The Duty of a Christian People under Divine Visitations

by Newton Smart

I. The Christian’s duty of personal reformation under Divine judgments.

It is from the volume of inspiration—whence he derives all the light which he enjoys, as to the providence, beneficence, and love of God; whence he draws all the knowledge he possesses as to the nature of his own being, the object of his present existence, and the place of his final destination;—man must learn his duty under the Divine dispensations. The Holy Scriptures are to the true Christian “a lamp unto his feet, and a light unto his paths.” [13b] When pursuing his heavenward journey through this vale of tears, the prospect often appears uninviting and gloomy, the sky dark and troubled, and the way, always narrow, becomes sometimes a thorny and tangled path. Dangers also, more or less near and alarming, keep the pilgrim often under apprehension, and always on his guard. Still, he pursues a straight-forward course, from which he deviates little—for he possesses a guide more unerring than the compass of the mariner, and that guide is the infallible Word of God. When darkness obscures, difficulties perplex, and dangers environ his road, in his unfailing “lamp” he finds light, guidance, and safety.

At this moment, a dark cloud hangs over this country:—nay, more, the storm of Divine displeasure has already commenced. Lest, therefore, it should burst upon us in its full “fury,” let all betake themselves to that blessed light, which, amid the thickest darkness and most appalling storm, can “guide our feet into the way of peace.” [14a] Let the enquiry be made as to the course to be adopted in the words of a Prophet: “What will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? To whom will ye flee for help?” [14b] Let the same Prophet reply: “Trust ye in the lord for ever, for in the lord jehovah is everlasting strength.” [14c]

Trust in God is the necessary fruit of faith, which is the only basis on which religion can rest: “he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him:” [14d] thus, except with one philosophical school of antiquity, a belief in the being of a God has, even amongst the Heathen, always been accompanied by a trust in His Providence. In the Christian scheme, this trust is a fixed, governing principle. “To take notice of the hand of God in every thing that befalls us,” says the learned and excellent Sherlock, “to attribute all the evils we suffer, and all the good things, to His sovereign will and appointment: this is the foundation of all the other duties which we owe to Providence, and the general neglect of this makes us defective in all the rest.” [15a]

This passage supplies a clear view of Christian duty under afflictive dispensations. As faith recognises an Almighty Father’s will in the appointment, and His hand in the direction of events, the believer refers equally national and individual prosperity and adversity, mercies and visitations, to Him, “whose power ruleth over all.” And as he refers all events to the will and appointment of the great Governor of the Universe, he endeavours to receive whatever befalls him, as coming from His hand, with patient submission and humble thankfulness: for he knows how immeasurably his punishment falls short of his deserts; and he is assured, that “God chastens us for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.” [15b] At the same time, therefore, that he relies with firm dependence on the tender mercies, the blessed guidance, and sure protection of his Heavenly Father; he seeks for grace to improve to the spiritual advancement of himself and others, the divine chastisements,—“chastisements which originate in love, and are tempered with mercy:” [15c] “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”[16a] He enters, therefore, anew upon a careful review of his past life, and again summons before the bar of conscience, “the sins of his youth, and the offences of his riper age;” he recalls to mind the warnings he has had, the privileges he has enjoyed, and the mercies he has received; and he institutes a rigid scrutiny into his present life, which he tries by the unerring test of God’s holy word. And if he be sincere and honest, and not a dissembler with God, and a deceiver of himself, the language will spontaneously burst from his lips; “It is good for me that I have been in trouble, that I may learn Thy statutes.” [16b] “Oh, Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of affliction,” [16c]—“Turn Thee unto me, and have mercy upon me, for I am desolate and in misery. The sorrows of my heart are enlarged; oh, bring Thou me out of my troubles; look upon my adversity and misery, and forgive me all my sin.” [16d]

Not that probably his life has been stained with deeper or more numerous offences than the generality of men: it may be that he has been “brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,” and has never departed from serving his God; it may be that he has long ranked amongst those who strive to be “blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, amongst whom they shine as lights in the world.” [17a] But still there lives not the man who has not much to repent of, and to humble himself for, before the Lord. And when the sorrows of life, the judgments of God, or the approach of death, loosen the hold of earthly ties upon the affections, and the attention becomes intently fixed on that invisible world of spirits, whither all are hastening: then, even he, who has long sought to serve his God with devout reverence and holy obedience, feels with stronger force, and sees with clearer view, the fearful extent of his omissions of duty and commissions of sin. When he considers that one moment may suffice to usher him into the presence of that Great Being, of infinite purity, in whose sight the heavens are not clean; when he remembers the condemnation passed on all sin by a righteous law;—conscious guilt compels him to bow before the Lord with the deep self-abasement of him who “smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner;” [17b] and conscious weakness makes him call to the Saviour, with the imploring voice of him who cried, “Lord, save me.” [17c] For when the conscience is fully enlightened, and the heart sanctified by Divine grace, a clear perception of the holiness of God’s law, and a deep sense of personal unworthiness, are produced in the believer, which at once humble him to the dust, and lead him to throw himself entirely on the mercy of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Then it is that he labours to devote himself more entirely to his Master’s service, “and adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things:” [18a] then it is he “sets his affections on things above:” [18b] “looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” [18c] And then it is that he takes for his song in the house of his pilgrimage, “I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments are right, and that Thou of very faithfulness hast caused me to be afflicted.” [18d] “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” [19a]

Such is the conduct of the true believer under the chastening hand of the Lord; such the improvement which, through the Divine blessing, he is enabled to make of those afflictive dispensations, which are sent in mercy to remind him, that he is only a “stranger and pilgrim upon earth,” and must “desire a better country, that is an heavenly.” [19b] And when God’s judgments are upon the land, when He has smitten the people with pestilence, the servant of the Lord rests with firm faith on the protection of Him, who has promised, as “thy days, so shall thy strength be.” [19c] He knows that whatever happens to him is by the appointment of God, without whom even “a sparrow shall not fall on the ground;” [19d] he has further, the blessed assurance, that “all things work together for good, to them who love God;” [19e] therefore he has all “the joy and peace in believing” of those, whose minds being “stayed on God,” [19f] abound in hope through “the power of the Holy Ghost.” [19g] Not that he supposes he will possess a necessary exemption from the power of the pestilence; this would be to presume on God’s protection: not that trusting to Divine Providence he neglects all human precautions, and unnecessarily exposes himself to danger; this would be, in the strong language of Scripture, to tempt God: not that he relies on human precautions as supplying any ground of security; this would be to distrust God. But believing that the pestilence can have no power over him, except by the Divine appointment; and being assured, that, if such be the Divine will, it will prove for his final and eternal welfare; he uses, with entire dependence on the Divine blessing, the precautions which prudence dictates; and commending himself to the safe keeping of God, he faithfully and diligently discharges the duties of his station and office, whether of pastor, magistrate, citizen, physician, or servant, or, as they may be included in one word, of Christian. Not that the believer, whilst he “wears this veil of flesh,” is elevated so far above human infirmity, that, through the power of faith, he knows neither weakness nor fear in the hour of danger, and in the discharge of duty. St. Paul—in allusion to the marvellous change wrought in the soul, “by the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,”—says, “but we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our flesh.” [21a] Still, they who have learnt, through grace, to confide, with the simplicity of a child, on the power, care, and love of their heavenly Father, will, amid difficulties and dangers, “prove more than conquerors, through Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us;” and will repose, with firm faith, pious hope, and holy confidence, on His protection, in whose hands are the issues of life and death; and who has said, by the mouth of his prophets, “Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day; for the pestilence which walketh in darkness, nor for the sickness which destroyeth in the noon-day. A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee.” [21b]

There are some sincere Christians, who, from natural timidity of disposition, or from constitutional debility, are peculiarly susceptible of fear; and distress themselves by considering such fear a proof that they do not possess the favour of God. Let them earnestly pray for that holy and firm faith, which disarms apprehension under great and imminent peril; but if they do not obtain it, let them not despond, but continue their prayers; it may be a blessing which Heaven has still in store for them. But if not, having learnt submission to the Divine will, let them draw comfort from words which should be so deeply engraved on the memory, as to be ever remembered, and speak peace, in their moments of doubt and alarm, to their troubled souls: “Fear thou 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.” [22a]—“The truth is, the greater our fears and sorrows and aversions are, the greater is our submission to God: it may be thought a great weakness of nature to be so afraid of our sufferings; but it argues the greater strength of faith, and is a more glorious victory over self, to make our very fears and aversions submit to the Divine will. Submission to God does not consist in courage and fortitude of mind to bear sufferings, which many have, without any sense of God, and which the profoundest reverence for God will not always teach us; but he submits, who receives the bitter cup and drinks it, though with a trembling heart and hand.” [22b]

Thus much having been stated, that the timid mind or the sickly frame; the tender plant of grace or “the bruised reed;” may not sink under a weight of obligation, the fulfilment of which is above their present strength; and may not despair, because they fear they can never attain to that measure of faith, “which, whilst it kisses with filial reverence the rod of correction,” can, in the strong language of St. Paul, “glory in tribulation also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” [23a] Let it be remembered, at the same time, that though none should despond, because they possess not a strength of faith bestowed only on the most highly-advanced Christians; still, all must earnestly seek grace to be enabled to “go on unto perfection;” [23b] by having implanted in their souls that “perfect love, which casteth out fear.” [23c] And, as undoubting faith, unrepining submission, and unwearied supplication, are amongst the leading features of the true Christian character, they alone can enjoy the consolations of the Gospel of peace, who are “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer.” [23d]

It is a painful, an awful consideration, how many, in this Christian land, “care for none of these things.” [23e] I speak not merely of the profane, the scoffer, the sceptic, and the infidel; of those who “make a mock at sin,” and, disputing or disbelieving the truth of Christianity, “live without God in the world;”—I speak also of the gay, the thoughtless, and the proud; of the worldly, the avaricious, and the sensual; of the envious, the malicious, and the censorious; and, with shame be it said, of unworthy and false professors and teachers; of the unsound in faith and morals; of the lukewarm, the self-righteous, and the hypocritical; in short, of all who, declaring a belief in the Christian faith, either mistake its doctrines, disregard its spirit, abuse its privileges, or live unmindful of its strict and holy obligations. Against all such the Gospel denounces condemnation and woe. How, then, are they prepared to meet the awful dispensation of Divine Providence, which has fallen upon the nation? Let the prophet’s enquiry be addressed to them:—“What will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help?” Will ye dare to say, “O Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of affliction?” What! can ye in sickness apply to God for relief, who in health were “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God?” [24] Can ye in affliction seek comfort of God, who in joy have by your actions denied God? Can ye in adversity flee to God, who in prosperity had not God in all your thoughts? [25] They who have never really sought, and submitted to the guidance of the Gospel, cannot hope to possess its support and consolations in the first hour of need. How dark, therefore, to such, is the season of sickness, of sorrow, and of adversity: they enjoy no light from above, no comfort from within, no consolation from without, which can brighten the gloomy mind, cheer the desponding heart, and soothe the alarmed conscience. Faithful and busy memory serves only to supply a painful retrospect of opportunities neglected, and warnings despised: and conscience, which had long slumbered in a deadly lethargy, often now inflicts her sharpest stings upon the wretched sufferer. And should they be arrested by the sudden stroke of a fatal malady, when living in forgetfulness of God, and intently occupied with the pursuit of pleasure, honour, or of gain; how terrible is the approach of death! How often, as this life is fading from the darkening eye, do the realities of the next burst upon the mind, with a distinctness and force never felt before! How often, as the soul is trembling on the fearful verge of eternity, is a vain wish entertained for the return of a brief portion of that time which has been spent in sin, folly, or the acquisition of what will not profit in a dying hour! But is the prayer for mercy, extorted by fear and suffering, never heard; is the tardy repentance never accepted? On the contrary, we believe the prayer of humble and contrite guilt to be never rejected: but, be it remembered, at the same time, that repentance is the gift of God, and that those who long trifle with their day of grace, and by silencing the admonitions of conscience, resist the Spirit, may be visited with the fearful punishment of judicial blindness and final impenitence. “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded: but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity, and will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord; they would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof.” [26]

From this fearful denunciation of Divine wrath upon obstinate and hardened disobedience, what an awful lesson may be learnt, under the present circumstances of this country. How descriptive are many of the terms employed of that fatal pestilence which has broken out in the land! in the suddenness of the seizure, it resembles “the whirlwind;” by its destructiveness, it causes “desolation;” and from the intensity of the sufferings which it produces, arise “distress and anguish.” God grant that the threatened vengeance be not equally verified;—“Then shall they call upon me, but i will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me.” Oh! let not any individual risk incurring such a fearful doom by delaying his repentance! The Lord now calls every one with a voice that all must hear; He has “bared an arm,” which all must see; let not any longer refuse, let not any longer disregard, lest they should fill up the measure of their iniquity, and be swept away by the blast of Divine displeasure! Let not any trust to that, at all times presumptuous, if not always fallacious, hope, a death-bed repentance. That man, whose existence hangs upon a thread, which a moment may suffice to snap, should defer his preparation for death and judgment, is such an act of madness, that nothing but a knowledge of its certainty could make a religious mind credit the fact. What! risk an eternity of joy or misery on the chances of a moment! for beyond the present moment, man possesses no security of the continuance of life. And the very presumption which leads him to calculate upon long years to come may call forth that awful sentence,—“Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” But if the postponement of turning and calling upon God be, under ordinary circumstances, full of presumption and danger, what is it now in times of pestilence? From the many instances of mortality which encompass us on every side, “there comes a voice, which solemn sounding bids the world prepare.” The judgments of the Almighty,—to those who are living in forgetfulness of Him, and disobedience to His commands, but have not entirely thrown off His service,—speak the language addressed to Jonah, “What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, and call upon thy God.” [28a] But to those who refuse to turn, who “harden their necks against the reproof, and will have none of the counsel of God;” they resemble the characters of flame upon the walls of the palace of Belshazzar, which announced the terrible decree,—“Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.” [28b]

The Christian writer, judging from the experience of the past, cannot close his eyes to the sad truth, that there are some whom mercy softens not, whom threatening warns not, whom danger alarms not. Who amidst manifestations of Divine wrath, display hardened unconcern or desperate wickedness. What a striking proof have we here of the effects of sin in hardening the heart, and deadening the conscience. But let not any imagine that such men will view the approach of the fatal malady without alarm. The bodily anguish will probably supply no parallel to the mental terror, when they find themselves clutched, as it were, in the grasp of the mortal disease which is destroying them. And in the ordinarily brief interval between seizure and that death, which so often ensues, if conscience resume her power, how terrible must be the remorse, how unutterable the anguish of the affrighted soul, which sees death, death eternal in view, and yet cannot pray: or if the cry for pardon and help to their long-forgotten God, burst from the quivering lip, it is the bitter cry of almost despairing terror. Sad as are many of the scenes which human life presents in its passage from the cradle to the tomb; and harrowing to the feelings of beholders as is the sight of corporeal anguish; how immeasurably do other scenes of human suffering fall short of the union of bodily and mental agony, often witnessed on the death-bed of terrified guilt! but still, to the religious mind, there are two death-beds still more fearful, as being more hopeless; and they are, when desperate wickedness, at its last hour, evinces hardened indifference or blasphemous despair; when no prayer is offered, or when curses are mingled with the prayer.

May the fear of such death-beds act, through the grace of God, as a salutary warning to those who are living in sin, and neglecting to improve the call to repentance sent in mercy: and let their thoughts extend beyond the present life, and draw further instruction from the awful truth—that whilst death terminates to impenitent guilt its present sufferings, it commences others far more terrible.

Were it permitted to a living man to pass the portals of the dark prison-house of disembodied spirits, and witness the punishments of the condemned,—the unceasing gnawing of the undying worm, the unremitting burning of the unquenched fire;—what words could express the joy and thankfulness of that man, on returning to the land of the living and the place of hope! Would he lose a moment in fleeing to the cross of Christ, for deliverance from sin, and refuge from the wrath to come? Would he still defer seeking for “repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ?” [30] The terrible realities he had witnessed of that state of untried being on which the soul enters at death, would doubtless haunt his waking and his sleeping hours, and he would find no rest till God, by his Spirit, had spoken peace to his affrighted soul. And then, long as life lasted, it would be his daily subject of grateful thanksgiving to his gracious long-suffering Lord, that he had borne with his iniquities, and had not cut him off in the midst of his sins: but through the Divine mercy he was allowed on earth “to praise the Lord with joyful lips,” instead of “in hell, lifting up his eyes, being in torments.” [31]

But such a visit to the place of condemned spirits is not necessary to learn all that in our present state of being it concerns us to know. The volume of inspiration has revealed the awful truth, that an eternity of torments awaits the condemned in a future world.

Will not, then, this suffice to rouse thoughtless and sinful men to a sense of danger? The judgments of the Almighty now upon the land; death approaching many under a fearful form; the presumption and sinfulness of trusting to a late repentance; the danger of the infliction of judicial blindness; the horrors of a guilty death-bed; the torments of the damned, have all been urged as so many calls to repentance, and may God accompany them with his grace, that they may not be urged in vain; but all of these equal not the awfulness and terribleness of an eternity of torment. There is something overpowering in the idea of unmitigated unmitigable woe; it is so terrific, that it astounds, it is so vast, that it overwhelms the mind: for the finite faculties of man cannot grasp eternity: they are lost in the maze of millions of years rolling on in endless succession. But if there be any who have tost, for one night, on a bed of suffering; any who have experienced, for one hour, the racking torture of intolerable pain; let them ask themselves how they would endure, in the immensity of endless time, “the worm which dieth not, and the fire which is not quenched.”

May this awful consideration have its due weight upon every reader; may those who have not yet been “turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,” obtain grace to seek pardon and peace through the Saviour who brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel; that, through Him they may escape “the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” [32a]

“Knowing, therefore, the terrors of the Lord, we persuade men,” [32b] says St. Paul: who afterwards adds, “Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ; as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled unto God.” [32c] It is thus the Christian minister declares the denunciations of Divine vengeance, and the certainty and eternity of Divine punishments, that he may prepare the way for a joyful acceptance of the offers of Divine mercy. This two-fold duty of the ministerial office, is beautifully described by Cowper:

“There stands the messenger of truth, there stands
The legate of the skies! His theme divine,
His office sacred, his credentials clear.
By him the violated Law speaks out
Its thunders: and by him, in strains as sweet
As angels use, the Gospel whispers peace.” [33a]

The dispensations of the Almighty are at once the inflictions of his displeasure, the warnings of his love, and the invitations of his mercy: to every sinner they address the enquiry, “Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God?” [33b] May the Almighty give his blessing upon the afflictive visitation He has sent upon this land, that sinners may be roused to a sense of their danger, and brought to embrace thankfully the offers of pardon and salvation, made through Christ Jesus our Lord!

The Holy Scriptures present at once the most earnest calls to repentance and the most gracious offers of forgiveness. “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways, for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” [34a] “O house of Israel, are not my ways equal, and are not your ways unequal? saith the Lord. Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed, and make you a new heart, and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? for I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God. Wherefore, turn yourselves, and live ye.” [34b] “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” [34c]

Such are some of the invitations of the Holy Scriptures to turning and calling upon God. Let us, then, suppose the case of one who is alarmed by the Divine threatenings; who, conscious of his guilt, sees as it were the gulf of perdition yawning beneath his feet; but is deterred, by a sense of the heinousness of his sins, from seeking the pardon which he despairs of obtaining. How is he to be addressed? The love and mercy of God, as shewn towards a guilty and perishing world, in the mysterious, but most gracious, plan of redemption, through the Saviour, must be pointed out, and largely dwelt upon. Under the severer dispensation of the Law, amid the awful splendours of its promulgation, the Lord was proclaimed to be “the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.” [35a] Under the Gospel dispensation, it is emphatically said, “God is love:” [35b] that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [35c] Let not, therefore, the heinousness of past sins, and the sense of present unworthiness, deter any from coming to the Saviour: for “God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” [35d] And that gracious Saviour has authoritatively declared, what is the sole condition of acceptance, through His infinite merits: “Verily, Verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life:” [35e] and has tenderly invited all to flee unto Him who labour under the yoke of sin, or the burden of sorrow; “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest: take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls: for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [36a] Before the nativity of our blessed Lord, the command was conveyed by an angel, “Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.” [36b] Agreeably to which, He Himself says, “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” [36c] And St. Paul prefaces his delivery of the great truth he was commissioned to teach, in a manner befitting its importance: “This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be received, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” [36d] If the Gospel did not contain a free pardon for sin, little would it be in accordance either with its name, good news, or with the proclamation of the heavenly host, which heralded the birth of the Messiah: “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” [36e] To every penitent the promise is addressed—“Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out.” [36f] The Divine mercy towards repentant sinners knows no restrictions; the cleansing power of the Saviour’s blood, no limitations.

If there be any self-convicted and self-condemned sinner, still hesitating to throw himself upon the mercy of God in Christ, let him hear the Psalmist, who has represented under the most striking and affecting images, the love of God towards man: “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy; long-suffering and of great goodness. He will not always be chiding, neither keepeth He his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our wickednesses. For look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth, so great is His mercy also toward them that fear Him. Look how wide also the east is from the west, so far hath He set our sins from Him. Yea, like as a father pitieth his own children, even so is the Lord merciful unto them who fear Him. For He knoweth whereof we are made, He remembereth that we are but dust.” [37a] Let him hear St. John, who has stated the full extent of Christ’s atoning and mediatorial power: “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” [37b] Let him hear St. Paul, who has supplied a sure ground of unfailing trust in God: “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” [37c] Should any one still hesitate to come unto Christ as their Saviour, let him hear His merciful expostulation, “Ye will not come to me that ye might have life.” [38a] Let him listen to His gracious enquiry, “Wilt thou be made whole?” And if he still cannot persuade himself, that there is mercy in store for such a sinner as himself, let him at last draw comfort from the assurance, that “the Son of Man is come to save that which is lost,” [38b] and seeks after perishing sinners, as the faithful shepherd after the sheep which have wandered from the fold. Nor is this all: not only does our gracious Lord seek after guilty and lost sinners, but “likewise there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” [38c] What a proof have we here of the value of the soul in the sight of God! His incarnate Son dying to redeem it from eternal misery; when restored to His Father’s right hand, watching over it with constant care; and seeking, with tender gentleness, to bring back the wanderers from the fold of grace: and when the slave of sin breaks his fetters, and through grace given unto him, falls repentant and humbled at the foot of the cross, then joy is felt in the court of heaven, and the seraphic choir give praise, and honour, and glory, to “Him who sitteth on the throne, and the Lamb;” [38d] because a poor sinner has been turned, by the marvellous grace of the Gospel, “from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; that he may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Christ Jesus.” [39a]

The gracious and unmerited invitations of Divine mercy are addressed to all sinners by “God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” [39b] Let not therefore any one say, my sins are too great to be forgiven; this is to limit the atoning efficacy of Christ’s blood, which is illimitable: let not any one say, I am not yet fit to come unto Christ; this is to mistake the nature of the Gospel, which is designed to remedy man’s natural unfitness: but let all betake themselves to Christ for pardon of past sins, through His blood; and for strength against future temptations, through His grace. Nor let it be thought that these observations apply only to gross sinners. One description of man’s natural condition, and only one, applies to the whole human race;—“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God:” and one means of restoration to the lost favour of God, and only one, is offered to the whole human race;—the “being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ: whom God has set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” [40a] Those who refuse to come unto Christ as sinners, stand self-excluded from all benefit of His atonement. To such the Saviour addresses the words,—“Because thou sayest I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve that thou mayest see.” [40b] Man’s natural weakness and sinfulness is the fundamental truth on which the Christian plan of redemption is built; for if he had possessed inherent power to overcome his natural depravity, and keep the commandments of God, the sacrifice of Christ would not have been necessary for the atonement of his sins, and for his escape from eternal condemnation. Did we not know that pride, based upon a poor and defective system of morality, generally shows the most decided hostility to the humbling doctrines of the Gospel, it would hardly be believed that any would refuse to come to Christ as sinners. How much at variance are such self-righteous feelings with the spirit of the confession of our Church, in which, under the appropriate and affecting figure of sheep wandered from the fold, we are accustomed to entreat the pity, protection, and guidance, of the great “Shepherd of our souls.” There are two considerations, however, which may, with the Divine blessing, if duly weighed, bring such persons to the foot of the cross with deep self-abasement and acknowledgment of sin: one is, that in the Gospel the motive determines the value of an action; and the Christian’s motive is, to do all to the glory of God: the other is, that man is accountable, not only for his actions, but for his omissions; not only for every idle word, but for every sinful wish; nay, more, for every impure thought indulged and cherished. Let those who think their failings few and venial, their merits great, and deserving of reward, apply to their lives these two great tests of Christian holiness—praying, at the same time, to “the Father of lights,” for grace and knowledge: and if they be not brought to admit, that “in many things we offend all;” [41] if it be not the language of their hearts, “We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us;”—they are ignorant of the spirit of the Gospel, and far from the kingdom of God. For, like the Jews of old, “they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge: for they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” [42a] “That no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; that, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” [42b]

To true believers, “Christ is all in all:” [42c] on His atonement they rest for pardon before God; on His grace they rely for strength; and to His merits they trust for salvation. Their truly Christian hope is built upon a lively faith; they believe “that man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit, and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God’s wrath and damnation.” [42d] That “the condition of man, after the fall of Adam, is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith and calling upon God; wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us when we have that good will.” [43a] “That we are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works and deservings: wherefore that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.” [43b] And “albeit that good works, which are the fruits of faith, and follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God’s judgments; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively faith; insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit.” [43c]

Such are the four Articles of the Church of England which declare man’s natural corruption; his just exposure to Divine condemnation; his means of restoration to God’s favour; the meritorious cause of his salvation; and the inseparable union of faith and good works. From which may be drawn these two fundamental principles of the Christian faith—salvation, alone through the all-sufficient merits of Christ; and sanctification, alone through the renewing power of the Holy Ghost. Man is, in every respect, a dependent being: the same Almighty Power which formed his body from the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; can alone enlighten, renew, and sanctify his soul. Thus faith—which is the rock on which the Church of Christ is built, and without which we shall never believe the promises, accept the offers, or attain the salvation of the Gospel—is the gift of God, and wrought in our souls by the Holy Spirit. United with faith is true repentance, which is no less the work of grace; for unless God enlighten the understanding, there will be no just sense of sin; unless He soften the heart, there will be no contrition: and from a true repentance there always springs holy obedience, which is also produced by the Spirit: for the same blessed Power which enlightens the darkness of the understanding and softens the hardness of the heart, also rectifies the perversion of the will, and sanctifies the corruption of the affections, that the believer may know, choose, obey, and love, the way of godliness. And thus we arrive at that blessed change in the life of a penitent, when he becomes “a new creature in Christ Jesus,” when “old things have passed away, and behold all things have become new;” when he has “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

The renewal and sanctification of the soul is the only sure ground on which the Christian can build his unfailing hope of salvation. Not that any may presume to limit the extent of the Divine mercy, or state a definite time for the operations of the Holy Spirit. The first is as boundless as it is unsearchable; the second may be as instantaneous as it is incomprehensible. Thus much we know with certainty, that when that most encouraging call to repentance was addressed to the Jewish people,—“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon;”—there was added, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord: for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” [45] Still, all who have time and opportunity must prove the sincerity of their repentance, and the soundness of their faith by the holiness of their practice. Nor can it be too earnestly insisted upon, that it is only by the gift of a new and holier nature, man can rise above the pleasures of sense and things of time, and set his affections on the joys of immortality; and that the new and holier nature is implanted, when the gracious promise is fulfilled—“I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” [46a] It is to the use of palliatives much of the insincere repentance and imperfect reformation of men is to be ascribed. When their fears are alarmed, they set about correcting some flagrant sins, and it may be, become outwardly moral, and even attentive to religious duties; but the renewal of the heart, through grace, and the dedication of its affections to God, are never thought of; and yet they are satisfied with this condition. Such persons are only to be roused by preaching conversion or condemnation. They must be taught to pray, with repentant David, “Make me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. O give me the comfort of thy help again, and stablish me with thy free Spirit.” [46b]

The great work of the renewal and sanctification of the soul is ordinarily accomplished by a progressive growth in grace; during which, the believer is gradually enabled to obtain the mastery over the corrupt affections of his nature, to acquire the graces and perform the duties of the Christian character, and “to set his affections on things above,” ever “pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” [47a] and endeavouring to “come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” [47b] In the life of some of those who have been “brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,” [47c] and have never departed from serving their God, there may be no clearly defined transitions, no strongly-marked shades, in the harmoniously-blended colours, in which has been traced the even tenor of their way. But such cases are probably rare—for those who attain to a very high degree of spiritual-mindedness, can generally fix upon some definite period in their religious life, when they obtained clearer views of their personal unworthiness, and of the holiness of God’s law; of the insufficiency of the things of earth to minister to the wants of an immortal soul; and of the inestimable value of the “treasure in heaven,” than they ever possessed before; and when they learnt to rely on their Lord more confidently, to love Him more devotedly, to advance His cause more zealously, and to obey Him more steadily and implicitly. In the case of those, who have either deserted the God of their youth for a “world lying in wickedness,” but, like the prodigal, upon abandoning its vices and follies, have been received and pardoned by a merciful Father; or who have been brought up in ignorance of religion, but have been plucked like a brand from the burning, by one of those afflictive dispensations which God often sends in mercy to awaken sinners; the time and circumstances of their conversion [48a] will be clearly marked and ever remembered: “it is too momentous an event,” observes Paley, in writing of such conversions, “to be forgot: a man might as easily forget his escape from a shipwreck.” [48b]

The knowledge of the time, however, when conversion takes place, is principally of importance, as far as it goes to establish the fact, the certainty of which must always be determined by the effects produced; for it is easy in this, as in every other particular of religious experience, to be deceived. But there can be no deception when the believer is at once conscious of a change in his heart, and exhibits a reformation in his life; for then he may say, this I know, that whereas I was dead, now am I alive in the Lord: he possesses an internal witness to his being born of God;—“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God;” “He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness—in himself;” and His life affords external proof of his sonship;—“Whosoever is born of God, sinneth not.” [49a] He rejoices, therefore, in the glorious privileges of the Gospel, through which “there is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit;” through which, “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, are the sons of God;” [49b] and through which, “the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ Jesus.”

Let, then, the reformed examine strictly into their lives, as to whether they exhibit decisive proofs of a genuine conversion; of conversion, not used in its limited sense, as implying a sudden or even violent change, but in the more extended sense, of a recovery from sin, and of a full development of the Christian character:—a conversion which, in its completion, is equivalent to the renewal of the soul in righteousness; the progress of which may be, in some, so gradual, as almost to be imperceptible, but must be, in all, so certain, as to be unquestionable. Let those, who, through the grace of God, have endeavoured to live ever mindful of their baptismal engagements, and duly sensible of the blessed privileges of the Christian covenant, institute a no less rigid examination into their lives, as to how far they manifest a continued growth in grace; an increasing in every good word and work; a growing conformity to the example of Christ; a visible ripening for heaven; and a gradual restoration of the lost image of God in the soul. And what is to be said to those who have either never learnt, or have wilfully violated, their baptismal engagements; and during a long course of sin, have neglected, disobeyed, and forgotten God, whose calls to repentance they still disregard? The same language must be addressed to the habitual, as was applied to the externally reformed sinner;—whose heart was still the seat of vain or impure desires, of base or malignant passions;—conversion or condemnation. “Of the persons in our congregations,” says Paley, “to whom we not only may, but must, preach the doctrine of conversion, plainly and directly, are those, who with the name indeed of Christians, have hitherto passed their lives without any internal religion whatever; who have not at all thought upon the subject; who, a few easy and customary forms excepted (and which with them are mere forms), cannot truly say of themselves, that they have done one action, which they would not have done equally, if there had been no such thing as a God in the world; or that they have ever sacrificed any passion, any present enjoyment, or even any inclination of their minds to the restraints and prohibitions of religion; with whom, indeed, religious motives have not weighed a feather in the scale against interest or pleasure. To these it is utterly necessary that we preach conversion.” [51a] “The next description of persons to whom we must preach conversion, properly so called, are those who allow themselves in the course and habit of some particular sin, with more or less regularity in other articles of behaviour; there is some particular sin, which they practise constantly and habitually, and allow themselves in that practice. Other sins they strive against, but in this they allow themselves. Now no man can go on in this course consistently with the hope of salvation; therefore, it must be broken off. The essential and precise difference between a child of God and another is, that the true child of God allows himself in no sin whatever; cost what it may, he contends against, he combats all sin; which he certainly cannot be said to do, who is still in the course and habit of some particular sin; for as to that sin, he reserves it, he compromises it. Here then we must preach conversion.” [51b] “In these two cases, therefore, men must be converted and live, or remain unconverted and die.” [51c]

Let then all those who are living in ignorance of the spirit, and consequently in neglect of the obligations of the Gospel, lay this to heart; and let them not imagine that it is only intended to alarm their fears. The scoffer, the profane, the sceptic, and the infidel, can hope for nothing through a Gospel which they ridicule, despise, or reject. But the gay, the thoughtless, and the proud—the worldly, the avaricious, and the sensual—the malicious, the censorious, and the envious—all profess to believe the Gospel; and the lukewarm, the self-righteous, and hypocritical, pretend to make it their rule of life. “To the law, and to the testimony,” to see whether these must all be converted or condemned. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” [52a] It appears, therefore, possible to exercise some of the highest functions of Christianity, and yet to be cast away. “Not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.” [52b] “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” [52c] Hence, then, we learn the worthlessness of a mere profession of the Gospel. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world: if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” [53a] Here we are taught the incompatibility of the love of the world with the love of God. “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;—adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” [53b] This fearful catalogue of offences, which exclude from heaven, passes sentence of condemnation upon all who live in the indulgence of any known sin. From these, and many other passages of Scripture, as well as from its general tenor, we arrive at the conclusion, that the various classes of men which have been described, are all exposed to the righteous judgment of God, ready to be revealed at the last day. They bear the Christian name, it is true, but that is all they possess of a blessed dispensation, which was ushered in by the preaching of repentance:—“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent ye and believe the Gospel;” [53c] and which has always imposed upon its converts personal holiness, as a universal obligation, and inseparable from its promises and rewards; “Wherefore follow holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” [54a] “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” [54b] As being destitute, therefore, of the essentials of the Christian faith, the powerful writer, who has already been quoted at such great length, says, “these persons are really in as unconverted a state as any Jew or Gentile could be in our Saviour’s time. They are no more Christians, as to any actual benefit of Christianity to their souls, than the most hardened Jew, or the most profligate Gentile, was in the age of the Gospel. As to any difference in the two cases, the difference is all against them. These must be converted before they can be saved. The course of their thoughts must be changed: the very principles upon which they act must be changed. Considerations which never, or hardly ever, entered into their minds, must deeply and perpetually engage them. Views and motives, which did not influence them at all, either as checks from doing evil, or as inducements to do good, must become the views and motives which they regularly consult, and by which they are guided;—that is to say, there must be a revolution of principle: the visible conduct will follow the change, but there must be a revolution within.”

These observations are made by Paley, with reference to those persons “who have hitherto passed their lives without any internal religion whatever;” with whom, in short, religion has not been the rule of life. Oh! that the countless multitudes within this kingdom, to whom this description applies, and who are living regardless, if not ignorant, of the eternal condemnation impending over their unconverted souls, “would be wise and consider their latter end.” Oh that they would be persuaded to learn from the word of God, what the holy name which they bear requires of them; and consider what the vows made in baptism bind them to, if they wish to be partakers of the precious benefits purchased for his faithful servants by Christ, at the costly price of his blood. “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures,” is a reproof which applies to them all. For, unfortunately, the generality of men are content to receive from others all they know of religion: they do not enquire for themselves; but willingly acquiesce in the most indulgent views of human duty. And if they do sometimes read the Bible, yet they do not study it, and pray over it, with an anxious desire to be brought to a knowledge of the truth; with a firm determination to receive the truth, however unpleasant, however opposed to their present opinions; and with a resolution, not suddenly taken, but after mature and anxious deliberation, and not formed in dependence upon themselves, but upon Divine grace, to build their faith and practice on its holy doctrines and precepts. To all such, however, we would say, “This do, and ye shall live:” let the time past of your lives suffice to have past in ignorance or neglect of God’s gracious revelation to man; now delay not longer: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand;” may the day-spring from on high visit you, and the day-star arise in your hearts to give light to you, who, whilst the beams of the Sun of Righteousness are shining around you, are still lying in darkness and the shadow of death. “Search the Scriptures,” and learn from them, and not from the opinions and conduct of men, what is the hope of the Christian calling; search the Scriptures, and from them learn, that ye must repent or die eternally.

May the profane, the scoffer, and the sceptic, have the veil of darkness removed from their understandings, by which “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” [57a] May they not be left in wilful blindness, until that terrible day, when the enemies of the Lord shall find, to their everlasting confusion, that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead: so that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened: professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” May

—“The gay, licentious, proud,
Whom pleasure, power, and affluence surround,”

learn “how hardly shall they who have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” [57b] For they too often forget they are God’s stewards, and accountable for all they possess. The day will come when to all of them will be addressed the command, “Give an account of thy stewardship;” and how terrible will be their lot, should they, “having been unfaithful in the unrighteous mammon,” lose “the true riches,”—treasure in heaven. Our Lord himself has said, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” [58a] They, therefore, who in their day of trial have forgotten that their rank or affluence are so many talents, for which they are to give account to their Master in heaven, must expect fearful retribution, unless, while the day of grace remaineth, they obtain pardon and peace through their long-neglected Lord. Let them now learn that the friendship of the world—whose smile they have courted, whose honours they have coveted, whose pleasures they have enjoyed—“is enmity with God.” “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” [58b] May the avaricious and the sensual, whose grovelling, sordid, and impure minds, have not a thought, a wish, beyond this earth, where they would willingly live for ever; see their sin and folly before it be too late. Let them hear the awful denunciations of Scripture; and may that Scripture, through God’s grace, bring conviction to their minds and repentance to their hearts. “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you; and shall eat your flesh as it were fire: ye have heaped treasure together for the last day.” [59a] “They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” [59b] “Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” [59c] “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries.” [59d] “Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.” [59e] May those who now rise up early, and late take rest, and eat the bread of carefulness, that they may increase their worldly store, receive grace “to lay up treasure in heaven,” not “trusting in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy:” [60a] and may those who, placing few or no restraints upon the appetites and passions of their animal nature, ardently pursue impure, debasing, and guilty pleasures, have their souls so sanctified, through the power of the Holy Ghost, that, “cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God,” [60b] they may desire only “the joys unspeakable, and full of glory, which are at God’s right hand for evermore.” And may the envious, the censorious, and the malicious, who cherish in their hearts hostility and malignity towards their fellows, acquire the spirit of Christian charity! For “charity suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly; seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.” There exist no passions in the human breast, which in every age have excited so much scorn and reprobation amongst generous and noble spirits as envy and malice: there is a meanness in them which renders them contemptible; there is a malignity which makes them detestable: the virtuous heathen, therefore, viewed them with contemptuous indignation; but the Christian must mourn over such bitter fruits of an unchristian temper; he must admonish those who foster them, that these sins of the heart, as more difficult to be repented of, are more likely to exclude from heaven than the failings which they gloat upon with secret pleasure, and publish with malicious satisfaction. The sins of uncharitableness cannot but be peculiarly odious in the sight of Him, whose religion inculcates the purest and kindest spirit of brotherly love, and who has made our forgiving our brother his trespasses, the ground of our asking the forgiveness of our own. We are, therefore, strongly and repeatedly warned in Scripture against anger, envy, hatred, revenge, and malice; whilst the opposite virtues are urged upon us with equal force of exhortation and tenderness of entreaty. “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ’s sake, hath forgiven you.” [61] Let such, therefore, remembering that their only hope of forgiveness consists in their obtaining grace to overcome their uncharitable temper and habits, hear also and obey the similar admonition of another apostle: “Wherefore, laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil-speaking; as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” [62]

May all those who make a decided profession of religion, but whose heart is not right before the Lord; the lukewarm, the self-righteous, and the hypocritical; learn that God will never accept of a divided heart; that He will never approve of a self-righteous spirit, and will never receive the incense of feigned lips. Hypocrisy must be peculiarly offensive, as it is peculiarly insulting, to the Majesty of an omniscient and omnipresent God. That one of his creatures should dare to make His name or service a cloak to cover his selfish and worldly views; should profess a great reverence for Him, only to secure the applause, or procure the assistance of men, is at once such a bold and impious fraud, as must excite the displeasure, and call down the vengeance of an insulted and offended Deity. What! shall the weak and miserable creature who has been graciously allowed to approach his great Creator, and “tell out his wants and unburden his sorrows to Him in prayer,”—shall he pervert to his base ends this high and holy privilege, and “make long prayers, that he may be seen of men!” Such a fearful profanation resembles that of Belshazzar, when he used, at his unholy banquet, the sacred vessels taken from the Temple at Jerusalem, and with them gave honour to his false gods. [63] For the hypocrite, who worships in the sanctuary to advance his worldly interest, is employing the holy ordinances of the Lord in the service of Belial, who is his god.

It may be hoped that hypocrisy of this impious nature is rare; but neither its criminality nor its extent are sufficiently regarded by men in general. For what, in reality, are all who make merely an outward profession of religion? they are all hypocrites: they do not attend religious worship to offer their sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to their Preserver and Benefactor; but they pretend to do so; and perhaps might consider themselves unjustly stigmatised, if the real cause of their being in the courts of the Lord’s house was stated to be, either regard for reputation, to set an example, general custom, or the force of habit. But if men go not to the house of prayer for worship—and those who make merely an outward profession of religion cannot be sincere in offering up any prayers—it remains that some other motive must have drawn them there; and whatever that may be, as the real but not ostensible motive, it stamps them as hypocrites. There also are, it may be feared, other hypocrites, of a very different description, who lay claim to more religion than they possess; and, in the cause of the Lord of Hosts, profess more zeal for His honour than they feel. All such—more especially if they assume a character of which they know themselves to be totally unworthy, seeking to gratify their pride or advance their interests; for then they are hypocrites of the worst description;—expose themselves to the righteous displeasure of the Lord. May men, therefore, learn, that the profession of religion, without regard to its principles, will, sooner or later, bring down upon them swift and sudden destruction; for “the prayer of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord,” when “they take the law of God into their mouths, but hate to be reformed in their hearts.” And whilst their principles must always correspond with their profession, their practice must be in accordance with both. The repentance of the hypocrite is extremely difficult: he has profaned, to his own ungodly purposes, all the means of grace; and sometimes, so perfect becomes the delusion of lengthened deception, he almost believes himself really to be the character he has falsely assumed. Nothing but Divine grace can rescue him from his alarming state; for he resembles one who has himself poisoned the wholesome aliment intended for his sustenance; still the Great Physician of souls is a sure refuge. May he, through Him, obtain mercy and pardon, and escape having “his portion with the hypocrites, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Amongst the Pharisees it appears, from the severe reproofs our blessed Lord directed against them, that both an hypocritical and self-righteous spirit prevailed to a great extent. Such will ever be the case where the forms are substituted for the spirit of religion. It will then quickly degenerate into a number of lifeless observances, and the shadow of the religion will remain whilst the substance will be lost. Self-righteousness, in this day, rests nearly upon the same foundation as in the time of our Saviour. Amongst ourselves it is often built upon the groundwork of regularity and strictness in religious observances, and of belonging to a particular sect or party. It is often characterised by an appearance of much self-complacency and spiritual pride; still it is at the same time distinguished generally by a correct standard of morals, a due regard for decorum, and a strict attention to religious duties. Alas! every one must lament that the spirit is wanting which will give acceptability to these services in the sight of God: for “thus saith the high and lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place; with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit; to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” [66a] There exists not in the heart of man a feeling more perfectly irreconcileable with his corrupt and fallen nature, than spiritual pride. In the first place, “who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?” [66b] And in the second, “Who can tell how oft he offendeth? O cleanse thou me from my secret faults! Keep thy servant also from presumptuous sins, lest they get the dominion over me: so shall I be undefiled, and innocent from the great offence.” [66c] One of the first Christian virtues is humility; and he must be equally ignorant of his own heart and of the spirit of the Gospel, who prides himself upon his excellences, instead of lamenting his deficiencies. A deep consciousness of personal unworthiness; a fearful sense of his little progress in holiness, in comparison with the advantages which have been afforded to him; a humble thankfulness that God has enabled him to advance some way in his Christian calling; and an entire dependence on his Saviour for grace, for strength, and guidance, for the time to come, generally characterize those most favoured servants of the Lord who have reached the highest attainments in piety, and best served their generation. May the self-righteous receive grace “to learn of Him” who was “meek and lowly of heart,” and then they will find present and eternal “rest unto their souls.”

“How long halt ye between two opinions?” was the indignant enquiry addressed to the Israelites by the Prophet Elijah: “If the Lord be God, follow Him; if Baal, then follow him.” [67] In every age there have been too many lukewarm in religion, to whom the same enquiry might be addressed, for there has ever been the same disposition to make a compromise between God and Mammon. They are unwilling to forfeit all hope of the fair “inheritance of the saints in light;” they are afraid to encounter the awful terrors of the blackness of darkness for ever; still the world, with its seductive pleasured and engrossing cares, takes a strong hold upon the heart, and is like a withering blight upon the blossoms and fruit of genuine piety.

There is no vitality of religious principle, and no consistency of religious conduct. They profess the Gospel, it is true; but they are desirous to accommodate it to their own views and wishes, that it may not interfere with their worldly advantage, not interrupt their present enjoyments. But such a cold and calculating spirit, which appears ever to ask, “How little can I do, and yet get to heaven?” has nothing in it of the Gospel of Christ. Our blessed Lord employs, in the Revelations, terms expressive of the most contemptuous rejection of the works of the Church of Laodicea, because it was “lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot.” [68a] The whole tenor of Scripture inculcates the duty of obedience to “the first and great commandment”—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” [68b] And they can know little of the glorious and blessed privileges of the children of God by adoption and grace, who do not habitually look up to Him as “a reconciled Father in Christ Jesus our Lord;” who do not cry with humble but firm and confiding faith, “Abba, Father;” and who do not obey, with willing and joyful readiness, the command, “My Son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.” There is a necessary union between adoption and grace, between grace and holiness, between holiness and love: “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God:” “Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you:” “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.” They, therefore, who do not manifest in their hearts and lives those blessed proofs of the indwelling of the Spirit, renewed minds, sanctified affections, and holy obedience, cannot be said to “walk after the Spirit.” “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his:” he is “carnally minded;” and “to be carnally minded is death;” “because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Oh, how does the faithful servant of the Lord mourn over the lukewarm in religion, a class which may sometimes embrace those dearest to him on earth—united to him by the closest ties of blood—by the sweetest bonds of affection. He feels for them, for he remembers the time when he had “set his affections on things of earth:” He estimates fully the difficulties they have to surmount, for he knows how hard it is to “set the affections on things above.” For this world invites us, through the medium of the senses, with objects present, visible, and palpable; but it is only by the power of abstraction, and through the medium of faith, we can even contemplate the future invisible and unpalpable realities of a spiritual world, whose rewards and joys are covered with a veil which revelation has only raised so far as to show, that whilst their nature transcends the power of human conception, their extent exceeds the limits of human comprehension. He fears, therefore, lest, bewildered by the false glare of earthly attractions, they may never be able to fix the steady eye of faith upon what human “eye hath not seen, nor hath it entered into the heart of men to conceive;” he fears lest, still impelled forward in the broad way of destruction by semblances of happiness, as alluring but as illusive as the mirage of the desert, they may never enter upon the narrow and often thorny path of life, which leads to the Zion of our God.

How earnestly, therefore, does he entreat them not longer to linger in the outward courts, but to enter at once into the temple of our faith; not longer to starve themselves with “the beggarly elements of the Law,” to which they secretly cling, but to refresh and invigorate their souls with the “rich mercies” of the Gospel dispensation, which supplies every want, and satisfies every desire, when fully understood, firmly believed, thankfully received, and implicitly obeyed. For it is not generally that they seek to escape the obligations to personal holiness, for they are moral men: it is not that they wish to avoid the observances of religion, for they are regular in their attendance on divine ordinances; but they will not submit themselves to the sole guidance of that Holy Spirit which can alone consecrate their prayers and sanctify their obedience. Their case is stated by St. Paul in a few words: they have “the form without the power of godliness;” and being destitute of its power, they enjoy not its present consolations,—they will possess not its future rewards, unless, by the transforming influence of divine grace, they are enabled to give their, at present, divided hearts to God. A merely formal profession of the Gospel never yet supplied comfort in the hour of affliction—never cheered the sufferings of the bed of pain—never took away the fear of death. It may be, that when the understanding is blinded, or the heart hardened, exhausted nature sometimes willingly seeks relief from present suffering in death; but such is an awful sign of spiritual insensibility. When the conscience is fully awake, and the mind, in full possession of its powers, is conscious of the rapid approach of death; the Gospel of Christ alone has power to divest the destroyer of his terrors by robbing him of his sting, and the grave of its victory. Still it is only a heartfelt profession of the Gospel, in which the approval of the understanding, and the desire of the heart, accompany the utterance of the lips, from which issue no lifeless words, but the earnest prayer for mercy and forgiveness for faith and hope, for sanctification and submission; which, proving that grace is employed in its blessed and holy work of the soul’s renewal, supports and comforts in that awful hour, when the soul is preparing to meet its God and Saviour. Oh that this consideration may have its due weight to rouse the lukewarm from their state of apathy! Can they imagine that their languid and lifeless services will be acceptable in the sight of that God, who is Himself love, and whose motive, in offering them eternal life, is love? Can they suppose their weak faith in the Saviour, their cold reception of His inestimable blessings, will satisfy Him, who referred the ignominious and painful death He endured to the greatness of His love,—“greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” [72] If, in the various relations of social life, the little services of affection are valued infinitely higher than the more costly benefits which spring only from a cold sense of duty:—if the willing obedience, the watchful attention, and the tender offices of love are prized, beyond all comparison, above the forced submission, the reluctant compliance, and the unwilling attendance of fear:—can we think for a moment that He, who has admitted us to all the privileges of sonship, and has allowed us to approach Him in the endearing character of children, and cry, Abba, Father, will regard favourably the services which spring from slavish fear, and not from filial love? It might be thought that the consideration of the infinite love of God towards man, and of the precious benefits conferred upon us by the Saviour, would fill every soul with gratitude and love: to think that weak, sinful, and guilty man, should be elevated to so exalted a relation to God as that of son; to remember that his title to his high dignity was purchased, by no less a sacrifice than the atonement made by Him, who is the brightness of His Father’s glory, and the express image of His person,—present to the mind such an astounding, and yet transporting view, of “the length and breadth, and depth and height,” of “the love of God, which passeth knowledge,” that we are constrained to exclaim, “Such things are too wonderful for me; I cannot attain unto them.” And yet, they affect not, they influence not, that large class of men, the lukewarm in religion! God now calls them by “His judgments, which are in the earth,” to “turn unto Him with all their heart.” May they all receive grace, to obey the call, and seek forgiveness at his hands; for there is impending over them a most terrible curse—a curse which repentance only can avert. “If any love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.” [73]

Let, then, all the several classes of men, who, as constituting the leading divisions of those who believe not, or practise not, the truth as it is in Christ Jesus our Lord—have been exhorted and warned “to flee from the wrath to come,” be now earnestly intreated to imitate the example of the Bereans of old, who “were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” [74a]

And may God accompany with his grace and blessing such study of the Scriptures, that they who have heretofore neglected, perverted, disobeyed, or rejected the Gospel, may, through “its marvellous light become wise unto salvation!”

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” [74b] In the “lively oracles of God,” therefore, they will find instruction how to proceed in the difficult work of true repentance. Let them not, however, be dismayed at the difficulty of the undertaking, for “He who worketh in them to will and to do of His good pleasure,” is ever ready to succour and omnipotent to save, “all who come unto Him” through Christ, “who is the way, the truth, and the life.” Let them not fear the power of the great adversary of man, whose galling yoke they long willingly bore; “for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God; and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” [75a] Still, at the same time, let them underrate neither the difficulties nor the dangers which await them. Spiritual as well as worldly prudence is shewn in rightly estimating difficulties, that they may be the more certainly overcome; and real courage, whether carnal or spiritual, in learning the extent of danger, that it may be, as the case requires, carefully avoided, or manfully combated.

The prophet Jeremiah, to prove the difficulty of a late repentance, has used a figure which places it in a strong light; “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil.” [75b] The apostle Peter, to shew the extent of danger to the Christian, employs a simile not less striking, “Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” [75c] And St. Paul accumulates the most forcible expressions to convey an adequate idea of the dangerous nature of our spiritual warfare, “for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [75d] It is most true, that when the corruption of man’s nature has been increased in malignity by the long indulgence of its sinful appetites and passions; when his habits have become confirmed, inveterate, and almost second nature through time; and when his severe master, the devil, seeing him planning rebellion against his authority, and escape from his power, employs his subtle arts to retain his dominion over him: we have a case in which unassisted human nature must despair. Passion is not tameable at the will of man, appetite is not mortified at his bidding, habit is not overcome at his command, the devil is not vanquished by his power. On the contrary, they all reign and rule in the heart of the unconverted, who have grown old in sin: there passion is ungovernable, appetite irresistible, habit invincible, the devil dominant and triumphant.

Well may every sinner start at this appalling picture of human weakness and depravity, and well will it be for him, if, through grace, he be thence led to exclaim—“Oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death!” [76a] and if he be enabled to apply to his own case the answer, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. “With man it is impossible” to escape from the debasing and enslaving effects of sin, “but with God all things are possible;” [76b] and “thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus.” [77a]

Through Him who loved us and gave Himself for us, we shall prove more than conquerors over the great enemies of our salvation. By the transforming power of divine grace the will becomes renewed, the passions subjugated, the appetites mortified, the habits changed; and the devil vanquished by the great Captain of our salvation, loses his dominion over the sanctified soul. Such is the mighty change wrought in fallen and sinful man, when grace has done her perfect work; and “renewed in the spirit of his mind,” he both “proves what is the good and perfect and acceptable will of God,” and “presents his body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God.” [77b]

“Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” [77c] Repent ye, who have heretofore put conviction far from you, and have refused to receive the Gospel as your standard of faith, your sole rule of life. It may be, that to you, “behold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation;” it may be, that if ye will not hear His voice, but still harden your hearts, upon you may be passed the terrible and irrevocable sentence—“it is a people that do err in their hearts; for they have not known my ways; unto whom I sware in my wrath, that they should not enter into my rest.” [78]

“Go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient season I will call for thee;” was the language of Felix, when he “trembled,” as Paul “reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come.” And such is the course adopted by thousands; they do not violently repress the convictions of conscience; but endeavour to lull them by that “deceitful opiate—good resolves.” Not now, is still the cry, when conscience warns them; not now, to-morrow, next year,—and thus repentance determined upon, but still deferred, flits before them like the treacherous light which often misleads unwary travellers, and lures them on with false hopes, until they plunge into the black gulf of horrible anguish and despair.

This insane procrastination, which is so common and so fatal, that it has been said, “hell’s road is paved with good resolutions,” arises principally from man’s natural wickedness, indolence, sinfulness, and love of sin; but it is much promoted by mistaken ideas as to the nature of repentance, which, by some, is considered at all times in their own power. This fatal error—the grand cause of which is ignorance of Scripture—is much favoured by the various senses in which the term repentance is employed: it is used to express simply sorrow, sorrow and amendment, change of heart and life. Now this latter sense exactly corresponds with conversion, and the evil might, in some degree, be remedied, if there were adopted, in the case of habitual sinners, the definition of repentance given by Hammond: “A change of mind, or a conversion from sin to God; not some one bare act of change, but a lasting, durable state of new life.” For men would have a difficulty in resting satisfied with indefinitely postponing repentance, if they knew that repentance to consist not merely in sorrow for sin, not merely in external amendment, but in a change of the heart, in a renewal of the mind, wrought by the Holy Ghost, and which man possesses no inherent power to effect, but which is the gift of God through Christ.

Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out: all who have heretofore drawn your motives and rules of actions from the world, and not from the Book of Life—and as you value your immortal souls, consider no proofs of conversion to be depended upon, except faith in the Saviour, and reliance on His merits alone for salvation; love of God as a reconciled father in Christ Jesus our Lord, shed abroad in the heart by the power of the Holy Ghost; constant study of the Scriptures as the rule of life; indulgence of no known sin; and dependence on divine grace for spiritual guidance, strength, and consolation. Such an entire conversion of the whole man to God is generally not only a progressive, but a slow operation: during which partial relapses into old habits, which conscience soon compels them to abandon;—unscriptural views of reconciliation with God, in which the soul cannot rest satisfied;—and artful stratagems of the great enemy of man to win them back to wear publicly their badge of servitude, or retain them in the camp of the faithful, as in reality, though unknowingly, his deluded and secret followers;—all impede, perplex, and endanger their course.

As the heart only knows its own bitterness, so each believer only knows the mode of God’s dealing with him in bringing him to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. [80] But the following sketch may be received as presenting the outlines of a sincere conversion; and may the future experience of those who are now earnestly and affectionately entreated to “turn unto God with all their hearts,” fill up the details. The conscience is first troubled through the grace of God accompanying some strong appeal; fear is excited; an examination is made into the state of life, and the awful truth flashes upon the mind, that he is in “the broad way which leadeth to destruction,” and “what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul.” [81a] He now, perhaps, attempts to appease his conscience by a compromise, by reforming, in part, his life, but retaining his darling sins; this unholy alliance between Christ and Belial may not be, and he is ill at ease. He examines, therefore, more carefully the word of life, and feels satisfied he merits only eternal condemnation at the hand of a righteous God. His alarm becomes terror, and he sets to work in good earnest to effect an entire reformation of life, but too much in dependence on his own strength. He fails, and again and again is betrayed into his old sins, through the weakness of his nature, the power of temptation, and the want of spiritual strength. The repeated failures at length convince him of his own weakness and utter helplessness, and he begins to distrust himself, and trust more and more in his Saviour. The dark prospect now begins to brighten by the dawning of a better day, and slowly the sun of righteousness rising upon his soul, dispels the mists of error, prejudice, and passion, and reveals the Saviour as “the way, the truth, and the life.” [81b] He sees his road more clearly, he better understands how God “made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him,” [81c] and joyfully accepts the free, unmerited, and most gracious offers of salvation made in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom, “being justified by faith, we have peace with God.” [82a] He increases in faith, he rejoices in his privileges, he grows in grace, but he is still watchful and sober-minded: whilst he throws himself entirely on the mercy of God in Christ in whom we are “complete;” and relies on Him for His “grace, which is sufficient for us, for it is made perfect in weakness;” [82b] he remits not his vigilance, he relaxes not his endeavours, but “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those which are before, he presses toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” [82c] He earnestly prays and labours to be enabled to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things; to perfect holiness in his faith and fear, and to have his conversation in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: “who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.” [82d]

The combat which awaits the young convert is severe, but not alarming, if he take the whole armour of God; “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance.”

Clad in the full panoply of the Gospel, the Christian warrior has nothing to dread: for his armour is of heavenly temper; the arm of Omnipotence sustains him; and the glorious shield of the Saviour “will cover his head in the day of battle.” But if the danger appear slight, let him not presume; if appalling, let him not despair; excessive confidence often risks, and despondence often loses, the battle won by undaunted, but cool and cautious courage: and of such a nature is Christian faith, by which the soldier of the cross is enabled to fulfil his baptismal vow, “not to be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under His banner, against sin, the world, and the devil, and to continue Christ’s faithful soldier and servant unto his life’s end.” [83]

Let not, therefore, the penitent suppose the dangers and difficulties which await him to be so great as almost to be insuperable; nor yet that they are so small as to be easily overcome: it is sufficient for him to know, that that Master whom he serves, and who appoints his lot, will, if he commit himself to Him as a faithful Creator, supply him with strength equal to his trials, and make those trials help him forward on his heaven-ward journey. Upon setting out, however, let him be admonished, that there are three things which he ought to bear in mind.

First: let him not mistake transient feelings for settled principles, nor partial amendment for complete reformation: the sanguine sometimes, through natural temperament, are unduly elated; the desponding, through the same cause, unduly depressed; and thus both form false estimates as to the degree of their advancement in spiritual life. Whilst it also sometimes unfortunately happens, that after the first terrors of awakened conscience pass away, the fervours of devotional feeling subside, and there ensue listlessness, negligence, and a return to former evil courses: “he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while.” [84] Let him, in the second place, be especially on his guard against partial or perverted views of the doctrines and duties of our holy faith: some, because we are saved through faith in the merits of the Saviour, have abused the grace of God, by an unholy profession, or have under-rated the value of Christian graces and virtues; and others, because of the obligations to personal holiness, and of the rewards held out to faithful servants, in the Gospel, have depreciated the value of faith, and have reduced the great scheme of salvation to little more than a moral obedience. And lastly, let him take care, that when, through divine grace, he has surmounted the difficulties which attend his first entrance upon the “narrow way which leadeth unto life;” and his ardent and confident spirit is full of eager anticipation of the eternal rest and peace which await him on his arrival at the “city of the Living God,” [85] whose fair bulwarks the eye of faith may already have descried at an immense distance; let him “be not high-minded, but fear:” enemies, though invisible, still surround him; dangers, though hidden, still lurk in his path. Should, on the other hand, the journey prove toilsome, and his spirit be often perplexed with doubts, and alarmed with fears; should no distant prospect of the mansions of eternal rest break upon his enraptured view, solace his weary soul, and brighten his cheerless path: let him not be dismayed, but hope: a “friend that sticketh closer than a brother,” [86a] though unseen, is near; the city of refuge, though undiscoverable by his anxious eye, is nigh at hand. If, in the first case, he “persevere unto the end;” if, in the second, “he faint not;” he will reap an “eternal and exceeding weight of glory;” [86b] for, on his approach, the bright portals of the new Jerusalem shall be thrown open, and he will be welcomed by the Celestial King, with the transporting words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” [86c]