It is just so with that "plant of celestial seed," which is sown in the human heart. Meekness, humility, resignation, love, &c. are not the growth of an hour: days, and months, and years, must pass, before they will begin to appear. I well know, that the first faint manifestation of these graces in an awakened soul, hath frequently been mistaken for the whole of a sinner's conversion. It has been called the "Witness of the Spirit," testifying to the sinner, that the act of his justification is past, and that his pardon is sealed in the courts of Heaven. The Witness of the Spirit it undoubtedly is, because it results from an union of the human spirit with the Divine. And as the Divine Spirit is meekness and love supreme, so it is no wonder that such an union should produce such a spiritual sensation. But we are not to conclude from hence, that a sudden, and seemingly instantaneous sensibility of Heavenly Peace and Love, can be the whole of our conversion. It is, doubtless, a sweet token of Divine Grace; an happy earnest of the residence of the Divine Spirit, who, perhaps, for years before, had been seeking to manifest himself in our hearts, and now gives this present consolation, as the result of previous and frequent operations. Our salvation is so far from depending upon these momentary sensations, that our Lord expressly assures us, that though we are united to him by as intimate an union as "the branches are to the vine;" yet, except "we abide in him, we shall be cast as withered branches into the fire."
"Let him, then, that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." Let us not value ourselves upon past experiences, or think that we are God's children, and that our names are indelibly written in his book of life, merely because we were once under spiritual distress, and were once rescued from it by the consolations of his Spirit. Nothing can preserve us in a state of union with our Divine Redeemer, but an inward, constant thirsting after those "waters of life," which he alone can give us. Whilst we stand before him in such a frame of soul, meekly and humbly waiting for such portions of his Grace, as he sees necessary and expedient to impart, we may then be assured, that "our leaf shall not wither, and that whatsoever we do shall prosper." For when the will of man coincides with the Divine Will, and is implicitly resigned thereto in every situation, circumstance, and event of life, he must necessarily prosper, because God wills nothing but Good, and Good Supreme is the aim and end of all his dispensations.
Well, but say some, How can this be? Do we not daily see the best of men, groaning under the most grievous calamities, pining away with sickness, worn out with pain, or afflicted with some sad reverses of fortune? On the other hand, do we not daily behold men, who shew not the least regard to religion, who have no fear of God before their eyes, who neither in private nor in public testify the least sense of their dependance upon him, or their connexion with another world, who violate his sabbaths, deride his Revelation, and scoff at every thing that bears the appearance of seriousness or sobriety; do we not daily behold such men advanced to the pinnacle of preferment, abounding in wealth, favoured with health and strength, and surrounded with every good thing this world can afford? Yes—we certainly do; and so did David many ages since. But attend to David's reflections upon this subject, and you will find them rational and satisfactory.
"I was grieved at the wicked: I do also see the ungodly in such prosperity. For they are in no peril of health, but are lusty and strong. They come in no misfortune like other folk, neither are they plagued like other men. Lo, these are the ungodly; these prosper in the world, and these have riches in possession: and I said, then have I cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. Yea, I had almost said even as they; but lo, then I should have condemned the generation of thy children. Then thought I to understand this, but it was too hard for me, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I the end of these men, namely, that thou dost set them in slippery places, and castest them down and destroyest them. O, how suddenly do they consume, perish, and come to a fearful end!"
These are David's reflections on the condition of wicked men in his day; and the experience of preceding, as well as of after-ages, does abundantly confirm them. Vice will, sooner or later, meet with its recompence, even in this world. But supposing this should not be the case, and that good and righteous men should have a much larger share of temporal misery than the wicked; yet it may with truth be said, that by this very misery they prosper; yea, that their inward prosperity keeps pace with their outward sufferings.
Every thing that has a tendency to disengage the heart and affections from this transient scene of things, ought to be deemed a real blessing. Now, who can deny, that sickness, pain, sorrow and affliction, have in their very nature this tendency? and, when seen by the happy sufferer in a true point of light, they never fail of producing this effect. Hence it is, that many a pious soul is enabled to rejoice in such visitations, and to thank God for them as the richer blessings: for, "though no chastisement for the present is joyous, but rather grievous; yet it afterwards yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness to those that are exercised thereby." True it is, that the outward man suffers, and is sadly weakened and distressed; but the Inward Man, the Child of God, thrives and prospers. The riches of eternity appear more and more real, in proportion as he discovers the vanity of time; and his disappointment in any worldly concern, is sure to render him more prosperous and successful in matters of eternal moment.
Alas! methinks I hear some say, it would be well if it were always so. But are not many good men afflicted inwardly, as well as outwardly? Are they not often destitute of spiritual as well as of worldly comforts? Are not their souls as much bowed down by the weight of their sinful nature, as their bodies by temporal evils and infirmities? And can these men be said to "prosper in whatsoever they do?" Surely, they are alike unfortunate with respect to the present and the future world.
Suspend thy judgment, poor partial observer! reason not from appearances. Inward darkness, and distress, and anguish, are the proper inlets through which the Christ of God is received into the heavy-laden soul. A sensibility of its burden makes it groan for relief: and the very moment that "patience hath done its perfect work," and the human will is thereby brought to yield itself with implicit resignation to its God, the burden drops, and sweet peace and tranquillity of soul succeed. God never willingly afflicts his children; he deals with them as a most indulgent parent. Sin must be known and felt, before it can be shunned and conquered. And it is by repeated strokes, that the wayward child is taught to avoid what may prove injurious and destructive to its happiness.
To conclude with the apt similitude of my text: the real Christian is "like a tree planted by the rivers of water;" they afford it all the nourishment that is necessary. The stormy wind and the beating rain, while they try its strength, increase it; they make it cling closer to the kindly soil, take deeper root, and bear fruit in greater abundance. Thus, "all things work together for good, to them that love God;" and "whatsoever they do," notwithstanding the many apparent disappointments and disquietudes they meet with, "shall finally prosper," and terminate in never-fading bliss.