if contempt and opposition had been added to
suspicion and neglect. But supposing you to be a nominal Christian, and not a deist
or a skeptic, I will also suppose your conduct among men to be not only blameless,
but amiable; and that they who know you most intimately, must acknowledge that you
are just and sober, humane and courteous, compassionate and liberal; yet, with all
this, you may “lack that one thing” (
5. I beseech you, reader, whoever you are, that you would now look seriously into your own heart, and ask it this one plain question; Am I truly religious? Is the love of God the governing principle of my life? Do I walk under the sense of his presence? Do I converse with him from day to day, in the exercise of prayer and praise? And am I, on the whole, making his service my business and my delight, regarding him as my master and my father?
6. It is my present business only to address myself to
the person whose conscience answers in the negative. And I would address, with equal
plainness and equal freedom, to high and low, to rich and poor: to you, who, as
the Scripture with a dreadful propriety expresses it, “live without God in the world!”
(
7. Alas! is it then come to this, with all your belief of God, and providence and Scripture, that religion is not worth a thought? That it is not worth one hour's serious consideration and reflection, “what God and Christ are, and what you yourselves are, and what you must hereafter be?” Where then are your rational faculties? How are they employed, or rather how are they stupefied and benumbed?
8. The certainty and importance of the things of which I speak are so evident, from the principles which you yourselves grant, that one might almost set a child or an idiot to reason upon them. And yet they are neglected by those who are grown up to understanding; and perhaps some of them to such refinement of understanding that they would think themselves greatly injured if they were not to be reckoned among the politer and more learned part of mankind.
9. But it is not your neglect, sirs, that can destroy the
being or importance of such things as these. It may indeed destroy you, but it cannot
in the least affect them. Permit me, therefore, having been myself awakened, to
come to each of you, and say, as the mariners did to Jonah while asleep in the midst
of a much less dangerous storm, “What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise and call upon
thy God.” (
10. You own that there is a God, and well you may, for
you cannot open your eyes but you must see the evident proofs of his being, his
presence, and his agency. You behold him around you in every object. You feel him
within you, if I may so speak, in every vein and in every nerve. You see and you
feel not only that he hath formed you with an exquisite wisdom which no mortal man
could ever fully explain or comprehend, but that he is continually near you, wherever
you are, and however you are employed, by day or by night; “in him” you live, and
move, and have your being.” (
11. Nor is this his care limited to you; but if you look all around you, far as your view can reach, you see it extending itself on every side: and, oh! how much farther than you can trace it! Reflect on the light and heat which the sun every where dispenses; on the air which surrounds all our globe; on the right temperature on which the life of the whole human race depends, and that of all the inferior creatures which dwell on the earth. Think on the suitable and plentiful provisions made for man and beast; the grass, the grain, the variety of fruits, and herbs, and flowers; every thing that nourishes us, every thing that delights us, and say whether it does not speak plainly and loudly that our Almighty Maker is near, and that he is careful of us, and kind to us. And while all these things proclaim his goodness, do not they also proclaim his power? For what power has any thing comparable to that which furnishes out those gifts of royal bounty; and which, unwearied and unchanged, produces continually, from day to day, and from age to age, such astonishing and magnificent effects over the face of the whole earth, and through all the regions of heaven?
12. It is then evident that God is present, present with
you at this moment; even God your creator and preserver, God the creator and preserver
of the whole visible and invisible world. And is he not present as a most observant
and attentive being? “He that formed the eye, shall not he see? He that planted
the ear, shall not he hear? He that teaches man knowledge,” that gives him his rational
faculties, and pours in upon his opening mind all the light it receives by them,
“shall not he know?” (
13. And now to apply all this to your own case; let me
seriously ask you, is it a decent and reasonable thing, that this great and glorious
Benefactor should be neglected by his rational creatures—by those that are capable
of attaining to some knowledge of him, and presenting to him some homage? Is it
decent and reasonable that he should be forgotten and neglected by you? Are you
alone, of all the works or his hands, forgotten or neglected by him? O sinner, thoughtless
as you are, you cannot dare to say that, or even to think it. You need not go back
to the helpless days of your infancy and childhood to convince you of the contrary.
You need not, in order to this, recollect the remarkable deliverances which perhaps
were wrought out for you many years ago. The repose of the last night, the refreshment
and comfort you have received this day; yea, the mercies you are receiving this
very moment bear witness to him; and yet you regard him not ungrateful creature
that you are! Could you have treated any human benefactor thus? Could you have borne
to neglect a kind parent, or any generous friend, that had but for a few months
acted the part of a parent to you; to have taken no notice of him while in his presence;
to have returned him no thanks; to have had no contrivances to make some little
acknowledgment for all his goodness? Human nature, bad as it is, is not fallen so
low. Nay, the brutal nature is not so low as this. Surely every domestic animal
around you must shame such ingratitude. If you do but for a few days take a little
kind notice of a dog, and feed him with the refuse of your table, he will wait upon
you, and love to be near you; he will be eager to follow you from place to place,
and when, after a little absence you return home, will try, by a thousand fond,
transported motions, to tell you how much he rejoices to see you again. Nay, brutes
far less sagacious and apprehensive have some sense of our kindness, and express
it after their way: as the blessed God condescends to observe, in this very view
in which I mention it, “The” dull “ox knows his owner, and the” stupid “ass his
master's crib.” (
14. Surely, if you have any ingenuousness of temper, you
must be ashamed and grieved in the review; but if you have not, give me leave farther
to expostulate with you on this head, by setting it in something of a different
light. Can you think yourself safe, while you are acting a part like this? Do you
not in your conscience believe there will be a future judgment? Do you not believe
there is an invisible and eternal world? As professed Christians, we all believe
it; for it is no controverted point, but displayed in Scripture with so clear an
evidence, that, subtle and ingenious as men are in error, they have not yet found
out a way to evade it. And believing this, do you not see, that, while you are thus
wandering from God, “destruction and misery are in your way?” (
15. Yes, sinner, I need not multiply words on a subject like this. Your conscience is already inwardly convinced, though your pride maybe unwilling to own it. And to prove it, let me ask you one question more: Would you, upon any terms and considerations whatever, come to a resolution absolutely to dismiss all farther thought of religion, and all care about it, from this day and hour, and to abide the consequences of that neglect? I believe hardly any man living would be bold enough to determine upon this. I believe most of my readers would be ready to tremble at the thought of it.
16. But if it be necessary to take these things into consideration at all, it is necessary to do it quickly; for life itself is not so very long nor so certain, that a wise man should risk much upon its continuance. And I hope to convince you when I have another hearing, that it is necessary to do it immediately, and that next to the madness of resolving you will not think of religion at all, is that of saying you will think of it hereafter. In the meantime, pause on the hints which have been already given, and they will prepare you to receive what is to be added on that head.
The Meditation of a Sinner who was once thoughtless, but begins to be awakened.
“Awake, O my forgetful soul, awake from these wandering dreams. Turn thee from this chase of vanity, and for a little while be persuaded, by all these considerations, to look forward, and to look upward, at least for a few moments. Sufficient are the hours and days given to the labors and amusements of life. Grudge not a short allotment of minutes, to view thyself and thine own more immediate concerns: to reflect who and what thou art, how it comes to pass that thou art here, and what thou must quickly be!
“It is indeed as thou hast seen it now represented. O my
soul! thou art the creature of God, formed and furnished by him, and lodged in a
body which he provided, and which he supports; a body in which he intends thee only
a transitory abode. O! think how soon this ‘tabernacle’ must be ‘dissolved,’ (
“O thou injured, neglected, provoked Benefactor! when I
think but for a moment or two of all thy greatness and of all thy goodness, I am
astonished at this insensibility which has prevailed in my heart, and even still
prevails; I ‘blush and am confounded to lift up my face before thee.’ (
“If what I shall farther read here be agreeable to truth
and reason, if it be calculated to promote my happiness, and is to be regarded as
an intimation of thy will and pleasure to me, O God, let me hear and obey! Let the
words of thy servant, when pleading thy cause, be like goads to pierce into my mind!
and let me rather feel, and smart, than die! Let them be ‘as nails fastened in a
sure place;’ (
1. Sinners, when awakened, inclined to dismiss convictions for the present.—2. An immediate regard to religion urged.—3. From the excellence and pleasure of the thing itself.—4. From the uncertainty of that future time on which sinners presume, compared with the sad consequences of being cut off in sin.—5. From the immutability of God's present demands.—6. From the tendency which delay has to make a compliance with these demands more difficult than it is at present.—7. From. the danger of God's withdrawing his Spirit, compared with the dreadful case of a sinner given up by it.—8. Which probably is now the case of many.—9. Since, therefore, on the whole, whatever ever the event be, delays may prove matter of lamentation.—10. The chapter concludes with an exhortation against yielding to them; and a prayer against temptations of that kind.
1. I HOPE my last address so far awakened the convictions of my reader, as to
bring him to this purpose, “that some time or other he would attend to religious
considerations.” But give me leave to ask, earnestly and pointedly, When shall that
be? “Go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient season I will call for thee,”
(
2. Will you, reader, dismiss me thus? For your own sake, and out of tender compassion to your perishing, immortal soul, I would not willingly take up with such a dismission and excuse—no, not though you shall fix a time; though you shall determine on the next year, or month, or week, or day. I would turn upon you, with all the eagerness and tenderness of friendly importunity, and entreat you to bring the matter to an issue even now. For if you say, “I will think on these things tomorrow,” I shall have little hope; and shall conclude that all that I have hitherto urged, and all that you have read, has been offered and viewed in vain.
3. When I invite you to the care and practice of religion, it may seem strange that it should be necessary for me affectionately to plead the cause with you, in order to your immediate regard and compliance. What I am inviting you to is so noble and excellent in itself, so well worthy of the dignity of our rational nature so suitable to it, so manly and so wise, that one would imagine you should take fire, as it were, at the first hearing of it; yea, that so delightful a view should presently possess your whole soul with a kind of indignation against yourself that you pursued it no sooner. “May I lift up my eyes and my soul to God! May I devote myself to him! May I even now commence a friendship with him—a friendship which shall last for ever, the security, the delight, the glory of this immortal nature of mine! And shall I draw back and say, Nevertheless, let me not commence this friendship too soon: let me live at least a few weeks or a few days longer without God in the world?” Surely it would be much more reasonable to turn inward, and say, “O my soul, on what vile husks hast thou been feeding, while thy Heavenly Father has been forsaken and injured? Shall I desire to multiply the days of my poverty, my scandal, and my misery?” On this principle, surely an immediate return to God should in all reason be chosen, rather than to play the fool any longer, and go on a little more to displease God, and thereby starve and wound your own soul! even though your continuance in life were ever so certain, and your capacity to return to God and your duty ever so entirely in your power, now, and in every future moment, through scores of years yet to come.
4. But who and what are you, that you should lay your account
for years or for months to come? “What is your life? Is not even as a vapor, that
appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away?” (
You view the living, and you talk thus. But I beseech you, think of the dead. Return, in your thoughts, to those graves in which you have left some of your young companions and your friends. You saw them awhile ago gay and active, warm with life, and hopes, and schemes. And some of them would have thought a friend strangely importunate that should have interrupted them in their business and their pleasures, with a solemn lecture on death and eternity. Yet they were then on the very borders of both. You have since seen their corpses, or at least their coffins, and probably carried about with you the badges of mourning which you received at their funerals. Those once vigorous, and perhaps beautiful bodies of theirs, now lie moldering in the dust, as senseless and helpless as the most decrepit pieces of human nature which fourscore years ever brought down to it. And, what is infinitely more to be regarded, their souls, whether prepared for this great change, or thoughtless of it, have made their appearance before God, and are at this moment fixed, either in heaven or in hell. Now let me seriously ask you, would it be miraculous. Or would it be strange, if such an event should befall you? How are you sure that some fatal disease will not this day begin to work in your veins? How are you sure that you shall ever be capable of reading or thinking any more, if you do not attend to what you now read, and pursue the thought which is now offering itself to your mind? This sudden alteration may at least possibly happen; and if it does, it will be to you a terrible one indeed. To be thus surprised into the presence of a forgotten God; to be torn away, at once, from a world to which your whole heart and soul has been riveted—a world which has engrossed all your thoughts and cares, all your desires and pursuits; and be fixed in a state which you never could be so far persuaded to think of, as to spend so much as one hour in serious preparation for it: how must you even shudder at the apprehension of it, and with what horror must it fill you? It seems matter of wonder that in such circumstances you are not almost distracted with the thoughts of the uncertainty of life, and are not even ready to die for fear of death. To trifle with God any longer, after so solemn an admonition as this, would be a circumstance of additional provocation, which, after all the rest, might be fatal; nor is there any thing you can expect in such a case, but that he should cut you off immediately, and teach other thoughtless creatures, by your ruin, what a hazardous experiment they make when they act as you are acting.
5. And will you, after all, run this desperate risk? For what imaginable purpose can you do it? Do you think the business of religion will become less necessary or more easy by your delay? You know that it will not. You know, that whatever the blessed God demands now, he will also demand twenty or thirty years hence, if you should live to see the time. God has fixed his method, in which he will pardon and accept sinners in his Gospel. And will he ever alter that method? Or if he will not, can men alter it? You like not to think of repenting and humbling yourself before God, to receive righteousness and life from his free grace in Christ; and you, above all, dislike the thought of returning to God in the ways of holy obedience. But will he ever dispense with any of these, and publish a new Gospel, with promises of life and salvation to impenitent unbelieving sinners, if they will but call themselves Christians, and submit to a few external rites? How long do you think you might wait for such a change in the constitution of things? You know death will come upon you, and you cannot but know, in your own conscience, that a general dissolution will come upon the world long before God can thus deny himself, and contradict all his perfections and all his declarations;
6. Or if his demands continue the same, as they assuredly
will, do you think any thing which is now disagreeable to you in them, will be less
disagreeable hereafter than it is at present? Shall you love to sin less, when it
becomes more habitual to you, and when your conscience is yet more enfeebled arid
debauched? If you are running with the footmen and fainting, shall you be able “to
contend with the horsemen?” (
7. If; after such desperate experiments, you are ever recovered,
it must be by an operation of Divine grace on your soul yet more powerful and more
wonderful in proportion to the increasing inveteracy of your spiritual maladies.
And can you expect that the Holy Spirit should be more ready to assist you, in consequence
of your having so shamefully trifled with him, and affronted him? He is now, in
some measure, moving on your heart. If you feel any secret relentings in it upon
what you read, it is a sign that you are not yet utterly forsaken. But who can tell
whether these are not the last touches he will ever give to a heart so long hardened
against him? Who can tell, but God may this day “swear, in his wrath, that you shall
not enter into his rest?” (
8. You think this is an uncommon case; but I fear it is much otherwise. I fear there are few congregations where the word of God has been faithfully preached, and where it has long been despised, especially by those whom it had once awakened, in which the eye of God does not see a number of such wretched souls; though it is impossible for us, in this mortal state, to pronounce upon the case who they are.
9. I pretend not to say how he will deal with you, O reader! whether he will immediately cut you off; or seal you up under final hardness and impenitency of heart, or whether his grace may at length awaken you to consider your ways, and return to him, even when your heart is grown yet more obdurate than it is at present. For to his Almighty grace nothing is hard, not even to transform a rock of marble into a man or a saint. But this I will confidently say, that if you delay any longer, the time will come when you will bitterly repent of that delay, and either lament it before God in the anguish of your heart here or curse your own folly and madness in hell, yea, when you will wish that, dreadful as hell is, you had rather fallen into it sooner, than have lived in the midst of so many abused mercies, to render the degree of your punishment more insupportable, and your sense of it more exquisitely tormenting.
10. I do therefore earnestly exhort you, in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the worth, and, if I may so speak, by the blood of
your immortal and perishing soul, that you delay not a day or an hour longer. Far
from “giving sleep to your eye; or slumber to tour eyelids,” (
A Prayer for one who is tempted to delay applying to Religion, though under some conviction of its importance.
“O thou righteous and holy Sovereign of heaven and earth!
thou God, ‘in whose hand my breath is, and whose are all my ways!’ (
“O Lord, I am not now instructed in truths which were before
quite unknown. Often have I been warned of the uncertainty of life, and the
great uncertainty of the day of salvation. And I have formed some light purposes,
and have begun to take a few irresolute steps in my way toward a return to thee.
But, alas! I have been only, as it were, fluttering about religion, and have never
fixed upon it. All my resolutions have been scattered like smoke, or dispersed like
a cloudy vapor before the wind. O that thou wouldst now bring these things home
to my heart, with a more powerful conviction than it hath ever yet felt? O that
thou would pursue me with them, even when I flee from them! If I should even grow
mad enough to endeavor to escape them any more, may thy Spirit address me in the
language of effectual terror, and add all the most powerful methods which thou knowest
to be necessary to awaken me from this lethargy, which must otherwise be mortal!
May the sound of these things be in mine ears ‘when I go out, and when I come in,
when I lie down, and when I rise up!’ (
“O Lord, ‘my flesh trembleth for fear of thee, and I am
afraid of thy judgments.’ (
1. Conviction of guilt necessary.—2. A charge of rebellion against God advanced.—3. Where it is shown—that all men are born under God's law.—4. That no man hath perfectly kept it.—5. An appeal to the reader's conscience on this head, that he hath not.—6. That to have broken it, is an evil inexpressibly great.—7. Illustrated by a more particular view of the aggravations of this guilt, arising—from knowledge.—8. From divine favors received.—9. From convictions of conscience overborne.—10. From the strivings of God's Spirit resisted.—11. From vows and resolutions broken.—12. The charges summed up, and left upon the sinner's conscience.—The sinner's confession under a general conviction of guilt.
1. AS I am attempting to lead you to true religion and not merely to some superficial form of it, I am sensible I can do it no otherwise than in the way of deep humiliation. And therefore supposing you are persuaded, through the divine blessing on what you have before read, to take it into consideration, I would now endeavor, in the first place, with all the seriousness I can, to make you heartily sensible of your guilt before God. For I well know, that, unless you are convinced of this, and affected with the conviction, all the provisions of Gospel grace will be slighted, and your soul infallibly destroyed, in the midst of the noblest means appointed for its recovery. I am fully persuaded that thousands live and die in a course of sin, without feeling upon their hearts any sense that they are sinners, though they cannot, for shame, but own it in words. And therefore let me deal faithfully with you, though I may seem to deal roughly; for complaisance is not to give law to addresses in which the life of your soul is concerned.
2. Permit me therefore, O sinner, to consider myself at
this time as an advocate for God, as one employed in his name to plead against thee
and to charge thee with nothing less than being a rebel and a traitor against the
Sovereign Majesty or heaven and earth. However thou mayest be dignified or distinguished
among men; if the noblest blood run in thy veins; if thy seat were among princes,
and thine arm were “the terror of the mighty in the land of the living,” (
3. Your conscience tells you that you were born the natural subject of God, born under the indispensable obligations of his law. For it is most apparent that the constitution of your rational nature, which makes you capable of receiving law from God, binds you to obey it. And it is equally evident and certain that you have not exactly obeyed this law, nay, that you have violated it in many aggravated instances.
4. Will you dare to deny this? Will you dare to assert
your innocence? Remember, it must be a complete innocence; yea, and a perfect righteousness
too, or it can stand you in no stead, farther than to prove, that, though a condemned
sinner, you are not quite so criminal as some others, and will not have quite so
hot a place in hell as they. And when this is considered, will you plead not guilty
to the charge? Search the records of your own conscience, for God searcheth them:
ask it seriously, “Have you never in your life sinned against God?” Solomon declared,
that in his days “there was not a just man upon earth, who did good and sinned not;”
(
5. Supposing, as before, you have been free from those
gross acts of immorality which are so pernicious to society that they have generally
been punishable by human laws; can you pretend that you have not, in smaller instances,
violated the rules of piety, of temperance, and charity? Is there any one person,
who has intimately known you, that would not be able to testify you had said or
done something amiss! Or if others could not convict you, would not your own heart
do it! Does it not prove you guilty of pride, of passion, of sensuality, of an excessive
fondness of the world and its enjoyments? of murmuring, or at least of secretly
repining against God, under the strokes of an afflictive providence; of misspending
a great deal of your time; abusing the gifts of God's bounty to vain, if not, in
some instances, to pernicious purposes; of mocking him when you have pretended to
engage in his worship, “drawing near to him with your mouth and your lips while
your heart has been far front him?” (
6. And say, sinner, is it a little thing that you have
presumed to set light by the authority of the God of heaven, and to violate his
law, if it had been by mere carelessness and inattention? How much more heinous,
therefore, is the guilt, when in an many instances you hare done it knowingly and
willfully! Give me leave seriously to ask you, and let me entreat you to ask your
own soul, “Against whom hast thou magnified thyself? Against whom hast thou exalted
thy voice,” (
Nay, sinner, thou wouldst not have dared to treat a temporal
prince as thou hast treated the “King Eternal, Immortal,” and “Invisible.” (
7. If knowledge be an aggravation of guilt, thy guilt,
O sinner, is greatly aggravated! For thou wast born in Emmanuel's land, and God
hath “written to thee the great things of his law,” yet “thou hast accounted them
as a strange thing.” (
8. Nay more, if Divine love and mercy be any aggravation
of the sins committed against it, thy crimes, O sinner, are heinously aggravated.
Must thou not acknowledge it, O foolish creature and unwise! Hast thou not been
“nourished and brought up by him as his child, and yet hast rebelled against him?”
(
9. Again, if it be any aggravation of Sin to be committed
against conscience, thy crimes, O sinner! have been so aggravated. Consult the records
of it, and then dispute the fact if you can. “There is a spirit in man, and the
inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding;” (
10. Let me add farther, if it be any aggravation that sin
has been committed after God has been moving by his Spirit on the mind, surely your
sin has been attended with that aggravation too. Under the Mosaic dispensation,
dark and imperfect as it was, the Spirit strove with the Jews else Stephen could
not have charged it upon them, that through all their generations “they had always
resisted him.” (
11. There is indeed one aggravation more, which may not attend your guilt—I mean that of being committed against solemn covenant engagements: a circumstance which has lain heavy on the consciences of many, who perhaps in the main series of their lives have served God with great integrity. But let me call you to think to what this is owing. Is it not that you have never personally made any solemn profession of devoting yourself to God at all—have never done any thing which has appeared to your own apprehension an act by which you have made a covenant with him, though you have heard so much of his covenant, though you have been so solemnly and so tenderly invited to it? And in this view, how monstrous must this circumstance appear, which at first was mentioned as some alleviation of guilt! Yet I must add that you are not, perhaps, altogether so free from guilt on this head as you may at first imagine. Has your heart been, even from your youth, hardened to so uncommon a degree that you have never cried to God in any season of danger and difficulty? And did you never mingle vows with those cries? Did you never promise, that, if God would hear and help you in that hour of extremity, you would forsake your sins, and serve him as long as you lived? He heard and helped you, or you had not been reading these lines; and, by such deliverance, did as it were bind down your vows upon you; and therefore your guilt, in the violation of them, remains before him, though you are stupid enough to forget them. Nothing is forgotten, nothing is overlooked by him; and the day will come, when the record shall be laid before you too.
12. And now, O sinner, think seriously with thyself what
defence thou wilt make to all this. Prepare thine apology; call thy witnesses; make
thine appeal from him whom thou hast thus offended, to some superior judge, if such
there be. Alas! those apologies are so weak and vain, that one of thy fellow-worms
may easily detect and confound them; as I will endeavor presently to show thee.
But thy foreboding conscience already knows the issue. Thou art convicted, convicted
of the most aggravated offences. Thou “hast not humbled thine heart, but lined up
thyself against the Lord of heaven,” (
Confession of a Sinner convinced in general of his Guilt.
“O God! thou injured Sovereign, thou all-penetrating and
Almighty Judge! what shall I say to this charge! Shall I pretend I am wronged by
it, and stand on the defence in thy presence? I dare not do it; for ‘thou knowest
my foolishness, and none of my sins are hid from thee.’
“What has my life been but a course of rebellion against thee? It is not this or that particular action alone I have to lament. Nothing has been right in its principles, and views, and ends. My whole soul has been disordered. All my thoughts, my affections, my desires, my pursuits have been wretchedly alienated from thee. I have acted as if I had hated thee, who art infinitely the loveliest of all beings; as if I had been contriving how I might tempt thee to the uttermost, and weary out thy patience, marvelous as it is. My actions have been evil, my words yet more evil than they! and, O blessed God, my heart, how much more corrupt than either! What an inexhausted fountain of sin has there been in it! A fountain of original corruption, which mingled its bitter streams with the days of early childhood; and which, alas! flows on even to this day, beyond what actions or words could express. I see this to have, been the case with regard to what I can particularly survey. But, oh! how many months and years have I forgotten, concerning which I only know this in the general, that they are much like those I can remember; except it be, that I have been growing worse and worse, and provoking thy patience more and more, though every new exercise of it was more and more wonderful.
“And how am I astonished that thy forbearance is still
continued! it is because thou art ‘God, and not man.’ (
1, 2. The vanity of those pleas which sinners may secretly confide in, is so apparent that they will be ashamed at last to mention them before God.—3. Such as, that they descended from pious us parents.—4. That they had attended to the speculative part of religion.—5. That they had entertained sound notion..—6, 7. That they had expressed a zealous regard to religion, and attended the outward forms of worship with those they apprehended the purest churches.—8. That they had been free from gross immoralities.—9. That they did not think the consequences of neglecting religion would have been so fatal.—10. That they could not do otherwise then they did.—11. Conclusion. With the meditation of a convinced sinner giving up his vain pleas before God
1. MY last discourse left the sinner in very alarming and very pitiable circumstances; a criminal convicted at the bar of God, disarmed of all pretences to perfect innocence and sinless obedience, and consequently obnoxious to the sentence of a holy law, which can make no allowance for any transgression, no not for the least; but pronounces death and a curse against every act of disobedience: how much more then against those numberless and aggravated acts of rebellion, of which, O sinner! thy conscience hath condemned thee before God? I would hope Some of my readers will ingenuously fall under the conviction, and not think of making any apology; for sure I am, that, humbly to plead guilty at the divine bar, is the most decent, and, all things considered, the most prudent thing that can be done in such an unhappy state. Yet I know the treachery and the self-flattery of a sinful and corrupted heart. I know what excuses it makes, and how, when it is driven from one refuge, it flies to another, to fortify itself against conviction, and to persuade, not merely another, but itself, “That if it has been in some instances to blame, it is not quite so criminal as was represented; that there are at least considerations that plead in its favor, which, if they cannot justify, will in some degree excuse.” A secret reserve of this kind, sometimes perhaps scarcely formed into a distinct reflection, breaks the force of conviction, and often prevents that deep humiliation before God which is the happiest token of approaching deliverance. I will therefore examine into some of these particulars; and for that purpose would seriously ask thee, O sinner! what thou hast to offer in arrest or judgment? What plea thou canst urge for thyself; why the sentence of God should not go forth against thee, and why thou shouldst not fall into the hands of his justice?
2. But this I must premise, that the question is not; how
wouldst thou answer to me, a weak sinful worm like thyself, who am shortly to stand
with thee at the same bar? and “the Lord grant that I may find mercy of the Lord
in that day,” (
3. You will not to be sure, in such a condition, plead
“that you are descended from pious parents.” That was indeed your privilege; and
wo be to you that you have abused it, and “forsaken the God of your fathers.” (
4. Nor will you then presume to plead “that you had exercised
your thoughts about the speculative parts of religion.” For to what end can this
serve, but to increase your condemnation? Since you have broken God's law, since
you have contradicted the most obvious and apparent obligations of religion, to
have inquired into it, and argued upon it, is a circumstance that proves your guilt
more audacious. What! did you think religion was merely an exercise of men's wit,
and the amusement of their curiosity? If you argued about it on the principles of
common sense, you must have judged and proved it to be a practical thing; and if
it was so, why did yen not practice accordingly? You knew the particular branches
of it; and why then did you not attend to every one of them? To have pleaded an
unavoidable ignorance would have been their happiest plea that could have remained
for you; nay, an actual, though faulty ignorance, would have been some little allay
of your guilt. But if; by your own confession, you have “known your Master's will,
and have not done it,” you bear witness against yourself, that you deserve to be
“beaten with many stripes.” (
5. Nor yet, again, will it suffice to say “that you have
had right notions both of the doctrines and the precepts of religion.” Your advantage
for practicing it was therefore the greater; but understanding and acting right
can never go for the same thing in the judgment of God or of man. In “believing
there is one God,” you have done well; but the “devils also believe and tremble.”
(
6. But perhaps you may think of pleading that “you have
actually done something in religion.” Having judged what faith was the soundest,
and what worship the purest, “you entered yourself into those societies where such
articles of faith were professed, and such forms of worship were practiced: and
among these you have signalized yourself by exactness of your attendance, by the
zeal with which you have espoused their cause, and by the earnestness with which
you have contended for such principles and practices.” O sinner! I much fear that
this zeal of thine about the circumstantials of religion will swell thine account,
rather than be allowed in abatement of it. He that searches thine heart knows from
whence it arose, and how far it extended. Perhaps be sees that it was all hypocrisy,
an artful veil under which thou wast carrying on thy mean designs for this world,
while the sacred name of God and religion were profaned and prostituted in the basest
manner: and if so, thou art cursed with a distinguished curse for so daring an insult
on the Divine omniscience as well as justice. Or perhaps the earnestness with which
you have been “contending for the faith and worship which was once delivered to
the saints,” (
7. But say that this zeal for notions and forms has been
ever so well intended, and, so far as it has gone ever so well conducted too; what
will that avail toward vindicating thee in so many instances or negligence and disobedience
as are recorded against thee in the book of God's remembrance? Were the revealed
doctrines of the Gospel to be earnestly maintained, (as indeed they ought) and was
the great practical purpose for which they were revealed to be forgot? Was the very
mint, and anise, and cummin to be tithed; and were “the weightier matters of the
law to be omitted,” (
8. Will you then plead “your fair moral character, your
works of righteousness and of mercy?” Had your obedience to the law of God been
complete, the plea might be allowed as important and valid. But I have supposed,
and proved above, that conscience testifies to the contrary; and you will not now
dare to contradict it. I add farther, had these works of yours, which you now urge,
proceeded from a sincere love to God, and a genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
you would not have thought of pleading them any otherwise than as an evidence of
your interest in the Gospel-covenant and in the blessings of it, procured by the
righteousness and blood of the Redeemer; and that faith, had it been sincere, would
have been attended with such deep humility, and with such solemn apprehensions of
the Divine holiness and glory, that, instead of pleading any works of your own before
God, you would rather have implored his pardon for the mixture of sinful imperfection
attending the very best of them. Now, as you are a stranger to this humbling and
sanctifying principle, (which here in this address I suppose my reader to be) it
is absolutely necessary you should be plainly and faithfully told, that neither
sobriety, nor honesty, nor humanity will justify you before the tribunal of God,
when he “lays judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet,” (
9. But you will, perhaps, be ready to say, “you did not
expect all this: you did not think the consequences of neglecting religion would
have been so fatal.” And why did you not think it? Why did you not examine more
attentively and more impartially? Why did you suffer the pride and folly of your
vain heart to take up with such superficial appearances, and trust the light suggestions
of your own prejudiced mind against the express declaration of the word of God?
Had you reflected on his character as the supreme Governor of the world, you would
have seen the necessity of such a day of retribution as we are now referring to.
Had you regarded the Scripture, the divine authority of which you professed to believe,
every page might have taught you to expect it. “You did not think of religion!”
and of what were you thinking when you forgot or neglected it? Had you so much employment
of another kind? Of what kind, I beseech you! What end could you propose, by any
thing else, of equal moment? Nay, with all your engagements, conscience will tell
you that there have been seasons when, for want of thought, time and life have been
a burden to you; yet you guarded against thought as against an enemy, and cast up,
as it were, an entrenchment of inconsideration around you on every side, as if it
had been to defend you from the most dangerous invasion. God knew you were thoughtless,
and therefore he sent you “line upon line, and precept upon precept,” (
10. But some may perhaps imagine that one important apology is yet unheard, and that there may be room to say, “you were, by the necessity of your nature, impelled to those things which are now charged upon you as crimes; and that it was not in your power to have avoided them, in the circumstances in which you were placed.” If this will do any thing, it indeed promises to do much—so much that it will amount to nothing. If I were disposed to answer you upon the folly and madness of your own principles. I might say that the same consideration which proves it was necessary for you to offend, proves also that it is necessary for God to punish you; and that, indeed, he cannot but do it: and I might farther say with an excellent writer, “that the same principles which destroy the injustice of sins, destroy the injustice of punishment too.” But if you cannot admit this; if you should still reply, in spite of principle, that it must be unjust to punish you for an action utterly and absolutely unavoidable, I really think you would answer right. But in that answer you will contradict your own scheme, as I observed above; and I leave your conscience to judge what sort of a scheme that must be which would make all kind of punishment unjust; for the argument will on the whole be the same, whether with regard to human punishment or divine. It is a scheme full of confusion and horror. You would not, I am sure, take it from a servant who had robbed you and then fired your house; you would never inwardly believe that he could not have helped it or think that he had fairly excused himself by suck a plea; and I am persuaded you would be so far from presuming to offer it to God at the great day, that you would not venture to turn it into a prayer even now. Imagine that you saw a malefactor dying with such words as these in his mouth: “O God! it is true I did indeed rob and murder my fellow-creatures; but thou knowest, that, as my circumstances were ordered, I could not do otherwise; my will was irresistibly determined by the motives which thou didst set before me, and I could as well have shaken the foundations of the earth, or darkened the sun in the firmament, as have resisted the impulse which bore me on.” I put it to your conscience whether you would not look on such a speech as this with detestation, as one enormity added to another. Yet, if the excuse would have any weight in. your mouth, it would have equal weight in his; or would be equally applicable to any, the most shocking occasions. But indeed it is so contrary to the plainest principles of common reason, that I can hardly persuade myself that any one could seriously and thoroughly believe it; and should imagine my time very ill employed here if I were to set myself to combat those pretences to argument by which the wantonness of human wit has attempted to varnish it over.
11. You see then, on the whole, the vanity of all your pleas; and how easily the most plausible or them might be silenced by a mortal man like yourself; how much more then by Him who searches all hearts, and can; in a moment, flash in upon the conscience a most powerful and irresistible conviction? What then can you do, while you stand convicted in the presence of God? What should you do, but hold your peace under an inward sense of your inexcusable guilt, and prepare yourself to hear the sentence which his law pronounces against you? You must feel the execution of it, if the Gospel does not at length deliver you; and you must feel something of the terror of it before you can be excited to seek to that Gospel for deliverance.
The Meditation of a convinced Sinner giving up his vain pleas before God.
“Deplorable condition to which I am indeed reduced! I hare
sinned, and ‘what shall I say unto thee, O thou Preserver of men?’ (
“Thou must appear before it! thou must see the awful, the
eternal Judge, who ‘tries the very reins,’ (
“Before I enter upon the particular view, I know, in the
general, that ‘it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’
(
1, 2.The sinner called upon to hear his sentence.—3. God's law does now in general pronounce a curse.—4. It pronounces death.—5. And being turned into hell.—6. The judgement day shall come.—7, 8. The solemnity of that grand process described according to scriptural representations of it.—9. With a particular illustration of the sentence, “Depart, accursed,” &c.—10. The execution wilt certainly and immediately follow.—11. The sinner warned to prepare for enduring it. The reflection of a sinner struck with the terror of his sentence.
1. HEAR, O sinner! and I will speak (
2. Thou hast been convicted, as in his presence. Thy pleas
have been overruled, or rather they have been silenced. It appears before God, it
appears to thine own conscience that thou hast nothing more to offer in arrest of
judgment; therefore hear thy sentence, and summon up, if thou canst, all the powers
of thy soul to bear the execution of it. “It is,” indeed, a very small thing “to
be judged of man's judgment;” but “he who now judgeth thee is the Lord.” (
3. The law of God speaks not to thee alone, O sinner! nor
to thee by any particular address; but in a most universal language it speaks to
all transgressors, and levels its terrors against all offences, great or small,
without any exception. And this is its language: “Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” (
4. Thus saith the Lord, “The soul that sinneth, it shall
die.” (
5. Thus saith the Lord, “The wicked shall be turned into
hell, even all the nations that forget God.” (
6. And shall this sentence stand upon record in vain! Shall
the law speak it, and the Gospel speak it? and shall it never be pronounced more
audibly? and will God never require and execute the punishment? He will O sinner!
require it; and he will execute it, though he may seem for a while to delay. For
well dost thou know that “he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the” whole
“world in righteousness, by that Man whom he hath ordained, of which he hath given
assurance in having raised him from the dead.” (
7. I therefore repeat the solemn warning: Then, O sinner!
shalt “stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.” (
8. Dost thou really think that the intent of Christ's final
appearance is only to recover his people from the grave, and to raise them to glory
and happiness? Whatever assurance thou hast that there shall be “a resurrection
of the just,” thou hast the same that there shall also be “a resurrection or the
unjust;” (
9. He will say, “Depart:” you shall be driven from his
presence with disgrace and infamy: “from him,” the source of life and blessedness,
in a nearness to whom all the inhabitants of heaven continually rejoice; you shall
“depart,” accursed: you have broken God's law, and its curse falls upon you; and
you are and shall he under that curse, that abiding curse; from that day forward
you shall be regarded by God and all his creatures as an accursed and abominable
thing, as the most detestable and the most miserable part of the creation. You shall
go “into fire;” and, oh! consider into what fire! Is it merely into one fierce blaze
which shall consume you in a moment, though with exquisite pain? That were terrible.
But, oh! such terrors are not to be named with these. Thine, sinner, “is everlasting
fire.” It is that which our Lord hath in such awful terms described as prevailing
there, “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched;” and again, in
wonderful compassion, a third time, “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is
not quenched,” (
10. And when it is thus pronounced, and pronounced by him,
shall it not also be executed? Who could imagine the contrary? Who could imagine
there should be all this pompous declaration to fill the mind only with vain terror,
and that this sentence should vanish into smoke? You may easily apprehend that this
would be a greater reproach to the Divine administration than if sentence were never
to be passed. And therefore we might easily have inferred the execution of it, from
the process of the preceding judgment. But lest the treacherous heart of a sinner
should deceive him with so vain a hope, the assurance of that execution is immediately
added in very memorable terms. It shall be done: it shall immediately be done. Then
on that very day, while the sound of it is yet in their ears, “the wicked shall
go away into everlasting punishment;” (
11. And now “prepare” thyself “to meet the Lord thy God.”
(
The Reflection of a Sinner struck with the Terror of his Sentence.
“Wretch that I am, What shall I do, or whither shall I
flee? ‘I am weighed in the balance, and am found wanting.’ (
“Wretch indeed that I am! O that I had never been born!
O that I had never known the dignity and prerogative of the rational nature? Fatal
prerogative indeed, that renders me obnoxious to condemnation and wrath! O that
I had never been instructed in the will of God at all rather than that, being thus
instructed, I should have disregarded and transgressed it! Would to God I had been
allied to the meanest of the human race, to them that come nearest to the state
of the brutes, rather than that I should have had my lot in cultivated Life, amidst
so many of the improvements of reason, and (dreadful reflection!) amidst so many
of the advantages of religion tool and thus to have perverted all to my own destruction!
O that God would take away this rational soul! but, alas! it will live for ever,
will live to feel the agonies of eternal death. Why have I seen the beauties and
glories of a world like this, to exchange it for that flaming prison! Why have I
tasted so many of my Creator's bounties, to wring out at last the dregs of his wrath!
Why have I known the delights of social life and friendly converse, to exchange
them for the horrid company of devils and damned spirits in hell! Oh! ‘who can dwell
with them in devouring flames? who can lie down’ with them ‘in everlasting, everlasting,
everlasting burnings?’ (
“But whom have I to blame in all this but myself? What have I to accuse but my own stupid incorrigible folly? On what is all this terrible ruin to be charged, but on this one fatal, cursed cause that having broken God's law. I rejected his Gospel too;
“Yet stay, O my soul, in the midst of all these doleful foreboding complaints. Can I say that I have finally rejected the Gospel? Am I not to this day under the sound of it? The sentence is not yet gone forth against me in so determinate a manner as to be utterly irreversible. Through all this gloomy prospect one ray of hope breaks in, and it is possible I may yet be delivered.
“Reviving thought! Rejoice in it, O my soul! though it
be with trembling, and turn immediately to that God, who, though provoked by ten
thousand offences, has not yet 'sworn in his wrath that thou shalt never be permitted
to hold further intercourse with him., or to ‘enter into his rest’ (
“I do then, O blessed Lord! prostrate myself in the dust
before thee, I own I am a condemned and miserable creature. But my language is that
of the humble publican, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner!’ (
“Surely, Lord, I have much to learn; but be thou my teacher! Stay for a little moment thine uplifted hand, and in thine infinite compassion delay the stroke till I inquire a little farther how I may finally avoid it!"
1, 2. The sinner urged to consider how he can be saved from this impending ruin.—3. Not by any thing he can offer.—4. Nor by any thing he can endure.—5. Nor by any thing hr can do in the course of future duty.—6-8. Nor by any alliance with fellow-sinners on earth or in hell.—9. Nor by any interposition or intercession of angels or saints in his favor. Hint of the only method to be afterwards more largely explained. The lamentation of a sinner in this miserable condition.
1. SINNER, thou hast heard the sentence of God as it stands upon record in his sacred and immutable word; and wilt thou lie down under its in everlasting despair? wilt thou make no attempt to be delivered from it, when it speaks nothing less than eternal death to thy soul? If a criminal, condemned by human laws, has but the least shadow of hope that he may escape, he is all attention to it. If there be a friend who be thinks can help him, with what strong importunity does be entreat! the interposition of that! friend? And even while he is before the judge. how difficult is it! often to force him away from the bar, while the cry of mercy, mercy, mercy, may be heard, though it be never so unseasonable? A mere possibility that it may make some eager in it, and unwilling to be silenced and removed.
2. Wilt thou not then, O Sinner! ere yet execution is done, that execution which may perhaps be done this very day, wilt thou not cast about in thy thoughts what measures may be taken for deliverance? Yet what measures can be taken? Consider attentively, for it is an affair of moment. Thy wisdom, thy power, thy eloquence, thy interest can never he exerted on a greater occasion. If thou canst help thyself, do it. If thou hast any secret source of relief, go not out of thyself for other assistance. If thou hast any sacrifice to offer, if thou hast any strength to exert; yea, if thou hast any allies on earth, or in the invisible world, who can defend or deliver thee, take thy own way, so that thou mayest but be delivered at all, that we may not see thy ruin. But say, O sinner! in the presence of God, what sacrifice thou wilt present, what strength thou wilt exert, what allies thou wilt have recourse to on so urgent, so hopeless an occasion. For hopeless I must indeed pronounce it, if such methods are taken.
3. The justice of God is injured; hast thou any atonement
to make to it? If thou wast brought to an inquiry and proposal, like that of an
awakened sinner, “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before
the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year
old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers
of oil?” (
4. Wilt thou then suffer thyself till thou hast made full
satisfaction? But how shall that satisfaction be made? Shall it be by any calamities
to be endured in this mortal, momentary life? Is the justice of God then esteemed
so little a thing, that the sorrows of a few days should suffice to answer its demands?
Or dost thou think of future sufferings in the invisible world? If thou dost, that
is not deliverance; and with regard to that, I may venture to say, when thou hast
made full satisfaction, thou wilt be released; when thou hast paid the uttermost
farthing of that debt, thy prison-doors shall be opened; but in the mean time thou
must “make thy bed in hell:” (
5. Or do you think that your future reformation and diligence in duty for the time to come will procure your discharge from this sentence? Take heed, sinner, what kind of obedience thou thinkest of offering to a holy God. That must be spotless and complete which his infinite sanctity can approve and accept, if he consider thee in thyself alone: there must be no inconstancy, no forgetfulness, no mixture of sin attending it. And wilt thou, enfeebled as thou art by so much original corruption and so many sinful habits contracted by innumerable actual transgressions, undertake to render such an obedience, and that for all the remainder or thy life! In vain wouldst thou attempt it, even for one day. New guilt would immediately plunge thee into new ruin. But if it did not, if from this moment to the very end of thy life all were as complete obedience as the law of God required from Adam in Paradise, would that be sufficient to cancel past guilt? Would it discharge an old debt, that thou hast not contracted a new one? Offer this to thy neighbor, and see if he will accept it for payment; and if he will not, wilt thou presume to offer it to thy God?
6. But I will not multiply words on so plain a subject. While I speak thus, time is passing away death presses on, and judgment is approaching. And what can save thee from these awful scenes, or what can protect thee in them? Can the world save thee—that vain delusive idol of thy wishes and suits, to which thou alt sacrificing thine eternal hopes? Well dost thou know that it will utterly forsake thee when thou needest it most; and that not one of its enjoyments can be carried along with thee into the invisible state, no, not so much as a trifle to remember it by, if thou couldst desire to remember so inconstant and so treacherous a friend as the world has been.
7. And when you are dead, or when you are dying, can your
sinful companions save you? Is there any one of them, if he were ever so desirous
of doing it, that “can give unto God a ransom for you,” (
8. As for the powers of darkness, you are sure they will
he far from having any ability or inclination to help you. Satan has been watching
and laboring for your destruction, and he will triumph in it. But if there could
he any thing of an amicable confederacy between you, what would that be but an association
in ruin? For the day of judgment of ungodly men will also be the judgment of these
rebellious spirits; and the fire into which thou, O sinner, must depart, is that
which was “prepared for the devil and his angels.” (
9. Will the celestial spirits then save thee? Will they
interpose their power or their prayers in thy favor? An interposition of power,
when sentence is gone forth against thee, were an act of rebellion against heaven,
which these holy and excellent creatures would abhor. And when the final pleasure
of the Judge is known, instead of interceding in vain for the wretched criminal,
they would rather, with ardent zeal for the glory of their Lord, and cordial acquiescence
in the determination of his wisdom and justice, prepare to execute it. Yea, difficult
as it may at present be to conceive it, it is a certain truth, that the servants
of Christ, who now most tenderly love you, and most affectionately seek your salvation,
not excepting those who are allied to you in the nearest bonds of nature or of friendship,
even they shall put their amen to it. Now indeed their bowels yearn over you, and
their eyes pour out tears on your account. Now they expostulate with you, and plead
with God for you, if by any means, while yet there is hope, you may “be plucked
as a firebrand out of the burning.” (
The Lamentation of a Sinner in this miserable Condition.
“O! doleful, uncomfortable, helpless state! O wretch that
I am, to have reduced myself to it! Poor, empty, miserable, abandoned creature!
Where is my pride and the haughtiness of my heart? Where are my idol deities. ‘whom
I have loved and served, after whom I have walked, and whom I have sought,’ (
“O ye ministers of the Lord, whose office it is to guide
and comfort distressed souls, take pity upon me! I fear I am a pattern of many other
helpless creatures who have the like need of your assistance. Lay aside your other
cares to care for my soul, to care for this precious soul of mine, which lies as
it were bleeding to death, (if that expression may be used) while you perhaps hardly
afford me a look, or, glancing an eye upon me, ‘pass over to the other side.’ (
“'O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh,’ (
“Thou art he whom I have most of all injured and affronted;
and yet from thee alone must I now seek redress. ‘Against thee, thee only, have
I sinned, and done evil in thy sight;’ so that ‘thou mightest be justified when
thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest,’ (
“I know, in the general, that ‘thy ways are not as our
ways, nor thy thoughts as our thoughts;’ but are as ‘high above them as the heavens
are above the earth.’ (
1. The awful things which have hitherto been said, intended not to grieve, but to help.—2. After some reflection on the pleasure with which a minister of the Gospel may deliver at message with which he is charged.—3.And some reasons for the repetition of what is in speculation so generally known.—4-6. The author proceeds briefly to declare the substance of these glad tidings: viz. that God having in his infinite compassion sent his Son to die for sinners, is now reconcilable through him.—7, 8. So that the most heinous transgressions shall be entirely pardoned to believers, and they made completely and eternally happy. The sinner's reflection on this good news.
1. My dear reader, it is the great design of the Gospel, and wherever it is cordially
received, it is the glorious effect of it, to fill the heart with sentiments of
love; to teach us to abhor all unnecessary rigor and severity, and to delight not
in the grief but in the happiness of our fellow-creatures. I can hardly apprehend
how he can be a Christian who takes pleasure in the distress which appears even
in a brute, much less in that of a human mind; and especially in such distress as
the thoughts I have been proposing must give, if there be any due attention to their
weight and energy. I have often felt a tender regret while I have been representing
these things; and I could have wished from my heart that it had not been necessary
to have placed them in so severe and so painful a light. But now I am addressing
myself to a part of my work which I undertake with unutterable pleasure, and to
that which indeed I had in view in all those awful things which I have already been
laying before you. I have been showing you, that, if you hitherto have lived in
a state of impenitence and sin, you are condemned by God's righteous judgment, and
have in yourself no spring or hope and no possibility of deliverance. But I mean
not to leave you under this sad apprehension, to lie down and die in despair, complaining
of that cruel zeal which has “tormented you before your time.” (
2. Arise, O thou dejected soul, that art prostrate in the
dust before God, and trembling under the terror of his righteous sentence; for I
am commissioned to tell thee, that, though “thou hast destroyed thyself, in God
is thine help.” (
3. This in the best news that ever was heard, the most
important message which God ever sent to his creatures; and though I doubt not that,
living as you have done in a Christian country, you have heard it often, perhaps
a thousand and a thousand times; I will, with all simplicity and plainness, repeat
it to you again, and repeat it as if you bad never heard it before. If thou, O sinner,
shouldst now for the first time feel it, then will it be as a new Gospel unto thee,
though so familiar to thine ear; nor shall it be “grievous to me” to speak what
is so common, “since to you it is safe” and necessary. (
4. I do therefore testify unto you this day, that the holy
and gracious Majesty of heaven and earth, foreseeing the fatal apostacy into which
the whole human race would fall, did not determine to deal in a way of strict and
rigorous severity with us, so as to consign us over to universal ruin and inevitable
damnation; but, on the contrary, he determined to enter into a treaty of peace and
reconciliation, and to publish to all whom the Gospel should reach, the express
offers of life and glory, in a certain method which his infinite wisdom judged suitable
to the purity of his nature and the honor of his government. This method was indeed
a most astonishing one, which, familiar as it is to our thoughts and our tongues,
I cannot recollect and mention without great amazement. He determined to send his
own Son into the world, “the brightness of his glory and the express image of his
person,” (
5. Accordingly, at such a period of time as infinite wisdom
saw most convenient, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in human flesh; and after he
had gone through incessant and long-continued fatigue, and borne all the preceding
injuries which the ingratitude and malice of men could inflict, he voluntarily “submitted
himself to death, even the death of the cross;” (
6. This Gospel do I therefore now preach and proclaim unto
thee, O reader, with the sincerest desire that, through divine grace, it may “this
very day be salvation to thy soul.” (
7. Look upon your dear Redeemer! look up to this mournful,
dreadful, yet, in one view, delightful spectacle! and then ask thine own heart,
Do I believe that Jesus suffered and died thus? And why did he suffer and die? Let
me answer in God's own words, “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised
for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon him, that by his
stripes we might he healed: it pleased the Lord to bruise him, and put him to grief,
when he made his soul an offering for sin; for the Lord laid on him the iniquity
of us all.” (
8. Nor is it necessary, in order to thy being released
from guilt, and entitled to this high and complete felicity, that thou shouldst,
before thou wilt venture to apply to Jesus, bring any good works of thine own to
recommend thee to his acceptance. It is indeed true, that, if thy faith be sincere,
it will certainly produce them; but I have the authority of the word of God to tell
thee that if thou this day sincerely believest in the name of the Son of God, thou
shalt this day be taken under his care, and be numbered among those of his sheep
to whom he hath graciously declared that “he will give eternal life, and that they
shall never perish.” (
The Sinner's Reflection on this Good News.
“O my soul, how astonishing is the message which thou hast
this day received! I have indeed often heard it before and it is grown so common
to me, that the surprise is not sensible. But reflect, O my soul, what it is thou
hast heard, and say whether the name of a Savior whose message it is, may not well
be called ‘Wonderful, counsellor,’ (
“Blessed Jesus, is it indeed thus? Is it not the fiction
of the human mind? Surely it is not! What human mind could have invented or conceived
it? It is a plain, a certain fact, that thou didst leave the magnificence and joy
of the heavenly world in compassion to such a wretch as I! Oh! hadst thou from that
height of dignity and felicity only looked down upon me for one moment, and sent
some gracious word to me for my direction and comfort, even by the least of thy
servants, justly might I have prostrated myself in grateful admiration, and have
kissed ‘the very footsteps’ of him ‘that published the salvation.’ (
“What shall I say! ‘Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief!’
(
“I feel a sudden glow in mine heart while these tidings
are sounding in mine ears; but, oh! let it not be a slight superficial transport!
O let not this, which I would fain call my Christian joy, be as that foolish laughter,
with which I have been so madly enchanted, ‘like the crackling blaze of thorns under
a pot!’ (
1. An inquiry into the way of salvation by Christ being supposed.—2. The sinner is in general directed to repentance and faith.—3. And urged to give up all self-dependence.—4. And to seek salvation by free grace.—5. A summary of more particular directions is proposed.—6. That the sinner should apply to Christ.—7. With a deep abhorrence of his former sins.—8. And a firm resolution of forsaking them.—9. That he solemnly commits his soul into the hands of Christ, the great vital act of faith.—10. Which is exemplified at large.—11. That he make it in fact the governing care of his future life to obey and imitate Christ.—12. This is the only method of obtaining Gospel salvation. The Sinner deliberating on the necessity of accepting it.
1. I now consider you, my dear reader, as coming to me with the inquiry which
the Jews once addressed to our Lord, “What shall we do, that we may work the works
of God?” (
2. And here, that I may be sure to follow the safest guides
and the fairest examples, I must preach salvation to you in the way of “repentance
toward God, and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ,” (
3. I suppose that you are by this time convinced of your
guilt and condemnation, and of your own inability to recover yourself. Let me nevertheless
urge you to feel that conviction yet more deeply, and to impress it with yet greater
weight upon your soul; that you have “undone yourself,” and that “in yourself is
not your help found.” (
4. Be assured, that, if ever you are saved, you must ascribe
that salvation entirely to the free grace of God. If, guilty and miserable as you
are, you are not only accepted, but crowned, you must “lay down your crown,” with
all humble acknowledgment, “before the throne.” (
5. If these views be deeply impressed upon your mind you will be prepared to receive what I am now to say. Hear, therefore, in a few words, your duty, your remedy, and your safety; which consists in this, “That you must apply to Christ, with a deep abhorrence of your former sins, and a firm resolution of forsaking them; forming that resolution in the strength of his grace, and fixing your dependence in him for your acceptance with God, even while you are purposing to do your very best, and when you have actually done the best you ever will do in consequence of that purpose.
6. The first and most important advice that I can give
you in your present circumstances, is, that you look to Christ and apply yourself
to him. And here, say not in your heart, “who shall ascend into heaven, to bring
him down to me?” (
7. Behold him therefore with an attentive eye, and say
whether the sight does not touch, and even melt thy very heart! Dost thou not feel
what a foolish and what a wretched creature thou hast been, that, for the sake of
such low and sordid gratifications and interests as those which thou hast been pursuing
thou shouldst thus “kill the Prince of Life?” (
8. I will suppose such a purpose as this rising in thine
heart. How determinate it is, and how effectual it may be, I know not; what different
views may arise hereafter, or how soon the present sense may wear off. But this
I assuredly know, that thou wilt never see reason to change these views; for however
thou mayest alter, the “Lord Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and for
ever.” (
9. But while you have these views and these purposes, I
must remind you that this is not all which is necessary to your salvation. You must
not only purpose, but, as God gives opportunity, you must act as those who are convinced
of the evil of sin, and of the necessity and excellence of holiness. And that you
may be enabled to do so in other instances, you must in the first place, and as
the first great work of God, (as our Lord himself calls it) “believe in him whom
God hath sent;” (
10. Apply therefore to this glorious Redeemer, amiable
as be will appear to every believing eye in the blood which he shed upon the cross,
and in the wounds which he received there. Go to him, O sinner! this day, this moment,
with all thy sins about thee. Go just as thou art; for if thou wilt never apply
to him till thou art first righteous and holy, thou wilt never be righteous and
holy at all; nor canst be so on this supposition, unless there were some way of
being so without him; and then there would be no occasion for applying to him for
righteousness and holiness. It were indeed as if it should be said that a sick man
should defer his application to a physician till his health is recovered. Let me
therefore repeat it without offence, go to him just as thou art, and say, (O that
thou mayest this moment be enabled to say it from thy very soul!) “Blessed Jesus,
I am surely one of the most sinful and one of the most miserable creatures that
ever fell prostrate before thee; nevertheless I come, because I have heard that
thou didst once say, ‘Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest.’ (
11. Such as this must be the language of your very heart
before the Lord. But then remember, that, in consequence thereof it must be the
language of your life too. The unmeaning words of the lips would be a vain mockery.
The most affectionate transport of the passions, should it be transient and ineffectual,
would be but like a blaze of straw, presented, instead of incense, at his altar.
With such humility, with such love, with such cordial self-dedication and submission
of soul must thou often prostrate thyself in the presence of Christ; and then thou
must go away, and keep him in thy view; must go away, and live unto God through
him, defying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and behaving thyself “soberly, righteously,
and godly, in this vain ensnaring world.” (
12. This, so far as I have been able to learn from the
word of God, is the way to safety and glory: the surest, the only way you can take.
It is the way which every faithful minister of Christ has trod, and is treading;
and the way to which, as he tenders the salvation of his own soul, he must direct
others. We cannot, we would not alter it in favor of ourselves, or of our dearest
friends. It is the way in which alone, so far as we can judge, it becomes the blessed
God to save his apostate creatures. And therefore, reader, I beseech and entreat
you seriously to consider it; and let your own conscience answer, as in the presence
of God, whether you are willing to acquiesce in it or not. But know, that to reject
it is thine eternal death. For as “there is no other name under heaven given among
men whereby we can be saved,” (
The Sinner deliberating on the Expediency of falling in with this Method of Salvation.
“Consider, O my soul! what answer wilt thou return to such
proposals as these? Surely, if I were to speak the first dictate of this corrupt
and degenerate heart, it would be, ‘This is a hard saying, and who can hear it?’
(
“With all these precautions, with all these mortifications, the pride of my nature would find some inward source of pleasure, might I but secretly think that I had been my own savior, that my own wisdom and my own resolution had broken the bands and chains of the enemy, and that I had drawn out of my own treasures the price with which my redemption was purchased. But must I lie down before another, as guilty and condemned, as weak and helpless? And must the obligation be multiplied, and must a Mediator have his share too? Must I go to the cross for my salvation, and seek my glory from the infamy of that? Must I be stripped of every pleasing pretence to righteousness, and stand, in this respect, upon a level with the vilest of men; stand at the bar amongst the greatest criminals, pleading guilty with them, and seeking deliverance by that very act of grace whereby they have obtained it.
"I dare not deliberately say this method is unreasonable. My conscience testifies
that I have sinned, and cannot be justified before God as an innocent and obedient
creature. My conscience tells me that all these humbling circumstances are fit;
that it is fit a convicted criminal should be brought upon his knees; that a captive
rebel should give up the weapons of his rebellion and bow before his sovereign,
if he expects his life. Yea, my reason as well as my conscience tells me that it
is fit and necessary that, if I am saved at all, I should be saved from the power
and love of sin, as well as from the condemnation of it; and that, if sovereign
mercy gives me a new life, after having deserved eternal death, it is most fit I
should ‘yield myself to God as alive from the dead.’ (
1. Since many who have been impressed with these things suffer the impression to wear off.—2. Strongly as the ease speaks for itself, sinners are to be entreated to accept this salvation.—3. Accordingly the reader is entreated—by the majesty and mercy of God.—4. By the dying love of our Lord Jesus Christ.—5. By the regard due to our fellow-creatures.—6. By the worth of his own immortal soul.—7. The matter is solemnly left with the reader, as before God. The sinner yielding to these entreaties, and declaring his acceptance of salvation by Christ.
1. Thus far have I often known convictions and impressions to arise, (if I might
judge by the strongest appearances) which after all have worn off again. Some unhappy
circumstance of external temptation, ever joined by the inward reluctance of an
unsanctified heart to this holy and humbling scheme of redemption, has been the
ruin of multitudes. And, “through the deceitfulness of sin, they have been hardened,”
(
2. One would indeed imagine there should be no need of importunity here. One would conclude, that as soon as perishing sinners are told that an offended God is ready to be reconciled, that he offers them a full pardon for all their aggravated sins, yea, that he is willing to adopt them into his family now, that he may at length admit them to his heavenly presence; all should, with the utmost readiness and pleasure, embrace so kind a message, and fall at his feet in speechless transports of astonishment. gratitude, and joy. But, alas! we find it much otherwise. We see multitudes quite unmoved, and the impressions which are made on many more are feeble and transient. Lest it should be thus with you, O reader! let me urge the message with which I have the honor to be charged; let me entreat you to be reconciled to God, and to accept of pardon and salvation in the way in which it is so freely offered to you.
3. I entreat you, “by the majesty of that God in whose
name I come,” whose voice fills all heaven with reverence and obedience. He speaks
not in vain to legions of angels; but if there could be any contention among those
blessed spirits, it would be, who should be first to execute his commands. Oh! let
him not speak in vain to a wretched mortal I entreat you, “by the terrors of his
wrath,” who could speak to you in thunder; who could, by one single act of his will,
cut off this precarious life of yours, and send you down to hell. I beseech you
by his mercies, by his tender mercies, by the bowels of his compassion, which still
yearn over you as those of a parent over “a dear son,” over a tender child, whom,
notwithstanding his former ungrateful rebellion, “he earnestly remembers still.”
(
4. I beseech you further, “by the name and love of your
dying Savior.” I beseech you by all the condescension of his incarnation, by that
poverty to which he voluntarily submitted, “that you might be enriched” with eternal
treasures; (
5. I beseech you “by all the bowels of compassion which
you owe to the faithful ministers of Christ,” who are studying and laboring, preaching
and praying, wearing out their time, exhausting their strength, and very probably
shortening their lives, for the salvation of your soul, and of souls like yours.
I beseech you by the affection with which all that love our Lord Jesus Christ in
sincerity long to see you brought back to him. I beseech you by the friendship of
the living, and by the memory of the dead, by the ruin of those who have trifled
away their days and perished in their sins, and by the happiness of those who have
embraced the Gospel, and are saved by it. I beseech you by the great expectation
of that important “day, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven;” (
6. I beseech you, finally, by your own precious and immortal soul; by the sure prospect of a dying bed, or of a sudden surprise into the invisible state and as you would feel one spark of comfort in your departing spirit, when your flesh and your heart are failing. I beseech you, by your own personal appearance before the tribunal of Christ, (for a personal appearance it must be, even to them who now sit on thrones of their own;) by all the transports of the blessed, and by all the agonies of the damned, then one or the other of which must be your everlasting portion. I affectionately entreat and beseech you, in the strength of all these united considerations, as you will answer it to me who may in that day be summoned to testify against you, and, which is unspeakably more, as you will answer it to your conscience, as you will answer it to the eternal Judge that you dismiss not these thoughts, these meditations, and these cares, till your have brought matters to a happy issue; till you have made resolute choice of Christ, and his appointed way of salvation; and till you have solemnly devoted yourself to God in the, bonds of an everlasting covenant.
7. And thus I leave the matter before you, and before the
Lord. I have told you my errand; I have discharged embassy. Stronger arguments I
cannot use; more endearing and mores awful considerations I cannot suggest. Choose,
therefore, whether you will go out, as it were clothed in sackcloth, to cast yourself
at the feet of him who now sends you these equitable and gracious terms of peace
and pardon; or whether you will hold it out till he appears sword in hand to reckon
with you for your treasons and your crimes, and for this neglected embassy among
the rest of them. Fain would I hope the best; nor can I believe that this labor
of love shall be so entirely unsuccessful, that not one soul shall be brought to
the foot of Christ in cordial submission and humble faith. “Take with you,” therefore,
“words, and turn unto the Lord;” (
Sinner yielding to these Entreaties, and declaring acceptance of Salvation by Christ.
“Blessed Lord, it is enough! It is too much! Surely there
needs not this variety of arguments this importunity of persuasion, to court me
to be happy, to prevail on me to accept of pardon, of life, of eternal glory. Compassionate
Savior, my soul is subdued; so that I trust the language of thy grief is become
that of my penitence, and I may say, ‘my heart is melted like wax in the midst of
my bowels.’ (
“O gracious Redeemer! I have already neglected thee too
long. I have too often injured thee: have crucified thee afresh by my guilt and
impenitence, as if I had taken pleasure in ‘putting thee to an open shame.’ (
“No more, O blessed Jesus, no more is it necessary to beseech
and entreat me. Permit me rather to address myself to thee with all the importunity
of a perishing sinner, that at length sees and knows ‘there is salvation in no other’
(
“'I wait for the Lord; my soul doth wait; and in thy word
do I hope,’ (
1. Universal success not to be expected.—2-4. Yet, as unwilling absolutely to give up any, the author addresses thou who doubt the truth of Christianity, urging an inquiry into its evidences, and directing to prayer methods for that purpose.—5 Those who determine to give it up without further examination.—6. And presume to set themselves to oppose it.—7, 8. Those who speculatively assent to Christianity as true, and yet will sit down without any practical regard to its most important and acknowledged truths. Such are dismissed with a representation of the absurdity of their conduct on their own principles.—9, 10. With a solemn warning of its fatal consequences.—11. And a compassionate prayer, which concludes this chapter, and this part of the work.
1. I would humbly hope that the preceding chapters will be the means of awakening
some stupid and insensible sinners, the means of convincing them of their need of
Gospel-salvation, and of engaging some cordially to accept it. Yet I cannot flatter
myself so far as to hope this should be the case with regard to all into whose hands
this book shall come. “What am I, alas! better than my fathers,” (
2. So would I once more return to you. You do not find in yourself any disposition to embrace the Gospel, to apply yourself to Christ, to give yourself up to thee service of God, and to make religion the business of your life. But if I cannot prevail upon you to do this, let me engage you, at least, to answer me, or rather to answer your own conscience, “Why you will not do it?” is it owing to any secret disbelief of the great principles of religion? If it be, the case is different from what I have yet considered, and the cure must be different. This is not a place to combat with the scruples of infidelity. Nevertheless, I would desire you seriously to inquire “How far those scruples extend?” Do they affect any particular doctrine of the Gospel on which my argument hath turned; or do they affect the whole Christian revelation? Or do they reach yet farther, and extend themselves to natural religion, as well as revealed; so that it should be a doubt with you, whether there be any God, and providence, and future state, or not? As these cases are all different, so it will be of great importance to distinguish the one from the other; that you may know on what principles to build as certain, in the examination of those concerning which you are yet in doubt. But, whatever these doubts are, I would farther ask you, “How long have they continued, and what method have you taken to get them resolved?” Do you imagine, that, in matters of such moment, it will be an allowable case for you to trifle on, neglecting to inquire into the evidence of these things, and then plead your not being satisfied in that evidence, as an excuse for not acting according to them? Must not the principles of common sense assure you, that, if these things be true, as when you talk of doubting about them, you acknowledge it at least possible they may be, they are of infinitely greater importance than any of the affairs of life, whether of business or pleasure, for the sake of which you neglect them? Why then do you continue indolent and unconcerned, from week to week, and from month to month, which probably conscience tells you is the case?
3. Do you ask, “What method you should take to be resolved?” It is no hard question. Open your eyes: set yourself to think: let conscience speak, and verily do I believe, that, if it be not seared in an uncommon degree, you will find shrewd forebodings of the certainty both of natural and revealed religion, and of the absolute necessity of repentance, faith, and holiness, to a life of future felicity. If you area person of any learning, you cannot but know by what writers, and in what treatises, these great truths are defended. And if you are not, you may find, in almost every town and neighborhood, persons capable of informing you in thee main evidences of Christianity, and of answering such scruples against it as unlearned minds may have met with. Set yourself, then, in the name of God, immediately to consider the matter. If you study at all, bend your studies close this way, and trifle not with mathematics, or poetry or history, or law, or physic, which are all comparatively light as a feather, while you neglect this. Study the argument as for your life; for much more than life depends on it. See how far you are satisfied, and why that satisfaction reaches no farther. Compare evidences on both sides. And, above all, consider the design and tendency of the New Testament. See to what it will lead you, and all them that cordially obey it, and then say whether it be not good. And consider how naturally its truth is connected with its goodness. Trace the character and sentiments of its authors, whose living image, if I may be allowed the expression, is still preserved in their writings; and then ask your heart, can you think this was a forgery, an impious, cruel forgery? for such it mast have been, if it were a forgery at all: a scheme to mock God, and to ruin men, even the best of men, such as reverenced Conscience, and would abide all extremities for what they apprehended to be truth. Put the question to your own heart, Can I in my conscience believe it to be such an imposture? Can I look up to an omniscient God, and say, “O Lord, thou knowest that it is in reverence to thee, and in love to truth and virtue, that I reject this book, and the method to happiness here laid down.”
4. But there are difficulties in the way. And what then?
Have those difficulties never been cleared? Go to the living advocates for Christianity,
to those of whose abilities, candor and piety you have the best opinion, if your
prejudices will give you leave to have a good opinion of any such; tell them your
difficulties; hear their solutions; weigh them seriously, as those who know they
must answer it to God; and while doubts continue, follow the truth as far as it
will lead you, and take heed that you do not a “imprison it in unrighteousness.”
(
5. In the mean time, if you are determined to inquire no farther into the matter now, give me leave, at least, from a sincere concern that you may not heap upon your head more aggravated ruin, to entreat you that you would be cautious how you expose yourself to yet greater danger. by what you must yourself own to be unnecessary; I mean attempts to prevent others from believing the truth of the Gospel. Leave them; for God's sake, and for your own, in possession of those pleasures and those hopes which nothing but Christianity can give them; and act not as if you were solicitous to add to the guilt of an infidel the tenfold damnation which they, who have been the perverters and destroyers of the souls of others, must expect to meet, if that Gospel, which they have so adventurously opposed, shall prove. as it certainly will, a serious, and to them a dreadful truth.
6. If I cannot prevail here, (but the pride of displaying a superiority of understanding should bear on such a reader, even in opposition to his own favorite maxims of the innocence of error and the equality of all religions consistent with social virtue, to do his utmost to trample down the Gospel with contempt) I would, however, dismiss him with one proposal which I think the importance of the affair may fully justify. If you have done with your examination into Christianity, and determine to live and conduct yourself as it were assuredly false, sit down, then, and make a memorandum of that determination. Write it down:
“On such a day of such a year, I deliberately resolved that I would live and die rejecting Christianity myself, and doing all I could to overthrow it. This day I determined, not only to renounce all subjection to, and expectation from Jesus of Nazareth, but also to make it a serious part of the business of my life to destroy, as far as I possibly can, all regard to him in the minds of others, and to exert my most vigorous efforts, in the way of reasoning or of ridicule to sink the credit of his religion, and, if it be possible, to root it out of the world; in calm, steady defiance of that day, when his followers say, He shall appear in so much majesty and terror, to execute the vengeance. threatened to his enemies.”
Dare you write this, and sign it? I firmly believe that
many a man, who would be thought a deist. and endeavors to increase the number,
would not. And if you in particular dare not do it, whence does that small remainder
of caution arise? The cause is plain. There is in your conscience some secret apprehension
that this rejected, this opposed, this derided Gospel may, after all, prove true.
And if there be such an apprehension, then let conscience do its office, and convict
you of the impious madness of acting as if it were most certainly and demonstrably
false. Let it tell you at large, how possible it is that “haply you may be found
fighting against God,” (
7. I will turn myself from the deist or the sceptic, and
direct my address to the nominal Christian; if he may upon any terms be called a
Christian, who feels not, after all I have pleaded a disposition to subject himself
to the government and the grace of that Savior whose name he hears: O sinner, thou
art turning away from my Lord, in whose cause I speak; but let me earnestly entreat
thee seriously to consider why thou art turning away; and “to whom thou wilt go,”
from him whom thou acknowledgst “to have the words of eternal life.” (
8. In this case I see not what it can signify, to renew
those expostulations and addresses which I have made in the former chapters. As
our blessed Redeemer says of those who reject his Gospel, “Ye have both seen and
hated both me and my Father,” (
9. Seek what amusements and entertainments thou wilt, O
sinner! I tell thee, if thou wert equal in dignity, and power, and magnificence,
to the “great monarch of Babylon, thy pomp shalt be brought down to the grave, and
all the sound of thy viols; the worm shall be spread under thee, and the worm shall
cover thee;” (
10. And if any of these probable cases happen, that is,
in short, unless a miracle of grace snatch you “as a brand out of the burning,”
when the flames have, as it were, already taken hold of you; all these gloomy circumstances,
which pass in the chambers of illness and on the bed of death, are but the forerunners
of infinitely more dreadful things. Oh! who can describe them? Who can imagine them?
When surviving friends are tenderly mourning over the breathless corpse, and taking
a fond farewell of it before it is laid to consume away in the dark and silent grave,
into what hands, O sinner! will thy soul be fallen? What scenes will open upon thy
separate spirit, even before thy deserted flesh be cold, or thy sightless eyes are
closed? It shall then know what it is to return to God, to be rejected by him as
having rejected his Gospel and his Son, and despised the only treaty of reconciliation;
and that so amazingly condescending and gracious! Thou shalt know what it is to
be disowned by Christ, whom thou hast refused to entertain; and what it is, as the
certain and immediate consequence of that, to be left in the hands of the malignant
spirits of hell. There will be no more friendship then: none to comfort, none to
alleviate thy agony and distress; but, on the contrary, all around thee laboring
to aggravate and increase them. Thou shalt pass away the intermediate years of the
separate state in dreadful expectation, and bitter outcries of horror and remorse.
And then thou shalt hear the trumpet of the archangel, in whatever cavern of that
gloomy world thou art lodged. Its sound shall penetrate thy prison, where, doleful
and horrible as it is, thou shalt nevertheless wish that thou mightest still be
allowed to hide thy guilty head, rather than show it before the face of that awful
Judge; before whom “heaven and earth are fleeing away.” (
11. This will most assuredly be the end of these things; and thou, as a nominal Christian, professest to know, and to believe it. It moves my heart at least, if it moves not thine. I firmly believe, that every one, who himself obtains salvation and glory will bear so much of his Savior's image in wisdom and goodness, in zeal for God, and a steady regard to the happiness of the whole creation, that he will behold this sad scene with calm approbation, and without any painful commotion of mind. But as yet I am flesh and blood; and therefore my bowels are troubled, and mine eyes often overflow with grief to think that wretched sinners will have no more compassion upon their own souls; to think that in spite of all admonition, they will obstinately run upon final, everlasting destruction. It would signify nothing here to add a prayer or a meditation for your use. Poor creature, you will not meditate! you will not pray! Yet as I have often poured out my heart in prayer over a dying friend, when the force of his distemper has rendered him incapable of joining with me, so I will now apply myself to God for you, O unhappy creature! And if you disdain so much as to read what my compassion dictates, yet I hope, they who have felt the power of the Gospel on their own souls, as they cannot but pity such as you, will join with me in such cordial, though broken petitions as these:
A prayer in behalf of an Impenitent Sinner, in the case just described.
“Almighty God! ‘with thee all things are possible.” (
“But, oh! that after all his hardness and impenitence,
thou wouldst still be pleased, by the sovereign power of thine efficacious grace,
to awaken and convert him! Well do we know, O thou Lord of universal nature! that
he who made the soul can cause the sword of conviction to come near and enter into
it. O that, in thine infinite wisdom and love, thou wouldst find out a way to interpose,
and save this sinner from death, from eternal death! O that, if it be thy blessed
will, thou wouldst immediately do it! Thou knowest, O God, he is a dying creature!
thou knowest that if any thing be done for him, it must be done quickly! thou seest,
in the book of thy wise and gracious decrees, a moment marked, which must seal him
up in an unchangeable state! O that thou wouldst lay hold on him while he is yet
‘joined to the living, and hath hope!’ (
“But I prescribe not to thine infinite wisdom. Thou hast displayed thy power in glorious and astonishing instances; which I thank thee that I have so circumstantially known, and by the knowledge of them have been fortified against the rash confidence of those who weakly and arrogantly pronounce that to be impossible, which is actually done. Thou hast, I know, done that, by a single thought in retirement, when the happy man reclaimed by it hath been far from means, and far from ordinances, which neither the most awful admonitions, nor the most tender entreaties, nor the most terrible afflictions. nor the most wonderful deliverances, had been able to effect.
“Glorify thy name, O Lord, and glorify thy grace, in the
method which to thine infinite wisdom shall seem most expedient! Only grant, I beseech
thee, with all humble submission to thy will, that this sinner may be saved! or
if not, that the labor of this part of this treatise may not be altogether in vain;
but that if some reject it to their aggravated ruin, others may hearken and live!
That those thy servants, who have labored for their deliverance and happiness may
view them in the regions of glory, as the heaven, ‘to him who hath loved us, and
washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us,’ of condemned rebels,
and accursed, polluted sinners, ‘kings and priests unto God; to him be glory and
dominion for ever and ever!’ (
1-4. The case described at large.—5. As it frequently occurs.—6. Granting all that the dejected soul charges on itself.—7. The invitations and promises of Christ give hope.—8. The reader urged, under all his burdens and fears, to an humble application to him. Which is accordingly exemplified in the concluding Reflection and Prayer.
1. I have now done with those unhappy creatures who despise the Gospel, and with those who neglect it. With pleasure do I now turn myself to those who will hear me with more regard. Among the various cases which now present themselves to my thoughts, and demand my tender, affectionate, respectful care, there is none more worthy of compassion than that which I have mentioned in the title of this chapter, none which requires a more immediate attempt of relief.
2. It is very possible some afflicted creature may be ready
to cry out, “It is enough: aggravate my grief and my distress no more. The sentence
you have been so awfully describing, as what shall he passed and executed on the
impenitent and unbelieving, is my sentence; and the terrors of it are my terrors.
‘For mine iniquities have gone up into the heavens,’ and my transgressions have
reached unto the clouds. (
3. “I have indeed heard the message of salvation; but, alas! it seems no message of salvation to me. There are happy souls that have hope; and their hope is indeed in Christ and the grace of God manifest in him. But they feel in their hearts an encouragement to apply to him, whereas I dare not do it. Christ and grace are things in which I fear I have no part, and must expect none. There are exceeding rich and precious promises in the word of God; but they are to me as a sealed book, and are hid from me as to any personal use. I know Christ is able to save: I know he is willing to save some. But that he should be willing to save me—such a polluted, such a provoking creature, as God knows, and as conscience knows, I have been, and to this day am—this I know not how to believe; and the utmost that I can do towards believing it, is to acknowledge that it is not absolutely impossible, and that I do not lie down in complete despair; though, alas! I seem upon the borders of it, and expect every day and hour to call into it.”
4. I should not, perhaps, have entered so fully into this
case, if I had not seen many in it; and I will add, reader, for your encouragement,
if it be your case, several, who now are in the number of the most established,
cheerful, and useful Christians. And I hope divine grace will add you to the rest,
if “out of these depths you he enabled to cry unto God;” (
5. Let it not be imagined, that it is in any neglect of that blessed Spirit, whose office it is to be the great Comforter, that I now attempt to reason you out of this disconsolate frame; for it is as the great source or reason, that he deals with rational creatures; and it is in the use of rational means and considerations that he may most justly be expected to operate. Give me leave, therefore, to address myself calmly to you, and to ask you, what reason you have for all these passionate complaints and accusations against yourself? What reason have you to suggest that your case is singular, when so many have told you they have felt the same? What reason have you to conclude so hardly against yourself, when the Gospel speaks in such favorable terms? Or, what reason to imagine, that the gracious things it says are not intended for you? You know, indeed, more of the corruption of your own heart, than you know of the hearts or others; and you make a thousand charitable excuses for their visible failings and infirmities, which you make not for your own. And it may be, some of those whom you admire as eminent saints when compared with you, are on their part humbling themselves in the dust, as unworthy to be numbered among the least of God's people, and wishing themselves like you; in whom they think they see much more good, and much less of evil, than in themselves.
6. But to suppose the worst, what if you were really the
vilest sinner that ever lived upon the face of the earth? What if “your iniquities
had gone up into the heavens” every day, and “your transgressions had reached unto
the clouds,” (
7. Gloomy as your apprehensions are, I would ask you plainly,
do you in your conscience think that Christ is not able to save you? What! is he
not “able to save, even to the uttermost, them that come unto God by him?” (
8. If, therefore, you are already discouraged and terrified
at the greatness of your sins, do not add to their weight and number that one greater,
and worse than all the rest, a distrust of the faithfulness and grace of the blessed
Redeemer. Do not, so far as in you lies, oppose all the purposes of his love to
you. O distressed soul! whom dost thou dread? To whom dost thou tremble to approach?
Is there any thing so terrible in a crucified Redeemer, in the Lamb that was slain?
If thou carriest thy soul, almost sinking under the burden of its guilt, to lay
it down at his feet, what dost thou offer him, but the spoil which he bled and died
to recover and possess? And did he purchase it so dearly, that he might reject it
with disdain? Go to him directly, and fall down in his presence, and plead that
misery of thine, which thou hast now been pleading in a contrary view, as an engagement
to your own soul to make the application, and as an argument with the compassionate
Savior to receive you. Go, and be assured, that “where sin hath abounded, there
grace shall much more abound.” (
Reflections on these Encouragements, ending in an humble and earnest Application to Christ for Mercy.
“O my soul! what sayest thou to these things? Is there
not at least a possibility of help from Christ? And is there a possibility of help
any other way? Is any other name given under heaven, whereby we can be saved? I
know there is none. (
“Blessed Jesus, I present myself unto thee, as a wretched
creature, driven indeed by necessity to do it. For surely, were not that necessity
urgent and absolute, I should not dare, for very shame, to appear in thine holy
and majestic presence. I am fully convinced that my sins and my follies have been
inexcusably great, more than I can express, more than I can conceive. I feel a source
of sin in my corrupt and degenerate nature, which pours out iniquity as a fountain
sends out its water, and makes me a burden and a terror to myself. Such aggravations
have attended my transgressions, that it looks like presumption so much as to ask
pardon for them. And yet, would it not be greater presumption to say, that they
exceed thy mercy, and the efficacy of thy blood; to say, that thou host power and
grace enough to pardon and save only sinners of a lower order, while such as I lie
out of thy reach? Preserve me from that blasphemous imagination! Preserve me from
that unreasonable suspicion! Lord, thou canst do all things, neither is there any
thought of mine heart withholden from thee. (
“Spurn me not away, O Lord! from thy presence, nor be offended
when I presume to lay hold on thy royal robe, and say that I cannot and will not
let thee go till my suit is granted! (
1. Transient impressions liable to be mistaken for conversion, which would be a fatal error.—2. General scheme for self-examination.—3. Particular inquiries—what views there have been of sin?—4. What views there have been of Christ?—5. As to the need the soul has of him;—6. And its willingness to receive him with a due surrender of heart to his service.—7. Nothing short of this sufficient. The soul submitting to Divine examination the sincerity of its faith and repentance.
1. IN consequence of all the serious things which have been said in the former
chapters, I hope it will be no false presumption to imagine that some religious
impressions may be made on hearts which had never felt them before; or may be revived
where they have formerly grown cold and languid. Yet I am very sensible, and I desire
that you may be so, how great danger there is of self-flattery on this important
head, and how necessary it is to caution men against too hasty a conclusion that
they are really converted, because they have felt some warm emotions on their minds,
and have reformed the gross irregularities of their former conduct. A mistake here
may be infinitely fatal; it may prove the occasion of that false peace which shall
lead a man to bless himself in his own heart, and to conclude himself secure, while
“all the threatenings and curses of God's law” are sounding in his ears, and lie
indeed directly against him: (
2. Now this depends upon the sincerity of your faith in Christ, when faith is taken in the largest extent, as explained above: that is, as comprehending repentance, and that steady purpose of new and universal obedience, of which, wherever it is real, faith will assuredly be the vital principle. Therefore, to assist you in judging of your state, give me leave to ask you, or rather to entreat you to ask yourself, what views you have had, and now have, of sin and of Christ? and what your future purposes are with regard to your conduct in the remainder of life that may lie before you? I shall not reason largely upon the several particulars I suggest under these heads, but rather refer you to your own reading and observation, to judge how agreeable they are to the word of God, the great rule by which our characters must quickly be tried, and out eternal state unalterably determined.
3. Inquire seriously, in the first place, “what views you
have had of sin, and what sentiments you have felt in your soul with regard to it?”
There was a time when it wore a flattering aspect, and made a fair, enchanting appearance,
so that all your heart was charmed with it, and it was the very business of your
life to practice it. But you have since been undeceived. You have felt it “bite
like a serpent, and sting like an adder.” (
4. Permit me also farther to inquire, “what your views of Christ have been? What think you of him, and your concern with him?” Have you been fully convinced that there must be a correspondence settled between him and your soul? And do you see and feel, that you are not only to pay him a kind of distant homage, and transient compliment, as a very wise, benevolent, and excellent person, for whose name and memory you have a reverence; but that, as he lives and reigns, as he is ever near you, and always observing you, so you must look to him, must approach him, must humbly transact business with him, and that business of the highest importance, on which your salvation depends?
5. Yon have been brought to inquire, “Wherewith shall I
come before the Lord, and bow myself before the most high God? (
6. Our Lord says, “Look unto me, and be ye saved.” (
7. But if you are a stranger to these experiences, and
to this temper which I have now described, the great work is yet undone: you are
an impenitent and unbelieving sinner, and “the wrath of God abideth on you.” (
The soul submitting to Divine Examination the Sincerity of its Repentance and Faith.
Lord God! thou searchest all hearts. and triest the reins
of the children of men! (
“O blessed God! if there be any thing wanting towards constituting me a sincere Christian, discover it to me, and work it in me! Beat down, I beseech thee, every false and presumptuous hope, how costly soever that building may have been which it thus laid in ruins, and how proud soever I may have been of its vain ornaments! Let me know the worst of my case, be that knowledge edge ever so distressing; and if there be remaining danger, O let my heart be fully sensible of it, sensible while yet there is a remedy!
“If there be any secret sin yet lurking in my soul, which
I have not sincerely renounced, discover it to me, and rend it out of my heart,
though it may have shot its roots ever so deep, and have wrapped them all around
it, so that every nerve shall be pained by the separation! Tear it away, O Lord,
by a hand graciously severe! And by degrees, yea, Lord, by speedy advances, go on,
I beseech thee, to perfect what is still lacking in my faith. (
1, 2. The importance of the case engages to a more particular survey what manner of spirit we are of.—3. Accordingly the Christian temper is described, by some general views of it, as a new and divine temper.—4. As resembling that of Christ.—5. And as engaging us to be spiritually minded, and to walk by faith.—6. A plan of the remainder.—7. In which the Christian temper is more particularly considered with regard to the blessed God: as including fear, affection, and obedience.—8, 9. Faith and love to Christ.—10. Joy in Him.—11-13. And a proper temper towards the Holy Spirit, particularly as a spirit of adoption and of courage.—14. With regard to ourselves; as including preference of the soul to the body, humility, purity.—15. Temperance.—16. Contentment.—17. And Patience.—18. With regard to our fellow creatures; as including Love.—19. Meekness.—20. Peaceableness.—21. Mercy.—22. Truth.—23. And candor in judging.—24. General qualifications of each branch.—25. Such as Sincerity.—26. Constancy.—27. Tenderness.—28. Zeal.—29. And Prudence.—30. These things should frequently be recollected.—A review of all in a scriptural prayer.
1. WHEN I consider the infinite importance of eternity, I find it exceedingly difficult to satisfy myself in any thing which I can say to men, where their eternal interests are concerned. I have given you a view, I hope I may truly say, a just as well as a faithful view, of a truly Christian temper already. Yet, for your farther assistance, I would offer it to your consideration in various points of light, that you maybe assisted in judging of what you are and what you ought to be. And in this I aim, not only at your conviction, if you are yet a stranger to real religion, but at your farther edification, if, by the grace of God, you are by this time experimentally acquainted with it. Happy you will be, happy beyond expression, if, as you go on from one article to another, you can say, “This is my temper and character.” Happy in no inconsiderable degree, if you can say, “This is what I desire, what I pray for, and what I pursue, in preference to every opposite view, though it be not what I have as yet attained.”
2. Search, then, and try “what manner of spirit you are
of” (
3. Know in the general, “that, if you are a Christian indeed,
you have been ‘renewed in the spirit of your mind,’ (
4. For your farther assistance, inquire “whether ‘the same
mind be in you which was always in Christ.’ (
5. Let me add, “If you are a Christian, you are in the
main ‘spiritually-minded,’ as knowing ‘that is life and peace;’ whereas, ‘to be
carnally-minded is death.'” (
6. These are general views of the Christian temper on which I would entreat you to examine yourself; and now I would go on to lead you into a survey of the grand branches of it, as relating to God, our neighbor, and ourselves; and of those qualifications which must attend each of these branches; such as sincerity, constancy, tenderness, zeal and prudence. And I beg your diligent attention, while I lay before you a few hints with regard to each, by which you may judge the better, both of your state and your duty.
7. Examine, then, I entreat you. “the temper of your heart
with regard to the blessed God.” Do you find there a reverential fear, and a supreme
love and veneration for his incomparable excellencies, a desire after him as the
highest good, and a cordial gratitude towards him as your supreme benefactor? Can
you trust his care? Can you credit his testimony? Do you desire to pay an unreserved
obedience to all that he commands, and an humble submission to all the disposals
of his providence? Do you design his glory as your noblest end, and make it the
great business of your life to approve yourself to him? Is it your governing care
to imitate him, and to “serve him in spirit and in truth?” (
8. Faith in Christ I have already described at large, and therefore shall say nothing farther, either of that persuasion of his power and grace, which is the great foundation of it, or of that acceptance of Christ under all his characters, or that surrender of the soul into his hands, in which its peculiar and distinguishing nature consists.
9. If this faith in Christ be sincere, “it will undoubtedly
produce a love to him:” which will express itself in affectionate thoughts of him;
in strict fidelity to him; in a careful observation of his charge; in a regard to
his spirit, to his friends, and to his interests; in a reverence to the memorials
of his dying love which he has instituted; and in an ardent desire after that heavenly
world where he dwells, and where he will at length “have all his people to dwell
with him.” (
10. I may add, agreeably to the word or God, “that thus believing in Christ and loving him, you will also rejoice in him:” in his glorious design, and in his complete fitness to accomplish it; in the promises of his word, and in the privileges of his people. It will be matter of joy to you, that such a Redeemer has appeared in this world of ours; and your joy for yourself will be proportionable to the degree of clearness with which you discern your interest in him, and relation to him.
11. Let me farther lead you into some reflections on “the
temper of your heart towards the blessed Spirit.” If “we have not the Spirit of
Christ, we are none of his. (
12. Once more, “if you are a Christian indeed, you will be desirous to obtain the spirit of courage.” Amidst all that humility of soul to which you will be formed, you will wish to commence a hero in the cause of Christ, opposing, with a rigorous resolution, the strongest efforts of the powers of darkness, the inward corruptions of your own heart, and all the outward difficulties you may meet with in the way of your duty, while in the cause and in the strength or Christ you go on “conquering and to conquer.”
13. All these things may be considered as branches of godliness;
of that godliness which is “profitable unto all things,” and hath the “promise of
the life which now is, and of that which is to come.” (
14. Let me now farther lay before you some branches of
the Christian temper “which relate more immediately to ourselves.” And here, if
you are a Christian indeed, you will undoubtedly prefer the soul to the body, and
things eternal to those that are temporal. Conscious of the dignity and value of
your immortal part, you will come to a firm resolution to secure its happiness,
whatever is to be resigned, whatever is to be endured in that view. If you are a
real Christian, you will be so “clothed with humility.” (
15. With this is nearly allied “that amiable virtue of temperance” which will teach you to guard against such a use of meats and drinks as indisposes the body for the service of the soul; or such an indulgence in either, as will rob you of that precious jewel, your time, or occasion an expense beyond what your circumstances will admit, and beyond what will consist with what you owe to the cause of Christ, and those liberalities to the poor which your relation and theirs to God and each other will require. In short, you will guard against whatever has a tendency to increase a sensual disposition against whatever would alienate the soul from communion with God, and would diminish its zeal and activity in his service.
16. The divine philosophy of the blessed Jesus will also teach you “a contented temper.” It will moderate your desires of those worldly enjoyments after which many feel such an insatiable thirst, ever growing with indulgence and success. You will guard against an immoderate care about those things which would lead you into a forgetfulness of your heavenly inheritance. If Providence disappoint your undertakings, you will submit; if others be more prosperous you will not envy them, but rather will be thankful for what God is pleased to bestow upon them, as well as for what he gives you. No unlawful methods will be used to alter your present condition; and whatever it is, you will endeavor to make the best of it, remembering it is what infinite wisdom and goodness have appointed you, and that it is beyond all comparison better than you have deserved; yea, that the very deficiencies and inconveniences of it may conduce to the improvement of your future and complete happiness.
17. With contentment, if you are a disciple of Christ,
“you will join patience too,” and “in patience will possess your soul.” (
18. I have thus led you into a brief review of the Christian
temper, with respect to God and ourselves: permit me now to add, “that the Gospel
will teach you another set of very important lessons with respect to your fellow-creatures.”
They all are summed up in this, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;” (
19. The Gospel will also teach you “to put on meekness,”
(
20. With this is naturally connected “a peaceful disposition.”
If you are a Christian indeed, you will have such a value and esteem for peace,
as to endeavor to obtain, and to preserve it, “as much as lieth in you,” (
21. If you be yourselves indeed of that number, “you will
also put on bowels of mercy.” (
22. As a Christian, “you will also maintain truth inviolable,” not only in your solemn testimonies, when confirmed by an oath, but likewise in common conversation. You will remember, too, that your promises bring an obligation upon you, which you are by no means at liberty to break through. On the whole, you will be careful to keep a strict correspondence between your words and your actions, in such a manner as becomes a servant of the God of truth.
23. Once more, as, amidst the strictest care to observe
all the divine precepts, you will still find many imperfections on account of which
you will be obliged to pray, that “God would not enter into strict judgment with
you,” as well knowing “that in his sight you cannot be justified,” (
24. Having thus briefly illustrated the principal branches of the Christian temper and character, I shall conclude the representation. with reminding you of “some general qualifications which must be mingled with all, and give a tincture to each of them; such as sincerity, constancy, tenderness, zeal, and prudence.”
25. Always remember, that “sincerity is the very soul of
true religion.” A single intention to please God, and to approve ourselves to him,
must animate and govern all that we do in it. Under the influence of this principle
you will impartially inquire into every intimation of duty, and apply to the practice
of it so far as it is known to you. Your heart will be engaged in all you do. Your
conduct, in private and in secret, will be agreeable to your most public behavior.
A sense of the Divine authority will teach you “to esteem all God's precepts concerning
all things to be right, and to hate every false way.” (
26. Thus are you, “in simplicity and godly sincerity to
have your conversation in the world.” (
27. Again, so far as the Gospel prevails in your heart, “your spirit will be tender, and the stone will be transformed into flesh.” You will desire that your apprehensions of divine things may be quick, your affections ready to take proper impressions, your conscience always easily touched, and, on the whole, your resolutions pliant to the divine authority, and cordially willing to be, and to do whatever God shall appoint. You will have a tender regard to the word of God, a tender caution against sin, a tender guard against the snares of prosperity, a tender submission to God's afflicting hand: in a word, you will be tender wherever the divine honor is concerned; and careful, neither to do anything yourself; nor to allow any thing in another, so far as you can influence, by which God should be offended, or religion reproached.
28. Nay, more than all this, you will, so far as true Christianity
governs in your mind, “exert a holy zeal in the service of your Redeemer and your
Father.” You will be “zealously affected in every good thing,” (
29. And once more, you will desire “to use the prudence which God bath given you,” in judging what is, in present circumstances, your duty to God, your neighbor, and yourself; what will be, on the whole, the most acceptable manner of discharging it, and how far it may be most advantageously pursued; as remembering that he is indeed the wisest and the happiest man, who, by constant attention of thought, discovers the greatest opportunities of doing good, and with ardent and animated resolution breaks through every opposition, that he may improve those opportunities.
30. This is such a view of the Christian temper as could conveniently be thrown within such narrow limits; and I hope it may assist many in the great and important work of self-examination. Let your own conscience answer, how far you have already attained it, and how far you desire it; and let the principal topics here touched upon be fixed in your memory and in your heart, that you may be mentioning them before God in your daily addresses to the throne of grace, in order to receive from him all necessary assistance for bringing them into practice.
A Prayer, chiefly in Scripture Language, in which the several Branches of the Christian temper are more briefly enumerated in the order laid down above.
“Blessed God, I humbly adore thee as the great Father of
lights, and the Giver of every good and every perfect gift. (
“May I, O Lord, be renewed in the spirit of my mind. (
“May thy grace, O Lord, which hath appeared unto all men,
and appeared to me with such glorious evidence and lustre, effectually teach me
to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly.
(
“Teach me, O Lord, seriously to consider the nature of
my own soul, and to set a suitable value upon it. May I labor, not only or chiefly,
for the meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth to eternal life. (
“Form me, O Lord, I beseech thee, to a proper temper toward
my fellow-creatures! May I love my neighbor as myself, (
“I entreat thee, O Lord, to work in me all those qualifications
of the Christian temper which may render it peculiarly acceptable to thee, and may
prove ornamental to my profession in the world. Renew, I beseech thee, a right spirit
within me, (
1. Forward resolutions may prove ineffectual.—2. Yet religion is not to be given up in despair, but Divine grace to be sought.—3. A general view of its reality and necessity, from reason.—4. And Scripture.—5. The spirit to be sought as the spirit of Christ.—6. And in that view the great strength of the soul.—7. The encouragement there is to hope for the communication of it.—8. A concluding exhortation to pray for it. And an humble address to God pursuant to that exhortation.
I HAVE now laid before you a plan of that temper and character which the Gospel
requires, and which, if you are a true Christian, you will desire and pursue. Surely
there is, in the very description of it, something which must powerfully strike
every mind which has any taste for what is truly beautiful and excellent. And I
question not, but you, my dear render, will feel some impression of it upon your
heart. You will immediately form some lively purpose of endeavoring after it; and
perhaps you may imagine, you shall certainly and quickly attain to it. You see how
reasonable it is, and what desirable consequences necessarily attend it, and the
aspect which it bears on your present enjoyment and your future happiness; and therefore
are determined you will act accordingly. But give me leave seriously to remind you
how many there have been, (would to God that several such instances had not happened
within the compass of my own personal observation!) whose goodness hath been “like
a morning cloud and the early dew,” which soon “passeth away.” (
2. What then is to be done? Is the convinced sinner to
lie down in despair? to say, “I am a helpless captive, and by exerting myself with
violence, may break my limbs sooner than my bonds, and increase the evil I would
remove?” God forbid! You cannot, I am persuaded, be so little acquainted with Christianity,
as not to know “that the doctrine of divine assistance bears a very considerable
part in it.” You have often, I doubt not, read of “the law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus, as making us free from the law of sin and death,” (
3. Reason, indeed, as well as the whole tenor of Scripture,
agrees with this.*.’ The whole created world has a necessary dependence on God:
from him ever, the knowledge of “natural things” is derived, (
4. Accordingly, if you give yourself leave to consult Scripture
on this head, (and if you would live like a Christian, you must be consulting it
every day, and forming your notions and actions by it) you will see that the whole
tenor of it teaches that dependence upon God which I am now recommending. You will
particularly see, that the production of religion in the soul is matter of divine
promise; that when it has been effected, Scripture ascribes it to a divine agency;
and that the increase of grace and piety in the heart of those who are truly regenerate,
is also spoken of as the word of God, who begins and “carries it on until the day
of Jesus Christ.” (
5. Inconsequence of all these views, lay it down to yourself
as a most certain principle, that no attempt in religion is to be made in your own
strength. If you forget this, and God purposes finally to save you, he will humble
you by repeated disappointments, till he teach you better. You will be ashamed of
one scheme and effort, and of another, till you settle upon the true basis. He will
also probably show you, not only in the general, that your strength is to be derived
from heaven, but particularly that it is the office of the blessed Spirit to purify
the heart, and to invigorate holy resolutions; and also that, in all these operations,
he is to be considered as the Spirit of Christ, working under his direction, and
as a vital communication from him under the character of the great Head of the Church,
the grand Treasurer and Dispenser of these holy and beneficial influences. On which
account it is called “the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,” (
6. Resolve, therefore, strenuously for the service of God,
and for the care of your soul: but “resolve modestly and humbly.” Even “the youths
shall faint and be weary, and the young men utterly fall; but they who wait on the
Lord” are the persons who “renew their strength.” (
7. On the other hand, let not your dependence upon this
Spirit, and your sense of your own weakness and insufficiency for any thing spiritually
good, without his continual aid, discourage you from devoting yourself to God, and
engaging in a religious life, considering “what abundant reason you have to hope
that these gracious influences will be communicated to you.” The light of nature,
at the same time that it teaches the need we have of help from God in a virtuous
course, may lead us to conclude that so benevolent a Being, who bestows on the most
unworthy and careless part of mankind so many blessings, will take a peculiar pleasure
in communicating to such as humbly ask them, those gracious assistances which may
form their deathless souls into his own resemblance, and fit them for that happiness
to which their rational nature is suited, and for which it was in its first constitution
intended. The word of God will much more abundantly confirm such a hope. You there
hear divine wisdom crying even to those who bad long trifled with her instructions,
“Turn ye at my reproof, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you” (
8. Go forth, therefore, with humble cheerfulness, to the
prosecution of all the duties of the Christian life. Go and prosper “in the strength
of the Lord, making mention of his righteousness, and of his only.” (
An humble Supplication for the Influences of Divine Grace, to form and strengthen Religion in the Soul.
“Blessed God! I sincerely acknowledge before thee my own
weakness and insufficiency for any thing that is spiritually good. I have experienced
it a thousand times; and yet my foolish heart would again ‘trust itself,’ (
“Abundantly do I rejoice, O Lord, in the kind assurances
which thou givest me of thy readiness to bestow libera1ly and richly so great a
benefit. I do therefore, according to thy condescending invitation, come with boldness
to the throne of grace, that I may find grace to help in every time of need. (
“Be surety, O Lord! unto thy servant for good. (
“May I be so joined to Christ Jesus my Lord, as to be one
spirit with him, (
1. Christ has instructed his disciples to expect opposition and difficulties in the way to heaven.—2. Therefore a more particular view of them is taken, as arising from the remainder of indwelling sin.—3. From the world, and especially from former sinful companions.—4. From the temptations and suggest ions of Satan.—5, 6. The Christian is animated and encouraged, by various considerations, to oppose them; particularly by the presence of God; the aids of Christ; the example of others, who, though feeble, have conquered; and the crown of glory to be expected.—7. Therefore, though apostacy be infinitely fatal, the Christian may press on cheerfully. Accordingly the soul, alarmed by these view; is represented as committing itself to God, in the prayer which concludes the chapter.
1. WITH the utmost propriety has our Divine Master required us “to strive to
enter in at the strait gate,” (
2. Let your conscience answer, whether do you not carry
about with you a corrupt and degenerate nature? You will, I doubt not, feel its
effects. You will feel, in the language of the apostle, who speaks of it as the
case of Christians themselves, “the flesh lusting against the spirit, so that you
will not be able,” in all instances, “to do the things that you would.” (
3. You must also lay your account to find great difficulties
from the world, from its manners, customs, and examples. The things of the world
will hinder you one way, and the men of the world another. Perhaps you may meet
with much less assistance in religion than you are now ready to expect from good
men. The present generation of them is generally so cautious to avoid every thing
that looks like ostentation, and there seems something so insupportably dreadful
in the charge of enthusiasm, that you will find most of your Christian brethren
studying to conceal their virtue and their piety, much more than others study to
conceal their vices and their profaneness. But while, unless your situation be singularly
happy, you meet with very little aid one way, you will, no doubt, find great opposition
another. The enemies of religion will be bold and active in their assaults, while
many any or its friends seem unconcerned; and one sinner will probably exert himself
more to corrupt you, than ten Christians to secure and save you. They who have been
once your companions in sin, will try a thousand artful methods to allure you back
again to their forsaken society: some of them perhaps with an appearance of tender
fondness, and many more by the almost irresistible art of ridicule: that boasted
test of right and wrong, as it has been wantonly called, will be tried upon you,
perhaps without any regard to decency, or even to common humanity. You will be derided
and insulted. by those whose esteem and affection you naturally desire; and may
find much more proprietary than you imagine, in that expression of the apostle,
“the trial of cruel mockings,” (
4. And it is not at all improbable, that in the meantime Satan may be doing his utmost to discourage and distress you. He will, no doubt, raise in your imagination the most tempting idea of the gratifications, the indulgences, and the companions you are obliged to forsake; and give you the most discouraging and terrifying view of the difficulties, severities, and dangers, which are, as he will persuade you, inseparable from religion. He will not fail to represent God himself, the fountain of goodness and happiness, as a hard Master, whom it is impossible to please. He will perhaps fill you with the most distressful fears, and with cruel and insolent malice, glory over you as his slave, when he knows you are the Lord's freeman. At one time he will study, by his vile suggestions, to interrupt you in your duties, as if they gave him an additional power over you. At another time he will endeavor to weary you of your devotion, by influencing you to prolong it to an immoderate and tedious length, lest his power should be exerted upon you when it ceases. In short, this practiced deceiver has artifices which it would require whole volumes to display, with particular cautions against each. And he will follow you with malicious arts and pursuits to the very end of your pilgrimage, and will leave no method unattempted which may be likely to weaken your hands and to sadden your heart, that if through the gracious interposition of God, he cannot prevent your final happiness, he may at least impair your peace and your usefulness as you are passing to it.
5. This is what the people of God feel, and what you will
feel in some degree or other, if you have your lot and portion among them. But,
after all, be not discouraged: Christ is the “Captain of your salvation.” (
6. Amidst all the opposition of earth and hell, look upward
and look forward, and you will feel your heart animated by the view. Your General
is near; he is near to aid you, he is near to reward you. When you feel the temptation
press the hardest, think of him who endured even the cross itself for your rescue.
View the fortitude of your Divine Leader, and endeavor to march on in his steps.
Hearken to his voice, for he proclaims it aloud, “Behold, I come quickly, and my
reward is with me.” (
7. It is indeed true, “that such as turn aside to crooked
paths” will be “led forth with the workers of iniquity,” to that terrible execution
which divine justice is preparing for them, (
The Soul, alarmed by a sense of these difficulties, committing itself to Divine Protection.
“Blessed God! it is to thine Almighty power that I flee.
Behold me surrounded with difficulties and dangers, and stretch out thine omnipotent
arm to save me, ‘O thou that savest by thy right hand them that put their trust
in thee, from those that rise up against them.’ (
Keep me, O Lord, now, and at all times! Never let me think, whatever age or station I attain, that I am strong enough to maintain the combat without thee! Nor let me imagine myself, even in this infancy of religion in my soul, So weak that thou canst not support me! Wherever thou leadest me, there let me follow; and whatever station thou appointest me, there let me labor: there let me maintain the holy war against all the enemies of my salvation, and rather fall in it, than basely abandon it.
“And thou, O glorious Redeemer; ‘the Captain of my salvation,’
the great ‘Author and Finisher of my faith,’ (
1. The advantages of such a surrender are briefly suggested.— 2, 3, 4. Advice for the manner of doing it; that it be deliberate, cheerful, entire, perpetual.—5. And that it be expressed with some affecting solemnity.—6. A written instrument to be signed and declared before God, at some season of extraordinary devotion, reposed. The chapter concludes with a specimen of such an instrument, together with an abstract of it, to be used with proper and requisite alterations.
1. AS I would hope, that, notwithstanding all the forms of opposition which do or may arise, yet in consideration of those noble supports and motives which have been mentioned in the two preceding chapters, you are heartily determined for the service of God, I would now urge you to make a solemn surrender of yourself unto it. Do not only form such a purpose in your heart, but expressly declare it in the divine presence. Such solemnity in the manner of doing it is certainly very reasonable in the nature of things; and surely it is highly expedient for binding to the Lord such a treacherous heart as we know our own to be. It will be pleasant to reflect upon it, as done at such and such a time, with such and such circumstances of place and method, which may serve to strike the memory and the conscience. The sense of the vows of God which are upon you, will strengthen you in an hour of temptation; and the recollection may also encourage your humble boldness and freedom in applying to him, under the character and relation of your Covenant God and Father, as future exigencies may require.
2. Do it therefore; but do it deliberately. Consider what
it is that you are to do, and consider how reasonable it is that it should be done,
and done cordially and cheerfully; “not by constraint, but willingly,” (
3. The surrender will also be as entire as it is cheerful and immediate. All you are, and all you have, and all you can do, your time, your possessions, your influence over others, will be devoted to him, that for the future it may be employed entirety for him, and to his glory. You will desire to keep back nothing from him; but will seriously judge that you are then in the truest and noblest sense your own, when you are most entirely his. You are also, on this great occasion, to resign all that you have to the disposal of his wise and gracious providence; not only owning his power, but consenting to his undoubted right to do what he pleases with you, and all that he has given you; and declaring a hearty approbation of all that he has done, and of all that he may farther do.
4. Once more, let me remind you that this surrender must be perpetual. Yon must give yourself up to God in such a manner as never more to pretend to be your own; for the rights of God are, like his nature, eternal an immutable; and with regard to his rational creatures, are the same yesterday, today, and for ever.
5. I would farther advise and urge that this dedication
may be made with all possible solemnity. Do it in express words. And perhaps it
may be in many cases most expedient, as many pious divines have recommended, to
do it in writing. Set your hand and seal to it, “that on such a day of such a month
and year, and at such a place, on full consideration and serious reflection, you
came to this happy resolution, that, whatsoever others might do, you would serve
the Lord.” (
6. Such an instrument you may, if you please draw up for
yourself; or, if you rather choose to have it drawn up to your hand, you may find
something of this nature below, in which you may easily make such alterations as
shall suit your circumstances, where there is any thing peculiar in them. But whatever
you use, weigh it well, meditate attentively upon it, that you may “not be rash
with your mouth to utter any thing before God.” (
An Example of Self-Dedication.
“Eternal and unchangeable Jehovah! thou great Creator of heaven and earth, and adorable Lord of angels and men, I desire, with the deepest humiliation and abasement of soul, to fall down at this time in thine awful presence, and earnestly pray that thou wilt penetrate 'my heart with a suitable sense of thine unutterable and inconceivable glories.
“Trembling may justly take bold upon me, (
“To thee therefore do I now come, invited by the name of
thy Son, and trusting in his righteousness and grace. Laying myself at thy feet,
‘with shame and confusion of face,’ and ‘smiting, upon my breast,’ I say, with the
humble publican, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner!’ (
“Blessed God! it is with the utmost solemnity that I make
this surrender of myself unto thee. ‘Hear, O heavens! and give ear, O earth! I avouch
the Lord this day to be my God, (
“Nor do I only consecrate all that I am and have to thy service, but I also most humbly resign, and submit to thy holy and sovereign will, myself, and all that I can call mine. I leave, O Lord! to thy management and direction, all I possess, and all I wish; and set every enjoyment and every interest before thee, to be disposed of as thou pleasest. Continue or remove what thou hast given me; bestow or refuse what I imagine I want, as thou, Lord, shalt see good! And though I dare not say I will never repine, yet I hope I may venture to say, that I will labor not only to submit, but to acquiesce; not only to bear what thou doest in thy most afflictive dispensations, but to consent to it, and to praise thee for it; contentedly resolving, in all thou appointest for me, my will into thine, and looking on myself as nothing, and on thee, O God! as the great eternal ALL, whose word ought to determine every thing, and whose government ought to be the joy of the whole rational creation.
“Use me, O Lord! I beseech thee, as the instrument of thy
glory; and honor me so far, as, either by doing or suffering what thou shalt appoint,
to bring some revenue of praise to thee, and of benefit to the world in which I
dwell! And may it please thee, from this day forward, to number me among thy peculiar
people! that I may ‘no more be a stranger and foreigner, but a fellow-citizen with
the saints, and of the household of God!’ (
“Dispose my affairs, O God! in a manner which may be most
subservient to thy glory and my own truest happiness; and when I have done and borne
thy will upon earth, call me from hence at what time and in what manner thou pleasest:
only grant, that in my dying moments, and in the near prospect of eternity, I may
remember these my engagements to thee, and may employ my latest breath in thy service.
And do thou, Lord, when thou seest the agonies of dissolving nature upon me, remember
this covenant too, even though I should then be incapable of recollecting it. Look
down, O my heavenly Father! with a pitying eye, upon thy languishing, thy dying
child; place thine everlasting arms underneath me for my support; put strength and
confidence into my departing spirit, and receive it to the embraces of thine everlasting
love. Welcome it to the abodes of them that sleep in Jesus, (
“And when I am thus numbered among the dead, and all the interests of mortality are over with me for ever, if this solemn memorial should chance to fall into the hands of my surviving friends, may it be the means of making serious impression on their minds. May they read it, not only as my language, but as their own; and learn to fear the Lord my God, and with me, to put their trust under the shadow of his wing for time and for eternity! And may they also learn to adore with me that grace which inclines our hearts to enter into the covenant, and condescends to admit us into it when so inclined; ascribing, with me, and with all the nations of the redeemed, to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, that glory, honor, and praise, which is so justly due to each divine person for the part he bears “ in this illustrious work. Amen.
N.B. For the sake of those who may think the preceding Form of Self-Dedication too long to be transcribed, as it is possible many will, I have, at the desire of a much esteemed friend, added the following Abridgment of it, which should, by all means, be attentively weighed in every clause before it is executed; and any word or phrase which may seem liable to exception, changed, that the whole heart may consent to it all.
“Eternal and ever-blessed God! I desire to present myself before thee, with the deepest humiliation and abasement of soul, sensible how unworthy such a sinful worm is to appear before the holy Majesty of heaven, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and especially on such an occasion as this, ever to dedicate myself, without reserve, to thee. But the scheme and plan is thine own. Thine infinite condescension hath offered it by thy Son, and thy grace hath inclined my heart to accept of it.
“I come, therefore, acknowledging myself to have been a great offender; smiting upon my breast, and saying with the humble publican, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner!’ I come, invited by the name of thy Son, and wholly trusting in his perfect righteousness, entreating that for his sake thou wilt be merciful to my unrighteousness, and wilt no more remember my sins. Receive, I beseech thee, thy revolted creature, who is now convinced of thy right to him, and desires nothing so much as that he may be thine
“This day do I, with the utmost solemnity, surrender myself to thee. I renounce all former lords that have had dominion over me; and I consecrate to thee all that I am, and all that I have; the faculties of my mind, the members of my body, my worldly possessions, my time, and my influence over others; to be all used entirely for thy glory, and resolutely employed in obedience to thy commands, as long as thou continuest me in life; with an ardent desire and humble resolution to continue thine through all the endless ages of eternity; ever holding myself in an attentive posture to observe the first intimations of thy will, and ready to spring forward with zeal and joy to the immediate execution of it.
“To thy direction also I resign myself, and all I am and have, to be disposed of by thee in such a manner as thou shalt in thine infinite wisdom judge most subservient to the purposes of thy glory. To thee I leave the management of all events, and say without reserve, ‘Not my will, but thine be done,’ rejoicing with a loyal heart in thine unlimited government, as what ought to be the delight of the whole rational creation.
“Use me, O Lord, I beseech thee, as an instrument of thy service! number me among thy peculiar people! Let me be washed in the blood of thy dear Son! Let me be clothed with his righteousness! Let me be sanctified by his Spirit! Transform me more and more into his image! Impart to me through him, all needful influences of thy purifying, cheering, and comforting Spirit! And let my life be spent under those influences, and in the light of thy gracious countenance, as my Father and my God!
“And when the solemn hour of death comes, may I remember
thy covenant, ‘well ordered in all things and sure, as all my salvation and all
my desire,’ (
“And if any surviving friend should, when I am in the dust, meet with this memorial of my solemn transactions with thee, may he make the engagement his own; and do thou graciously admit him to partake in all the blessings of thy covenant, through Jesus the great Mediator of it; to whom, with thee, O Father, and thy Holy Spirit, be ever-lasting praises ascribed, by all the millions who are thus saved by thee, and by all those other celestial spirits in whose work and blessedness thou shalt call them to share! Amen.”
1. If the reader has received the Ordinance of Baptism, and; as above recommended, dedicated himself to God.—2. He is urged to ratify that engagement at the Table of the Lord.— 3. From a view of the ends for which that Ordinance was instituted.—4. Whence its usefulness is strongly inferred.—5. And from the Authority of Christ's Appointment; which is solemnly pressed on the conscience.—6. Objections from apprehensions of Unfitness.—7. Weakness of grace, &c. briefly answered.—8. At least, serious thoughtfulness on this subject is absolutely insisted upon.—9. The chapter is closed with a prayer for one who desires to attend, yet finds himself pressed with remaining doubts.
1. I hope this chapter will find you, by a most express consent, become one of God's covenant people, solemnly and most cordially devoted to his service; and it is my hearty prayer, that the engagements you have made on earth may be ratified in heaven. But for your farther instruction and edification; give me leave to remind you, that our Lord Jesus Christ hath appointed a peculiar manner of expressing our regard to him, by commemorating his dying love, which, though it does not forbid any other proper way of doing it, must by no means be set aside or neglected for any human methods, how prudent and expedient soever they may appear to us.
2. Our Lord has wisely ordained, that the advantages of society should be brought into religion; and as, by his command, professed Christians assemble together for other acts of public worship, so He has been pleased to institute a social ordinance, in which a whole assembly of them is to come to his table, and there to eat the same bread; and drink the same cup. And this they are to do, as a token of their affectionate remembrance of his dying love, of their solemn surrender of themselves to God, and of their sincere love to one another, and to all their fellow-Christians.
3. That these are indeed the great ends of the Lord's supper,
I shall not now stay to argue at large. You need only read what the apostle Paul
hath written in the tenth and eleventh chapters or his first epistle to the Corinthians,
to convince you fully of this. He there expressly tells us, that our Lord commanded
“the bread to be eaten,” and “the wine to be drunk, in remembrance of him,” (
4. And let me also urge it, from the apparent tendency
which it has to promote your truest advantage. You are setting out in the Christian
life; and I have reminded you at large of the opposition you must expect to meet
in it. It is the love of Christ which must animate you to break through all. What
then can be more desirable than to bear about with you a lively sense of it? and
what can awaken that sense more than the contemplation of his death as there represented?
Who can behold the bread broken, and the wine poured out, and not reflect how the
body of the blessed Jesus was even torn in pieces by his sufferings, and his sacred
blood poured forth like water on the ground? Who can think of the heart-rending
agonies of the Son of God as the price of our redemption and salvation, and not
feel his soul melted with tenderness, and inflamed with grateful affection? What
an exalted view doth it give us of the blessings of the Gospel-covenant, when we
consider it as established in the blood of God's only-begotten Son! And when we
make our approach to God as our heavenly Father, and give up ourselves to his service
in this solemn manner, what an awful tendency has it to fix the conviction, that
we are not our own, being bought with such a price! (
5. It is also the express institution and command of our
blessed Redeemer that the members of such societies should be tenderly solicitous
for the spiritual welfare of each other: and that, on the whole, his churches may
be kept pure and holy, that they should “withdraw themselves from every brother
that walketh disorderly;” (
6. I entreat you, therefore, and if I may presume to say it, in his name and by his authority, I charge it on your conscience, that this precept of our dying Lord go not, as it were, for nothing with you; but that, if you indeed love him, you keep this, as well as the rest of his commandments. I know you may be ready to form objections. I have elsewhere debated many of the chief of them at large, and I hope not without some good effect.* The great question is that which relates to your being prepared for a worthy attendance; and in conjunction with what has been said before, I think that may be brought to a very short issue. Have you, so far as you know your own heart, been sincere in that deliberate surrender of yourself to God, through Christ, which I recommended in the former chapter? If you have, whether it were with or without the particular form or manner of doing it there recommended, you have certainly taken hold of the covenant, and therefore should devote yourself to God, in obedience to all his commands. And there is not, and cannot be, any other view of the ordinance in which you can have any further objection to it. If you desire to remember Christ's death; if you desire to renew the dedication of yourself to God through him; if you would list yourself among his people; if you would love them, and do them good according to your ability, and, on the whole, would not allow yourself in the practice of anyone known sin, or in the omission of any one known duty, then I will venture confidently to say, not only that you will be welcome to the ordinance, but that it was instituted for such as you.
7. As for other objections, a few words may suffice by way of reply. The weakness of the religious principle in your soul, if it be really implanted there, is so far from being an argument against your seeking such a method to strengthen it, that it rather strongly enforces the necessity of doing it. The neglect of this solemnity, by so many that call themselves Christians, should rather engage you so much the more to distinguish your zeal for an institution in this respect so much slighted and injured. And as for the fears of aggravated guilt, in case of apostacy, do not indulge them. This may, by the divine blessing, be an effectual remedy against the evil you fear; and it is certain, that after what you must already have known and felt, before you could be brought into your present situation, (on the supposition I have now been making) there can be no room to think or a retreat; no room, even for the wretched hope of being less miserable than the generality of those that have perished. Your scheme, therefore, must be to make your salvation as sure, and to make it as glorious, as possible; and I know not any appointment of our blessed Redeemer which may have a more comfortable aspect upon that blessed end, than this which I flat recommending to you.
8. One thing I would at least insist upon, and I see not with what face it can be denied. I mean, that you should take this matter into serious consideration; that you should diligently inquire, “whether you have reason in your conscience to believe it is the will of God you should now approach to the ordinance or not;” and that you should continue your reflections, your inquiries, and your prayers, till you find farther encouragement to come, if that encouragement be hitherto wanting. For of this be assured, that a state in which you are on the whole unfit to approach this ordinance, is a state in which you are destitute of the necessary preparations for death and heaven; in which, therefore, if you would not allow yourselves to slumber on the brink or destruction, you ought not to rest so much as one single day.
A Prayer for one who earnestly desires ins to approach the Table of the Lord, yet has some remaining doubts concerning his right to that solemn ordinance.
“BLESSED LORD! I adore thy wise and gracious appointments,
for the edification of thy church in holiness and in love. I thank thee that thou
hast commanded thy servants to form themselves into churches; and I adore my gracious
Savior, who hath instituted, as with his dying breath, the holy solemnity of his
Supper, to be through all ages a memorial of his dying love, and a bond of that
union which it is his sovereign pleasure that his people should preserve. I hope
thou, Lord, art witness to the sincerity with which I desire to give myself up to
thee; and that I may call thee to record on my soul, that, if I now hesitate about
this particular manner of doing it, it is not because I would allow myself to break
any of thy commands, or to slight any of thy favors. I trust thou knowest that my
present delay arises only from my uncertainty as to my duty, and a fear of profaning
holy things by an unworthy approach to them. Yet surely, O Lord! if thou hast given
me a reverence for thy command, a desire of communion with thee, and a willingness
to devote myself wholly to thy service, I may regard it as a token for good, that
thou art disposed to receive me, and that I am not wholly unqualified for an ordinance
which I so highly honor and so earnestly desire. I therefore make it my humble request
unto thee, O Lord! this day, that than wouldst graciously he pleased to instruct
me in my duty, and to teach me the way which I should take ‘Examine me, O Lord!
and prove me, try my reins and my heart!’ (
“And even now, as joined to thy church in spirit and in
love, though not in so express and intimate a bond as I could wish, would I heartily
pray that thy blessing may be on all thy people; that thou wouldst ‘feed thine heritage,
and lift them up for ever!’ (
1. A letter to a pious friend on this subject introduced here.—2. General plan of directions.—3. For the beginning of the day.—4. Lifting up the heart to God at our first awakening.—5, 10. Setting ourselves to the secret devotions of the morning, with respect to which particular advice is given.—11. For the progress of the day.—12. Directions are given concerning seriousness in devotion.—13. Diligence in business.—14. Prudence in recreations.—15. Observations of Providence.—16. Watchfulness against temptations.—17. Dependence on divine influence.—18. Government of the thoughts when in solitude.—19. Management of Discourse in company.—20. For the conclusion of the day.—21. With the secret devotions of the evening.—22, 23. Directions for self-examination at large.—24. Lying down with a proper temper.—25. Conclusion of the letter.—26. And of the chapter. With a serious view of death, proper to be taken at the close of the day.
1. I would hope, that upon serious consideration, self-examination, and prayer,
the reader has given himself up to God; and that his concern flow is to inquire,
how he may act according to the vows of God which are upon him. Now, for his farther
assistance here, besides the general view I have already given of the Christian
temper and character, I will propose some more particular directions relating to
maintaining that devout, spiritual, and heavenly character, which may, in the language
of Scripture, be called “a daily walking with God, or being in his fear all the
day long.” (
My dear Friend,
Since you desire my thoughts in writing, and at large, on the subject of our late conversation, viz. “By what particular methods, in our daily conduct, devotion and usefulness may be most happily maintained and secured “—I set myself with cheerfulness to recollect and digest the hints which I then gave you; hoping it may be of some service to you in your most important interests; and may also fix on my own mind a deeper sense of my obligations to govern my own life by the rules I offer to others. I esteem attempts of this kind among the pleasantest fruits, and the surest cements of friendship; and as I hope ours will last for ever, I am persuaded a mutual care to cherish sentiments of this kind will add everlasting endearments to it.
2. The directions you will expect from me on this occasion naturally divide themselves into three heads: How we are to regard God in the beginning; the progress; and the close of the day. I will open my heart freely to you with regard to each, and will leave you to judge how far these hints may suit your circumstances; aiming at least to keep between the extremes of a superstitions strictness in trifles, and an indolent remissness, which, if admitted in little things, may draw after it criminal neglects, and at length more criminal indulgences.
3. In the beginning of the day: It should certainly be our care to lift up our heads to God as soon as we wake, and while we are rising; and then, to set ourselves seriously and immediately to the secret devotions of the morning.
4. For the first of these it seems exceedingly natural. There are so many things that may suggest a great variety of pious reflections and ejaculations which are so obvious that one would think a serious mind could hardly miss them. The ease and cheerfulness of our minds on our first awaking; the refreshment we find from sleep; the security we have enjoyed in that defenceless state; the provision of warm and decent apparel; the cheerful light of the returning sun; or even (which is not unfit to mention to you) the contrivances of art, taught and furnished by the great Author of all our conveniences, to supply us with many useful hours of life in the absence of the sun; the hope of returning to the dear society of our friends; the prospect of spending another day in the service of God and the improvement of our own minds; and above all, the lively hope of a joyful resurrection to an eternal day of happiness and glory: any of these particulars, and many more which I do not mention, may furnish its with matter of pleasing reflection and cheerful praise while we are rising. And for our farther assistance, when we are alone at this time, it may not be improper to speak sometimes to ourselves, and sometimes to our heavenly Father, in the natural expressions of joy and thankfulness. Permit me, Sir, to add, that, if we find our hearts in such a frame at our first awaking, even that is just matter of praise, and the rather, as perhaps it is an answer to the prayer with which we lay down.
5. For the exercise of secret devotion in the morning, which I hope will generally be our first work, I cannot prescribe an exact method to another. You must, my dear friend, consult your own taste in some measure. The constituent pans of the service are, in the general, plain. Were I to propose a particular model for those who have half or three quarters of an hour at command, which, with prudent conduct, I suppose most may have, it should he this:
6. To begin the stated devotions of the day with a solemn act of praise, offered to God on our knees, and generally with a low, yet distinct voice; acknowledging the mercies we have been reflecting on while rising, never forgetting to mention Christ as the great foundation of all our enjoyments and our hopes, or to return thanks for the influences of the blessed Spirit which have led our beans to God, or are then engaging us to seek him. This, as well as other offices of devotion afterwards mentioned, must be done attentively and sincerely; for not to offer our praises heartily, is, in the sight of God, not to praise him at all. This address of praise may properly be concluded with an express renewal of our dedication to God, declaring our continued repeated resolution of being devoted to him, and particularly of living to his glory the ensuing day.
7. It may be proper, after this, to take a prospect of the day before us, so far as we can probably foresee, in the general, where and how it may be spent; and seriously to reflect, “How shall I employ myself for God this day? What business is to be done, and in what order? What opportunities may I expect, either of doing or of receiving good? What temptations am I likely to be assaulted with, in any place, company, or circumstances, which may probably occur? In what instance have I lately failed? And how shall I be safest now?"
8. After this review it will be proper to offer up a short prayer, begging that God would quicken us to each of these foreseen duties; that he would fortify us against each of these apprehended dangers; that he would grant us success in such or such a business undertaken for his glory; and also that he would help us to discover and improve unforeseen opportunities to resist unexpected temptations, and to bear patiently, and religiously, any afflictions which may surprise us in the day on which we are entering.
9. I would advise you after this to read some portion of Scripture: not a great deal, nor the whole Bible in its course; but some select portions out of its most useful parts, perhaps ten or twelve verses, not troubling yourself much about the exact connection, or other critical niceties which may occur, though at other times I would recommend them to your inquiry, as you have ability and opportunity, but considering them merely in a devotional and practical view. Here take such instructions as readily present themselves to your thoughts, repeat them over to your own conscience, and charge your heart religiously to observe them, and act upon them, under a sense of the divine authority which attends them. And if you pray over the substance of this Scripture with your Bible open before you, it may impress your memory and your heart yet more deeply, and may form you to a copiousness and variety, both of thought and expression, in prayer.
10. It might be proper to close these devotions with a psalm or hymn; and I rejoice with you, that through the pious care of our sacred poets, we are provided with so rich a variety for the assistance of the closet and family on these occasions, as well as for the service of the sanctuary.
11. The most material directions which have occurred to me relating to the progress of the day, are these: That we be serious in the devotions of the day; that we be diligent in the business of it, that is, in the prosecution of our worldly callings; that we be temperate and prudent in the recreations of it; that we carefully mark the providences of the day; that we cautiously guard against the temptations of it; that we keep up a lively and humble dependence upon the divine influence, suitable to every emergency of it; that we govern our thoughts well in the solitude of the day, and our discourses well in the conversations of it. These, Sir, were the heads of a sermon which you have lately heard me preach, and to which I know you referred in that request which I am now endeavoring to answer. I will therefore touch upon the most material hints which fall under each of these particulars.
12. For seriousness in devotion, whether public or domestic,
let us take a few moments before we enter upon such solemnities, to pause, and reflect
on the perfections of the God we are addressing, on the importance of the business
we are coming about, on the pleasure and advantage of a regular and devout attendance,
and on the guilt and folly of an hypocritical formality. When engaged, let us maintain
a strict watchfulness over our own spirits and check the first wanderings of thought.
And when the duty is over, let us immediately reflect on the manner in which it
has been performed, and ask our own consciences whether we have reason to conclude
that we are accepted of God in it? For there is a certain manner of going through
these offices, which our own hearts will immediately tell us “it is impossible for
God to approve;” and if we have inadvertently fallen into it, we ought to be deeply
humbled before God for it, lest “our very prayer become sin.” (
13. As for the hours of worldly business, whether it be that of the hands, or the labor of a learned life not immediately relating to religious matters, let us set to the prosecution of it with a sense of God's authority, and with a regard to his glory. Let us avoid a dreaming, sluggish, indolent temper, which nods over its work, and does only the business of one hour in two or three. In opposition to this, which runs through the life of some people, who yet think they are never idle, let us endeavor to dispatch as much as we well can in a little time; considering that it is but a little we have in all. And let us be habitually sensible of the need we have or the divine blessing to make our labors successful.
14. For seasons of diversion, let us take care that our recreations be well chosen; that they be pursued with a good intention, to fit us for a renewed application to the labors of life; and thus that they be only used in subordination to the honor of God, the great end of all our actions. Let us take heed, that our hearts be not estranged from God by them; and that they do not take up too much of our time; always remembering that the facilities of human nature, and the advantages of the Christian revelation, were not given us in vain; but that we are always to be in pursuit of some great and honorable end, and to indulge ourselves in amusements and diversions no farther than as they make a part in a scheme of rational and manly, benevolent and pious conduct.
15. For the observation of Providence, it will be useful to regard the divine interposition in our comforts and in our afflictions. In our comforts, whether more common or extraordinary: that we find ourselves in continued health; that we are furnished with food for support and pleasure; that we have so many agreeable ways of employing our time; that we have so many friends, and those so good, and so happy; that our business goes on so prosperously; that we go out and come in safely; and that we enjoy composure and cheerfulness of spirit, without which nothing else could be enjoyed: all these should be regarded as providential favors, and due acknowledgments should be made to God on these accounts, as we pass through such agreeable scenes. On the other hand, Providence is to be regarded in every disappointment, in every loss, in every pain, in every instance of unkindness from those who have professed friendship; and we should endeavor to argue ourselves into a patient submission, from this consideration, that the hand of God is always mediately, if not immediately, in each of them; and that, if they are not properly the work of Providence, they are at least under his direction. It is a reflection which we should particularly make with relation to those little cross accidents, (as we are ready to call them) and those infirmities and follies in the temper and conduct of our intimate friends, which may else be ready to discompose us. And it is the more necessary to guard our minds here, as wise and good men often lose the command of themselves on these comparatively little occasions; who, calling lip reason and religion to their assistance, stand the shock of great calamities with fortitude and resolution.
16. For watchfulness against temptations, it is necessary, when changing our place, or our employment, to reflect, “What snares attended me here?” And as this should be our habitual care, so we should especially guard against those snares which in the morning we foresaw. And when we are entering on those circumstances in which we expected the assault, we should reflect, especially if it be a matter of great importance, “Now the combat is going to begin: now God and the blessed angels are observing what constancy, what fortitude there is in my soul, and how far the divine authority, and the remembrance of my own prayers and resolutions, will weigh with me when it comes to a trial.”
17. As for dependence on divine grace and influence, it
must be universal; and since we always need it, we must never forget that necessity.
A moment spent in humble fervent breathings after the communications of the divine
assistance, may do more good than many minutes spent in mere reasonings; and though
indeed this should not be neglected, since the light of reason is a kind of divine
illumination, yet still it ought to be pursued in a due sense of our dependence
on the Father of Lights, or where we think ourselves wisest, we may “become vain
in our imaginations,” (
18. For the government of our thoughts in solitude: let us accustom ourselves, on all occasions, to exercise a due command over our thoughts. Let us take care of those entanglements of passion, or those attachments to any present interest in view, which would deprive us of our power over them. Let us set before us some profitable subject of thought; such as the perfection of the blessed God, the love of Christ, the value of time, the certainty and importance of death and judgment, and the eternity of happiness or misery which is to follow. Let us also, at such intervals, reflect on what we have observed as to the state of our own souls, with regard to the advance or decline of religion; or on the last sermon we have heard or the last portion of Scripture we have read. You may perhaps, in this connection, Sir, recollect what I have, if I remember right, proposed to you in conversation; that it might be very useful to select some one verse of Scripture which we have met with in the morning, and to treasure it up in our mind, resolving to think of that at any time when we are at a loss for matter of pious reflection, in any intervals of leisure for entering upon it. This will often be as a spring from whence many profitable and delightful thoughts may rise, which perhaps we did not before see in that connection and force. Or if it should not be so, yet I am persuaded it will be much better to repent the same scripture in our mind a hundred times in a day, with some pious ejaculation formed upon it, than to leave our thoughts at the mercy of al1 those various trifles which may otherwise intrude upon us, the variety of which will be far from making amends for their vanity.
19. Lastly, for the government of our discourse in company. We should take great care that nothing may escape us which can expose us, or our Christian profession, to censure and reproach; nothing injurious to those that are absent, or those that are present; nothing malignant, nothing insincere, nothing which may corrupt, nothing which may provoke, nothing which may mislead those about us. Nor should we by any means be content that what we say is innocent: it should be our desire. that it may be edifying to ourselves and others. In this view, we should endeavor to have some subject of useful discourse always ready; in which we may be assisted by the hints given about furniture for thought, under the former head. We should watch for decent opportunities of introducing useful reflections; and if a pious friend attempt to do it, we should endeavor to second it immediately. When the conversation does not turn directly on religious subjects, we should endeavor to make it improving some other way; we should reflect on the character and capacities of our company, that we may lead them to talk of what they understand best; for their discourses on those subjects will probably be most pleasant to themselves, as well as most useful to us. And in pauses of discourse, it may not be improper to lift up a holy ejaculation to God, that his grace may assist us and our friends in our endeavors to do good to each other; that all we say or do may be worthy the character of reasonable creatures and of Christians.
20. The directions for a religious closing or the day which I shall here mention, are only two: let us see to it, that the secret duties of the evening be well performed; and let us lie down on our beds in a pious frame.
21. For the secret devotion in the evening, I would propose a method something different from that in the morning; but still, as then, with due allowances for circumstances which may make unthought-of alterations proper. I should advise to read a portion of Scripture in the first place, with suitable reflections and prayer, as above; then to read a hymn, or psalm; after this to enter on self-examination, to be followed by a longer prayer than that which followed reading, to be formed on this review of the day. In this address to the throne of grace, it will be highly proper to entreat that God would pardon the omissions and offences of the day; to praise him for mercies temporal and spiritual; to recommend ourselves to his protection for the ensuing night; with proper petitions for others, whom we ought to bear on our hearts before him; and particularly for those friends with whom we have conversed or corresponded in the preceding day. Many other concerns will occur, both in morning and evening prayer, which I have not here hinted at; but I did not apprehend that a full enumeration of these things belonged, by any means, to our present purpose.
22. Before I quit this head I must take the liberty to
remind you, that self-examination is so important a duty, that it will be worth
our while to spend a few words upon it. And this branch of it is so easy, that,
when we have proper questions before us, any person of a common understanding may
hope to go through it with advantage, under a divine blessing. I offer you therefore
the following queries, which I hope you will, with such alterations as you may judge
requisite, keep near you for daily use. “Did I awake as with God this morning, and
rise with a grateful sense of his goodness? How were the secret devotions of the
morning performed? Did I offer my solemn praises, and renew the dedication of myself
to God. with becoming attention and suitable affections? Did I lay my scheme for
the business of the day wisely and well? How did I read the Scriptures, and any
other devotional or practical piece which I afterwards found it convenient to review?
Did it do my heart good, or was it a mere amusement? How have the other stated devotions
of the day been attended, whether in the family or in public? Have I pursued the
common business of the day with diligence and spirituality, doing every thing in
season, and with all convenient dispatch, and as ‘unto the Lord?’ (
22. You will easily see, Sir, that these questions are so adjusted as to be an abridgment of the most material advice I have given in this letter; and I believe I need not, to a person of your understanding, say any thing as to the usefulness of such inquiries. Conscience will answer them in a few minutes; but if you think them too large and particular, you may make still a shorter abstract for daily use, and reserve these, with such obvious alteration as will then be necessary for seasons of more than ordinary exactness in review, which I hope will occur at least once a week. Secret devotion being thus performed, before drowsiness render us unfit for it, the interval between that and our going to rest must be conducted by the rules mentioned under the next head. And nothing will farther remain to be considered here, but,
24. The sentiments with which we should lie down and compose ourselves to sleep. Now here it is obviously suitable to think of the divine goodness, in adding another day, and the mercies of it, to the former days and mercies of our life; to take notice of the indulgence of Providence in giving us commodious habitations and easy beds, and continuing to us such health of body that we can lay ourselves down at ease upon them, and such serenity of mind as leaves us any room to hope for refreshing sleep; a refreshment to be sought, not merely as an indulgence to animal nature, but as whit our wise Creator, in order to keep us humble in the midst of so many infirmities, has been pleased to make necessary to our being able to pursue his service with renewed alacrity. Thus may our sleeping, as well as our waking hours, be in some sense devoted to God. And when we are just going to resign ourselves to the image of death, to what one of the ancients beautifully calls “its lesser mysteries,” it is also evidently proper to think seriously of that end of all the living, and to renew those actings of repentance and faith which we should judge necessary if we were to wake no more here. You have once, Sir, seen a meditation of that kind in my hand: I will transcribe it for you in the postscript; and therefore shall add no more to this head, but here put a close to the directions you desired.
25. I am persuaded the most important of them have, in one form or another, been long regarded by you, and made governing maxims of your life. I shall greatly rejoice if the review of these, and the examination and trial of the rest, may be the means of leading you into more intimate communion with God, and so of rendering your life more pleasant and useful, and your eternity, whenever that is to commence, more glorious. There is not a human creature upon earth whom I should not delight to serve in these important interests; but I can faithfully assure you, that I am, with particular respect,
Dear Sir,
Your very affectionate friend and servant.
26. This, reader, with the alteration of a very few words, is the letter I wrote to a worthy friend (now, I doubt not with, God) about sixteen years ago; and I can assuredly say, that the experience of each of these years has confirmed me in these views, and established me in the. persuasion, that one day thus spent is far preferable to whole years of sensuality, and the neglect of religion. I chose to insert the letter as it is, because I thought the freedom and particularity of the advice I had given in it would appear most natural in its original form; and as I propose to enforce these counsels in the next chapter, I shall conclude this with that meditation which I promised my friend as a postscript, and which I could wish you to make so familiar to yourself as that you may be able to recollect the substance of it whenever you compose. yourself to sleep.
A serious view of death, proper to be taken as we lie down on our beds.
“O my soul! look forward a little with seriousness and
attention, and learn wisdom by the consideration of thy latter end, (
“And now, O my soul! answer as in the sight of God, Art thou ready? Art thou ready? Is there no sin unforsaken, and so unrepented of to fill me with anguish in my departing moments, and to make me tremble on the brink of eternity? Dread to remain under the guilt of it, and this moment renew thy most earnest applications to the mercy of God, and the blood of a Redeemer, for deliverance from it.
“But if the great account be already adjusted, if thou
hast cordially repented of thy numerous offences? if thou hast sincerely committed
thyself, by faith, into the hands of the blessed Jesus, and hast not renounced thy
covenant with him, by turning to the allowed practice of sin, then start not at
the thought of a separation; it is not in the power of death to hurt a soul devoted
to God, and united to the great Redeemer. It may take from me my worldly comforts,
it may disconcert and break my schemes for service on earth; but, O my soul, diviner
entertainments and nobler services ‘wait thee beyond the grave!’ For ever blessed
be the name of God and the love of Jesus, for these quieting, encouraging joyful
views! I will now lay me down in peace, and sleep, (
1, 2. Christians fix their views too low, and indulge too indolent a disposition, which makes it more necessary to urge such a life as that under consideration.—3. It is therefore enforced, from its being apparently reasonable, considering ourselves as the creatures of God, and as redeemed by the blond of Christ.—4. From its evident tendency to conduce to our comfort in life.—5. From the influence it will have to promote our usefulness to others.—6. From its efficacy to make afflictions lighter.—7. From its happy aspect on death.—8. And on eternity.—9. Whereas not to desire improvement would argue a soul destitute of religion. A prayer suited to the state of a soul who longs to attain the life recommended above.
1. I have been assigning, in the preceding chapter, what, I fear, will seem to
some of my readers so hard a task, that they will want courage to attempt it; and
indeed it is a life in many respects so far above that of the generality of Christians,
that I am not without apprehensions that many, who deserve the name, may think the
directions, after all the precautions with which I have proposed them, are carried
to an unnecessary degree of nicety and strictness. But I am persuaded, much of the
credit and comfort of Christianity is lost, in consequence of its professors fixing
their aims too low, and not conceiving of their high and holy calling in so elevated
and sublime a view as the nature of religion would require, and the word of God
would direct. I am fully convinced, that the expressions of’ “walking with God,”
of “being in the fear of the Lord all the day long.” (
2. I know likewise, that the mind is very fickle and inconstant and that it is a hard thing to preserve such a government and authority over our thoughts as would be very desirable, and as the plan I have laid down will require. But so much of the honor of God, and so much of our true happiness depends upon it, that I beg you will give me a patient and attentive hearing while I am pleading with you, and that you will seriously examine the arguments, and then judge, whether a care and conduct like that which I have advised be not in itself reasonable, and whether it will not be highly conducive to your comfort and usefulness in life, your peace in death, and the advancement and increase of your eternal glory.
3. Let conscience say, whether such a life as I have described above be not in itself highly reasonable. Look over the substance of it again, anti bring it under a close examination; for I am very apprehensive that some weak objections may rise against the whole, which may in their consequence affect particulars, against which no reasonable man would presume to make any objection at all. Recollect, O Christian! carry it with you in your memory and your heart, while you are pursuing this review, that you are the creature of God; that you are purchased with the blood of Jesus; and then say whether these relations in which you stand do not demand all that application and resolution which I would engage you to. Suppose all the counsels I have given you reduced into practice; suppose every day begun and concluded with such devout breathings after God, and such holy retirements for morning and evening converse with him and with your own heart; suppose a daily care, in contriving how your time may be managed, and in reflecting how it has been employed; suppose this regard to God, this sense of his presence, and zeal for his glory, to run through your acts of worship, your hours of business and recreation; suppose this attention to Providence, this guard against temptation, this dependence upon divine influence, this government of the thoughts in solitude, and of the discourse in company; nay, I will add farther, suppose every particular direction given to be pursued, excepting when particular cases occur, with respect to which you shall be able in conscience to say, “I wave it not from indolence and carelessness, but because I think it will be just now more pleasing to God to be doing something else,” which may often happen in human life, where general rules are best concerted: suppose, I say, all this to be done, not for a day or a week, but through the remainder of life, whether longer or shorter; and suppose this to be reviewed at the close of life, in the full exercise of your rational faculties; will there be reason to say in the reflection, “I have taken too much pains in religion; the Author of my being did not deserve all this from me; less diligence, less fidelity, less zeal than this, might have been an equivalent for the blood which was shed for my redemption. A part of my heart, a part of my time, a part of my labors, might have sufficed for him, who hath given me all my powers; for him who hath delivered me from that destruction which would have made them my everlasting torment; for him who is raising me to the regions of a blissful immortality.” Can you with any face say this? If you cannot, then surely your conscience bears witness, that all I have recommended, under the limitations above, is reasonable; that duty and gratitude require it; and consequently, that, by every allowed failure in it, you bring guilt upon your own soul, you offend God, and act unworthy of your Christian profession.
4. I entreat you farther to consider whether such a conduct as I have now been recommending, would not conduce much to your comfort and usefulness in life. Reflect seriously what is true happiness! Does it consist in distance from God, or in nearness to him? Surely you cannot be a Christian, surely you cannot be a rational man, if you doubt whether communion with the great Father of our spirits be a pleasure and felicity; and if it be, then surely they enjoy most of it who keep him most constantly in view. You cannot but know, in your own conscience, that it is this which makes the happiness of heaven; and therefore the more of it any man enjoys upon earth, the more of heaven comes down into his soul. If you have made any trial of religion, though it be but a few months or weeks since you first became acquainted with it, you must be some judge, from your own experience, which have been the most pleasant days of your life. Have they not been those in which you have acted most upon these principles? those in which you have most steadily and resolutely carried them through every hour of time, and every circumstance of life? The check which you must, in many instances, give to your own inclinations, might seem disagreeable; but it would surely be overbalanced, in a most happy manner, by the satisfaction you would find in a consciousness of self-government; in having such a command of your thoughts, affections, and actions, as is much more glorious than any authority over others can be.
5. I would also entreat you to consider the influence which
such a conduct as this might have upon the happiness of others. And it is easy to
be seen that it must be very great; as you would find your heart always disposed
to watch every opportunity of doing good, and to seize it with eagerness and delight.
It would engage you to make it the study and business of your life, to order things
in such a manner that the end of one kind and useful action might be the beginning
of another; in which you would go on as naturally as the inferior animals do in
those productions and actions by which mankind are relieved or enriched; or as the
earth bears her successive crops of different vegetable supplies. And though mankind
be, in this corrupt state, so unhappily inclined to imitate evil examples rather
than good, yet it may be expected, that while “your light shines before men,” some,
“seeing your good works,” will endeavor to transcribe them in their own lives, and
so to “glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (
6. It is true indeed, that amidst all these pious and benevolent cares, afflictions may come, and in some measure interrupt you in the midst of your projected schemes. But surely these afflictions will be much lighter, when your heart is gladdened with the peaceful and joyful reflections of your own mind, and with so honorable a testimony of conscience before God and man. Delightful will it be to go back to past scenes in your pleasing review, and to think that you have not only been sincerely humbling yourself for those past offences which afflictions may bring to your remembrance; but that you have given substantial proofs of the sincerity of that humiliation, by a real reformation of what has been amiss, and by adding with strenuous and vigorous resolution on the contrary principle. And while converse with God, and doing good to men, are made the great business and pleasure of life, you will find a thousand opportunities of enjoyment, even in the midst of these afflictions, which would render you so incapable of relishing the pleasures of sense, that the very mention of them might, in those circumstances, seem an insult and a reproach.
7. At length death will come, that solemn and important
hour, which has been passed through by so many thousands who have in the main lived
such a life, and by so many millions who have neglected it. And let conscience say,
if there was ever one of all these millions who had any reason to rejoice in that
neglect; or any one, among the most strict and exemplary Christians, who then lamented
that his heart and life had been too zealously devoted to God. Let conscience say,
whether they have wished to have a part of that time, which they have thus employed,
given back to them again, that they might be more conformed to this world; that
they might plunge themselves deeper into its amusements, or pursue its honors, its
possessions, or its pleasures, with greater eagerness than they had done. If you
were yourself dying, and a dear friend or child stood near you, and this book and
the preceding chapter should chance to come into your thoughts, would you caution
that friend or child against conducting himself by such rules as I have advanced?
The question may perhaps seem unnecessary, where the answer is so plain and certain.
Well, then, let me beseech you to learn how you should live, by reflecting how you
would die, and what course you would wish to look back upon, when you are just quitting
this world and entering upon another. Think seriously; what if death should surprise
you on a sudden, and you should be called into eternity at an hour's or a minute's
warning, would you not wish that your last day should have been thus begun; and
the course of it, if it were a day of health and activity, should have been thus
managed? Wou1d you not wish that your Lord should find you engaged in such thoughts
and such pursuits? Would not the passage, the flight from earth to heaven, be most
easy, most pleasant, in this view and connection? And, on the other hand, if death
should make more gradual approaches. would not the remembrance of such a pious,
holy, humble, diligent, and useful life, make a dying bed much softer and easier
than it would otherwise be? You would not die, depending upon these things. God
forbid that you should! Sensible of your many imperfections, you would, no doubt,
desire to throw yourself at the feet of Christ, that you might appear before God,
“adorned with his righteousness, and washed from your sins in his blood.” You would
also, with your dying breath, ascribe to the riches of his grace every good disposition
you had found in your heart, and every worthy action you had been enabled to perform.
But would it not give you a delight, worthy of being purchased with ten thousand
worlds, to reflect that his “grace, bestowed on you, had not been in vain,” (
8. And once more, let me entreat you to reflect on the
view you will have of this matter when you come into a world of glory, if (which
I hope will be the happy case) divine mercy conduct you thither. Will not your reception
there be affected by your care, or negligence, in this holy course? Will it appear
an indifferent thing in the eye or the blessed Jesus, who distributes the crowns,
and allots the thrones there, whether you have been among the most zealous, or the
most indolent of his servants? Surely you must wish to have “an entrance administered
unto you abundantly into the kingdom of your Lord and Savior,” (
9. But I will not enlarge on so clear a case, and therefore conclude the chapter with reminding you, that to allow yourself deliberately to sit down satisfied with any imperfect attainments in religion, and to look upon a more confirmed and improved state of it as what you do not desire, nay, as what you sincerely resolve that you will not pursue, is one of the most fatal signs we can well imagine that you are an entire stranger to the first principles of it.
A Prayer suited to the State of a Soul who desires to attain the Life above recommended.
“Blessed God! I cannot contradict the force of these reasonings:
O that I may feel more than ever the lasting effects of them! Thou art the great
fountain of being and of happiness; and as from thee my being was derived, so from
thee my happiness directly flows; and the nearer I am to thee, the purer and more
delicious is the stream. ‘With thee is the fountain of life; in thy light may I
see light!’ (
“To thee may my awakening thoughts be directed: and with
the first ray of light that visits my opening eyes, ‘lift up, O Lord, the light
of thy countenance upon me!’ (
“And being thus prepared, do thou, Lord, lead me forth
by the hand to all the duties and events of the day! In that calling, wherein thou
hast been pleased to call me, may I abide with thee, (
“May my eye be watchful to observe the descent of mercies
from thee; and may a grateful sense of thy hand in them add a savor and relish to
all! And when afflictions come, which in a world like this I would accustom myself
to expect, may I remember that they come from thee; and may that fully reconcile
me to them, while I firmly believe that the same love which gives us our daily bread,
appoints us our daily crosses; which I would learn to take up, that I may follow
my dear Lord, (
“Thus let my days be spent; and let them always be closed
in thy fear, and under a sense of thy gracious presence. Meet me, O Lord, in my
evening retirements. May I choose the most proper time for them; may I diligently
attend to reading and prayer; and when I review my conduct, may I do it with an
impartial eye. Let not self-love spread a false coloring over it; but may I judge
myself; as one that expects to be judged of the Lord, and is very solicitous he
may be approved by thee, who ‘searchest all hearts,’ and ‘canst not forget any of
my works.’ (
1. Dangers continue, after the first difficulties (considered Chap. xvi.) are broken through.—2. Particular cautions—against a sluggish and indolent temper.—3. Against the excessive love of sensitive pleasure.—4. Leading to a neglect of business and needless expense.—5. Against the snares of evil company.—6. Against excessive hurry of worldly business.—7. Which is enforced by the fatal consequences these have had in many cases.—8. The chapter concludes with an exhortation to die to this world, and to live to another. And the young Convert's prayer for Divine protection against the dangers arising from these snares.
1. THIS representation I have been making of the pleasure and advantage of a life spent in devotedness to God and communion with him, as I have described it above, will, I hope, engage you, my dear reader, to form some purposes, and make some attempt to obtain it. But from considering the nature, and observing the course of things, it appears exceedingly evident, that, besides the general opposition which I formerly mentioned as like to attend you in your first entrance on a religious life, you will find even that, after you have resolutely broke through this, a variety of hindrances in any attempts or exemplary piety, and in the prosecution of a remarkably strict and edifying course, will present themselves daily in your path; and whereas you may, by a few resolute efforts, baffle some of the former sorts of enemies, these will be perpetually renewing their onsets, and a vigorous struggle must be continually maintained with them. Give me leave now, therefore, to be particular in my cautions against some of the chief of them. And here I would insist upon the difficulties which will arise from indolence and the love of pleasure from vain company, and worldly cares. Each of these may prove ensnaring to any, and especially to young persons, to whom I would now have some particular regard.
2. I entreat you, therefore, in the first place, that you
will guard against a sluggish and indolent temper. The love of ease insinuates itself
into the heart under a variety of plausible pretences, which are often allowed to
pass, when temptations of a grosser nature would not be admitted. The misspending
a little time seems to wise and good men a small matter; yet this sometimes runs
them in into great inconveniencies. It often leads them to break in upon the seasons
regularly allotted to devotion, and to defer business which might immediately be
done, but being put off from day to day, is not done at all, and thereby the services
of life are at least diminished, and the rewards of eternity diminished proportionably:
not to insist upon it, that very frequently this lays the soul open to farther temptations,
by which it falls, in consequence of being found unemployed. Be therefore suspicious
of the first approaches of this kind. Remember that the soul of man is an active
being, and that it must find its pleasure in activity. “Gird up,” therefore, “the
loins of your mind.” (
3. Guard also against an excessive love of sensitive and
animal pleasure, as that which will be a great hindrance to you in that religious
course which I have now been urging. You cannot but know that Christ has told us,
“that a man must deny himself, and take up his cross daily,” (
4. Guard, therefore, I beseech you, against any thing which might tend that way, especially by diligence in business, and by prudence and frugality in expense, which, by the Divine blessing, may have a very happy influence to make your affairs prosperous, your health vigorous, and your mind easy. But this cannot be attained without keeping a resolute watch over yourself, and strenuously refusing to comply with many proposals which indolence and sensuality will offer in very plausible forms, and for which it will plead, “that it asks but very little.” Take heed, lest in this respect you imitate those fond parents, who, by indulging their children in every little thing they have a mind to, encourage them, by insensible degrees, to grow still more encroaching and imperious in their demands; as if they chose to be ruined with them, rather than to check them in what seems a trifle. Remember, and consider that excellent remark, sealed by the ruin of so many thousands: “He that despiseth small things, shall fall by little and litt1e.”
5. In this view, give me leave also seriously and tenderly
to caution you, my dear reader, against the snares of vain company. I speak not,
as before, of that company which is openly licentious and profane. I hope there
is something now in your temper and views, which would engage you to turn away from
such with detestation and horror. But I beseech you to consider, that those companions
may be very dangerous, who might at first give you but very little alarm: I mean
those who, though not the declared enemies of religion, and professed followers
of vice and disorder, yet nevertheless have no practical sense of divine things
on their hearts, so far as can be judged by their conversation and behavior. You
must often of necessity be with such persons; and Christianity not only allows,
but requires, that you should, on all expedient occasions of intercourse with them,
treat them with civility and respect; but choose not such for your most intimate
friends, and do not contrive to spend most of your leisure moments among them. For
such converse has a sensible tendency to alienate the soul from God, and to render
it unfit for all spiritual communion with him. To convince you of this, do but reflect
on your own experience, when you have been for many hours together among persons
of such a character. Do you not find yourself more indisposed for devotional exercises?
Do you not find your heart, by insensible degrees, more and more inclined to a conformity
to this world, and to look with a secret disrelish on those objects and employments
to which reason directs as the noblest and best? Observe the first symptoms, and
guard against the snare in time: and for this purpose, endeavor to form friendships
founded in piety, and supported by it. “Be a companion of them that fear God, and
of them that keep his precepts.” (
5. Endeavor, therefore, on such occasions, so far as you
can do it with decency and convenience, give the conversation a religious turn.
And when serious and useful subjects are started in your presence, lay hold of them,
and cultivate them; and for that purpose “let the word of Christ dwell richly in
you,” (
6. If it be so, it will secure you not only from the snares
of idleness and luxury, but from the contagion of every bad example. And it will
also engage you to guard against those excessive hurries of worldly business, which
would fill up all your time and thoughts, and thereby “choke the good word” of God,
and render it in a great measure, if not quite, unfruitful. (
7. And let me observe to you, my dear reader, lest you
should think yourself secure from any such danger that we have great reason to apprehend
there are many now in a very wretched state, who once thought seriously of religion,
when they were first setting out, in lower circumstances of life; but they have
since forsaken God for Mammon and are now priding themselves in those golden chains,
which, in all probability. before it be long, will leave them to remain in those
of darkness. When, therefore, an attachment to the world may be followed with such
fatal consequences, “let not thine heart envy sinners,” (
8. On the whole, learn, by divine grace, to die to the present world: to look upon it as a low state of being, which God never intended for the final and complete happiness, or the supreme care of any one of his children: a world, where something is indeed to be enjoyed, but chiefly from himself; where a great deal is to be borne with patience and resignation; and where some important duties are to be performed, and a course of discipline to be passed through, by which you are to be formed for a better state, to which, as a Christian, you are near, and to which God will call you, perhaps on a sudden, but undoubtedly, if you hold on your way, in the fittest time and the most convenient manner. Refer, therefore, all this to him. Let your hopes and fears, your expectations and desires, with regard to this world, be kept as low as possible; and all your thoughts be united, as much as may be, in this one centre: what is it that God would, in present have you to be: and what is that method of conduct by which you may most effectually please and glorify him.
The Young Convert's Prayer for Divine Protection against the Danger of these Snares.
“Blessed God! in the midst of ten thousand snares and dangers,
which surround me from without and from within, permit me to look up unto thee with
my humble entreaty, that thou wouldst ‘deliver me from them that rise up against
me,’ (
“When sinners entice me, may I not consent! (
“Guard me, O Lord! from the love of sensual pleasure! May
I seriously remember, ‘that to be carnally-minded is death!’ (
“Give me, O Lord! to know the station in which thou hast
fixed me, and steadily to pursue the duties of it! But deliver me from those excessive
cares of this world, which would so engross my time and my thoughts, that ‘the one
thing needful’ should be forgotten! May my desires after worldly possessions be
moderated, by considering their uncertain and unsatisfying nature; and, while others
are laying up treasures on earth, may I be ‘rich towards God!’ (
1. Declension in religion, and relapses into sin, with their sorrowful consequences, are in the general too probable.—2. The ease of declension and langour in religion described, negatively.—3. And positively.—4. As discovering itself by a failure in the duties of the closet.—5. By a neglect of social worship.—6. By want of love to our fellow Christians.—7. By an undue attachment to sensual pleasures or secular cares.—8. By prejudices against some important principles in religion.—9,10. A symptom peculiarly sad and dangerous.—11. Directions for recovery.—12. Immediately to be pursued. A prayer for one under spiritual decays.
1. IF I am so happy as to prevail upon you in the exhortations and cautions I
have given, you will probably go on with pleasure and comfort in religion, and your
path will generally be “like the morning light, which shineth more and more until
the perfect day.” (
2. We will first consider the case of Spiritual Declensions
and Languor in religion. And here I desire, that, before I proceed any farther,
you would observe that I do not comprehend under this head every abatement of that
fervor which a young convert may find when he first becomes experimentally acquainted
with divine things. Our natures are so framed, that the novelty of objects strikes
them in something of a peculiar manner: not to urge how much more easily our passions
are impressed in the earlier years of life, than when we are more advanced in the
journey of it. This, perhaps, is not sufficiently considered. Too great a stress
is commonly laid on the flow of affections; and for want or this, a Christian, who
is ripened in grace, and greatly advanced in his preparation for glory, may sometimes
be led to lament imaginary rather than real decays, and to say, without any just
foundation, “O that it were with me as in months past!” (
3. Having given this precaution, I will now a little more
particularly describe the case, which I call the state of a Christian who is declining
in religion; so far as it does not fall in with those which I shall consider in
the following chapters. And I must observe that it chiefly consists “in a forgetfulness
of divine objects, and a remissness in those various duties to which we stand engaged
by that solemn surrender which we have made of ourselves to the service of God.”
There will be a variety of symptoms, according to the different circumstances and
relations in which the Christian is placed; but some will be of a more universal
kind. It will be peculiarly proper to touch on these; and so much the rather, as
these declensions are often unobserved, like the gray hairs which were upon Ephraim,
when he knew it not. (
4. Should you, my reader, fall into this state, it will probably first discover itself by a failure in the duties of the closet. Not that I suppose they will at first, or certainly conclude that they will at all, be wholly omitted, but they will be run over in a cold and formal manner. Sloth, or some of those other snares which I cautioned you against in the former chapter, will so far prevail upon you, that though perhaps you know and recollect that the proper season of retirement is come, you will sometimes indulge yourself upon your bed in the morning, sometimes in conversation or business in the evening, so as not to have convenient time for it. Or perhaps, when you come into your closet at that season, some favorite book you are desirous to read, some correspondence that you choose to carry on, or some other amusement, will present itself, and plead to be despatched first. This will probably take up more time than you imagined; and then secret prayer will be hurried over, and perhaps reading the Scriptures quite neglected. You will plead, perhaps, that it is but for once; but the same allowance will be made a second and a third time; and it will grow more easy and familiar to you each time than it was the last. And thus God will be mocked, and your own soul will be defrauded of its spiritual meals, if I may be allowed the expression; the word of God will be slighted, and self-examination quite disused; and secret prayer itself wilt grow a burden rather than a delight; a trifling ceremony, rather than a devout homage, fit for the acceptance of “our Father who is in heaven.”
5. If immediate and resolute measures be not taken for your recovery from these declensions, they will spread farther, and reach the acts of social worship. You will feel the effects in your family and in public ordinances. And if you do not feel them, the symptoms will be so much the worse. Wandering thoughts will, as it were, eat out the very heart of these duties. It is not, I believe, the privilege of the most eminent Christians to be entirely free from them; but probably in these circumstances you will find but few intervals of strict attention, or of any thing which wears the appearance of inward devotion. And when these heartless duties are concluded, there will scarce be a reflection made, how little God hath been enjoyed in them, how little he hath been honored by them. Perhaps the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, being so admirably adapted to fix the attention of the soul, and to excite its warmest exercise of holy affections, may be the last ordinance in which these declensions will be felt. And yet, who can say that the sacred table is a privileged place? Having been unnecessarily straitened in your preparations, you will attend with less fixedness and enlargement of heart than usual. And perhaps a dissatisfaction in the review, when there has been a remarkable alienation or insensibility of mind, may occasion a disposition to forsake your place and your duty there. And when your spiritual enemies have once gained this point upon you, it is probable you will fall by swifter degrees than ever, and your resistance to their attempts will grow weaker and weaker.
6. When your love to God our Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ fails, your fervor of Christian affection to your brethren in Christ will proportionably decline; and your concern for usefulness in life abate, especially where any thing is to be done for spiritual edification. You will find some one excuse or another for the neglect of religious discourse, perhaps not only among neighbors and Christian friends, when very convenient opportunities offer; but even with regard to those who are members of your own families, and to those who, if you are fixed in the superior relations of life, are committed to your care.
7. With this remissness, an attachment either to sensual pleasures or to worldly business will increase. For the soul must have something to employ it, and something to delight itself in; and as it turns to the one or the other of these, temptations of one sort or another will present themselves. In some instances, perhaps the strictest bonds of temperance, and the regular appointments or life, may be broken in upon, through a fondness for company, and the entertainments which often attend it. In other instances, the interests of life appearing greater than they did before, and taking up more of the mind, contrary interests of other persons may throw you into disquietude, or plunge you in debate and contention, in which it is extremely difficult to preserve either the serenity or the innocence of the soul. And perhaps, if ministers and other Christian friends observe this, and endeavor in a plain and faithful way to reduce you from your wandering, a false delicacy of mind, often contracted in such a state as this, will render these attempts extremely disagreeable. The ulcer of the soul, if I may be allowed the expression, will not bear being touched when it most needs it; and one of the most generous and self-denying instances of Christian friendship shall be turned into an occasion of coldness and distaste, yea, perhaps of enmity.
8. And possibly, to sum up all, this disordered state of mind may lead you into some prejudices against those very principles which might be most effectual for your recovery; and your great enemy may succeed so far in his attempts against you, as to persuade you that you have lost nothing in religion, when you have almost lost all. He may very probably lead you to conclude that your former devotional frames were mere fits of enthusiasm, and that the holy regularity of your walk before God was an unnecessary strictness and scrupulosity. Nay, you may think it a great improvement in understanding, that you have learnt from some new masters, that, if a man treat his fellow creatures with humanity and good nature, judging and reviling only those who would disturb others by the narrowness of their notions, (for these are generally exempted from other objects of the most universal and disinterested benevolence so often boasted of) he must necessarily be in a very good state, though he pretend not to converse much with God, provided that he think respectfully of him, and do not provoke him by any gross immoralities.
9. I mention this in the last stage of religious declension, because I apprehend that to be its proper place; and I fear it will be found, by experience, to stand upon the very confines of that gross apostacy into deliberate and presumptuous sin, which wilt claim our consideration under the next head. And because, too, it is that symptom which most effectually tends to prevent the success, and even the use, of any proper remedies, in consequence of a fond and fatal apprehension that they are needless. It is, if I may borrow the simile, like those fits of lethargic drowsiness which often precede apoplexies and death.
10. It is by no means my design at this time to reckon up, much less to consider at large, those dangerous principles which are now ready to possess the mind, and to lay the foundation of a false and treacherous peace. Indeed they are in different instances various, and sometimes run into opposite extremes. But if God awaken you to read your Bible with attention, and give you to feel the spirit with which it is written, almost every page will flash conviction upon the mind, and spread a light to scatter and disperse these shades of darkness.
11. What I chiefly intend in this address, is to engage
you, if possible, as soon as you perceive the first symptoms of these declensions,
to be upon your guard, and to endeavor, as speedily as possible, to recover yourself
from them. And I would remind you, that the remedy must begin where the first cause
or complaint prevailed, I mean, in the closet, Take some time for recollection,
and ask your own conscience, seriously, how matters stand between the blessed God
and your soul? Whether they are as they once were, and as you could wish them to
be, if you saw your life just drawing to a period, and were to pass immediately
into the eternal state? One serious thought of eternity shames a thousand vain excuses,
with which, in the forgetfulness of it, we are ready to delude our own souls. And
when you feel that secret misgiving of heart which will naturally arise on this
occasion, do not endeavor to palliate the matter, and to find out slight and artful
coverings for what you cannot forbear secretly condemning, but honestly fall under
the conviction, and be humbled for it. Pour out your heart before God, and seek
the renewed influences of his Spirit and grace.. Return with more exactness to secret
devotion, and to self-examination. Read the Scripture with yet greater diligence,
and especially the more devotional and spiritual parts of it. Labor to ground it
in your heart, and to feel what you have reason to believe the sacred penmen felt
when they wrote, so far as circumstances may agree. Open your soul, with all simplicity;
to every lesson which the word of God would teach you; and guard against those things
which you perceive to alienate your mind from inward religion, though there be nothing
criminal in the things themselves. They may perhaps in the general be lawful; to
some possibly they may be expedient; but if they produce such an effect as was mentioned
above, it is certain they are not convenient for you in these circumstances, above
all, seek the converse of those Christians whose progress in religion seems most
remarkable, and who adorn their profession in the most amiable manner. Labor to
obtain their temper and sentiments, and lay open your case and your heart to them,
with all the freedom which prudence will permit. Employ yourself, at seasons of
leisure, in reading practical and devotional books, in which the mind and heart
of the pious author is transfused into the work, and in which you can, as it were,
taste the genuine spirit of Christianity. And to conclude, take the first opportunity
that presents, of making an approach to the table of the Lord, and spare neither
time nor pains in the most serious preparation for it. There renew your covenant
with God; put your soul anew into the hands of Christ, and endeavor to view the
wonders of his dying love, in such a manner as may rekindle the languishing flame,
and quicken you to more vigorous resolution than ever, “to live unto him who died
for you.” (
12. I only add, that it is necessary to take these precautions
as soon as possible, or you will probably find a much swifter progress than you
are aware in the downhill road; and you may possibly be left of God, to fall into
some gross and aggravated sin, so as to fill your conscience with an agony and horror
which the pain of “broken bones” (
A Prayer for one under Spiritual Decays.
“Eternal and unchangeable Jehovah! thy perfections and
glories are, like thy being, immutable. Jesus thy Son is ‘the same yesterday, to-day,
and forever.’ (
“Alas, Lord! whither am I fallen? Thine eye sees me still;
but, oh! how unlike what it once saw me! Cold and insensible as I am, I must blush
on the reflection. Thou ‘seest me in secret,’ (
“Is this, Lord, the service which I once promised, and
which thou hast so many thousand reasons to expect? Are these the returns I am making
for thy daily providential care, for the sacrifice of thy Son, for the communications
of thy Spirit, for the pardon of my numberless aggravated sins, for the hopes, the
undeserved and so often forfeited hopes of eternal glory! Lord, I am ashamed to
stand or to kneel before thee. But pity me, I beseech thee, and help me; for I am
a pitiable object indeed; my soul cleaveth unto the dust, and lays itself as in
the dust before thee; but, O quicken me according to thy word! (
1. Unthought of relapses may happen.—2. And bring the soul into a miserable case.—3. Yet the case is not desperate.—4. The backslider urged immediately to return, by deep humiliation before God for so aggravated an offence.—5. By renewed regards to the divine mercy in Christ.—6. By an open profession of repentance, where the crime hath given public offence.—7. Falls to be reviewed for future caution.—8. The chapter concludes with a prayer for the use of one who hath fallen into gross sins, after religious resolutions and engagements.
1. THE declensions which I have described in the foregoing chapter, must be acknowledged
worthy of deep lamentations; but happy will you be, my dear reader, if you never
know, by experience, a circumstance yet more melancholy than this. Perhaps, when
you consider the view of things which you now have, you imagine that no consideration
can ever bribe you, in any single instance, to act contrary to the present dictates
or suggestions of your conscience, or of the Spirit of God by which it has been
enlightened and directed. No: you think it would be better for you to die. And you
think rightly: but Peter thought and said so too; “Though I should die with thee,
yet will I not deny thee,” (
2. Indeed, it is enough to wound one's heart to think how yours will be wounded; how all your comforts, all your evidences, all your hopes, will be clouded; what thick darkness will spread itself on every side; so that neither sun, nor moon, nor stars will appear in your heaven. Your spiritual consolations will be gone; and your temporal enjoyments will also be rendered tasteless and insipid. And if afflictions be sent, as they probably may, in order to reclaim you, a consciousness of guilt will sharpen and envenom the dart. Then will the enemy of your soul, with all his art and power, rise up against you, encouraged by your fall, and laboring to trample you down in utter, hopeless ruin. He will persuade you that you are already undone beyond recovery. He will suggest that it signifies nothing to attempt it any more; for that every effort, every amendment, every act of repentance, will but make your case so much the worse, and plunge you lower and lower into hell.
3. Thus will he endeavor by terrors to keep you from that
sure remedy which yet remains. But yield not to him. Your case will indeed be sad;
and if it be now your case, it is deplorably so; and to rest in it, would be still
much worse. Your heart would be hardened yet more and more; and nothing could be
expected but sudden and aggravated destruction. Yet, blessed be God, it is not quite
hopeless. Your “wounds are corrupted, because of your foolishness,” (
4. Return immediately, and, permit me to add, return solemnly.
Some very pious and excellent divines have expressed themselves upon this head,
in a manner which seems liable to dangerous abuse: when they urge men after a fall,
“not to stay to survey the ground, nor consider how they came to be thrown down,
but immediately to get up and renew the race.” In slighter cases the advice is good;
but when conscience has suffered such violent outrage, by the commission of known,
willful, and deliberate sin, (a case which one would hope should but seldom happen
to those who have once sincerely entered on a religious course) I can by no means
think that either reason or Scripture encourages such a method. Especially would
it be improper, if the action itself had been of so heinous a nature, that even
to have fallen into it on the most sudden surprise of temptation, must have greatly
ashamed, and terrified, and distressed the soul. Such an affair is dreadfully solemn,
and should be treated accordingly. If this has been the sad case with you, my then
unhappy reader, I would pity you, and mourn over you; and would beseech you, as
you value your peace, your recovery, the health and the very life of your soul,
that you would not loiter away an hour. Retire immediately for serious reflection.
Break through other engagements and employments unless they be such as you cannot
in conscience delay for a few hours, which can seldom happen in the circumstance
I now suppose. Set yourself to it, therefore, as in the presence of God, and hear
at large, patiently and humbly, what conscience has to say, though it chide and
reproach severely. Yea, earnestly pray that God would speak to you by conscience,
and make you more thoroughly to know and feel “what an evil and bitter thing it
is, that you have thus forsaken him.” (
5. Indulge such reflections as these. Stand the humbling
sight of your sins in such a view as this. The more odious and the more painful
it appears, the greater prospect there will be of your benefit by attending to it.
But the matter is not to rest here. All these reflections are intended, not to grieve,
but to cure; and to grieve no more than may promote the cure. You are indeed to
look upon sin; but you are also, in such circumstances, if ever, to look upon Christ,
to look upon him whom you have now pierced deeper than before, and to mourn for
him with sincerity and tenderness. (
6. And let me remind you of one thing more. If your fall has been of such a nature as to give any scandal to others, be not at all concerned to save appearances, and to moderate those mortifications which deep humiliation before them would occasion. The depth and pain of that mortification is indeed an excellent medicine, which God has in his wise goodness appointed for you in such circumstances as these. In such a case, confess your fault with the greatest frankness; aggravate it to the utmost; entreat pardon and prayer from those whom you have offended. Then, and never till then, will you be in the way to peace; not by palliating a fault not by so making vain excuses, not by objecting to the manner in which others may have treated you; as if the least excess or rigor in a faithful admonition were a crime equal to some great immorality that occasioned it. This can only proceed from the madness of pride and self-love; it is the sensibility of a wound, which is hardened, swelled, and inflamed; and it must be reduced, and cooled, and suppled, before it can possibly be cured. To be censured and condemned by men, will be but a little grievance to a sour thoroughly humbled and broken under a sense of having incurred the condemning sentence of God. Such a one will rather desire to glorify God, by submitting to deserved blame; and will fear deceiving others into a more favorable opinion of himself than he inwardly knows that lie deserves. These are the sentiments which God gives to the sincere penitent in such a case; and by this means he restores him to that credit and regard among others, which he does not know how to seek; but which, nevertheless, for the sake both of his comfort and usefulness, God wills that he should have, and which it is, humanly speaking, impossible for him to recover any other way. But there is something so honorable in the frank acknowledgment of a fault, and in deep humiliation for it, that all who see it must needs approve it. They pity an offender who is brought to such a disposition, and endeavor to comfort him with returning expressions, not only of their love, but of their esteem too.
7. Excuse this digression, which may suit some cases; and
which would suit many more, if a regular discipline were to be exercised in churches;
for, on such a supposition, the Lord's Supper could not be approached, after visible
and scandalous falls, without solemn confession of the offence, and declarations
of repentance. On the other hand, there may be instances of sad apostacy, where
the crime, though highly aggravated before God, may not fall under human notice.
In this case, remember that your business is with Him to whose piercing eye every
thing appears in its just light before him, therefore, prostrate your soul, and
seek a solemn reconciliation with him, confirmed by the memorials of his dying Son;
And when this is done, imagine not, that, because you have received the tokens of
pardon, the guilt of your apostacy is to be forgotten at once. Bear it still in
your memory for future caution: lament it before God, especially in the frequent
returns of secret devotion; and view with humiliation the scars of those wounds
which your own folly occasioned, even when by divine grace they are thoroughly healed.
For God establishes his covenant, not to remove the sense of every past abomination,
but “that thou mayest remember thy ways, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth
any more because of thy shame, even when I am pacified towards thee for all that
thou hast done, saith the Lord.” (
8. And now, upon the whole, if you desire to attain such a temper, and to return to such steps as these, then immediately fall down before God, and pour out your heart in his presence, in language like this.
A Prayer for one who has fallen into gross Sin, after religious Resolutions and Engagements.
“O most Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God! when I seriously reflect
on thy spotless purity, and on the strict and impartial methods of thy steady administration,
together with that almighty power of thine, which is able to carry every thought
of thine heart into immediate and full execution, I may justly appear before thee
this day with shame and terror, in confusion and consternation of spirit. This day,
O my God! this dark, mournful day, would I take occasion to look back to that sad
source of our guilt and our misery, the apostacy of our common parents, and say
with thine offending servant David, ‘Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin
did my mother conceive me.’ (
“Behold me, O Lord God! falling down at thy feet! Behold
me pleading guilty in thy presence, and surrendering myself to that justice which
I cannot escape! I have not one word to offer in my own vindication, in my own excuse.
Words, far from being able to clear up my innocence, can never sufficiently describe
the enormity and demerit of my sin. Thou, O Lord! and thou only, knowest to the
full, how heinous and how aggravated it is. Thine infinite understanding alone can
fathom the infinite depth of its malignity. I am, on many accounts, most unable
to do it. I cannot conceive the glory of thy sacred Majesty, whose authority I have
despised, nor the number and variety of those mercies which I have sinned against.
I cannot conceive the value of the blood of thy dear Son, which I have ungratefully
trampled under my feet; nor the dignity of that blessed Spirit of thine, whose agency
I have, as far as I could, been endeavoring to oppose, and whose work I have been,
as with all my might, laboring to undo; and to tear up, as it were, that plantation
of his grace which I should rather have been willing to have guarded with my life,
and watered with my blood. O the baseness and madness of my conduct! That I should
thus, as it were, rend open the wounds of my soul, of which I had died long ere
this, had not thine own hand applied a remedy, had not thine only Son bled to prepare
it! that I should violate the covenant I had made with thee by sacrifice, (
“I wonder, O Lord God! that I am here to own all this.
I wonder that thou hast not long ago appeared as a swift witness against me, (
“O God! thy patience is marvellous! But how much more marvellous
is thy grace, which, after all this, invites me to thee. While I am here giving
judgment against myself that I deserve to die, to die for ever, thou art sending
me the words of everlasting life, and ‘calling me, as a backsliding child, to return
unto thee.’ (
1. The phrase scriptural.—2. It signifies the withdrawing the tokens of the divine favor.—3 chiefly as to spiritual considerations.—4. This may become the case of any Christian.—5. and will be found a very sorrowful one.—6. The following directions, therefore, are given to those who suppose it to be their own: To inquire whether it be indeed a case of spiritual distress, or whether a disconsolate frame may not proceed from indisposition of body,—7. or difficulties as to worldly circumstances.—8, 9. If it be found to be indeed such as the title of the chapter proposes, be advised—to consider it as a merciful dispensation of God, to awaken and bestir the soul, and excite to a strict examination of conscience, and reformation of what has been amiss.—10. To be humble and patient while the trial continues.—11. To go on steadily in the way of duty.—12. To renew a believing application to the blood of Jesus. An humble supplication for one under these mournful exercises of mind, when they are found to proceed from the spiritual cause supposed.
1. THERE is a case which often occurs in the Christian life, which they who accustom themselves much to the exercise of devotion have been used to call the “hiding of God's face.” It is a phrase borrowed from the word of God, which I hope may shelter it from contempt at the first hearing. It will be my business in this chapter to state it as plainly as I can, and then to give some advice as to your own conduct when you fall into it, as it is very probable you may before you have finished your journey through this wilderness.
2. The meaning of it may partly be understood by the opposite
phrase of God's “causing his face to shine upon a person, or lifting up upon him
the light of his countenance.” This seems to carry in it an allusion to the pleasant
and delightful appearance which the face of a friend has, and especially if in a
superior relation of life, when he converses with those whom be loves and delights
in. Thus Job, when speaking of the regard paid him by his attendants, says, “If
I smiled upon them, they believed it not, and the light of my countenance they cast
not down,” (
3. It is farther to be observed here, that the things which
they judge to be manifestations of divine favor toward them, or complacency in them,
are not only, nor chiefly of a temporal nature, or such as merely relate to the
blessings of this animal and perishing life. David, though the promises of the law
had a continual reference to such, yet was taught to look farther, and describes
them as preferable to, and therefore plainly distinct from “the blessings of the
corn-floor or the wine-press.” (
4. And give me leave to remind you, my Christian friend,
(for under that character I now address my reader) that to be thus deprived of the
sense of God's love, and of the tokens of his favor, may soon be the case with you,
though you may now have the pleasure to see the candle of the Lord shining upon
you, or though it may even seem to he sunshine and high noon in your soul. You may
lose your lively views of the divine perfections and glory, in the contemplation
of which you now find that inward satisfaction. You may think of the divine wisdom
and power, of the divine mercy and fidelity, as well as of his righteousness and
holiness, and feel little inward complacency of soul in the view: it may be, with
respect to any lively impressions, as if it were the contemplation merely of a common
object. It may seem to you as if you had lost all idea of those important words,
though the view has sometimes swallowed up your whole soul in transports of astonishment,
admiration, and love. You may lose your delightful sense of the divine favor. It
may be matter of great and sad doubt with you, whether you do indeed belong to God;
and all the work of his blessed Spirit may be so veiled and shaded in the soul,
that the peculiar characters by which the hand of that sacred Agent might be distinguished,
shall be in a great measure lost; and you may he ready to imagine you have only
deluded yourself in all the former hopes you have entertained. In consequence of
this, those ordinances in which you now rejoice, may grow very uncomfortable to
you, even when you do indeed desire communion with God in them. You may hear the
most delightful evangelical truths opened, you may hear the privileges of God's
children most affectionately represented, and not be aware that you have any part
or lot in the matter; and from that very coldness and insensibility may be drawing
a farther argument that you have nothing to do with them. And then “your heart”
may “meditate terror,” (
5. Such as this may be your case for a considerable time;
and ordinances maybe attended in vain, and the presence of God may be in vain sought
in them. You may pour out your soul in private, and then come to public worship,
and find little satisfaction in either, but be forced to take up the Psalmist's
complaint, “My God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not; and in the night-season, and am not silent;” (
6. And here I would first advise you most carefully to inquire whether your present distress does indeed arise from causes which are truly spiritual, or whether it may not rather have its foundation in some disorder of the body, or in the circumstances of life in which you are providentially placed, which may break your spirits and deject your mind. The influence of the inferior part of our nature on the nobler, the immortal spirit, while we continue in this embodied state, is so evident, that no attentive person can, in the general, fail to observe it: and yet there are cases in which it seems not to be sufficiently considered; and perhaps your own may be one of them. The state of the blood is often such as necessarily to suggest gloomy ideas, even in dreams, and to indispose the soul for taking pleasure in any thing; and when it is so, why should it be imagined to proceed from any peculiar divine displeasure, if the soul does not find its usual delight in religion? Or why should God be thought to have departed from us, because he suffers natural causes to produce natural effects, without interposing, by miracle, to break the connection? When this is the case, the help of the physician is to be sought, rather than that of the divine; or at least, by all means, together with it; and medicines, diet, exercise and air, may in a few weeks effect what the strongest reasonings, the most pathetic exhortations or consolations might for many months have attempted in vain.
7. In other instances, the dejection and feebleness of the mind may arise from something uncomfortable in our worldly circumstances. These may cloud as well as distract the thoughts, and imbittter the temper, and thus render us in a great degree unfit for religious services and pleasures; and when it is so, the remedy is to be sought in submission to Divine Providence, in abstracting our affections as far as possible from the present world, in a prudent care to ease ourselves of the burden so far as we can, by moderating unnecessary expenses, and by diligent application to business, in humble dependence on the divine blessing; in the mean time, endeavoring, by faith, to look up to him who sometimes suffers his children to be brought into such difficulties, that he may endear himself more sensibly to them by the method he shall take for their relief.
8. On the principles here laid down, it may perhaps appear,
on inquiry, that the distress complained of may have a foundation very different
from what was at first supposed. But where the health is sound, and the circumstances
easy; when the animal spirits are disposed for gayety and entertainment, while all
taste for religious pleasure is in a manner gone; when the soul is seized with a
kind of lethargic insensibility, or what I had almost called a paralytic weakness
with respect to every religious exercise, even though there should not be that deep
terrifying distress, or pungent amazement, which I before represented as the effect
of melancholy, nor that anxiety about the accommodations of life which strait circumstances
naturally produce; I would in that case vary my advice, and urge you, with all possible
attention and impartiality, to search into the cause which has brought upon you
that great evil under which you justly mourn. And probably, in the general, the
cause is sin—some secret sin, which has not been discovered or observed by the
eye of the world; for enormities that draw on them the observation and censure of
others, will probably fall under the case mentioned in the former chapter, as they
must be instances of known and deliberate guilt. Now the eye of God hath seen these
evils which have escaped the notice of your fellow-creatures; and in consequence
of this care to conceal them from others, while you could not but know they were
open to him, God has seen himself in a peculiar manner affronted and injured, I
had almost said insulted by them; and hence his righteous displeasure. Oh! let that
never be forgotten, which is so plainly said, so commonly known, so familiar to
almost every religious ear, yet too little felt by any of our hearts, “Your iniquities
have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you,
that he will not hear.” (
9. Receive it therefore, on the whole, as the most important
advice that can be given you, immediately to enter on a strict examination of your
conscience. Attend to its gentlest whispers. If a suspicion arises in your mind
that any thing has not been right, trace that suspicion, search into every secret
folding of your heart: improve to the purposes of a fuller discovery the advice
of your friends, the reproaches of your enemies; recollect for what your heart hath
smitten you at the table of the Lord, for what it would smite you if you were upon
a dying bed, and within this hour to enter on eternity. When you have made any discovery,
note it down; and go on in your search, till you can say these are the remaining
incorruptions of my heart, these are the sins and follies of my life; this have
I neglected; this have I done amiss. And when the account is as complete as you
can make it, set yourself in the strength of a God, to a serious reformation; or
rather begin the reformation of every thing that seems amiss, as soon as ever you
discover it; “return to the Almighty, and thou shalt be built up; put iniquity far
from thy tabernacle, and then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt
lift up thy face unto God. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall bear
thee; thou shalt pay thy vows unto him, and his light shall shine upon thy ways.”
(
10. In the meantime, be waiting for God with the deepest
humility, and submit yourself to the discipline of your heavenly Father, acknowledging
his justice, and hoping in his mercy; even when your conscience is least severe
in its remonstrances, and discovers nothing more than the common infirmities of
God's people; yet still bow yourself down before him, and own that so many are the
evils of your best days, so many the imperfections of your best services, that by
them you have deserved all, and more than all that you suffer: deserved, not only
that your sun should be clouded, but that it should go down, and arise no more,
but leave your soul in a state of everlasting darkness. And while the shade continues,
be not impatient. Fret not yourself in any wise, but rather, with a holy calmness
and gentleness of soul, “wait on the Lord.” (
11. But while the darkness continues, “go on in the way
of your duty.” Continue the use of means and ordinances: read and meditate: pray,
yes, and sing the praises of God too, though it may be with a heavy heart. Follow
the “footsteps of his flock,” (
12. I shall add but one advice more, and that is, that
“you renew your application to the blood of Jesus, through whom the reconciliation
between God and your soul has been accomplished.” It is he that is our peace, and
by his blood it is that “we are made nigh:” (
An Humble Supplication for one under the Hidings of God's Face.
“Blessed God! ‘with thee is the fountain of life’ and of
happiness. (
“But, Lord, hast ‘thou cast off forever, and wilt thou
be favorable no more?’ (
“Remember, O Lord God! remember that dreadful day, in which
Jesus thy dear Son endured what my sins have deserved! Remember that agony, in which
he poured out his soul before thee and said ‘My God! My God! why hast thou forsaken
me?’ (
“'O that I knew where I might find thee’ (
“O God! ‘who didst command the light to shine out of darkness,’
(
“Yet, Lord, on the whole, I submit to thy will. If it is
thus that my faith must be exercised, by walking in darkness for days, and months,
and years to tome, how long soever they may seem, how long so ever they may be,
I submit. Still will I adore thee as the ‘God of Israel,’ and the Savior, though
‘thou art a God that hidest thyself.’ (
“This, Lord, is ‘thy salvation for which I am waiting,’
(
1. Here it is advised—that afflictions should only be expected.—2. That the righteous hand of God should be acknowledged in them when they come.—3. That they should be borne with patience.—4. That the divine conduct in them should be cordially approved.—5. That thankfulness should be maintained in the midst of trials.—6. That the design of afflictions should be diligently inquired into, and all proper assistance taken in discovering it.—7. That, when it is discovered, it should humbly be complied with and answered. A prayer suited to such a case.
1. SINCE “man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward,” (
2. When at length your turn comes, as it certainly will,
from the first hour in which an affliction seizes you, realize to yourself the hand
of God in it, and lose not the view of him in any second cause, which may have proved
the immediate occasion. Let it be your first care to “humble yourself under the
mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” (
3. Now, that “patience may have its perfect work,” (
4. Nay, I will add, that, in consequence of all these considerations, it may be well expected, not only that you should submit to your afflictions, as what you cannot avoid, but that you should sweetly acquiesce in them, and approve them; that you should not only justify, but glorify God in sending them; that you should glorify him with your heart and with your lips too. Think not praises unsuitable on such an occasion; nor that praise alone to be suitable, which takes its rise from remaining comforts; but know that it is your duty, not only to be thankful in your afflictions, but to be thankful on account of them.
5. God himself hath said, “in every thing give thanks,”
(
6. Let it be then your earnest care, while you thus look
on your affliction, whatever it may be, as coming from the hand of God, to improve
it to the purposes for which it was sent. And that you may so improve it, let it
be your first concern to know what those purposes are. Summon up all the attention
of your soul to bear the rod, and him “who hath appointed it,” (
7. And when, by one means or another, you have got a ray
of light to direct you in the meaning and language of such dispensations, take heed
that you do not, in any degree, “harden yourself against God, and walk contrary
to him.” (
An humble Address to God under the Pressure of heavy Affliction.
“O thou Supreme, yet all righteous and gracious Governor
of the whole universe! mean and inconsiderable as this little province of thy spacious
empire may appear, thou dost not disregard the earth and its inhabitants, but attendest
to its concerns with the most condescending and gracious regard. ‘Thou reignest,
and I rejoice in it;’ as it is indeed ‘matter of universal joy.’ (
“O thou wise and merciful Governor of the world! I have
often said, ‘Thy will be done;’ and now, thy will is painful to me. But shall I
upon that account unsay what I have so often said? God forbid! I come rather to
lay myself down at thy feet, and to declare my full and free submission to all thy
sacred pleasure. O Lord! thou art just and righteous in all! I acknowledge, in thy
venerable and awful presence, that ‘I have deserved this,’ and ten thousand times
more. (
“But shall I speak unto thee only as my Judge? O Lord!
thou hast taught me a tenderer name: thou condescendest to call thyself my Father,
and to speak of correction as the effect of thy love. O welcome, welcome, those
afflictions which are the tokens of thy paternal affection, the marks of my adoption
into thy family! Thou knowest what discipline I need. Thou seest, O Lord! that bundle
of folly which there is in the heart of thy poor, froward, and thoughtless child,
and knowest what rods and what strokes are needful to drive it away. I would therefore
‘be in humble subjection to the Father of spirits,’ who ‘chastened me for my profit;’
would ‘be in subjection to him and live.’ (
“If my heart be less tender, less sensible, thou canst
cure that disorder, and canst make this affliction the means of curing it. Thus
let it be; and at length, in thine own due time, and in the way which thou shalt
choose, work out deliverance for me, ‘and show me thy marvellous loving-kindness,
O thou that savest by thy right band them that put their trust in thee!’ (
“O Lord, ‘my soul longeth for thee; it crieth out for the
living God!’ (
1. The examination important.—2. False marks of growth to be avoided.—3. True marks proposed; such as—increasing love to God.—4. Benevolence to men.—5. Candor of disposition.—6. Meekness under injuries.—7. Serenity amidst the uncertainties of life.—8, 9. Humility,—especially as expressed in evangelical exercises of mind toward Christ end the Holy Spirit.—10. Zeal for the divine honor.—11. Habitual and cheerful willingness to exchange worlds when ever God shall appoint.—12. Conclusion. The Christian breathing after growth in grace.
1. IF by divine grace you have “been born again, not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible,” (
2. It must be allowed that knowledge and affection in religion are indeed desirable. Without some degree of the former, religion cannot be rational and it is very reasonable to believe, that without some degree of the latter it cannot be sincere, in creatures whose natures are constituted like ours. Yet there may be a great deal of speculative knowledge, and a great deal of rapturous affection, where there is no true religion at all; and still more, where religion exists, though there be no advanced state of it. The exercise of our rational faculties, upon the evidences of divine revelation, and upon the declaration of it as contained in Scripture, may furnish a very wicked man with a well-digested body of orthodox divinity in his head, when not one single doctrine of it has ever reached his heart. An eloquent description of the sufferings of Christ, of the solemnities of judgment, of the joys of the blessed, and the miseries of the damned, might move the breast even of a man who did not firmly believe them; as we often find ourselves strongly moved by well-wrought narrations or discourses, which at the same time we know to have their foundation in fiction. Natural constitution, or such accidental causes as are (some of them) too low to be here mentioned, may supply the eyes with a flood of tears, which may discharge itself plenteously upon almost any occasion that shall first arise. And a proud impatience of contradiction directly opposite as it is to the gentle spirit of Christianity, may make a man's blood boil when he hears the notions he has entertained, and especially those which he has openly and vigorously espoused, disputed and opposed. This may possibly lead him, in terms of strong indignation, to pour out his zeal and his rage before God!, in a fond conceit, that, as the God of truth, he is the pattern of those favorite doctrines by whose fair appearances perhaps he himself is misled. And if these speculative refinements, or these affectionate sallies of the mind, be consistent with a total absence of true religion, they are much more apparently consistent with a very low state of it. I would desire to lead you, my friend, into sublimer notions and juster marks, and refer you to other practical writers, arid, above all, to the book of God, to prove how material they are. I would therefore entreat you to bring your own heart to answer, as in the presence of God, such inquiries as these:
3. Do you find “divine love, on the whole, advancing in
your soul?” Do you feel yourself more and more sensible of the presence of God?
and does that sense grow more delightful to you than it formerly was? Can you, even
when your natural spirits are weak and low, and you are not in any frame for the
ardors and ecstacies of devotion, nevertheless find a pleasing rest, a calm repose
of heart, in the thought that God is near you, and that he sees the secret sentiments
of your soul, while you are, as it were, toward those whom an unsanctified heart
might be ready to imagine it had some just excuse for excepting out of the list
of those it loves, and from whom you are ready to feel some secret alienation or
aversion. How does your mind stand affected toward those who differ from you in
their religious sentiments and practices? I do not say that Christian charity will
require you to think every error harmless. It argues no want of love to a friend,
in some cases, to fear lest his disorder should prove more fatal than he seems to
imagine: nay, sometimes the very tenderness of friendship may increase that apprehension.
But to hate persons because we think they are mistaken, and to aggravate every difference
in judgment or practice into a fatal and damnable error that destroys all Christian
communion and love, is a symptom generally much worse than the evil it condemns.
Do you love the image of Christ in a person who thinks himself obliged in conscience
to profess and worship in a manner different from yourself? Nay, farther, can you
love and honor that which is truly amiable and excellent in those in whom much is
defective; in those in whom there is a mixture of bigotry and narrowness of spirit,
which may lead them perhaps to slight, or even to censure you? Can you love them
as the disciples and servants of Christ, who, through a mistaken zeal, may be ready
to “cast out your name as evil,” (
6. And, on this head, reflect farther, “How can you bear
injuries?” There is a certain hardness of soul in this respect, which argues a confirmed
state in piety and virtue. Does every thing of this kind hurry and ruffle you, so
as to put you on contrivances how you may recompense, or, at least, how you may
disgrace and expose him who has done you the wrong? Or can you stand the shock calmly,
and easily divert your mind to other objects, only (when you recollect these things)
pitying and praying for those who with the worst tempers and views are assaulting
you? This is a Christ-like temper indeed, and he will own it as such; will own you
as one of his soldiers, as one of his heroes; especially if it rises so far, as,
instead of being “overcome of evil, to overcome evil with good.” (
7. Examine farther, “with regard to other evils and calamities of life, and even with regard to its uncertainties, how you can bear them.” Do you find your soul is in this respect gathering strength? Have you fewer foreboding fears and disquieting alarms than you once had, as to what may happen in life? Can you trust the wisdom and goodness of God to order your affairs for you, with more complacency and cheerfulness than formerly? Do you find yourself able to unite your thoughts more in surveying present circumstances, that you may collect immediate duty from them, though you know not what God will next appoint or call you to? And when you feel the smart of affliction, do you make a less matter of it? Can you transfer your heart more easily to heavenly and divine objects, without an anxious solicitude whether this or that burden be removed, so it may but be sanctified to promote your communion with God and your ripeness for glory?
8. Examine also, “whether you advance in humility.” This
is a silent but most excellent grace; and they who are most eminent in it, are dearest
to God, and most fit for the communications of his presence to them. Do you then
feel your mind more emptied of proud and haughty imaginations, not prone so much
to look back upon past services which it has performed, as forward to those which
are yet before you, and inward upon the remaining imperfections of your heart? Do
you more tenderly observe your daily failures and miscarriages, and find yourself
disposed to mourn over those things before the Lord, that once passed with you as
slight matters, though, when you come to survey them as in the presence of God,
you find they were not wholly involuntary or free from guilt? Do you feel in your
breast a deeper apprehension of the infinite majesty of the blessed God, and of
the glory of his natural and moral perfections, so as, in consequence of these views,
to perceive yourself as it were annihilated in his presence, and to shrink into
“less than nothing, and vanity?” (
9. But there is another great branch and effect of Christian
humility, which it would be an unpardonable negligence to omit. Let me therefore
farther inquire, are you more frequently renewing your application, your sincere,
steady, determined application, to the righteousness and blood of Christ, as being
sensible how unworthy you are to appear before God otherwise than in him? And do
the remaining corruptions of your heart humble you before him, though the disorders
of your life are in a great measure cured? Are you more earnest to obtain the quickening
influences of the Holy Spirit? And have you such a sense of your own weakness as
to engage you to depend, in all the duties you perform, upon the communications
of his grace to “help your infirmities?” (
10. Do you also advance “in zeal and activity” for the
service of God and the happiness of mankind? Does your love show itself solid and
sincere, by a continual flow of good works from it? Can you view the sorrows of
others with tender compassion, and with projects and contrivances what you may do
to relieve them? Do you feel in your breast that you are more frequently “devising
liberal things,” (
11. And, not to enlarge upon this copious head, reflect
once more, “how your affections stand with regard to this world and another.” Are
you more deeply and practically convinced of the vanity of these “things which are
seen, and are temporal?” (
12. These, if I understand matters aright, are some of the most substantial evidences of growth and establishment in religion. Search after them: bless God for them, so for as you discover them in yourself, and study to advance in them daily, under the influences of divine grace; to which I heartily recommend you, and to which I entreat you frequently to recommend yourself.
The Christian breathing earnestly after growth in Grace.
“O thou ever-blessed Fountain of natural and spiritual
life! I thank thee that I live, and know the exercises and pleasures of a religious
life. I bless thee that thou hast infused into me thine own vital breath, though
I was once ‘dead in trespasses and sins,’ (
“May I be seeking after an increase of divine love to thee,
my God and Father in Christ, of unreserved resignation to thy wise and holy will,
and of extensive benevolence to my fellow-creatures! May I grow in patience and
fortitude of soul, in humility and zeal, in spirituality and a heavenly disposition
of mind, and in a concern, ‘that, whether present or absent, I may be accepted of
the Lord,’ (
“I am sensible, O Lord, I have not as yet attained, yea,
my soul is utterly confounded to think how far I am from being already perfect;
but this one thing (after thy great example of thine apostle) I would endeavor to
do: ‘forgetting the things which are behind, I would press forward to those which
are before.’ (
1. A holy joy in God, our privilege as well as our duty.—2. The Christian invited to the exercise of it.—3. By the consideration of temporal mercies.—4. And of spiritual favors.—5. By the views of eternal happiness.—6. And of the mercies of God to others, the living and the dead.—7. The chapter closes with an exhortation to this heavenly exercise. And with an example of the genuine workings of this grateful joy in God.
1. I WOULD now suppose my reader to find, on an examination of his spiritual
state, that he is growing in grace. And if you desire that this growth may at once
be acknowledged and promoted, let me call your soul “to that more affectionate exercise
of love to God and joy in him,” which suits, and strengthens, and exalts the character
of the advanced Christian; and which I beseech you to regard, not only as your privilege,
but as your duty too. Love is the most sublime, generous principle, of all true
and acceptable obedience; and with love, when so wisely and happily fixed, when
so certainly returned, JOY, proportionable JOY, must naturally be connected. It
may justly grieve a man that enters into the spirit of Christianity, to see how
low a life even the generality of sincere Christians commonly live in this respect.
“Rejoice then in the Lord, ye righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his
holiness,” (
2. Are there not continually rays enough diffused from
the great Father of light and love to enkindle it in our bosom? Come, my Christian
friend and brother, come and survey with me the goodness of our heavenly Fattier.
And oh! that he would give me such a sense of it, that I might represent it in a
suitable manner, that “while I am musing, the fire may burn” in my own heart, (
3. Have you not reason to adopt the words of David, and
say, ‘How many are thy gracious thoughts unto me, O Lord!’ how great is the sum
of them! When I would count them, they are more in number than the sand.” (
4. But it is more than time that I lead on your thoughts
to the many spiritual mercies which God has bestowed upon you. Look back, as it
were, to “the rock from whence you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from whence
you were digged.” (
5. Christian, look around on the numberless blessings, of one kind and of another, with which you are already encompassed; and advance your prospect still farther, to what faith yet discovers within the veil. Think of those now unknown transports with which thou shalt drop every burden in the grave; and thine immortal spirit shall mount, light and joyful, holy and happy to God, its original, its support, and its hope; to God, the source of being, of holiness, and of pleasure; to Jesus, through whom all these blessings are derived to thee, and who will appoint thee a throne near to his own, to be for ever a spectator and partaker of his glory. Think of the rapture with which thou shalt attend his triumph in the resurrection-day, and receive this poor, moldering, corruptible body, transformed into his glorious image; and then think, “These hopes are not mine alone, but the hopes of thousands and millions. Multitudes, whom I number among the dearest of my friends upon the earth, are rejoicing with me in these apprehensions and views; and God gives me sometimes to see the smiles on their cheeks, the sweet, humble hope that sparkles in their eyes and shines through the tears of tender gratitude, and to hear that little of their inward complacency and joy which language can express. Yea, and multitudes more, who were once equally dear to me with these, though I have laid them in the grave, and wept over the dust, are living to God, living in the possession of inconceivable delights, and drinking large draughts of the water of life, which flows in perpetual streams at his right hand.”
6. O Christian! thou art still intimately united and allied
to them. Death cannot break a friendship thus cemented, and it ought not to render
thee insensible of the happiness of those friends for whose memory thou retainest
so just an honor. They live to God as his servants; they “serve him and see his
face,” (
7. This, and infinitely more than this the blessed God is, and was, and shall ever be. The felicities of the blessed spirits that surround his throne, and thy felicities, O Christian! are immortal. These heavenly luminaries shall glow with an undecaying flame, and thou shalt shine and burn among them when the sun and the stars are gone out. Still shall the unchanging Father of lights pour forth his beams upon them; and the lustre they reflect from him, and their happiness in him, shall be everlasting, shall be ever growing. Bow down, O thou child of God, thou heir of glory; bow down, and let all that is within thee unite in one act of grateful love; and let all that is around thee, all that is before thee in the prospects of an unbounded eternity, concur to elevate and transport thy soul, that thou mayest, as far as possible, begin the work and blessedness of heaven, in falling down before the God of it, in opening thine heart to his gracious influences, and in breathing out before him that incense of praise which these warm beams of his presence and love have so great a tendency to produce, and to ennoble with a fragrancy resembling that of his paradise above.
The grateful Soul rejoicing in the Blessings of Providence and Grace, and pouring out itself before God in vigorous and affectionate Exercises of Love and Praise.
“O my God, it is enough! I have mused, and ‘the fire burneth!’
(
“I bless thee, O God, for this soul of mine which thou
hast created; which thou hast taught to say, and I hope to the happiest purpose,
‘Where is God my Maker!’ (
“I bless thee also for that body which thou hast given
me, and which thou preservest as yet in its strength and vigor, not only capable
of relishing the entertainments which thou providest for its various senses, but
(which I esteem far more valuable than any of them for its own sake) capable of
acting with some vivacity in thy service. I bless thee for that case and freedom
with which these limbs of mine move themselves, and obey the dictates of my spirit,
I hope as guided by thine. I bless thee that ‘the keepers of my house do not tremble,
nor the strong men bow themselves;’ that they ‘that look out of the windows are
not yet darkened, nor the daughters of music brought low.’ I bless thee, O God of
my life! that ‘the silver cord is not yet loosed, nor the golden bowl broken;’ (
“Nor would I forget to acknowledge thy favor in rendering
me capable of serving others, and giving me in any instance to know how much ‘more
blessed it is to give than to receive.’ (
“And surely, O Lord, if I thus acknowledge the pleasures
of sympathy with the afflicted, much more must I bless thee for those of sympathy
with the happy, with those that are completely blessed. I adore thee for the streams
that water Paradise, and maintain it in ever-flourishing, ever-growing delight.
I praise thee for the rest, the joy, the transport, thou art giving to many that
were once dear to me on earth, whose sorrows it was my labor to soothe, and whose
joys, especially in thee, it was the delight of my heart to promote. I praise thee
for the blessedness of every saint, and of every angel that surrounds thy throne
above; and I praise thee, with accents of distinguished pleasure for that reviving
hope which thou hast implanted in my bosom, that I shall, ere long, know, by clear
sight, and by everlasting experience, what that felicity of theirs is which I now
only discover at a distance, through the comparatively obscure glass of faith. Even
now, through thy grace, do I feel myself borne forward by thy supporting arm to
those regions of blessedness. Even now am I ‘waiting for thy salvation,’ (
“And now, O my God, what shall I say unto thee? what, but that I love thee above all the powers of language to express! That I love thee for what thou art to thy creatures, who are, in their various forms, every moment deriving being, knowledge and happiness from thee, in numbers and degrees far beyond what my narrow imagination can conceive. But, oh! I adore and love thee yet far more for what thou art in thyself; for those stores of perfection which creation has not diminished, and which can never be exhausted by all the effects of it which thou impartest to thy creatures; that infinite perfection which makes thee thine own happiness, thine own end; amiable, infinitely amiable and venerable, were all derived excellence and happiness forgot.
“O thou first, thou greatest, thou fairest of all objects!
thou only great, thou only fair, possess all my soul! And surely thou dost possess
it. While I thus feel thy sacred Spirit breathing on my heart, and exciting these
fervors of love to thee, I cannot doubt it any more than I can doubt the reality
of this animal life, while I exert the actings of it, and feel its sensations. Surely,
if ever I knew the appetite of hunger, my soul ‘hungers after righteousness, (
1, 2. A sincere love to God will express itself not only in devotion, but in benevolence to men.—3. This is the command of God.—4. The true Christian feels his soul wrought to a holy conformity to it.—5. And therefore will desire instruction on this head.—6. Accordingly, directions are given for the improvement of various talents: particularly genius and learning.—7. Power.—8. Domestic authority.—9. Esteem.—10. Riches.—11. Several good ways of employing them hinted at.—12, 13. Prudence in expense urged, for the support of charity.—14. Divine direction in this respect to be sought. The Christian breathing after more extensive usefulness.
1. SUCH as I have described in the former chapter, I trust, are and will be the frequent exercises or your soul before God. Thus will your love and gratitude breathe itself forth in the divine presence and will, through Jesus the great Mediator, come up before it as incense, and yield an acceptable savor. But then, you must remember, this will not be the only effect of that love to God which I have supposed so warm in your heart. If it be sincere, it will not spend itself in words alone, but will discover itself in actions, and wilt produce, as its genuine fruit, an unfeigned love to your fellow-creatures, and an unwearied desire and labor to do them good continually.
2. “Has the great Father of mercies,” will you say, “looked upon me with so gracious an eye? has he not only forgiven me ten thousand offences, but enriched me with such a variety of benefits? O what shall render to him for them all? Instruct me, O ye oracles of eternal truth! Instruct me, ye elder brethren in the family of my heavenly Father! Instruct me, above all, O thou Spirit of wisdom and love! what I may be able to do, to express my love to the great eternal fountain of love, and to approve my fidelity to him who has already done so much to engage it, and who will take so much pleasure in owning and rewarding it!"
3. This, O Christian! is the command which we have heard
from the beginning, and it will ever continue in unimpaired force, “that he who
loveth God,” should “love his brother also,” (
4. “Yes,” will you not say, and “I do love it. I feel the golden chain of divine love encircling us all, and binding us close to each other, joining us in one body, and diffusing as it were, one soul through all. May happiness, true and sublime, perpetual and ever-growing happiness, reign through the whole world of God's rational and obedient creatures in heaven and on earth! And may every revolted creature, that is capable of being recovered and restored, be made obedient! Yea, may the necessary punishment of those who are irrecoverable, be overruled by infinite wisdom and love to the good of the whole!"
5. These are right sentiments, and if they are indeed the
sentiments of your heart, O reader! and not an empty form of vain words, they will
be attended with a serious concern to act in subordination to this great scheme
of divine Providence, according to your abilities in their utmost extent. And to
this purpose, they will put you on surveying the peculiar circumstances of your
life and being, that you may discover what opportunities of usefulness they now
afford, and how those opportunities and capacities may be improved. Enter therefore
into such a survey, not that you may pride yourself in the distinctions of divine
Providence or grace towards you, or, “having received, may glory as if you had not
received;” (
6. Hath God given you genius and learning? It was not that you might amuse or deck yourself with it, and kindle a blaze which should only serve to attract and dazzle the eyes of men. It was intended to be the means of heading both yourself and them to the Father of lights. And it will be your duty, according to the peculiar turn of that genius and capacity, either to endeavor to improve and adorn human life, or, by a more direct application of it to divine subjects, to plead the cause of religion, to defend its truths, to enforce and recommend its practicer to deter men from courses which would be dishonorable to God and fatal to themselves, and to try the utmost efforts of all the solemnity and tenderness with which you can clothe your addresses, to lead them into the paths of virtue and happiness.
7. Has God invested you with power, whether it be in a
larger or smaller society? Remember that this power was given you that God might
be honored, and those placed under your government, whether domestic or public,
might be made happy. Be concerned, therefore, that, whether you be entrusted with
the rod, or the sword, it may “not be” borne in vain. (
8. Are you placed only at the head of a private family?
Rule it for God. Administer the concerns of that little kingdom with the same views,
and on the same principles, which I have been inculcating oil the powerful and the
great, if, by any unexpected accident, any of them should suffer their eyes to glance
upon the passage above. Your children and servants are your natural subjects. Let
good order be established among them, and keep them under a regular discipline.
Let them be instructed in the principles of religion, that they may know how reasonable
such a discipline is; and let them be accustomed to act accordingly. You cannot
indeed change their hearts, but you may very much influence their conduct, and by
that means may preserve them from many snares, may do a great deal to make them
good members of society, and may set them, as it were, “in the way of God's steps,”
(
9. Again, has God been pleased to raise you to esteem among your fellow-creatures, which is not always in proportion to a man's rank or possession in human life? Are your counsels heard with attention? Is your company sought? Does God give you good acceptance in the eyes of men, so that they do not only put the fairest constructions on your words, but overlook faults of which you are conscious to yourself, and consider your actions and performances in the most indulgent and favorable light? You ought to regard this, not only as a favor of Providence, and as an encouragement to you cheerfully to pursue your duty, in the several branches of it, for the time to come, but also, as giving you much greater opportunities of usefulness than in your present station you could otherwise have had. If your character has any weight in the world, throw it into the right scale. Endeavor to keep virtue and goodness in countenance. Affectionately give your hand to modest worth, where it seems to be depressed or overlooked; though shining, when viewed in its proper light, with a lustre which you may think much superior to your own. Be an advocate for truth; be a counsellor for peace; be an example of candor; and do all you can to reconcile the hearts of men, especially of good men, to each other, however they may differ in their opinions about matters which it is impossible for good men to dispute. And let the caution and humility of your behavior, in circumstances of such superior eminence, and amidst so many tokens of general esteem, silently reprove the rashness and haughtiness of those who perhaps are remarkable for little else; or who, if their abilities were indeed considerable, must be despised, and whose talents must be in a great measure lost to the public, till that rashness and haughtiness of spirit be subdued. Nor suffer yourself to he interrupted in this generous and worthy course, by the little attacks or envy and calumny which you may meet. Be still attentive to the general good, and steadily resolute in your efforts to promote it; and leave it to Providence to guard or to rescue your character from the base assaults of malice and falsehood, which will often, without your labor, confute themselves, and heap upon the authors greater shame, or (if they are inaccessible to that} greater infamy, than your humanity will allow you to wish them.
10. Once more, Has God blessed you with riches? Has he
placed you in such circumstances that you have more than you absolutely need for
the subsistence of yourself and your family? Remember your approaching account.
Remember what an incumbrance these things often prove to men in the way of their
salvation, and how often, according to our Lord's express declaration, they render
it “as difficult to enter into the kingdom of God, as it is for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle.” (
11. And that your heart may be yet more opened, and that
your charity may be directed to the best purposes, let me briefly mention a variety
of good uses which may call for the consideration of those whom God has in this
respect distinguished by an ability to do good. To assist the hints I am to offer,
look round on the neighborhood in which you live. Thank how many honest and industrious,
perhaps too, I might add, religious people, are making very hard shifts to struggle
through life. Think what a comfort that would be to them, which you might without
any inconvenience spare from that abundance which God hath given you. Hearken also
to any extraordinary calls of charity which may happen, especially those of a public
nature, and help them forward with your example, and your interest in them, which
perhaps may be of much greater importance than the sum which you contribute, considered
in itself. Have a tongue to plead for the necessitous, as well as a hand to relieve
them; and endeavor to discountenance those poor, shameful excuses, which covetousness
often dictates to those whose art may indeed set some varnish on what they suggest,
but so slight a one, that the coarse ground will appear through it. See how many
poor children are wandering naked and ignorant about the streets, and in the way
to all kinds of vice and misery; and consider what can be done toward clothing some
of them at least, and instructing them in the principles of religion. Would every
thriving family in a town, who are able to afford help on such occasions, cast a
pitying eye on one poor family in its neighborhood, and take it under their patronage,
to assist in feeding, and clothing, and teaching the children, in supporting it
in affliction, in defending it from wrongs, and in advising those that have the
management of it, as circumstances might require, how great a difference would soon
be produced in the character and circumstances of the community! Observe who are
sick, that, if there be no public infirmary at hand to which you can introduce them,
(where your contribution will yield the largest increase) you may do something towards
relieving them at home, and supplying them with advice and medicines, as well as
with proper diet and attendance. Consider also the spiritual necessities of men:
in providing for which, I would particularly recommend to you the very important
and noble charity of assisting young persons of genius and piety with what is necessary
to support the expense of their education for the ministry, in the proper course
of grammatical or academical studies. And grudge not some proportion of what God
hath given you, to those who, resigning all temporal views to minister to you the
Gospel of Christ, have surely an equitable claim to be supported by you, in a capacity
of rendering you those services, however laborious, to which, for your sakes, and
that of our common Lord, they have devoted their lives. And while you are so abundantly
“satisfied with the goodness of Gal's house, even of his own temple,” (
12. And that, amidst so many pressing demands for charity,
you may be better furnished to answer them, seriously reflect on your manner of
living. I say not that God requires you should become one of the many poor relieved
out of your income. The support of society, as at present established, will not
only permit, but require, that some persons should allow themselves in the elegancies
and delights of life; by furnishing which, multitudes of poor families are much
more creditably and comfortably subsisted, with greater advantage to themselves
and safety to the public, than they could be, if the price of their labors, or of
the commodities in which they deal, were to be given them as alms; nor can I imagine
it grateful to God, that his gifts should be refused, as if they were meant for
snares and curses rather than benefits. This were to frustrate the benevolent purposes
of the gracious Father of mankind, and if carried to its rigor, would be a sort
of conspiracy against the whole system of nature. Let the bounties of Providence
be used; but let us carefully see to it, that it be in a moderate and prudent manner,
lest, by our own folly, “that which should have been for our welfare become a trap.”
(
18. Complain not that this is imposing hard things upon you. I am only directing your pleasures into a nobler channel; and indeed that frugality, which is the source of such a generosity, far from being at all injurious to your reputation, will rather, among wise and good men, greatly promote it. But you have far nobler motives before you than those which arise from their regards. I speak to you as to a child of God, and a member of Christ; as joined, therefore, by the most intimate union, to all the poorest of those that believe in him. I speak to you as to an heir of eternal glory, who ought therefore to have sentiments great and sublime, in some proportion to that expected inheritance.
14. Cast about therefore in your thoughts what good is
to be done, and what you can do, either in your own person or by your interest with
others; and go about it with resolution, as in the name and presence of the Lord.
And as “the Lord giveth wisdom, and out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding,”
(
The established Christian breathing after more extensive Usefulness.
“O bountiful Father, and sovereign Author of all good,
whether natural or spiritual! I bless thee for the various talents with which thou
hast enriched so undeserving a creature as I must acknowledge myself to be. My soul
is in the deepest confusion before thee, when I consider to how little purpose I
have hitherto improved them. Alas! what have I done, in proportion to what than
mightest reasonably have expected, with the gifts of nature which thou hast bestowed
upon me, with my capacities of life, with my time, with my talents, with my possessions,
with my influence over others! Alas! through my own negligence and folly, I look
back on a barren wilderness, where I might have seen a fruitful field, and a springing
harvest! Justly do I indeed deserve to be stripped of all, to be brought to an immediate
account for all; to be condemned, as in many respects unfaithful to thee, and to
the world, and to my own soul; and, in consequence of that condemnation, to be cast
into the prison of eternal darkness! But thou, Lord, hast freely forgiven the dreadful
debt of ten thousand talents. Adored be thy name for it! Accept, O Lord, accept
that renewed surrender which I would now make of myself, and of all I have, unto
thy service! I acknowledge that it is ‘of thine own that I give thee.’ (
“I adore thee, O thou God of all grace! if, while I am
thus speaking to thee, I feel the love of thy creatures arising in my soul; if I
feel my heart opening to embrace my brethren of mankind! O make me thy faithful
almoner, in distributing to them all that thou hast lodged in mine hand for their
relief! And in determining what is my own share, may I hold the balance with an
equal hand, and judge impartially between myself and them! The proportion thou allowest,
may I thankfully take for myself and those who are immediately mine! The rest may
I distribute with wisdom, and fidelity, and cheerfulness! Guide my hand, O ever-merciful
Father! while thou dost me the honor to make me thine instrument in dealing out
a few of thy bounties, that I may bestow them where they are most needed, and where
they will answer the best end! And if it be thy gracious will, do thou ‘multiply
the seed sown;’ (
1. Death and judgment are near: but the Christian has reason to welcome both.—2. Yet nature recoils from the solemnity of them.—3. An attempt to reconcile the mind to the prospect of death.—4. From the considerations of the many evils that surround us in this mortal life.—5. Of the remainder of sin which we feel within us.—6, 7. And of the happiness which is immediately to succeed death.—8. All which might make the Christian willing to die in the most agreeable circumstances of human life.—9. The Christian has reason to rejoice in the prospect of judgment.—10. Since, however awful it may be, Christ will then come to vindicate his honor, to display his glory, and to triumph over his enemies.—11. As also to complete the happiness of every believer.—12, 13. And of the whole church.—The mediation of a Christian whose heart is warm with these prospects.
1. WHEN the visions of the Lord were closing upon John, the beloved disciple,
in the island of Patmos, it is observable that he who gave him that revelation,
even Jesus, the faithful and true witness, concludes with these lively and important
words: “He who testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly:” and John answered
with the greatest readiness and pleasure—"Amen, even so come, Lord Jesus!” Come,
as thou hast said, surely and quickly. And remember, O Christian! whoever you are
that are now reading these words, your divine Lord speaks in the same language to
you—"Behold, I come quickly.” Yes, very quickly will become by death, to turn the
key, to open the door of the grave for thine admittance thither, and to lead thee
through it into the now unknown regions of the invisible world. Nor is it long before
“the Judge who standeth at the door,” (
2. I am sure it is reasonable it should be so; and yet perhaps nature, fond of life, and unwilling to part with along known abode, to enter on a state to which it is entirely a stranger, may recoil from the thoughts of dying; or, struck with the awful pomp or an expiring and dissolving world, may look on the judgement-day with some mixture of terror. And therefore, my dear brother in the Lord, (for such I can now esteem you) I would reason with you a little on this head, and would entreat you to look more attentively on this solemn subject; which will, I trust, grow less disagreeable to you, as it is more familiarly viewed. Nay, I hope that, instead of starting back from it, you wilt rather spring forward toward it with joy and delight.
3. Think, O Christian! when Christ comes to call you away
by death, he comes—to set you at liberty from your present sorrows—to deliver
you from your struggles with remaining corruption—and to receive you to dwell with
himself in complete holiness and joy. You shall “be absent from the body, and be
present with the Lord.” (
4. He will indeed call you away from this world; but oh!
what is this world, that you should be fond of it, and cling to it with so much
eagerness? How low are all those enjoyments that are peculiar to it, and how many
its vexations, its snares, and its sorrows! Review your pilgrimage thus far; and
though you must acknowledge that “goodness and mercy have followed you all the days
of your life,” (
5. Yea, to come nearer home, do you not feel something
within you, which you long to quit, and which would embitter even Paradise itself?
Something which, were it to continue, would grieve and distress you even in the
society of the blessed? Do you not feel a remainder of indwelling sin, the sad consequence
of the original revolt of our nature from God? Are you not struggling every day
with some residue of corruption, or at least mourning on account of the weakness
of your graces? Do you not often find your spirits dull and languid, when you would
desire to raise them to the greatest fervor in the service of God ? Do you not find
your heart too often insensible of the richest instances of his love, and your hands
feeble in his service, even when “to will is present with you?” (
6. Should you not then rejoice in the thought, that Jesus comes to deliver you from these complaints? That he comes to answer your wishes, and to fulfill the largest desires of your hearts, those desires that he himself has inspired? That he comes to open upon you a world of purity and joy; of active, exalted, and unwearied services?
7. O Christian! how often have you cast a longing eye toward
those happy shores, and wished to pass the sea, the boisterous, unpleasant, dangerous
sea, that separates you from them! When your Lord has condescended to make you a
short visit in his ordinances on earth, how have you blessed the time and the place,
and pronounced it, amidst many other disadvantages of situation, to be “the very
gate of heaven!” (
8. Surely you may say in this view, “The sooner Christ comes the better.” What though the residue of your days be cut off in the midst ? What though you leave many expected pleasures in life untasted, and many schemes unaccomplished ? Is it not enough, that what is taken from a mortal life, shall be added to a glorious eternity; and that you shall spend those days and years in the presence and service of Christ in heaven, which you might otherwise have spent with him and for him, in the imperfect enjoyment and labors of earth?
9. But your prospects reach, not only beyond death, but beyond the separate state. For with regard to his final appearance to judgment, our Lord says, “Surely I come quickly,” in the sense illustrated before; and so it will appear to us, if we compare this interval of time with the blissful eternity which is to succeed it; and probably, if we compare it with those ages which have already passed since the sun began to measure out to earth its days and its years. And will you not here also sing your part in the joyful anthem, “Amen; even so come, Lord Jesus!"
10. It is true, Christian, it is an awful day; a day in
which nature shall be thrown into a confusion as yet unknown. No earthquake, no
eruption of burning mountains, no desolation of cities by devouring flames, or of
countries by overflowing rivers or seas, can give any just emblem of that dreadful
day, when “the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved; the earth also, and all
that is therein, shall be burnt up;” (
11. O Christian! does not your loyal heart bound at the
thought? And are you not ready, even while reading these lines, to begin the victorious
shout in which you are then to join ? He justly expects that your thoughts should
be greatly elevated and impressed with the views of his triumph; but at the same
time he permits you to remember your own personal share in the joy and glory of
that blessed day; and even now he has the view before him, of what his power and
love shall then accomplish for your salvation. And what shall it not accomplish?
He shall come to break the bars of the grave, and to re-animate your sleeping clay.
Your bodies must indeed be laid in dust, and be lodged there as a testimony of God's
displeasure against sin, against the first sin that ever was committed, from the
sad consequences of which the dearest of his children cannot be exempted. But you
shall then have an ear to hear the voice of the Son of God, and an eye to behold
the lustre of his appearance; and shall “shine forth like the sun” arising in the
clear heaven, “which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber.” (
12. Nor is it merely one day of glory and triumph. But
when the Judge arises, and ascends to his Father's court, all the blessed shall
ascend with him, and you among the rest: you shall ascend together with your Savior,
“to his Father and your Father, to his God and your God.” (
13. And now look round about upon earth, and single out, if you can, the enjoyments or the hopes, for the sake of which you would say, Lord, delay thy coming; or for the sake of which you any more should hesitate to express your longing for it, and to cry, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!"
The Meditation or Prayer of a Christian whose Heart is warmed with these Prospects.
“O blessed Lord! my soul is enkindled with these views,
and rises to thee in a flame.” (
“Blessed Jesus, death is transformed, when I view it in
this light. The king of terrors is seen no more as such, so near the King of Glory
and of Grace. I hear with pleasure the sound of thy feet approaching still nearer
and nearer. Draw aside the veil whenever thou pleasest. Open the bars of my prison,
that my eager soul may spring forth ‘to thee, and cast itself at thy feet;’ at the
feet of that Jesus, ‘whom, having not seen, I love,’ and ‘in whom, though now I
see thee not, yet believing, I rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.’
(
“Yet, O my blessed Redeemer! even there will my soul be
aspiring to yet a nobler and more glorious hope; and from this as yet unknown splendor
and felicity shall I be drawing new arguments to look and long for the day of thy
final appearance, There shall I long more ardently than I now do, to see thy conduct
vindicated, and thy triumph displayed; to see the dust of thy servants re-animated,
and ‘death, the last of their enemies and of thine, swallowed up in victory.’ (
“In the meantime. O my divine Master, accept the homage which a grateful heart now pays thee, in a sense of the glorious hopes with which thou hast inspired it! It is thou that hast put this joy into it, and hast raised my soul to this glorious ambition whereas I might otherwise have now been groveling in the lowest trifles of time and sense, and been looking with horror on that hour which is now the object of my most ardent wishes.
“O be with me always, even to the end of this mortal life.
And give me, while waiting for thy salvation, to be doing thy commandments. May
‘my loins be girded about, and my lamp burning,’ (
1. Reflections on the sincerity with which the preceding counsel has been given.—2, 3. The author is desirous that (if Providence permit) he may assist the Christian to die honorably and comfortably.—4. With this view, it is advised—to rid the mind of all earthly cares.—5. To renew the humiliation of the soul before God, and its application to the blood of Christ.—6. To exercise patience under bodily pains and sorrows.—7. At leaving the world, to bear an honorable testimony to religion.—8 To give a solemn charge to surviving friends.—9. especially recommending faith in Christ.—10, 11. To keep the promises of God in view.—12. And to commit the departing spirit to God, in the genuine exercises of gratitude and repentance, faith and charity, which are exemplified in the concluding meditation and prayer.
1. THUS, my dear reader, I have endeavored to lead you through a variety of circumstances, and those not fancied or imaginary, but such as do indeed occur in the human and Christian life. And I can truly and cheerfully say, that I have marked out to you the path which I myself have trod, and in which it is my desire still to go on. I have ventured my own everlasting interests on that foundation on which I have directed you to adventure yours. What I have recommended as the grand business of your life, I desire to make the business or my own; and the most considerable enjoyments which I expect or desire in the remaining days of my pilgrimage on earth, are such as I have directed you to seek and endeavored to assist you in attaining. Such love to God, such constant activity in his service, such pleasurable views of what lies beyond the grave, appear to me (God is my witness) a felicity incomparably beyond anything else which can offer itself to our affection and pursuit; and I would not for ten thousand worlds resign my share in them, or consent even to the suspension of the delights which they afford, during the remainder of my abode here.
2. I would humbly hope, through the divine blessing, that the hours you have spent in the review of these plain things, may have turned to some profitable account; and that, in consequence of what you have read, you have been either brought into the way or life and peace, or been induced to quicken your pace in it. Most heartily should I rejoice in being further useful to you, and that even to the last. Now there is one scene remaining, a scene through which you must infallibly pass, which has something in it so awful, that I cannot but attempt doing a little to assist you in it: I mean the dark Valley of the Shadow of Death. I could earnestly wish, that, for the credit of your profession, the comfort of your own soul, and the joy and edification of your surviving friends, you might die, not only safely, but honorably too; and therefore I would offer you some parting advice. I am sensible, indeed, that Providence may determine the circumstances of your death in such a manner, as that you may have no opportunity of acting upon the hints I now give you. Some unexpected accident from without, or from within, may, as it were, whirl you to heaven before you are aware; and you may find yourself so suddenly there, that it may seem a translation rather than a death. Or it is possible the force of a distemper may affect your understanding in such a manner, that you may be quite insensible of the circumstances in which you are; and so your dissolution (though others may see it visibly and certainly approaching) may be as great a surprise to you as if you had died in full health.
3. But as it is, on the whole, probable you may have a more sensible passage out of time into eternity, and as much may, in various respects, depend on your dying behavior, give me leave to propose some plain directions with relation to it, to be practiced, if God give you opportunity, and remind you of them. It may not be improper to look over the 29th chapter again, when you find the symptoms of any threatening disorder. And I the rather hope that what I say may be useful to you, as methinks I find myself disposed to address you with something of that peculiar tenderness which we feel for a dying friend; to whom, as we expect that we shall speak to him no more, we send out, as it were, all our hearts in every word.
4. I would advise, then, in the first place, “that as soon as possible, you would endeavor to get rid of all further care with regard to your temporal concerns, by settling them in time, in as reasonable and Christian a manner as you can.” I could wish there may be nothing of that kind to hurry your mind when you are least able to bear it, or to distress or divide those who come after you. Do that which in the presence of God you judge most equitable. and which you verily believe will be most pleasing to him. Do it in as prudent and effectual a manner as you can; and then consider the world as a place you have quite done with, and its affairs as nothing further to you, more than to one actually dead, unless as you may do any good to its inhabitants while yet you continue among them, and may by any circumstance in your last actions or words in life, leave a blessing behind you to those who have been your friends and fellow-travelers, while you have been despatching that journey through it which you are now finishing.
5. That you may be the more at leisure, and the better prepared for this, “enter into some sermons review of your own state, and endeavor to put your soul into as fit a posture as possible for your solemn appearance before God.” For a solemn thing indeed it is, to go into his immediate presence; to stand before him, not as a supplicant at the throne of his grace, but at his bar as a separate spirit, whose time of probation is over, and whose eternal state is to be immediately determined. Renew your humiliation before God for the imperfections of your life, though it has, in the main, been devoted to his service. Renew your application to the mercies of God as promised in the covenant of grace, and to the blood of Christ as the blessed channel in which they flow. Resign yourself entirely to the divine disposal and conduct, as willing to serve God, either in this world or the other, as he shall see fit. And sensible of your sinfulness on the one hand, and of the divine wisdom and goodness on the other, summon up all the fortitude of your soul to bear, as well as you can, whatever his afflicting hand may further lay upon you, and to receive the last stroke of it, as one who would maintain the most entire subjection to the great and good Father of spirits.
6. Whatever you suffer, endeavor to show “yourself an example
of patience.” Let that amiable grace “have its perfect work;” (
7. And now, my dear friend, “now is the time, when it is especially expected from you, that you bear an honorable testimony to religion.” Tell those that are about you, as well as you can, (for you will never be able fully to express it) what comfort and support you have found in it. Tell them how it has brightened the darkest circumstances of your life: tell them how it now reconciles you to the near views of death. Your words will carry with them a peculiar weight at such a season: there will be a kind of eloquence, even in the infirmities with which you are struggling, while you give them utterance; and you will be heard with attention, with tenderness, with credit. And therefore, when the time of your departure is at hand, with unaffected freedom breathe out your joy, if you then feel (as I hope you will) a holy joy and delight in God. Breathe out, however, your inward peace and serenity of mind, if you be then peaceful and serene: others will mark it, and be encouraged to tread the steps which lead to so happy an end. Tell them what you feel of the vanity of the world, and they may learn to regard it less. Tell them what you feel of the substantial supports of the Gospel, and they may learn to value it more; for they cannot but know that they must he down on a dying bed too, and must then need all the relief which the Gospel itself can give them.
8. And to enforce the conviction the more, “give a solemn charge to those that are about you, that they spend their lives in the service of God, and govern themselves by the principles of real religion.” You may remember that Joshua and David, and other good men did so, when they perceived that the days drew near in which they should die. And you know not how the admonitions of a dying friend, or (as it may be with respect to some) of a dying parent, may impress those who may have disregarded what you and others may have said to them before. At least, make the trial, and die, laboring to glorify God, to save souls, and generously to sow the seeds of goodness and happiness in a world where you have no more harvest to reap. Perhaps they may spring up in a plentiful crop, when the clods of the valley are covering your body: but if not, God will approve it; and the angels that wait around your bed to receive your departing soul will look upon each other with marks of approbation in their countenance, and own that this is to expire like a Christian, and to make a glorious improvement of mortality.
9. And in this last address to your fellow-mortals, whoever they are that Providence brings near you, “be sure that you tell them how entirely and how cheerfully your hopes and dependence in this season of the last extremity are fixed, not upon your own merits and obedience, but on what the great Redeemer has done and has suffered for sinners.” Let them see that you die, as it were, at the foot of the cross: nothing will be so comfortable to yourself, nothing so edifying to them. Let the name of Jesus, therefore, be in your mouth while you are able to speak, and when you can speak no longer, let it be in your heart; and endeavor that the last act of your soul, while it continues in the body, may be an act of bumble faith in Christ. Come unto God by him: enter into that which is within the veil, as with the blood of sprinkling fresh upon you. It is an awful thing for such a sinner (as you, my Christian friend, with all the virtues the world may have admired, know yourself to be) to stand before that infinitely pure and holy Being who has seen all your ways, and all your heart, and has a perfect knowledge of every mixture of imperfection which has attended the best of your duties: but venture in that way, and you will find it both safe and pleasant.
10. Once more, “to give you comfort in a dying hour, and
to support your feeble steps while you are traveling through this dark and painful
way, take the word of God as a staff in your hand.” Let books, and mortal friends,
now do their last office for you. Call, if you can, some experienced Christian,
who has felt the power of the word of God upon his own heart, and let him bring
the Scripture, and turn you to some of those precious promises which have been the
food and rejoicing of his own soul. It is with this view that I may carry the good
office I am now engaged in as far as possible, that I shall here give you a collection
of a few such admirable scriptures, each of them “infinitely more valuable than
thousands of gold and silver.” (
11. Can any more encouragement be wanting, when he says,
“Fear not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I will strengthen
thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness?”
(
12. Thus may that God, who “knows the souls of his children
in alt their adversities,” (
A Meditation, or Prayer, suited to the case of a Dying Christian.
“O thou supreme Ruler of the visible and invisible worlds! thou Sovereign of life and of death, of earth and of heaven, blessed be thy name, I have often been taught to seek thee. And now once more do I pour out my soul, my departing soul unto thee. ‘Bow down thy gracious ear, O God! and let my cry come before thee with acceptance.’
“The hour is come, when thou wilt separate me from this
world, with which I have been so long and so familiarly acquainted, and lead me
to another, as yet unknown. Enable me, I beseech thee, to make the exchange as becomes
a child of Abraham, who being ‘called of thee to receive an inheritance, obeyed
and went out,’ though he knew not particularly whither he went: (
“I acknowledge, O Lord! the justice of that sentence by which I am expiring! and own thy wisdom and goodness in appointing my journey through this gloomy vale which is now before me. Help me to turn it into the happy occasion of honoring thee, and adorning my profession! and I will bless the pangs by which thou art glorified, and this mortal and sinful part of my nature dissolved.
“Gracious Father! I would not quit this earth of thine,
and this house of clay, in which I have sojourned during my abode upon the face
of it, without my grateful acknowledgments to thee for all that abundant goodness
which thou hast caused to pass before me here: (
“I bless thee, O Lord! that I am not dying in an unregenerate
and impenitent state; but that thou didst graciously awaken and convince me, that
thou didst renew and sanctify my heart, and didst, by thy good Spirit, work in it
an unfeigned faith, a real repentance, and the beginning of a divine life. I thank
thee for faithful ministers and for gospel ordinances: I thank thee for my Sabbaths
and seasons of communion at the table of my Lord; and for the weekly and monthly
refreshments which they gave me. I thank thee for the fruits of Canaan which were
sent me in the wilderness, and are now sent me on the brink of Jordan. I thank thee
for thy blessed word, and for those exceeding rich and precious promises of it,
which now lie, as a cordial, warm at my heart in this chilling hour: promises of
support in death, and of glory beyond it, and of the resurrection of my body to
everlasting life. O my God! I firmly believe them all, great and wonderful as they
are, and am waiting for the accomplishment of them through Jesus Christ; ‘in whom
they are all Yea and Amen.’ (
“But may I indeed presume to say I am thine? O God! now
I am standing on the borders of both worlds, now I view things as in the light of
thy presence and of eternity, how unworthy do I appear that I should be taken to
dwell with thy angels and taints in glory! Alas! I have reason to look back with
deep humiliation on a poor, unprofitable sinful life, in which I have daily been
deserving to be cast into hell. But I have this one comfortable reflection, that
I have fled to the cross of Christ; and I now renew my application to it. To think
of appearing before God in such an imperfect righteousness as my own, were ten thousand
times worse than death. No, Lord, I come unto thee as a sinner; but as a sinner
who has believed in thy Son for pardon and life: I fall down before thee as a guilty,
polluted wretch; but thou hast made him to be unto thy people for ‘wisdom and righteousness,
for sanctification and redemption.’ (
“My feeble nature faints in the view of that glory which
is now dawning upon me; but thou knowest, gracious Lord, how to let it in upon my
soul by just degrees, and to ‘make thy strength perfect in my weakness.’ (
“As for me, bear me, O my heavenly Father! on the wings
of everlasting love, to that peaceful, that holy, that joyous abode, which thy mercy
has prepared for me, and which the blood of my Redeemer has purchased! Bear me ‘to
the general assembly and church of the first-born, to the innumerable company of
angels, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.’ (
DR. DODDRIDGE was born in London, June 26, 1709. He was of a consumptive habit from infancy, was brought up in the early knowledge of religion, and was left an orphan before he arrived at the age of 14. At 16 be made a profession of religion; at 20 commenced preaching the Gospel; and at 21 was settled over a small congregation, in an obscure village, where be devoted himself to the acquisition of useful knowledge with indefatigable zeal. At 27 he was removed to the pastoral care of the church in Northampton, where, for 22 years, amidst other diversified labors, he acted as an instructor of youth preparing for the ministry, having had under his charge, during that period, upwards of 200 young men. At the age of 37 and 38 he published two volumes of his Family Expositor; and about the age of 43 wrote “The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul.” At 46 he published the third volume of the Family Expositor, and two Dissertations.—1. On Sir Isaac Newton's System of the Harmony. 2. On the Inspiration of the New Testament. In December, 1750, in the 49th year of his age, he went to St. Albans and preached the funeral sermon of his early patron and benefactor, Dr. Clark, in which journey he contracted a cold that laid the foundation for his death. In July, 1751, he addressed his flock for the last time from the pulpit; and having found all medical aid ineffectual, embarked, in October, for Lisbon, as the last resort in so threatening a disorder, at which place he died on the 26th of October, aged 49 years.
He was not handsome in person; was very thin and slender, in stature somewhat above the middle size, with a stoop in his shoulders; but when engaged in conversation, or employed in the pulpit, there was a remarkable sprightliness in his countenance and manner, which commanded general attention.
This volume is stereotyped and perpetuated, through the liberality of Col. Henry Rutgers and Col. Richard Varick, of New-York; Nicholas Brown, Esq. of Providence; and Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer, of Albany.
Genesis
2:7 6:3 12:2 18:14 19:16 19:17 28:17 32:26 49:18 49:18 49:18
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
4:21 6:7 19:19-20 22:29 26:17 29:20 32:19 32:22
Joshua
Judges
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1:14 6:16 6:27 7:4 17:19 19:22 20:19
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
5:7 6:4 6:12 7:20 9:3 9:20 10:15 13:15 15:4 16:16 19:2 19:21 20:6 21:14 22:23 22:26 22:27 23:3 23:8-9 27:9 29:2 29:24 31:17 32:8 35:10 35:10 38:3 42:2 42:4
Psalms
2:12 3:3 4:6 4:6-7 4:6-7 4:7 4:8 9:17 10:4 13:5 15:2 15:4 16:3 16:9 16:11 16:11 16:11 17:2 17:2 17:7 17:7 17:15 19:5 19:10 22:2 22:9 22:14 23:4 23:4 23:5 23:6 23:6 26:2 27:1 27:4 27:11 28:9 31:3 31:5 31:5 31:7 34:10 34:20 35:3 35:27 36:9 36:9 36:9-10 37:6 37:8 37:34 38:5 39:3 39:3 40:12 40:12 40:12 41:4 42:2 42:4 42:7 47:4 48:14 49:7 50:5 50:21 51:1 51:4 51:5 51:8 51:8 51:8 51:9 51:9 51:10 51:12 51:13 51:13 51:15 55:6 56:8 57:1 59:1 63:5-6 63:8 65:4 65:4 65:5 69:5 69:5 69:5 69:22 69:22 71:16 75:8 77:3 77:7 77:7 77:9 78:20 78:41 81:10 84:2 84:7 85:13 90:15 90:17 94:9-10 94:10 94:12 95:11 97:1 97:11 97:12 102:24 104:29 108:4 109:7 109:18 112:1 113:8 116:7 116:15 119:18 119:24 119:25 119:49 119:59-60 119:63 119:71 119:72 119:94 119:111 119:119 119:120 119:122 119:122 119:128 119:176 123:3 125:1 125:5 130:1 130:5 130:6 130:8 132:16 139:8 139:15-16 139:17-18 139:23 139:23-24 139:23-24 139:24 141:2 142:2 143:2 189:23-24
Proverbs
1:10 1:10 1:23 2:6 3:27 4:18 4:18 6:4 6:4 6:10 6:10 6:11 7:23 13:20 14:14 15:19 17:24 20:5 23:17 23:17 23:17 23:17 23:32 28:26 29:1 30:6 30:12
Ecclesiastes
5:2 7:6 7:20 8:4 9:4 10:10 12:3-4 12:4 12:6 12:7 12:14
Song of Solomon
Isaiah
1:1 1:2 1:3 1:10 1:15 1:16-17 2:22 6:9-10 9:6 9:13 14:11 26:13 28:10 28:17 28:29 29:13 29:13 30:10 30:28 30:33 32:8 33:14 33:18 34:5 36:6 37:10 38:10 40:17 40:18 40:29 40:30-31 40:30-31 41:10 42:15 45:7 45:15 45:22 45:24 47:3 50:6 50:7 50:11 50:12 51:3 51:17 52:7 53:5-6 53:7 53:10 54:7-8 55:8-9 59:1-2 59:2 59:2 60:8 61:3 61:3 61:10 62:1 63:15 64:7
Jeremiah
2:19 2:25 3:5 3:13 3:22 3:22 6:16 7:8 7:10 8:2 8:22 12:5 12:15 13:23 17:10 17:10 23:20 24:6 27:10 29:23 31:20 51:9 51:9 52:3
Lamentations
Ezekiel
2:7 16:63 18:4 22:14 22:14 32:27 33:8-9 33:9 34:26 39:29
Daniel
Hosea
4:7 6:1 6:4 7:9 8:12 11:9 13:9 13:9 13:9 13:9 14:2 14:2 14:2
Amos
Jonah
Micah
Habakkuk
Zechariah
10:5 12:10 12:10 12:10 12:10 12:10 13:6 14:7
Malachi
Matthew
1:23 3:9 3:16 3:17 3:17 5:6 5:8 5:16 5:18 5:29-30 5:29-30 6:6 6:6 6:13 7:1-2 7:12 7:12 7:26 8:11-12 8:29 9:18 10:16 10:26 11:17 11:28 11:28 12:28 13:5-6 13:22 16:24 16:24 16:24 18:20 19:24 22:10 22:38 23:23 25:21 25:32 25:34 25:34 25:40 25:41 25:41 25:41 25:41 25:46 25:46 26:35 26:56 27:29-44 27:46 27:46 27:46 27:46
Mark
8:34 9:24 9:44 9:46 9:48 10:21 12:30 12:30 12:42-43 14:31 16:15
Luke
1:47 2:10 3:6 3:8 4:34 4:41 6:22 6:36 7:47 7:48 9:23 9:26 9:55 9:55 10:32 10:42 11:13 12:4 12:8 12:21 12:32 12:35 12:48 13:7 13:23 14:26 16:24 17:10 18:13 18:13 19:9 19:20 19:22 21:19 22:44 22:61 23:30 23:34 23:42-43 23:46 24:35 24:47
John
1:16 1:29 1:29 1:47 3:20 3:36 3:36 4:24 4:28 4:37 5:24 5:40 6:27 6:29 6:35 6:40 6:53 6:63 6:68 7:37 7:37-38 8:24 10:11 10:28 10:28 10:28 10:30 12:32 12:32 14:1-3 14:6 14:6 14:21 14:28 15:24 16:8 16:14 16:15 17:2 17:4 17:21 17:24 17:24 17:26 18:11 18:11 19:17 19:28-29 19:30 20:17 20:17 20:17 20:27
Acts
1:9-11 2:33 3:15 4:12 4:12 4:12 5:31 5:39 7:51 9:4 10:4 10:31 13:26 13:38 17:27 17:28 17:31 18:6 20:21 20:35 24:15 24:25 26:22
Romans
1:4 1:16 1:21-22 1:32 2:16 3:9 3:16 3:23 4:20 4:25 5 5:3 5:3 5:5 5:5 5:20 5:21 6:1 6:6 6:11 6:13 6:13 6:13 6:15 6:21 6:28 7:5 7:18 7:23-24 8:1 8:2 8:5 8:6 8:6 8:6 8:7 8:13 8:14 8:14 8:15 8:19 8:21 8:26 10:3 10:6 10:6-8 10:21 11:8 11:20 12:1 12:1 12:1 12:6 12:11 12:18 12:18 12:21 13:4 13:4 13:9 15:3 16:17
1 Corinthians
1:2 1:2 1:20 1:29-31 3:16 4:3-4 4:7 4:9 4:13 5:7-8 5:11-13 6:17 6:19 6:19-20 7:20 9:25 10:16 10:17 10:31 11:24-25 11:26 11:27 11:31-32 12:13 14:13 14:14 15:10 15:26 15:54 15:55 15:57 15:58 15:58 15:58 16:13
2 Corinthians
1:12 1:20 2:15 4:6 4:18 4:18 5:1 5:7 5:7 5:8 5:9 5:10 5:11 5:15 5:19 5:20 5:21 5:21 6:1 6:11 6:16 7:9 8:9 9:7 9:10 10:3 12:9 12:9 12:9 12:11
Galatians
2:20 2:20 3:1 3:10 3:28 4:15 4:18 5:14 5:17
Ephesians
1:6 2:1 2:12 2:13-14 2:19 4:3 4:13 4:13 4:15 4:23 4:24 4:24 4:29 5:2 5:8 5:18 5:18 5:27 6:13
Philippians
1:6 1:19 2:5 2:5 2:8 3:1 3:9 3:12-13 3:21 4:11 4:15
Colossians
1:13 1:17 2:2 2:6 3:1 3:5 3:10 3:12 3:12 3:12 3:23
1 Thessalonians
2:16 3:10 4:14 4:14 4:16 4:16 4:17 4:17 5:14 5:18 5:22
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
1:15 1:15-16 1:17 4:2 4:8 4:8 4:15 6:10
2 Timothy
1:12 1:12 1:12 1:12 1:17 1:18 2:1 2:3 4:8
Titus
Hebrews
1:3 1:3 1:14 2:3 2:10 2:18 3:18 3:25 4:12 4:16 4:16 6:6 6:6 6:9 7:25 7:25 7:25 8:12 9:36 10:4 10:31 11:4 11:8 11:13 11:16 11:34 12:1 12:2 12:4 12:6 12:9-10 12:10 12:22-23 12:28 13:5 13:8 13:8 13:8 13:20
James
1:4 1:4 1:4 1:4 1:20 2:19 2:19 4:14 4:17 5:9
1 Peter
1:2-3 1:3 1:6 1:8 1:8 1:8 1:8 1:13 1:15 1:18-19 1:23 2:2 2:2 2:3 3:4 4:11 4:19 5:2 5:4 5:5 5:5-6 5:6 5:9
2 Peter
1:4 1:4 1:5 1:11 1:12 2:4 2:8 2:21 3:8 3:10 3:10-12 3:12 3:13 3:18 3:18
1 John
2:6 3:3 3:18 3:20 3:20 3:20 4:21
Jude
Revelation
1:5 1:5-6 1:6 1:9 1:18 2:10 2:10 3:14 3:17 4:10 5:9 5:9 6:16 9:15 18:5 18:5 18:5 18:5 20:11 20:11 20:12 21:4 21:8 21:9 22:3-4 22:12 22:17 22:20 22:20