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 BV 4811 .W66 1848 
 Winslow, Octavius, d. 1878. 
 Personal declension and 
 revival of religion in the 
 

PERSONAL DECLENSIOI 
 
 REVIVAL OF RELIGION 
 
 THE SOUL. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 V 
 
 REV. OCTAVIUS WINSLOW, 
 
 ADTBOB OF " lUE EXPERIMENTAL AND PRACTICAL VIEW OF THE WORK OF THB 
 HOIY SPIRIT ;" ■' THE ATONEJIENT," ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 ROBERT CARTER, 58 CANAL STREET, 
 AND PirraBURG, 56 MARKET STREET. 
 
 1848. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. P«g« 
 
 Incipient Declension 9 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 Declension in Love 48 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 Declension in Faith 78 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Declension in Prayer 112 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 Declension in Connexion witli Doctrinal Error 139 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 On Grieving the Spirit 160 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 The Fruitless and the Fruitful Professor 183 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 The Lord, the Restorer of his People 212 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 The Lord, the Keeper o{ his People 235 
 
RECOMMENDATION. 
 
 I obtained last summer a copy of " Pkrsonal Declex- 
 sioN AND Revival of Religion in the Soul, by the 
 Rev. Octavius Winslow," and read it with deep in- 
 terest, and, I trust, some edification. Deeming it exceed- 
 ingly well calculated for usefulness in llie Ciiristian 
 Church, I at once cherished the desire that it might be 
 republished on this side of the Atlantic, and am now 
 gratified that this desire is to be realized. The volume 
 is pervaded by a rich vein of sound evangelical senti- 
 ment, in a spirit and form eminently experimental and 
 practical. The topics of which it treats are at all times 
 highly important, and deserving constant and careful 
 consideration ; but in the present position and aspect of 
 the Church of Christ, when the love of many waxes cold, 
 and conformity to the world is apparently extending and 
 increasing, and tlie influence of the Spirit in the conver- 
 sion of Sinners is very greatly and widely restrained, 
 they demand immediate, earnest, and prayerful attention 
 and improvement from every disciple of Christ. The 
 revival of the work of the Spirit in the Churches is inti- 
 mately connected with and must be preceded by the 
 revival of personal religion in the hearts and lives of 
 Christians. The "time of God's Aivor in arising and 
 having mercy upon Zion," is when amid deep searching 
 and faithful discipline of heart, " his servants take plea- 
 
VI RECOMMExVDATION. 
 
 sure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof." Mr. 
 Winslow has publishi.'d sovc-ral volumes, all of a similar 
 character, highly evangelical, and practical. Two of 
 these have been republished here, viz., " The Inquirer 
 direcled lo an Experimental and Practical View of the 
 Atonement,^'' and " The Inquirer directed lo an Experi- 
 mental and rraciical View of the Work of the Holy Spirit." 
 Very few modern writers remind me more of the marrow 
 of sound doctrine and rich experience in the old Puritan 
 Divines, than the author of this volume. Mr. Winslow 
 has for a number of years pa.st been settled as a Pastor 
 of the Bapti.st Church at Leamington, Warwickshire, 
 England. He was a member of the Evangelical Alli- 
 ance formed at London in August, where I learned to 
 esteem him in the brief intercourse I had with him, and 
 the spirit which I saw him uniformly manifest, and where 
 I found the general estimation in which he was held by 
 the whole Christian comujunity. I trust this volume will 
 gain a wide circulation in our Christian Churches, and 
 be owned by the great and blessed Head of the Church 
 in rendering it extensively instrumental in reviving per- 
 sonal religion in the souls of his children ; and so gradu- 
 ally, largeh^, and widely reviving the Work of the Spirit 
 in all the Churches. 
 
 THOMAS DE WITT. 
 
 New York, January 1, 1847. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 That the subject on which this humble volume treats is vastly sol- 
 emn and deeply searching, every true believer in Jesus must ac- 
 knowledge. The existing necessity for such a work has long im- 
 pressed itself upon the Author's mind. While other and abler 
 writers are employing their pens, either in defending the out-posts 
 of Christianity, or in arousing a slumbering church to an increased 
 intensity of personal and combined action in the great work of Chris- 
 tian benevolence, he has felt that if he migiit but be instrumental, in 
 ever so humble a way, of occasionally withdrawing the eye of the 
 believer from the dazzling and almost bewildering movements around 
 him, and fixing it upon the state of his own personal religion, he 
 would be rendering the Christian church a service, not the less 
 needed and important in her present elevated and excited position. 
 
 It must be admitted, that the character and the tendencies of the 
 age are not favorable to deep and mature reflection upon the hidden, 
 spiritual life of the soul. Whirled along as the church of God is, in 
 her brilliant path of benevolent enterprise, — deeply engaged in con- 
 certing and in carrj^ing out new and far-reaching plans of aggression 
 upon the dominion of sin, — and compelled in one hand to hold the 
 spiritual sword in defence of the faith, which, with the other she is 
 up-building,— but few energies are left, and but little time is afforded, 
 for close, faithful, and frequent dealing with the personal and spirit- 
 ual state of grace in the soul; which, in consequence of thus being 
 overlooked and uncultivated, may full into a state of the deepest and 
 most painful declension. "They made me keeper of the vineyards ; 
 but mine own vineyard have I not kept." 
 
Vm PREFACE. 
 
 It is, then, the humble design of the writer in the present work, 
 for awhile to withdraw the niind from the consideration of the mere 
 externals of Christianity, and to aid the believer in answering the 
 solemn and searching inquiry, — " What is the present spiritual state 
 of my soul before God 1" In the following pages he is exhorted to 
 forget the Christian profession he sustains, the party badge he wears, 
 and the distinctive name by which he is known among men, — to 
 turn aside for a brief hour from all religious duties, engagements, and 
 excitement, and to look this question fully and fairly in the face. 
 
 With human wisdom and eloquence the Author has not seen fit 
 to load and adorn his work: the subject presented itself to his mind 
 in too solemn and awful an aspect for this. The ground he tra- 
 versed he felt to be so holy, that he had need to put off the shoes from 
 his feet, and to lay aside everything that was not in strict harmony 
 with the spiritual character of his theme. That the traces of human 
 imperfection may be found on every page, no one can be more con- 
 scious than the Author, — no one more deeply humbled. Indeed, so 
 affecting to his own mind has been the conviction of the feeble man- 
 ner in which the subject is treated, that but for a deep sense of its 
 vast importance, and the demand that exists for its discussion in 
 almost any shape, he would more than once have withdrawn his 
 book from the press. May the Spirit of God accompany its perusal 
 with power and unction, and to Him, as unto the Father and the 
 Son shall be ascribed the glory ! 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 " The backslider iu heart." — Prov. xiy. 14 
 
 If there is one consideration more humbling than 
 another to a spiritiially-ininded beHever, it is, that, 
 after all God has done for him, — after all the rich 
 displays of his grace, the patience and tenderness 
 of his instructions, the repeated discipline of his 
 covenant, the tokens of love received, and the lessons 
 of experience learned, there should still exist in the 
 heart a principle, the tendency of which is to secret, 
 perpetual, and alarming departure from God ! Truly, 
 there is in this solemn fact, that which might well 
 lead to the deepest self-abasement before Him. 
 
 If, in the present early stage of our inquiry into 
 this subject, we might be permitted to assign a cause 
 for the growing power, which this latent, subtle prin- 
 ciple is allowed to exert in the soul, we would refer 
 to the believer's constant forgetfulness of the truth, 
 that there is no essential element in divine grace that 
 can secure it from the deepest declension ; that, if 
 left to its self-sustaining energy, such are the hostile 
 influences by which it is surrounded, such the severe 
 assaults to which it is exposed, and such the feeble 
 resistance it is capable of exerting, there is not a 
 moment — splendid though its former victories may 
 
10 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 have been — in which the incipient and secret pro- 
 gress of declension may not have commenced and 
 be going forward in the soul ! There is a proneness 
 in us to deify the graces of the Spirit. We often 
 think of faith and love, and their kindred graces, as 
 though they were essentially omnipotent ; forgetting 
 that though they undoubtedly are divine in their ori- 
 gin, spiritual in their nature, and sanctifying in their 
 effects, they yet are sustained by no self-supporting 
 power, but by constant communications of life and 
 nourishment from Jesus ; that, the moment of their 
 being left to their inherent strength, is the moment 
 of their certain declension and decay. 
 
 We must here, however, guard a precious and im- 
 portant truth ; viz., the indestructible nature of true 
 grace. Divine grace in the soul can never really 
 die ; true faith can never utterly and finally fail. 
 We are speaking now but of their decay. A flower 
 may droop, and yet live ; a plant may be sickly, and 
 yet not die. In the lowest stage of spiritual declen- 
 sion, in the feeblest state of grace, there is a life that 
 never dies. In the midst of all his startlings aside, 
 the ebb and the flow, the wandering and the restor- 
 ing, the believer in Jesus is " kept by the power of 
 God through faith unto salvation." He cannot 
 utterly fall ; he cannot finally be lost. The immu- 
 tability of God keeps him, — the covenant of grace 
 keeps him, — the finished work of Jesus keeps him, 
 — the indweUing of the Spirit keeps him, and keeps 
 him to eternal glory. We say, then, true grace is 
 indestructible grace ; it can never die. But it may 
 decay ; and to the consideration of this solemn and 
 
i.\cii'ir;\T Drxi.ENSiox. 11 
 
 iniporlant h^ubject, the reader's serious attention is 
 now invited. We propose to exhibit the subject of 
 Persotiul Declension of Kelii^ion in tlic Soul in some 
 of its varied and prominent forms and phases, ami to 
 direct to those means which God has ordained and 
 blessed to its restoration and revival. 
 
 Holieving", as we do. that no child of God ever re- 
 cedes into a slate of inward declension and outward 
 backsliding, but by slow and gradual steps; and be- 
 lieving, too, that a process of spiritual decay may be 
 going forward within the secret recesses of the soul, 
 and not a suspicion or a fear l^e awakened in the 
 mind of the believer ; we feel it of the deepest mo- 
 ment that this state should first be brought to view 
 in its incipient and concealed form. May the Lord 
 the Spirit fill the writer and the reader's mind with 
 light, the heart with lowliness, and raise and fix the 
 eye of faith simply and solely upon Jesus, as we pro- 
 ceed in the unfolding of a theme so purely spiritual 
 and so deeply heart-searching ! 
 
 We commence with a brief exposition of a doc- 
 trine which must be regarded as forming the ground- 
 work of our subject; viz., thk life of Goo in 
 THK SOUL OF MAN. Tlic believer in Jesus is a par- 
 taker of the divine nature. 2 Pet. i. 4. He is "born 
 of the Spirit ;" Christ dwelleth in him by faith ; and 
 this constitutes his new and spiritual life. A single 
 but emphatic expression of the apostle's, unfolds the 
 doctrine and confirms the fact, " Christ in you." 
 Col. i. 27. It is not so much that the believe?' lives, 
 as that Christ lives in him. Thus the apostle ex- 
 presses it : "I am crucified with Christ: neverthe- 
 
12 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 less [ live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Do 
 we look at the history of Paul as illustrative of the 
 doctrine ? Behold the grand secret of his extraor- 
 dinary life. He lived unreservedly /or Christ ; and 
 the spring of it was, Christ hved spiritually in him. 
 This it was that rendered him so profound in wis- 
 dom, rich in knowledge, bold in preacliing, undaunted 
 in zeal, unwearied in toil, patient in suffering, and 
 successful in labor ; — Christ hved in him. And this 
 forms the high and holy life of every child of God ; — 
 " Christ who is our life." To him, as the covenant 
 head and mediator of his people, it was given to 
 have life in himself, that he might give eternal life 
 to as many as the Father had given him. Christ 
 possesses this life, (John v. 26 ;) Christ communi- 
 cates it. (John V. 25 ;) Christ sustains it, (John vi. 
 57 ;) and Christ crowns it with eternal glory, (John 
 xvii. 24.) 
 
 A peculiar characteristic of the hfe of God in the 
 soul, is, that it is concealed. " Your life is hid with 
 Christ in God." It is a hidden life. Its nature, its 
 source, its actings, its supports, are veiled from the ob- 
 servation of men. " The world knowelh us not." 
 It knew not Jesus when he dwelt in the flesh, else it 
 would not have crucified the Lord of life and glory. 
 Is it any wonder that it knows him not, dwelling, 
 still deeper veiled, in the hearts of his members ? 
 It crucified Christ in his own person, it has crucified 
 him in the persons of his saints, and, if power were 
 given, would so crucify him yet again. And yet 
 there is that in the divine life of the believer, which 
 awakens the wonderment of a Christ-rejecting world. 
 
INClPrKNT UKCLKNSION. 13 
 
 That the behever should be unknown, and yet well 
 known ; should die, and yet live ; should be chast- 
 ened, and yet not killed ; sorrowful, yet always re- 
 joicing ; poor, yet making many rich ; having 
 notiiing, and yet possessing all things, is indeed an 
 enigma — a paradox to a carnal mind. Yea, there 
 are moments wlien tlie believer is a mystery to hiiJi- 
 self. How the divine life in his soul is sustained in 
 the midst of so much that enfeebles, kept alive sur- 
 rounded by so much that deadens, the gjimmcring 
 spark not extinguished, though obscured, amid the 
 billows; to droj) all figure, — how the soul advances 
 when most opposed, soars when most burdened, re- 
 joices when most afflicted, and sings the sweetest and 
 the loudest, when the cross presses the heaviest, and 
 the ihorn pierces the deepest, may well cause him to 
 exclaim, '• 1 am a wonder to others, but a greater 
 wonder to myself!" But, if the nature and the sup- 
 ports of the divine life in the soul are hid, not so are 
 its effects, and these prove its existence and reality. 
 The world has its keen, detecting eye upon the be- 
 liever. It marks well his every step, it ponders nar- 
 rowly his every going, it investigates and analyses 
 closely his secret motives. No flaw, no deviation, no 
 compromise, escapes its notice or its censure : it ex- 
 pects, and it has a right to expect, perfect harmony of 
 principle and practice ; it rebukes, and it has a right 
 to rebuke, any marked discrepancy between the two. 
 We say, then, that the effects of the life of God in 
 the soul of the believer are o!)served by an ungodly 
 world. There is that in the honest upright walk of 
 a child of God, which arrests the attention and 
 2 
 
14 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 awakens the surprise of men, who, while they hate 
 and tlespise, cannot but admire and marvel at it. 
 
 Yet another characteristic of the divine life in the 
 soul, is its security. ' Your life is liid with Christ 
 in GodJ There, nothing can touch it : no power 
 can destroy it. It is ' hid with Christ.' the beloved 
 Son of the Father, the delight, the glory, the richest 
 and most precious treasure of Jehovah : still more, — 
 it is ' hid with Christ in God.^ in the hand, in the 
 heart, in the all sufficiency, yea, in the eternity of 
 God. Oh the perfect security of the spiritual life of 
 the^believer ! No power on earth or in hell can move 
 it. It may be stormed by Satan, assaulted by cor- 
 ruption, scorned by men. and even in the moment of 
 unbelief and in the hour of deep trial its existence 
 doubted by the believer himself; yet, there it is, deep 
 lodged in the eternity of God, bound up in the heart 
 and with the existence of Jehovah, and no foe can 
 destroy it. " As soon," says Charnock, " might Satan 
 pull God out of heaven, undermine the security of 
 Clirist. and tear him from the bosom of the Father, 
 as deprive the believer of his spiritual life, or destroy 
 that principle of grace which God has implanted in 
 him." But a greater than Charnock has declared, 
 '• I give unto them eternal life ; and they shall never 
 perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my 
 hand." John x. 28. Let the sheep and the lambs 
 of the 'little flock' rejoice that the Shepherd lives, 
 and that because he lives they shall live also. But 
 we .now pass to the consideration of the declension 
 of this life in the soul. 
 
 By a state of incipient declension^ we mean that 
 
INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 15 
 
 decay of spiritual life and grace in the believer which 
 marks its earliest and more concealed stage. It is 
 latent and hidden, and therefore the least suspected 
 and the more dangerous. The painful process of 
 spiritual disease may be advanced in the soul so se- 
 cretly, so silently, and so unobservedl}-, that the sub- 
 ject of it may have lost much groimd, may have 
 parted with many graces and much vigor, and may 
 have been beguiled into an alarming state of spirit- 
 ual barrenness and decay, before even a suspicion of 
 his real condition has been awakened in his breast. 
 Like Samson, he may awaken out of his sleep, and 
 say, " 1 will go out as at other times before, and 
 shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was 
 departed from him." Judges xvi. 20. Or he may 
 resemble Ephraim. of whom it is recorded, ''Strang- 
 ers have devoured his strength, and he knowetli it 
 not ; yea, grey hairs are here and there upon him, 
 yet he knoweth it not." Hos. vii. 9. This is the 
 state of the soul we are now to examine, — a state 
 that has to do, not with the outward observation of 
 men, but more especially and immediately with a 
 holy and heart-searching God. In looking into the 
 state of a backslider in heart, we may, in the first 
 place, show what an incipient state of declension does 
 not necessarily involve. 
 
 And first ; it does not involve any alteration in 
 the essential character of divine grace, but is a secret 
 decay of the health, vigor, and exercise of that grace 
 in the soul. As in the animal frame, the heart loses 
 nothing of its natural function, when, through dis- 
 ease, it sends but a faint and languid pulsation 
 
16 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 through the system ; so in the spiritual constitution 
 of the behever, divine grace may be sickly, feeble, 
 and inoperative, and yet retain its character and its 
 properties. The pulse may beat faintly, but still it 
 beats; the seed may not be fruitful, but it 'liveth 
 and abideth for ever ;' the divine nature may be lan- 
 guid, but it can never assimilate or coalesce with any 
 other, and must always retain its divinity untainted 
 and unchanged. And yet, without changing its na- 
 ture, divine grace may decline to an alarming extent 
 in its power and exercise. It may be sickly, droop- 
 ing, and ready to die ; it may become so enfeebled 
 through its decay, as to present an ineffectual resist- 
 ance to the inroads of strong corruption ; so low, 
 that the enemy may ride rough-shod over it at his 
 will ; so inoperative and yielding, that sloth, world- 
 liness, pride, carnality, and other kindred vices, may 
 obtain an easy and unresisted conquest. 
 
 This decay of grace may be advancing, too, with- 
 out any marked decline in the spiritual perception of 
 the judgment, as to the beauty and fitness of spiritual 
 truth. The loss of spiritual enjoyment, not of a 
 spiritual perception, of the loveliness and harmony 
 of the truth, shall be the symptom that betrays the 
 true condition of the soul. The judgment shall lose 
 none of its light, but the heart much of its fervor ; 
 the truths of revelation, especially the doctrines of 
 grace, shall occupy the same prominent position a& to 
 their value and beauty, and yet the influence of 
 these truths may be scarcely felt. The Word of 
 God shall be assented to ; but as the instrument of 
 sanctification, of abasement, of nourishment, the be- 
 
INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 17 
 
 bever may be an abnost utter stranger to it ; yea, he 
 must necesisarily be so, while this process of secret 
 declension is going forward in his soul. 
 
 This incipient state of declension may not involve 
 any lowering of the standard of holiness ; and yet 
 there shall be no ascending of the heart, no reaching 
 forth of the mind towards a practical conformity to 
 that standard. The judgment shall acknowledge 
 tbe divine law, as embodied in the life of Christ, to 
 be the rule of the believer's walk ; and yet to so low 
 and feeble a state may vital godliness have declined 
 in the soul, there shall be no panting after conformity 
 to Christ, no breathing after holiness, no ' resistance 
 unto blood, striving against sin.' Oh, it is an alarm- 
 ing condition for a Christian man, when the heart 
 contradicts the judgment, and the Hfe l)elies the pro- 
 fession ! — when there is more knowledge of the truth 
 than experience of its power, — more light in the 
 understanding than grace in the affections, — more 
 pretension in the profession than holiness and spiritu- 
 ality in the walk ! And yet to this sad and melan- 
 choly state it is possible for a Christian professor to 
 be reduced. How should it lead the man of empty 
 notions, of mere creeds, of lofty pretension, of cold 
 and lifeless orthodoxy, to pause, search his heart, ex- 
 amine his conscience, and ascertain the true state of 
 his soul before God ! 
 
 Once more : This state of secret departure from 
 God may exist in connexion with an outward and 
 rigid observance of the means of grace ; and yet 
 there shall be no spiritual use of, or enjoyment in. 
 the means. And this, it may be, is the great lullaby 
 
18 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 of his soul. Rocked to sleep by a mere formal reli- 
 gion, the believer is beguiled into the delusion that 
 his heart is right, and his soul prosperous in the sight 
 of God. Even more than this, — a declining believer 
 may have sunk so deeply into a slate of formality, 
 as to substitute the outward and the public means of 
 grace for a close and secret walk with God. He 
 may have taken up his abode in the outer courts of 
 the temple ; he may dwell in the mere porch of the 
 sanctuary. Frequent or even occasional retirement 
 consecrated to meditation, self-examination, the read- 
 ing of God's word, and secret prayer, may yield to an 
 outward, bustling form of godliness. Public and 
 committee meetings — religious societies — business 
 and professional engagements — Avearing a religious 
 aspect, and even injportant in their subordinate 
 places, may thrust out God from the soul, and ex- 
 clude Christ from the heart. And tliat a believer 
 should be satisfied to 'live at tliis poor dying rate,' 
 content to dwell amid the din and the bustle of the 
 outworks, is one of the most palpable and alarming 
 symptoms of the decline of the life of God in his 
 sou!. But let us group some of the more positive 
 marks of an incipient and hidden state of spiritual 
 declension. 
 
 When a professing man can proceed with his ac- 
 customed religious duties, strictly, regularly, formally, 
 and yet experience no enjoyment of God in them, no 
 fdial nearness, no brokenness and tenderness, and no 
 consciousness of sweet return, he may suspect that 
 his soul is in a state of secret and incipient back- 
 sliding from God. Satisfying and feeding his soul 
 
INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 19 
 
 — if feeding it may be called — with a lifeless form ; 
 what sdoDger symjilom needs he of his real state? 
 A healthy, growing state of religion in the soul de- 
 mands more for its nourishment and support than 
 this. A believer |)anting for (jiod, hungering and 
 thirsting after righteousness, grace thriving, the 
 heart deeply engaged in spiritual duties, lively, 
 prayerful, humble, and tender, ascending in its 
 frame and desires, — a state marked by these fea- 
 tures, cannot be tied down to a lifeless, spiritless 
 form of religious duties. These were but husks to 
 a healthy state of the life of God in the soul. It 
 wants more. It will hunger and thirst, and this 
 spiritual longing must be met. And nothing can 
 satisfy and satiate it but living upon Christ, the bread 
 and the water of life. " I am the bread of life." 
 " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and 
 drink." '• ^ly flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is 
 drink indeed." The professing man that goes all his 
 days without ihis nourishment, thus starving his 
 soul, may well exclaim, '•' ]My leanness, my lean- 
 ness !" Oh, how solemn to such are the words of 
 our Lord, " Verily, verily, I say unto you. Except ye 
 eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, 
 ye have no life in you." John vi. 53. 
 
 Again : AV'hen a professing man can read his Bible 
 with no spiritual taste, or when he searches it, not 
 with a sincere desire to know the mind of the Spirit 
 in order to a holy and obedient walk, but with a 
 merely curious, or literary taste and aim, it is a sure 
 evidence that his soul is making but a retrograde 
 movement in real spirituality. Nothing perhaps 
 
20 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 more strongly indicates the tone of a believer's 
 spirituality, than the light in which the Scriptures 
 aie regarded by him. They may be read, and yet 
 be read as any other book, without the deep and 
 solemn conviction, that " all scripture is given by in- 
 spiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for re- 
 proof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness ; 
 that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly fur- 
 nished unto all good works." 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. 
 They may be read without a spiritual relish, without 
 being turned into prayer, without treasuring up in 
 the heart and reducing to daily practice its holy pre- 
 cepts, its precious promises, its sweet consolations, its 
 faithful warnings, its affectionate admonitions, its 
 tender rebukes. And thus read, how can a believer 
 expect to derive that ' profit' from the Scriptures 
 which they were intended, and are so calculated lo 
 convey '/ 
 
 When a professing Christian can pray^ and yet 
 acknowledge that he has no nearness to the throne, 
 no touching of the sceptre, no fellowship with God, — 
 calls him " Father," without the sense of adoption, — 
 confesses sin in a general way, without any looking 
 up to God through the cross, — has no consciousness 
 of possessing the ear and the heart of God, the evi- 
 dence is undoubted of a declining state of religion in 
 the soul. And when too, he can find no sweetness 
 in a spirittml ministry. — when he is restless and 
 dissatisfied under a searching and practical unfolding 
 of truth, — when the doctrines are preferred to the 
 precepts, the promises to the commands, the conso- 
 
i\cxrij:.\i' ui:ci.E\sioN. 21 
 
 lations to the admonitions of the gospel, incipient de- 
 clension i-< marked. 
 
 When the believer has but few dealings u'ith 
 Christ, — his blood but seldom travelled to, — his ful- 
 ness but little lived upon. — his love and glory scarcely 
 mentioned, the symptom of declension in the soul is 
 palpable. Perhaps nothing forms a more certain 
 criterion of the state of the soul than this. Wc 
 Avould be willing to test a man's religion, both as to 
 its nature and its growth, by his reply to the ques- 
 tion, '• What think ye of Christ 7"' Does his blood 
 daily moisten the root of thy profession? Is his 
 righteousness that which exalts thee out of and above 
 thyself, and daily gives thee free and near access to 
 God ? Is the sweetness of his love much in thy 
 heart, and the fragrance of his name much on thy 
 lips? Are ihy corruptions daily carried to his grace. 
 thy guilt to his blood, thy trials to his heart? In a 
 word, is Jesus the substance of thy life, the source 
 of thy sanctification, the spring-head of thy joys, the 
 theme of thy song, the one glorious object on which 
 thine eye is ever resting, the mark towards which 
 thou art ever pressing ? Be not ofiended, reader, if 
 we remark, (hat a professing man may talk well of 
 Christ, and may do homage to his name, and build 
 up his cause, and promote his kingdom, and yet rest 
 short of having Christ in his heart, the hope of 
 glory. It is not the talking about religion, or min- 
 isters, or churches, nor an outward zeal for their 
 prosperity, that either constitutes or indicates a truly 
 spiritual man. And yet how much of this in our 
 day passes current for the hfe of God in the soul ! 
 
22 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 O that among God's dear saints there were less talk- 
 ing of ministers, and more of Jesus ; less of sermons, 
 and more of the power of the truth in their souls ; 
 less of " 1 am of Paul,"' and '• I of Apollos," and 
 more of " I am of Christ." 
 
 A}i iincharitahle walk towards other Christians^ 
 marks a low state of grace in the soul. The more 
 entirely the heart is occupied with the love of Christ, 
 there will be less room for uncharitableness towards 
 his saints. It is because there is so little love to Je- 
 sus, that there is so little towards his followers. In 
 proportion as the mind becomes spiritual, it rises 
 above party distinctions and names, — it resigns its 
 narrow and exclusive views, casts away its preju- 
 dices against other sections of the one church, and 
 embraces in the yearnings of its Christian sympathy 
 all who " love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." 
 In advocating a wider platform of Christian love, 
 ■we would by no means " sell the truth," or com- 
 promise principles, or immolate conscience upon the 
 altar of an infidel liberalism. But that for which 
 we plead, is, more of that Christian love, tender- 
 heartedness, kindness, charity which allows the right 
 of private judgment, respects a conscientious main- 
 tenance of truth, and concedes to others the same 
 privilege it claims for itself. Differing as many of 
 the saints of God necessarily do in judgment, does 
 the same necessity exist wherefore they shall be 
 alienated in affection ? We think, far from it. There 
 is common grouiid on which all Christians who hold 
 the Head can stand. There are truths which can 
 assimilate all our minds, and blend all our hearts. 
 
INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 23 
 
 Why then should we stand aloof from the one body 
 and exclaim, " The temple of the Lord, the temple 
 of the Lord are weV Why should \vc refuse to re- 
 cognise the Father's image in the children's face, 
 and treat them as aliens in person, in spirit, and in 
 language, because they see not eye to eye with us, 
 in all our interpretations of God's word? Why 
 should not " all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and 
 clamor, and evil speaking, be put away, with all 
 malice ?' and why sliould we not be "kind one to 
 another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even 
 as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us," seeing 
 that the church is but one, the family but one, that 
 true believers are all " one in Christ Jesus ?" This 
 will be so where there is a deepening spirituality. 
 And its absence marks a decay of grace, a waning 
 of the life of f Jod in the soul. 
 
 We have thus endeavored to bring to view some 
 of the prominent characteristics of a state of incipi- 
 ent declension of the life of God in the believer. It 
 will be seen that we have referred to those only 
 which mark the hidden departure of the heart from 
 God ; — that state that is so concealed, so veiled from 
 the eye, and wearing so fair an exterior, that all sus- 
 picion of its existence is lulled to rest, and the soul 
 is soothed with the delusion that all is well with it. 
 Dear reader, is this thi/ state ? Has this book thus 
 far detected in thee any secret declension, any con- 
 cealed departure, any heart backsliding? Has it 
 proved to thee — the Spirit of God speaking by it — 
 that thy soul is in an unhealth}- state, that the Di- 
 vine life within thee is drooping? Turn not from 
 
24 INCIPIENT DKULENSIOX. 
 
 the discovery, painful though it be. Look at it fully, 
 honestly. It is no step towards the recovery of a 
 sickly state, to disguise the worst symptoms of that 
 state from tlie eye. The mark of true wisdom and 
 bkill is, (o ascertain tiie worst of the disease, to probe 
 the depth of the wound. And although such a 
 course may be painful to the patient, it is essential 
 to his thorough recovery. Beloved reader, it is im- 
 portant that thou shouldst know the exact state of 
 thy soul before God. And if thou art sincere in that 
 petition which has often breathed from thy lip, 
 " Search me, O God, and know my heart ; try me, 
 and know 1113' thoughts ; and see if there be any 
 wicked way in me ;" thou wilt thank him for any 
 gentle and faithful admonition that sets thee upon 
 the great work of self-examination. " It is fit," says 
 Dr. Owen, " that professors of all sorts should be re- 
 minded of these things; for we may see not a few 
 of them under visible decays, without any sincere 
 endeavors after a recovery, who yet please themselves 
 that the root of the matter is in them. It is so, if 
 love of the world, conformity unto it, neghgence in 
 holy duties, and coldness in spiritual love, be an evi- 
 dence of such decays. But let none deceive their 
 own souls ; wherever there is a saving principle of 
 grace, it will be thriving and growing unto the end. 
 And if it fall under obstructions, and thereby into 
 decays for a season, it will give no rest or quietness 
 unto the soul wherein it is, but it will labor contin- 
 ually for a recovery. Peace in a spiritually-decay- 
 ing condition, is a soul-ruining security ; better be 
 under terror on the account of surprisal into some 
 
INCiriKNT DECLENSION. 25 
 
 sin, than be in peace under evident decays of spirit- 
 ual life." 
 
 Some of the marked characteristics of the state 
 of heart declension which we have been consider- 
 ing, are so strikingly set forth in the case of the 
 church, as described by the Holy Ghost in the fifth 
 chapter of the Song of Solomon, that we would di- 
 rect the serious attention of the reader to it in con- 
 nexion with this part of our work. 
 
 In the 2nd verse, the church acknoicledges her 
 drowsy, yet not entirely insensible, condition : " I 
 sleep, but my heart waketh." Here was the exist- 
 ence of the Divine life in the soul, and yet that life 
 was on the decline. She knew that she had fallen 
 into a careless and slumbering state, that the work 
 of grace in her soul was decaying, that the spirit of 
 slumber had come over her ; but the awful feature 
 was, she was content to be so. She heard her Be- 
 loved knock ; but so enamored was she with her 
 state of drowsiness, she gave no heed to it — she 
 opened not to him. " I sleep, but my heart waketh : 
 it is the voice of my Beloved that knocketh, saying, 
 Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my unde- 
 filed ; for my head is filled with dew, and my locks 
 with the drops of the night." Thus addressed, her 
 duty would have been instantly to have aroused her- 
 self from her sleep, and admitted her Lord. A be- 
 liever may fall into a drowsy state of soul, not so 
 profound as to be entirely lost to the voice of his 
 Beloved speaking by conscience, by the word, and 
 by providences : and yet so far may his grace have 
 decayed, so cold may his love have grown, and so 
 3 
 
26 INCIPIENT di;cll:n.sion. 
 
 hardening may have been \m declension, he shall 
 be content that this shoiikl be his state. O, alarm- 
 ing symptom of soul declension, when the indul- 
 gence of sloth and self is preferred to a visit from 
 Jesus ! 
 
 Then observe that, n-heii she did arise, Chrisi 
 had withdrawn hitnself. " I opened to ray Beloved, 
 but my Beloved had withdrawn himself, and was 
 gone : my soul failed when he spake ; I souglit him, 
 but I could not find him ; I called him, but he gave 
 me no answer." ver. 6. Weary with waiting so 
 long, grieved at the discovery he made of her deep 
 declension, and wounded by her cold repulse, he 
 withdrew his sensible, loving presence, and left her 
 to the consequences of her sad departure. The Lord 
 never withdraws himself from his people willingly : 
 he is never actuated by an arbitrary impulse of his 
 will. Such is his delight in his people, such hi.s love 
 towards them, and such the joy he derives from 
 iheir fellowship, that he would walk with them all 
 the day long, and sun them with the unclouded 
 light of his countenance. But when he hides him- 
 self for a little moment, he is driven from their em- 
 brace by their lukewarmness of heart, and unkind 
 resistance of his love. Possessing a tender heart 
 himself, the slightest indiflference discoverable in his 
 child wounds it : an ocean of love himself, the least 
 lukewarmness in the love of his people causes him 
 to withdraw. And yet this momentary withdraw- 
 meiit is not a judicial, but a fatherly, loving correc- 
 tion, to bring them to a knowledge and confession 
 of their state: "I will go and return to my place 
 
INCiriENT DECLENSION. 27 
 
 till they acknowledge llieir ollciice, and seek my 
 face , in their alliiction they will seek nie early." 
 Hos. V. 15. 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that she receded into this 
 state of dedennion itnmediateli/ after a peculiar 
 manifestation of Christ's love to her soid. We 
 find her thus inviting her Beloved : " Awake, O 
 north wind, and come, thou south ; blow upon my 
 garden, tliat the s[)ices may How out. Let my Be- 
 loved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant 
 fruits."' He graciously accepts the invitation : " I 
 am come mto my garden, my sister, my spouse. I 
 have gathered my myrrh with my spice ; I have 
 eaten my honcj'^comb with my honey ; I have drunk 
 my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends ; drink, 
 yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." Thus was her 
 declension preceded by near and peculiar commun- 
 ion with her Lord. And how many of the Lord's 
 people can testify to the same solemn truth, that 
 some of tlieir saddest departures have inmiediately 
 followed seasons of the most endeared and holy fel- 
 lowship with their God and Father ! It is after such 
 periods (hat the believer is most exposed to a spirit 
 of self-complacency. Without great vigilance over 
 the heart, self takes the glory and the praise of the 
 gracious visit of love Jesus has made to the soul, 
 and looks within for some secret cause of the mercy. 
 When the Lord imparts a blessing, we need especial 
 grace to keep us from falling through that very 
 blessing. The case of the disciples affords a mem- 
 orable illustration of this thought. The occasion on 
 which the circumstance transpired to which we are 
 
28 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 about to refer, was a most solemn and affecting 
 one : it was the scene that immediately preceded 
 the crucifixion of Jesus. Luke thus records it: 
 " And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, 
 and gave unto them, saying, This is my body 
 w^hich is given for you : this do in remembrance of 
 me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying. 
 This cup is the new testament in my blood, which 
 is shed for you." xxii. 19, 20. What moment 
 could have been more holy than this? what oc- 
 casion more solemn and sacred ? Here were the 
 disciples holding fellowship wilh their adorable Im- 
 manuel in the awful mystery of his sufferings ! 
 But immediately after the close of this hallowed 
 service, what do we read ? — " There was also a 
 strife among them, which should be accounted the 
 greatest." verse 24. Here were the worst exhibitions 
 of fallen nature, — passion, hatred, envy, rankling in 
 the heart, at a moment when the elements of their 
 Saviour's dying love were yet upon their lips ! Oh ! 
 what does this instructive lesson teach us ! — trust 
 not in frames and feelings, pray without ceasing, 
 and particularly " watch unto prayer" immediately 
 after seasons of peculiar nearness to God, or especial 
 mercies received at his hands. •' Special spiritual 
 enjoyments," wisely remarks Traill, " are dangerous, 
 and render a man very needy of the helping grace 
 of God. They expose to special temptations, are 
 apt to give rise to special corruptions, such as spirit- 
 ual pride, contentedness with a present good con- 
 dition, dullness of desire after a better state. If the 
 liOrd grant singular communications of himself, 
 
INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 29 
 
 know that it is a season of special need of grace to 
 guiile them well. They would return more fre- 
 quently, and would spring higher and last longer 
 if they were l)etter improved. The greater the 
 blessing be, the greater the sin of its abuse ; the 
 greater the blessing be, the greater is the dilficulty 
 of guiding it well ; and the more dilficult the work, 
 the greater our need of the grace of God ; and the 
 more frequent and fervent should our supplications 
 be to the throne of grace for that needful, helpful 
 grace." 
 
 Yet once more : Mark the liardening tendency of 
 repeated declension in her case. In chap. iii. 1, she 
 manifests some desire for Christ, though her posture 
 indicated a slothful spirit : " Bj- night on my bed I 
 sought him whom ni}' soul loveth." Immediately 
 after, Christ knocks, but she had sunk so deep in 
 slumber that she arose not to admit him. Trace 
 the steps, and mark the deadening nature of soul 
 declension. She first places herself in the posture 
 of sloth, and soon is heard to say, " I sleep.'' Why 
 is it that so many who appear to be seeking Christ, 
 rest short of him ? It is not difficult in most cases 
 to ascertain the true cause. It is this — they seek 
 him in a slumbering posture — on their beds. Their 
 desires are so languid, their frame of spirit so dead, 
 their hearts so cold, that their very manner of seek- 
 ing him seems to give an air of insincerity to their 
 desires, and would seem to plead for a denial of 
 their requests. Ponder again her confession : — Oh, 
 is it not the confession of many? — '• By night on 
 my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth : I 
 3* 
 
30 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 sought him hiit I found hir/i notP And the 
 reason why she found him not, was, her slothful 
 posture, and her drowsy spirit in seeking him ! 
 Guard against a f^lothful seeking of Jesus. With 
 such a frame, disappointment will inevitably ensue. 
 But seek him with all your heart, with all your 
 desire, with the whole bent of your soul. Seek 
 him as thy chief, thine only good. Seek him as 
 that which can supply the absence of all other 
 good, without whom nothing is good. Seek him as 
 that blessing that can turn every bitter cup into 
 sweetness, every dark cloud into brightness, every 
 cross into a mercy ; that can bring bread out of the 
 eater, and hone}^ out of the rock. Oh what a por- 
 tion has that soul that has Jesus for its portion ! 
 " The Lord is my portion, saith'my soul, therefore 
 will I hope in him." But he must be sought with 
 all the vigor of the soul, with all the intensity of 
 desire, and with all perseverance of purpose, if he 
 would be found. And well is he worth this labor 
 of search. He is that pearl that will repay a diligent 
 seeking. He will plentifully reward every sincere, 
 humble comer. Not a want but he will supply, not 
 a wound but he will heal, not a sorrow but he will 
 soothe, not a sin but he will pardon, not a corrup- 
 tion but he will subdue. But seek him with full 
 purpose of soul, and he shall be found. " When thou 
 saidst, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy 
 face, Lord, loill 1 seek." Ps. xxvii. 8. " The soul of 
 the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing ; but the 
 soul of the diligent shall be made fat." Prov. xiii. 4. 
 There is yet one more remarkable feature in the 
 
INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 31 
 
 Stale of the church we have been considering, too 
 instruclive to pass by unnoticed ; — we aUude to the 
 persuasion she felt, tliat thoui^h the Divine Hfe in 
 her soul was at a low ebb, still Christ icas hers, 
 and she icas Christ^s. " 1 sleep, but my heart 
 walceth : it is (he voice of my Beloved that 
 l-fioc/celh.^' In the worst frame that can aflect a 
 true child of (iod, (here is always some indication 
 that the Divine life in the soul is not quite ex- 
 tinjTuished. In its greatest decay, there is yet some 
 symptom of life. In the darkest hour, there is that 
 in (he nature of true grace, which emits some scin- 
 tillation of its essential glory; in its greatest defeat, 
 that which asserts its divinity. Just as a king, 
 though deposed from his throne and driven into 
 exile, can never entirely divest himself of the dignity 
 of his regal character ; so real grace, though often 
 severely tried, sharply assailed, and sometimes 
 momentarily defeated, can never sink its character, 
 nor relinquish its sovereignty. Mark the proof of 
 this in the case of the apostle Paul: " Now then 
 it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in 
 me. For the good that I would, I do not : but the 
 evil which I would not, (hat I do. Now if I do that 
 I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that 
 dwelleth in me." Rom. vii. 17, 19, 20. And so the 
 church expresses it, '• I sleep, but my lieart waketh." 
 In her most drowsy, slothful state, she could not 
 forget that she was still her Belov-ed's, and that her 
 Beloved was hers. Glorious nature, and blcssel 
 tiiumph of the life of God in the soul of man ! 
 We now come to the consideration of the revival 
 
32 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 of this Divine life in the soul of the believer. From 
 what has been already advanced, it will be perceived 
 that we arc far from considering this a hopeless state. 
 For a declining believer to settle down under the 
 conviction that such a state is irrecoverable ; that 
 because he has taken the first step in departure from 
 God, he must necessarily take the second, is to afford 
 the most alarming evidence of a state of soul de 
 clension. But so far from this, we state it distinctly 
 and emphatically, that whatever be the departure ol 
 a backsliding child of God, it is recoverable : not t, 
 step has he lost but may be retraced ; not a grace 
 has decayed but may be restored ; not a joy has fled 
 but may be won back. Alas for us, when the day 
 comes that shall close up every avenue to the return 
 of a backsliding soul ! that tells us that the Father 
 no longer welcomes home the prodigal ; that the 
 blood of Jesus no longer heals a wounded spirit ; 
 that the Holy Ghost no longer restores the lost joys 
 of God's salvation ! But we desire now to show, 
 that for every poor, self-condemned, heart-broken, re- 
 turning soul, there is a lingering affection in the 
 heart of the Father, a welcome in the blood of Jesus, 
 and a restorative power in the operation of the Spirit, 
 and therefore every encouragement to arise and 
 come to God. 
 
 The first direction which we would give in the 
 way of recovery is, acquaint yourself thoroughly 
 with the real state of your soul as before God. As 
 the first step in conversion was to know yourself to 
 be a lost, helpless, condemned sinner ; so now, in 
 your re-conversion to C4od, you must know the exact 
 
INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 33 
 
 state of your soul. Be honest with yourself; let 
 there be a thorough, faithful examination of your 
 spiritual condition ; let all disguise be removed, the 
 eye withdrawn from the opinion of men, and the 
 soul shut in with (jiod in a close scrutiny of its worst 
 state. Your minister, your church, your friend, may 
 know nothing of the secret state of your soul ; they 
 may not even suspect any hidden decline of grace, 
 any incipient backsliding of heart from God. To 
 their partial eye, the surface may be fair to look 
 upon ; to them your spiritual state may present the 
 aspect of prosperity and fruitfulness ; but the solemn 
 question is between God and your own soul. You 
 have to do with a God that judgeth not as man 
 judgeth — by the outward appearance only — but who 
 judgeth the heart. " I, the Lord, search the heart." 
 The "backslider in heart" may deceive himself, he 
 may deceive others, but God he cannot deceive. 
 Seek then to know the real condition of your soul. 
 Search and see what graces of the Spirit have de- 
 cUned, what fruits of the Spirit have decayed. My 
 reader, this is a solemn and a great work w'e have 
 set you upon, but it is necessary to your recovery. 
 We would bring you into the court of your own 
 bosom, to examine fairly and strictly the spiritual 
 slate of your soul. It is a solemn process ! The 
 icitncsses summoned to testify are many ; — con- 
 science is a witness, — how often it has been silenced ; 
 the word is a witness, — how sadly it has been neg- 
 lected ; the throne of grace is a witness, — how fre- 
 quently it has been slighted ; Christ is a witness, — 
 how much he has been undervalued ; the Holy 
 
34 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 Spirit is a witness, — how deeply he has been grieved ; 
 God is a witness, — how greatly he has been robbed. 
 All these testify against the soul of a backslider in 
 heart, and yet all plead for its return ! 
 
 The second step is, to discover and bring to light 
 the cause of the sotiVs declension. " Is there not a 
 cause ?" Search and see what has fallen as a blight 
 upon thy soul, what is feeding at the root of thy 
 Christianity. The apostle Paul, skilful to detect, 
 and faitliful to reprove, any declension in the faith 
 or laxity in the practice of the early churches, dis- 
 covered in that of Galatia a departure from the purity 
 of the truth, and a consequent carelessness in their 
 walk. Grieved at the discovery, he addresses to 
 them an affectionate and faithful epistle, expressive 
 of his astonishment and pain, and proposing a 
 solemn and searching inquiry. " I marvel," he 
 writes, " that ye are so soon removed from him that 
 called you into the grace of Christ. How, after that 
 ye have known God, or rather are known of God, 
 how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly ele- 
 ments ? I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed 
 upon you labor in vain. Where is the blessedness 
 ye spake of? I stand in doubt of you. Ye did run 
 well ; who did hinder you ? This persuasion cometh 
 not of him that calleth you." To the reader, con- 
 scious as he hangs over this page, of secret declen- 
 sion in his soul, we propose the same searching and 
 tender inquiry. Ye did run well ; who did hinder 
 you? — what stumbling-block has fallen in your 
 way? — what has impeded your onward course? — 
 what has enfeebled your faith, chilled your love, 
 
INCIPIENT DEi'LENSIOV. 35 
 
 drawn your heart from Jesius, and lured you back to 
 the weak and beggarly elements of a poor world ? 
 You set out fair ; for a time you ran well ; your 
 zeal, and love, and humility, gave promise of a use- 
 ful life, of a glorious race, and of a successfid com- 
 petition for the prize ; but something has hindered. 
 What is it? Is it ihe world, creature love, covetous- 
 ness, ambition, presumptuous sin, unmortified corrup- 
 tion, the old leaven «r)pinged ? iSearch it out. 
 Rest not until it be discovered. Your declension is 
 secret, perhaps the cause is secret, some spiritual 
 duty secretly neglected, or some known sin secretly 
 indulged. iSearch it out, and bring it to liglit. It 
 must be a cause adequate to the production of elTects 
 so serious. You are not as you once were. Your 
 soul has lost ground ; (he Divine life has declined ; 
 the fruit of the Spirit has withered ; the heart has 
 lost its softness, the conscience its tenderness, the 
 mind its lowliness, the throne of grace its sweetness, 
 the cross of Jesus its attraction. Oh, how sad and 
 melancholy the change that has passed over you ! 
 And have you not the consciousness of it in your 
 soul J Wliere is the blessedness ye spake of .' where 
 is the sunlight countenance of a reconciled Father ? 
 where are the rich moments spent before the cross? 
 the hallowed seasons of comnumion in the closet, 
 shut in with God ? where is the voice of the turtle- 
 dove, the singing of birds, the green pastures where 
 thou didst feed, the still waters on whose banks thou 
 didst repose? Is it all gone ? Is it winter with thy 
 soul? Ah ! yes ; thy soul is made to feel that it is 
 
^ 
 
 36 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 an evil and a bitter thing to depart from the living 
 God. But yet there is hope. 
 
 The nexi step in the work of personal revival, is, 
 to take the cause of the souls declension immediately 
 to the throne of grace^ and lay it before the l^ord. 
 There must be no parleying- with it, no compromise, 
 no concealment: there must be a full and unreserved 
 disclosure before God, without aught of palliation or 
 disguise. Let your sin be confessed in all its guilt, 
 aggravation, and consequences. This is just what 
 God loves — an open, ingenuous confession of sin. 
 >Searching and knowing, though he does, all hearts, 
 he yet delights in the honest and minute acknowledg- 
 ment of sin from his backsliding child. Language 
 cannot be too humiliating, the detail cannot be too 
 minute. Mark the stress he has laid upon this duty, 
 and the blessing he has annexed to it. Thus he 
 spake to the children of Israel, that wandering, back- 
 sliding, rebellious people: "If they shall confess 
 their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with 
 their trespass which they trespassed against me, and 
 that also they have walked contrary unto me ; and 
 that I also have walked contrary unto them, and 
 have brought them into the land of their enemies ; 
 if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and 
 they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity : 
 then will I remember my covenant with Jo cob, and 
 also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant 
 with Abraham will I remember ; and I will remem- 
 ber the land." Levit. xxvi. 40 — 42. Truly may 
 we exclaim. '• Who is a God like unto thee, that par- 
 doneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of 
 
IXCIPIEN'T DECLKNSION. 87 
 
 the remnant of his lierilage ! he retaineth not his 
 anger for ever, because he dehghteth in ineicy." 
 This, too, was the blessed experience of David, God's 
 dear yet often backshding child : " I acknowledge 
 my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. 
 I said I will ro///6w.v my transgressions unto the Lord 
 and \\\o\\ forgavest the inicjuity of my sin." Psahn 
 xxxii. 5. And how did the heart of God melt with 
 pity and compassion when he heard the audible re- 
 lentings of his Ephraiiii ! - I have surely heard Eph- 
 raini bemoaning himself thus: Thou hast chastised 
 me, and I was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to 
 the yoke : turn tliou mc and I shall be turned : for thou 
 art the Lord my God." And what was the answer 
 of God ? " Is Ephraim my dear son ? is he a pleasant 
 child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly 
 remember him still; therefore my bowels are troubled 
 for him : I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the 
 Lord." Jer xxxi. 18. 20. Nor is the promise of pardon 
 annexed to confession of sin, unfolded with less 
 clearness and consolatoriness in the New Testament 
 writings. " If we confess our sins, he is faithful 
 and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us 
 from all unrighteousness." 1 John i. 9. How full, 
 then, the blessing, how rich the consolation con- 
 nected with an honest heart-broken confession of 
 sin I How easy and how simple, too, this method 
 of return to God ! '• Only acknowledge thine 
 iniquity." Jer. iii. 13. It is but a confession of sin 
 over the head of Jesus, the great sacrifice for sin. 
 O, what is this that God says? " 0?«/j/ acknow- 
 ledge thine iniquity !" Is this all he requires of his 
 4 
 
38 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 poor wandering child ? This is all ! '' Then," may 
 the poor soul exclaim, " Lord, I come to thee. I 
 am a backslider, a wanderer, a prodigal. I have 
 stra)'ed from ihee like a lost sheep. My love has 
 waxed cold, my steps have slackened in the path of 
 holy obedience ; my mind has yielded to corrupting, 
 deadening influence of the world, and my afl'ections 
 have wandered in quest of other and earthly objects 
 of delight. But behold I come unto thee. Dost 
 thou invite me? Dost thou stretch out thy hand ? 
 Dost thou bid me approach thee? Dost thou say, 
 'Only acknowledge thine iniquity?' Then Lord, 
 
 1 come ; in the name of thy dear Son, I come ; 
 ' restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.'" Tims 
 confessing sin over the head of Jesus, until the 
 heart has nothing more to confess but the sin of its 
 confession,— for. beloved reader, our very confession 
 of sin needs to be confessed over, our very tears 
 need to be wept over, and our very prayers need to 
 be prayed over, so defaced with sin is all ihat we 
 do ; — the soul, thus emptied and unburthened, is 
 prepared to receive anew the seal of a Father's for- 
 giving love. 
 
 The true posture of a returning soul is beautifully 
 presented to view in the prophecy of Hosea, xiv. 1, 
 
 2 : " O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God ; for 
 thou hast fallen by thine ini([uity. Take with you 
 words, and turn to the Lord : say unto him. Take 
 away all iniquity, and receive us graciously : so will 
 we render thee the calves [sacrifices] of our lips." 
 Here are conviction, godly sorrow, humiliation, and 
 confession, the essential elements of a true return to 
 
INCIPIENT DECLENSION, 39 
 
 God. Conviction of the true state of the declining 
 soul ; godly sorrow resulting from the discovery ; 
 humiliation, deep and sincere, on account of it; and 
 a full and unreserved confession of it before God. O 
 blessed evidences ! O lovely posture of a restored 
 soul ! 
 
 Essentially connected with the discovery and the 
 confession, there must be the entire niortijicatioii 
 and abandonment of the cause of the souls secret 
 declension. Apart from this, there can be no true re- 
 vival of the work of Divine grace in the heart. The 
 true spiritual mortification of indwelling sin, and the 
 entire forsaking of the known cause, whatever it is 
 found to be, of the heart's declension, constitute the 
 true elements of a believer's restoration to the joys 
 of God's salvation. And when we speak of the 
 mortification of sin, let not the nature of this sacred 
 work be misunderstood, it has been in the case of 
 many, why may it not in yours? There may exist 
 all the surface-marks of mortification, and still the 
 heart remain a stranger to the work. An awakening 
 sermon, an alarming providence, or a startling truth, 
 may for a moment arrest and agitate the backsliding 
 soul. There may be an opening of the eyelid, a con- 
 vulsive movement of the spiritual frame, which, to a 
 superficial observer, may wear the appearance of a 
 real return to consciousness, of a true waking up to 
 new life and vigor the slumbering soul, and yet these 
 may be but the transient and fitful impulses of a sickly 
 and a drowsy spirit. The means of grace, too, may 
 be returned to, — the secret declension felt, deplored, 
 and acknowledged, but the hidden cause remaining 
 
40 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 unmortified and unremoved, all appearance of recov- 
 ery quickly and painfully subsides. It was but a 
 transient, momentary shock, and all was still ; the 
 heavy eyelid but feebly opened, and closed again ; 
 the ' goodness' that promised so fair, was but as the 
 morning cloud and tlie early dew. And the reason 
 is found in the fact, that there was no trve mortifi- 
 cation of 8171. And so I may repair to a plant with- 
 ering and drooping in my garden ; I may employ 
 every external means for its revival ; I may loosen 
 the earth about it, water, and place it in the warm 
 sunbeam : but if while I had not discovered and re- 
 moved the hidden cause of its decay. — if I had not 
 known that a worm was secretly feeding at the root, 
 and in ignorance of this, had proceeded with my 
 surface-work of restoration, what marvel, though the 
 morning sunbeam, and tbe evening dew, and the 
 loosened earth, had produced a momentary freshness 
 and life, that yet my plant had ceased to exist, had 
 withered and died? Thus may it be with a declin- 
 ing believer. The external means of revival may 
 be sedulously employed, means of grace diligently 
 used and even multiplied, but all to no real and per- 
 manent effect, while a worm secretly feeds at the 
 root; and until the hidden cause of decay be morti- 
 fied, removed, and utterly extirpated, tbe surface re- 
 vival does but end in a profounder sleep, and a more 
 fearful deception of the soul. Again, and yet again 
 would we repeat it, — there cannot possibly be any 
 true, spiritual, and abiding revival of grace in a be- 
 liever, while secret sin remains undiscovered and 
 unmortified in the heart. True and spiritual morti- 
 
•i-'. 
 
 INCiriEXT DECLENSION. 41 
 
 fication of sin is not, a guiface-work : it cons^ists not 
 merely in prunini,^ the dead tendrils that liaiig here 
 and tiicre upon the biancli ; it is not the lopping oil' 
 of outw aid sin.--, and an exicinal observance of spir- 
 itual duties ; it includes essentially far more than 
 this : it is a laying the axe at the root of sin in the 
 believer; it aims at nothing less than the complete 
 subjection of I he priticij)/e of sin ; and until this is 
 ellectually done, there can be no true return of the 
 heart to God. Christian reader, Avhat is the cause 
 of thy soul's secret declension? What is it that at 
 this moment feeds upon the precious plant of grace, 
 destroying its vigor, its beauty, and its fruitfulness? 
 Is it an inordinate attachment to the creature ? i7ior- 
 tify it ; — the love of self .' 7nortifij it ; — the love of 
 the world ? mortify it ; — some sinful habit secretly 
 indulged? ?nortify it. It must be mortified, 7'oot as 
 uell as branch, if you would experience a thorough 
 return to God. Dear though it be, as a right hand, 
 or as a right eye, if yet it comes between thy soul 
 and God, if it crucifies Christ in thee, if it weakens 
 faith, enfeebles grace, destroys the spirituality of the 
 soul, rendering it barren and unfruitful, rest not short 
 of its utter mortification. 
 
 Nor must this great work be undertaken in your 
 own strength. It is pre-eminently the result of God 
 the Holy Ghost working in, and blessing the self- 
 efforts of, the believer : " If ye through the Spirit do 
 mortify the deed^ of the body, ye shall live." Kom. 
 viii. 13. Here is a recognition of the believer's own 
 exertions, in connexion with the power of the Holy 
 Ghost : '• If ye" (believers, ye saints of God) 
 4* 
 
42 INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 
 
 " throtigh the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the 
 body," (fcc. It is the work of the behever himself, 
 but the power is of the Spirit of God. Take, then, 
 your discovered sin to the Spirit : tliat Spirit bring- 
 ing the cross of Jesus, witii a kiUing, crucifying 
 power, into your soul, giving you such a view of a 
 Saviour suffering for sin, as it may be you never had 
 before, will in a moment lay your enemy slain at 
 your feet. O yield not to despair, distressed soul ! 
 Art thou longing for a gracious revival of God's 
 work within thee ? — art thou mourning in secret 
 over thy heart-declension ? — hast thou searched and 
 discovered the hidden cause of thy decay ? — and is 
 thy real desire for its mortification 7 Then look up, 
 and hear the consolatory words of thy Lord : " 1 am 
 the Lord that healeth thee." Exod, xv. 2(3. The 
 Lord is thy healer ; his love can restore thee ; his 
 blood can heal thee ; his grace can subdue thy sin. 
 " Take with you words, and turn to the Lord ; say 
 unto him. Take away all iniquity, and receive us 
 graciously :" and the Lord will answer, "I will heal 
 their backshdings, I will love them freely ; for mine 
 anger is turned away from him." 
 
 Endeavor to enrich and enlarge your mind ivilh 
 7nore spiritual apprehensions of the per so7ial glory , 
 love, and fulness of Christ. All soul-declension 
 arises from the admission of things into the mind 
 contrary to the nature of indwelling grace. The 
 world, — its pleasures, its vanities, its cares, its varied 
 temptations, — these enter the mind, disguised in the 
 shape often of lawful undertakings and duties, and 
 draw off the mind from God, and the affection from 
 
INCIPIENT DECLENSION. 43 
 
 Christ. These, too, weaken and deaden faith and 
 love, and every grace of ihe indwelling- Spirit; they 
 are the "foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines 
 have lender grapes." Sol. Song ii. 15. The world 
 is a most hurtful snare to the child of God. It is 
 impossible that he can maintain a close and holy 
 walk with God, live as a pilgrim and a sojourner, 
 wage a constant and successful warfare against his 
 many spiritual foes, and at the same time open his 
 heart to admit the greatest foe to grace, — the love of 
 the world. But when the mind is pre-occupied by 
 Christ, filled with contemplations of his glory, and 
 grace, and love, no room is left for the entrance of 
 external allurements : the world is shut out, and the 
 creature is shut out, and the fascinations of sin are 
 shut out; and the soul holds a constant and undis- 
 turbed fellowship with God, while it is enabled to 
 maintain a more vigorous resistance to every exter- 
 nal attack of the enemy. And O, how blessed is 
 the soul's communion, thus shut in with Jesus ! 
 " Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if any man 
 hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to 
 him, and will sup with him, and he with me." ' I 
 would come in,' says the dear Lamb of God, 'and 
 dwell in you, and take up my abode with 3^ou, and 
 sup with you, and you with me.' This is true fel- 
 lowship ! And O, sweet response of his own Spirit 
 in the heart, when the believing soul exclaims, — 
 " When thou saidst, Seek ye my face ; my heart 
 said unto thee, Thy face. Lord, will I seek !" * En- 
 ter, thou precious Jesus; I want none but thee ; I 
 desire no company, and would hear no voice but 
 
44 INCII'tE.N'T DECLENSION. 
 
 thine ; 1 will have fellowship with none but thee, — 
 let me sup witli thee : yea, give me thine own flesh 
 to eat, and thine own blood to drink.' Ah ! dear 
 Christian reader, it is because we have so httle to do 
 with Jesus, — we admit him so seldom and so reluct- 
 antly to our hearts, — we have so few dealings with 
 him, — travel so seldom to his blood and righteous- 
 ness, and live so little upon his fulness, that we are 
 compelled so often to exclaim, — " My leanness, my 
 leanness !" But, if w'e be " risen with Christ, seek 
 those things which are above, where Christ sitteth 
 on the right hand of God ;" let us seek to know 
 Christ more, to have more spiritual and enlarged 
 comprehensions of his glory, to drink deeper into his 
 love, to imbibe more of his spirit, and to conform 
 more closely to his example. 
 
 But that which forms the great secret of all per- 
 sonal revival, is yet to be disclosed ; we allude to a 
 fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost. This a decli- 
 ning soul needs more than all beside. Possessing 
 this in a large degree, he possesses every spiritual 
 blessing: it includes, and is the pledge of every 
 other. Our dear Lord sought to impress this, his 
 last consoling doctrine, upon the drooping minds of 
 his disciples : his bodily presence in their midst, he 
 taught them, w^as not to be compared with the spir- 
 itual and permanent dwelling of the Spirit among 
 tliem. The descent of the Holy Ghost was to bring 
 all things that he had taught them to their remem- 
 brance ; it was to perfect them in their knowledge 
 of tlie supreme glory of his person, the infinite per- 
 fection of his work, the nature and spirituality of his 
 
ixcM'iKNT nr.ci.nxsiov. 45 
 
 kingdom, and its ulliniate and certain trinmphs ia 
 the earth. The descent ol" the Spirit, too, was to 
 mature them in personal lioliness, and more emi- 
 nently fit them for their arduous and successful la- 
 bor in his cause, by deepening their spirituality, en- 
 riching them with more grace, and enlarging them 
 with more love. And fully did the baptism of the 
 Holy Ghost, on the day of Pentecost, accomplish 
 all this : the apostles emerged from his influence, 
 like men who had passed through a state of re-con- 
 version. 
 
 And this is the state, dear reader, you must pass 
 through, would you experience a revival of God's 
 work in your soul : you must be reconverted^ and 
 that through a fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost. 
 Nothing short of this will rpiicken your dying graces, 
 and melt your frozen love ; nothing save this will 
 arrest your secret declension, and restore your back- 
 sliding heart. You must he baptized o.fresli with 
 the Spirit ; that Spirit whom you have so often and 
 so deeply wounded, grieved, slighted and quenched, 
 must enter you anew, and seal, and sanctify, and 
 re-convert you. O arise, and pray, and agonise for 
 the outpouring of the Spirit upon your soul ; give up 
 your lifeless religion, your form without the power, 
 your prayer without communion, your confessions 
 without brokenness, your zeal without love. And 
 O. what numerous and precious promises cluster in 
 God's word, all inviting you to seek this blessing ! 
 "He shall come down like rain upon the mown 
 grass; as showers that water the earth." Psalm 
 Ixxii. 6. " I will heal their backslidings, I will love 
 
46 IXCiriENT DECLENSION. 
 
 them freely ; for mine anger is turned away from 
 him. 1 will be as t,he dew unto Israel : he shall grow 
 as the lily, and ca^^t forth his roots as Lebanon. His 
 branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the 
 olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that 
 dwell under his shadow shall return ; they shall re- 
 vive as the corn, and grow as the vine; the scent 
 thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon." Hos. xiv. 
 4-7. "Come, let us return unto the Lord, for he 
 hath torn, and he will heal us ; he hath smitten, and 
 he will bind us up. After two days will he revive 
 us, in tlie third day he will raise us up, and we shall 
 live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow 
 on to know the Lord : his going forth is prepared as 
 the morning ; and he shall come unto us as the rain, 
 as the latter and former rain unto the earth." vi. 
 1 — 3. Seek, then, above and beyond all other bless- 
 ings, the renewed baptism of the lloly Ghost. "Be 
 filled with the Spirit ;" seek it earnestly, — seek it 
 under the deep conviction of your absolute need of 
 ?7,— seek it persevering-li/, — seek it heUevingly. 
 God has promised, " I will pour out my Spirit upon 
 you ;" and, asking it in the name of Jesus, you shall 
 receive. 
 
 One word more : Be not surprised if the Lord 
 should place you in circumstances of deep trial., in 
 order to recover you from your soul-declension : tl.e 
 Lord often adapts the peculiarity of the discipline to 
 that of the case. Is it secret declension ? He may 
 send some secret rebuke, some secret cross, some hid- 
 den chastisement : no one has discovered thy con- 
 cealed declension, and no one discovers thy concealed 
 
INCll'IKNT DECLENSION. 47 
 
 correction. The declension was belween God and 
 thy soul, so also it may be is the rebuke; the back- 
 sliding was ol the heart, so also is tlie chastisement. 
 But if the sanctified trial works the recovery of your 
 soul, the restoration to Christ of your waverin;^ 
 heart, the revival of his entire work within you, you 
 shall adore him for the discipline; and with David, 
 extolling the dealings of a covenant God and Father, 
 shall exclaim, — " Before I was afflicted I went astray, 
 but now have I kept thy word. It is good for me 
 that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy 
 statutes !" 
 
 Lastly : Set out afresh for God and heaven, as 
 though you had never started in the way before. 
 Commence at the beginning ; go as a sinner to Je- 
 sus ; seek the quickening, healing, sanctifying influ- 
 ence of the Spirit; and let this be your prayer, pre- 
 sented, and urged until answered, at the footstool of 
 mercy : '■ O Lord, revive thy work ! Quicken me, 
 O Lord ! Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation !" 
 In answer to thy petition, '• He shall come down like 
 rain upon the mown grass ; as showers that water 
 the earth ;" and thy song shall be that of the cliurch, 
 "My Beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my 
 love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the win- 
 ter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers 
 appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birda 
 is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our 
 land. The fig-tree pultelh forth her green figs, and 
 the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. 
 Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 DECLENSION IN LOVE. 
 
 " The loTe of many shall wax cold." — Matt. xxiv. 12. 
 
 Having described the hidden and incipient declen- 
 sion of the believer, we propose in the present and 
 succeeding chapters, to trace tliis melancholy state 
 in some of its more advanced stages, as it is seen in 
 the languor and decay of the graces of the Spirit in 
 the soul. It is no longer the concealed, but devel- 
 oped, character of spiritual and personal declension 
 that we are now to consider. lis type is more marked, 
 and its symptoms more palpable and visible to the 
 eye. It has arrived at such a stage as to render con- 
 cealment impossible, .lust as in the physical frame, 
 a slight sinking in the heart's pulsation, even though 
 the seat of disease is invisible, may be traced in the 
 external symptoms that ensue ; so, in the spiritual 
 man, when tiiere is a secret unhealthiness of soul, 
 the effects are so marked in their character as to 
 leave no doubt of its existence. The man may not 
 himself be sensible of his backsliding state ; he may 
 wrap himself up in the fearftd deception that all is 
 well, close his eyes voluntarily against his real state, 
 disguise from himself the rapidly advancing disease, 
 crying ' peace, peace,' and putting far off the evil 
 day ; but with a spiritual and advancing believer, 
 
DECLENSION IN LOVE. 49 
 
 one whose 636 is keen to detect an unfavorable symp- 
 tom, and whose touch is skilful to mark a sickly 
 pulse, the case is involved in no mystery. 
 
 In tracing the declension of some of the essential 
 and prominent graces of the Spirit, we commence 
 with the grace of love, it constituting the spring- 
 head of all the kindred graces. The spiritual state 
 of the soul, and the vigor and promptness of its 
 obedience, will correspond with the state and tone of 
 the believer's afiTections towards God. If decay, 
 coldness, declension, exist here, it is felt and traced 
 throughout the entire obedience of the new man. 
 Every grace of the Spirit feels it; every call to duty 
 feels it ; and every (hrol) of the spiritual pulse will 
 but betray the secret and certain declension of 
 Divine love in the soul. Let the Christian reader, 
 then, iniagine what must be the spiritual uniiealthi- 
 ness of the believQj", what his outward and visible 
 declensions from God, w^hen love, the spring of all 
 spiritual duties, ceases to exert a vigorous influence, 
 and when, as the heart of experimental godliness, it 
 transmits but sickly and sluggish streams of life 
 throughout the spiritual system. Let us, before we 
 proceed to the immediate discussion of the main 
 subject before us, present a brief and scriptural view 
 of the necessit}', nature, and operation of Divine 
 love in the soul. 
 
 Love to God is spoken of in his word, as forming 
 the primary and grand requirement of the Divine 
 law. Thus is the truth declared, " Thou shalt love 
 the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
 thy soul^ and \yith all thy mind. This is the first 
 6 
 
60 DECLENSION IN LOVE. 
 
 and great, commandment." Matt., xxii. 37, 38. Now, 
 it was both mfinitely wise and good in Gotl, thus to 
 present himself tlie proper and lawful object of love. 
 We say it was wise, because, had he placed the 
 object of supreme affection lower than himself, it 
 had been to have elevated an inferior object above 
 himself. For whatever other object than God is 
 loved with a sole and supreme affection, it is a 
 deif)dng of that object, so that it, as God. sitteth in 
 the temple of God, showing itself that it is God. It 
 y.vdi's good, because a lesser object of aflection could 
 never have met the desires and aspirations of an 
 immortal mind. God has so constituted man, im- 
 planting in him such a capacity for happiness, and 
 such boimdless and immortal desires for its pos 
 session, as can fmd their full enjoyment only in 
 infinity itself. He never designed that the intel- 
 ligent and immortal creature should sip its bliss at 
 a lower fountain than himself Then it was in- 
 finitely wise and good in God, that he should have 
 presented himself as the sole object of supreme love 
 and worship to his intelligent creatures. His v:is- 
 dom saw the necessity of having one centre of 
 supreme and adoring affection, and one object of 
 supreme and spiritual worship to angels and to men. 
 His goodness suggested that that centre and that 
 that object should be himself, the perfection of 
 infinite excellence, the fountain of infinite good. 
 That, as from him went forth all the streams of life 
 to all creatures, it was but reasonable and just that 
 to him should return, and in him should centre, all 
 the streams of love and obedience of all intelligent 
 
DECLENSION IN LOVE. 51 
 
 and iiiimortal creatures : that, as he was the most 
 intelligent, wise, glorious, and beneficent object in 
 the universe, it was meet that the first, strongest, 
 and purest love of the creature should soar towards, 
 and find its resting-place in him. 
 
 liove to God, then, forms the grand requirement, 
 and (imdamental precept of the Divine law. It is 
 l)inding upon all intelligent beings. From it no 
 con:«ideration can release the creature. No plea of 
 inability, no claim of inferior objects, no opposition 
 of rival interest, can lessen the obligation of every 
 creature that hath breath to ' love the Lord his God 
 witii all his heart, and with all his soul, and with 
 all his mind.' It grows out of the relation of the 
 creature to God, as his Creator, Moral Governor, 
 and Preserver ; and as being in himself the only ob- 
 ject of infinite excellence, wisdom, holiness, majesty, 
 and grace. This obligation, too, to love God with 
 supreme aficction, is binding upon the creature irre- 
 spective of any advantage which may result to him 
 from so loving God. It is most true that God has 
 benevolently connected supreme happiness with 
 supreme love, and has threatened supreme misery, 
 where supreme affection is withheld ; yet, inde- 
 pendent of any blessing that may accrue to the 
 creature from its love to God, the infinite excellence 
 ( f the Divine nature, and the eternal relation in 
 M Inch he stands to the intelligent universe, render it 
 irreversibly obligatory on every creature to love him 
 with a supreme, paramount, holy, and unreserved 
 affection. 
 
 Love, too, is the great influential principle of the 
 
52 DECLENSION IN LOVE. 
 
 Gospel. The religion of Jesus is pre-eminently a 
 religion of motive ; it excludes every compulsory 
 principle; it arrays before the mind certain great and 
 powerful motives with which it enlists the under- 
 standing, the will, and the affections, in the active 
 service of Christ. Now the law of Christianity is 
 not the law of coercion, but of love. This is the 
 grand lever, the great influential motive, — " the love 
 of Christ constraineih us." This was the apostle's 
 declaration, and this his governing motive ; and the 
 constraining love of Christ is to be the governing 
 motive, the influential principle of every believer. 
 Apart from the constraining influence of Christ's 
 love in the heart, there cannot possibly be a willing, 
 prompt, and holy obedience to his commandments. 
 A conviction of duty and the influence of fear may 
 sometimes urge furward the soul, biU. love alone can 
 prompt to a loving and holy obedience : and all obe- 
 dience that springs from an inferior motive is not the 
 obedience that the gospel of Jesus inculcates. The 
 relation in which the believer stands to God, under 
 the new covenant dispensation, is not that of a slave 
 to his master, but of a child to its father. "And 
 because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit 
 of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." 
 Gal. iv. 6. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with 
 our spirit, that we are the children of God." Rom. 
 viii. 16. "Wherefore thou art no more a servant (a 
 slave,) but a son." Gal. iv. 7. With this new and 
 spiritual relation, we look for a new and spiritual 
 motive, and w^e find it in that single but comprehen- 
 sive word — LOVE. And thus has our Lord declared 
 
Ur.CLENSlON IN LOVK. 53 
 
 it : " If ye love me, keep iny coiuinaiulmenls." John 
 xiv. 15. "If a nnm love nie, lie will keep my 
 words; and he that loveth me not keepeth not my 
 sayings." Ver. 23, 24. It is then only where this 
 love is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost, 
 that we may expect to find the fruit of obedience. 
 Swayed by this Divine principle, the believer labors 
 not for life, but from life : not for acceptance, but 
 from acceptance. A holy, self-denying, cross-bear- 
 ing life, is not the drudgery of a slave, but the filial, 
 loving obedience of a child : it springs from love to 
 the person, and gratitude for the work of Jesus ; and 
 is the blessed eliect of the spirit of adoption in the 
 heart. 
 
 It must be acknowledged, too, that this motive is 
 the most holy and infiuential of all motives of obe- 
 dience. Love, flowing from the heart of Jesus into 
 the heart of a poor believing sinner, expelling sel- 
 fishness, melting coldness, conquering sinfulness, 
 and drawing that heart up in a simple and unre- 
 served surrender, is, of all principles of action, the 
 most powerful and sanctifying. Under the constrain- 
 ing influence of this principle, how easy becomes 
 every cross for Jesus! — how light every burthen, 
 how pleasant every yoke ! Duties become privile- 
 ges — difficulties vanish — fears are quelled — shame is 
 humbled — delay is rebuked ; and, all on flame for 
 Jesus, the pardoned, justified, adopted child exclaims, 
 " Here, Lord, am I, a living sacrifice ; thine for time 
 and thine for eternity !'' 
 
 Love is that principle that expels all legal fear 
 from the heart. " There is no fear in love ; but per- 
 5* 
 
54 DECLENSION IN LOVE. 
 
 feet love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. 
 He that feaieth is not made perfect in love," 1 John 
 iv. 18. Who that has felt it will deny that 'fear 
 hath torment?' The legal fear of death, of judg- 
 ment, and of condemnation, the fear engendered by 
 a slavish view of the Lord's commandments, a de- 
 fective view of the believer's relation to God, — imper- 
 fect conceptions of the finished work of Christ, — un- 
 settled apprehensions of the great fact of accept- 
 ance, — yielding to the power of unbelief, — the re- 
 taining of guilt upon the conscience, or the influence 
 of any concealed sin, will fill the heart with the tor- 
 ment of fear. Some of the most eminent of God's 
 people have thus been aflilicted : this was Job's expe- 
 rience, — " I am afraid of all my sorrows." " Even 
 when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling ta- 
 keth hold on my flesh." "When I consider him, I 
 am afraid of him." So also David, — " What time 
 I am afraid, I will trust in thee." " My flesh trem- 
 bleth for fear of thee ; I am afraid of thy judg- 
 ments." But 'perfect love casteth out fear:' he that 
 feareth is not perfected in the love of Christ. 
 
 The design and tendency of the love of Jesus shed 
 abroad in the heart, is to lift the soul out of all its 
 'bondage through fear of death' and its ultimate 
 consequences, and soothe it to rest on that glorious 
 declaration, triumphing in which many have gone to 
 glory. "There is therefore now no condenmalion 
 to them which are in Christ Jesus." See the blessed 
 spring from whence flows a believer's victory over 
 all bondage-fear— from Jesus : not from his expe- 
 rience of the truth, not from evidence of his accept- 
 
DKCI.i:\.S10N tN LOVE. 55 
 
 ance and adoption, not from the worlc of the Spirit 
 in hirf Iieart, blessed as it is, but from out of, and 
 away from, iiimself, even from Jesus. The blood 
 and righteousness of Christ, based upon the infinite 
 dignity and glory of his person, and wrought into 
 (he experience of the behever by the Holy Ghost, 
 expel from the heart all fear of death and of judg- 
 ment, and fill it with perfect peace. O thou of fear- 
 ful heart ! why these anxious doubis, why these 
 tormenting fears, why this shrinking from the 
 thought of death, why these distant, hard, and un 
 kind thoughts of God 7 Why this prison-house, — - 
 why this chain ? Thou art not perfected in the love 
 of Jesus, for " perfect love casteth out fear ;" thou 
 art not perfected in that great truth, that Jesus is 
 mighty to save, that he died for a poor sinner, that 
 his death was a p^^rfect satisfaction to Divine jus- 
 tice ; and that without a single meritorious work of 
 thine own, just as thou art, poor, empty, vile, worth- 
 less, unworthy, thou art welcome to the rich pro- 
 vision of sovereign grace and dying love. The sim- 
 ple behefof this, will perfect thy heart in love; and 
 perfected in love, every bondage-fear will vanish 
 away. O seek to be perfected in Christ's love ! It 
 is a fathomless ocean. Why then shouldst thou not 
 descend into it? Approach, for it is free; drink, for 
 it is deep ; launch into it for it is broad. " The 
 Lord direct your heart into the love of God." 
 
 Love is tliat grace of (he Spirit that brings faith 
 into active exercise ; " faith which worketh by love," 
 Gal. v. 6; and faith thus brought into exercise, 
 brings every spiritual blessing into the souL A be- 
 
56 DECLENSiUX IN LOVE. 
 
 liever stands by faitli, Rom. xi. 20; he walks by 
 faith, 2 Cor. v. 7 ; he overcometh by faith, 1 Jolin 
 V. 4 ; he hves by faith, Gal. ii. 20. Love is there- 
 fore a laboring grace ; "God is not unrighteous to 
 forget your work and labor of love, which ye have 
 showed towards his name." Heb. vi. 10. There 
 is nothing indolent in the nature of true love ; it is 
 not an inert, sluggish principle ; where it dwells 
 in the heart in a healtliy and vigorous state, it con- 
 strains the believer to live not to himself, but unto 
 Him who loved and gave himself for him ; it 
 awakes the soul to watchfulness, sets it upon the 
 work of frequent self-examination, influences it to 
 prayer, daily walking in the precepts, acts of kind- 
 ness, benevolence and charity, all springing from love 
 to God, and flowing in a channel of love to man. 
 
 The Holy Ghost distinguishes love as a part of 
 the Christian armor : " Let us, who are of the day, 
 be sober, putting on the breast-plate of faith and 
 Zore." 1 Thess. v. 8. Without ardent and increa- 
 sing love to God, the believer is but poorly armed 
 against his numerous spiritual and ever-aggressive 
 foes : but what a breast-plate and hehnet is this in 
 the day of battle ! Who can overcome a child of 
 God whose heart is overflowing with Divine love? 
 what enemy can prevail against him thus armed? 
 There is something so shielding in its influence, so 
 repelling to the spirit of enmity and darkness, so ob- 
 noxious to sin, that he only is fit for the conllict who 
 is well clad in the breast-plafe of love. He may be, 
 and he is, in himself, nothing but weakness ; his 
 foes many and mighty ; hemmed in on every side 
 
DECLENSION IN LOVE. 57 
 
 by his spiritual Philistines ; and yet, his heart soar- 
 ing to God in love, longing for Jiis presence, panting 
 for his precepts, desiring al)Ove and beyond all other 
 blessings. Divine conformity ! O with what a pano- 
 ply is he clothed ! No weapon formed against him 
 shall prosper : every ' liery dart of the adversary' 
 shall be qnenched, and he shall ' come off more than 
 a coiKjUcror through him who hath loved him.' 
 
 In a word love is immortal ; it is that grace of the 
 Spirit that will never die. This is not so with all 
 the kindred graces ; the period will come when they 
 will no more be needed. The day is not far distant, 
 "when fail h will be turned to sight, and hope will be 
 lost in full fruition, but love \v\\[ never die ; it will 
 live on, and expand the heart, and tune the lip, and 
 inspire the song, through the unceasing ages of eter- 
 nity. " Whether there be prophecies, they shall fail ; 
 whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether 
 there be knowledge, it shall vanish away ;" but love 
 never faileth : it is an eternal spring, welled in the 
 bosom of Deity ; heaven wmU be its dwelling-place 
 God its source, the glorified spirit its subject, and eter- 
 nity its duration. 
 
 For one moment let the Christian reader call to mind 
 the period and the circumstances of his Jirsi espou- 
 sals to Jesus. If there ever was a blissful period of 
 thy life, — if a spot of verdure in the remembrance of 
 the past, on which the sunlight ever rests, — was it 
 not the time, and is it not the place, where thy heart 
 first expanded with the love of Jesus ? Thou hast, 
 it may be, trod many a thorny path since then ; 
 thou hast travelled many a weary step of thy pil- 
 
58 DECLENSION IN LOVE. 
 
 grimage — hast buffeted many storms, hast waded 
 through many deep afflictions, and fought many 
 severe battles,- — but all have well nigh faded from 
 thy memory : but the hour and the events of thy 
 'first love,' — these thou never hast forgotten, thou 
 never canst forget. O ever to be loved, ever to be 
 remembered with deep songs of joy, with adoring 
 gratitude to free and sovereign grace, the period 
 when the chains of thy bondage were broken, — 
 when thy fettered soul broke from its thraldom, and 
 sprang into the liberty of the sons of God, — when light 
 discovered thy darkness, and that darkness rolled 
 away before its increasing lustre, — when the Spirit 
 wounded thee, then healed that wound with the pre- 
 cious balm of Gilead,— when he gave thee sorrow, 
 then soothed that sorrow by a view of the crucified 
 Lamb of God, — when faith took hold of Jesus, and 
 brought the blessed assurance into the soul, " I am 
 my beloved's, and my beloved is mine ;" and when 
 Jesus whispered, — O how tender was his voice ! — 
 " Thy sins, which were many, are all forgiven thee ; 
 go in peace." Blissful moment ! How fresh is the 
 whole transaction to thy mind : the sanctuary where 
 thou didst worship, — the minister whom thou didst 
 hear, — the people with whom thou didst associate, — 
 the spot where thou didst lose thy burden, and where 
 light, and love, and joy, broke in upon thy soul, — 
 the saints who rejoiced over thee, and the happy 
 converts who clustered around thee, mingling their 
 joys and their songs with thine ; and the man of 
 God who introduced thee within the pale, and to the 
 ordinances and the privileges of the church of Christ, 
 
DECLENSION IN LOVE. 59 
 
 — all, all is now before liice with a vividness and a 
 freshness as (houi>h it hud hut just transpired. O 
 tiiat the Lord should ever liave reason to prefer the 
 charge, " thou hast left thy first love !'' And yet to 
 the consiileration of this melancholy state of a |)ro- 
 fessing soul, we have now to turn. May the Spirit 
 of truth and of love be our guide and teacher ! 
 
 Tiie subject now before us for reflection, is the 
 liumbling and adecting truth, that the i^racc of love 
 in a child of God may greatly and sadly decline. 
 We speak, let it be remembered, not of the destruc- 
 tion of the principle, l)ut of the decline of its power. 
 This spiritual and influential truth cannot be too fre- 
 quently nor too strongly insisted upon, — (hat though 
 faith, and love, and hope, and zeal, and their kin- 
 dred graces, may greatly decline in their vigor, fer- 
 vor, and real growth ; yet that they may entirely 
 fail even in their greatest decay, or severest trial, the 
 word of God assures us can never be. To believe 
 the opposite of this, is to deny their Divine origin, 
 their spiritual and immortal character, and to im- 
 peach the wisdom, power, and faithfulness of God. 
 Not a grain of the true wheat can ever be lost in the 
 sifting, not a particle of the pure gold in the refining. 
 Let us now be understood as unfolding in this chap- 
 ter the declension of love in its vital actings in the 
 soul, and in its influential character upon the out- 
 ward, holy walk of a child of God. 
 
 In looking into God's word, wc find this to have 
 been the solemn charge which he brought against 
 his ancient professing people : '• Thus saith the Lord, 
 I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, tiie love 
 
60 DECLENSION IN LOVE. 
 
 of thine espousals, when tliou wentest after me in 
 the wilderness, in a land that was not sown." Then 
 follows the charge of declension in their love : " Thus 
 Baith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers 
 found in me, that they are gone far from me, and 
 have walked after vanity, and are become vain ?" 
 " O generation, see ye the word of the Lord. Have 
 I been a wilderness unto Israel 7 a land of dark- 
 ness ? Wherefore say my people, We are lords ; we 
 will come no more unto thee ? Can a maid forget 
 her ornaments, or a bride her attire ? yet my people 
 have forgotten me days without number." Jer. ii. 2, 
 5, 3L And to the same state, as forming an evi- 
 dence of approaching desolations, our dear Lord re- 
 fers, when he says, " And because iniquity shall 
 abound, the love of many shall wax cold." Matt, 
 xxiv. 12. And against the church of Ephesus the 
 same charge is thus preferred ; " Nevertheless I have 
 somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy 
 first love." Rev. ii. 4. The following may be con- 
 sidered as forming some of the marked characteris- 
 tics of the decay and declension of this principle. 
 
 When God beco7nes less an object of fervent de- 
 sire, holy delight, and frequent conte?nplatio7i, we 
 may suspect a declension of Divine love in the soul. 
 Our spiritual views of God, and our spiritual and 
 constant delight in him, will be materially afiected 
 by the state of our spiritual love. If tjiere is cold- 
 ness in the affections, if the mind grows earthly, car- 
 nal, and selfish, dark and gloomy shadows will gather 
 round the character and the glor}' of God. He will 
 become less an object of supreme attachment, un- 
 
UECLKXSION IN LOVE. 01 
 
 mingled delight, adoring contemplation, and filial 
 trust. The moment the supreme love of Adam to 
 God declined, — the instant that it swerved from its 
 proper and lawful centre, he shunned converse with 
 Ciod, and sought to embower himself from the pres- 
 ence of the Divine glory. Conscious of a change in 
 his afiections, — sensible of a divided heart, of sub- 
 jection to a rival interest, — and knowing that God 
 Avas no longer the object of his supreme love, nor the 
 fountain of his pure delight, nor the blessed and only 
 source of his bliss, — he rushed from his presence as 
 from an object of terror, and sought concealment in 
 Eden's bowers. That God whose presence was once 
 so glorious, whose converse was so holy, whose voice 
 was so sweet, became as a strange God to the rebel- 
 lious and conscious-stricken creature, and, 'absence 
 from thee is best,' was written in dark letters upon 
 his guilty brow. 
 
 And whence this difference ? Was God less glori- 
 ous in himself.^ was he less holy, less loving, less 
 faithful, or less the fountain of supreme bliss? Far 
 from it. God had undergone no change. It is the 
 perfection of a perfect Being that he is unchange- 
 able ; that he can never act contrary to his own na- 
 ture, but must ever be, in all that he does, in har- 
 mony with himself The change was in the crea- 
 ture. Adam had left his first love, and transferred 
 his affections to another and an inferior object ; and 
 conscious that he had ceased to love God, he would 
 fain have veiled himself from his presence, and have 
 excluded himself from his conniumion. It is even 
 so in the experience of a believer, conscious of de- 
 6 
 
62 DECLENSION IN LOVE. 
 
 clension in his love to God. There is a hiding from 
 his presence ; tliere are misty views of his character, 
 misinterpretations of his deahng^s, and a lessening 
 of holy desire for him : but where the heart is right 
 in its affections, warm in its love, fixed in its desires, 
 God is glorious in his perfections, and communion 
 with him the highest bliss on earth. This was 
 David's experience, — " O God, thou art my God ; 
 early will I seek thee : my soul thirsteth for thee, 
 my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land 
 where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, 
 so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because 
 thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall 
 praise thee." Ps. Ixiii. 1 — 3. 
 
 Not only in the declension of Divine love in the 
 soul, does God become less an object of adoring con- 
 templation and desire, but there is less filial ap- 
 proach to him. The sweet confidence and simple 
 trust of the child is lost ; the soul no longer rushes 
 into his bosom with all the lowly yet fond yearn- 
 ings of an adopted son, but lingers at a distance ; or, 
 if it attempts to approach, does so with the trembling 
 and the restraint of a slave. The tender, loving, child- 
 like spirit, that marked the walk of the believer in 
 the days of his espousals, when no object was so glo- 
 rious to him as God, no being so loved as his hea- 
 venly Father^ no spot so sacred as the throne of 
 communion, no theme so sweet as his free grace 
 adoption, has in a great degree departed ; and dis- 
 trust, and legal fears, and bondage of spirit, have 
 succeeded it. All these sad effects may be traced to 
 
DECLENSION IN LOVE. 63 
 
 the declension of filial love in the soul of the be- 
 liever towards God. 
 
 Hard thoKglUs of God in his dispensations, may 
 be regarded as another undeniable symptom. Tiie 
 mark of a vigorous love to God is, when the soul 
 justifies God in all his wise and gracious dealings 
 with it; rebels not, murmurs not, repines not, but 
 meekl}' and silently acquiesces in the dispensation, 
 be it never so trying. Divine love in the heart, 
 deepening and expanding towards that God from 
 whence it springs, will, in the hour of trial, exclaim, 
 "My God has smitten uje, but he is my God still, 
 faithful and loving. IMy Father has chastened me 
 sore, but he is my Father still, tender and kind. 
 This trying dispensation originated in love, it speaks 
 with the voice of love, it bears with.it the message 
 of love, and is sent to draw my heart closer and yet 
 closer to the God of love from whom it came." Dear 
 reader, art thou one of the Lord's afihcted ones? 
 Happy art thou if this is the holy and blessed result 
 of his dealings with thee. Happy if thou heardest 
 the voice of love in the rod, winning thy lone and 
 sorrowful heart to the God from whom it came. 
 But when love to God has declined, the reverse of 
 this is the state of a tried and afflicted believer. 
 
 When there is hut little iiidination for co7nmun- 
 io)i with God, and the throne of grace is sought 
 as a duty rather than a privilege, and conse- 
 qtiently, but little fellowship is experienced, a 
 stronger evidence we need not of a declension of 
 love in the soul. The more any object is to us a 
 source of sweet dehght and contemplation, the more 
 
64 DECLENSION IN LOVE. 
 
 strongly do we desire its presence, and the more 
 restless are we in its absence. The friend we love 
 we want constantly at our side : the spirit goes out 
 in longings for communion with him, — his presence 
 sweetens, his absence embitters, every other joy. 
 Precisely true is this of God. He who knows God, 
 who, with faith's eye, has discovered some of his 
 glory, and by the power of the Spirit, has felt some- 
 thing of his love, will not be at a loss to distinguish 
 between God's sensible presence, and absence in the 
 soul. Some professing people walk so much without 
 communion, without fellowship, without daily filial 
 and close intercourse with God ; they are so im- 
 mersed in the cares, and so lost in the fogs and 
 mists of the world ; the fine edge of their spiritual 
 affection is so blunted, and their love so frozen by 
 contact with worldly influences and occupations, — 
 and no less so, with cold, formal professors, — that 
 the Sun of righteousness may cease to shine upon 
 their soul, and they not know it ! God may cease 
 to visit them, and his absence not be felt ! He 
 may cease to speak, and the stillness of his voice 
 not awaken an emotion of alarm ! Yea, a more 
 strange thing would happen to them, if the Lord 
 were suddenly to break in upon their soul, with a 
 visit of love, than were he to leave them for weeks 
 and months without any token of his presence. 
 Reader, art thou a professing child of God? Con- 
 tent not thyself to live thus; it is a poor, lifeless ex- 
 istence, unworthy of thy profession, unworthy of 
 Him whose name thou dost bear, and unworthy 
 of the glorious destiny towards which thou art look- 
 
DIX'LUNJJluN IN LOVE. 05 
 
 ing. Thus may a believer test the character of hia 
 love ; lie, in whose heart Divine iiHlHtioii deepens, 
 increases, and expands, linds Gotl an ol)ject of in- 
 creasing delight and desire, and connnunioii with 
 him, the most costly privilege on earth : he cannot 
 live in the neglect of constant, secret, and close fel- 
 lowship with his God, his best and most faithful 
 Friend. 
 
 When there is a less tender n-alk icith God., we 
 may be at no loss to ascertain the state of our love. 
 "What do we mean by a tender walk? When a l)e- 
 liever walks in holy circmnspcction. in uprightness, 
 integrity, close vigilance, and prayerfulness, before 
 God, he then walks softly : " I shall go softly all my 
 years." Isa. xxxviii. 15. When with filial tendt.M- 
 ness, he trembles to oflend his Father, his God, his 
 best Friend, — when he increasingly delights himself 
 in the precepts and connnandments of the Lord, — 
 ■when he would rather pluck from Jiimself the right 
 eye, and sever the right hand, than wilfully and 
 knowingly offend God, and grieve the Spirit ; then 
 his walk is tender and soft and close with God. 
 And what constrains a believer to this glorious life, 
 this holy, hitlden walk, but the love of God shed 
 abroad in his heart? Imagine, then, what dangers 
 must throng the path, what temptations must beset 
 the soul, in whom the precious and intlnential grace 
 of love is in a state of declensio)) and decay ! 
 
 Need we add, when. Christ is less glorious to thu 
 eye, and less precious to the heart, Divine love in 
 the soul of a believer must be on the wane? it can- 
 not be otherwise. Our views of Jesus must be ma- 
 6» 
 
OtJ DECLENSION IN LOVl. 
 
 terially afiTected by the state of our afrections towards 
 him. When there is but httle deaUng with the 
 atoning blood, leaning upon the righteousness, draw- 
 ing from the fulness, and bearing dail}'' the cross of 
 Christ, the love of a believer waxetli cold. We 
 would judge the depth of a man's Christ ianit)', by 
 his reply to the question. " ' What think ye of Christ V 
 Is he lived to, is he lived upon ? is his name your de- 
 hght, his cross your boast, his work your resting 
 place .^" This will be your blessed experience, if 
 the pulse of Divine love beats strong in your breast 
 for Christ. 
 
 A decay of love to the saints of God., is a strong 
 evidence of a decay of love to God himself. If we 
 love God with a sincere and deepening affection, we 
 must love his image wherever we find it. It is true, 
 the picture may be but an imperfect cop}^, the out- 
 hne maybe but faintly drawn ; there may be shades 
 we cannot approve of; yet, recognizing in the work 
 the hand of the Spirit, and in the outline some re- 
 semblance to Him whom our souls admire and love, 
 we must feel a drawing out of our holiest affections 
 towards the object ; we shall not pause before the 
 surrender is made, to inquire to what section of the 
 church of Christ he belongs, what name he bears, 
 or what the color of his uniform ; but, discovering 
 the man of God, the meek and lowly follower of 
 Jesus, our heart and our hand are freely offered, 
 O what a passport to our hearts is the image of 
 Jesus in a child of God ! Do Vv'c trace Christ in the 
 principles that guide him, in the motives that govern 
 him, in the spirit, in the very looks of the man ? — 
 
DECLENSION IN LOVE. 67 
 
 we feel that we must take liini to our bosom for 
 Jesus' sake. O, it marks the decay of love to CJod 
 in the soul, when the heart beats faintly, and the 
 eye looks coldly, towards any dear saint of God, be- 
 cause he belongs not to our party, and wears not 
 om- badge ; when bigotry, narrow-minded selfish- 
 ness warps the mind, congeals the current of love, 
 and almost unchristianises a believer. The word of 
 God is solemn and decisive on this point ; " If a man 
 say, I love God, and hatelh his brother, he is a liar ; 
 for he that lovetli not his brother whom he hath 
 seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen ? 
 And this commandment have we from him, that he 
 who loveth God, love his brother also." 1 John iv. 
 20, 21. " By this," says Jesus, " shall all men know 
 that ye are my disciples, if ye love one another." If 
 we love not the visible resemblance, how can we 
 love the invisible Archetype? 
 
 When love to God declines, with it will decline an 
 interest in the advancement and prosjjeritt/ of his 
 canse : the one invariably follows the other. We 
 do not say that outward zeal may not coniinue 
 long after a process of concealed declension has ad- 
 vanced in the soul, and secret duties have become 
 neglected — this is the lamentable case with many ; 
 but a true, spiritual, and lively interest in the in- 
 crease of Christ's kingdom, in the diffusion of his 
 truth, the deepening of holiness in the church, the 
 conversion of sinners, will invariably decline with 
 the declension of love to God. And when we mark 
 a member of a church maintaining his external 
 union, and yet hanging as a dead and fruitless 
 
68 
 
 DECLENSION IN LOVE. 
 
 branch upon the vine, doing nothing to advance the 
 cause of God and truth, withholding his money, his 
 prayers; his personal attendance on the means of 
 grace, and rallier opposing than cheering on the ac- 
 tive portion of the body, we are ready to ask, " how 
 dwelleth the love of God in him ?" 
 
 The declension of love may be traced to many 
 CAUSES : we can enumerate but a few ; let the fol- 
 lowing be seriously pondered. Worldly encroach- 
 ment is a fruitful cause ; no two affections can be 
 more opposite and antagonist than love to God and 
 love to the world : it is impossible that they can both 
 exist with equal force in the same breast ; the one 
 or the other must be supreme, — they cannot occupy 
 the same throne. If a Divine atfection is regent, 
 then the w^orld is excluded ; but if an earthly affec- 
 tion, a grovelling and increasing love to the world 
 governs — God is shut out : the one must give place 
 to the other. Love to God will expel love to the 
 world ; love to the world will deaden the soul's love 
 to God. '-No man conserve two masters:" it is im- 
 possible to love God and the world, to serve him and 
 manuuon. Here is a most fertile cause of declension 
 in Divine love ; guard against it as you would for- 
 tify yourself against your greatest foe. It is a vor- 
 tex that lias engulphed millions of souls ; multitudes 
 of professing Christians have been drawn iiUo its 
 eddy, and have gone down into its gulf. This 
 enemy of your soul will steal upon you by silent and 
 in:>idious encroaclnuent. It has its disguises many. 
 It will present itself masked in a proper regard for 
 business, in a diligence in lawful callings, a prudent 
 
DECLENSION IN LOVE. 69 
 
 yielding to doinestic claims, and will even quote 
 scriptural precept anilcxanii)lo, and assume the form 
 of an angel of light; but sinpect it, guard against it. 
 Keiueniber what is recorded l)y the apostle of a pri- 
 mitive professor : " Demas hath forsaken me, having- 
 loved this present ivorldJ^ Be not a modern De- 
 mas ; " Love not the world, neither the things that 
 are in the world ; if any man love the world, the 
 love of the l*'ather is not in hiuL'' iNo Christian man 
 can maintain his spirituality unimpaired, his love 
 uninjured, his robe unspotted, his walk irreproach- 
 able, who secretly admits the world to his heart. 
 How can he exemplify the life of a pilgrim and a 
 sojourner ; how can his heart rise in a constant flame 
 of love to God ; what attraction can the throne of 
 grace have, what zest in spiritual duties, what de- 
 light in the communion of saints, while his heart 
 goes out after covetousnes.s, and worldly ambition, 
 love of place, and human a|)plausc are the rival pas- 
 sions of his soul? Let it, then, be solemnly remem- 
 bered, that an inordinate, uncrucified attachment to 
 the world, must be parted with, if the precious grace 
 of love to God is to enthrone itself in the alT'ections 
 of the believer. 
 
 An idolatrous and unsanctified attachment to 
 the creature, has again and again crucified love to 
 Christ in the heart. Upon the same principle that 
 no man can love the world and God with a like 
 supreme and kindred affection, so no man can give 
 to Christ and the creature the same intensity of re- 
 gard. And yet, how often has the creature stolen 
 the heart from its lawful Sovereign ! Thai heart 
 
70 DECLENSION IN LOVE. 
 
 that was once so simply and so supremely the 
 Lord';?. — those airections that ckmg to him with 
 such purity and power of grasp, liave now been 
 transferred to another and inferior object: tlie piece 
 of clay that God had given but to deepen the obU- 
 gation and heighten the soul's love to himself, has 
 been moulded into an idol, before which the heart 
 ponrs its daily incense : the flower that he has 
 caused to spring forth, but to endear his own beauty, 
 and make his own name more fragrant, has sup- 
 planted the ' Rose of Sharon' in the bosom. Oh! 
 is it tJius that we abuse our mercies? is it thus that 
 we convert our blessings into poisons ? that we al- 
 low the things that were sent to endear the heart 
 of our God, and to make the cross, through which 
 they came, more precious, to allure our affections 
 from their holy and blessed centre '? Fools that we 
 are, to love the creature more than the Creator! 
 Dear reader, wliy has God been disciplining thee 
 as, it may be, he has? why has he removed tliine 
 idols, crumbled into dust thy piece of clay, and blown 
 witheringly upon thy beauteous flower? — why? be- 
 cause he hatetli idolatry ; and idolatry is essen- 
 tially the same, whether it be offered to a lifeless, 
 shapeless stock, or to a spirit of intellect and beauty. 
 And what speaks his voice in every stream that he 
 dries, in every plant that he blows upon, and in 
 every disappointment he writes upon the creature ? — 
 "My son, give ine thine heart. I want thy love, 
 thy pure and supreme afleciion ; I want to be the 
 Oiie and only object of thy delight. I gave my Son 
 for thee — his life for thine ; I sent my Spirit to 
 
DKCLKNrflON IN I.(J\ L. 71 
 
 quicken, to renew, l,o seal, ami to possess thee for 
 myself: all this I did, that I might have thine heart. 
 To possess myself of this, I have smitten thy gourds, 
 removed thine idols, broken thine earthly depend- 
 ences, and have sought to detach thy aflections from 
 the creature, that they may rise, undivided and un- 
 fettered, and entwine around one who loves thee 
 Avith an undying love."' 
 
 Again ; interpreting Gods coveyiant dealings 
 in the light of judgments rather than the fruits of 
 love, will tend greatly to deaden the soul's aflections 
 towards God. Hard and harsh thoughts of God, 
 will be the eflect of wrong interpretations of his 
 dealings : if for one moment we remove the eye 
 from off' the heart of God in the hour and depth of 
 our trial, we are prepared to give heed to every dark 
 suggestion of the adversary ; that moment we look 
 at the dispensation with a different mind, and to 
 God with an altered affection ; we view the chas- 
 tisement as the effect of displeasure, and the coven- 
 ant God that sent it, as unkind, unloving, and 
 severe. But let faith's eagle-eye pierce the clouds 
 and darkness that surround the throne, and behold 
 the heart of God as still love, all love, and nothing 
 but love, to his afflicted, bereaved, and sorrow- 
 stricken child, and in a moment every murmur will 
 be hushed, every rebellious feeling will be still, and 
 every unkind thought will lay in the dust ; and, 
 "He hath done all things well, — in love and faith- 
 fulness hath he aflihcted me," will be the only sounds 
 uttered by the lips. If, then, beloved, you would 
 have your heart always fixed on God, its affections 
 
72 DECLENSION IN LOVE. 
 
 flowing in one unbioken current towards him, in- 
 terpret every dispensation that he sends in the light 
 of his love ; never suffer yourself to be betrayed into 
 the belief, that any other feehng prompts the dis- 
 cipline ; give not place to the suggestion for one 
 moment, — banish it from the threshold of your mind, 
 the moment it seeks an entrance. And let this be 
 the reflection that hushes and soothes you to repose, 
 even as an infant upon its mother's breast: "My 
 God is love ! my Father is unchangeable tenderness 
 and truth ! lie hath done it, and it is well done." 
 
 Let us now turn to the consideration of the 7'evival 
 of this waning grace in the child of God ; but before 
 any especial means of revival are suggested or 
 adopted, let the believer seek to know the exact state 
 of his love to God. A knowledge of himself is the 
 first step in the return of every soul to God. In con- 
 version, it was self-knowledge — a knowledge of our- 
 selves as utterly lost — that led us to Jesus ; thus did 
 the Eternal Spirit teach, and thus he led us to the 
 great and finished work of the Son of God. Before, 
 then, you fall upon any means of revival, ascertain 
 the exact state of your love, and what has caused its 
 declension ; shrink not from the examination, — turn 
 not from the discovery. And should the humiliating 
 truth force itself upon you, — " I am not as I onre 
 was ; my soul has lost ground, — my spirituality of 
 mind has decayed ; — I have lost the fervor of my 
 first love — have slackened in the heavenly race ; — • 
 Jesus is not as he once was, the joy of my day, the 
 song of my night ; — and my walk with God is no 
 longer so tender, loving, and filial, as it was," — thea 
 
DECLENSION IN LOVE. 78 
 
 honestly and humbly confess it before God. To be 
 humbled as we should be, we must know ourselves ; 
 tlieie must be no disguising of our true condition 
 from ourselves, nor from God ; there must be no 
 framing of excuses for our declensions : the wound 
 must be probed, the disease must be known, and its 
 most aggravated symptoms brought (o view. Ascer- 
 tain, then, the true state of your aflfection towards 
 God ; bring your love to him, to the touchstone of 
 truth ; see how far it has declined, and thus you will 
 be prepared for the second step in the work of revival, 
 which is, to 
 
 Trace out and to crucify the cause of your de- 
 clension in love. Vvhorc love declines, there nmst 
 be a cause ; and when ascertained, it must be im- 
 mediately removed. Love to God is a tender flower: 
 it is a sensitive plant, soon and easily crushed ; per- 
 petual vigilance is needed to preserve it in a healthy, 
 growing state. The world's heat will wither it, the 
 coldness of formal profession will often nip it; a 
 thousand influences, all foreign to its nature and 
 hostile to its growth, are leagued against it; the soil 
 in which it is placed, is not genial to it. " In the 
 llesh there dwelleth no good thing;" whatever of 
 holiness is in the believer, whatever breathing after 
 Divine conformity, whatever soaring of the affections 
 » towards God, is from God himself, and is there as 
 the result of sovereign grace. " That which is born 
 of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is born of the 
 Spirit is spirit.'' What sleepless vigilance, then, and 
 what perpetual culture are needed, to preserve the 
 bloom and the fragrance, and to nourish the growth 
 
74 DECLENSION IN LOVE. 
 
 of this celestial plant ! Search out and remove the 
 cause of tlie declension and decay of this precious 
 grace of the Spirit ; rest not until it is dit^covered 
 and brought to light ; should it prove to be the 
 world, come out from it, and be 3e separate, and 
 touch not the unclean thing; or the power of in- 
 dwelling sin, seek its immediate crucilixion by the 
 cross of Jesus. Does the creatiire steal thy heart 
 from Christ, and deaden thy love to God ? — resign it 
 at God's bidding; he asks the surrender of thine 
 heart, and lias promised to be better to thee tiiau all 
 creature love. All the tenderness, tiie foud affection, 
 the acute synipathy, the true fidelity, that ihou 
 ever didst find or enjoy in the creature, dwells in 
 God. thy covenant God and Father, in an infinite 
 degree. He makes the creature all it is to thee : 
 that fond smile which thy fellow believer beamed 
 upon thee, was but a ray from his countenance ; 
 that expression of love was but a drop from his 
 heart; that tenderness and sympathy was a part of 
 his nature. Then possessing God in Christ, you 
 can desire no more, — you can have no more: if he 
 asks the surrender of the creature, cheerfully resign 
 it; and let God be all in all to thee. This suggests 
 a second direction : — 
 
 Draw largely from the fount of love in God. 
 All love to God in the soul, is the result of his love 
 to us ; it is begotten in the heart by his Spirit, — 
 " We love him, because he first loved us :" he took 
 the first step, and made the first advance, — " hefrst 
 loved vis." O heart-melting (ruth ! The love of 
 God to us when yet we were sinners, who caii \\n- 
 
DECLKNSION IN LOVK. 75 
 
 fold it? what mortal tongue can describe it? Before 
 we had any bein<j, and when we were enemies, he 
 sent liirf Son to die for us ; and wlien we were far 
 off by wicked works, he sent his Spirit to bring us 
 to him in the cloudy and dark day. AH his dealings 
 with us since then — his patience, restoring mercies, 
 lender, loving, faithful care, yea, the very strokes of 
 his rod, have but unfolded the depths of his love 
 towards his people: this is the love we desire you t<j 
 be filled with. " The Lord direct your hearts into 
 the love of God." Draw largely from this river ; 
 why should you deny yourselves? There is enough 
 love in God to overflow the hearts of all his saints 
 through all eternity ; then why not be filled ? " The 
 Lord direct your hearts iitto the love of God ;" stand 
 not upon the brink of the fountain, linger not upon 
 the margin of this river, — enter into it — plunge into 
 it ; it is for thee, — poor, worthless, unworthy, vile, as 
 thou feelest thyself to be, — this river of love is yet 
 for thee! Seek to be filled with it, that ye may 
 know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, 
 and that your heart in return may ascend in a flame 
 of love to God. 
 
 Deal much and closely ivith a crucified Saviow'. 
 Here is the grand secret of a constant ascending of 
 the affections to God. If thou dost find it difficult 
 to comprehend the love of God towards thee, read it 
 in the cro.-s of his dear Son. "In this was mani- 
 fested the love of God towards us, because that God 
 sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we 
 might live through him. Herein is love, not that 
 we loved God, but that ho loved us, and sent his 
 
76 DECLENSION IN LOVE. 
 
 Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John iv. 9, 
 10. Dwell upon this amazing fact ; drink into this 
 precious truth ; muse upon it, ponder it, search into 
 it, pray over it. until your heart is melted down, and 
 broken, and overwhelmed with God's wondrous love 
 to you, in the gift of Jesus. O how will this rekin- 
 dle the flame that is ready to die in your bosom ! 
 how it will draw you up in a holy and unreserved 
 surrender of body, soul, and spirit ! Forget not, 
 then, to deal much with Jesus. Whenever thou de- 
 tectest a waning of love, a reluctance to take up the 
 daily cross, a shrinking from the precept, go imme- 
 diately to Calvary ; go simply and directly to Jesus; 
 get thy heart warmed with ardent love by contem- 
 plating him upon the cross, and soon Mill the frosts 
 that gather round it melt away, the congealed cur- 
 rent shall begin to flow, and the " chariots of Am- 
 minadib"' shall bear thy soul away to commune and 
 fellowship with God. 
 
 Do not fail to honor (he Holy Spirit in this 
 great work of revived. The work is all his ; be- 
 ware of taking it out of his hands. The means we 
 have suggested for the revival of this waning grace 
 of love, can only be rendered effectual as the Spirit 
 w^orketh in you, and worketh wath you. Pray much 
 for his anointings ; go to him as the Glorifier of 
 Christ, as the Comforter, the Sealer, the Witness, the 
 Earnest of his people : it is he that will apply the 
 atoning blood, — it is he that will revive thy drooping 
 graces, — it is he that will fan to a flame thy waning 
 love, by unfolding the cross, and directing your heart 
 into the love of God. Take not vour eye off the 
 
DECLKXiJlON IN LOVE. 77 
 
 love of the Spirit ; his love is equal with the Father's 
 and the Son's love. Honor liini in his love, let it 
 encourage thee to chaw largely IVoni his influences, 
 and to be 'filled with the Spirit.' 
 
 Lastly : remember that thougli yovr love has 
 tea. red cold, the love of thy God and Father to- 
 wards thee has undergone no dimbmtion : not the 
 shadow of a change has it known. Although he 
 has hated thy declension, has rebuked thy wander- 
 ing, yet his love he has not withdrawn from thee. 
 What an encouragement to return to him again ! 
 Not one moment has God turned his back upon 
 thee, though thou hast turned thy back upon him 
 times without number: his face has always been 
 towards thee ; and it would have shone upon thee 
 with all its melting power, but for the clouds which 
 thine own waywardness and sinfulness have caused 
 to obscure and hide from thee its blessed light. Re- 
 trace thy steps and return again to God. Though 
 thou hast been a poor wanderer and hast left thy 
 first love. — thougli thy adections have strayed from 
 the Lord, and thy heart has gone after other lovers, 
 still God is gracious and ready to pardon ; he will 
 welcome (hee back again for the sake of Jesus, his 
 beloved Son in whom he is well pleased, for this is 
 his own blessed declaration, — "If his children for- 
 sake my law, and walk not in my judgments ; if 
 they break my statutes, and keep not my command- 
 ments ; then will I visit their transgressions with a 
 rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my 
 loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor 
 sullbr my faithfulness to fail." Ps. Ixxxix. 30 — 33. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 DECLENSION IN FAITH. 
 
 " Lord, increase our faith." — Luke xvii. 6. 
 
 Each grace of the Spirit must be considered by 
 the behever as forming an essential element of his 
 Christian character, and as such, inconceivably 
 costly and precious. He may not be sensible of pos- 
 sessing them all in the same degree : for as we only 
 know the extent of our mental or physical powers, 
 as circumstances develope them, so a believer knows 
 not what graces of the Spirit he may possess, until 
 the dealings of a covenant God call them into holy 
 and active exercise. Thus do infinite wisdom and 
 goodness unfold themselves in all the transactions 
 of God with his people. Not arbitrarily, nor wan- 
 tonly, nor unnecessaiily, does the heavenly Father 
 deal with his child ;— every stroke of the rod is but 
 the muffled voice of love ; every billow bears on its 
 bosom, and every tempest on its wing, some new 
 and rich blessing from the better land. O tbat we 
 should ever breathe a sigh, or utter a murmur at 
 God's covenant dealings, or for one moment mis- 
 take their holy and wise design and tendency ! 
 
 If, then, every grace of the Spirit be thus indis- 
 pensable and costly, the declension and decay of that 
 grace in the believer must attract the especial notice 
 
DECLENSION IN FAITH. 79 
 
 of God, and involve polcnin and serious consequen- 
 ces. Any part of (Jod's groat and gracious work 
 of grace in the soul tliat is sutrered to decay, seems 
 like a reflection upon God himself; (here is a dis- 
 honoring of him in it to a degree of which (he be- 
 liever is but Utile aware. AVhat, next to his Son, is 
 most glorious, and costly, and precious in God's 
 sight? Is it the world? — nay, he sees no glory in 
 that. Is it the heavens? — nay, (liey arc not clean 
 in his sight, and he chargeth his angels with folly : 
 what is it, then? — it is his kingdom in his saints, 
 his renewing, adopting, samiifying grace in his peo- 
 ple. Next to his Son, nothing is so glorious and 
 costl}^ ; he sees compared with this no real beauty 
 in aught besides; here his profoundest thoughts 
 dwell, here his fondest love rests; (o commence, carry 
 forward, and perfect this, all his arrangements in the 
 vast provinces of nature, providence, and grace, are 
 rendered subservient. Let us imagine, then, what 
 must be the mind of God in view of a decaying, de- 
 clining state of grace in the soul, and what the pe- 
 culiar method which he adopts to resuscitate and 
 recover it. Having considered personal declension 
 in two of its stages, we have arrived at another 
 equally solenm and important, — (he declension of the 
 grace of faith. We shall adopt the same plan in 
 discussing it; and proceed, in the outset, to unfold 
 the scriptural nature and properties of this Christian 
 grace. 
 
 Few subjects within the vast range of Christian 
 theology have been more frequently discussed, and 
 yet, perhaps, so little understood, as that of faith. 
 
80 DECLENSION IN FAITH. 
 
 Nor is it to be wondered at, tiiat men who approach 
 its investigation witiiout strict regard to the simple 
 teaching of God's word, and entire dependence upon 
 the illiunination of the Spirit, should find difficulty 
 and even obscurity investing a subject so purely 
 spiritual. Nor is Satan slothful in his attempts to 
 obscure the minds of men in their researches into 
 this great subject. Faith is that grace against which 
 the attacks of Satan are more directly and constantly 
 directed than almost any other. Not ignorant of its 
 spiritual nature and essential importance ; and know- 
 ing the great glory its exercise brings to God, this 
 subtle and sleepless foe of the believer employs every 
 art to mystify its simplicity, and neutralise its efforts. 
 It is not surprising, then, that opinions upon a sub- 
 ject so important should often be conflicting, and 
 that views of its nature should often be obscure. 
 
 And yet scripttnal and spiritual views of faith 
 form the very basis of experimental godliness. Faith, 
 being the starting point of experimental religion, an 
 error here must prove fatal to every succeeding step. 
 It is of no real moment how beautiful that religious 
 structure is, or how perfect its symmetry, and mag- 
 nificent its archings, and lofty its turrets, if it is 
 based upon an unsound faith. No system of reli- 
 gion, no doctrinal creed, no profession of Christianity, 
 if it cannot bear the test of God's word, and is not 
 found to answer that test, is of any real value. All 
 mere religion of the intellect, and of the imagina- 
 tion, and of taste. — and these only are popular with 
 the world — resting upon an unsciiptural and defect- 
 ive faith, are but splendid chimeras ; they disappoint 
 
DECLENSION IN FAITH. 
 
 81 
 
 in periods of sorrow, they deceive in the hom- of 
 death, and tliey involve the soul in interminable 
 woe in the world to come. It is, then, of the most 
 solemn moment, tliat, in professing religion, a man 
 should see that he starts with true faith. If a mer- 
 chant in balancing his books, commences with an 
 error in his calculations, is it surprising that that 
 error should extend throughout his account, and 
 bring him to a wrong conclusion ? Or, if a travel- 
 ler journeying towards his iiome, selects from the 
 many roads that branch out before him, a wrong 
 one, would it be any marvel if he should never ar- 
 rive at it? Apply these simple illustrations to the 
 subject before us. ]Man has a long and solemn ac- 
 count to settle with God ; he is a debtor to a large 
 amount ; he owes God a perfect obedience to his 
 law, and has " nothing to pay." Yet another char- 
 acter : he is a traveller to eternity, and every step is 
 conducting him towards the close of a brief but re- 
 sponsible probation. Now, if, in his religion he 
 commences with unsound, unwarrantable, unscrip- 
 tural views of any essential doctrine of salvation^ 
 the error with which he commenced must affect his 
 entire religion ; and unless his steps are retraced, 
 and the error discovered and corrected, the end must 
 prove fatal to his eternal happiness. He who pens 
 this page feels it of the most solemn imporlance, 
 that this chapter should present a scriptural view 
 of the nature, properties, and tendency of this essen- 
 tial part of the great plan of salvation. May the 
 Spirit now be our teacher, and the word of God 
 our text-book ! 
 
82 DECLENSION IN FAITH. 
 
 It may be proper to state, that the authors of sys- 
 tems of divinity have generally classified the subject 
 of faith. They speak of speculative faith, — of his- 
 torical faith,— practical faith, — saving faith, — realis- 
 ing faith. But as these distinctions serve only to 
 mystify the subject and perplex the mind, and fre- 
 quently lead to great errors, we set theni aside, pre- 
 ferring and adopting the simple nomenclature of the 
 inspired word, which can never perplex or mislead 
 the humble disciple of Jesus. 
 
 The Holy Ghost speaks of but " one faith," Eph. 
 iv. 5, and that faith the " faith of God's elect." Tit. 
 i. 1. And still the question recuris, What is faith? 
 Briefly and simply, it is that act of the understand- 
 ing and the heart by which a repenting sinner — a 
 sinner under the mighty operation of the Eternal 
 Spirit, convincing him of sin, and working in him 
 true contrition — closes in with God's free proclama- 
 tion of pardon through a crucified Saviour : he be- 
 lieves, he receives, he welcomes the promise of eter- 
 nal life through the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus 
 " sets to his seal that God is true." We speak of the 
 under standmg as included in this act because the 
 advocates of evangelical truth have been accused of 
 advancing doctrines which render nugatory all men- 
 tal operation, and which make religion to consist in 
 mere feelinsr- This witness is not true. We main- 
 tain that every faculty of the human mind is brought 
 out in its full power, in the great work of heart-re- 
 Hgion ; that the Holy Spirit, working repentance and 
 faith in a man, does more to develope the intellectual 
 faculties, than all human teaching beside. Have we 
 
DECLENSION IN FAITH. 83 
 
 not seen individurils, who, before conversion, gave no 
 evidence of any llian (he most ordinary powers of 
 n)ind, become, ihrouyh the illuniinalion of the Spirit 
 by the revealed word, strong- and conunanding in in- 
 tellect ! Powers of reasoning, hitherto hidden, were 
 developed; and fonnlains of thought, hitherto sealed 
 lip, were opened ; old things passed away, and all 
 things became new. We lejieat, (hen, it is the ten- 
 dency of true religion to develope and strengthen the 
 human intellect, and to give intensity and acuteness 
 to all its faculties. No mind is so powerful as a re- 
 newed and sanctified mind. 
 
 Faith, then, has to do with the understanding 
 and the heart, A man must kiioiv his lost and 
 ruined condition before he will accept of Christ ; and 
 how can he know this, without a spiritually-enlight- 
 ened mind ? "What a surprising change now passes 
 over the man ! He is brought, by the mighty power 
 of the Holy Ghost, to a knowledge of himself; one 
 beam of light, one touch of the Spirit, has altered all 
 his views of himself, has placed him in a new^ aspect ; 
 all his thoughts, his affections, his desires, are diverted 
 into another and an opposite channel ; his fond views 
 of his own righteousness have tied like a dream ; his 
 high thoughts are liumbled. his lofty looks are 
 brought low, and, as a broken-hearted siimer. he takes 
 his place in the dust before God. O wondrous, O 
 blessed change ! to see the Pharisee take the place, 
 and to hear him utter the cry of the Publican, — 
 '• God be merciful to me a sinner !" — to hear him ex- 
 claim, " I am lost, self-ruined, deserving eternal 
 wrath ; and of sinners, the vilest and the chief !" 
 
84 DECLEXSION IN FAITH. 
 
 And now the work and exercise of faith commences; 
 the same blessed Spirit that convinced of sin, presents 
 to the soul a Saviour crucified for the lost. — unfolds a 
 salvation full and free for the most worthless, — re- 
 veals a fountain that " cleanses from all sin/' and 
 holds up to view a righteousness that '"justifies from 
 all things." And all that he sets the poor convinced 
 sinner upon doing to avail himself of this, is simply 
 to believe. To the momentous question, "What 
 shall I do to be saved ?"' this is the only reply, — " Be- 
 lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
 saved." The anxious soul eagerly exclaims, — " Have 
 I then nothing to do but to believe ? — have I no 
 great work to accomplish ? — no price to bring, no 
 worthiness to plead ? — may 1 come just as I am, 
 without merit, without self-pn'^.paration, without 
 money, with all my vileness and nothingness ?" Still 
 the reply is, " Only believe :" " Then, Lord, I do be- 
 lieve." exclaims the soul in a transport of joy, "help 
 thou my unbelief !"' This, reader, is faith ; faith, 
 that wondrous grace, that mighty act of which you 
 have heard so much, upon which so many volumes 
 have been written, and so many sermons have been 
 preached ; it is the simple rolling of a wounded, 
 bleeding heart, upon a wounded, bleeding Saviour ; 
 it is the simple reception of the amazing truth, that 
 Jesus died for the iingodly — died for sirmers — died 
 for the poor, the vile, the bankrupt : that he invites 
 and welcomes to his bosom all poor, convinced, heavy- 
 laden sinners. The heart, believing this wondrous 
 announcement, going out of all other dependences, 
 and resting only in this, — receiving it, welcoming it, 
 
DECLENSION IN FAITH. 85 
 
 rejoicing in it, in a moment, all, all is peace. Forget 
 not then, reader, tlie simple, deliniiion of faith, — it is 
 but to believe with all the heart that Jesus died for 
 sinners ; and the full belief of this one fact will bring 
 peace to the most anxious and sin-troubled soul. 
 
 " Having begun in the Spirit,'' the believer is not 
 to be "made perfect in the llesh ;" having com- 
 menced his Divine life in faith, in faith he is to walk 
 every step of his journey homewards. The entire 
 spiritual life of a child of God is a life of faith, — God 
 has so ordained it ; and to bring him into the full 
 and blessed experience of it, is the end of all his pa- 
 rental dealings with him. The moment a poor sin- 
 ner has touched the hem of Christ's garment, feeble 
 though this act of faith be. it is yet the commence- 
 ment of this high and holy life ; even from that 
 moment, the believing soul [irofesses to have done 
 with a life of sense — with second causes, and to have 
 entered upon a glorious life of faith on Christ. It is 
 no forced application to him of the apostle's declara- 
 tion ; "lam crucified with Christ; nevertheless I 
 Hve, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life 
 which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of 
 the Son of God." Let us briefly unfold some pecu- 
 har points of blessedness in this life. 
 
 There is its security : a believer stands by faith, 
 — " Thou standest by faith." Rom. xi. 20. Why is 
 it that thou hast been kept to the present moment? 
 Thou hast seen many a tall cedar bowed to the 
 earth; many who did appear to 'run well,' but 
 who, in the hour of temptation, when worldly power 
 and wealth, and distinction increased, made ship- 
 8 
 
86 DECLENSION IN FAITH. 
 
 wreck of their fancied faith, and fell into divers lusts 
 and snares which drowned their souls. Why hast 
 thou been kept? thy vessel weathering tlie storm, 
 thy feet yet upon the rock ? Because ' thou stand- 
 est by faith,' — the ' faith of God's elect,' has kept 
 thee ; and though thou art deeply conscious of many 
 and great departures, — sins, it may be, which if 
 known to an ungodly, ignorant world, would bring 
 upon thee the laugh of scorn, — yet thou hast never 
 been left quite to unhinge thy soul from Jesus ; thou 
 hast discovered thy sins, and mourned over, and con- 
 fessed them, and sought their forgiveness through a 
 fresh application of the atoning l)lood,— and still, 
 ' thou standest by faith.' Ah ! if faith had not kept 
 thee where wouldst thou naw have been ? where 
 would that temptation have driven thee? into what 
 consequences would that sin have involved thee ? 
 But O, that brokenness, that contrition, that mourn- 
 ing, that going afresh to the open fountain, doth 
 prove that there was that in thee which v.ould not 
 let thee quite depart. The cedar may have been 
 bowed to the earth, but it has risen again ; the vessel 
 may have been tossed in the tempest and even may 
 have been worsted by the storm, yet it hath found 
 its port : the ' faith of God's elect' has kept thee. " Be 
 uot high-minded, but fear." Thine own vigilance, and 
 power, and wisdom, had been but poor safeguards, 
 but for the indwelling of that faith that can never die. 
 There is, too, the peculiar blessedness of the life of 
 faith : '• We walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Cor. v. 7. 
 This walk of faith takes in all the minute circum- 
 stances of every day's history ; a walking every step 
 
DECLENSION IN FAITH. 87 
 
 by faith ; a looking^ above trials, above necessities 
 above perplexities above improbabilities and impos- 
 sibilities, above all second causes ; and in the face of 
 difliciilties and discouragements, going forward lean- 
 ing upon God. If the Lord were to roll the Red Sea be- 
 fore us, and marshal the Egyptians behind us, and 
 liius, hemming us in on every side, should yet bid 
 us advance^ it would be the duty and the privilege 
 of faith instantly to obey, — believing, that, ere our 
 feet touched the water, God in our extremity, would 
 divide the sea, and take us dry-shod over it. This 
 is the only holy and happy life of a believer ; if he 
 for a moment leaves this path, and attempts to walk 
 by sight, difficulties will throng around him, troubles 
 will multiply, the smallest trials will become heavy 
 crosses, temptations to depart from the simple and up- 
 right walk will increase in number and power, the 
 heart will sicken at disappointment, the Spirit will 
 be grieved, and God will be dishonored. Let this 
 precious truth ever be before the mind,—"' We walk 
 by faith, not by sight." 
 
 Faith is an essential part of the spiritual 
 armor : '• Above all, taking the shield of faith, 
 wherewith ye shall be able to quench the fiery darts 
 of the wicked." Eph. vi. 16. Faith is also spoken 
 of as the believer's breast-plate : '■ But let us, who 
 are of the day, be sober, putting on tJie breast-plate 
 of faithy 1 Thess. v. 8. There is not a moment, 
 even the holiest, but we are exposed to the ' fiery 
 darts' of the adversary. The onset, too, is often at a 
 moment when we least suspect its approach ; sea- 
 sons of peculiar nearness to God, of hallowed enjoy- 
 
88 DECLENSION IN FAITH. 
 
 ment, — " 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," [marg. " heavenly 
 places,") — are frequently selected as the occasion of 
 attack. But, clad in this armor, — the shield and 
 the breast-plate of faith, — no weapon formed against 
 us shall prosper ; the ' fiery dart' shall be quenched, 
 and the enemy sliall be put to flight. Faith in a 
 crucified, risen, conquering, exalted Saviour, — faith 
 in a present and ever-living Head, — faith eyeing 
 future glory, the crown ghttering, and the palm 
 waving in its view, is the faith that overcomes and 
 triun^iphs. Faith dealing constantly and simply with 
 Jesus, — flying to his atoning blood, drawing from 
 his fulness, and at all times and under all circum- 
 stances looking unto him, will ever bring a conflict- 
 ing soul off more than conqueror : " This is the vic- 
 tory that overcometh tbe world, even our faith. 
 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that 
 believeth that Jesus is the Son of God 'V 
 
 Faith is a yurifying grace : " Purifying their 
 hearts by faith," Acts xv. 9 ; " Sanctified by faith 
 that is in me," Acts xxvi. IS. It is a principle holy 
 in its nature and tendency ; he is most holy who 
 has most laith ; he who has least faith is most ex- 
 posed to the assaults of his inbred corruptions. If 
 there is in any child of God a desire for Divine con- 
 formity, for more of the spirit of Christ, more wean- 
 edness, and crucifixion, and daily dying, this should 
 be his ceaseless prayer, — " Lord, increase my faith." 
 Faith in Jesus checks the power of sin, slays the 
 
DECLENSION IN FAITH. 89 
 
 hidden corruption, and enables the believer t(j '* en- 
 dure as sceinf^ him who is invisible.'' 
 
 This, too, is the grace that smooths the rugged 
 way, lightens the daily burden, "glorifies God in the 
 fire ;" is " the substance of things hoped for, the 
 evidence of things not seen;" rests upon God's 
 word because he has said it: and keeps the soul, 
 through all its conflicts and trials, safe unto eternal 
 glory : " Kept by the power of God, through faith, 
 unto salvation." Hut we have manily to do with 
 the declension o\ this precious grace. 
 
 We have already remarked, that there is notliing 
 essentially omnipotent in any single grace of tlie 
 Spirit ; to suppose this, would be to deify that grace : 
 that, although regeneration is a spiritual work, and 
 all the graces implanted in the soul are the product 
 of the Spirit, and must necessarily be in their 
 nature spiritual and indestructible, yet they may so 
 decline in their power, become so enfeebled and 
 impaired in their vigor and tendency, as to be 
 classed among the ' things that are ready to die.' 
 It is pre-eminently so with faith; perhaps there is 
 no part of the Spirit's work more constantly and 
 severely assailed, and consequently more exposed 
 to declension, than this. Shall we look at the 
 eiainples in God's word? We cite the case of 
 Abrahnni, the father of the faithful; beholding him, 
 at God's command, binding his son upon the aliar, 
 and raising the knife for the sacrifice, we unhesitat- 
 ingly exclaim, — 'Surely never was faith like this! 
 Here is faith of a giant character; faith, whose 
 sinews no trial can ever relax, whose lustre no 
 8* 
 
JJ DECLENSION IN FAITH. 
 
 temptation can ever dim.' And yet, tracing the 
 hirjtory of the patriarch still frnther, we find that 
 very giant faith now trembhng, and yielding under 
 a trial far less acute and severe ; he, who could 
 surrender the life of his promised son — that son, 
 through whose lineal descent Jesus was to come— 
 into the hands of God, could not entrust that same 
 God with his own. We look at Job : in the com- 
 mencement of his deep trial we find him justifying 
 God ; messenger follows messenger with tidings of 
 yet deeper woe, but not a murmur is breathed ; and 
 as the cup, now full to the brim, is placed to his lips, 
 how sweetly sounds the voice of holy resignation, — 
 '• The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; 
 blessed be the name of the Lord ;" " In all this did 
 not Job sin with his lips:" and yet the very faith, 
 which thus bowed in meekness to the rod, so de- 
 dined, as to lead him to curse the day of his birth ! 
 ^Ve see David, whose faith could at one time lead 
 him out to battle with Goliath, now fleeing from a 
 shadow, and exclaiming, — " I shall one day perish 
 by the hand of Saul !" And mark how the energy 
 oi Peter'' s faith declined, who at one period could 
 v.alk boldly upon the tempestuous sea, apd yet at 
 another could deny his Lord, panic-struck at the 
 voice of a little maid. Who will say that the faith 
 of the holiest man of God may not at one time 
 greatly and sadly decliiie? 
 
 But we need not travel out of ourselves for the 
 evidence and the illustration of the affecting truth 
 we are upon: let every believer turn in upon him- 
 self. What, reader, is the real state of your faith ? 
 
DECLENSION IN FAITH. 91 
 
 is it as lively, vigorous, and active, as it was when 
 you fust belicveil ? lias it uuclergoue no declension? 
 Is the Object of faith as glorious in your eye as he 
 then was? Are you not now looking at second 
 causes in God's dealings with you, instead of lifting 
 thine eye and fixing it on him alone? What is 
 your faith in prayer / — do you come boldly to the 
 throne of grace, asking, nothing doubting? Do you 
 take all your trials, your wants, your infirmities, to 
 God? What is your realisation of eternal things, — 
 is faith here in constant, holy exercise? Art thou 
 living as a pilgrim and a sojourner, "choosing rather 
 to suffer allliction with the people of God," than float 
 along on the summer-sea of this world's enjoy- 
 ments ? What is the crucifying power of your 
 faith? — does it deaden you to sin, and wean you 
 from the world, and constrain you to walk liumbly 
 with God and near to Jesus? And when tl)e Lord 
 brings the cross, and says, " Bear this for me," 
 does your faith promptly and cheerfully acquiesce, 
 " any cross, any suffering, any sacrifice for thee, 
 dear Lord?" Thus may you try the nature and 
 the degree of your faith ; bring it to the touch-stone 
 of God's truth, and ascertain what its character is, 
 and how far it has suffered declension. Permit us 
 to adduce a few causes to which a feeble and de- 
 clining faith may frequently be traced. 
 
 ^Vhen a heUever''s visits to his closet groiv less 
 frequent and spiritual, faith will assuredly de- 
 cline. Prayer is the channel that supplies faith 
 with its nourishment and vigor. As well might 
 we cut off all tlie rills and streams which flow down 
 
92 DECLENSION IN FAITH. 
 
 the mountairi's side, and expect that the valleys be- 
 neath will present their enamelled and verdant aspect, 
 as to close up the channel of prayer, and then look 
 for a healthy, vigorous, and growing faith. There 
 is a beautiful connexion between faith and prayer, — 
 their influence is reciprocal : constant and ardent 
 prayer strengthens faith, and faith, brought into 
 exercise, stin)ulates to prayer. A praying man will 
 be a beheving man, and a man of faith will be a 
 man of prayer. Mary Queen of Scotland is said to 
 have expressed a greater dread of the prayers of 
 John Knox the Reformer, than of all the armies 
 leagued against her. But what infused such power 
 into the prayers of Knox, rendering fhem ' terrible 
 as an army with banners ?' — it was his mighty 
 faith ; and his mighty faith rendered him mighty in 
 prayer. Here, then, we have one cause, and a most 
 fruitful one, of the weak and powerless faith of many 
 professors : tiiey live at a distance from God., and 
 the consequence is, faith receives no nourishment; 
 there is but little going to Jesus, but little dealing 
 with his blood, but little drawing from his fulness ; 
 forgetting that, as he is the Author, so he is the 
 Susiainer of faith, and that the soul only lives, as it 
 hves "by the faith of the Son of God." Reader, is 
 thy faith in a feeble, sickly, declining state ? liOok 
 well to thy closet : see if tliou canst not trace the 
 cause there. What is thy accustomed habit of 
 prayer? How much time of twelve hours is spent 
 with God ? What ! do thy business, thy fauii'y, thy 
 worldly engagements. C'lnsunic all thy time ? What ! 
 but little time for pra\ ' but few stolen moments 
 
DECLENSION IN FAITH. 93 
 
 for God? — no hours redeemed from secular pursuits, 
 and devoted to holy communion and (ilial fellowship 
 wilh thy Father in secret / Is it well-nigh all con- 
 sumed upon thyself, in worldly care, confusion, and 
 excitement? Wonder not that thy faith is feeble, 
 drooping, and ready to die: the greatest wonder is, 
 that thou art not quite dead ; that the feeble, dicker- 
 ing spark is not entirely extinguished. Rouse thee 
 from thy fearful slumber ! Thy situation, drowsy 
 professor, is perilous in the extreme ; thou art sleep- 
 ing on enchanted ground ; thy shield and thy breast- 
 plate lying unbuckled at thy side, and all thine 
 enemies gathering in fearful numbers around thee ! — 
 a return to prayer is thine oi;ly safety. 
 
 Dealing much with a life of sense, is a most 
 influential cause of declension in faith. If we de- 
 sire to see our way every step of our homeward path, 
 we must abandon the more diiricult. though more 
 blessed ascent of faith ; it is impossible to walk by 
 sight and by faith at the same time ; the two paths 
 run in opposite directions. If the Lord were to re- 
 veal the why and the wherefore of all his dealings, — 
 if we were only to advance as we saw the spot on 
 which we were to place our foot, or only to go out, 
 as we knew the place whither we were going, it 
 then were no longer a life of faith that we lived, but 
 of sight. We should have exchanged the life which 
 glorifies, for the life which dishonors God. When 
 God, about to deliver the Israelites from the power 
 of Pharaoh, conunanded them to advance, it was 
 before he revealed the way by which he was about 
 to rescue them. The Red Sea rolled its deep and 
 
94 DECLENSION IN FAITH, 
 
 frowning waves at their feet; they saw not a spot 
 of dry ground on whicli they could tread; and yet, 
 this was the command to Moses, — "Speak unto the 
 children of Israel that they go forward.''^ They 
 were to " walk by faith, not by sight." It had been 
 no exercise of faith in God, no confidence in his 
 promise, no resting in his faithfulness, and no ' mag- 
 nifying of his word above all his name,' had they 
 halted until the waters clave asunder, and a dry 
 passage opened to their view. But, like the patri- 
 archs, they " staggered not at the promise of God 
 through unbelief; but were strong in faith, giving 
 glory to God." Have little to do with sense if thou 
 wouldst have much to do unth faith. Expect not 
 always to see the way. God may call you to go 
 out into a place, not making known to you whither 
 you go; but it is your duty, like Abrahanfi, to obey. 
 All that you ever have to do is to go forward, leaving 
 all consequences and results to God : it is enough 
 for you that the Lord by his providence says, "Go 
 forward!'' This is all you may hear; it is your 
 duty instantly to respond, " Lord, I go at thy bid- 
 ding; bid me come to thee, though it be upon the 
 stormy water." 
 
 Faith unexercisbd in dark and afflictive provi- 
 dences, leads greatly to its declension. The exer- 
 cise of faith strengthens, as the neglect to exercise 
 weakens it. It is the constant play of the arm that 
 brings out its muscular power in all its fulness ; 
 were that ariu allowed to hang by our side, still and 
 motionless, how soon would its sinews contract, and 
 its energy waste away ! So it is with faith, the right 
 
DECLENSION' IN FAITH. \.0 
 
 arm of a believer's strength ; tlie more it is exercised, 
 ihe migiitier it becomes ; neglect to use it, allow it 
 to remain inert and inoperative, and the eli'ect will 
 bo, a willioring up of ils power. Now when gloomy 
 providences, and sharp trials and temptations, thicken 
 around a poor believing soul, then is it the time for 
 faith to put on its strength, and come forth to the 
 bailie. God never places his child in any difliculties, 
 or throws upon him any cross, but it is a call to ex- 
 ercise faith ; and if the opportunity of its exercise 
 passes away without improvement, the effect will be, 
 u weakening of the principle, and a feeble putting 
 forth of its power in the succeeding trial. Forget 
 not, that the more faith is brought into play, the 
 mure it increases : the more it is exercised, the 
 stronger it becomes ; the reverse of this, is frequently 
 the cause of its sad declension. 
 
 T'hc habit/ml, or even the occasional, doubtful 
 apprehension indulged in of his interest in Christ, 
 will tend materially to the enfeebling and decay of 
 a believer's faith : no cause can be more certain in 
 its effects than this. If it be true, as we have shown, 
 that the exercise of faith developes its strength, it is 
 cc[ually true, that the perpetual indulgence of doubt- 
 ful apprehensions of pardon and acceptance, nuist ne- 
 cessarily eat as a cankerworm at the root of faith. 
 Every misgiving felt, every doubt cherished, every 
 fear yielded to, every dark providence brooded over, 
 tends to unhinge the soul from God, and dims its 
 near and loving view of Jesus. To doubt the love, 
 the wisdom, and the faithfulness of God ; to doubt 
 the perfection of the work of Christ ; to doubt the 
 
96 DECLENSION IN FAITH. 
 
 operation of the Spirit on the heart, — what can tend 
 more to the weakening and decay of this precious 
 and costly grace? Every time the soul sinks under 
 the pres.-ure of a doubt of its interest in Christ, the 
 effect must be, a weakening of the soul's view of the 
 glory, perfection, and all-sufficiency of Christ's work. 
 But imperfectly may the doubting Christian be 
 aware what dishonor is done to Jesus, what reflection 
 is cast upon his great work, by every unbelieving 
 fear he cherishes. It is a secret wounding of Jesus, 
 however the soul may shrink from such an infer- 
 ence ; it is a lowering, an undervaluing of Christ's 
 obedience and death, — that glorious work of salva- 
 tion with which the Father has declared himself 
 well pleased,— that work with which Divine justice 
 has confessed itself satisfied, — that work on the basis 
 of which every poor, convinced sinner is saved, and 
 on the ground of which, millions of redeemed and 
 glorified spirits are now bowing around the throne. — 
 that work, we say, is dishonored, undervalued, and 
 slighted by every doubt and fear secretly harbored, 
 or openly expressed by a child of God. The moment 
 a believer looks at his unworthiness more than at 
 the righteousness of Christ,— supposes that there is 
 not a sufficiency of merit in Jesus, to supply the ab- 
 sence of all merit in himself before God, what is it 
 but a setting up his sinfulness and unworthiness 
 above the infinite worth, fulness, and sufficiency of 
 Christ's atonement and righteousness ? There is 
 much spurious humility among many of the dear 
 saints of God. It is thought by some^ that to be 
 always doubting one's pardon and acceptance, is the 
 
DECLENSION IN FAITH. 97 
 
 evidence of a lowly spirit. It is, allow us to say, 
 the mark of the very opposite of a lowly and humble 
 niiiul. That is true humility that credits the tes- 
 timony of God, — that believes because he has spo- 
 ken it, — that rests in the blood, and righteousness, 
 and all-sufficiency of Jesus, because he has declared 
 that '^whosoever believeth in him shall be saved." 
 Tills is genuine lowliness. — the blessed product of 
 the Eternal Spirit. To go to Jesus just as I am, a 
 poor, lost, helpless sinner, — to go without previous 
 preparation, — to go glorying in my weakness, in- 
 firmity, and poverty, that the free grace and sovereign 
 pleasure, and infinite merit of Christ, may be seen 
 in my full pardon, justification and eternal glory. 
 There is more of unmortilied pride, of self righteous- 
 ness, of that principle that would make God a debtor 
 to the creature, in the refusal of a soul fully to ac- 
 cept of .Tesus, than is suspected. There is more real, 
 profound humility in a simple, believing venture upon 
 Christ, as a ruined sinner, taking him as all its 
 righteousness, all its pardon, all its glory, than it is 
 possible for any mortal mind to fathom. Doubt is 
 ever the oflTspring of pride ; humility is ever the 
 handmaid of faith. 
 
 Nor must we forbear to specify, as among the 
 most fruitful causes of a declension of faith, the 
 'power of unsubdued sin in the heart : nothing per- 
 haps, more secretly and ellectually militates against 
 the vigor of a life of faith than this. Faith, as we 
 have seen, is a holy, indwelling principle ; it has its 
 root in the renewed, sanctified heart ; and its growth 
 and fruilfulness depend murh upon the progressive 
 
 
98 DECLENSION' IN FAITH. 
 
 richness of the soil in which it is embedded : if the 
 noxious weeds of the natural soil are allowed to grow 
 and occupy the heart, and gain the ascendency, this 
 celestial plant will necessarily droop and decay. la 
 order to form some conception of the utter incon- 
 gruity of a life of faith with the existence and power 
 of unmortified sin in the heart, we have but to imag- 
 ine the case of a believer living in the practice of 
 unsubdued sin. What is the real power of faith in 
 him ? where is its strength ? where are its glorious 
 achievements ? where the trophies it has won in the 
 field of battle ? We look for the fruit of faith, — the 
 lowly, humble, contrite spirit — the tender conscience 
 — the travelling daily to the atoning blood — the liv- 
 ing upon the grace that is in Christ Jesus — the car- 
 rying out of Christian principle — crucifixion to the 
 world — patient submission to a life of suffering — 
 meek resignation to a Father's discipline — a living 
 as beholding Him who is invisible — a constant and 
 vivid realization of eternal realities, — we look for 
 these fruits of faith ; but we find them not. And 
 why ? because there is the worm of unmortified sin 
 feeding at the root ; and until that is slain, faith 
 will always be sickly, unfruitful, and ' ready to die.' 
 " Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh 
 to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, 
 ye shall die ; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify 
 the deeds of the body, ye shall live." 
 
 A looking- off of Christ will tend greatly to the 
 weakening and unfruitfulness of faith. It is said, 
 that the eagle's eye becomes strong through the early 
 discipline of the parent ; placed in such a position 
 
DECLENSION IN FAITH. 99 
 
 when young, as to fix the gaze intently upon the 
 sun, the power of vision giailually becomes so great, 
 as to enable it in time to look at its meridian splen- 
 dor without uneasinesfj, and to descry the remotest 
 object without ditliculty. The same spiritual disci- 
 pline strengthens the eye of faith ; the eye grows 
 vigorous by looking much at the Sun of righteous- 
 ness. The more constantly it gazes upon Jesus, the 
 stronger it grows ; and the stronger it grows, the 
 more glory it discovers in him, the more beauty 
 in his person, and perfection in his work. Thus 
 strengthened, it can see things that are afar off, — 
 the promises of a covenant-keeping God, the hope of 
 eternal life, the crown of glory — these it can look 
 upon and almost touch : '' Faith is the subst, ;• e of 
 things hopctl fur, the evidence of things not seen." 
 And of the Old Testament worthies it is recorded 
 by the same Spirit : " These all died in faith, not 
 having received the promises, but having sefni them 
 afar o/T, and were persuaded of them, and embraced 
 them, and confessed that they were strangers and 
 pilgrims on the earth." O precious, costly grace of 
 the Eternal Sjjirit ! who would not possess thee? 
 who would not mortify everything that would wound, 
 enfeeble, and cause thee to decay in the soul? 
 
 It only remains for us to show, in what way the 
 Holy Spirit revives, strengthens, and increases the 
 declining grace of faith. And this he does, in the 
 first place, by discovering to tlie believer the cause 
 of its declension, and setting hint upon, and 
 strengthening him in, the work of its removal. 
 
100 DECLENSION IN FAITH. 
 
 The Spirit leads the declining believer to the spirit- 
 ual duty of self-exatnination. 
 
 When any grace of the Spirit is in a sickly and 
 declining state, an effect so painful must originate in 
 a cause that needs to be searched out: the great dif- 
 ficulty in a backsliding soul, is, to bring it to the 
 spiritual and needed duty of self-scrutiny. There 
 is something so humiliating, so foreign to the natu- 
 ral inclination of the heart, and withal, to which 
 the very declension of the soul is so strongly op- 
 posed, that it requires no little putting forth of the 
 Spirit's grace, to bring the believer honestly and fully 
 into it. Just as the merchant, conscious of the em- 
 barrassed state of his affairs, shrinks from a thor- 
 ough investigation of his books, so does the con- 
 scious backslider turn from the honest examination 
 of ills wandering heart. But as the cure of any dis- 
 ease, or the correction of any evil, depends upon the 
 knowledge of its cause, so does the revival of a de- 
 clining behever closely connect itself with the dis- 
 covery and removal of that which led to his declen- 
 sion. Declining believer ! what is the canse of thy 
 weak faith ? Why is this lovely, preciotis, and fruit- 
 ful flower, drooping, and ready to die? What has 
 dimmed the eye, and paralysed the hand, and enfee- 
 bled the walk of faith ? Perhaps it is tiie neglect 
 of inayer : thou hast lived, it may be days, and 
 weeks, and months, without communion with God ; 
 there have been no constant and precious visits to 
 thy closet ; no wrestling with God ; no fellowship 
 with thy Father. Marvel not, beloved, that thy 
 faith languisheth, droopeth, and fadeth. The greater 
 
DLCLEN.SION IN I'.AITU. 101 
 
 marvel is, that tliou hast any faith at all ; that it is 
 not quite dead, plucked up by the root ; and but for 
 the mighty power of God, and the constant interces- 
 sion of Jesus at his right hand, it would long since 
 have ceased to be. But what will revive it? — Aii 
 innnediate retnrti to prayer ; revisit thy closet; re 
 build the broken altar ; rekindle the expiring flame ; 
 seek thy forsaken Ciod. O how can faith be re- 
 vived, and how can it grow, in the neglect of daily, 
 secret, and wrestling prayer with God / The Eter- 
 nal Spirit laying this upon thine heart, showing 
 thee thy awful neglect, and breathing into thee 
 afresh the spirit of grace and supplication, will im- 
 part a new and blessed impulse to faith. 
 
 Perhaps you have been misinter{)reting the Lord's 
 providential dealings with you ; you have been in- 
 dulging in unbelieving, unkind, unfilial views of your 
 trials, l)ereavemcnts, and disappointments: you have 
 said, -'Can I be a child, yet be aflflicted thus? can 
 he love me, yet deal with me so?" O that thought! 
 O that surmise ! Couldst thou have looked into the 
 heart of thy God when he sent that trial, caused 
 that bereavement, blew upon that flower, and blasted 
 that fair design, thou wouldst never have murmured 
 more : so much love, so much tenderness, so nmch 
 faithfulness, so much wisdom wouldst thou have 
 seen as to have laid thy mouth silent in the dust be- 
 fore him. Wonder not that, indulging in such mis- 
 givings, interpreting the covenant dealings of a God 
 of love in such a ligiit, thy faith has received a 
 wound. Nothing perhaps more tends to unhinge 
 the soul from God, engender distrust, hard thoughts, 
 9* 
 
103 DECLENSION IN FAITH. 
 
 and rebellious feelings, than thus to doubt his lov- 
 ing-kindness and faithfulness in the discipline he is 
 pleased to send. But faith, looking tiirough the 
 dark cloud, rising on the mountain wave, and an- 
 choring itself on the Divine veracity, and the un- 
 changeable love of God, is sure to strengthen and in- 
 crease by every storm that beats upon it. 
 
 Is it the enchantment of the world that has seized 
 upon thy faith? has it stolen upon thee, beguiled 
 thee, caught thee with its glitter, fascinated thee with 
 its syren song, overwhelmed thee with its crushing 
 cares ? — Come out from it and be separate ; resign 
 its hollow friendship, its temporising policy, its car- 
 nal enjoyments, its fleshly wisdom, its sinful con- 
 formity. All these becloud the vision, and enfeeble 
 the grasp of faith. The world, and the love of it, 
 and conformity to it, may please and assist the life 
 of sense, but it is opposed to, and will retard, the 
 life oi faith. Not more opposed in their natures 
 are the flesh and the Spirit, darkness and light, sin 
 and holiness, than are a vigorous life of faith and a 
 sinful love of the w^orld. Professor of the Gospel ! 
 guard against the world ; it is your great bane : 
 watch against conformity to it in your dress, in your 
 mode of living, in the education of your children, in 
 the principles, and motives, and policy, that govern 
 you. We would say to every professing Christian 
 be a non-conformist here : separate yourselyes from 
 the world,— that world that crucified your Lord and 
 Master, and would crucify his faith tliat is in you; 
 touch not tlie unclean thing, for "ye are a chosen 
 generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a pe- 
 
DECLEN310N IN KAITH. 103 
 
 culiar people : that ye ^^liotild show forth the praises 
 of him who halli culletl 3'ou out of daikuess into his 
 marvellous hght.-' Would you be 'strong in faith, 
 giving glory to God /'- -then yield obedience to the 
 voice which, with an uneartlily tongue, exclaims to 
 every professing child of God, " Be not conformed 
 to this world ; but be transformed by the renewing 
 of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, 
 and acceptable, and perfect will of God !"' 
 
 Is it uinnortified sin that feeds at the root of 
 faith ? Bring it to the cross of Christ, — condemn it 
 there, nail it there, and leave it not until you are 
 enabled to exclaim, " (hanks be unto God, who 
 always causeth me to triumph through Christ 
 Jesus!" 
 
 Is it the indulgence of unbelieving and dis- 
 honoring fears touching your interest in Christ? 
 Yield them, and let the wind scatter them ; there is 
 no ground for ihe doubts and unbelief of a child of 
 God; there may be much in hin)self to cast him 
 down, but nothing in the truth which he professes 
 to believe; there is nothing in the subject-matter of 
 faith, nothing in Christ, nothing in the work of 
 Christ, nothing in the word of God, calculated to 
 beget a doubt or a fear in the heart of a poor sinner. 
 On the contrar}', everything to inspire confidence, 
 strengthen faith, and encourage hope. Does his sin 
 plead loud for his condemnation ? — the voice of Im- 
 nianuel's blood pleads louder for his pardon ; does 
 his own righteousness condemn? — the righteousness 
 of Christ acquits. Thus there is nothing in Christ 
 to engender an unbelieving doubt in a poor con- 
 
204 DECLENSION IX FAITH. 
 
 vinced sinner. Himself he may doubt, — he may 
 doubt his ability lo save himself — he may doubt his 
 power to better hi.s condition, to make himself more 
 W'orth}^ and acceptable, but never let him doubt that 
 Christ is all that a poor, lost, convinced sinner 
 wants. Let him not doubt that Jesus is the Friend 
 of sinners, the Saviour of sinners, and that he was 
 never known to cast out one who in lowliness and 
 brokenness of heart, sought his compassionate grace. 
 O seek, reader, more simple views of Jesus; clearer 
 views of his great and finished work ; take every 
 doubt as it is suggested, every fear as it rises, to 
 liim ; and remember that whatever of vileness you 
 discover in yourself that has a tendency to lay you 
 low, there is everything in Jesus calculated to lift 
 you from the dunghill, and place you among the 
 princes. Discovering to the backsliding believer 
 these points, — making known to him which it is 
 that causes the declension of his faith, the Eternal 
 Spirit of God takes the first step in the great and 
 precious work of revival. 
 
 A further step b}^ which the Holy Spirit revives 
 the decaying faith of the believer is, by leading hi?n 
 to rest more simply on the faithfulness of God. 
 What a restorative to drooping faith are these de- 
 clarations of the Divine word, which represent God 
 as infinitely unciiangeable and faithful : " I am the 
 Lord, I change not :'' '• Every good gift and every 
 perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from 
 the Father of lights, with wliom is no variableness, 
 neither "shadow of turning :" " I \\\\\ betroth thee 
 unto me in faithfulness :" " Righteousness shall be 
 
ItKCl.KNi^loN IN I'AFTII. 105 
 
 the girdle of his loins, and I'uilhfuhiess the girdle of 
 his reins :" " Nor will I sufler my faithfulness to 
 fail:" "Great is thy faithfulness :'' "Faithful is he 
 that promised ! " And then to remember, that the 
 unbelief of the beHever never affects the faithfulness 
 of God ! " If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful ; 
 he cannot deny himself."' This is the only true 
 and secure anchorage-ground for a poor soul, tossed 
 amid the waves of doubt and perplexity: — to know 
 that God cannot alter his word. — that it is impossible 
 that he should lie. — that were he to deviate from 
 his infinite perfection, he would cease to be a perfect 
 Being, and consequently would cease to be God ; to 
 know. too. that he is faithful in the midst of the 
 unfaithfulness and perpetual starlings aside of his 
 child, — faithful in the depth of the deepest afflic- 
 tion — faithful when earthly hopes wither, and human 
 cisterns are broken, and when tiie soul is led to 
 exclaim, "His faithfulness hath failed!" O what 
 a spring to a tried and drooping faith, is this view 
 which God himself has given of liis own glorious 
 and perfect character ! It is no small triumph of 
 faith to walk with God, when all is darkness with 
 the soul, and there is no light ; to feed amid the 
 roaring of the waves that still he is faithful ; that 
 though he slay, yet the soul can trust him ; that 
 though he were to take all else away, he would 
 never remove himself from his people. O glorious 
 triumph of faith ! '' Who is among you that feareth 
 the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that 
 walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him 
 
106 DECLENSION IN FAITH. 
 
 trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his 
 God." 
 
 It will tend much to the revival of a tried and 
 drooping faith to remember, that when the Lord is 
 about to impart any peculiar mercy, there is always 
 a travail of faith for that mercy. Some of the 
 choicest mercies of the covenant brought into the 
 experience of the believer, come by travail of faith : 
 it may be a tedious and a painful process ; faith 
 may be long and sharply tried, yet the blessings it 
 will bring forth will more than repay for all the 
 weeping, and suffering, and crying, it has occasioned. 
 Be not surprised, then, at any severe trial of faith ; 
 be sure that when it is thus tried, God is about to 
 bring your soul into the possession of some great, 
 and perhaps, hitherto unexperienced mercy. It may 
 be a travail of faith for spiritual blessing ; and the 
 result may be a deepening of the work in your heart, 
 increase of spirituality, more weanedness from crea- 
 ture-trust, and more child-like leaning upon the 
 Lord ; more simple, close, and sanctifying knowledge 
 of the Lord Jesus. Or, it may be a travail of faith 
 for tefnporal mercy, for the supply of some want, 
 the rescue from some embarrassment, the deliver- 
 ance out of some peculiar and trying difficulty ; but, 
 whatever the character of the trial of faith be, the 
 issue is always certain and glorious. The Lord may 
 bring his child into difficult and strait paths, he may 
 hedge him about with thorns so that he cannot get 
 out, but it is only to draw the soul more simply to 
 repose in himself; that, in the extremity, when no 
 creature would or could help, when refuge failed and 
 
DFXl.KNSlUN IN KAJTll. 107 
 
 no man cared for his soul, that then foiih should go 
 out and rest itself in Jliui who never disowns his 
 own work, but always honors the feeblest exhibition, 
 and turns his car to the faintest cry. " Out of the 
 depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear 
 my voice: lei thine ears be attentive to the voice of 
 my supplication." ''In njy distress I called upon 
 the Lord, and cried unfo my God : lie heard my 
 voice out of liis temple, and my cry came before hiui, 
 even into his cars." '"O magnify the Lord with me, 
 and let us exalt his name together. I sought the 
 Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all 
 my fears." " This poor man cried, and the Lord 
 heard him: and saved him out of all his troubles." 
 Here was the severe travail of faith, and here we see 
 the blessed result. Thus true is God's word, which 
 declares that '• weeping may endure for a night, but 
 joycometh in the morning." "He that goeth forth 
 and weepeth. bearing precious seed, shall doubtless 
 couie again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with 
 l)im." 
 
 But more, — the trial of faith is a test of its de- 
 gree. We know not what faith wc possess, until the 
 Lord calls it into exercise ; we may be greatly de- 
 ceived as to its nature and degree; to walk upon 
 the stormy water, may be thought by us an easy 
 thing ; to witness for Christ, no hard matter ; but the 
 Lord brings our faith to the test. He bids us come 
 to him upon the water, and then we begin to sink ; 
 lie suffers us to be assailed by our enemies, and we 
 shrink from the cross ; he puts our faith to the trial, 
 and then we learn how little we possess. 
 
108 DECLENtflUlVi IN FAITH. 
 
 The Irial of faith is al.^o a test of its character ; 
 it is the furnace that tries the ore of what kind it is: 
 it may he brass, or iron, or clay, or perhaps precious 
 gold : but the crucible will test it. There is much 
 that passes for real faith, which is no faith ; there is 
 much spurious, counterfeit metal ; it is the trial that 
 brings out its real character. The true character of 
 Judas was not known until his covetousness was 
 tempted ; Simon Magus was not discovered to pos- 
 sess a spurious faith until he thought to purchase the 
 gift of God with nioney ; Demas did not forsake the 
 apostle, until the world dreAV him away. Thus sol- 
 emnly has our Lord unfolded this truth, — "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 : for when tribulation or persecution ariseth 
 because of the word, by-and-by he is offended. He 
 also that received seed among the thorns is he that 
 heareth the word ; and the care of this world, and 
 the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he 
 becometh unfruitful.' But true foith stands the 
 trial; where there is a real woik of grace in the 
 heart, no tribulation, or persecution, or power of this 
 world, will ever be able to expel it thence : but if all 
 is chaff, the wind will scatter it ; if all is but dross 
 and tinsel, the fire will consume if. Let the humble 
 and tried believer, then, thank God for every test that 
 brings out the real character of his faith, and proves 
 it to be "the faith of God's elect." God will try his 
 own work in the gracious soul ; every grace of his 
 own Spirit he will at one time or another place in 
 
DECLENSION FN FAITH. 109 
 
 the crucible ; but never will he remove hid eye from 
 off it; he will 'sit as a refiner,' and watch that not 
 a grain of the precious metal is consumed ; he will 
 be with his child in all and every affliction ; not for 
 one moment will he leave him. liet gratitude rather 
 than murmuring, joy rather than sorrow, attend 
 every test which a loving and faithful Father brings 
 to liis own gracious work,— " that the trial of your 
 faith being much more precious than of gold that 
 perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found 
 unto praise, and honor, and glory, at (he appearing 
 of Jesus Ciirist." 
 
 Be careful of not )}}al:iii(( a Saviour of faith. 
 There is a danger — and it cannot be too vigilantly 
 guarded against — of substituting the work of the 
 Spirit for the work of Christ ; this mistake it is that 
 leads so many of God's saints to look within, in- 
 stead of vithout, themselves for the evidences of 
 their calling and acceptance ; and thus, too, so many 
 are kept all their spiritual course walking in a state 
 of bondage and fear, the great question never fully 
 and fairly settled, or, in other words, never qiiite sure 
 of their sonship. The work of Christ is a great and 
 finished work ; it is so glorious that it can admit of 
 no comparison, so complete that it can allow of no 
 addition, and so essential that it can give place to 
 no substitution. Precious as is the work of the Holy 
 Ghost in the heart, and essential as it is to the sal- 
 vation of the soul, yet he who places it where the 
 work of Jesus ought only to be, deranges the order 
 of the covenant, closes uj) the legitimate source of 
 evidence, and will assuredly bring distress and un- 
 10 
 
110 DECLENSION IN FAITH. 
 
 certainty into his soul. " Righteousness, peace, and 
 joy," are the fruit of a full belief in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ ; and he who looks for them away from the 
 cross, will meet with disappointment: but they are 
 found in Jesus. He who looks away from himself, 
 from his vileness, guiltiness, emptiness, and poverty, 
 fully and believingly unto Jesus, shall know what 
 the forgiveness of sin is, and shall experience the 
 love of God shed abroad in his heart. 
 
 If, then, your faith is feeble and fried, be not cast 
 down ; faith does not save you. Though it be an 
 instrument of salvation, and as such, is of vast im- 
 portance, it is but the instrument ; the finished work 
 of Immanuel is the ground of your salvation, yea, it 
 is your salvation itself Then make not a Saviour 
 of your faith ; despise it not if it is feeble, exult not 
 in it if it is strong, trample not on it if it is small, 
 defy it not if it is great ; such are the extremes to 
 which every believer is exposed. If your faith is 
 feeble and sharply tried, it is no evidence that you 
 are not a believer ; but the evidence of your accept- 
 ance in the Belo\'ed, is to arise from Jesus alone ; 
 then let your constant motto be, " looking unto 
 Jesus;" looking to him just as you are; looking 
 unto him when faith is feeble; looking unto him 
 when faith is tried ; looking unto him when faith is 
 declining, yea, looking unto him when you fear you 
 have no faith. Look up, tried and tempted soul ! 
 Jesus is the Author, the Sustainer, and he will be 
 come the Finisher of thy faith. All thou wantest is 
 in him. One glimpse, dim though it be, of his 
 cross, — one touch, trembling though it be. of his 
 
de<;lension in faith. Ill 
 
 garment, — will lift thee from thy lowest depths, 
 lighten thy heaviest burden, gild thy darkest pros- 
 pect, and when thou arrivest at Jordan's brink, will 
 bear thee safely through its swellings, and land thee 
 on the sunny and verdant shores of Canaan. Let 
 this be your prayer, urged unceasingly at the throne 
 of grace until it is answered — " Lord, increase my 
 faith ;" and then with holy Paul, you too shall be 
 enabled with humble assurance to exclaim, " I know 
 in whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he 
 is able to keep that which I have committed unto 
 him against that day !" 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 
 
 " Thou rcstrainest prayer before God."' — Joh xt. 4. 
 
 Were we to select a single characteristic of per- 
 sonal declension more marked than another, we 
 should feel no hesitation in adopting the decay of 
 the spirit of prayer as that featme. As prayer is 
 the first evidence of spiritual life in the soul, and its 
 growth in spirituality and vigor marks the healthy 
 and advanced state of that life, so the declension of 
 prayer in its spirit, exercise, and enjoyment, is strong- 
 ly indicative of the decay of real grace in a child of 
 God. We address ourselves to the unfolding of this 
 subject under the solemn conviction, that it is of 
 more general application to professing believers, 
 than upon first reflection some would, perhaps, be 
 ready to admit ; and that it involves more serious 
 consequences to the spiritual interests of the soul, 
 than any branch of personal declension we have yet 
 considered. 
 
 In opening to the reader the nature oftrne prayer, 
 — which seems proper before we consider its de- 
 clension, — we remark, there are many solemn and 
 aflfecting things connected with if, which present it 
 as a subject of vast importance. What is prayer ? 
 It is the communion of the spiritual life in the 
 
DECLENSION' IN PUAVEK. 113 
 
 soul of man with its Divine Author; it i.-? a breath- 
 ing back the Divine Hfe into the l)o>oni of Goil from 
 whence it came ; it is holy, spiritual, humble con- 
 verse with God. That was a beautiful remark of a 
 converted heathen, — '• I open my Bible, and God 
 talks with nie ; I close my Bible, and then I talk 
 with God."' Striking definition of true prayer ! It 
 is a talking'- witli Goil as a child talketh with his fa- 
 ther, as a friend converseth with his friend: '-And 
 the Lord talked with mioses.'' liut it be remembered 
 then, that true prayer is (he aspiration of a renewed 
 soul towards God : it is tlie breathing of the Divine 
 life, sometimes in the accents of sorrow, sometimes 
 as the expression of want, and always as (he ac- 
 knowledgment of dependence ; it is the looking up 
 of a renewed, afilic(ed. necessitous, and dependent 
 child to its own loving Father, in all the consciousness 
 of utter weakness, and in all the sweetness of filial 
 trust. 
 
 AVho is the object of prayer? Jehovah, the Lord 
 of heaven and earth ; to him as the Three in One, 
 docs true prayer only address itself He only hath 
 an ear to hear our tale of sorrow, an arm (hat can 
 succor in time of need, and a heart that can sym- 
 pathise with our deep necessity. The high and 
 lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is 
 holy, who is the Creator and Governor of all worlds, 
 who bears up the pillars of the universe, to whom all 
 the powers in heaven, in earth, and in hell, are siib- 
 iec(, he is the glorious Object to whom we address 
 ourselves in prayer. 
 
 Not less amazing is the medium of praver ; what 
 10* 
 
114 DECLENSION IN I'RAYEU. 
 
 is it? Not a creature, dependent as ourselves; but 
 tlie Lord Jesus Clirist, the Sou of God, equal in 
 migiit, majest}', and dominion witli the Fatlier, and 
 yet the Elder Brother, the slain Lamb, the Mediator 
 and Surety, the High Priest of his people. Prayer 
 finds acceptance within the veil, only as it is pre- 
 sented in the name of Jesus. The voice that speaks 
 there, in behalf of the lowly suppliant, is the voice 
 of Immanuel's blood; this is the "new and living 
 Avay," — this is the plea that prevails. — this is the ar- 
 gument that moves Omnipotence itself. He who 
 pleads the blood of Jesus in prayer, may have ten 
 thousand tongues all pleading against him, but " the 
 blood of Jesus speaks better things," and drowns 
 their every voice. O precious, costly medium of 
 prayer ! 
 
 Marvellous, too, is the Author oi prayer; who is 
 he ? The apostle informs us : " Likewise the Spirit 
 also helpeth our infamities ; for we know not what 
 we should pray for as we ought ; but the Spirit 
 itself maketh intercession for us, with groanings 
 which cannot be uttered."' Thus is it the Holy 
 Ghost who begets the desire, indites the petition, 
 and breathes it forth in prayer through Christ to 
 God. What a sublivue exercise, then, is prayer ! 
 The outgoing of the Divine life in the soul is its 
 nature, — -Jehovah its object, — the Lord Jesus its 
 medium, — and the Holy Ghost its author. Thus, 
 the blessed Trinity in Unity is engaged in the great 
 work of a sinner's approach unto God. 
 
 Touching the absolute necessity of prayer, need 
 we enlarge? And yet it must be admitted, that the 
 
DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 115 
 
 believer requires constant exhortation to the exercise 
 of this duly. Do we want any stronger evidence of 
 the perpetual lendeucy to spiritual declension than 
 this, — that the ciiild of God requires repeated stimu- 
 lus to the sweet and precious privilege of communion 
 with his heavenly Father J — that he needs to be 
 urged by the strongest arguments and the most per- 
 suasive motives to avail liimself of the most costly 
 and glorious privilege this side of glory? Does it 
 not seem like pleading with a man to live? — re- 
 minding him that he must respirate if he would 
 maintain life? Without the exercise of prayer, we 
 tell a child of God, he cannot live ; that this is the 
 drawing in of the Divine life, and the breathing of 
 it forth again ; that the spiritual nature requires 
 constant supplies of spiritual nourishment ; and that 
 the only evidence of its healthy existence is, its 
 constant rising towards God. We tell him, cease to 
 pray, and all your grace withers, all your vigor 
 decays, and all your comfort dies. 
 
 But observe how prayer, as a duty, is enjoined in 
 God's word : " Call upon me in the day of trouble, I 
 will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." Psalm 
 1. 15. As though the Lord had said, " Call upon 
 me when all is dark, when all is against you ; 1 
 speak not now of the day of prosperity, of the sunny 
 hour, when thy soul prospers, when thy business 
 prospers, when all things go smooth with thee, and 
 the sky above thee is cloudless, and the sea beneath 
 thee is unruffled ; but call upon me z'n the day of 
 trouble, the day of want, the day of adversity, the 
 day of disappointment and of rebuke, the day when 
 
116 DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 
 
 friends forsake, and the world frowns upon thee, the 
 day of broken cisterns and withered gourds. — Call 
 upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver 
 thee." Observe, too, how our dear Lord enjoined 
 this precious duty upon his disciples : " Thou, when 
 thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and, when thou 
 hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in 
 secret." Malt. vi. G. And observe how he also en- 
 couraged it: '' Verily, verily, I say unto you, what- 
 soe\ er ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will 
 give it you." John xvi. 23, In harmony with this, 
 is the sweet exhortation of the apostle : " Be careful 
 for nothing ; but in everything by prayer and sup- 
 phcation with thanksgiving let your requests be 
 made known unto God." Phil. iv. G. And w^hat a 
 striking unfolding of tlie true nature of prayer does 
 the same waiter give us in Eph. vi. 18 : " Praying 
 always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, 
 and watching thereunto with all perseverance and 
 supplication for all saints." The apostle James bears 
 the same testimony : " If any of you lack wisdom, 
 let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, 
 and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." i. 5, 
 Bni we take higher ground than this ; we urge 
 the exercise of prayer, not merely as a solenm duty 
 to be observed, but also as a precious privilege to be 
 enjoyed. Happy is that believer, when dvties come 
 to be viewed as privileges. What ! is it no privi- 
 lege to have a door of access ever open to God I Is 
 it no privilege when the burthen crushes, to cast it 
 upon One who has promised to sustain ? When the 
 rorruptions of an unsanctified nature are strong, and 
 
DECI,i:X!<IO\ IN PRAYER. 117 
 
 temptations thicken, i.s prayer no privilef^c then? 
 Anil when perplexed to know the path of duty, and 
 longing to walk coui|)lete in all the will of (lod,and, 
 as a child, fearing to ollend a loving Father, is it 
 then no privilege to have a throne of grace, an open 
 door of liope ? When the world is slowly stealing 
 upon the heart, or when that heart is wounded 
 through the urdcindnes;? of friends, or is bleeding 
 under severe bereavement, is it then no privilege to 
 go and tell Jesus ? Say, ye poor, ye needy, ye tried, 
 ye tempted souls ! say, if prayer is not the most pre- 
 cious, balmy and costly privilege this side heaven. 
 
 And yet how much infidelity still lingers in the 
 heart of a renewed soul, touching this solenm duty 
 and immense privilege ! That is infidelity that 
 lakes a believer in the hour of his need first to the 
 arm of flesh, rather than in prayer to God. To go 
 to the creature first, is to "go down into Egypt" for 
 help, — a sin which God has signalised with his se- 
 verest displeasure. 
 
 But true prayer may greatl\' decline, and to the 
 consideration of this point, in connection w'wh the 
 means of its revival, we now proceed to direct (he 
 serious attention of the reader. 
 
 Prayer is the spiritual pulse of the renewed soul ; 
 its beat indicates the healthy or unhealthy slnte of 
 the believer. Just as the physician would decide 
 upon the health of the body from the action of the 
 pulse, so would we decide upon the spiritual health 
 of the soul before God. by the estimation in which 
 prayer is held by the believer. If the soul is in a 
 spiritually healthy, growing state, prayer will be 
 
118 DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 
 
 vigorous, lively, spiritual, and constant ; if, on the 
 contrary, an incipient process of declension is going 
 forward in the soul — if the heart is wandering, and 
 love waxeth cold, and faith is decaying, the spirit 
 and the habit of prayer will immediately betray it. 
 
 In the lirst place, we remark, that the spirit of 
 'prayer may decline in the believer, and he may not 
 at once be sensible of it. The form and the habit of 
 prayer may for awhile continue, the domestic altar 
 sustained, and even the closet occasionally visited ; — ■ 
 but the spirit of prayer has evaporated, and all is 
 coldness and dulness, the very torpor and frigidity 
 of death ! But of what real worth is the habit of 
 prayer apart from tlie spirit of prayer? just what tliis 
 planet would be without the sun, or the body with- 
 out the living, animating, breathing soul, — what but 
 a cold, lifeless form ? Yes ; and a believer may be 
 beguiled into this lamentable state, and not a suspi- 
 cion of its existence be awakened ; he may observe 
 his accustomed habit, and use his empty form, and 
 not suspect that all is cold and breathless as death 
 itself. O it is not the rigidly-observed form tliat 
 God looks at ; nor is it great volubility, and eloquent 
 fluency, and rich sentiment, and splendid imagery, 
 and roimded periods, that God regards : far from 
 this ; a man may not be able to give expression to 
 his deep emotion in prayer, his thoughts may find 
 no vehicle of utterance, language may entirely fail 
 him ; or, if he attempts the audible expression of 
 his wants, there may be much that offends a refined 
 taste, and that grates harshly upon a musical ear, 
 and yet the spirit of prayer may glow in h.3 
 
DECLENSION IX PRAYER. 119 
 
 breast ; — and this — the true language of prayer — 
 finds its way to the car and to the heart of God. 
 Now it is manifest from observation, as it is from 
 God's word, that tlie spirit of prayer may depart 
 from a soul, and the g-ift of prayer and its fonn 
 may remain. The form may be found easy, — 
 words, and even thought, may flow freely, and yet, 
 no warmth, no life, no spirituality, no power, no 
 unction, attend the prayer ; and this may long con- 
 timie the state of a professing man. O guard 
 against it, reader ; look well to the state of your 
 soul; examine your prayers; see that ye have not 
 substituted the cold /orm for the glowing spirit, the 
 mere body for the soul. Real prayer is the breath- 
 ing of God's own Spirit in the heart ; have you 
 this? It is conifiiunion am] fellowship with God; 
 know you what this is ? It is brokenness, contri- 
 tion, confession, and that often springing from an 
 overwhelming sense of his goodness and his love 
 shed abroad in the heart ; is ^Aj.§ thy experience? 
 Again we repeat it, look well to your prayers ; test 
 them, not by the natural or acquired g-jft which you 
 may possess, — this is nothing with God ; in answer 
 to all your forms, he may say, " I hear no prayer. 
 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices 
 unto me, when ye come to appear before me ? who 
 hath required this at your hands, to tread my courts? 
 Bring no more vain oblations : incense is an abomi- 
 nation unto me. Your new moons and your ap- 
 pointed ieasis my soul hateth : they are a trouble 
 nnio me, I am weary to bear them. And when ye 
 spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from 
 
120 DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 
 
 you : yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not 
 hear;" but tej^t them by the real communion you 
 have with God. — the returns they make to your 
 soul. 
 
 There is yet another state in which the liabit of 
 prayer does not even survive the decletision of the 
 spirit of prayer. There may be instances, in which, 
 as we have just shown, the form may be rigidly sus- 
 tained long after true prayer has departed from the 
 soul ; there ma}' be too umch ligiu in the conscience, 
 and too much strength in the force of habit, and 
 something, too, in the appearance of the thing, that 
 will not allow of a total abandonment of this. But, 
 in most cases of actual backsliding, the habit declines 
 with the spirit; the latter having gone, the former 
 becomes insipid and tedious, and is at last thrown off 
 as a thing irksome and painful to the mind. And 
 yet even the relinquishment of the form is not always 
 a sudden act : Satan is too subtle, and the heart too 
 deceitful, to allow of this ; there must be steps in 
 the decline The sudden breaking off from the ac- 
 customed habit of prayer might awaken alarm, and 
 surprise, and thoughtfulness : " Has it come to this ?" 
 — would be the exclamation of the startled soul. 
 "Am I so far gone, as to abandon even my wonted 
 habit of prayer?" Such a pause and such an in- 
 quiry might possibly lead to self-examination, con- 
 trition, and a return : but the declension is gradual. 
 The first habit that is relinquished with the declen- 
 sion of the spirit of prayer, is that of closet prayer ; 
 this is the first exercise that loses its sweetness, and 
 becomes tedious and insipid, because it is the most 
 
DECLENSION IN PRAYKR. 121 
 
 spiritual of all devotional exercises, and has most to 
 do with the secret intercourse of the soul with God. 
 And who can portray the loss? No more hallowed 
 visits to the closet; no more turning aside from 
 business, from care, and froni the world, to be shut 
 in with God ; no more precious, heart-melting, spirit- 
 humbling, heaven-reviving seasons of communion 
 and fellowship with the Father who heareth in se- 
 cret ; no more sweet visits of love from Jesus, nor 
 breathing of the heart's sorrows and wants into his 
 secret ear ; — the closet is abandoned, and with it all 
 pleasant, holy, and happy walk with God ! 
 
 The relinquislnnent of ejaculatory prayer then 
 follows. That holy liahit of a growing Christian, 
 which, wliile in the world, and diligently engaged in 
 its lawful calling, yet keeps him soaring above it ; 
 which sustains the wheels of the soul in an easy and 
 constant motion, preserves it in a holy, heavenly 
 frame : fortifies it against the surprisals of the ad- 
 versary, and strengthens it in every inward or out- 
 ward conflict, — ejaculatory prayer, the ' prayer with- 
 out ceasing,' is given up ; and all seems a blank be- 
 tween the soul and God ! 
 
 Family prayer is, perhaps, the next devotional 
 habit that is abandoned. That '•' border which keeps 
 the web of daily life from unravelling ;" that exer- 
 cise which throws so liallowing an influence around 
 the domestic circle,— cementing the hearts, awaken- 
 ing and concentrating the sympathies, fortifying the 
 mind, and softening the cares and trials of each loved 
 member, is now yielded : the family Bible, so re;^u- 
 larly brought out, spread open, read, and expounded, 
 11 
 
122 DECLENSION IS PKAYKK. 
 
 is now laid aside ; the altar around which clustered 
 in devout and reverential silence the lowly group, 
 and from which ascended the morning and the even- 
 ing sacrifice, is thrown down ; for he who officiated 
 at its holy shrine, has declined in the spirit of pmyer, 
 and the effects of iiis declension are felt and traced 
 by every Jiiember, and through every department of 
 the domestic circle ; the patriarch no more returns to 
 bless iiis household ! 
 
 Social prayer is now relinquished without a sigh. 
 That service that was once found so refreshing and 
 exhilarating at the close of the day's cares ; and 
 whicli, amid its fatigue?, anxieties, and disappoint- 
 ments, was so fondly anticipated and ardently longed 
 for, comes and passes away unheeded and unregret- 
 ted. The hour of prayer arrives, we look at the 
 vacant placeand we inquire, " where is he?" — away, 
 amid the world's turmoil, and ardent in its pursuit : 
 " where is he ?'' — gone, perliaps, to some scene of 
 carnal amusement, folly, and sin; and he, who, 
 when tlie season of social conmiunion returned, v.as 
 present to cheer and encourage with his prayers and 
 exhortations the souls of the devout assembly, is now 
 away " sowing to the flesh," and giving to the " things 
 that are temporal," tlie time and the energies that 
 belong to the '• things that are eternal." This is the 
 man in whom the spirit of prayer has declined! 
 From one step of declension he has proceeded to 
 another, until his soul has become, as to all giace 
 and spirituality and love, like the barren heath of 
 the desert, without a spot of verdure to cheer and 
 enliven it. Rut there are yet other consequences of 
 
DECLENSION IN I'RAVEK. 123 
 
 the soul's declension in the spirit and habit of prayer 
 too solemn anil serious to overlook : they are the fol- 
 lowing :— 
 
 A distant walk from God will superinduce distant 
 ihouffhts of God, and tiiis is no Hght matter. If the 
 simple axiom be true, that the more intimate we be- 
 come wiih any object, tlie better we are prepared to 
 judge of its nature and properties, we may apply it 
 with peculiar ajipropriatcness to our acquaintance 
 Avith God. The encouraging invitation of his word 
 is, " Acquaint now thyself with God, and be at 
 peace." Now, it is this acquaintance with God that 
 brings us into the knowledge of iiis character as a 
 holy, loving, and faithful God ; and it is this know- 
 ledge of his character that begets love and confidence 
 in the soul towards him. The more we know of 
 Ciod, the more we love him : the more we tty him, 
 the more we confide in him. Let the spiritual 
 reader, then, conceive what dire effects must result 
 from a distant walk from God. The farther the 
 soul gets from him, the more imperfect must be its 
 knowledge of him. When he appears in his cor- 
 rective dealings, how will those dealings be inter- 
 preted in the distant walk of the soul ? As of a 
 covenant God? as of a loving Father? Nay, far 
 from it. They will receive a harsh and unkind in- 
 terpretation, and this will neutralise their effect : 
 for in order to reap the proper fruit of the Lord's 
 dealings with the soul, it is necessary that they 
 should be viewed in the light of his faithfulness and 
 love. The momeiit they are otherwise interpreted, 
 the soul starts off from God. and wraps itself up in 
 
124 DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 
 
 gloomy and repulsive views of his character, and 
 government, and dealings. But this will assuredly 
 follow from a distant walk. O guard against de- 
 clension in prayer : let there be no distance between 
 God and thy soul ! 
 
 A change in the sweetness and enjoyment of 
 spiritual duties, may be regarded as another and 
 painful effect of a declension in this holy exercise : 
 they will become less desired, and more irksome and 
 insipid : will be regarded less as a privilege, more as 
 a burthen and a task. What is the spiritual duty ? 
 Is it meditation 7 The mind is not attuned to this. 
 It demands a spiritual mind, one richly anointed of 
 the Holy Ghost, and accustomed to close intercourse 
 with God, rightly and profitably to enjoy it. Is it 
 the conimnnion of saints 7 This soon becomes 
 irksome and insipid. The company of God's hum- 
 ble, broken-hearted people, hungering and thirsting 
 for holiness, and seeking crucifixion to the world ; 
 the word of God their study, the love of Christ their 
 theme, and Divine conformity their aim, soon loses 
 its attraction to a professing man walking at a dis- 
 tance from God. Yea, we might enumerate all the 
 spiritual duties familiar to the child of God ; and not 
 one will be found to possess attraction or sweetness 
 to that soul passing through a process of declension 
 in prayer. Why is it, reader, that meditation, and 
 the research of God's word, and holy intercourse 
 with his saints, and praise, are privileges dry and 
 tasteless to thy soul ? Thou canst turn from them 
 with loathing. Any engagements but these, — the 
 calls of business, worldly company, the perusal of a 
 
DECLEN'SION IN PRAVER. 125 
 
 novel, will satisfy thee! Wliere art tliou? How 
 hast thou (lecliiietl ! It was not otice so. O how 
 precious in the first love of thine espousals were the 
 moments of holy abstraction ! — how eagerly sought, 
 aiul richly enjoyed, was the communion of saints ! — 
 how sweet a privilege was praise, and how sacred a 
 duty was prayer! Is it all gone? Is it all winter 
 with thee now ? No verdant spot, no green pasture, 
 no still waters? O return again to prayer! Thy 
 sad distance from God is the secret of thy soul's 
 leanness. The withering of the spirit of prayer has 
 withered thy grace, and with it all spiritual enjoy- 
 ment of the means. 
 
 A falling off in the external deportment of the 
 believer, is a necessary and often a certain conse- 
 quence of a declension of the spirit and habit of 
 prayer. The lowliness, self-oblivion, softness of 
 walk, and exemplary regard for the honor and glory 
 of God, of the prayerfnl man, are often succeeded 
 by loftiness of spirit and of mien, self-confidence, a 
 readiness to sit in judgment upon the conduct and 
 infirmities of others, a cold indifference to the in- 
 crease of the kingdom of Christ and the conversion 
 of sinners, and a carelessness in the outward deport- 
 ment of the prayerless man. All backsliding has 
 its commencement in the declension of prayer : it 
 may date its beginning at the throne of grace. The 
 restraining of prayer before God was the first step in 
 departure ; and the first step taken, and not inrnie- 
 diately retraced, was quickly succeeded by others. 
 The path of a backslider from God is always down- 
 ward • the descent is easv and rapid : the velocity 
 
 ir 
 
126 DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 
 
 of the soul's departure increases with its progress ; 
 and when a professing rnan evinces an inchnation 
 and an evidence of spiritual declension, there are not 
 wanting influences ready to assist him on in his de- 
 parture. Satan, the subtle and sleepless foe of the 
 soul, is prepared with a thousand enticements to 
 smooth the downward path ; tiie world appears with 
 some new attraction ; sin tastes less bitter, and ap- 
 pears less " exceeding sinful ;" objects of sense be- 
 come familiar, are looked at, admired, then em- 
 braced : and now the soul, but for preserving and 
 restraining grace, has taken a farewell for ever of 
 God. Reader, dost thou tremble at the possibihty of 
 ever becoming a backslider ? dost thou fear a fall ? 
 dost thou dread the thought of wounding Jesus ? 
 then restrain not prayer before God ; vigilantly guard 
 against the Jirst symptom of declension in this holy 
 exercise, or if that symptom has already appeared, 
 haste thee to the dear Physician, who alone has 
 power to arrest its progress, and heal thy soul. 
 
 Ati accumulation of daily crosses, seldom fails to 
 follow declension in prayer. The constant exercise 
 of prayer makes light every burthen, and smooths 
 every rugged step of a child of God : it is this only 
 that keeps down his trials ; not that he is ever ex- 
 empt from them, — nay, it is " through much tribula- 
 tion that he is to enter the kingdom ;" — he is a disci- 
 ple of the cross, his religion is that of the cross, he is 
 a follower of Him who died upon the cross, and en- 
 tire exemption from the cross he never expects until 
 he passes to the possession of the crown. But he 
 may pray down his crosses : prayer will lessen their 
 
DECLENSION IN PRAYEU. 127 
 
 number, and will mitigate their severit3^ The man 
 Avhose walk is far from (_«oil, whose frame is cold, and 
 worldly, and careless, if lie be a true child of the 
 covenant, one of the liOrd's family, he may'expect 
 crosses and trials to increase upon every step lie ad- 
 vances towards the kingdom. Ah ! little do many 
 of the tried, alllicted, and constantly disapftointed 
 believers think, how closely related are these very 
 trials, and alHictions, and disappointments, to their 
 restraining of prayer before God : every step seems 
 attended with some new cross, — every scheme is 
 blasted by some adverse wind, — every effort is foiled, 
 — disappointment follows disappointment, wave at- 
 tends upon wave, — nothing they attempt prospers, 
 all they enter upon fails, — and everything seems 
 against them. O ! could we pass behind the scene, 
 what should we discover.' — a deserted throne of 
 grace ! Were we to divulge the secret, and place it 
 in the form of a charge against the believer, what 
 would it be ? — " Thou ha.st restrained prayer 
 BEFORE God !" The scheme was framed icithout 
 ■prayer ; the enterprise was entered upon tvithout 
 prayer ; the eflbrt was made icithout prayer ; — 
 God has blown upon it, and all has come to nought. 
 No marvel ; God was not consulted, — the Lord was 
 not acknowledged, his [)ermission was not asked, his 
 wisdom was not sought, his blessing was not craved ; 
 and so he blew upon it all ! The precious injunc- 
 tion is, — "Trust in (he Lord with all thine heart, 
 and lean not unto thine own understanding. In 
 all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct 
 thy paths." "Where this is honored, there is the Di- 
 
128 DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 
 
 vine blessing ; where it is slighted, there is the Divine 
 displeasure. 
 
 But we need not enlarge ; ihe evils resulting from 
 a declension of pra\er are sufficiently obvious. We 
 have shown that the secret of a happy life, and the 
 spring of a holy one, are in a close walk with God ; 
 that if a child of God restrains prayer, he opens 
 the door for the departure of every grace, and 
 to the admission of every sin : when these state- 
 ments have been seriously and prayerfull}'^ pondered, 
 let the reader follow us to the consideration of those 
 means which the Lord has appointed and owned, 
 for the REVIVAL of the spirit and exercise of prayer 
 in the believer. 
 
 The believer should correctly ascertain the true 
 character of his jirayers. Are they lively and 
 spiritual? are they the exercises of the heart, or of 
 the understanding merely? Are they the breathings 
 of the indwelling Spirit, or the cold observance of a 
 form without the power? Is it communion and 
 fellowship? Is it the filial approach of a child, 
 rushing with confidence and afTection into the bosom 
 of a Father, and sheltering itself there in every hour 
 of need ? It should be remembered by ever}'' pro- 
 fessing man, that there is a great difference between 
 prayer and praying ; we mean, between the formal 
 observance of the duty, and the spiritual character 
 of the performance. All prayer is not communion ; 
 and here a man may be greatly and awfully de- 
 ceived : he may repeat his visits to tlie throne of 
 grace, and go and come without having exhaled a 
 single breath of spiritual prayer ; there may be no 
 
DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 129 
 
 respiration in the soul ; all is formal, cold, and life- 
 less. This, then, is the fust step to a revival of true 
 prayer in the soul. Examine the character of your 
 devotions ; are they such as will stand the test of 
 God's word I will they compare with the holy 
 breathings of David, and Job, and Solomon, and 
 the New Testament saints? are they the breathings 
 forth of the life of God within you? are they ever 
 accompanied with filial brokenness, lowliness of 
 spirit, and humble and contrite confession of sin? 
 See well to your prayers ! be not content with half- 
 hearted devotions ; be not satisfied with cold, dull, 
 formal petitions. Take care that your family 
 prai/ers degenerate not into this, — there is danger 
 here ; see that the flame burns brightly, and rises 
 high on that sacred altar, — that your breathings to 
 God are such as to carry conviction to the minds of 
 your children, your domestics, and your friends, that 
 the duty in which ihey are engaged is the most 
 spiritual, holy, and solemn of all engagements; 
 they will form their view of prayer by your per- 
 formance of it at the domestic altar. Be cautious 
 that you beget not in them a disgust for the ex- 
 ercise ; if their minds are umegenerate, great wis- 
 dom and deep spirituality are needed to guard 
 against this ; let them see that you attach a great 
 and solemn importance to the duty ; be not hurried 
 in its performance ; let it take precedence of all other 
 engagements ; nothing should crowd upon it, and 
 thus curtail the time sacred to it alone. If possible 
 it should always precede the morning and evening's 
 repast ; the mind is thus hallowed with solemn 
 
130 DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 
 
 thought, and is better fitted for the varied engage- 
 ments that follow. It has been found a beneficial 
 practice, too, to supply each member of the domestic 
 circle with a Bible, each in succession reading a 
 verse of the chapter, or else following the individual 
 conducting the devotional exercise ; this will pre- 
 vent the roving eye, and will check distraction of 
 thought, by concentrating the mind upon the portion 
 that is read. An occasional comment, explaining a 
 term, or elucidating a truth, or reconciling an ap- 
 parent discrepancy, will often impart increased 
 interest and profit to the service. Should there be 
 no goi\\y father at the head of a family, let not the 
 Christian mother shrink from the discharge of this 
 engagement : the word of God is on her side — the 
 grace of Christ Jesus is on her side — God himself is 
 on her side; let her erect the family altar in the 
 fear of God and in the strength of Jesus, — around it 
 let her gather her children and her domestics, and let 
 her be the priestess that offers up the morning and 
 the evening sacrifice: it is her solemn duty, — and for 
 the discharge of every duty, the Lord has promised 
 to impart all-sufficient grace. 2 Cor. xii. 9. 
 
 A further step in the revival of true prayer is, to 
 become more thoroughly acquainted with our m,any 
 and varied necessities. It is the knowledge of his 
 need that gives true eloquence to the petition of the 
 beggar ; a sense of destitution, of absolute want, of 
 actual starvation, imparts energy to his plea, and 
 perseverance in its attainment ; his language is, " I 
 must have bread, or I die." This is just what we 
 want the child of God to feel : what is he but a pen- 
 
''i DECr.EXSION I\ PRAYF.n. 131 
 
 .sioncr on Goi!*s daily IxMinty? wlinf resources has he 
 ■within himself? — none whatever; and what is he 
 •witliout God? — poor indeed. Now, in proportion as 
 he becomes acquainted with his real case, his utter 
 destitution, he will besiege the throne of grace, and 
 take no denial. He nujst know his wants, he must 
 know what grace he is deficient in, what easy be- 
 setting sin chngs to him, what infirmities encompass 
 him, what portion of the Spirit's work is declining 
 in his soul, where he is the weakest and the most 
 exposed to the attacks of tiie enemy, and what yet 
 lie lacks to perfect him in all the will of God ; let 
 hin» examine him<(;lf honestly, and know his real 
 condition. This will endear the throne of grace, 
 will stir up the slumbering spirit of prayer, will sup- 
 ply him with errands to God, and give argument, 
 energy, and perseverance to his suit. It was his deep 
 and pressing sense of Jieed, that imparted such bold- 
 ness and power to the wrestlings of Jacob: "I will 
 not let thee go, except thou bless me ;" and the Lord 
 said, "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but 
 Israel ; for as a prince hast thou potrer loith God 
 and with men, and hast prevailed.^' Thus imitate 
 the patriarch ; begin the day with thinking over 
 what you may possibly need before its close ; whether 
 any cross is anticipated, or any temptation is appre- 
 hended, or any danger to which you mav be exposed ; 
 and then go and wrestle for the needed and the pro- 
 mised grace. O it is a great mercy to have an 
 errand that sends us to (tod ; an 1 wlien we remem- 
 ber what a full heart of love he has, what a readi- 
 ness to hear, w^hat promptness in all his answers, 
 
132 DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 
 
 what entering into the minutest circumstance of a 
 behever's history, — how it chides the reluctance 
 and rebukes the nnbehef that we perpetuaUy mani' 
 fest in availing ourselves of this most costly, holy, 
 and precious of all our privileges ! 
 
 There should he the searching out and the re- 
 moval of that which hinders prayer. Many things 
 weaken true prayer : unsubdued sin — unrepented 
 sin — unpardoned sin, we mean the secret sense of it 
 upon the conscience — worldly-mindedness — light and 
 trifling conver^^ation, vain disputations, nuich and 
 frequent intercourse either with unconverted indi- 
 viduals or cold and formal professors ; all these com- 
 bined, or any single one, will, if suffered to prevail, 
 unfit the mind for converse with God, and cause a 
 decay of the spirit of prayer in the soul. Regard 
 that as injurious which touches the devotional frame 
 of your mind; which abridges the hour of prayer, 
 and removes the fine edge of its holy enjoyment. 
 
 But that for which we most earnestly plead, and 
 which will tend more than all beside to the revival 
 of true prayer in the believer, is, a more enlarged 
 communication of the Holy iSpirifs gracious influ- 
 ence. Here lies the grand source and secret of all 
 true, spiritual, believing, persevering, and prevailing 
 prayer ; it is the lack of this that is the cause of the 
 dulness, and formality and reluctance, that so fre- 
 quently mark the exercise. The saints of God 
 honor not sufficiently the Spirit in this important 
 part of his work ; they too much lose sight of the 
 truth, that of all true prayer he is the Author and 
 the Sustainer ; and the consequence is, and ever will 
 
DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 183 
 
 be, self-snlficienc}' and cold formality in the dis- 
 charge, and ultimate neglect of the duty altogether. 
 But, let the promise be pleaded, "I will pour upon 
 the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication ;" 
 let the Holy Ghost be acknowledged as the Author, 
 and constantly sought as the Sustainer of this holy 
 exercise : let the saint of God feel that he knows 
 not wh;it he slioukl |)ray for as he ought, that the 
 Spirit itself maketh intercession fur us with groan- 
 ings which cannot be uttered, and that God knows 
 the mind of the Spirit, because he inakeih interces- 
 sion according to his will ; and what an impulse will 
 this give to prayer ! what new life will it impart, 
 what mighty energy, what unction, and what power 
 with God ! Seek, then, with all your blessings, this, 
 the richest and the pledge of all, the baptis?n of the 
 Spirit ; reet not short of it ; you are nothing as a 
 professing man without it ; your religion is lifeless, 
 your devotion is formal, your spirit is unctionless, 
 you have no moral power with God or with man, 
 apart from the baptism of the Holy Ghost; seek it, 
 wrestle for it, agonise for it, as transcendently more 
 precious than every other mercy. Submerged in 
 liis quickening and reviving influences, what a 
 diflferent Christian will you be ! how differently will 
 you pray, how differently will you live, and how 
 differently will you die ! Is the spirit of prayer lan- 
 guishing ? is its exercise becoming irksome ? is 
 closet devotion abandoned } is the duty in any form 
 becoming a task ? — O rouse thee to the seeking of 
 the baptism of the Spirit ! this alone will stay the 
 12 
 
134 DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 
 
 progress, of thy declension, this will revive the true 
 spirit of prayer within thee, and this will give to its 
 exercise sweetness, pleasantness, and power. God 
 has promised the bestovvment of the blessing, and he 
 will never disappoint the soul that seeks it. 
 
 The outpouring of the Spirit of prayer, too, is 
 needed to give frequency, and life, and directness, to 
 our petitions hi behalf of the church and tlie world. 
 The word of God is explicit on this point. Thus 
 for all classes and conditions of men : " I exhort, 
 therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, in- 
 tercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all 
 men ; for kings, and for all that are in authority ; 
 that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all 
 godliness and honesty. For this is good and accept- 
 able in the sight of God our Saviour." 1 Tim. ii. 
 1 — 3. And thus, too, for the church of Christ : 
 "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem : they shall pros- 
 per that love thee." Psalm cxxii. 6. Intercessory 
 prayer one for the other is urged : " Confess your 
 faults one to another, and pra^'^ one for another, that 
 ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of 
 a righteous man availeth much." James v. 16. 
 And alsoybr the ininisters of the Gospel : '■ Breth- 
 ren, pray for us." Heb. xiii. 18. These are solemn 
 injunctions : who can read them without a secret 
 consciousness of having slighted or overlooked them? 
 But what is to give intensity, and power, and fixed- 
 ness, and prevalency, to our prayers for the chinch 
 of Christ, and in behalf of a world still under the 
 dominion and supremacy of sin, but a large effusion 
 of the Spirit of prayer ? Contracted will be our 
 
DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 135 
 
 sympathies, selfish our desires, and cold and general 
 our pclitions, if not baptized in the Spirit of prayer. 
 The Holy Ghost, descending as on the day of Pen- 
 tecost, fiUing, overwhelming, and saturating us with 
 his influence, O how will the pressing necessities of 
 the church, and the moral claims of the world, then 
 rise before us in all their eloquent pleadings ! We 
 will close the present chapter with a few remarks of 
 a practical tendency. 
 
 In all true prayer, great stress should be laid on 
 the blood of Jesus : perhaps no evidence distin- 
 guishes a declension in the power and spirituality of 
 prayer more strongly than an overlooking of this. 
 Where the atoning blood is kept out of view ; not 
 recognized, not pleaded, not wrestled with, not made 
 the grand plea, there is a deficiency of power in 
 prayer. Words are nothing, fluency of expression 
 nothing, niceties of language and brilliancy of 
 thought nothing, and even apparent fervor nothing, 
 where the blood of Christ, — the new and the living 
 way of access to God, the grand plea that moves 
 Onmipotence, that gives admission within the holy 
 of holies, — is slighted, undervalued, and not made 
 the groundwork of every petition. Oh, how much 
 is this overlooked in our prayers, — how is the aton- 
 ing blood of Immanuel slighted ! how little mention 
 we hear of it in the sanctuary, in the pulpit, in the 
 social circle ; whereas it is this ihat makes prayer 
 what it is with God ! All prayer is acceptable with 
 God, and only so, as it comes up perfumed with the 
 blood of Christ ; all prayer is answered as it urges 
 the blood of Christ as its plea : it is the blood of 
 
136 DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 
 
 Christ that satisfies justice, and meets all the de- 
 mands (5f the law against us ; it is the blood of 
 Christ that purchases and brings down every bless- 
 ing into the soul ; it is the blood of Christ that sues 
 for the fulfilment of his last will and testament, 
 every precious legacy of which comes to us solely on 
 account of his death ; this it is, too, that gives us 
 boldness at the throne of grace, — "Having boldness 
 to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus." 
 How can a poor sinner dare approach without this ? 
 how can he look up, how can he ask, how can he 
 present himself before a holy God, but as he brings 
 in the hand of faith the precious blood of Jesus ? 
 Out of Christ, God can hold no communication with 
 us ; all intercourse is suspended, every avenue of 
 approach is closed, all blessing is withheld. God 
 hath crowned his dearly beloved Son, and he will 
 have us crown him too ; and never do we place a 
 brighter crown upon his blessed head, than when we 
 plead his finished righteousness as the ground of our 
 acceptance, and his atoning blood as our great argu- 
 ment for the bestowment of all blessing with God. 
 If, then, dear reader, you feel yourself to be a poor, 
 vile, unholy sinner ; if a backslider, whose feet have 
 wandered from the Lord, in whose soul the spirit of 
 prayer has declined, and yet still feel some secret 
 longing to return, and dare not, because so vile, so 
 unholy, so backsliding ; yet you may return, " hav- 
 ing boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of 
 Jesus," Come, for the blood of Christ pleads ; re- 
 turn, for the blood of Christ gives you a welcome : 
 
declenskjn i\ traykk. 137 
 
 " If any man sin, we liavo an advocate willi the 
 Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."' 
 
 Forget not thai the .season of trial and of be- 
 reavement is often the sanctified occasion of a revival 
 of pia} er in the soul. The Lord has marked your 
 wanderings ; lie has had his eye upon the declension 
 of your soul. That voice, always so pleasant to his 
 ear, lias ceased to call upon him : and now" he woidd 
 recover thee ; lie would hear that voice again. And 
 liow will he effect it ? He causes you to "pass 
 under the rod," sends some sore trial, lays on thee 
 some weighty cross, brings trouble and sorrow into 
 thy soul, and then thou criest unto him, and dost be- 
 siege the mercy-seat. O how eagerly is God sought, 
 how attractive and how precious does the throne of 
 grace become, when the soul is thus lead into deep 
 waters of trial! rso longer silent, no longer dumb, 
 the believer calls upon God, pleads with " strong 
 crying and tears," wrestles and agonizes, and thus 
 the slumbering spirit of prayer is stirred up and re- 
 vived in the soul. O sweet affliction, O precious 
 discipline, that brings back the wandering soul to a 
 closer and a holier walk with God ! 
 
 Again we exhort the believer, guard against the 
 least declension in prayer ; let the first unfavorable 
 symptom that appears alarm you; go to the Lord 
 in your 7>orst frames; stay not from him imtil you 
 get a good one. Satan's grand argument to keep a 
 soul from prayer, is, — ' Go not with that cold and 
 insensible frame ; go not with that hard and sinful 
 heart ; stay until you are more tit to approach God.' 
 And listening to this specious reasoning, many poor, 
 12* 
 
138 DECLENSION IN PRAYER. 
 
 distressed, buithened, longin? souls have been kept 
 from the throne of grace, and consequently from all 
 comfort and consolation. But the Gospel says, — 
 'Go in your very worst frames;' CInist says, — 
 'Come just as you are:' and every promise and 
 every example but encourages the soul to repair to 
 the cross whatever be its frame or condition. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 DECLENSION IN CONNEXION WITH DOCTRINAL ERROR 
 
 " Sanctify them through thy truth."' — John xvii. 17. 
 
 God lias been graciously pleased to appoint his 
 cliuich the great conservator of his truth, and his 
 truth the especial medium of sanctification to his 
 church : there is a close and beautiful relation be- 
 tween the two. The church may be compared to 
 the golden lamp which contains the sacred oil, 
 which, in its turn, feeds the flame of its liglit and 
 holiness. The church is to guard with a jealous 
 and vigilant eye the purity of the truth, while the 
 truth is to beautify and sanctify the ark which pre- 
 serves it ; compare 1 Tim. iii. 15 ; John xvii. 17. 
 Thus there is a close relation, and a reciprocal in- 
 fluence constantly exisiting and exerted, between the 
 church of Christ and the truth of God. 
 
 To this thought add yet another : every indi- 
 vidual believer in Jesus is himself a subject, and 
 therefore a witness, of the truth ; he has been 
 quickened, called, renewed, and partially sanctified 
 through the instrumentality of God's revealed truth: 
 " Of his own will begat he us with the word of 
 truth."' James i. IS. " For the truth's sake which 
 dwelleth in us." 2 John 2. " Ye are my witnesses, 
 saith the Lord." Here is unfolded one of the most 
 
140 DECLENSION IN CONNEXION 
 
 solemn and affecting truths touching the character 
 and individual responsibihty of a child of God. He 
 is a subject of truth, he is a repository of the truth, 
 and he is a witne?;s for the truth ; yea, he is the 
 only hving witness to the truth which God has 'on 
 earth. The world he lives in is a dark, polluted, 
 God-blaspheming, Christ-denying, truth-despising 
 world. The saints who have been called out of it 
 according to his eternal purpose and love, and by his 
 sovereign, distinguishing, and free grace, are the 
 only lights and the only salt in the midst of this 
 moral darkness and corruption. Here and there a 
 light glimmer?:, irradiating the gloomy sphere in 
 which it moves ; here and there a spot of verdure 
 appears, relieving the arid and barren desolation by 
 which it is surrounded. These are the saints of the 
 Most High, the witness of the Divine character, the 
 omnipotent power, and the holy tendency, of God's 
 blessed truth. Let the saints of God, then, solemnly 
 weigh this affecting fact, that though the written 
 word and the accompanying Spirit are God's wit- 
 nesses in the world, yet they are the only living 
 exemplifications of the power of the truth, and as 
 such, are earnestly exhorted to be " blameless and 
 harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the 
 midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among 
 whom ye shine as lights in the world." Phil. ii. 15. 
 The first point on which it is our duty to touch in 
 opening the subject of this chapter, is, tlie holy ten- 
 dency of Divine truth, or, the intimate relation be- 
 tweea truth and hnllness. There are two admitted 
 axioms in every departmentof human science, which 
 
VVtTII DOCTUIXAL KRROR. 141 
 
 will apply with equal force (o the matter before us : — 
 viz., tliat an ell'ect cannot exist witlioutacause, and 
 that a cause does not operate without the use of 
 means. Let these admitted propositions form the 
 basis of our reasoning upon tliis important subject. 
 God has designed the sanctification of his people ; he 
 has ap|K)inted his truth as the great instrument of 
 elfecting their sanctification ; and in order to accom- 
 plish this, he has declared, that his truth must dwell 
 in the heart in the same richness, fulness, and purity, 
 with which it is revealed in his word. 
 
 In sustaining our proposition, that the truths of 
 the Gospel are the grand means which God employs 
 for the sanctification of his people, let us be distinctly 
 understood in the outset, as disclaiming all belief in 
 the mere power of the truth itself to produce holiness. 
 This is one of the grand errors of modern divinity 
 from which we unhesitatingly dissent, and which we 
 sternly repudiate. The mere presentation of truth 
 to the unrenewed mind, either in the form of threat- 
 ening, or promise, or motive, can never produce any 
 saving or sanctifying effect. The soul of man in its 
 unrenewed state, is represented as spiritually dead; 
 insensible to all holy, spiritual motion. Now upon 
 such a mind, what impression is to be produced by 
 the mere holding up of truth before its eye ? What 
 life, what emotion, what effect will be accomplished ? 
 As well might we spread out the pictured canvas 
 before the glazed eye of a corpse, and expect that by 
 the beauty of the design, and the brilliancy of the 
 coloring, and the genius of the execution, we would 
 animate the body with life, and heave the bosom 
 
142 DECLENSION IN CONNEXION 
 
 with emotion, and cause the eye to swim with de- 
 light, as to look for similar moral efiects to result 
 from the mere holding' up to view Divine truth before 
 a carnal mind, "dead in trespasses and sins." And 
 yet there are those who maintain the doctrine, that 
 Divine truth unaccompanied by any extraneous 
 power, can effect all these wonders ! Against such 
 a theory we would simply place one passage from 
 the sacred word : " Except a man be born again, he 
 cannot see the kingdom of God." 
 
 But the power of the truth for which we plead, is 
 that which results from the attending energy and 
 demonstration of the Holy Spirit. The sacred word, 
 inspired though it be, is but a dead letter, unclothed 
 with the life giving power of the Holy Ghost. Awful 
 as are the truths it unfolds, solemn as are the revela- 
 tions it discloses, touching as are the scenes it por- 
 trays, and persuasive as are the motives it supplies, 
 yet, when left to its own unaided operation, Divine 
 truth is utterly impotent to the production of spiritual 
 life, love, and holiness in the soul of man. Its influ- 
 ence must necessarily be passive, possessing as it 
 does no actual power of its own, and depending 
 upon a Divine influence extraneous from itself, to 
 render its teaching efficacious. The three thousand 
 who were converted on the day of Pentecost, were 
 doubtless awakened under one sermon, and some 
 would declare it was the power of the truth which 
 wrought those wonders of grace. With this we per- 
 fectly agree, only adding, that it was truth in the 
 mighty hand of God which pricked them to the 
 heart, and wrung from them the cry. " Men and 
 
WITH do(;trinal error. 143 
 
 bietliien, what sluiU we do?" The Eternal Spirit 
 wa8 the elVicieul causae, and the preached truth but 
 the instruiucMl eiiipluycd, to produce the ellect : but 
 for his accompanying and ellectual power, tliey 
 would, as multitudes do now, have turned their 
 backs upon the sermon of Peter, (hough it was full 
 of Christ crucified, deriding the truth, and rejecting 
 the Saviour of whom it spake. But it pleased God 
 in the sovereignty of his will, to call them by his 
 grace, and this he did by the effectual, omnipotent 
 power of the Holy Spirit, through the instrumental- 
 ity of a preached Gospel. 
 
 Thus, then, we plead for a personal experimental 
 acquaintance with, and reception of, the truth, ere it 
 can produce anything like hoHness in the soul. 
 That it has foiuul an entrance to the judgment 
 merely, will not do ; advancing not further, — arrest- 
 ing not the will, touching not the heart, renewing 
 not the whole soul, — it can never erect the empire 
 of holiness in man ; the reign of sanctification can- 
 not have commenced. The mental eye may be 
 clear, the moral eye closed ; the mind all light, the 
 heart all dark . the creed orthodox, and the whole 
 life at variance with the creed. Such is the discord- 
 ant effect of Divine truth, simply settled in the hu- 
 man understanding, unaccompanied by the power of 
 the Holy Ghost in the heart. But let a man receive 
 the truth in his heart by the power of God himself; 
 let it enter there, disarming and dethroning the strong 
 man ; let Jesus enter, and the Holy Spirit take pos- 
 session, renewing, sealing, and sanctifying the soul; 
 
144 DECLENSION IN CONNEXION 
 
 and then we may look for the " fruits of hoHness 
 which are unto eternal life." 
 
 Now that it is the natural tendency of Divine 
 truth thus received into the heart, to produce holi- 
 ness, a moment's reference to the word of God will 
 show. The design of the wiiole plan of redemp- 
 tion, was to secure the highest holiness and happi- 
 ness to the creature ; and when the Gospel comes 
 with the power of God unto the salvation of the 
 soul, this end is pre-eminently secured. The re- 
 newed man is a pardoned man ; the pardoned man 
 becomes a holy man ; and the holy man is a happy 
 nian. Look, then, at God's word, and trace the 
 tendency of every doctrine, precept, promise, and 
 threatening, and mark the holy influence of each. 
 To select, for example, a few of the distinguishing 
 doctrines of ffrace. Take the doctrine of God's ever- 
 erlasting love to his people, as seen in their elec- 
 tion to et-ernal life. How holy is the tendency of 
 this truth ! " Blessed be the God and Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all 
 spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ : ac- 
 cording as he hath chosen us in him before the foun- 
 dation of the world, that we should he holy and 
 without blame before him in love^ Eph. i. 3, 4. 
 Let not my reader turn from this glorious doctrine, 
 because he may find it irreconcilable with others that 
 he may hold, or because the mists of prejudice may 
 long have veiled it from his mind : it is a revealed 
 doctrine, and therefore to be fully received ; it is a 
 holy doctrine, and therefore to be ardently loved. 
 Received in the heart by the teaching of the Holy 
 
WITH DOCTRIXAL ERROR. 146 
 
 Ghost, it lays die pride of man in the dust, knocks 
 from beneath (he soul all i^rouncl for self-glorying, 
 and expands the mind with the most exalted views 
 of the glory, grace and love of Jehovah, He who 
 receives (he doctrine of electing love in liis heart by 
 the power of the Spirit, bears about with him the 
 material of a holy walk ; its tendency is to humble, 
 abase, and sanctify (he man. 
 
 Thus holy, too, is the revealed doctrine of God's 
 free, sovereign^ and distinguishing grace. The 
 tendency of this truth is most sancdfying : for a 
 man to feel that God alone hath made him to difTer 
 from another — that what he has, he has received — 
 that by the free, distinguishing grace of God, he is, 
 what he is, — is a truth, when experienced in the 
 heart, surely of the most holy induence. How it 
 lays the axe at the root of self ! how it stains the 
 pride of human glory, and hushes the whispers of 
 vain boasting ! It lays the renewed sinner, where 
 he ought ever to lie, in the dust; and places the 
 crown, where it alone ought to shine, bright and glo- 
 rious, upon the head of sovereign mercy, " Lord, 
 why me ? I was far from thee by wicked works ; I 
 was the least of my Father's house, and of all, the 
 most unworthy and unlikely object of thy love : and 
 yet thy mercy sought me, — thy grace selected me 
 out of all the rest, and made me a miracle of its 
 omnipotent power. Lord, to what can I refer this, 
 but to thy mere mercy, thy sovereign and free grace, 
 entirely apart from all worth or worthiness tliat thou 
 didst see in me? Take, therefore, my body, soul, 
 and spirit, and let them be, in time and through 
 13 
 
146 DECLENSION IN CONNEXION 
 
 eternity, a holy temple to thy glory." Thus " 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 evil world." And so 
 niiglit we pass on through all the kindred doctrines 
 of grace, were it necessary, showing that the sajic- 
 tification of the believer is their great end and ten- 
 dency. 
 
 All the jjrecepts, too, are on the side of holiness. 
 "If ye love nie, keep my commandments;" "Love 
 not the world, nor the things of the world ;" "Come 
 out of the world, and be ye separate, and touch not 
 the unclean thing;"' "Watch and pray;" "Pray 
 without ceasing ;" " Love as brethren ;" " Be ye 
 holy, for I am holy;" "God hath not called us unto 
 xmcleanness, but unto holiness ;" " That ye might 
 walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being 
 fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the 
 knowledge of God." Holy precepts ! May the 
 Eternal Spirit engrave them deep upon our hearts ! 
 
 Not less sanctifying in their tendency are those 
 " exceeding great and precious prarnises' which the 
 word of truth contains. " Having, therefore, these 
 promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves 
 from all filthiness of the fiesh and spirit, perfecting 
 holiness in the fear of God." 
 
 Equally holy is the tendency of the Divine 
 threaten'mgs. " The day of the Ijord will come as 
 a thief in the night; in the which the heavens 
 shall pass away wilh a great noise, and the elements 
 shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the 
 
WITH noCTUINAL ERROR. 147 
 
 works tliat arc (lierciii shall he hmncd up. Seeing, 
 then, that all these things shall he dissolved, what 
 manner of persoiis ought yc to be in all holy con- 
 versation and godliness ! Nevertheless we, according 
 to his promise, look for new heavens and a new 
 earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, 
 beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be 
 diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, 
 without spot, and blameless." Thus holy and 
 sanctifying are the nature and the effect of Divine 
 truth. It is in its nature and properties most holy; 
 it comes from a holy God ; and whenever and 
 wherever it is received in the heart, as the good and 
 incorruptible seed of the kingdom, it produces that 
 which is in accordance with its own nature — holi- 
 ness. As is the tree, so are the fruits; as is the 
 cause, so are the efl'ects. It brings down and lays 
 low the high thoughts of man, by revealing to him 
 the character of God ; it convinces him of his deep 
 guilt and awful condenmation, by exhibiting the 
 Divine law ; it unfolds to him God's hatred jof sin, 
 his justice ui punishing and his mercy in pardoning 
 it, by unfolding to his view the cross of Christ ; and 
 taking entire possession of the soul, it implants new 
 principles, supplies new motives, gives a new end, 
 begets new joys, and inspires new hopes, — in a 
 word, diffuses itself through the whole moral man, 
 changes it into the same image, and transforms it 
 into " an habitation of God through the Spirit." 
 
 Now it will require no labored or lengthened dis- 
 cussion to show, that the nature and tendency of 
 error must be opposite to that of truth ; for it is 
 
148 DECLENSION IN CONNEXION 
 
 impossible that two things so difTerent in their 
 natures should be capable of producing the same 
 effects. If the nature and the tendency of truth 
 are to promote holiness, it must be the nature and 
 the tendency of error to promote unholiness ; if the 
 one tends to humble the pride of man, to diminish 
 him in his own eyes, to correct the evils of his fallen 
 nature, to break the power of corruption, and to 
 introduce him into the holy liberty of the child of 
 God, — for ' if the truth makes him free, then is he 
 free indeed,' — surely the other tends to foster his 
 proud conceit of himself, to beget a lofty view of his 
 own gifts and attainments, to lessen his views of 
 sin's exceeding sinfulness, and, lowering the motive 
 and weakening the power of holiness, gives the 
 utichecked rein to all the corrupt propensities of a 
 fallen nature. 
 
 It is the tendency of false doctrine to divert the 
 mind that cherishes it into a wrong channel; it 
 leads the soul away from God. As truth experi- 
 mentally received draws the heart to God, so error 
 cherished in the mind leads the heart from God. 
 It imparts distorted views of the Divine character, 
 gives low conceptions of the Divine law, beclouds 
 the finished work of Christ, weakens the power of 
 moral obligation, and, from step to step, leads the 
 soul entirely, and, if grace do not interfere, for ever, 
 from God. 
 
 That the connexion between spiritual and per- 
 sonal declension and false doctrine is close and 
 inseparable, and the results always the most painful 
 and disastrous, cannot be questioned. The moment 
 
WITH IJOC'TIU.VAL EKKoll. 119 
 
 a private Chrisitian, or a public teaclier, or an as- 
 yooiated body, becomes infected with false doctrine, 
 departs from the word of God, and sets up doctrines, 
 and commandments, and ordinances, at variance 
 with the revealed word, that moment linds him or 
 them deteriorating in spirituality and declining in 
 holiness ; and from a career of spiritual prosperity, 
 perhaps the most unexampled, relapsing into a state 
 of formality, deadness, and unfruitfulness, from 
 which nothing seems fully and permanently to 
 recover them. 
 
 Select an individual believer, a minister, or the 
 case of a Church, which has departed from the 
 " faith once delivered unto the saints," and has 
 relinquished some of the fundamental doctrines of 
 the Gospel, and how marked and painful are the 
 results ! 
 
 Take, for example, the case of an iitdividiral be- 
 liever. Has lie abandoned ihe ancient landmark 
 of truth ? Has he lost a reverence for its character, 
 a sense of its value, a relish for its sweetness ? 
 Trace the sad eflects in his uneven walk, his care- 
 less spirit, his low-toned spirituality, his hardened 
 conscience, his insensible heart, his neglect of means 
 — in a word, the apparent withering up of all his 
 grace. What a change has passed over the man ! 
 what a distant spirit now marks him whose walk 
 was once so close with God ! what exhibitions of 
 self in him who was once so humble and so retiring, 
 whose carriage did seem to speak the inward con- 
 sciousness of the soul ' less than the least of all 
 saints !' what a turning of the back upon the means 
 13* 
 
150 DECLENSION IN CONNEXION 
 
 of grace, by him lo whom they were once so highly 
 prized, so eagerly sought, so richly enjoyed, amid 
 which he walked as through green pastures, and by 
 the side of still waters ! what unkindness, what 
 haughty bearing, what frigid distance, now marks 
 his conduct towards the saints of God, once so dear 
 to his heart, his chosen and beloved companions, 
 with whom he desired to live and to die ! He has 
 departed from the faith, and these are some of the 
 dire effects ! 
 
 Take the still more affecting case of a professed 
 minister of the Gospel. Has any change taken 
 place in his views of the Christian system? has he 
 relinquished any fundamental doctrine of the Gos- 
 pel ? has he abandoned any essential element of re- 
 vealed truth? Perhaps he has given up the God- 
 head of Christ, the sacrificial character of his death; 
 or, it may be, he denies the Deity and Personality of 
 the Spirit ; or else his views touching the obligation 
 of the believer to holiness have vmdergone a painful 
 alteration. But, whatever be the error he has im- 
 bibed, whether doctrinal or preceptive, a fearful 
 blight has in consequence fallen upon the man. 
 How changed the spiritual frame of his mind !^ 
 no more zeal, tenderness, or solemnity marks him. 
 How altered the character of his ministry ! — no 
 more power, earnestness, or spirituality, clothes it. 
 How different its results ! — no more conversions, and 
 no more edification, comfort, and establishing to the 
 saints follow it. How differently he prays ! — no 
 more unction, life, and power breathe in his peti- 
 tions. He has imbibed error, he has turned his back 
 
WITH UUCTCINAL. KUROR. 151 
 
 iipon God's trutli, luul God lias turned his back upon 
 iiim. 
 
 We luiulit jro cm to trace the same or similar 
 efiects, sliowing the close connection between false 
 doctrine and spiritual declension, in the history of a 
 church which has departed from the purity of the 
 faiih ; but sufficient has been advanced, we believe, 
 (0 illustrate the awful consequences of tampering 
 with God's word, and of relinquishing our hold iqwn 
 a single trudi which he has revealed for the sanctifi- 
 calion and salvation of the soul. 
 
 The inquiry appropriately suggests itself here, — 
 how far may the prevailing deficiency in spirituality 
 be traced to the intluence of lax views of Divine 
 truth among professedly orthotlox Christians, and to 
 the existence of alarming errors which, like a flood, 
 threaten to sweef) away the ancient landmarks of 
 Gospel truth? That such a dearth of spirituality 
 does exist, — traced in the pulpit, on the platform, 
 from the press, and in the social intercourse of Chris- 
 tians, — caimot be doubted : the only question is, To 
 what are we to refer it as a cause 'I We unhesita- 
 tingly reply, To a defective theology, to false doc- 
 trine, to low and lax views of God's revealed truth. 
 Declension in spirituality has ever followed a depar- 
 ture from the purity of the faith. Look at the re- 
 formed churches on the continent of Europe ; they 
 departed from the pure doctrines of the Reformation, 
 and what and where are they now I Scattered, 
 many of them, to the winds, — torti up by the roots ; 
 while those that remain have sunk into a state of 
 the deepest declension, abandoned to the withering 
 
152 DECLENSION' IN CONNEXION 
 
 influence of an infidel ncolog}', and a mystic trans- 
 cendentalism. It is true, the sun of the Reforma- 
 tion appears in some parts of the land of Calvin and 
 Luther to be emerging from its long and deep obscu- 
 ration, inspiring hopes of the revival of a more pure 
 and spiritual Christianity. And to what are these 
 favorable symptoms to be traced, save to a return of 
 some of the chinches and pastors to the pure doc- 
 trines of the Reformation .? — doctrines which Luther 
 boldly preached, on which Calvin powerfully wrote, 
 and for which Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer went 
 fearlessly to the stake. It is much to be feared, that 
 if the reformed churches of England and of America 
 return not soon to a purer and a more spiritual the- 
 ology, they Avill smite upon the rocks on which the 
 continental churches have so sadly made shipwreck 
 of faith. To descend to particulars : 
 
 Is there not in the present day a criminal keeping 
 back by some, and a painful undervaluing by others, 
 of tlie scriptural and holy doctrines of grace '} — 
 The doctrines which unfold the eternity of God's 
 love to his people — the sovereignty of his grace in 
 their election — the effectual power of the Spirit in 
 their calling — the free justification of their persons 
 through the imputed righteousness of Christ, and 
 the entire putting away of their sins by his atoning 
 blood — the solemn obligation to "live soberly, right- 
 eously, and godly in this present evil world," and (he 
 certainty of their final glorification in the world to 
 come, — are not these Divinely-revealed truths, at the 
 present moment, and by the great mass of Christian 
 professors and preachers, excluded from our pulpits 
 
 
WITH DOCTRINAL EKROK. 153 
 
 antl exiled from our laiul ! are they not consiileied 
 mean and unfashionable ' and having lost their sa- 
 vor wiili the many, are they not cast out and trod- 
 den under foot of men / ^Ve verily and solemnly 
 bcheve that it is so. By some they are professedly 
 received, but criminally held back ; by others they 
 are professedly preached, but with such timidity and 
 obscurity, as to render them of none effect ; and by 
 the many they are disbelieved altogether, and there- 
 fore openly and boldly denied ! And yet, these are 
 the doctrines which shine po luminously in every 
 page of the apostle's writings, — these are the doc- 
 trines which formed the grand th«me& of Christ's 
 ministration. — and tiiese are the doctrines, to the 
 preaching of which by the reformers, we owe all the 
 civil and religious liberty which, as a nation, we now 
 possess. We hesitate not, then, to say that, along 
 with the denial or the imdervaluing of these doc- 
 trines of grace, there will go forth an influence that 
 will wither the spirituality and obstruct the prosper- 
 ity of the churches of our land. It is true, an out- 
 ward appearance of fruitfulncss may follow the 
 exhibition of opposite and conflicting doctrines, — 
 crowds may flock to their standard, and multitudes 
 seem converted by their influence, — but soon these 
 delusive appearances are seen to pass away. The 
 time of trial and of sifting comes, and then it is 
 found — when alas ! too late to close the flood-gate 
 against the overwhelming evils which the preaching 
 of error has produced — that the truth, and the truth 
 only, in the hands of the Eternal Spirit of God, can 
 really enlighten the dark mind, regenerate the life- 
 
154 DECLENSION IN CONNEXION 
 
 less soul, and subdue and sanctify the rcbellioua 
 heart: it is then discovered, that the true prosperity 
 of a church, its stabihty, its spirituahty, its vigor and 
 its holy inikience, are essentially, and therefore in- 
 separably, connected with a fearless and holy main- 
 tenance of the doctrines of grace ; that where they 
 are denied, or held back, or in any way ol)scured, 
 there may indeed exist the form of godliness, but 
 the power — the glorious. Divine, and sanctifying 
 "power — is wanting. The preaching of false doc- 
 trine may build up a church composed of " wood, 
 hay, stubble," but the preaching of truth alone can 
 rear a church composed of "gold, silver, precious 
 stones." And the day is approaching, when "every 
 man's work shall be made manifest ; for the day 
 shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire ; 
 and the fire shall try every man's work of what 
 sort it is." 1 Cor. iii. 13. 
 
 Do we long, and pray, and labor for a true re- 
 vival of the Lord^s work ? — What is more calcu- 
 lated to bring down the Holy Spirit of God upon us 
 in all the plenitude of his awakening influence, — 
 arousing the careless, convincing the impenitent and 
 unbelieving of sin, annihilating the self-righteous- 
 ness, prostrating the high thoughts, and slaying the 
 pride of the human heart,^than a clear, pointed, 
 and faithful exhibition of God's own revealed truth? 
 Has not the great experiment been tried, and the 
 question set at rest ? — It has. President Edwards, 
 in his " Narrative of Surprising Conversions," bears 
 this testimony : " I think I have fo-und," says he, 
 " that no discourses have been more remarkably 
 
WITH DorrniNAL error. 155 
 
 blessed than those in which the doctrine of God's 
 absolute ?overei<jnty witli ret^aid to (lie salvation of 
 sinners, and his just liberty with regard to his an- 
 swering the prayer, or succeeding the pains of mere 
 natural men, continuing such, have been insisted 
 on. 1 never found so mucli inimediate saving fruit, 
 in any measure, of any discourses 1 have oU'ored to 
 my congregation, as some from those words, ' That 
 every mouth may be stopped,' Rom. iii. 10 ; endeav- 
 oring from thence to show, that it would be just 
 with God for ever to reject and cast olVmere natural 
 men." 
 
 And to go still further back in search of a stronger 
 testimony; what was the great revival at Jerusalem 
 ou the day of Pentecost the result of, but a faithful 
 exhibition of the truths brought to bear upon the 
 consciences and the hearts of three thousand rebel- 
 lious sinners, by the bold apostle Peter? The doc- 
 trines he then proclaimed, were the now despised and 
 slighted doctrines of grace ; the truths he then 
 thtmdered forth, were the most humbling to human 
 pride, and the most olfensive to (he natural heart, 
 and yet the most calculated, in the iiands of tlie 
 Eternal Spirit, to awaken the deepest emotion, and 
 to produce the most anxious inquiry; — '' Him, l)eing 
 delivered by the determinate counsel and foi^eknow- 
 ledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands 
 have crucified and slain." " Now, when they heard 
 this, they were pricked in their heart, and sai<l unto 
 Peter and the rest of the apostles. Men and brethren, 
 what shall we do .-' This was the result of a simple 
 preaching of the truth, — a faithful exhibition of the 
 
156 DECLENSION IN CONNEXION 
 
 doctrines of grace. Tlie stout-hearted Jews listened 
 with awe : the men who had witnessed the awful 
 scene of Calvary without emotion, now quailed, 
 trembled, turned pale, and smote on their breasts, ia 
 all the anguish of a deep, pungent conviction of sin. 
 How soon did their proud natures bend, their iiard 
 hearts melt ; the strong fortress of their prejudices 
 yield before the simpUcity and the majesty of the 
 truth! It was the naked '-sword of the Spirit" 
 which Peter wielded, and this, at one blow, smote to 
 the earth three thousand of the most hopeless, im- 
 penitent sinners ; it was a crucified Saviour that he 
 held up, which, by tlie power of the Holy Ghost, 
 wrought the wonders of the day of Pentecost. ''Is 
 not my word," saith God, " hke as a fire, and like a 
 hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces ?" " Thine 
 arrows are sharp in the hearts of the king's enemies, 
 whereby the people fall under thee." Is it unrea- 
 sonable, then, to expect, that the same Spirit will 
 honor with similar tokens of his power, the preach- 
 ing of the same truths in our day? "Thus saith 
 the Lord, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for 
 the old paths, where ia the good way, and walk 
 therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." Jer. 
 vi. 16. 
 
 We would also inquire, is there not in the present 
 day a sad declension in the setting- forth of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ ? Have we not cause to sound 
 the note of alarm touching this most important 
 point? We verily and solemnly believe that the 
 pulpits of our land are awfully guilty here ; that the 
 modern preaching of the Gospel is not formed on 
 
\VITII DOCTRINAL ERROR. 157 
 
 tlie model of the apostles', which was — Christ cruci- 
 fied : " I determined not to know (or to make known) 
 anytliinif amou}^ you, save Jesus Christ, and iiim 
 crucified.'" Is not Jesus kept in the back ground ? 
 Is not his cross hidden, and much of his glory veiled, 
 as if ashamed to bring him fully forward ? Are the 
 glory, the majesty, and the beauty of his Divine and 
 human nature, his wondrous person, clearly set 
 forth.' Are the nature, necessity, and perfection of 
 his great work, fully and fearlessly unfolded .' Are 
 his precious blood, his imputed righteousness, his me- 
 diatorial fulness, his exaltation atjd intercession at 
 the right hand of God, truths prominently exhibited 
 and fervently preached ? On the contrary, are not 
 human knowledge, and splendid talents, and brilliant 
 eloquence, and moral suasion, greatly substituted for 
 the preaching of the cross? That there should be 
 a sad declension of vital piety, of real spirituality, 
 and of active exertion, where Christ is not fully 
 preached, is not to be wondered at. The cross of 
 Jesus is the very soul of Christianity ; all is death 
 where Jesus is not. Grace decays, piety languishes, 
 and formality takes the place of the power of the 
 Gospel, where the person and the work of Christ are 
 slighted, undervalued, or denied. How should we 
 pray that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb slain, 
 who is ''worthy to receive power, and riches, and 
 wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and 
 blessing," should be more fully and simply preached 
 through the length and breadth of oin- land ; that 
 the climcli .iiid the pulpit should more manifestly 
 crown him Lord of all ! 
 
 14 
 
158 DECLENSION IN CONNEXION 
 
 Once more : Is not the doctrine of the Holy Spirit 
 held slightly ? Is he not denied in his person, dis- 
 honored in his work, wounded and grieved in his in- 
 fluence ? Is there not a more marked dependence 
 on creature power, than upon the power of the 
 Spirit ? Do not sermons and books, and reports, sadly 
 fxget to recognise and honor him as the grand 
 source of all blessing? Are his power, grace, and 
 love in the great work of conversion, distinctly ac- 
 knowledged and duly honored ? That there should 
 be no precious gales of grace, no revival of the Lord's 
 work, no true spiritual prosperity, where the Holy 
 Spirit is not glorified, we cannot marvel. All must 
 be cold, formal, and lifeless — that church a stagnant 
 pool, and that ministry a powerless instrument where 
 the Spirit of God is slighted, wounded, or absolutely 
 denied. 
 
 In closing, let us remark, that, living as we do in 
 a day of abounding error, it solemnly behoves those 
 who believe the truth, fearlessly to viaiiitain it. 
 Let there be no compromise, no barter of the truth ; 
 buy it at any sacrifice of human opinion, sell it at no 
 price whatever. "Buy the truth and sell it not." 
 Stand up a witness of the truth, humbly, boldly, 
 and in the strength of the Lord, wherever his provi- 
 dence may place you. O consider the honor of 
 being permitted to testify to the truth as it is in 
 Jesus ! You may be a lone, a solitary witness, yet 
 fear not ; he who is " the truth" itself says to you, as 
 he did to the church in Philadelphia, — " Thou hast 
 a little strength, and hast kept jny word, and hast 
 not denied my name. Because thou hast kept the 
 
WITH noCTRINAL ERROR. 159 
 
 word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the 
 hour of teiiiptatioii, which shall come upon all the 
 world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Be- 
 hold, 1 come quickly ; hold that fast which thou hast, 
 that no man take thy crown." Rev. iii. 10, 11. 
 
 Let thos^e who hold the truth, be careful to main- 
 fain good works, and so walk in all the holiness 
 of the truth they profess ; let them see that by no 
 carelessness of deportment, by no want of integrity, 
 by no neglect of the means of grace, by no exliibi- 
 tions of unholy temper, by no worldly conformity, 
 yea, by no inconsistency whatever, they bring a slur 
 upon the holy doctrines they avowedly maintain and 
 love; let them not be satisfied with maintaining a 
 string of doctrines, unaccompanied with their sancti- 
 fying power: but let them see that wiih the truth 
 in their judgments, they possess grace in the heart, 
 and unspotted holiness in the life. "Then said Je- 
 sus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye con- 
 tinue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 
 and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall 
 make you free." John viii. 31, 32. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ON GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 
 
 " GrieTe not the Holy Spirit of Goi.'—Eph. iv. 20. 
 
 This subject stands in close and solemn relation 
 to the spiritual and personal declension of the be- 
 liever : his decay in grace necessarily and painfully 
 involves it. Of all that has been wrought in the 
 believer in the way of conviction, repentance, faith, 
 joy, holiness, &c., the blessed and Eternal Spirit is 
 the sole Author. Great and glorious is his work: 
 yea, but for it, the redemption accomplished by our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, as to any saving effects, would 
 have availed nothing. The 'Sun of righteousness' 
 might have risen upon the world in all his peerless 
 splendor ; but until the mental eye had been opened 
 by the Holy Spirit, not a beam had found its way 
 into the dark chambers of the understanding and 
 the heart The Gospel ' supper' might have been 
 prepared, the Lamb slain, and the invitation issued; 
 but without a supernatural power working upon 
 the will, the desires, and the affections of man, all 
 would have 'made light of it, and have gone their 
 ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise.' 
 " It is expedient for you that I go away," said Jesus, 
 " for if I go not away, the comforter will not come 
 unto you ; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 
 
ON GKIEVING THE SPIRIT. IGl 
 
 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of 
 sin, and of rii;iUeousnes.s, and of jndginent." Our 
 views of the work of the .Spirit cannot be too spiritual 
 nor can our estimate of its vaUie be loo high. The 
 great danger to which we are exposed, is, not in 
 overrating, but in undervaluing the office-work of 
 the Spirit; not in thinking too high, but in thinking 
 too low of it : and thai anything lends more to 
 wound, grieve, and chase from us his sensible pres- 
 ence, than a known and permitted declension of 
 liis work, we cannot imagine. This is the solemn 
 and important point, to which the consideration of 
 the reader is now to be directed. 
 
 The phrases, 'vexing the Spirit,' 'grieving the 
 Spirit,' ' quenching the Spirit,' ' resisting the Spirit,' 
 (tc.j though metaphorical, are nevertheless highly 
 significant and solenm in their meaning. Grief is 
 not a passion in the Holy Spirit, as it is in us, any 
 more than 'anger,' 'wrath,' 'revenge,' are unholy 
 emotions in God. though ascribed to him. In con- 
 descension to our weakness, these expressions are 
 employed to set forth God's extreme hatred of sin, 
 and the holy sensitiveness of the Eternal Spirit to 
 any neglect, undervaluing, or declension of his most 
 gracious work and inlhience in the soul. Properly, 
 the Spirit cannoi be grieved, cannot be cpienched, 
 cannot be resisted ; because he is not a creature, 
 thougli a person. To believe the contrary, would be 
 to invest the Holy Spirit of God with such attributes 
 as would be incompatible with his Divine glory and 
 infinite perfections, — such as belong only to a weak, 
 sinful, finite creature. But metaphorically, to ' grieve 
 14* 
 
162 ON GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 
 
 the Spirit,' is to di.sreg-.ird liis voice, oppose his influ- 
 ence, and slight liis kind, loving, and tender nature; 
 and thus cause a withdrawment from the soul — ia 
 some cases temporary, in others eternal — of his pre- 
 sence, influence and blessing. In the case of the re- 
 generate, the withdrawment of the Spirit on being 
 grieved, is for a season only ; in that of the finally 
 impenitent and unbeheving, the liushing of his voice, 
 speaking to them in conscience, in providence, and in 
 his word, is the giving of them up for ever. But 
 these are points that will appear in a more advanced 
 elucidation of our subject. Let our attention now be 
 directed to the way in which the Holy Spirit of God 
 may be grieved, and then to the consideration of 
 some of the certain and mournful consequences. 
 
 I am supposed to address myself to those who ad- 
 mit, in its unlimited meaning, the scriptural doctrine 
 of the Divine Persoiiality of the Holy Spirit: else 
 it might be proper to show, that a denial of this truth 
 involves an absolute denial of the Spirit, — his per- 
 sonal glory and official work, — and charges home 
 upon the conscience of the rejecter, a sin of the most 
 malignant character, and of the most fatal tendency. 
 It surely needs not the reasoning of a moment to 
 prove that any existing doubt, any latent suspicion, 
 as to the Spirit's right to Divine homage, must 
 involve the sin of grieving the Spirit, in the highest 
 degree. Let the spiritual coldness, sterility, leth- 
 argy, which are the legitimate and certain results, 
 prove the truth of wliat we aflSrni. The moment a 
 man entertains views of the Spirit derogatory from 
 his personal dignity, that moment he seems like one 
 
ON GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 163 
 
 abandoned of (lie Spirit to the fearful and ruinous 
 consequences of his sin: his spirituahly withers, his 
 grace decays, the spirit of devotion languishes, and 
 at length expires. If he ministers in the priest's 
 ofllce, all power and unction in his ministrations evap- 
 orate ; or if he moves in a private walk, all zeal, and 
 ardor, and devoted ness in the cause of Christ become 
 stagnant, and the curse and the reproach of barren- 
 ness fall like a blight upon the once fertile and flourish- 
 ing soul. These dire eHects ma}' be traced to low 
 views of the personal dignity and official work of the 
 Holy Spirit. But I now particularly address myself 
 to those Christians who acknowledge the deity of the 
 Spirit, and his distinct personality in the Godhead, and 
 who humbly hope they are the subjects of his renewing 
 grace, and thus are acquainted with the power and 
 glory of his work. That even such may sadly grieve 
 the Holy Spirit of God, and in consequence be great 
 spiritual losers, we think the following considerations, 
 deduced from the inspired word, will clearly show. 
 
 We commence with that which bears most direct- 
 ly upon the subject of the present volume, the de- 
 clension of the Spirit's woi'k of grace in the soul of 
 a child of God. What can grieve the Spirit more 
 than this? It is an awful slight cast upon the most 
 glorious and stupendous production of his power : 
 nowhere has he erected a temple so glorious, and 
 nowhere has he put forth energy so mighty, and in 
 nothing has he imprinted so deeply the outline of 
 his own lioly character, as in the work of grace 
 which he has conunenced, and carries on in the 
 heart of man. Now, to witness any decay, declen- 
 
104 ON GRIKVING THE bPIRIT. 
 
 sion, or languor in this work ; to mark the loss of 
 vigor, healthfuhiess, or fruitfuhiess, in any single 
 grace ; to see those whose souls he had quickened, 
 whose minds he had iUuinined, whose affections he 
 had detached from earthly things and centered in 
 God, who did seem to ' run well,' and promised much 
 fruit, and ' an abundant entrance into the everlasting 
 kingdom,' now slacken their pace, grow weary of 
 the way, fold their arms again in slumber, grow 
 earthl}^, sensual, and grovelling ; the temple neg- 
 lected, its gates unwatched, and other guests admit- 
 ted ; holy motives losing their power, love ceasing to 
 constrain, spiritual things no longer attracting, de- 
 lighting, and satisfying the soul, — oh! can we 
 imagine the loving, faithful, tender heart of the 
 Spirit more sensibly touched with grief by anything 
 than this ? Well miglit he exclaim, " What could 
 I have done more for my vineyard than I have done ? 
 AVhy, then, when I looked for grapes, did it bring 
 forth wild grapes?" " O Ephraim, what shall I do 
 unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? 
 for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the 
 early dew it goeth away." 
 
 Of all spiritual states, hikewarmness is most ab- 
 horrent to God, and grieving to the Holy Spirit. "I 
 know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot : 
 I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because 
 thou art lukeuiann, and neither cold nor hot, I will 
 spue thee out of my mouth." Thus has God de- 
 ckued his utter deti'st.ition of this state. And yet, 
 who contemplates it in ihis awful liglit ? who pauses 
 to examine himself, to ascertain what real progress 
 
ON (.Rii:vi\G 'run srimr. 166 
 
 his soul is making-, — what grace is enfeebled, — what 
 j)ait of the S})iiits work is dei:ayetl, — what spot of 
 his soul is barren and unfruitful, and how far he is 
 secretly and elfectually grieving the Holy Spirit, by 
 a known, allowed, and clieri?hed state of spiritual 
 declension? If, afier all his skill, it must be aftect- 
 ing to the architect to witness the decay of his 
 building ; if so to the parent, after his costly ex- 
 penditure of means in education, to witness the fond 
 hopes he cherished of his child blasted, how infinitely 
 more is the spirit affected and grieved to behold the 
 temple he had erected at such a cost, falling to 
 decay ; the soul he had taught with such care and 
 solicitude, receding into a state of coldness and 
 formality in its spiritual duties and affections! 
 '•The heart of the Spirit," beautifully remarks Dr. 
 Owen, "is infinitely more tender towards us. than 
 that of the most affectionate parent can be towards 
 an only child. And when he with cost and care 
 hath nourished and brought us up into some growth 
 and progress in spiritual affections, wherein all his 
 concerns in us do lie, for us to grow cold, dull, 
 earthly-minded, to cleave unto the pleasures and 
 lusts of this world, how is he grieved, how is he 
 provoked !" See, then, that your spiritual state is 
 such as occasions joy rather than grief to the Holy 
 Spirit of God. Nothing can fill his loving heart 
 with greater and more holy delight, than to witness 
 the deepening character and expanding influence of 
 his own work in the believer. To behold the glim- 
 mermg light which he created, ' shining more and 
 more, — the gentle plant emitting its fragrance and 
 
166 ON GRIEVING THK SPIRIT. 
 
 putting forth its fruit, — the well-spring in the heart, 
 rising heaveuwanl, Godward, — such a picture must 
 be grateful to the Spirit. If the enthroned Redeem- 
 er looks down with satisfaction upon the travail of 
 his soul in the calling in of his redeemed, equally 
 joyous mus't it be to the Eternal Spirit, to behold 
 the widening of his kingdom in the saints, — the 
 maturing of the soul for the inheritance and the 
 companionship of 'just men made perfect.' To 
 mark a growing conformity to the image of Christ — 
 holiness expanding its root — each grace in active 
 exercise — every weight cast aside — every sin morti- 
 fied, and the whole body, soid, and spirit, a rising 
 temple to God, must indeed fill ail heaven with 
 joy. Christian reader, see well to thy state, that 
 the Holy Spirit of God is not grieved at any 
 known and cherished declension of his work in thy 
 soul. 
 
 The Spirit is grieved i?/ a denial, or utider- 
 valiiing of his gracious work in the heart. It is 
 a circumstance Avorlhy of remark, and important in 
 the instruction which it conveys, that, among all 
 examples of deep hun)ility, self-abasement, con- 
 sciousness and confession of sin recorded of the 
 saints in the word, not one appears to afford an 
 instance of a deniai or undervaluing of the Spirit's 
 work in the heart. Keen as appears to liave been 
 the sense of unworthiness felt by Jacob, David, Job, 
 Isaiah, Peter, Paul, and others ; deep as was their 
 conviction, and Innniliating as were their confessions 
 of sin's exceeding sinfulness, not one expression seems 
 to betray a denial of tlie work of the Holy Ghost in 
 
ox GKIi:vi\G THK SI'IUIT. 167 
 
 their souls : they fflt, and nioiiriied, and wept, and 
 confessed as men called of God, pardoned, jus^tificd, 
 ado|)ted, not as men who had never tasted that the 
 Lord was gracious, and who therefore were utter 
 strangers to the operation of the Spirit upon their 
 hearts : they acknowledged their sinfuhiess and 
 their backslidings as converted men, always ready 
 and forward to crown the Spirit in liis work. But 
 what can grieve the tender, loving heart of the 
 Spirit more deeply than a denial of his work in 
 the soul ? And yet there is a perpetual tendency 
 to this, in the unbelieving doubts, legal fears, and 
 gloomy forebodings which those saints yield to, who, 
 at every discovery of the sin that dwelleth in them, 
 resign themselves to the painful conviction, that 
 they liave been given over of God to believe a lie ! 
 To such we would earnestly say. Grieve not thus 
 the Holy Spirit of God. Deep self-abasement, the 
 consciousness of utter worthiessness, need not neces- 
 sarily involve a denial of indwelling grace in the 
 heart ; yea, this blessed state is perfectly consistent 
 with the most elevated hope of eternal life. He 
 that can confess himself the ' chief of sinners' and 
 ' the least of saints,' is most likely to acknowledge, 
 " I know in w'hom I have believed," — " He hath 
 loved me, and given himself for me." What ! is it 
 all fabulous that 3''ou have believed ? is it all a 
 delusion that you have experienced 7 have you been 
 grasping at a shadow, believing a lie, and fighting 
 as one that beateth the air? are you willing to 
 yield your hope and cast away your confidcmce? 
 What ! have you never knjown the plague of your 
 
168 ON GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 
 
 own heart, the sweetness of godly sorrow at the foot 
 of the cross ? have you never felt your heart beat 
 one throb of love to Jesus? has his dear name never 
 broken in sweet cadence on your ear? are you 
 willing to admit that all the grief you have felt, 
 and all the joy you have experienced, and all the 
 blessed anticipations you have known, were but as 
 a ' cunningly devised fable,' a device of the wicked 
 one, a moral hallucination of the mind? O grieve 
 not thus the Holy Spirit of God ! deny not, under- 
 value not, his blessed work within thee ! What if 
 you have been led into deeper discoveries of your 
 fallen nature, your unworthiness. vileness, insuffi- 
 ciency, declensions, and backsliding from God, we 
 ask. Whose work is this? whose, but that same 
 blessed, loving Spirit whom thus you are wounding, 
 quenching, grieving, denying? On this point the 
 writer feels acutely ; when he remembers how many 
 whose eye \x\^y trace this page, are in this very 
 state,— not merely writing hard and bitter things 
 against themselves, but also agauist the blessed, 
 loving^ faithful Spirit of God^ — calling grace 
 nature, denying his work in them, and, in a sense 
 most painful to his tender heart, ' speaking words 
 against the Holy Ghost,' he cannot but feel. There 
 is much spurious humility among many saints of 
 God, and this is one of its common forms. It is not 
 pride gratefully to acknowledge what great things 
 the Lord hath done for us, — it is pride that refuses 
 to acknowledge them ; it is not true humility to 
 doubt, and underrate, until it becomes easy to deny 
 altogether the work of the Holy Ghost within us, — 
 
ON GRIEVINC; THE SPIRIT. 169 
 
 it is true humility and lowliness to confess his work, 
 bear testimony to l>is operation, and ascribe to him 
 all the power, praise, and glory. See then, dear 
 reader, that you cherish not this false liuniility, 
 which is but another name for deep, umnortified 
 -pride of heart; remember that as Satan may trans- 
 form himself into an angel of light, so may his 
 agencies assume the disguise of the most holy and 
 lovely graces ; thus pride, one of his master agents 
 of evil in the heart, may appear in the shape of the 
 profoundest humility. And I would have you bear 
 in mind, too, that though the work of the Spirit in 
 your heart may, to your imperfect knowledge and 
 dim eye, be feeble — ^the outline scarcely visible amid 
 so mucli indwelling sin — the spark almost hid amid 
 so much abounding corruption, yet, to the Spirit's 
 eye, that work appears in all its distinctness and 
 glory. " The Lord knoweth them that are his." 
 This declaration will apply with equal truth to tlie 
 knowledge which the Holy Ghost hath of his own 
 work in the believer ; his eye is upon the gentlest 
 buddings of indwelling grace — the faintest spark of 
 love,— the softest whisper of holy desire — the most 
 feeble yearnings of the heart towards Jesus, — all, 
 all is known to, and loved by, the Spirit; it is his 
 own work, and strange should he not recognise it. 
 Suffer this consideration to have its proper weight 
 in hushing those murmurings, and soothing those 
 fears, and neutralising those doubts that so deeply 
 grieve the Holy Spirit of God : yield yourself up 
 unto him : humbly acknowledge what he has done 
 in you ; follow the little light he has given you, call 
 15 
 
170 ON GRIEVING TIIK SPIRIT. 
 
 into constant and active exercise the small desfree 
 of grace and faith which he has imparted, and seek 
 " with all prayer and supplication" an enlarged 
 degree of his holy anointing, sanctifying, and seal- 
 ing influence. 
 
 A snbstitutloii of his own icork in the soul for 
 the atoning and finished work of Jesus, greatly 
 grieves the Holy Spirit of God. One essential and 
 important office of the Spirit is to glorify Christ : 
 "He (the Spirit) shall glorify me," said Jesus ; "He 
 shall testify of me ;" •' He shall take of mine, and 
 shall show it unto you." This being his work in 
 reference to Christ, it must be, of course, the great 
 delight of the Spirit ever and at all times to lift up 
 Jesus and glorify him. And how does the Spirit 
 most glorify Christ, but by exalting his atoning 
 work, — giving to it the pre-eminence, the import- 
 ance, and the glory it demands, — leading the sin- 
 ner, whom he has first convinced of sin, to accept of 
 Jesus as a willing, an all-sufficient Saviour, — to cast 
 away all trust in self, all reliance upon a covenant 
 of works, which is but a covenant of death, and thus 
 going entirely out of himself, to take up his rest in 
 the blood and righteousness of Immanuel, the God- 
 man Mediator. Oh, Avhat sweet, holy delight, must 
 it be to the Spirit of God, when a poor sinner in all 
 his conscious nothingness is led to build upon Jesus, 
 the " tried stone, the precious corner-stone, the sure 
 foundation !" 
 
 Let the reader, then, imagine how grieving it 
 must be to the Spirit, when there is any resting in 
 his work in the soul, either for acceptance, or for 
 
ON GRIEVING TUK .Sl'ililT. 171 
 
 comfort, or for peace, or for strength, or even for evi- 
 dence of a state of grace, and not solely and entirely 
 m tlie atoning work which Jesus had wrought out 
 for the redemption of sinners. The work of the 
 Spirit and the work of Christ, tliough they form 
 parts of one glorious whole, are yet dLsiinci, and to 
 be distinguished in the economy of grace, and in 
 the salvation of a sinner. It is the work of Jesus 
 alone, his perfect obedience to the broken law of God, 
 and his sacrificial death as a satisfaction of Divine 
 justice, that form the ground of a sinner's acceptance 
 with God,— the source of his pardon, justilication, 
 and peace. The work of the Spirit is, not to atone, 
 but to reveal the atonement ; not to obey, but to 
 make known the obedience ; not to pardon and jus- 
 tify, but to bring the convinced, awakened, penitent 
 soul to receive the pardon and embrace the justifica- 
 tion already provided in the work of Jesus. Now, 
 if there is any substitution of the Spirit's work for 
 Christ's work, — any undue, unauthorised leaning 
 upon the work within, instead of the work ^cithout, 
 the believer, there is a dishonor done to Christ, and 
 a consequent grieving of the Holy Spirit of God. It 
 cannot be pleasing to the Spirit to find himself a sub- 
 stitute for Christ ; and yet this is the sin which so 
 many are constantly falling into. If I look to con- 
 victions of sin within me, to any motion of the in- 
 dwelling Spirit, to any part of his work, as the le- 
 gitimate source of healing, of comfort, or of evi- 
 dence, 1 turn my back upon Christ, I remove my 
 eye from the cross, and slight his great atoning 
 work ; I make a Christ of the Spirit ! T make a 
 
172 ON GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 
 
 Saviour of the Holy Ghost ! I convert his work into 
 an atoning work, and draw the evidence and the 
 consolation of my pardon and acceptance from what 
 he has done, and not from what Jesus has done ! 
 O, is not this, again we ask, dishonoring to Christ, 
 and grieving to the Holy Spirit of God ? Think not 
 that we undervalue the Spirit's work, — great and 
 precious is it. Viewed as a Quickener, John vi. 
 63 — as an Indwelier, 1 Cor. vi. 19 — as a Sanctifier, 
 2 Thess. ii. 13 — as a Sealer, Eph. i. 13 — as a Wit- 
 ness, John V. 10 — as a Comforter, John xiv. 26 — as 
 the Author of Prayer, Rom. viii. 26, — his person 
 cannot be too ardently loved, nor can his work be too 
 highly prized : but the love we bear him, and the 
 honor we give him, must not be at the expense of 
 the honor and glory and love due to the liOrd Jesus 
 Christ, whom it is his office and his dehght to glo- 
 rify. The crown of redemption must be placed 
 upon the head of Jesus ; he alone is worthy to wear 
 it, — he alone has a right to wear it. " Thou hast 
 redeemed us by thy blood," is the song they sing in 
 glory, and " Thou shalt wear the crown," should be 
 the song echoed back from the redeemed on earth. 
 
 See, then, that you grieve not the Spirit, either by 
 misplacing or by undervaluing the atoning work of 
 Jesus. His blood, applied by the Spirit, pardons ; 
 his righteousness received by failh justifies you ; and 
 " the peace of God which passeth all understanding," 
 is the certain and blessed fiuit of both. The con- 
 stant evidence of a pardoned and justified state, must 
 spring from a constant dealing with, and looking to, 
 the Lord Jesus : it is ' in his light that we are to see 
 
ON GRIEVING THE SPIIUT. 173 
 
 light ;' he is the Sun that shines upon the work within 
 us. The eye of" the soul withdrawn tVoni his cross, 
 and fixed in intense gaze upon itself, will soon be 
 lost amid shadows and gloom. Inwaid joys may be 
 lived upon, until the spring of joy ceases to flow; 
 evidences may be looked to, until they melt away 
 into darkness. What, under these circumstances, is 
 the poor, distressed, alarmed soul to do, but to fly 
 afresh to the cross I Where is it to look, but again 
 unto Jesus ? What is to speak a sense of pardon, 
 but the atoning blood ; and what is to assure of ' per- 
 fect peace,' but the justifying righteousness of the 
 Son of God ? O tiiat there were a more simple and 
 direct looking out of, and away from, self, to the 
 atoning Saviour ! Then would the precept be sweet, 
 then would oljcdicnce be easy, then would the cross 
 be lighi, and ihen, too. would peace flow as a river, 
 and righteousness roll in as the waves of the sea. 
 
 And yet, there is a sense in which i/te Spirit^s 
 ou-ti icork may be so slighted, as deeply to grieve his 
 heart. There is a proneness to extreme points even 
 in the child of God : he may either overrate, or he 
 may underrate a thing ; he may place an unwar- 
 rantable dependence upon that which, at another 
 period, he may be found painfully and sinfully to 
 slight. Thus, in reference to the afflictions of the 
 believer, the word of God exhorts him on the one 
 hand not to despise them, and tenderly admonishes 
 him on the other hand not to faint under them. 
 Heb. xii. 5. We may either think too much or too 
 little of God's covenant chastenings. What need of 
 the teachings of the Spirit every moment of one's 
 15* 
 
174 UN GKIEVINU THE Sl-IiaT. 
 
 life ! how important to be found constantly distrust- 
 ing and leaning off of self, and trusting to, and 
 leaning upon, Jesus ! The prayer of a child of God 
 should unceasingly be, that the Lord would keep 
 him from himself ; that tlie posture of his mind 
 might be low at the feet of Jesus, each moment 
 learning of, and living to, him. But how may the 
 Spirit's work be slighted l:)y the believer ? In various 
 ways. 
 
 He may cherish an imperfect consciousness of the 
 indicelling^ of the S'pirit in his heart. To show 
 any indifference to the presence of a guest, to mani- 
 fest any want of marked and proper attention, is a 
 slight of no ordinary nature : in this sense may the 
 Holy Spirit of God be grieved. For the Holy Ghost 
 effectually to call, renew, sanctify and take posses- 
 sion of the soul — make it his temple, his permanent 
 dwelling-place ; and yet, for that soul to entertain 
 inadequate views of this great truth, forget who is 
 dwelling with and in him, slight his heavenly guest, 
 and go out and come in, and live and act as if he 
 were not a temple of the Holy Ghost, — what can be 
 more dishonoring to the Blessed and Eternal Spirit ! 
 O that this momentous truth should even for a sin- 
 gle moment be lost sight of by the believer ! That 
 he should be the dwelling-place of the Most High, 
 the ' High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, 
 whose name is Holy,' the residence of the Holy 
 Ghost, and yet entertain a feeling or a tliought not 
 in perfect harmony with so great a fact, does indeed 
 show the necessity of the apostolic admonition 
 " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God." 
 
ON GKIKVINU TIIK SPIRIT. 175 
 
 When, too, his s/ill s/nall voice is unheeded, and 
 his gentle conslraints arc not yichh-d lo. there is a 
 sUglit put upon liis work of a very grievous nature. 
 The abiding Inchveller of the saint of God, the Spirit, 
 is perpetually speaking to, admonishing, leading, 
 drawing, and cotistraining the soul : his great work 
 there, is to teach, to sanctify, to shield, to check, and 
 to comfort the believer. Every holy shrinking from 
 sin, every lirni resistance of its power, ever}'' victory 
 achieved over its motions, every aspiration after lioli- 
 ness, and every feeble desire to walk in the way of 
 filial obedience to, and sweet communion with, God, 
 is the fruit of the indwelling Spirit in the heart. 
 How grieving, then, to that Spirit, when this loving 
 voice of his, and these gentle constraints of his, are 
 overlooked, stilled, disregarded, and slighted by the 
 soul he so tenderly loves, and so faithfully watches 
 over ! Grieve not thus the Holy Spirit of God. In 
 all his dealings with you, he seeks but your real 
 good ; he aims to deepen his own work in your 
 hearts ; he seeks but to promote your holiness, and 
 to mature your soul for the joys and the companion- 
 ship of the saints in light. Yet more; he desires 
 your true happiness, — he would draw you off from 
 carnal things, he would allure you from objects of 
 sense and sin. and open to you springs of higher and 
 purer enjoyment, and lead you into fairer and 
 greener pastures: this would he do, by unfolding to 
 ycu what you possess in .Tesus, in the covenant of 
 grace, and in a covenant God. Let your ear, then, 
 be open to the gentle voice of the Spirit, and follow 
 promptly and implicitly his secret and gentle leadings. 
 
17(5 ON GRIliVJNG THE SPIRIT. 
 
 Inconsistency in the Christian profession, must 
 be highly grieving' to the Holy Spirit of God. To 
 nuirk a Avarit of harmony between the professed 
 principles and the habit of life in one avowedly his 
 temple ; to trace a love of the world, a panting for 
 its fau>e, a grasping for its wealth, an adoption of it» 
 policy, a coi)forniing to its maxims, its pursuits, it-.^ 
 pleasures, and its religion, cannot fail to wound the 
 sacred guest, the indwelling Spirit. And yet this 
 worldly spirit, this painful inconsistency of avowed 
 Christian principle, how many professors does it 
 mark ! What numbers there are professing and 
 calling themselves Christians, the disciples of the 
 Lord, the followers of the meek and lowly Lamb of 
 God, who think lightly of putting on gay, worldly 
 attire, — of frequenting balls, or moving in the dance, 
 — of joining in carnal music, — of attending plays, 
 and reading novels and romances, — all of which are 
 at variance with the Christian character, are viola- 
 tions of the Clnistian rule, are dishonoring to the 
 name of Christ, and are deeply grieving to the Holy 
 Spirit of God. You are professedly a temple to the 
 Holy Ghost. What ! shall yovi adorn that temple 
 W'ith earthly splendor, after the fashion of this world ? 
 What says the Holy Ghost by his servant ? — " In 
 like manner also, that women adorn themselves in 
 motlest apparel, with siianiefacedness and sobriety ; 
 not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly 
 array; but (which becomelh women professing god- 
 liness) with gootl works."' 1 Tim. ii. 9, 10. Again, 
 — '• Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorn- 
 ing of plaiting the hair, and of weaving of gold, or 
 
ON G1UK\1N(; THE Sl'lIUT. 177 
 
 of putting on of apparel ; but let it be the hitldeii 
 man of tiie heart, in that which is not corruptible, 
 even the ornament of a nicck and (juiet spirit, which 
 is in the sight of God of great price. For after tliis 
 manner, in the old time, (he holy women also, who 
 trusted in God. adorned themselves." 1 Peter iii. 
 3 — 5. Do, then, the extravagance, the costliness, 
 the vvorldliness, the studied attention to taste, that 
 mark the outward adornment of so many professing 
 Christians, comport with the spirit and the precept 
 of the Gospel.' rather, are they not such indulgences 
 as the Gospel clearly interdicts, and on which Chris- 
 tianity severely frowns 1 
 
 Again : Shall the believer, the professed temple of 
 the Holy Ghost, be found mingling W'ith the world, 
 taking pleasure in its annisements, courting its so- 
 ciety, working upon its principles, and adopting its 
 policy .' Ought this to be the line of conduct pur- 
 sued by a professing Christian? Is this the way to 
 illustrate the holy power of the truth, to recommend 
 the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to rebuke the sin, and 
 folly, and rebellion of the world, and to win it over 
 to the obedience of the faith ? Assuredly not ! 
 
 And how can the Divine life in the soul be fed 
 and sustained from such a source I What nourish- 
 ment does it derive from the light and frothy read- 
 ings of the day, — from the pages of a sickly romance, 
 a frivolous novel, a tale of fiction J What food can 
 the unhallowed, unsanctified imagination of men, 
 prepare for the strengthening, supporting, and ex- 
 panding of this Divine principle in the soul ? Surely 
 none. 
 
178 ON GRIK\INO THE SPIRIT. 
 
 And what meetness for prayer, for communion 
 wilh God, for the reading of his sacred word, can a 
 believer find in the giddy dance, in carnal song, in 
 tlie immoral novel ? What preparation of mind do 
 these pursuits aiibid for approaching to God, for the 
 proper discharge of Christian duties, for sober reflec- 
 tion, for the hour of death, and for the day of judg- 
 ment ? Oh! the awful inconsistencies that mark 
 the profession of some, who can find a near and an 
 easy path from the sanctuary, the communion table, 
 and the closet, to the evening party, the ball-room, 
 the mazy dance, the empty novel, the very heart of 
 a gay and giddy world ! Is this true Christianity 1 
 is this like Christ? is it after his command, his pre- 
 cept, and his example ? Judge ye. 
 
 But what is the line of duty marked out for the 
 walk of a professing -believer ? It is as clear in the 
 Word of God, as the meridian sun. Thus is it laid 
 down : "Be not conformed to this world : but be ye 
 transformed by the renewing of yo-ur mind, that ye 
 may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and 
 perfect Avill of God." Rom. xii. 2. " Come out from 
 among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, 
 and touch not the unclean thing ; and I will receive 
 you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be 
 my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 
 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. •' 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. For all 
 that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the 
 lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is not of the 
 Father, but is of the world." 1 John ii. 15, 16. 
 
i)N OKiKVJNt; Tin: sriuir. 179 
 
 " Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know yc not that 
 the friendrjlii|) of tiie world is enmity with (Jod? 
 whosoever thcrfrore will be a friend of the world, is 
 the enemy of God." James iv. 4. " Pure religion 
 and undeliled before God and the Feather, is this — 
 to visit the fatherless and widows in their aflliction, 
 and to keep himself unspotted from the world." 
 i. 27. Thus impliciily and clearly is the line of 
 Christian duty, in reference to a believer's connexion 
 with the world, laid down by the Holy Ghost; he 
 cannot depart from it without grieving the Spirit, 
 wounding his own soul, and compromising his Chris- 
 tian profession. 
 
 Grieve not, then, the Holy Spirit of God by any 
 known inconsistency of conduct, any sinful con- 
 formity to the world, any inordinate pursuit of its 
 wealth, its honors, its pleasures, its friendships, and 
 its great things. Pray against the sin of covetous- 
 ness, that canker-worm that feeds at the root of so 
 many souls ; pray against a love of dress, that sin 
 that diverts the mind of so many professors from the 
 simplicity of Christ, antl takes the eye ofT from the 
 true adornment; — pray against a thirst for light and 
 trifling reading, that strange and sinful inconsistency 
 of so niany, the certain tendency of which is, to 
 starve the life of God in the soul, to engender a dis- 
 taste for spiritual aliment, for the word of God, for 
 holy meditation, and for Divine commimion and fel- 
 lowship; yea, pray against (lie spirit of worldly, 
 sinful conformity in everything, that the Holy Spirit 
 be not grieved, and that Christ be not dishonored 
 and crucified afresh in and through you. It is to 
 
180 ON GRIEVING TUR SPIRIT. 
 
 be feared that much of the professed Christianity of 
 the day is of a compromising character. The spirit 
 thai marks so many i^, "' What will ye give me, and 
 I will deliver him unto you ?" There is a betraying 
 of Christ before the world — a bartering of Christianity 
 for its good opinion, its places of honor, and influ- 
 ence, and emolument. The world, the flesh, and 
 Satan, are ever on the alert to frame a bargain with 
 a Christian professor for his religion. " What will 
 you give me in returii ?" is the eager inquiry of many. 
 Oh, awful state ! oh, fearful deception ! oh. fatal de- 
 lusion ! Reader! are you a professing Christian? 
 Then guard against the least compromise of your 
 principles, the least betrayal of Jesus, the first step in 
 an inconsistency of walk : above all, pray and watch 
 against a worldly Christianity, a Christianity that 
 wears a fair exterior, so far as it is composed of at- 
 tendance upon sanctuary services, and sacraments, 
 and religious institutions, but which excludes from 
 it the cross of the meek and lowly Lamb of God, — a 
 Christianity which loves the world and the things 
 of the world, ' makes a fair show in the flesh,' speaks 
 well of Christ, and yet betra3'S him with a kiss. 
 
 But let not this be the model of your religion. 
 You are not of the world, even as Christ was not of 
 the world : if the world hate you, it hated him also 
 before it hated you : if you were of the Avorld, the 
 world would love you. Marvel not at this ! Do not 
 expect more from the v.'orld than your Master re- 
 ceived. The world that crowned your Lord with 
 thorns, will never, if you "livegodly in Christ Jesus," 
 crown you with garlands : the world that crucified 
 
ON (JRIHVINU TIIK tSPIUIT. 181 
 
 hiiu, will never, if you are his consistent disciple, en- 
 throne yon. 'J'hc world is the sworn enemy oi your 
 Saviour, let it not be your friend. No; come out of 
 it, and be ye separate. Let your whole hfe be a 
 solemn rebuke of it: let your integrity rebuke its 
 want of principle, — your sobriety rebuke its frivo- 
 lousness, — your upright sincerity rebuke its heart- 
 lessness, — your crucilixion to it rebuke its emptiness, 
 folly, and sinfulness, — let your dress, your spirit, 
 your whole conversation evince what a splendid 
 nothing is all its pomp, and glory, and pretension : 
 so shall you resemble your Lord and Master, — he 
 who loved you unto death, whose glory was in his 
 humiliation, whose path was humble, lowly, and 
 obscure, and whose death was the ignominious and 
 accursed death of the cross : thus, too, you shall re- 
 senible his beloved apostle, who, taking his place by 
 the cross, and looking down upon the world froni the 
 holy elevation where he stood, could exclaim, " God 
 forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, hy whom the world is cjucified 
 unto me, and I unto the world." 
 
 The Spirit may be grieved by a slight put upon 
 the means of grace : these are his channels for the 
 conveyance of his covenant blessings into the soul. 
 He works not by miracles nov/, but by instrumental- 
 ities, by various agencies and means : he communi- 
 cates his blessings and transmits his voice through 
 the world, the ministry, the mercy-seat, and various 
 other channels which he has graciously provided for 
 the spiritual nourishment of the Divine life in the 
 soul. Slight them not, undervalue them not, neglect 
 1<3 
 
182 ON GRIEVING THE SPIIlI'l'. 
 
 them not. Look not for his blessing, nor expect to 
 hear his voice, save as you are found walking in his 
 own appointed way: you will grieve him, and cause 
 him to withdraw his sensible presence, if any mean 
 of grace is wilfully undervalued and neglected by 
 you. These are the ' green pastures,' where the 
 Shepherd causes his flock to rest at noon ; these are 
 the ' still waters,' where he leadeth their souls : and 
 if the back is turned slightingly upon them, leanness 
 and barrenness, coldness and death, must ensue. 
 " They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 
 strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; 
 they shall run and not be weary, and they shall 
 walk and not faint." 
 
 In a word ; the Spirit is grieved by any deviation 
 from the strict and holy walk of a child of God — by 
 any sense of guilt retained upon the conscience — 
 any sin unconfessed, unrepented, and unforsaken — 
 any known defilement of the temple he inhabits — 
 any slight put upon Jesus — any neglect of the aton- 
 ing blood — any light and trifling deportment — any 
 uncharitable walk towards other Christians — any 
 taking of the judgment-seat against them, — all these 
 must be grieving to the Holy Spirit of God. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE FRUITLESS AND THE FRUITFUL PROFESSOR. 
 
 " Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he takcth away : and every 
 branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." 
 — John XV. 2. 
 
 If there were any one feature in our Lord's min- 
 istrations more peculiarly impressive than another, it 
 was the tiiscriniinatin<»' character that marked lliein. 
 No one, on hearing him, could retire without the 
 deep conviction that he was the man whose moral 
 image Jesus had been drawing, and in such true and 
 vivid resemblance, as to compel him to acknowledge 
 the faithfulness of the portrait. There was no per- 
 sonality, no harshness, no unnecessary keenness in 
 his reproof, no exaggeration of coloring, nothing 
 overdrawn ; but such a simple, faithful, scriptural 
 dealing with human conscience, as either compelled 
 his hearers to submit to his authority, and rank 
 themselves among his followers, or to reliie, silenced, 
 self-accused, and self-condenmed. Tlius it is re- 
 corded at the conclusion of one of his discourses, — 
 " And when the chief priests and Pharisees had 
 heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of 
 them." Matt. xxi. 45 ; and on another occasion we 
 read, as the result of one of his peculiar and em- 
 phatic modes of teaching, — " And they which heard 
 it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out 
 
184 THE FRUITLESS AND 
 
 one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the 
 last." John viii. 9. 
 
 In the parable of the vine and the branch, we 
 have, perhaps, one of the most striking specimens 
 of our Lord's analytical style of instruction. He 
 who formed the heart, and knew, — in consequence 
 of its apostacy, — how deeply it was tainted with 
 evil, was not ignorant how far a man could go in an 
 outward profession of his name, and yet live and 
 die destitute of regenerating grace. In the parable, 
 therefore, to which we have alluded, he goes into a 
 faithful and searching discrimination of character, 
 lays bare the evil to which men were exposed, warns 
 them of the danger of self-deception, distinguishes 
 between the true and the false professor, and de- 
 scribes, in striking and atTecting terms, the final state 
 of both : " I am tire true vine, and my Father is 
 the husbandman. Every branch in me that bear- 
 eth not fruit he taketh away : and every branch that 
 beareth fruit, he purgeth it, tliat it may bring forth 
 more fruit." In these words of our dear Lord, we 
 have first, a solemn description of a fruitless pro- 
 fessor ; he then directs us to the pruning of the fruit- 
 ful branch, and he assigns a reason why he prunes 
 it — " that it may bring forth more fruit." Let us, 
 in the present chapter, take the description of the 
 fruitless professor, as the basis of our first re- 
 flections. 
 
 That there can exist such a state as a fruitless 
 -professor of the Gospel, is, perhaps, one of the most 
 indubitable evidences of the deep degeneracy of the 
 human heart, and its natural tendency to self-decep- 
 
TMi: IIUITFUL PnOl'ESSOR. 186 
 
 tioii, that exists. '' The heart is deceitful above all 
 thinys. and desperately wicked :" and here is the 
 proof, if all other were wanting, that an individual 
 may approach so near in his external resemblance 
 to a child of God, may look so like a believer in 
 Jesus, may appear to be united to him, and still re- 
 main among the dead. Of all states this side of 
 eternity, this is the most awful ; and yet it is to be 
 feared, if we are to judge of the tree by its fruits, 
 and not by its leaves, that this is the state of thou- 
 sands at the present moment. How important, may 
 we not pause to remark, that the ministers of the 
 Gospel — those who stand between the living and 
 the dead — should model their ministry, as closely as 
 they can, after their blessed Lords; that they should 
 be careful hoio they preached, — that their preach- 
 ing should be discriminating without being harsh, 
 pointed without being personal, searching without 
 being caustic ; that no hearer should go away from 
 beneath their ministrations, without a faithful delin- 
 eation of his own character, the voice sounding in 
 his conscience, and following him aniid all his wind- 
 ings and his wanderings, " T/iou art the man !" 
 
 An expression of our Lord's may need a moment's 
 explanation : he speaks of the fruitless branch as 
 m)ited to himself, — " Every branch itt me that bear- 
 eth not fruit.'' We are not to understand this of a 
 vital union, a spiritual grafting into Christ; the 
 analogy of truth is opposed to such an interpreta- 
 tion. The word of God invariably maintains the 
 influential character of a living faith, — that it is ever 
 productive of the fruits of holiness, — that a union to 
 16* 
 
186 THE FRUITLESS AND 
 
 Christ will always result in a living to God : to sup- 
 pose, therefore, that a dead and fruitless branch 
 could be vitally in Christ, is to suppose tliat the word 
 of God was against itself, which can never be. But 
 we are to understand our Lord as referring to an 
 external union, to an ontivard pi'ofession only. 
 There is such a thing as being externally in Christ; 
 in him by an avowal of attachment to his cross, by 
 a profession of his name, by adherence to his cause, 
 by an apparent zeal for his glory : all this may ex- 
 ist, and in thousands does exist, without one par- 
 ticle of real, spiritual, life-deriving union to Christ. 
 We may repair to a nursery, and may lop off a 
 branch from a dead tree, and simply tie it to a living 
 tree, and to all appearance it may resemble a true 
 vital graft. A casual observer may be deceived ; 
 but time proves its false appearance : we come and 
 look for fruit, the natural result of true grafting, and 
 we find nothing save a lifeless, sapless, barren 
 branch, externally united to the living tree. Look at 
 such a professor ! Where is the fruit? where is the 
 real severing froni the wild olive-tree ? where is the 
 great separation between himself and his own right- 
 eousness ? where is the breaking up of the fallow 
 ground of a hard, corrupt, stony heart? where is the 
 humble, lowly, contrite spirit? where is the self- 
 loathing, self-abhorrence, self accusing, self-condem- 
 nation ? Hear we the cry, '• God be merciful to me 
 a sinner?" Mark we the low posture in the dust, 
 the smiting upon the breast, the standing afar off 
 the eye not lifted even towards the dwelling-place of 
 a holy God ? Where, too, is a living faith in Christ, 
 
THK IRIITKLL I'UOKESSOR. 187 
 
 a living upon Christ, and a living to Christ? Where 
 is coiiforniily to the Divine image? Where the 
 fruits of holiness increasing and abounding? What 
 of the spirit, the meekness, the lowhness. the gentle- 
 ness, the sanctity of Jesus, do we discover? What 
 self-denial, bearing of the cross, crucifixion to sin, 
 deadness to the world, and living for eternity, do we 
 trace ? Alas ! alas ! we have mistaken the external 
 profession for a vital, spiritual union to Christ ! And 
 is it any marvel, that when we came seeking fruit 
 from such a branch, we should have faund none ? 
 
 But look at the profession of our day. If to put 
 on the Lord Jesus by an outward avowal of his re- 
 hgion, — if to profess and call themselves Christians, 
 — if to bow the knee at the mention of his name, — 
 if to partake of the outward symbols of his body and 
 his blood, — if to speak well of Jesus, — assent and 
 consent to his doctrine, approve of his Gospel, follow 
 his ministers, crowd his temple, contribute liberally 
 to his cause, — if these constitute the sole and essen- 
 tial elements of real spiritual union to Christ, then 
 may we not exclaim, — ''The millennium has bro- 
 ken upon us in noontide splendor !" We speak of 
 no single sect, we speak of all religious sects, for 
 among all are to be found the lifeless, fruitless pro- 
 fessor. Was it not so in the days of our Lord, and 
 during the searching ministry of his apostles? Dis- 
 criminating in his preaching as he was, and vigilant 
 as they were in their oversight of the flock, false 
 professors abounded in their time, and even rose to 
 places of distinction in the church. Look at the 
 case of Simon Magus: he was but a fruitless pro- 
 
188 THE FRUITLES!? ANU 
 
 fessor : concerning whom it is recorded that he had 
 "neither part nor lot in the matter — that his heart 
 was not right in the sight of God — that he was in 
 the gall of bitteriiess. and in the bond of iniquity." 
 Look at the case of Demas ; he was but a fruitless 
 professor, *' Dema.';; hath forsaken me," writes the 
 apostle, '• having Icved this present world." And 
 look at that eiuincnt and awful instance of a mere 
 external union to Christ — a fruitless profession of his 
 name — Judas Ipcariot ; in reference to whom, Jesus 
 prays to h'is Father. '• those that thou gavest n:ie I 
 have kept, and none vif them is lost, but the son of 
 perdition." And to those wliose union to himself 
 was but external, and whose life was fruitless, our 
 Lord alludes in these solemn words, '• Strive to enter 
 in at the strait gate : for many, 1 say unto you, will 
 seek to enter in and shall not be able. When once the 
 master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the 
 door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at 
 the door, saying. Lord, Lord, open to us ; and he 
 shall answer and say unto you, I know you not 
 whence ye are. Then shall ye begin to say. We have 
 eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught 
 in our streets. But he shall say. I tell you, I know you 
 not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers 
 of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing 
 of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and 
 Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, 
 and you yourselves thrust out." Luke xiii. 24 — 28. 
 If possible, in yet more awful terms does the word 
 of God unfold the final doom of the Christless, fruit- 
 less professor. " Every tree which bringeth not forth 
 
Tin; riu'iTixi. I'uoFKssoR. 189 
 
 good fruit, is liewn down and ca.st into the fireP 
 '• Wliose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly 
 purge his floor, and gather his wheat into his garner ; 
 but he Will burn up the chuff with unquenchable 
 firer Matt. iii. 10, 12. 
 
 But it is not often the case that the fruitless pro- 
 fessor clings even to his bare profession, until his 
 doom arrives. There are many, who, long before 
 the awful note of approaching judgment falls on 
 their ear, throw oil' the outward garb, and stand 
 forth in their true character. Our Lord seems to in- 
 timate this in various parts of his word ; especially 
 in his explanation of the parable of the sower, does 
 he refer to it in clear and affecting terms, — '■ Those 
 l)y the way side are they that hear : then cometh 
 the devil, and taketh away the word out of their 
 hearts, lest they should believe it and be saved. 
 They on tlie rock are they, which, when they hear 
 receive the word with joy ; and those have no root, 
 wliich for a while believe, and in time of temptation 
 fall away. And that which fell among thorns are 
 they, which, when they liave heard, go forth and are 
 choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this 
 life, and bring no fruit to perfection." liuke viii. 12 
 — 14. These are they whom the spiritual Husband- 
 man " taketh away." The season of temptation, 
 the time of persecution, the accumulation of worldly 
 cares, the increase and glitter of riches, are periods 
 and occasions that place a man's religion in the 
 crucible, that bring it to the test. The bare profes- 
 sor cannot stand it. The wind sweeps over the tree, 
 
190 THE FRUITLESS AND 
 
 and all its leaves are scattered. The fire kindles 
 around the ore, and proves it to be base metal. 
 
 But let us not be misunderstood. We dare not 
 affirm of all mere profession of the Gospel, that its 
 false character soon discovers itself. There are 
 thousands who make mannnon their trust, ' whose 
 god is their belly, whose glory is their shame, who 
 mind earthly things :' and whose ' end,' if they are 
 not brought to true repentance, will be 'destruction :' 
 who yet, in the midst of it all, rigidly maintain the 
 form of Godliness, and who would regard it as the 
 greatest oHence, were their Christianity for a moment 
 doubted. Oh, the heart is deep and treacherous as 
 the sea ; and they who trust it will be fearfully and 
 eternally ruined ! A man may be a lover of pleasure, 
 and a lover of the world, and a lover of sin, — his 
 heart may go after covetousness, and his mind )nay 
 be immersed in worldly cares, and all the while be a 
 rigid formalist, and a proud Pharisee, and a noisy 
 disputant, and even suffer persecution for conscience' 
 sake, rather than yield a principle bearing upon 
 some lesser matter of the law. But we Vvould now 
 turn the reader's attention to the pruning of thk 
 
 FRUITFUL BRANCH. 
 
 Our dear Lord's words are deep and rich in mean- 
 ing: "Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth 
 it." Here is life, here is true union ; it is a fruitful 
 branch, deriving its fruitfulness from its vital union to 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. It will be observed that this 
 fruit-bearing branch is in Christ ; grafted upon him, 
 united to him. and dwelling in him, as the branch is 
 one with the vine. The union of the believer with 
 
THE FRIJITFUI. PKOFESSOR. 191 
 
 Jesus, and the consequent iVuiLlulness, is a c^lorious 
 truth : the Holy Ghost, in his word, has laid great 
 stress upon it. It is spoi<en of as being in Christ ; 
 "Every branch in me f " If any man be in Christ, 
 he is a new creature;" "So we, being many, are 
 one body in Christ ;" " They that are fallen asleep 
 i}i Christ. ^^ But in what sense are we to under- 
 stand this being "in Christ?" We have shown 
 how a fruitless professor may be externally united to 
 Christ, there being no Divine life in the soul, no 
 true faith, and conse{iucntly no spiritual fruitfulness : 
 he is " dead while he liveth." But to be in Christ 
 truly, spiritually, vitally, is more than this ; it is to 
 be in that eternal covenant of grace made with 
 Christ, as the Surety and Mediator of his people ; 
 one of the number spoken of as the Lord's " peculiar 
 treasure," — " For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto 
 liimself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure," Psalm 
 cxxxv. 4 ; and concerning whom the Holy Ghost 
 declares that they are elected in Christ, — " Blessed be 
 the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who 
 liath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in hea- 
 venly things in Christ: according as he hath chosen 
 us in him before the foundation of the world, that 
 we should be holy and without blame before him in 
 love." Eph. i. 3, 4. To be " in Christ" truly, is to 
 stand accepted in his righteousness, to be justified 
 by him freely from all things ; it is to be brought to 
 the knowledge of our own vileness, insufficiency, 
 and guilt ; to be made to cast aside all self-depend- 
 ence, that is, all works of human merit, and to come 
 as the thief on the cross came, without any allowed 
 
192 THE FRUITLESS AND 
 
 confidence in aught of self, but as a poor, helpless, 
 mined condemned sinner, all whose hope of pardon 
 and acceptance is through the free mercy of God in 
 Christ Jesus. To be " in Christ," is to be the sub- 
 ject of a living, holy, influential principle of faith : it 
 is to be brought into the blessed state thus described 
 by the apostle as his own : " I am crucified with 
 Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ 
 liveth in me ; and the life which I now live in the 
 flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved 
 me, and gave himself for me." Gal. ii. 20. To be 
 " in Christ," is to be one with him ; it is to be a 
 member of his mystical body, of which he is the 
 spiritual head ; and the head and the members are 
 one. It is to have Christ dwelling in the heart: 
 " Christ in you the hope of glory" — " Know ye not 
 that Christ dwelleth in you^ except ye be repro- 
 bates?" — "I in them." Yea, it is to dwell in the 
 heart of Christ; it is to rest there in the very pavil- 
 ion of his love, to dwell there every moment, to be 
 sheltered there from all evil, and to be soothed there 
 under all sorrow. Oh blessed state of being "in 
 Christ !" who would not experience it? who would 
 not enjoy it. " There is therefore now no condem- 
 nation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk 
 not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. viii. 1. 
 These are the living branches united to the true 
 Vine, which bear fruit. From their union to the 
 livmg Vine their fruit comes : '• From me is thy fruit 
 fpund ;" "as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, 
 except it abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except 
 ye abide in me." And oh what precious fruit does 
 
THE IKUITFUL PROFESSOR. 193 
 
 such a liviiii^ branch bear ! the broken heart — the 
 contrite spirit — the mourning over sin — the low, 
 abasing-, humbhng views of self — the venturing by- 
 faith on a full, mighty, willing Saviour — the going 
 out of self, and resting in his all-atoning work and 
 all-satisfying righteousness. This followed by a pro- 
 gressive advance in all holiness and Godliness, the 
 fruits of faith which are by Jesus Christ, abounding 
 in the life, and proving the reality of the wondrous 
 change. — the close walk with CJod, — the submission 
 of the will in all things to bis, — the conformity of 
 the life to the example of Jesus, the " power of his 
 resurrection" felt — the " fellowship of his sufferings" 
 known — and ''conformity to his death" marking the 
 entire man. Phil. iii. 10. 
 
 These are some of the fruits of a trul)'^ regenerate 
 soul. The Holy Ghost testifies, that the " fruit of 
 the Spirit is in all goodness, and righteousness, and 
 truth ;" and still more minutely as consisting of 
 " love, joy, peace, long-suflering, gentleness, good- 
 ness, faitl), meekness, temperance." 
 
 Now observe, it is the fruitful branch only that 
 the Husbandman pruneth : " every branch that 
 beareth fruit, he purgeth it." If it be asked — why? 
 the answer is, because it is only the fruitful branch 
 that beareth the pruning. He pruneth it, because 
 it is fruitful, because it has life from, and union 
 with, the Vine. This purging, or pruning of the 
 fruitful believer by the LiOrd, is the trial of his own 
 work. The very discipline which a covenant God 
 employs with his child, proves the existence and 
 reality of grace in the soul. It is not the Ufeless 
 17 
 
194 THE FRUITLESS AND 
 
 branch that he piuneth, it is not the spurious ore 
 that he putleth in the furnace. AYhen he takes liis 
 child in hand to deal with him, it is with a view of 
 drawing forth the grace which he has first implanted 
 in the soul. The very trial of faith, supposes the 
 existence of faith; and the trial of any one grace 
 of the Spirit, supposes the previous indweUing of 
 that grace in the heliever. No man goes to a dry 
 well to draw water from it ; no man goes to a bank 
 in which he has made no previous deposit, to draw 
 money from it. When God, — the spiritual Husband- 
 man of the church, — comes into his garden, and 
 walks amid the " trees of righteousness," and in his 
 sovereignty marks one here and another there for 
 discipline, for pruning, w^hom does he select for this 
 blessed purpose, but the trees which he has himself 
 planted ? Jesus, the Vine, has declared, that ' every 
 plant which his heavenly Father hath not planted, 
 shall be rooted up.' And have we not often seen 
 the solemn fulfilment of this threatening in the 
 case of graceless professors? — the first blast of 
 temptation has carried them away, root and branch, 
 God, perhaps, has brought them into deep trial ; 
 the storm of adversity has fallen u|)on them ; death 
 has snatched away the " desire of their eyes with a 
 stroke ;" riches have taken wings and flown away ; 
 character has been assailed ; temptations have over- 
 taken them ; and what has been their end ? We 
 look for their religion, — it has fled away like the 
 chaff of the threshing-floor before the sweeping 
 hurricane; their profession, — it is all gone; their 
 prayers, — they have evaporated into empty air. 
 
THE FRUITFUL PROFESSOR. 195 
 
 The solemn 'place of the holy' that knew them, 
 knows them no more ; the pruning knife left not a 
 limb standing ; the furnace tested the ore, and it 
 proved nothing but tin. And so it will prove with 
 every plant that our heavenly Father has not 
 planted ; and so with all the wood, hay, and stub- 
 ble, built upon an outward acknowledgment and 
 profession of Christ. And oh their end ! " For if 
 after they have escaped the pollutions of the world 
 through the knowledge (not an experimental or 
 saving knowledge is here meant) of the Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ, the}- are again entangled 
 therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with 
 them than the beginning. For it had been better 
 for them not to have known the way of righteous- 
 ness, than, after they have known it, to turn from 
 the holy commandment delivered unto them. But 
 it is happened unto them according to the true 
 proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again ; 
 and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in 
 the mire." 2 Pet. ii. 20—22. 
 
 But the true child of the covenant, the Lord 
 tries; the living, fruitful branch, the Husbandman 
 prunes. There is that in every believer, yea, the 
 most eminent child of God, — eminent for his holy 
 and close walk,— that needeth pruning. We can- 
 not always see the necessity of the discipline ; we 
 wonder, often, why such a believer is so constantly, 
 and, in a sense, so severely dealt with. We look at 
 his godly conversation in all things ; we mark his 
 holy deportment, his consistent walk, his lowly 
 spirit, his spiritual gifts and graces, his devotedness 
 
196 THE FRUITLESS AND 
 
 and zeal in the cause of the Lord, and we exclaim, 
 "Lord, make me like him, as he is like thee!" 
 And when we see the cedar in Lebanon bend be- 
 fore the sweeping tempest — when we mark how 
 the man of God becomes the subject of the most 
 overwhelming afflictions, how wave follows wave, 
 and messenger after messenger comes with tidings 
 of evil still more bitter than the last, — when we see 
 this mercy blasted, that comfort removed, — here a 
 check, and there a disappointment, and he whom 
 we gazed upon as one in whom the Lord had 
 deposited great grace, and favored with peculiar 
 nearness and conformity to himself thus deeply 
 afflicted, — we marvel that the dear Husbandman 
 should prune him as he does. But what says the 
 Husbandman? — '• I, the Lord, search the heart." 
 Here is the secret revealed ; the hidden evil of that 
 holy man of God we could not discover. The 
 powerful corruptions that dwelt in his heart, — which 
 he, in a degree, knew, and mourned over and con- 
 fessed daily before the Lord, — were concealed from 
 our eye; and while we were judging from outward 
 appearance, — and, it may be, judging correctly too, 
 for by their fruits we are to know the true and the 
 false professors. — the Lord was probing and search- 
 ing the heart, and for the subjugation of the evil 
 that he discovered there, was thus disciplining, and 
 pruning, and purging his beloved child. 
 
 Dear reader, if thou art experimentally acquainted 
 with the truth as it is in Jesus, if thou art a living 
 branch of the true vine, it will be nothing new for 
 you to be informed, that the Canaanites still dwell in 
 
TIIK IRUITFUL PKOrE-SSOR. 11)7 
 
 the land. You will recollect, that when the children 
 of Israel took possession of Canaan, although they 
 concjuered its inhabitant?, and took supreme posses- 
 sion and government of the country, yet the former 
 occupants of the soil they could not entirely dispos- 
 sess. The circumstance is thus recorded : " The 
 children of Manassch could not drive out the inhab- 
 itants of those cities; but the Canaanites would 
 dwell in that land." Josh. xvii. 12, Now what these 
 Canaanites, these heathenish idolators, were to the 
 children of Israel, the statural corruptions of the 
 heart are to the called chiklren of God. After all 
 that Divine and sovereign mercy has done for the 
 soul, — though the inhabitants of the land have been 
 concpiered, and the heart has yielded to the power 
 of omnipotent grace and the ' strong man armed' 
 has been deposed, and Jesus has taken the throne, 
 yet the Canaanites will dwell in the land, and we 
 cannot expel them thence. These are the natural 
 corruptions of our fallen nature, the evils of a heart 
 that is but partially renewed, the heathenish lusts, 
 and passions, and infirmities that formerly were the 
 sole occupants of the soil, and still dwell there, and 
 which we shall never, in the present state, entirely 
 dispossess. But what did the children of Israel do 
 to these Canaanites whom they could not drive out 
 of the cities, but who would dwell in the land 7 We 
 read in the 13th verse : " Yet it came to pass when 
 the children of Israel were waxing strong, that they 
 put the Cajiaanites to tribute ; but did not utterly 
 drive them out." Now this is what the children of 
 God must do with the spiritual Canaanites that yet 
 17* 
 
198 THE FRUITLESS AND 
 
 dwell in the renewed heart : they cannot be driven 
 out, hid they mat/ be jnit to tribute ; they cannot 
 be entirely extirpated, yet they may be brought into 
 complete subjection, and even made to contribute to 
 the spiritual advance of the soul, and to the glory of 
 God. Yesj even these very indwelling and power- 
 ful Canaanites, these strong corruptions that war 
 and fight in the renewed soul, may be made subser- 
 vient to the spiritual benefit of a child of God. Will 
 it not be so, if they lead him to put no confidence in 
 himself, to draw largely from the fulness of grace in 
 Jesus, to repair often to the throne of mercy, to deal 
 much and closely with the atoning blood, to culti- 
 vate a watchful, prayerful, tender spirit, and daily 
 and hourly to rejoice in Christ Jesus, having no con- 
 fidence in the flesh ? And yet all this may be the 
 result, when the believer has waxen strong in the 
 Divine life, and has learned to put his indwelling 
 corruptions to tribute, though he may not utterly 
 expel them from his breast. Thus " God turned 
 the curse of Balaam into a blessing," Neh. xiii. 2; 
 and thus, too, may the renewed soul, — often led to 
 exclaim, " O wretched man that I am ! who shall 
 deliver me from the body of this death?" — through 
 a supply of the Spirit of Christ Jesus, and becoming 
 more thoroughly versed in the art of the holy war, 
 be able to turn the risings of his indwelling sins into 
 occasions of more lioly and humble walk with God. 
 Happy believer, the tendency and real effect of 
 whose indwelling infirmities of the flesh and the 
 spirit are, to school the soul in the knowledge of its 
 own nothingness, to constrain it to a soft and lowly 
 
THE I'KUlTl'L'li IMIOKKSSOR. 199 
 
 walk, and to endear the blood, the mercy-scat, and 
 tlic holy of holies, into which the most buithened, 
 distre.s?-ed, and hiuuhle soul niny at all times enter ! 
 
 This pruning docs not destroy or weaken the 
 power of the Divine life in the soul. We may go 
 to a tree of the forest, and prune it of every branch, 
 yea, we may level it to the earth ; and yet, — the prin- 
 ciple of Ufe still remaining, — the genial showers, and 
 the warm sunshine, will cause it again to spring 
 forth, and bud, blossom, and bear fruit. The Divine 
 life in the soul of man is indestructible, — it cannot 
 perish ; the seed that grace has implanted in the 
 heart is incorruptible, — it cannot be corrupted. So 
 far from trials, and conflicts, and storms, and tem- 
 pests, impairing the principle of holiness in the soul, 
 they do but deepen and strengthen it, and tend 
 greatly to its growth. We look at Job : who of mere 
 man was ever more keenly tried, or more closely 
 pruned than he ? — and yet, so far from destroying, 
 or even weakening, the Divine life within him, the 
 severe discipline of the covenant, through which he 
 passed, did but deepen and expand the root, bring- 
 ing forth in richer clusters the blessed fruits of holi- 
 ness. Think you, dear reader, the Divine life in his 
 soul had undergone any change for the worse, w^hen, 
 as the result of God's covenant deahngs with him, 
 as the effects of the severe pruning of the fruitful 
 branch, he exclaimed, — " I have heard of thee by 
 the hearing of the ear. but now mine eye seeih thee : 
 wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and 
 ashes?-' No : the pruning of the fruitful branch im- 
 pairs not, but rather strengthens and renders more 
 
200 THE rilUITLEdS AXD 
 
 fruitful the principle of holiness in the soul, as we 
 now proceed to show. The pruning of the fruitful 
 branch, our Lord declares, is with the view of its in- 
 creased fruitf Illness : " Every branch that bear- 
 eth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth 
 more fruitJ' 
 
 It is the will of God that his people should be a 
 fruitful people. " This is the will of God, even your 
 sanctification," — the sanctificalion of a believer in- 
 cluding all iVuitfulness. He will bring out his own 
 work in the heart of his child ; he will show that 
 where grace dwells, it is productive of good fruit : 
 and never does he take his child in hand with a 
 view of dealing with him according to the tenor of 
 the covenant of grace, but that dealing results in a 
 greater degree of spiritual fruitfulness. Now, when 
 the Lord afllicts, and the Holy Ghast sanctifies the 
 affliction of the believer, are not these among the 
 costly fruit of that discipline? In the first place, 
 self has becoine more hateful. This, Gotl declared 
 should be the result of his dealings with his ancient 
 people Israel, for their idolatry,—'" They shall loathe 
 themselves for the evils which they have committed 
 in all their abominations."' And again, — " Then 
 shall ye remen:iber your ways, and all your doings 
 wherein ye have been defiled : and ye shall loathe 
 yourselves in your own sight, for all your evils that 
 ye have committed." And when the Divine com- 
 passion was drawn forth, this is described as having 
 been the state of his beloved people. — '• None eye 
 pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have 
 compassion upon thee ; but thou wast cast out in 
 
Tilt: FRUITFUL rROl'ESrfun. 201 
 
 the open field to the loathing of thy person." And 
 this is no small fruit, the result of God's covenant 
 dealings with the soul : it is one of the useless 
 branches which he prunes away. To loathe self 
 on account of its sinfulness, to mortify it in all its 
 forms, and to bring it entirely into subjection to the 
 Spirit of holiness, are indeed no small triumph of 
 Divine grace in the soul, and no mean effect of the 
 sanctified use of the Lord's dispensations. That 
 must ever be considered a costly mean that accom- 
 plishes this blessed end. This unmortified self in 
 the believer, is one of the most deadly enemies of his 
 soul ; it shows itself in a thousand ways, and wear- 
 ing a thousand disguises. It is often diflicult to 
 detect the under current working of the principle ; 
 for, frequently, where suspicion of its existence is 
 most lulled to rest, tltcre is it most rife and powerful. 
 Self-confidence as in Feler, self-boasting as in Heze- 
 kiah, self righteousness as in Job, self-deception as in 
 Balaam, — in how many numberless ways may this 
 hateful, ruinous principle discover itself! and how 
 much •' deceivableness of unrighteousness " is in it — 
 is only fully known to Him who solemnly declares, 
 " I, the Lord, search the heart." Beloved reader, in 
 thy heart and in mine, the principle of this sin exists, 
 and who can search it out, and root it out, but the 
 Lord the Spirit? "If we through the Spirit mortify 
 the deeds of the body, we shall live." Is thy cove- 
 nant Ciod and Father dealing with thee now ? Pray 
 that this may be one blessed result, the abasement 
 of self uithin thee, the discovering of it to thee in all 
 its modifications and deformity, and its entire sub- 
 
202 THE FRUITLESS AND 
 
 jection to the cross of Jesus. Blessed pruning, if 
 the tendency and the effect are^, to lay thee in the 
 dust before the Lord, to cause thee to loathe thyself, 
 and to go softly and lowlily all thy days ! 
 
 Another holy tendency of the pruning of the fruit- 
 ful branch, is, to endear the Lord Jesits hi his per- 
 son, ivork, and offices. Jesus, the ' Branch,' the 
 ' Plant of Renown,' grows only upon the living and 
 the pruned heart. There are many professors in 
 whose hearts there is not room for Christ : the world, 
 unmortified sin, take up all the space, occupy all the 
 affections ; and while his name is outwardly pro- 
 fessed, his cross is inwardly despised. Oh. what 
 emptying, what humbling, what pruning, are neces- 
 sary, in order to make room for the lowly Lamb of 
 God in the heart of a poor believing sinner ! And 
 for years after the first reception of Jesus, are this 
 emptying and pruning needed. If it were not so, 
 would our dear Lord discipline as he does? Would 
 he sever this and that limb ; would he cut off ,this 
 and that dependence ; would he take us off of 
 creature trust, and that sometimes in the most pain- 
 ful way? Oh no! by these means he seeks to 
 establish himself in our affections, — he would have 
 our whole hearts, Ae would make us fruitful. And 
 when thus unhinged from earthly (rust, when emptied 
 of confidence in self, when pruned of earthly com- 
 forts, — oh how unutterably precious does Jesus be- 
 come ! Then do we see him to be just the Jesus 
 that we want, just the Saviour that we need : we 
 find in him all that we ever found in the creature, 
 and infinitely more — wisdom, strength, tenderness, 
 
Tin; I'lU ITFUL PROFESSOR. 203 
 
 and syuipalliy, sui|)assing; all that men or angels 
 ever felt, or con Id j)os.<il)ly feel, for us. Then it is, 
 his blood and righteousness are endeared ; then we 
 fly to his fulness of all grace ; and then the ten- 
 der, bleeding branch takes a fnincr hold on its 
 stem, and, henceforth, looks only to it for all its 
 vigor, its nourishment, and its fruit. " As the 
 branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide 
 in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me.' 
 Ah ! beloved reader, if thou art his child, he will 
 cause thee to know it, and will endear himself to 
 thee as such. And this is seldom done, save in the 
 way of severe pruning. Shrink not from it, then. 
 All the good that the Lord ever lakes from thee, he 
 returns ten thousand-fold more in g-iving himself. 
 If thou canst say, " the Lord is my portion," then 
 what more dost thou, canst thou want l And re- 
 member, too, the Lord will prune thee of nothing 
 that was for thy real good. He is the Judge of what 
 is best for thee, not thyself: he will sever the useless 
 tendrils only, the small branches that consume the 
 sap, that absorb the nourishment, and are productive 
 of unfruitfulness. We are but imperfect judges of 
 what tends best to our spiritual or temporal benefit. 
 That which we may deem absolutely essential to 
 both, the Lord in his wisdom and love may see 
 proper to remove ; and as frequently, that, the 
 removal of which we had often besought the Lord, 
 he may see fit to retain. Thrice Paul prayed for 
 the removal of his infirmity, and thrice the Lord 
 denied his request : but the denial was accon)j)anied 
 by a promise, calculated to soothe into sweet acqui- 
 
204 THE FRUITLESIS AND 
 
 escence every feeling of the apostle — " My grace,'' 
 said the Lord, '• is sufficient for thee." Let it ever 
 be remembered by the tried believer, that support- 
 ing grace, in the season of trial., is a greater mercy 
 than the removal of the trial itself The Lord 
 Jesus did seem to say to his servant, " I see not that 
 it would be for thy good to grant thy prayer, but I 
 will enable thee to bear the infirmity without a mur- 
 mur : I will so support thee, so manifest my strength 
 in thy weakness, my all-sufficiency in thy nothing- 
 ness, that thou shalt not desire its removal." " Lord," 
 he might have replied, '• this is all that I desire. If 
 thou in thy wisdom and love dost see fit still to prune 
 me, I am in thy hands to do with me as seemeth 
 good in thy sight. The continuance of the trial 
 will but prove the strength of thy grace, and the 
 tenderness and sympathy of thy heart." After this, 
 we hear no more of Paul's thorn in the flesh : the 
 grace of his Lord doubtless proved all-sufficient for 
 him. 
 
 There are one or two points of caution and en- 
 couragement upon whiclr we would touch before 
 closing the chapter. 
 
 Let the believer be aware, how he despises what 
 little f'uitf Illness the Lord the Spirit may have 
 given him : there is danger of this. Many who 
 read this chapter, may close it with deep mourning 
 over their barrenness ; they may think their fruit 
 nothing but leaves, their religion nothing but pro- 
 fession. But stay, dear reader : it is a mercy for thee 
 to know that the Lord does not regard thy estimate 
 of a fruitful state ; else, were the Lord to judge 
 
Tin: FKCITI'II- PROFESSOR. 205 
 
 and condeiiiii us as \vc do ouisclvcs, were he to des- 
 pise his own work as we too frequently do, it would 
 indeed go hard with us. I?ut he does not : that 
 which we have often thought unworthy of his no- 
 tice, he has looked down upon with the fondest com- 
 placency and delight. And when at the close of a 
 sermon, or the reading of a book, or on retiring from 
 the throne of grace, we have hung our heads, and 
 blushed to lift our faces towards him, exclaiming, — 
 " Lord, I am vile, look not on me, for I am black," 
 he has beheld the fruit of his own Spirit, costly, 
 fragrant, and precious in his sight. See, then, that 
 you despise not what the Lord has wrought for you. 
 Any desire of the heart for Christ, any secret broken- 
 ness, any godly sorrow over indwelling sin, any fee- 
 ble going out of self and leaning on Jesus, is the 
 gracious work of the Holy Ghost in the soul, and 
 must not be undervalued or imacknowledged. A 
 truly humble view of self, is one of the most precious 
 fruits of the Spirit ; it indicates more real fruifful- 
 ness, perhaps, than any other state of mind. That 
 ear of corn which is the most full of grain, hangs the 
 lowest ; that bough which is the most heavily laden 
 with fruit, bends the nearest to the ground. It is no 
 unequivocal mark of great spiritual fruitfulness in a 
 believer, when tenderness of conscience, contrition of 
 spirit, low thoughts of self, and high thoughts of 
 Jesus, mark the state of his soul. " Who hath de- 
 spised the day of small things?"' — not Jesus. 
 
 But, dear reader, rest not here ; blessed as it is to 
 know thy barrenness, and to mourn over it, it is still 
 more blessed to press forward towards a deeper and 
 18 
 
206 THE FRUITLESS AND 
 
 more spiritual acquaintance with Christ, the source 
 of all real fruitfulness. Too many rest in a mere 
 deploring of their barrenness ; they will ingen- 
 uously acknowledge their state, freely confess it be- 
 fore God, and yet meet them when you will, this is 
 always their posture, and this then* confession One 
 seems to mark in them no advance, no striving after 
 higher attainments, the crucifixion of known infirm- 
 ities, the mortification of easy besetting sins, the 
 surrender of that which feedeth as a worm upon the 
 root of their religion. There seems just life and con- 
 sciousness enough to detect the secrt declension of 
 the soul, but not enough to arrest its progress. 
 
 But, reader, that this should not be thy case, seek 
 an increasing knoivledge of Christ : be assured of 
 this, — here lies the grand secret of a growing, fruit- 
 bearing Christian. " As the branch cannot bear 
 fruit of itself except it abide in tlie vine ; no more 
 can ye, except ye abide in me." There is a perpet- 
 ual proneness to seek our fruitfulness from anything 
 save a close, spiritual, and constant dealing with the 
 cross of Jesus : but as well might we expect the 
 earth to clothe itself wilh verdure, or the tree to blos- 
 som, and the blossom ripen into fruit, without the 
 sun's genial warmth, as to look for fruitfulness in a 
 regenerate soul, without a constant dealing with the 
 Lord Jesus Christ ; for, just what the sun is to the 
 kingdom of nature, Jesus the Sun of righteousness is 
 to the kingdom of grace, — the blessed source of all 
 its verdure, fragrance, and fruitfulness. Then, let 
 all your expectations be centered here. No real good 
 can come to thee, no healing to thy spirit, no fruitful- 
 
THE FRUITFUL PROFESSOR. 207 
 
 ness to thy soul, from a perpetual living upon con- 
 victions of sin, legal fears, or transient joys : the Di- 
 vine life can derive no aliment from these. But live 
 upon the atoning blood of Jesus. 
 
 Here is the fatness of thy soul found ; this it is 
 that heals the wound, wins the heart, and hushes to 
 repose every fear of condemnation ; this it is that 
 enables a poor sinner to look full at God, feeling that 
 justice, holiness, truth, and every Divine perfection 
 are on his side. It is the blood of Jesus, applied by 
 the Spirit, that moistens each fibre of the root of 
 holiness in the soul, and is productive of its fruitful- 
 ness ; this it is that sends the warm current of life 
 through every part of the regenerate man, quicken- 
 ing the pulse of love, and imparting a healthy and 
 vigorous power to every act of obedience. And 
 when the spiritual seasons change, — for it is not 
 always spring-time with the soul of a child of God, 
 — when* the summer's sun withers, or the autumnal 
 blast scatters the leaves, and winter's fiercer storm 
 beats upon the smitten bough, the blood and right- 
 eousness of Christ lived upon, loved and cherished, 
 will yet sustain the Divine life in the soul, and in 
 due season, the spring blossom and the summer fruit 
 shall again appear, proving that the Divine life of a 
 believer is ' hid with Christ in God.' Then shall it 
 be said of you, as was said of the church by her 
 beloved : "The winter is past, and the rain is over 
 and gone ; the flowers appear on the earth, the 
 time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice 
 of the turtle is heard in our land. The fig-tree 
 putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the 
 
208 THE FUUITLESS AND 
 
 tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, 
 my fair one, and come away." Sol. Song ii. 11 — 13. 
 Then let your heart respond, " Awake, O north wind, 
 and come, thou south, hlow upon my garden, that 
 the spices thereof may flow out," Thus shall you 
 be " filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are 
 by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." 
 
 Afflicted believer, forget not that it is ihe fruitful 
 branch only that the Lord pruneth : " whom the 
 Lord loveth, he chasteneth :" and again, he declares, 
 " Whom I love, 1 rebuke and chasten." Then, 
 thank him for pruning ; bless liim for the sanctified 
 trial that weans thee from earthly things, that dead- 
 ens thy heart to every rival of Christ, and that im- 
 parts an upward spring to faith, hope, and love. 
 Not one unkind thought is there in the heart of the 
 God that now chastens you. True, he may have 
 severed from thee branch after branch, he may cut 
 off all thy earthly springs, he may lead thee down 
 into the deep valley of abasement ; yet still is he 
 love, and nothing but love. Could you look into 
 his heart, — not a spring would be found dwelling, 
 nor a pulse beating there that would not speak of 
 love to thee at this very moment. All that he seeks 
 with regard to yourself, is your increased fruitful- 
 ness ; and to promote your real sanctification, is to 
 promote your real happiness. In all God's dealings 
 with his covenant people, he seeks their greatest 
 good, their highest happiness, and in nothing more 
 manifestly than in this does he show the intense love 
 which dwells in his heart towards them. 
 
 Frequently call to mind our Lord's words : " Herein 
 
'iiii; i-iu riiUL, rRoi'i:rfsoR. 209 
 
 is my Fuiliei" ^lorilu'il, tluit \c hear imu'li rmii, so 
 shall ye be (inanire?tly) my lli^■cij)les."' This ' much 
 fruit' is oflen fouiRl mostly in tiio-e with wiiom the 
 Lord mostly deals. He has created his people for 
 his own ulory. and this lie will nccure to himself in 
 their aliundaa! fruiLlulness. This is why the most 
 illustrious saints ha\e ever been (he most deeply 
 tried, severely pruned : their great fruitfulness sprang 
 froiu their great alUictions. .Vnd yet, beloved, the 
 Lord deals with his saints according to his holy 
 sovereignty ; not Ijy one line, or in one path, does he 
 always conduct them. Is Cjiod smiling upon thee ? 
 d ,es the summer sun shine? is thy sea smooth and 
 flowing? does the 'south wind' blow upon thee? 
 See, then, tjiat thou walk humbly with God; "Be 
 not high-minded, but fear."' If God in his provi- 
 dence has elevated thee a little in the world, ye have 
 need to besiege his throne for great grace to keep 
 thy spirit low in the dust before him. Do thy fel- 
 lows admire thy talents, extol thy gifts, applaud thy 
 works, and court thy society ? Oh how closely and 
 softly and humbly ought you now to walk with 
 God ! That breath of adulation that lighted upon 
 ihee, will prove a blight upon thy graces, if thou go 
 not upon thy knees before God ; that flattering word 
 which fell upon thine ear, will prove as the fly in 
 the apothecary's ointment to thy soul, if thou get not 
 closer down at the foot of the cross. Let every cir- 
 cumstance and state take thee, there ; wdiether the 
 north wind or the south wind blows, whether the 
 dark cloud of adversity gathers over thee, or the sun- 
 shine of prosperity beams upon thee — still let thy 
 18* 
 
210 THE FRUITLESS AND 
 
 posture ever be low before the Saviour's cross : noth- 
 ing can harm thee there. See that the season of 
 outward prosperity is the season of thy soul's fruit- 
 fulness ; see that every mercy takes thee to God ; 
 convert every new blessing into a fresh motive for 
 living not unto thyself, but unto Him from whom 
 the blessing came. 
 
 And if you are constrained to take your worst 
 frames to Christ, your sins as they rise, your weak- 
 ness as you are conscious of it, your corruptions as 
 they discover themselves, even so shalt thou be a 
 fruitful branch of the true Vine. In the very act of 
 going, just as he is, to Christ, the believer brings 
 forth fruit. For what marks the frame of the soul 
 thus travelling up to the cross, but self-distrust, self- 
 abasement, deep conceptions of its own nothingness, 
 high views of Christ's sufficiency ? And is not this 
 precious and costly fruit? I know of none more so. 
 
 And let the fruitful believer anticipate the ap- 
 proaching period of his translation to a more genial 
 and healthy soil. In heaven, the home of the saints, 
 there will be nothing to blight the flower of grace ; 
 no frosts of winter, no burning heat of summer, no 
 crushing storms, no sweeping tempests ; the former 
 things will all have passed away, and a new heaven 
 and a new earth, in which dwelleth righteousness, 
 shall have succeeded them. Happy hour of this re- 
 lease ! Here he is a ' lily among thorns ;' there he 
 will be a tree of righteousness, on which the storm 
 will never rise, on which the sun will never set. 
 
 " Oh what a garden will be seen, 
 When all the flowers of grace 
 
THE FRUITFUL PROFESSOR. 211 
 
 Appear in everlasting green, 
 Before llie Planter's face! 
 
 "No more exposed to burning skies, 
 Or winter's piercing cold ; 
 What never-dying sweet will rise 
 From every ojj'ning fold ! 
 
 "No want of sun or showers above, 
 To make the flowers decline ; 
 Fountains of life and beams of love, 
 For ever spring and shine. 
 
 " No more they need the quick'ning air, 
 Or gently rising dew ! 
 Unspeakable their beauties are. 
 And yet for ever new. 
 
 " Christ is their shade, and Christ their sunj 
 
 Among tiiein walks the King; * 
 
 Whose presence is eternal noon, 
 His smile eternal spring." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE LORD, THE RESTORER OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 " He restoreth my soul." — Psalm xxiii. 3. 
 
 Throughout the discussion of our subject, we 
 have endeavored to keep distinctly and prominently 
 before the mind of the reader, the indestructible na- 
 ture of the Divine life in the soul, the stability of the 
 covenant of grace, and the imchangeableness of 
 God's love towards his people. The proper unfold- 
 ing of our theme, demanded more than a bare recog- 
 nition of these glorious Gospel truths : apart from 
 them, iipon what an uncertain tenure would the final 
 salvation of the believer rest ! When we are led to 
 consider the uncertainty of tiie creature,— when we 
 take the history of a child of God, compressed with- 
 in the short period of a single day, — mark what flaws, 
 what imperfections, what fickleness, what startings 
 aside, what dereliction in principle, what flaws in 
 practice, what errors in judgment, and what wander- 
 ings of heart, make up that brief history, — how are 
 we led to thank God for the stability of the covenant ! 
 that covenant which provides for the full redempiion 
 of all believers, which from eternity secures the 
 efl'ectual calling, the perfect keeping, and the certain 
 salvation of every chosen vessel of mercy. With 
 what distinctness and sweetness is this truth thus 
 
THE l.ORI), TlIK UKSTORKR, ETC. 213 
 
 unfolded by God himself: "If his children forsake 
 my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they 
 break my statutes, and keep not my commandments ; 
 then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and 
 their inicjuity with stripes. Xcvertheless, my loving- 
 kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer 
 my faithfulness to fail : my covenant will I not break, 
 nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips." Ps. 
 Ixxxix. 30—31. ^ 
 
 It will be seen, that two most solemn and affect- 
 ing truths are recognised in this passage, — the back- 
 slidings of a child of the covenant, and the certainty 
 of his restoration. It is more especially with the 
 latter truth that we have to do in the present cliapter. 
 
 Of the necessity that exists for the restorings of 
 the Lord, we need not here say much; the preceding 
 pages having gone at some length into this point ; 
 and yet it forms the basis of our present subject, 
 and is too important to be dismissed with a simple 
 allusion. That there exists a necessity for the Di- 
 vine restorings, who can doubt, that remembers that 
 tlie Divine life of a believer has its residence in a 
 heart but partially renewed and sanctified ? In 
 the case of Adam before he fell, this was not so ; 
 there was nothing in his heart opposed to the life of 
 God within him. The mind, the will, the affections, 
 yea, the whole soul, were one glorious orb of perfect 
 light and holiness : not a shadow dinuued its lustre, 
 not a speck marred its beauty. Every faculty of the 
 mind, every bias of the will, every emotion of the 
 heart, every breathing of desire, were in agreement 
 with its nature, and were favorable to its growth. 
 
214 THE LORD, THE RESTORER 
 
 But not so is it now. Adam fell, and in his fall 
 transmitted to his posterity a nature totally corrupt 
 in every part ; and although Divine and sovereign 
 grace has undertaken to renew that nature, and does 
 so in part, yet it is but in part renewed and restored 
 to its original glory. The Divine life has its dwell- 
 ing-place in a fallen, fleshly nature. One sentence 
 of the apostle's explains and confirms this truth, — 
 "The life which I now live in the flesh," Gal. ii. 
 20: the Divine life which he lived, was in the flesh. 
 It was encompassed by all the corruptions, weak- 
 nesses, infirmities, and assaults of the flesh ; there 
 was not a moment that it was not exposed to as- 
 saults from witliin ; there was not a natural faculty 
 of the mind, or throb of the heart, that was favor- 
 able to its prosperity, but all were contrary to its 
 nature, and hostile to its advance. Let every be- 
 liever remember, liiat the Divine life which he lives, 
 he lives in the flesh ; and that there exists not a 
 day that he stands not in need of the reslorings of 
 the Lord. 
 
 Connect with this the many exteriial influences 
 which are hostile to the Divine life in the soul. As 
 there is nothing internal that is favorable to a state 
 of grace, so there is nothing external that assists it 
 forward. It has its many and violent enemies: Sa- 
 tan is ever on the watch to assault it, — the world is 
 ever presenting itself in some new form of fascina- 
 tion and power to weaken it, — a thousand tempta- 
 tions are peipetually striving to ensnare it; thus its 
 internal and external enemies are leagued against 
 it. Is it, then, any wonder, that faith should some- 
 
OF HIS PEOPLE. 215 
 
 times tremble, that grace should sometimes decline, 
 and that the pulse of the Divine life should often 
 beat faintly and feebly ? 
 
 The saints in every age, have felt and lamented 
 this. Hence the prayer of David, which is the 
 prayer of all true believers : " Hold thou me up, and 
 I shall be safe ;" implying the greatest weakness in 
 himself, and his perpetual exposure to the greatest 
 falls ; " Hold thou me up, for only as I arn upheld 
 by thee, am I safe." Again he prays : " Keep back 
 thy servant also from presumptuous sins ; let them 
 not have dominion over me ;" implying that a be- 
 liever left to the tendencies of his fallen nature, 
 might become a prey to the worst sins ; " Keep back 
 thy servant also from j)resumptuons sins." In ad- 
 dressing himself to the converted Hebrews, the 
 apostle seizes the occasion thus to exhort them : 
 "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you 
 an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the liv- 
 ing God." " In departuig-,^' — implying a constant 
 tendency to depart from God. And what does God 
 himself say of his people ? " My people are bent to 
 backsliding from me." And again, " Why is this 
 people of Jerusalem slidden back by a 2^e?7?e//<a^ 
 backsliding?" Yes, it is a perpetual proneness to 
 declehsion. The sun rises but to set, the clock is 
 wound up but to run down ; and not more natural 
 is it for them thus to obey the laws that govern 
 them, than for the heart of a ciiild of God to fol- 
 low the promptings of its corrupt and wayward 
 nature. 
 
 This leads us to touch upon the principle of all 
 
216 THE LORD, THE RESTORER 
 
 departure from God. We look at a believer's lax 
 practice, we mourn and weep over it. and we do 
 well; we trace our own, and still deeper shame and 
 confusion of face cover us: but we forget that the 
 cause of our bitterest sorrow and humiliation should 
 be, the concealed ])ri)iciple of evil from whence 
 springs this unholy practice. How few among the 
 called of God, are found confessing and mourning 
 over f/ie sin of their nature — the impure fountain 
 from whence flows the stream, the unmortified root 
 from whence originates the branch, and from which 
 both are fed and nourished i Tbis is what God 
 looks at, — the sin of our fallen, unsanctified nature, 
 ■ — and this is what we should look at, and mourn 
 over. Indeed, true mortification of sin consists in a 
 knowledge of our sinful nature, and its subjection to 
 the power of Divine grace. The reason why so few 
 believers " through the Spirit mortify the deeds of 
 the body," is. a forgetfulness that the work has to do 
 first and n\ainly with the root of sin in the soul : 
 " Make the tree good, and the fruit will also be 
 good ;" purify the fountain, and the streams will be 
 pure. Oh, were there a deeper acquaintance with 
 the hidden iniquity of our fallen nature, — a more 
 thorough learning out of the truth, that " in our 
 flesh there dwelleth no good thing," — a more heart- 
 felt humihation on account of it, and more frequent 
 confession of it before God, — how much higher than 
 they now are would be the attainments in hoUness 
 of many believers ! 
 
 There is, then, in every child of God, the innate 
 principle of departure. Notwithstanding the won- 
 
OF IMS PEOPLE. 217 
 
 dels of grace God has wrought for the soul, — though 
 lie has elected, called, renewed, washed, and clothed 
 the believer ; yet if he did not check and rein him 
 in, he would depart, and that for ever ! — tliia un- 
 sanctified, unniortified principle would bear him 
 away. Is there not in this aspect of our theme 
 something truly heart-breaking? — the subject of a 
 kind and benevolent government, and yet to be 
 always rebelling against the Sovereign ; dwelling 
 under a kind and loving Father^s root^ and yet to 
 be perpetually grieving him, and departing from 
 him ; to have received so man}^ costly proofs of his 
 love, and yet rendering the most ungrateful returns, 
 — oh, it is enough to sink the soul in the deepest 
 self-abasement before God ! Reader, what has the 
 Lord been to thee? Come, witness for him 5 has 
 he ever been a wilderness to thee, a dry and barren 
 land ? — has there been aught in his dealings, in his 
 conduct, in his way with thee, wherefore thou 
 shouldst have turned thy back upon him?— has 
 there been any harshness in his rebukes, any un- 
 kind severity in his corrections, anything judicial 
 and vindictive in his dealings ? Nay, on the con-- 
 trary, has he not been a fruitful garden, a pleasant 
 land, a fountain of living waters to thee? Has he 
 not blended kindness with all his rebukes, tender^ 
 ness with all his chastisements, love with all his 
 dealings, and has not his gentleness made thee 
 great? Then why hast thou departed from him? 
 What is there in God that thou shouldst leave him, 
 what in Jesus that thou shouldst wound him, what 
 in the blessed Spirit that thou shouldst grieve him? 
 
 J9 
 
218 TIIK LORD, THE UEsTOKER 
 
 Is not the cause of all thy departure, declension, 
 unkindness, unfruitfulness, in thyselj] and in thyself 
 alone? But if this has been tliy conduct towards 
 God, not so has been his conduct towards thee. 
 This brings us to the consideration of his restorhiif 
 mercy. 
 
 The lirst point we would look at is, the love of 
 the Lord Jesus in restorino; a wanderinsf believer. 
 Nothing but the most infinite, tender, unchanging 
 love, could prompt him to such an act. There is so 
 much of black ingratitude, so much of deep turpi- 
 tude in the sin of a believer's departure from the 
 Lord, that but for the nature of Christ's love, there 
 could be no possible hope of his return. Now 
 this costly love of Christ is principally seen in his 
 taking ihe, first step in the restoring of the soul: 
 the first advance is on the part of the Lord. This 
 is too important a trulh to be lightly touched upon. 
 There is no more self-recovery after, than there is 
 before, conversion ; it is entirely the Lord's work. 
 The same state of mind, the same principle that led 
 to the first step in declension from God, leads on to 
 each successive one: until, but for restraining and 
 restoring grace, the soul would take an everlasting 
 farewell of God. But mark the expression of 
 David, — "He restoreth my soul." Who? He of 
 \vhom he speaks in the first verse as his Shepherd, 
 — " The Lord is my Shepherd." It is the Shepherd 
 that takes the first step in the recovery of the 
 wandering sheep. If there is one asj)ect in the 
 view of this subject more touching than anotb.er, it 
 is this, — that sucli should be the tender, unchanging 
 
OF HIS PKOPLE. 219 
 
 loveof Jesua towards his wandering child, he should 
 take the first step in restoring- him. S'all an of- 
 fended, insulted Sovereign make the 'irst move 
 towards conciliating a rebellious pec, '3? — that 
 Sovereign is Jesus: shall an outraged I ther seek 
 his wandering child, and restore him lo his af- 
 fections and his house? — that father is God. Oh 
 what love is that which leads Jesus in se:ach of his 
 wandering child : love that will not let iiim quite 
 depart ; love that yearns after him, and i^eks after 
 him, and follows after him through all ! is devious 
 way, his intricate wanderings, and far-off depar- 
 tures; love that no unkindness has been able to 
 cool, no forgeifulness has been able to weaken, no 
 distance has been able to destroy ! 
 
 Not less conspicuous is the power of J sus in the 
 restoring of the soul : " He restoreth n^y soul," — • 
 he, the Onmipotent Shepherd. We want Omnipo- 
 tence to bring us back when we have v.andered ; 
 notliing less can accomplish it. We want the same 
 power that converted, to re-convert ; the power that 
 created, to re-create us : this power Jesus possesses. 
 It was essential to the full salvation of 1 '3 church 
 that he should have it ; therefore, when tiraying to 
 his Father, he says, "As thou hast tiiven him 
 power over all flesh," — why this power ] — " that he 
 should give eternal life to as many as thou hast 
 given him." It was necessary that he siould have 
 power over all fleshy yea, over all the powe s leagued 
 against the church, that he should bring . glory all 
 that were given to him in the covenant o grace. 
 
 Now this power is gloriously exerted x\ the re- 
 
220 THE LORD THE RESTORER 
 
 storing of the soul. Jesus works iji the believer, in 
 order to his recovery. He breaks down the hard 
 heart, arrests the soul in its onward progress of de- 
 parture, places upon it some powerful check, lays it 
 low, humbles, abases it, and then draws from it the 
 blessed acknowledgment, " Behold, I am vile ; but. 
 he restoreth my soul." 
 
 There is infinite wisdoin, too, in the Lord's re- 
 storings. This perfection of Jesus is clearly revealed 
 here: in the itay he adopts to restore, we see it. 
 That he should make, as he frequently does, our 
 very afflictions the means of restoration to oiu' souls, 
 unfolds the profound depth of his wisdom. This 
 was David's prayer, — " Quicken me according to thy 
 judgments :" and this was his testimony, — " Before 
 I was afflicted I went astra)^, but now have I kept 
 thy word ;" " Though I walk in the midst of trouble, 
 thou wilt revive me." The season of trial is uot 
 imfrequently the sanctified season of revival. Who 
 that has passed through the furnace has not found 
 it so ? Then the declension of the soul lias been 
 discovered, — then the hidden cause of that declension 
 has been brought to light, — then the spirit has bowed 
 in contrition before the liOrd, — then grace has been 
 stirred up in the heart, and a new sweetness has 
 been given to prayer, and a new impulse to faith, 
 and a new radiance to hope, and from the flame the 
 gold and the silver have emerged, purified of their 
 tin and dross. But for the production of eflTects like 
 these, why the many peculiar and heavy afflictions 
 that we sometimes see overtaking the child of God ? 
 Think not that our heavenly Father takes pleasure 
 
OF iiiri pt:orLE. 22!. 
 
 in chastening us ; think not that it delii^hts him to 
 beholil the writhings the liiiocs. and the anguish of 
 a woiuuled spirit ; think not that he Idvgs to see our 
 tears, and hear our sighs and our groans under the 
 pressure of keen and crushing trial. No : lie is a 
 tender, loving Fatlier ; so tender and so loving, that 
 not one stroke, nor one cross, nor one trial more does 
 he lay upon us, than is absolutely needful for our 
 good ; — not a single ingredient does he put in our 
 bitter cup tiiat is not essential to the perfection of 
 the remedy. It is for our profit that he chastens, not 
 for his pleasure ; and that often to rouse us from our 
 spiritual sleep, to recover us from our deep declen- 
 sion, and to impart new vigor, healthiness, and 
 growth, to his own life in the soul. 
 
 iSor must we overlook the gentleness of the Lord's 
 restoring. We have a beautiful exhibition of this in 
 the recovery of the stray sheep, as set forth by Jesus 
 himself: "What man of you, having an hundred 
 sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the 
 ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that 
 which is lost, until he find it I And when he hath 
 found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing." 
 Luke XV. 4, 5. Here is the gentleness of the shep- 
 herd, — " he layeth it on his shoulders." Too feeble 
 itself to walk, too exhausted in its wanderings to re- 
 turn, the gentle shepherd having sought and found 
 it, " lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing." Touching 
 picture of the Saviours gentleness in restoring a 
 backsliding soul ! What but infinite gentleness is 
 seen in the restoring of Peter? It was but a look ; 
 -not a word fell from the lips cf the Saviour — not 
 19* 
 
222 THE LORD, THE RESTORER 
 
 an unkind rebuke, not a harsli upbraiding- word did 
 he breath' ; yet tJtat look — wliat artist's pencil has 
 ever been nble to imitate it? — that look so full of 
 love, so full of gentleness, so full of forgiveness, did 
 seem to j "I am going to die for thee, Peter — all 
 this and i ore I suffer for thee; wilt thou, canst thou 
 deny me / '' — that look, so touching, so melting, so 
 eloquent, 'id so forgiving, reached the heart of the 
 backslidii ; apostle, melted it, broke it, and sent him 
 from the judgment-hall weeping bitterly. There 
 was no e>; iression in the look which Jesus bent upon 
 Peter, but 'ove. Let this truth be fixed in the heart 
 of every .acksliding believer. Tlie Lord restores 
 the soul ^jently. The moment he discovers to it its 
 sin, he cc \eys some token of his pardoning mercy: 
 the bahii applied the moment the wound is given, 
 the remec.,* is at hand the moment the distemper is 
 discovered . There is a tenderness, an unutterable 
 tenderne in the heart and hand, in the mercy and 
 the methf, i of the Lord's recovery of his child, which 
 only he Cy i feel. See it in the case of David. How 
 did God bring his sin to remembrance? By the 
 chastening' rod? by heavy judgment? by severe 
 expressions of displeasure ? Nay ; none of these 
 were his messengers : but he sent a kind, tender, 
 faithful prophet, to discover to him his awful back- 
 sliding ; and the astounding words, "Thou art the 
 man," had scarcely died away upon his ear, ere 
 he pours iii this healing balm, '• The Lord also hath 
 put away thy sin ; thou shalt not die." Oh, what 
 gentlenes ■■, what tenderness, are thus shown in the 
 Lord's restorings of his wandering child ! From 
 
OF Illri i'EOl'I.E. 223 
 
 whom could this have been expecled but. from him 
 whose ualure and whose name is locc, — from w liom, 
 but him who could thus i^peak to his backsii(Hng 
 Ej)hraim : " Is Ephraim ir.y dear son ? is he a pleas- 
 ant chikl ? for since 1 spake against hiu), 1 do ear- 
 nestly remember him still; therefore my bowels are 
 troubled for him : I will surely have mercy upon him, 
 saith the Lord '' 'This is an outgushing' of tender- 
 ness towards a poor, rclurning, backsliding soul, 
 which could only have had its dwelling-place in the 
 heart of Jehovah. 
 
 But we have yet to speak of the waij of a poor 
 backslider's return to the Lord. INLay the Spirit im- 
 jKirt wisdom and unction in unfolding this most 
 important point ! First, as touching the sjjirii with 
 which he should return. 
 
 Looking at the case of the backsliding church of 
 Ephesus, we find the nature of lier sin, and the 
 mode of her recovery, thus set forth : " I have some- 
 what against thee, because thou hast left thy first 
 love. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art 
 fallen, and repent and do the first works." The first 
 exhortation addressed to her was, '-Remember, there- 
 fore, from whence thou art fallen." She was first 
 called to solenm reflection upon her former state of 
 prosperity. 
 
 Let the backsliding believer be brought to this first 
 step. " Remember from whence thou art fallen ;'* — 
 revert to thy past history, thy former spiritual state ; — 
 remember thy first sorrow for sin, the first joy of its 
 pardon ; — reniember the spring-tide of thy first love — ■ 
 how precious Jesus was, how glorious was his per- 
 
224 THE LORD, THE RESTORER 
 
 soil, how sweet was his cross, Jiow fragrant was his 
 name, how rich was liis grace ; — remember how 
 dear to you was the throne of grace, how frequently 
 you resorted to it, regarding it of all spots on earth 
 the most blessed '^ remember how, under the anoint- 
 ings of adopting love, you walked with God as with a 
 Father — how filial, how close, how holy was your 
 communion with him ;— remen)ber the seasons of 
 refreshing in the sanctuary, in the social meeting, in 
 the closet, how your soul did seem to dwell on the 
 sunny sides of glory, and you longed for the wings 
 of a dove that you might fly to your Lord ; — remem- 
 ber how, publicly and before many witnesses, you 
 put oir sin and put on Christ, and turning your back 
 upon the world, took your place among the follow- 
 ers of the Lamb ; — remember how holy, and circum- 
 spect, and spotless was yottr walk, how tender was 
 your conscience, how guileless was your spirit, how 
 humble and lowly your whole deportment. But 
 ■what and where are you now? O remember /row* 
 whence yon are fallen ! Think from what a high 
 profession, from what an elevated walk, from what 
 holy employments, from what hallowed joys, from 
 what sweet delights, and from what pleasant ways 
 have you declined ! May you not truly inquire with 
 the sweet poet of Olney, — 
 
 " Where is the blcsseJness I knew 
 When first I saw the Lord 1 
 AVhere is the soul refresliing view 
 Of Jesus and his word 1 
 
 " What peaceful hours I once enjoyed S 
 How sweet their mem'ry still i 
 
OF ms PEOPLE. 225 
 
 But they have left an aching void, 
 The world can never fill. 
 
 " Return, O holy Dove, return, 
 Sweet messenger of rest ; 
 I hate the sins that made thee mourn, 
 And drove thee from my breast." 
 
 In the exhortation given to the backsliding church 
 at Ephesus, there is yet another instruction equally 
 applicable to tiie case of all wanderers from the Lord : 
 " Repent and do the first works." How can a de- 
 .parting soul return without repentance J by what 
 other avenue can the prodigal reach his Father's 
 heart? Repentance implies the existence and con- 
 viction of sin. Ah ! is it no sin, beloved reader, to 
 liave turned thy back upon God? is it no sin to 
 have lost thy first love, to have backshdden from 
 Jesus, to have translerred thy ailections from him to 
 the world, or to the creature, or to thyself? is it no 
 sin to go no more with the Shepherd, and to follow 
 no more the footsteps of the flock, and to feed no 
 more in the green pastures, or repose by the side of 
 the still waters? O yes! it is a sin of peculiar 
 magnitude ; it is a sin against God in the character 
 of a loving Father, against Jesus in the cliaracter of 
 a tender Redeemer, against the Holy Spirit in the 
 character of a faithful Indweller and a Sanctifier ; it 
 is a sin against the most precious experience of his 
 grace, against the most melting exhibitions of his 
 love, and against the most tender proofs of his cove- 
 nant faithfulness. 
 
 Repent^ then, of this thy sin. Think how thou 
 hast wounded Jesus afresh, and repeiit ; think how 
 
226 THE LORD, THE RESTORER 
 
 thou hast requited thy Father's love, and repent ; 
 think ho\ thou hast grieved tlie Spirit, and repetit. 
 Humble t'lyself in dust and ashes before the cross, 
 and through that cross, look up again to thy for- 
 giving G; rl and Father. The sweet promise is, 
 '• They shall look upon him whom they have 
 pierced, rind shall mourn for him as one moiirneth 
 for his on!- son." This leads us to touch upon one 
 more point, of vast moment in the way of a soul's 
 return to God. It is this : 
 
 All real return of a backsliding sonl is throngh 
 Jesns. J uis is God's great Door of approach to his 
 throne. ^^ other entrance will conduct us to the 
 golden Sl .ire ; no otlier will bring luj into the holy 
 of holies. Thus has the Holy Ghost unfolded this 
 truth : ' ' ^^ving, therefore, brethren, boldness to 
 enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a 
 new and iiving way, which he hath consecrated for 
 us throujh the veil, that is to say, his flesh ; and 
 having a:i High Priest over the house of God; let 
 us draw !■ ar." O blessed Door of return for a poor, 
 backslidirs 4, heart-broken believer! — a crucified Sa- 
 viour, in .\'hom God is well pleased, and for whose 
 sake he n receive the smner, and put away his 
 sin, can welcome the backslider, and heal his back- 
 sliding. 
 
 Nor mi;-:i, we overlook the gracious work of the 
 Spirit in the restoring of a backsliding soul ; but 
 for him, rot a step in the way of return would be 
 taken on he part of the believer. The first solemn 
 reflection, the first wistful glance of the eye towards 
 the Father's home, the first sigh that heaves the 
 
OF 111.-; im:u1'i,k. 227 
 
 licail, the first tear that starts from (he foiiiitaiii of 
 grii'f, the fust step bent towards a forsaken ( iod, is 
 (he elfcct of his blessed operation, of Ids unchange- 
 able love, and covenant faithfulness. What debtors 
 are we to the blessed and Eternal Spirit ! What 
 reverential views should we cnterlain of his person, 
 and what tender thoughts should we cherish of his 
 work ! 
 
 'VUa euconragC7}}ciUs to return to (he liord are 
 many and great : in the first place, we have the gra- 
 cious invilatioiis of (Jod InmselJ. How numerous 
 and touching are these! W'hereisthe heart, deeply 
 conscious of its Ijacksliding, that can resist the pow- 
 er of language like this: "Go, and proclaim ihesc 
 words towards the north, and say, Return, thou 
 backsliding Israel, saiih the Lord ; and I will not 
 cause mine anger to fdl upon you : for I am merci- 
 ful, saith the Lord, and will not keep anger for 
 ever." Ji-r. iii. 12. Here is the warrant for your 
 return — God's own free invitation! You want no 
 more. What if Satan discourages, what if your sins 
 plead against you, what if guilt and unbelief and 
 shame combine to impede your way, if God says, 
 " Return !" — that is sulficient for thee. Thou dost 
 want no more ; if he is willing to receive you back, 
 to pardon your sins, to forget your base ingratitude, 
 to heal your backslidings, and restore your soul, you 
 have the liroad warrant to return, in the face of all 
 ojiposition and discouragement. Yet again the 
 cheering invitation runs,—" Otdy acknowledge thine 
 iniquity that thou hast transgressed against the 
 Lord thy God." " Turn, O backsliding children, 
 
228 THE LORD, THE UKSTOKEK 
 
 saith the Lord, for I am married unto you." " Re- 
 turn, ye backsliding- children, and 1 will heal your 
 backslidings." " I will heal their backsliding, I will 
 love them freely : for mine anger is turned away 
 from him." Jer. iii. ; Hosea xiv. 
 
 The character of God is such as encourages the 
 return of a backsliding soul. In the invitations he 
 has given, he urges them upon the ground of lohat 
 he is : "Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the 
 Lord ; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon 
 you : for I am merciful, saith the Lord." O touch- 
 ing, soul-subduing, heart-melting argument, — 'Re- 
 turn unto me, for I a?n merciful!'' Merciful to re- 
 ceive you, merciful to pardon you, merciful to heal 
 you. O the boundless msrcy of God in Christ 
 towards a soul returning from its wanderings ! Will 
 not this draw you ? Again ; " I have blotted out as 
 a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy 
 bins ; return unto me, for I have redeemed theeP 
 "Return, for I have blotted out thy transgressions: 
 return, for I have put away thy sins : return, for I 
 have redeemed thee. The work is already done, — 
 the pardon has already gone forth, — the backsliding 
 has already been forgiven ; then linger not, but re- 
 turn, for I have redeemed thee." Here, on the broad 
 basis of the Lord's free and full pardon, the wander- 
 ing soul is urged to return. Truly may the apostle 
 say. " If we confess our sins, he \s faithful and just 
 to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all un- 
 righteousness." 
 
 Thus is the character of God, as a merciful, sin- 
 pardoning God, held out in the word as a motive 
 
OF MIS TECIPLE. 229 
 
 and an encouragement to return. This is just the 
 view of God, which, as a backsHding soul, you 
 want. In yourself you see everything to discourage, 
 everything to forbid your return ; and even on awak- 
 ening to a sense of your departure, your first thoughts 
 of God are sucli as to repel you from his presence ; 
 you are ready to say, " I have wilfully departed from 
 the Lord ; I have gone after other lovers ; I have 
 hewn out other cisterns : now the Lord has given 
 me up in his displeasure, and has forsaken me for 
 ever in his wrath." Hut God comes forth, and vin- 
 dicates his own gracious character, unfolds his own 
 love, and in accents most encouraging and persuasive, 
 addresses himself to his wandering child, and says, 
 " Return, thou backsliding Israel, for lammercifulP 
 In the parable of the prodigal son, we have the 
 character of God towards a returning soul truly and 
 beautifully drawn. The single point we would now 
 advert to is, the posture of the father on the approach 
 of his child. AVhat was that posture? — the most 
 expressive of undiminished love, of yearning tender- 
 ness, of eagerness to welcome his return. Thus is 
 it described : '■ And when he was a great way off, 
 his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, 
 and fell on his neck, and kissed him." All this is 
 God to thee, dear returning soul ! He is on the 
 eager watch for thy first movement towards him ; 
 he is looking as with outstretched neck for the first 
 sign of thy soul's return, for the first sound of thy 
 footsteps, for the first relentings of thy heart : yea, 
 even more than this, or this were nothing, he sends 
 his own Spirit to work that return in thy soul, to 
 20 
 
230 THE LORD, THE KKSTORER 
 
 break thy heart, to rouse thy slumbering spirit, to 
 draw thee, win thee to his arms. This is thy God; 
 — the God whom thou hast forsaken, from wliose 
 ways thou hast declined, but who, in the very deptli 
 of thy declension and in the very extremity of thy 
 departure, has never withdrawn his eye of love one 
 moment from thee. 
 
 Nor must we overlook the grand source of en- 
 couragement to a returning soul, — that U)hich spring's 
 from the cross of Christ. But for a crucified 
 Saviour, tliere couhl be no possible return to God ; 
 in no other way could lie, consistently with the holi- 
 ness and rectitude of the Divine government, with 
 what he owes to himself as a just, and holy God, re- 
 ceive a poor, wandering, returning sinner. Mere 
 repentance and humiliation for, and confession of 
 sin, could entitle the soul to no act of pardon. The 
 obedience and death of the Lord Jesus, laid the foun- 
 dation, and opened the way for the exercise of this 
 great and sovereign act of grace. The cross of 
 Jesus displays the most awful exhibition of God's 
 hatred of sin, and at the same time the most august 
 manifestation of his readiness to pardon it. Pardon, 
 full and free, is written out in every drop of blood 
 that is seen, is proclaimed in every groan that is 
 heard, and shines in the very prodigy of mercy that 
 closes the solemn scene upon the cross. O blessed 
 door of return, open and never shut, to the wanderej 
 from God ! how glorious, how free, how accessible ! 
 Hither the sinful, the vile, the guilty, the unworthy, 
 the poor, the penniless, may come. Here, too, the 
 weary spirit may bring its burthen, the broken spirit 
 
OK HIS PKOI'I.E. 231 
 
 its sorrow, the guilty spirit its sin, tlie backsliding 
 spirit its wandering. All are welcome here. The 
 death of Jesus was the opening and the emptying of 
 the full heart of God ; it was the outgushing of that 
 ocean of infinite mercy, that heaved and panted and 
 longed for an outlet ; it was God showing how he 
 could love a poor, guilty sinner. What more could 
 he have done than this I what stronger proof, what 
 richer gift, what costlier boon, could he have given 
 in attestation of that love ? Now it is the simple 
 belief o( this, that brings the tide of joy down into 
 the soul. It is faith's view of this that dissolves the 
 adamant, rends asunder the flinty rock, smites down 
 the pyramid of self-righteousness, lays the rebellious 
 will in the dust, and cnfulds the repenting, believing 
 soul in the very arms of free, rich, and sovereign 
 love. Here, too, the believer is led to trace the sin 
 of his backsliding in its darkest lines, and to mourn 
 over it with his bitterest tears, — 
 
 " Then beneath the cross adoring. 
 Sin iloth like itself appear ; 
 When the wounds of Christ exploring, 
 I can read my pardon there." 
 
 If the Lord has restored thy soul, dear reader, re- 
 member why he has done it, — to make thee hate thy 
 sins. He hates them, and he will make thee to 
 hate them too : and this he does by pardoning them, 
 by sprinkling the atoning blood upon the conscience, 
 and by restoring unto you the joys of his salvation. 
 And never is sin so sincerely hated, never is it so deeply 
 deplored, so bitterly mourned over, and so utterly for- 
 
232 THE LORD, THE RESTORER 
 
 saken, as when he speaks to the heart, and says, 
 " Thy sins are forgiven thee, go in peace." As 
 though he did say, " I liave blotted out thy transgress- 
 ions, I have healed thy backslidings, 1 have restored 
 thy soul; 'that thou mayest remember and be con- 
 founded, and never open thy mouth any more because 
 of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all 
 that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.' " Ezek. 
 xvi. 63. 
 
 Remember that, just inhere the departure co?n- 
 menced. there should com7}ience the return. Did 
 it begin at the closet? — then at the closet let thy 
 restoration commence. Return to the secret, closet 
 prayer; build up the ruined altar, — rekindle the 
 expiring flame ; let that holy sanctuary once more 
 witness to your confessions, your humiliations, your 
 strong crying and tears, and your close, filial, and 
 hallowed communion with God. O blessed moment 
 that sees you there again, even though it be to smite 
 in anguish on your breast, and to cover yourself with 
 sackcloth and ashes before the Lord ! 
 
 And do not overlook in this great business of 
 restoration, the intercession of Jesus., the High 
 Priest, at the right hand of God. If thy heavenly 
 Father has restored thy soul, not only has he done 
 it from the spring of his own unchangeable love, 
 but that which has prevailed with him, was the 
 power of the sweet incense of the Redeemer's blood 
 before the mercy-seat. Moment by moment does 
 this fragrant cloud go up, bearing as it ascends all 
 the circumstances of all the Israel of God. There 
 is not only the blood already sprinkled on the 
 
OK Hlrf PKOPLK. 233 
 
 mercy-scat, which has saiislied l^iviiic justice, hut 
 there is the constant pUniding ot" th(? hlood hy Jesus, 
 the Priest, before the tluone. O precious thought, 
 
 comforting, encouraging truth, for a soul re- 
 treading its steps hack to God ! Of its own it hath 
 nothing to plead but its folly, its ingratitude, its 
 wretchedness, and its sin ; but faith can lay its 
 trembling hand upon this blessed truth, — faith can 
 descry Jesus clothed in his priestly garments stand- 
 ing between tlie soul and God, spreading forth his 
 hands, and pleading on l)ehalf of the returning 
 believer the merits of his own precious obedience 
 and death. And thus encouraged, he may draw 
 nigh and touch the sceptre : " If any man sin, we 
 have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ 
 the righteous." " Christ is not entered into the 
 holy places made with hands, which are the figures 
 of the true ; but into heaven itself, now to appear 
 in the presence of God for us." Hob. ix. 24. 
 
 In view^ of all these precious encouragements, 
 persuasive motives, and earnest expostulations, will 
 you, dear backsliding soul, still refuse to return? 
 
 1 entreat you, I implore you, I beseech you, to arise 
 and go to your Father, and say unto him, '•'• Father, 
 I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight." 
 By all that is tender and forgiving in that Father's 
 heart, — by all that is melting, persuasive, and pre- 
 cious in the work of Jesus, — by his agony and 
 bloody sweat, by his cross and passion, by his death, 
 burial, and resurrection, I beseech you to return ! 
 By the honor of that holy religion you have 
 wounded, by all the hopes of glory you have in- 
 
 20* 
 
234 THE LURD, TilU KK^TORER, ETC. 
 
 diilged in, by all that is sacred and precious in the 
 memory of the past, and by all that is solemn and 
 real in the pro.^pect of the future, I implore you to 
 return ! By the faithful promises of God, by the 
 tender yearnings of Jesus, by the gentle drawings of 
 the Spirit, by all that you will experience in the joy 
 and peace and assurance of a restored soul, by the 
 glory of God. by tlie honor of Christ, by the near- 
 ness of death and the solemnity of the judgment, I 
 entreat, I implore, I beseech you. wanderer, prodigal, 
 to return ! 
 
 " Return, O wanderer, return! 
 And seek an injured Father's face; 
 Those warm desires that in thee burn, 
 Were kindled by reclaiming grace. 
 
 " Return, O wanderer, return ! 
 Thy Saviour bids thy spirit live; 
 Go to his bleeding side, and learn 
 How /reeli/ Jesus can forgive. 
 
 " Return, O wanderer, return ! 
 Regain thy lost lamented rest; 
 Jehovah's melting bowels yearn 
 To clasp his Ephraim to his breast." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE LORD, Till: K E i: 1' E R OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 " The Lord is thy keeper." — Psalm cxxi. 5. 
 
 How frequently, clearly, and solemnly does the 
 Holy Ghost unfold tiiis great trutli in liis word, that 
 salvation is entirely in and of God, irrespective of all 
 worth, worthiness, or power of the creature ; and 
 that as the salvation of his covenant people is su- 
 premely and solely his own work, so in every respect 
 it is infinitely worthy of himself God can do 
 nothing hut what harmonises with his own illimita- 
 ble greatness : he can never act below himself. All 
 the productions of his creative power in nature, all 
 the events of his directive wisdom in providence, 
 bear the impress, from the smallest to the greatest, 
 of his " eternal power and Godhead." But in salva- 
 tion, it is supremely and pre-eminently so. Here, 
 the whole Deity shines ; here, the entire Godhead is 
 seen ; here, Jehovah emerges from the veiled pavil- 
 ion of his greatness and glory, and by one stupen- 
 dous exercise of power, and by one august act of 
 grace, and by one ineflable display of love — before 
 which all other revelations of his glory seem to fade 
 away and well-nigh disappear — walks abroad among 
 men in his full-orbed majesty : " And I heard a great 
 voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle 
 
236 THE LORD, THE KEEPER 
 
 of God is with men, antl he will dwell with them, 
 and they shall be his people, and God himself shall 
 be with them and be their God."' This glorious 
 "tabernacle" tliat is " with men," what less is it than 
 the manifestation of Jesus in our own nature — God 
 manifest in the flesh? Truly may we say, "His 
 glory is great in our salvation." Is he the only-wise 
 God?- — liis salvation must needs be the most pro- 
 foiMid result of tiiat wisdom. Is he most holy ? — his 
 salvation must be holy. Is he just? his salvation 
 must be just. Is he gracious? — so must be his sal- 
 vation. It bears the imprint of every attribute ; it 
 embodies in its nature the manifestation of every 
 perfection. No otlier conception of his wisdom, no 
 other product of his power, jio other revelation of his 
 greatness, gives any adequate conception of God, but 
 the cross of his beloved Son. " It is here that he ap- 
 pears under the new and unequalled aspect of the 
 God of our salvation ; and hence that he desires a 
 renewal of praise, not only for his excellent greatness, 
 or his marvellous works, but for what he is in his in- 
 herent and illimitable goodness, and for what he im- 
 parts in the fruitions of his loVe. The very thought 
 of such a discovery, is itself a new creation. It is 
 the product of inspiration, not of mortal intelligence: 
 it could proceed oidy from him by whom it is to be 
 substantiated and accomplished ; it constitutes its 
 own evidence, it authenticates iti-:elf Divinity is 
 not more its ol)ject tiian its essence: incommunica- 
 ble majesty is impressed on every feature, and diffused 
 over all its form. Well muy it be said of such a 
 system, even as of Him who is its author, that herein 
 
(IF HIS I'EOIM.K. 237 
 
 God is manifested in the flesh, beheld in his express 
 image and his uncreated brightness.'' 
 
 Now this salvation, thus so completely and entirely 
 out of the creature, in (Jod, takes in all the circum- 
 stances of a child of God. It is not only a salva- 
 tion from wrath to come — that were an immeasura- 
 ble act of grace — but it is a present salvation, antici- 
 pating and j)rovitling for every exigency of the life 
 that now is, including deliverance from all evil, help 
 in all trouble, comfort in all sorrow, the supply of all 
 want, and through all contlicls, assaults, and diilicul- 
 ties. perfect safety and final triumph. But the single 
 point with which we now have to do, is, the present 
 and certain security of the believer, provided for in 
 the covenant of grace, made sure in Jesus the cove- 
 nant head, and revealed in this glorious covenant 
 plan of salvation. We have, in the preceding chap- 
 ter, been considering the inherent tendency and the 
 constant liability of a child of God (o departure from 
 God; we now would look up to the II0I3' Spirit to 
 imfold to us this great and consoling truth, that in 
 the midst of all their weakness, waywardness, and 
 tendency to wander, the Lord is the keeper of his 
 people, and that they whom he keeps are well and 
 eternally kept. " The Lord is thy keeper." 
 
 We cannot rightly discuss our subject, without 
 laying its foundation in the perfect tveakness of the 
 believer himself. If this were not so, — if there 
 were aught of self-power in the believer, any ability 
 to keep himself, — if he were not weakness, all 
 weakness, and nothing but weakness, — then the 
 Lord could not in truth be said to be the keejter of 
 
238 THE I,ORD, THE KEEPER 
 
 his people. Tliis truth, we repeat, is the ground- 
 work of our subject, arul of it the believer needs to 
 be perpetually j)ut in remembrance. The principle 
 of self-confidence is the natural product of the 
 human heart: the great characleristic of our apos- 
 tate race, is, a desire to live, and think, and act, 
 independently of God. What is the great citadel, 
 to the overthrow of which Divine grace first directs 
 its power? what is the first step it takes in the sub- 
 jection of the sinner to God? what, but the break- 
 ing down of this lofiy, towering, independent conceit 
 of himself, so natural to man, and so abhorrent to 
 God ? Now, let il. be remembered, that Divine and 
 sovereign grace undertakes not the extraction of the 
 root of this depraved principle from the heart of its 
 subjects. The root remains to ihe very close of 
 life's pilgrimage: though in a measure weakened, 
 subdued, mortified, still it remains ; demanding the 
 most rigid watchfulness, connected with ceaseless 
 prayer, lest it should spring upward, to the destruc- 
 tion of his soul's prosperity, the grieving of the 
 Spirit, and the dishonoring of God. O how much 
 the tender, faithful discipline of a covenant God, 
 may have the subjeclion and mortification of this 
 hateful principle for its blessed end, who can tell? 
 We shall never fully know until we reach our 
 Father's house, where the dark, and to us, mysteri- 
 ous dealings of that loving Father with us here 
 below, shall unfold themselves in light and glory, 
 elevating the soul in love and praise ! 
 
 That no mere creature, angelic or human, can 
 keep itself, is a truth fairly written out in the word 
 
OF ins PKui'Ln. 239 
 
 of God, and illiis;lrated by some of the most solemn 
 and alfectinj? exan)ples. In the history of tlie. 
 falh'it avgeh, CJod has revealed and conrniucd this 
 t]uili. If any creature could have kept itself from 
 failing', why not a pure angelic spirit? All that the 
 creature could possess in itself favorable to its secu- 
 rity, they had ; (Jod created them in perfect up- 
 rightness and holiness; they were bound by a law 
 implanted in their nature, — the same as the law of 
 nature inscribed on Adam's heart, and which in 
 substance corresponds with the moral law, — they 
 were bound, we say, by this law to love God su- 
 premely, to obey him implicitly, to serve him de- 
 votedly and everlastingly. No power could release 
 them from this obligation ; nor did they want the 
 moral capacity to obey it. The bent of their wills, 
 the bias of their minds, the desire of their affections, 
 were all towards it. And yet tliey fell ! Why 1 
 Because God left them to the freedom of their wills, 
 which were mutable, and that instant they were left 
 to themselves, they fell as lightning from heaven. 
 " I beheld," said Christ, " Satan as lightning fall 
 from heaven." If it had been possible for created 
 power to have sustained itself, here was the glorious 
 theatre for the display of that power. Their natures 
 were holy, the God whom they served was holy, 
 the place they inhabited was holy, their companions 
 were holy, their employments were holy, and yet 
 they fell! Again we ask why ?-^because no creature 
 ever had or ever can, by any innate, inherent 
 strength or power of his own, keep himself: that 
 
240 THE LORD, THE KEEPER 
 
 moment God leaves him to himself, that moment 
 he falls. 
 
 Look at Adam : he too was created in perfect 
 holiness ; not a taint of sin originally in his nature ; 
 not a cloud darkened his mind ; not the least bias 
 of his will, or a single inclination of his heart, but 
 centred in God : and yet, he fell from his original 
 holiness. And why? Because he could not keep 
 himself: God left him to his natural and moral 
 ability, which in the creature is natural and moral 
 weakness, he left him to his own free-will, he left 
 him to his own innate power, and the sad conse- 
 quence was, he instantly fell, and in him, as their 
 federal head, fell the whole human race. Adam 
 was poor in himself, — he was a pensioner upon the 
 free bounty of the God of heaven ; even when he 
 reposed amid the beauty and luxuriance of paradise, 
 and trod the earth as the monarch of a new and a 
 glorious world, every object of which paid him 
 homage, and submitted to his will, even then was 
 he, as all creatures necessarily must be, poor in 
 himself, and hung as a weak dependent creature 
 upon the God that created him. And the moment 
 that God withdrew his sustaining power, that moment 
 Adam tore the crown of creature glory from his head, 
 and trampled it into atoms in the dust ! 
 
 Look at the Jdslorics of some of the inost eminent 
 of GocFs saints. What affecting confirmation do 
 they afford to the most important truth we are now 
 upon, that the creature left to itself, is perfect weak-- 
 ness ! If the angels in their purit}^, if Adam in his 
 state of innocence, fell in consequence of bein^ left 
 
OF niS PEOPLE. 241 
 
 in ihc so7ereign will of God to their own keeping, 
 what may we expect from a fallen, sinful, ini|)crfect 
 creature, even though renewed ? Do we look into 
 God's blessed word, and lead what is there declared., 
 touching the power of a renewed creature to keep it- 
 self? How" allccling, and at the saine time conclusive 
 these declarations are : " Having no might ;" " With- 
 out strength ;" '■' Weak through the flesh ;" " Out 
 of weakness were made strong." Could language 
 more forcibly set forth the utter weakness of a child 
 of God? And what are ihc Jl if wes employed to 
 impress upon the mind the same truth ? They are 
 most expressive; the believer is represented as a 
 * lamb among wolves,' — as a dove ready to be fastened 
 upon by the vulture,— as a ' Uly among thorns,' — as 
 ' a bruised reed,' — as ' smoking flax.' — as a feeble 
 branch hanging upon the vine. And what are their 
 own acknowledgments ? '• The Lord is the strength 
 of myhfe;" "The Lord is my shepherd ;" "Hold 
 thou me up and I shall be safe ;" '• Keep back thy 
 servant also from presumpluou:^ sins ;" " Hold up my 
 goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not;" 
 " We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we 
 should not trust in ourselves ;" " yet not I, but the 
 grace of God which was with me;" "By the grace 
 of God I am w^hat I am." And what are the exam- 
 pies 7 To select but a few from among many : look 
 at the intemperance of Noah, the unbelief of Abra- 
 ham, the adultery and murder of David, the idolatry 
 of Solomon, the self-righteousness of Job, the im- 
 patience of Moses, the self-confidence, and trinnning, 
 temporising policy of Peter. Solemn arc these Jes- 
 21 
 
242 THE LORD, THE KEEPER 
 
 sons of the creature's nothingness ; affecting' these ex- 
 amples of his perfect weakness ! 
 
 But why speak of others ? Let the reader, if he 
 is a professing child of God, pause and survey the 
 past of his own life. What marks of perfect weak- 
 ness may he discover, what evidences of his own 
 fickleness, folly, immature judgment, may he trace, 
 what outbreakings of deep iniquity, what disclosures 
 of hidden cormption, what startling symptoms of the 
 most awful departure and apostacy from God, does 
 the review present ! And this, too, let it be remem- 
 bered, is the history of a believer in Jesus, a renewed 
 child of God, a partaker of the Divine nature, an ex- 
 pectant of eternal glory ! Holy and blessed are they 
 who, as they read and lay aside this book, shall re- 
 linquish all their fond conceit of self-power, and of 
 self-keeping, and shall pray, and cease not to pray, 
 " Lord, hold thou me up, and 1 shall be safe !" " Let 
 him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he 
 fall." 
 
 But the Lord will cause his people to hnoio their 
 perfect weakness and insufficiency to keep themselves 
 and that, too, not notionally, not theoretically, nor 
 from what they hear, or from what they read, but 
 from their own deep personal experience of the truth : 
 yea, he is perpetually causing them to learn it. I 
 do not allude merely to that blessed period when the 
 Holy Ghost first lays his axe at the fabric of their 
 self-righteousness, — truly they first learn it then, — 
 but it is a truth they become growingly acquainted 
 with ; it is a lesson they are made daily lo learn ; 
 and he becomes the most perfectly scliooled in it, 
 
DF 1II3 PKOPLE. 243 
 
 wlic watches most luuruwly his own heart, is most 
 observant of his own way, and deals most constantly 
 and simply with the cross of Jesus. AVith res^ard to 
 the way which the Lord adopts to brini^ them into 
 the knowledge of it, it is various. Sometimes it is 
 by brinuing them into great straits and difficulties, 
 hedging up their path with thorns, or paving it with 
 flints. Sometimes it is in deep adversity after great 
 prosperity, as in the case of Job, stripped of all, and 
 laid in dust and ashes, in order to be brought to the 
 conviction and the confession of deep and utter vile- 
 ness. Sometimes it is circumstances of absolute pros- 
 perity, when he gives the heart its desire, bat sends 
 leanness into the soul. O how does tliis teach a 
 godly man his own utter nothingness ! Sometimes it 
 is by permitting the messenger of Satan to buffet, — 
 sending and perpetuating some heavy lingering, lace- 
 rating cross. Sometimes by the removal of some be- 
 loved prop on which we too fondly and securely leaned, 
 — putting a worm at the root of our pleasant out- 
 spreading gourd, drying up our refreshing spring, or 
 leading us down deep into the valley of self-abase- 
 ment and bumiliation. 
 
 But the great school in which we learn this pain- 
 ful, yet needed and wholesome lesson is, in the body 
 of sill wliich we daily bear about with us. It was 
 here Paul learned his lesson, as the seventh chapter 
 of his letter to the church at Rome shows, ond for 
 which epistle the saints of God will ever have reason 
 to praise and adore the blessed and Eternal Spirit : 
 "I know tliat in me (tbat is, in my flesh,) dwelleth 
 no good thing : for to will is present with me ; but 
 
244 THE LOUD, THE KEEPER 
 
 how to perforin that which is good I find not. For 
 the good that I would I do not ; but the evil which 
 I would not, that I do. Now if I do that 1 would 
 not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth 
 in me. O wretched man that I am ! who shall de- 
 hver me from the body of this death ?" In this 
 school and in this way, did the great apostle of the 
 Gentiles learn that the most holy, deeply taught, 
 useful, privileged, and even inspired saint of God, 
 was in himself nothing but the most perfect weak- 
 ness and sin. Be not thou cast down, dear reader, 
 if the Lord the Spirit is teaching you the same 
 lesson in the same way ; if he is now ploughing up 
 the hidden evil, breaking up the fallow ground, dis- 
 covering to you more of the evil principle of your 
 heart, the iniquity of your fallen nature, and that, 
 too, it may be, at a time of deep trial, of heavy, 
 heart-breaking affliction. Ah ! thou art ready to 
 exclaim, " All these things are against me : ' I was 
 at ease, but he hath broken me asunder ; he hath 
 also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, 
 and set me up for his mark. His archers compass 
 me round about ; he cleaveth my reins asunder, and 
 doth not spare ; he poureth out my gall upon the 
 ground. He breaketh me with breach upon breach, 
 he runneth upon me like a giant.' Job xvi. 12 — 14. 
 Am I a child of God ? Can I be a subject of grace, 
 and at the same time be the subject of so much hid- 
 den evil, and of such deep, overwhelming trial? Is 
 this the way he dealeth with his people?" — 
 
 " I asked the Lord that I might grow 
 In faith, and love, and every grace, 
 
OF ma PKOPLF.. 245 
 
 Might more of his salvation know, 
 And seek more earnestly iiis face. 
 
 " 'Twas he who taught mc thus to pray, 
 And he, I trust, has answered prayer; 
 But it has been in such a way, 
 As ahnost drove nic to despair. 
 
 "I hoped that in some favored hour, 
 At once he'd answer my request. 
 And by his love's constraining power, 
 Subdue my sins and give me rest. 
 
 " Instead of this, he made me feel 
 The hidden evils of my heart; 
 And let the angry powers of hell 
 Assault my soul in every part. 
 
 " Yea more ; with his own hand he seemed 
 Intent to aggravate my woe; 
 Crossed all the fair designs I schemed. 
 Blasted my gourds, and laid me low. 
 
 '"Lord, why is thisl' I trembling cried, 
 ' Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death 1' 
 ' 'Tis in this way.' the Lord replied, 
 'I answer prayer for grace and faith. 
 
 " 'These inward trials I employ, 
 ' From self and pride to set thee I'rce, 
 ' And break thy schemes of earthly joy, 
 ' That thou mayst seek thy all in me.' " 
 
 Yes, dear believer, thou art not solitary nor alone : 
 for along this path, all the covenant people of God 
 are travelling to their better and l)righter home. 
 Here they become acquainted with their own weak- 
 ness, their perpetual liability to fall ; here they re- 
 nounce their former thoughts of self-power and of 
 self-keeping ; and here, too, they learn more of Jesus as 
 21* 
 
246 THE LORD, THE KEEPER 
 
 their strength, their all-snflicient keeper, more of him 
 as their " wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and 
 redemption." Cheer up, then, for the Lord thy God 
 is leading thee on by a safe and a right way to 
 bring thee to a city of rest. 
 
 But the Lord is the keeper of his people. To 
 the consideration of this point, let us direct our re- 
 maining meditations. If what we have advanced 
 touching the perfect helplessness, the proneness to 
 constant departure of the child of God, be true ; 
 surely it needs no argument to show, that the be- 
 liever stands in need of just such a keeper as God is. 
 If he cannot keep himself, no mere creature can 
 keep him — none but God in Christ. 
 
 Our blessed Lord has himself declared this truth. 
 Mark the double security of the believer in his and 
 his Father's hands : " My sheep hear my voice, and 
 I know them, and they follow me : and I give unto 
 them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither 
 shall any pluck them out of my hand. My Father, 
 which gave them to me, is greater than all ; and 
 none is able to pluck them out of my Father's 
 hand. I and my Father are one." John x. 27 — 30. 
 Here they are declared to be his own chosen peculiar 
 people, his sheep ; given to him of his Father, and 
 perfectly safe in the hands of both. Listen to the 
 breathing of his soul on behalf of his people: "And 
 now I am no more in the world, but these are in the 
 world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep 
 through thine own name those whom thou hast 
 given me, that they may be one as we are. While 
 
(U' iMri I'KorLK. 247 
 
 I was with tlicin in the woilil, 1 kept tliein in thy 
 luiiiie ; those that thou gave^t me I liave kei)t." 
 
 That the l<oi(l Jesus is able to keep his people 
 from falling, is a view of our subject woilhy of 
 especial and grateful consideration. Tiiis is the 
 ground-work of our faith, — that Christ has po7ver to 
 kee]>, through all time and to all eternity, the people 
 entrusted to his care. They are his portion, his 
 bride, his jewels; they were committed to him of 
 his l-'ather, and therefore he is responsible for their 
 present and eternal salvation. Let us see how^ he 
 is in all respects fitted for this great undertaking. 
 
 As God, Christ is able to keep his people. When 
 Jehovah made promise of any blessing to his ancient 
 people, with a view of confirming their faith in his 
 ability to perform what he had promised, he was 
 wont to append to his name Almighty, '' the Lord 
 thai created the heaven and the earth .*"' so that, 
 however great and stupendous, and seemingly im- 
 possible, might appear the thing promised. He who 
 '■' created heaven and earth" was able to perform it. 
 Now this very perfection of God, this work that 
 stamps his omnipotenre, and which answers all ques- 
 tion and silences all doubt as to his " eternal power 
 and Godhead," belongs and is ascribed to Christ the 
 Keeper of his people. Thus, — "By hitn (Christ) 
 were all things created that are in heaven and that 
 are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be 
 thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: 
 all things were created by him and for him: and he 
 is before all things, and by him all things consist." 
 Col. i. 16, 17. rs'ot less strikingly is the same exer- 
 
248 THE LORD, THE KEEPER 
 
 cise of omnipotent power applied to Christ in the 
 epistle to the Hebrews, — " Who being the brightness 
 of his [Father's] glory, and the express image of 
 his person, and upholding' all things by the ivord 
 of his pou-er, when he had by him-;elf purged our 
 sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on 
 high." ch. i. 3. In this passage, Jesus is invested 
 with a creative and a sustaining power, — attributes 
 that can be predicated only of God. Here lies, then, 
 the great ability of Christ, as the Keeper of his 
 covenant people. The same perfection which qual- 
 ified him as the covenant head and surety of his 
 people ; the same almighty strength which enabled 
 him to work out their salvation, to bear the burthen 
 and the curse of their sins, enables him to preserve 
 them while "dead in trespasses and in sins," and to 
 keep them after they have been called and renewed 
 by the operation of the Holy Ghost. As God, then, 
 he is able to keep his saints from falling. 
 
 But, as God-mail Mediate?', he is also able to keep 
 his people. As the covenant head and preserver of 
 his church, "it pleased the Father that in him 
 should all fulness dwell." The Blather knew what 
 his beloved family would need. He knew what cor- 
 ruptions would threaten them, what temptations 
 Avould beguile them, what foes would assail them, 
 what infirmities would encompass them, and what 
 trials would depress them ; therefore it pleased him, 
 it was his own good and gracious pleasure, that in 
 his Son, the mediator of his beloved people, should 
 all fulness dwell ; — a fulness of merit, a fulness of 
 pardon, a fulness of righteousness, a fulness of grace, 
 
Ol' Hlri PEOIM.K. 249 
 
 wisdom, and strength, coniniensurate with the varied, 
 multiplied, and diversified circumstances of his fam- 
 ily. It is " all fulness." " Full," as Owen beauti- 
 fully remarks, "to a sufficiency for every end of 
 grace ; full for practice, to be an example to men 
 and angels as to obedience ; full to a certainty of un- 
 interrupted communion with God ; full to a readi- 
 ness of giving supply to others ; full to suit him to 
 all the occasions and necessities of the souls of men ; 
 full to a glory not unbecoming a subsistence in the 
 person of the Son of God ; full to a perfect victory 
 in trials over all temptations ; full to an exact cor- 
 respondence to the whole law, every righteous and 
 holy law of God ; full to the utmost capacity of a 
 limited, created, finite nature ; full to the greatest 
 beauty and glory of a living temple of God ; full to 
 the full pleasure and delight of the soul of his 
 Father; full to an everlasting monument of the 
 glory of God, in giving such inconceivable excellen- 
 cies to the Son of man." 
 
 As the Mediator, then, of his people, he keeps 
 them in perfect safety by night and by day. No 
 man, no power, can pluck them out of his hands; 
 he has undertaken their full salvation. To die for 
 their sins, and to rise again for their justification, and 
 yet not to provide for their security while travelling 
 through a world of sin and temptation, — to leave 
 them to their own guardianship, an unprotected prey 
 to their own hearts' corruptions, the machinations of 
 Satan, and the power of worldly entanglement, — 
 would have been but a partial salvation of his peo- 
 ple. Opposed by a threefold enemy, — Satan and the 
 
250 THE LORD, THE KEEPER 
 
 world in league with their own imperfectly renewed 
 and sanctified hearts, that treacherous foe dwelling 
 within the camp, ever ready to betray the soul into 
 the hands of its enemies, — how could a poor, weak 
 child of God bear up and breast tliis powerful pha- 
 lanx ? But he who was mighty to save, is mighty 
 to keep; in him provision is made for all the trying, 
 intricate, perilous circumstances in which the believer 
 may be placed. Grace is laid up for the subjection 
 of every inbred corruption, — an armor is provided 
 for every assault of the foe, — wisdom, strength, con- 
 solation, sympathy, kindness, — all, all that a poor 
 believing sinner can possibly require, is richly stored 
 in Jesus, the covenant Head of all the fulness of 
 God to his people. 
 
 But how is the child of God to avail himself of 
 this provision 7 The simple but glorious life of faith 
 exhibits itself here. It is by faith in Christ the soul 
 is made strong in battle ; this is the channel through 
 which the fulness of Jesus comes to the believer. By 
 faith he travels up to this rich and ample supply ; 
 by faith he takes his nothingness to Christ's all- 
 sufficiency ; by faith he takes his unworthiness to 
 Christ's infinite merit ; by faith he takes his weak- 
 ness to Christ's strength, his folly to Christ's wisdom ; 
 his fearful heart, his timid spirit, his nervous frame, 
 his doubtful mind, his beclouded evidences, his rebel- 
 lious will, his painful cross, his peculiar case of what- 
 ever nature it maybe, in the way of believwg, in the 
 exercise of sitnple faith, he goes with it to Jesus, 
 and as an empty vessel hangs himself upon that 
 " nail fastened in a sure place," the glorious Eliakira 
 
i<y his PF.ui'i.v;. 251 
 
 on whom irf lumy -'all the glory of his Father's 
 house, the onsjjriiig and the issue, all vessels of 
 small quantity ; from the vessels of cups, even to all 
 the vessels of tlagons."' Isaiah xxii. 24. Thus may 
 the weakest believer, the most severely assailed, the 
 most deeply tried, the most jjainfully tempted, lay 
 his Cioliath dead at his feet, by a simple faiih's-deal- 
 ing with the fulness tliat is in Christ Jesus. O how 
 mighty is the believer, who, in deep distrust of his 
 own power, casting off from him all spirit of self-de- 
 pendence, looks simply and fidly at Jesus, and goes 
 not forth to meet his enemy, only as he is "strong 
 in the strength that is in Christ." 
 
 But what is the ^ref/^e?'// of which the true saints 
 of Ciod must stand in jeopardy, and which their 
 timid, fearful hearts most dread? Is it not secret 
 and oiilicard hackslldun^ from God. after conver 
 sion .' Surely it is, as the experiejice of every hon 
 est, upright. God-fearing man will testify. It is his 
 consolation then to know, that Jesus is "able to 
 keep h'lni from fall i/i^ ;'' " Unto him that is able to 
 keep you from falling."' Jude 24. This is the most 
 overwhelming evil that stares the believer in the 
 face. Some, but im|)erfeclly taught in the word, 
 are dreading awful apostacy fronj the faith here, and 
 final condemnation from the presence of God here- 
 after, — believing that though Christ has made full 
 satisfaction for their sins to Divine justice, has can- 
 celled the mighty debt, has imputed to them his 
 righteousness, has blotted out their iniquities, has 
 called, renewed, sanctified, and taken full possession 
 of them by his Spirit, and has ascended up on high, 
 
252 THE LORD, THE KEEPER 
 
 to plead their cause wilh the Father ; that yet, after 
 all this stupendous exercise of power, and this match- 
 less display of free grace, they may be left to utter 
 apostacy from God, and be finally and eternally lost. 
 If there is one doctrine more awful in its nature, dis- 
 tressing in its consequences, and directly opposed to 
 the glory of God and the honor of Christ, than 
 another, methinks it is this. 
 
 Others, again, more clearly taught by the Spirit, 
 are heard to say, ' I believe in the stability of the 
 covenant, in the unchangeableness of God's love, 
 and in the faithfulness of my heavenly Father, but I 
 fear lest some day under some sharp temptation, 
 some burst of indwelling sin, when the enemy shall 
 come in as a flood, I shall fall, to the wounding of 
 my peace, to the shame of my brethren, and to the 
 dishonoring of Christ.' Dear believer, truly thou 
 wouldst fall, were he to leave thee to thine own 
 keeping for one moment ; but Jesus is able to keep 
 thee from falling. Read the promises, believe them, 
 rest upon them. Concerning his redeemed church, 
 what does he say ? " I, the Lord, do keep it ; I will 
 water it every moment, lest any hurt it ; I will keep 
 it night and day." Isa. xxvii. 3. " The Lord up- 
 holdeth the righteous." Psalm xxxvii. 17. " The 
 righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath 
 clean hands shall be stronger and stronger." Job xvi. 
 9. " They go from strength to strength, every one 
 of them in Zion appeareth before God." Ps. Ixxxiv. 
 7. " They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount 
 Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for 
 ever. As the mountains are round about Jesusalem, 
 
OF II IH PEOPLK. 258 
 
 SO the Lord is round about his people, from hence- 
 forth, even for ever." Psalm cxxv. 1, 2. " Kept l)y 
 tlie power of God, through faith, unto salvation." 
 1 Pet. i. 5. "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, 
 from whence cometh my help. My help cometh 
 from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He 
 will not suller thy foot to be moved : he that keep- 
 eth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth 
 Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is 
 thy keeper." Psalm cxxi. 1 — 5. 
 
 A simple glance at these passages will present to 
 the believer's eye, a threefold cord, by which he is 
 kept from falling. In the first place, God the Father 
 keeps him, — " kept by the power of God ;" the power 
 that created and upholds the world, keeps the belie- 
 ver. The eternal purpose, love, and grace of the 
 Father keep him : this is the first cord. 
 
 Again, God the ^Son keeps him : " My sheep hear 
 my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; 
 and I give unto them eternal hfe ; and they shall 
 never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out 
 of my hand." The covenant engagements, the per- 
 fect obedience, the atoning death of Immanuel, keep 
 the believer : this is the second cord. 
 
 Yet again, God the Holy Ghost keeps him : 
 " When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the 
 Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against 
 him," (marg. shall put him to flight.) The eflfec- 
 tual calling, the personal indwelling, the tender love, 
 the covenant faithfulness, and the omnipotent power 
 of the Eternal Spirit, keep the believer : this is the 
 third cord. And " a threefold cord is not quickly 
 
 22 
 
254 THE LORD, Tilt: KET.rivR 
 
 broken." Ecclcs. iv. 12. Exceeding great and pre- 
 cious promises ! Well may we sing with the poet — 
 
 "More happy, but not more secure, 
 The glorified spirits in heaven." 
 
 But with these promises of the triune God to keep 
 his people from falling, he lias wisely and graciously 
 connected the diligent, prayerful use of all the means 
 which he has appointed for this end. The believer 
 is nowhere in the Bible spoken of, or addressed, as a 
 lifeless machine, a mere automaton ; but as one 
 " ahve unto God," Rom. vi. 11, — as "created in 
 Christ Jesus," Eph. ii. 10, — as a " partaker of the 
 Divine nature," 2 Pet. i. 4. As such he is com- 
 manded to " work out his own salvation with fear and 
 trembling," Phil. ii. 12, — to " give diligence to make 
 liis calling and election sure," 2 Pet. i. 10, — to 
 " watch and pray, lest he enter into temptation," 
 Matt. xxvi. 41 : and the apostle Jude thus aflection- 
 ately and earnestly exhorts the saints to whom he 
 addressed his brief epistle, " But ye, beloved, building 
 vp yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in 
 the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, 
 looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto 
 eternal life," 20, 21. Thus does God throw a 
 measure of the responsibility of his own standing 
 upon the believer himself, that he might not be sloth- 
 ful, unwatchful, and prayerless, but be ever sensible 
 of his solemn obligations to "deny ungodliness and 
 worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and 
 godly, in this present world," remembering that he 
 is " not his own, but is bought with a price." 
 
OF ins I'KOPi.E. 255 
 
 Lei the reader jjuard against the slightest abuse 
 ofanyot the great truths discussed in this work, 
 especially the one insisted upon iu this chapter. If 
 the power of God is the efficient cause of the eternal 
 security of the believer, yet, as auxiliaries which 
 God has appointed, and by which he instrumentally 
 works, the believer is to use diligently all holy means 
 of keeping himself from falling ; as a temple of the 
 Holy Ghost, as the subject of the Divine life, as a 
 pardoned, justified man, he is called to labor perse- 
 veringly, to pray ceaselessly, and to watch vigilantly. 
 He is not to run wilfully into temptation, to expose 
 himself needlessly to the power of the enemy, to sur- 
 round himself with unholy and hostile influences, 
 and then take refuge in the truth, that the Lord will 
 keep him from falling. God forbid ! This were 
 most awfully to abuse the "doctrine that is after 
 godliness," to hold the truth in unrighteousness ;" 
 and to make " Christ the minister of sin." Dear 
 reader, watch and pray against this ! 
 
 And lastly : Let the cheering prospect of that glory 
 unto which you are kept, stimulate you to all dili- 
 gent perseverance in holy duty, and constrain you to 
 all patient endurance of sulfering. In all your con- 
 flicts with indwelling sin, under the pressure of all 
 outward trial, let this precious truth comfort you, — 
 that your heavenly Father hath " begotten you again 
 unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ 
 from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and 
 undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in 
 heaven for you who are kept by the power of God 
 through faith unto salvation ;" that soon — O how 
 
256 THE LORD, THE KEEPER OF HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 soon ! — all that now loads the heart with care, and 
 wrings it with sorrow — all that dims the eye with 
 tears, and renders the day anxious and the night 
 sleepless, will be as though it had never been. Emerg- 
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 tude, the loneliness, and the temptations of the wil- 
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 your unfading inheritance, where there is no sorrow, 
 no declension, no sin ; where there is no sunset, no 
 twilight, no evening shades, no midnight darkness, 
 but all is one perfect, cloudless, eternal day — for 
 Jesus is the joy, the light, and the glory thereof. 
 
 *'NoW UNTO HIM THAT IS ABLE TO KEEP YOU 
 FROM FALLING, AND TO PRESENT YOU FAULTLESS 
 BEFORE THE PRESENCE OF HIS GLORY WITH EX- 
 CEEDING JOY, TO THE ONLY WISE GoD OUR Sa- 
 VIOUR, BE GLORY AND MAJESTY, DOMINION AND 
 POWER, BOTH NOW AND EVER." Ametl. 
 
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