Having waded through many deep waters of late, and, I hope, learned many interesting lessons in the School of the Cross, I cannot forbear dropping you a few thoughts on the great things of God. It is my mercy and yours, that our salvation is the joint work of the adorable Trinity in Unity, originating in eternal love, planned in infinite wisdom, and executed by almighty power. This salvation I have been led to prise, of late, more than ever I did; and to bless a covenant God that I ever heard its joyful sound; that I was ever convinced of my need of its blessings; that I ever was enabled to receive it as my own: which glorious salvation consists in the pardon of sin—the acceptation of the Saviour’s obedience—the clear witness of God’s Spirit—and the happy heart-felt communion with God. This is the salvation of the Gospel I have been made acquainted with in some degree, and trust I shall yet more abundantly, even in this present life, and beyond the grave be favored with it in body and soul for ever. This is what I have in humble hope and expedition, and God declares it shall not be cut off. The Spirit of God is given us as an earnest of this, and faith is the evidence of it—and though I am not yet in the enjoyment of it, the promise still stands firm, Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty—they shall behold the land that is far off. Thine eyes: are you inclined to ask, Whose eyes?—the answer is ready—those who are in possession of a good work of grace—hence, having begun the good work, he will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.—Sometimes you hope, you believe, you trust, nay you are sure this work is begun; then I am sure it will be carried on, and must be completed; for the Man will not be in rest till the great work is done, and he presents us to himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, nor any such thing. May you and I live in the pleasing prospect of this, and finally, die to enjoy it—no doubt it will be an heaven worth dying for—when I contemplate this glory, I forget the trials of the way.
But, perhaps, my dear friend, while reading this, is particularly tried in the way; for as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart. Well, then, I must pay you a visit in Achor’s vale, where I know you are truly safe, though miserable; reflecting on the days that are past, and contrasting them with what you now feel and fear—once feeling light, joy, peace, comfort, love, zeal, activity, and diligence; but now you feel darkness, insensibility, lowness the workings of inbred sin, and too often have to lament the out-breakings of them. This may be succeeded by legal bondage, unbelief, fretfulness, enmity, and a sad distance between God and the soul; and instead of activity and diligence, a general stupor; calling all in question, because you cannot act as you have formerly done—quite forgetting him that has said, and who is now making good his promise, Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fail, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.
Permit me, my brother, just to intimate, that there is nothing singular in your trials; it appears to be the very path the Redeemer went, and the very footsteps of the flock. Hence we read, directly after the Baptism of our dear Lord, when his soul was filled with all the fulness of God; when the Father, with an audible voice, proclaimed from above, This is my beloved Son!—and the Holy Spirit was seen hovering over his head, in a body of light, just like a Dove in its descent—the Redeemer rising from the watery tomb, and the gazing spectators astonished at the solemn scene—immediately after this transaction we find him led into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil; and he was with the wild beasts, and evil angels came to him; and upon the back of this, Satan, the head, the chief Devil, most daringly tempted him to presumption, to doubt his Sonship, and to commit suicide!—and can my brother wonder that he is a subject of temptation—that he has forty days of mourning, without a spiritual entertainment, or the manifestative presence of Christ—that he is among the wild beasts of his inbred sins—that evil thoughts stirred up by evil angels, should ever trouble or visit him? And can you wonder that you should be tempted to doubt your sonship—tempted to presume—that is, forbear to use the scripture means in time of trouble, or even tempted to suicide? You think some strange thing has happened to you, but this is the path the Redeemer trod, in his measure—and, recollect, the servant is not greater than his Lord—it is enough to be as he was, that we may be as he is. This part of your experience was strikingly exhibited in the case of the Israelites, who came through the Red Sea with joy and praise—shouted victory, through the mercy of Jehovah—and felt happy that they were delivered. But their felicity was soon abated, for they were ordered to encamp at Marah, in the Wilderness. So you find it: you have been convinced of your lost state; you have felt the slavery of sin and the Devil; you have felt the bondage of the Law; you have seen the Redeemer making an atonement for sinners: your faith has received this; your hope has enjoyed this; your love has been led out to him in sweet return; and though you still felt yourself a sinner, yet your mind was happy in Jesus, his glorious Person, and his great Work. Here you sung with Moses and Miriam, with gospel ministers and people, The Lord is my strength and my song, he also is become my salvation, and I will exalt him. But your note was soon changed, for you presently found yourself in the wilderness of fears, lest you had been deluded, and lest you had presumed—lest your grief had been like Esau’s, and your joys the raptures of a way-side hearer; quite forgetting that that religion which comes from God, always leads to God, as our salvation and our eternal all. This was certainly your experience; then why doubt the reality of it? The commandment has gone forth, that you, for wise and God-glorifying purposes, should pitch your tent at Marah; here you must taste of the bitter cup of sorrow. This will only endear the Tree of Life to you, who was cut down, and cast into deeper waters than you can possibly go into; and will lead your faith to apprehend, that though your waters are deep and bitter, yet faith tastes them sweet, by virtue of Christ’s removing the curse—
Thus believing we rejoice,
To see the curse removed.
Your path may indeed be hard and thorny, but, bless God, there is no curse in it; let this console your mind, I am sure it will, if the Holy Spirit gives you power to believe it. Your present experience of darkness, guilt, deadness, bondage, contraction of spirit, and great stupor, are the days of evil that Solomon speaks of, which are many, but must at last issue in an exceeding and an eternal weight of glory. But seeing such are the days that must come on the followers of the dear Saviour, how truly important, and how highly interesting that exhortation in the twelfth of Ecclesiastes, Remember now thy Creator, in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, and the years draw nigh, wherein thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them. Solomon could well talk of these things, for he had a wonderful share of them, and wrote the whole Book of Ecclesiastes upon the subject. The word is said by some, to mean the Preacher, but others think it signifies Restoration to the Church. It was also written by him in his old age, after his recovery from backsliding; as such it must be a precious treasure in the hands of a poor sinner, who knows the plague of his heart, the weakness of human nature, the inconstancy and mutability of all transitory things, of all terrestial objects.
This book shews the vanity of all things out of Christ; that they are fleeting, insubstantial, and disappointing; that they elude the grasp of their followers, and leave the soul in darkness, misery, and woe. Having learnt so much by deep heart-felt experience, of the power of grace and the power of sin, and having been deeply taught by the Holy Ghost, he advises as a father to his children, how to act, before the sad days of tribulation come on; and this is agreeable to his own declaration, The prudent man foreseeth the evil (i.e.) day and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished. Thus in this chapter he exhorts, which, through God’s assistance, I shall consider in an experimental manner; and shew, I hope, the mind of the Spirit upon this important theme.
I have often been grieved when this precious text has been taken by mere Moralists, who knew nothing of the Spirit’s work upon the heart, as the testifier of Jesus; and applied to youth, literally, who are destitute of the grace of God—and by a mere moral harangue, they have set youth to perform a task they themselves never did. Hence, in general, Sermons are preached to young people from this passage, when the very passage shews they are characters that have been taught of God; else why exhort to a remembrance of that glorious object, Thy Creator? it must imply some knowledge of him; and this great Creator can only be known by his own Word and Spirit; only seen in his own light, for the world by wisdom knows not God, nor can all the works of God lead us to God, as some dream; there is no coming to a knowledge of trusting in, or loving, or obeying God, but by the glorious Mediator, and the impulse of the Holy Ghost. I consider it necessary then, my dear Brother, to shew you, First, The Characters addressed in this important exhortation—the Youth. Secondly, the grand object recommended to their attention, Thy Creators. Thirdly, What is implied in the idea of remembering him. Fourthly, The Arguments the wise man makes use of to urge this important act, viz. The approach of evil days and years—which I shall endeavor to explain in a scriptural and experimental way, to comfort some poor mourner; to show the value of a precious Saviour; and endear salvation, by free grace alone.
On the first head of this subject, I would just observe, the blessedness of being early called by the grace of God, can never be fully appreciated in this world. We read of some who were called at a very early period: Jeremiah was really sanctified from the womb: John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost in the womb; which shews the possibility of a work of grace in the souls of those who die in infancy, as they are in general, if not all, influenced by the Holy Spirit before their departure, and are passively the subjects of Regeneration. What a consolation for a parent bereaved of a lovely babe!—It appears Joseph was early taught of God; perhaps the first martyr, Abel, was—it is very clear Obadiah, Josiah, David, and Solomon, were early converted. Samuel and Timothy knew the Saviour at a very early period—the Lord was their guide from their youth. This saves a person from many a bitter pang,—many a sigh, many a tear, many a deep, black, sad reflection of parents, broken hearts, violated sabbaths, a despised gospel, a ruined pocket, and constitution. To be sure grace shines very bright in the calling of such; but you and I must say, we are greater debtors to preserving grace. I rejoice your mind was so early imprest with the power of godliness, and that you was directed under a sound ministry, which clearly pointed out the way of salvation, by free grace alone; for the labour of some foolish preachers wearieth every one, because they know not how to go to the city. But this is not the youth in the text, they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed—the seed of God; the seed that was to serve the Lord, called the seed of Jacob; for these the Redeemer entered into a covenant with his Father—for these he travailed in spirit, groaned, cried, obeyed, bled, and died. Hence the promise, He shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. This is begun in our conversion, and will be accomplished in our final glorification. Hence the Psalmist says, As arrows in the hand of the mighty so are the children of thy youth. And the matter of the covenant between the Father and the Son, is thus exhibited—Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness. From the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth—which beautiful passage Mr. Hervey translates, and paraphrases thus: “As the morning is the mother of dews; produces them, as it were, from a prolific womb; and scatters them with the most lavish abundance, over all the surface of the earth: So shall thy seed be, O thou everlasting Father! By the preaching of thy word, shall such an innumerable race of regenerate children be born to thee, and fill all lands. Millions, millions of willing converts, shall croud into thy family, and replenish thy church; till they become like the stars of Heaven, or the sands of the sea, for multitude; or even as numberless, as these fine spangles, which now cover the face of nature.”
Of the same opinion was the late Mr. Huntington; see his “Light shining in Darkness;” on the 110th Psalm. “The youth which is to spring from the womb and is to be numerous as the drops of the dew, seem to be a time yet to come; when the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth—when a nation shall be born at once—when a little one shall become a thousand—and when the Lord’s family will consist of strong men in the faith; who are called youth; instead of thy fathers, shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make Princes in the earth;” this must be when the greatest kingdom under the whole heavens shall be given to the saints of the most high, and they shall take it, and possess it, for
Jesus shall reign where’er the Sun
Does his successive journies run.