THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 c .
 
 MACARIODOS; 
 
 OK, 
 
 THE HAPPY WAY, 
 
 IN T1IK SHORT, BIT TOO OFTEN SOttKOWFUL, 
 
 JOURNEY OF LITE. 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD WHITELEY, A.M., 
 
 BRITISH CHAPLAIN AT OPORTO, 
 AXD FORMERLY OF JB31S ( OLLBOK, CAMBKIDUK. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. 
 33, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 M.DCCC.LllI.
 
 701 
 
 CONTEXTS. 
 
 I. The Curse 1 
 
 II. The Divine Benevolence .... 8 
 III. The Design of Affliction .... 14 
 IV. The Attribute of Mercy, as exhibited in the 
 
 Old Testament 26 
 
 V. The Attribute of Mercy, as developed in the 
 
 New Testament 40 
 
 VI. The Necessity of Conversion, and what Con- 
 version means 53 
 
 VII. Who are to be Converted 1 and when are they 
 
 to be Converted ? 64 
 
 VIII. By whom is Conversion granted ? and how is 
 
 it to be obtained ? 75 
 
 IX. The Efficacy of Prayer 81 
 
 X. Can the true Followers of Christ know that 
 
 they have passed from Death unto Life? 101 
 XL When and how does Man's Spirit bear wit- 
 ness that he is a Child of God ? . . 109 
 XII. Additional Tests by which a Man's Spirit 
 
 bears witness that he is a Child of God . 120 
 XIII. Doubts and Anxieties of sincere Men re- 
 moved 131 
 
 XIV. Reasons why some Persons derive no Happi- 
 ness from Religion 144 
 
 3011773
 
 IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 XV. Further Reasons why some Persons derive no 
 
 Happiness from Religion .... 154 
 XVI. To do with our Might, and without Delay, 
 whatsoever our hands find to do, since 
 " there is no work, nor device, nor know- 
 ledge, nor wisdom, in the grave," whither 
 
 we are hastening 166 
 
 XVII. The Conclusion 181
 
 MACARIODOS. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 6 line 17, for ' crush " read " crash.'" 
 17 24,/or 'the" read" then." 
 45 ., 10, afte " such " insert " a." 
 96 20, for ' waits '' read " wants." 
 
 106 ,, 7, for ' comprehended " read " comprehend. 
 
 123 ,. 20, for ' the " ?.:</ " though." 
 
 124, last line, strike out "ask." 
 
 165, line 5, for "them," after "let," read "then." 
 
 181 ,, 9, strike out " so." 
 
 185 ., 3, for "happiness" read "unhappiness." 
 
 3. On the inanimate works of creation.
 
 IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PACK 
 
 XV. Further Reasons why some Persons derive no 
 
 Happiness from Religion .... 154 
 XVI. To do with our Might, and without Delay, 
 whatsoever our hands find to do, since
 
 MACARIODOS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE CURSE. 
 
 IN the beginning, when God created the heaven 
 and the earth, He saw everything which He had 
 made, and, "behold, it was very good;" but from 
 this world, " once apparelled in celestial light." 
 there is passed away a glory. On everything a 
 curse is stamped ; the flowers flourish but to fade, 
 the grass springeth forth but to wither, the trees of 
 the forest appear in their magnificence, but, oh ! 
 how soon is their attire changed into the " sear and 
 yellow leaf!" testifying that on everything, which 
 was once so beautiful, a curse has fallen deeply and 
 indelibly : 
 
 1. On man, and on the child of man, in his best 
 estate ; 
 
 2. On every inferior living creature which exists 
 in the earth and sea ; 
 
 3. On the inanimate works of creation.
 
 THE CURSE. 
 
 1. On man himself the curse has fallen most 
 heavily, since, from his birth, he is familiar with 
 tears and sorrows, and all the multiplied evils of a 
 chequered life ; racked by bodily pain, exposed to 
 the " arrow that flieth by day, and to the pestilence 
 that walketh in darkness," exhausted by sickness, 
 " possessing months of vanity, and having weari- 
 some nights appointed unto him," so as often to 
 woo death as a friend, and to pray to God to hide 
 him in the grave: 
 
 And if on his body the curse be so deeply 
 stamped, how still more heavily is it felt when it 
 falls upon his mind ; for what is bodily pain in its 
 severest agony, in comparison with the suffering of 
 the mind ? and from which not even the young, the 
 buoyant, and the most hopeful, are exempt ; " the 
 hard-hearted for their own, the tender for others' 
 woe," ever finding their eyes ready to gush out with 
 tears, some by reason of sad misgivings, regarding 
 the weal of those who are bone of their bone, and 
 flesh of their flesh ; and others from an undefined 
 sense of loneliness in a peopled world, or from 
 depression of spirits arising from no assignable 
 cause, but from, it may be, a vague and fearful 
 anticipation of some unknown, and as yet unfelt 
 calamities which they fear are about to befall them,
 
 THE CURSE. 
 
 since they cannot, any more than their fellows, 
 expect to elude the never-ending vicissitudes of life. 
 
 In these sad thoughts the curse is felt indeed; 
 felt keenly, felt poignantly, and felt almost to 
 despair, and it sooner or later reaches us all; for 
 it may truly be asked, who is there among us who 
 is so insensible as not to feel the curse in all its 
 bitterness, when the cries of the orphan, which he 
 cannot hush, enter his ear, and through his ear 
 penetrate into his soul ? who so unmoved as to be 
 free from sorrow when he beholds the silent tears 
 of the widow and the fatherless, which he would, 
 but cannot, dry ? 
 
 Yes, in the decaying health of the young, and in 
 the declining years of the aged, we feel the curse ; 
 and when committing to the dust the remains of 
 those with whom in youth and in manhood we took 
 sweet counsel, the curse penetrates our souls; and 
 in the sorrows and feared privations of our soon to 
 be bereaved children, it is doubly stamped on us ; 
 and in the blighted hopes of everything our hearts 
 within us feel the heavy weight of the heaviest 
 curse, viz. the moral ruin which has befallen the 
 children of men. 
 
 With propriety we call this moral ruin the 
 heaviest curse, since it perverts our tastes, corrupts 
 
 B 2
 
 THE CURSE. 
 
 our minds, and enslaves our passions; a curse 
 which hardens the heart, sears the conscience, and 
 obliterates the fairest moral characters which there- 
 upon were originally written ; making man the 
 wreck of himself, the wreck of what he was, when 
 he came from the hands of his Maker in all his 
 primaeval innocence and sanctity, in all his devout 
 and heavenly aspirations. 
 
 We call this the heaviest curse, since it is so 
 baleful and so withering, as but too often to dry up 
 the affections of the heart, and to render us dead to 
 the calls of humanity, and to the gentle charities of 
 our once better nature, so that man, who was created 
 in the image of his God, can now make war his 
 pastime, conquest his thirst, ambition his glory, and 
 the lust of gain his disease, and himself a curse to 
 those to whom he ought to have been a blessing. 
 
 2. On the inferior creation of animals the curse 
 is also stamped, and they cannot by possibility 
 escape it. 
 
 When our first parents gave names to every living 
 creature, to the fowl of the air, and to the beasts of 
 the field, how very different their natures, their 
 state and condition, to what they now are ! Where 
 then their ferocity ? where their savage and Fearful 
 propensities ? and where the all but incredible
 
 THE CURSE. 
 
 cruelties by which they are now tortured by man '.' 
 who can feel, and keenly feel, the curse afflict- 
 ing himself, but who cannot be restrained, from 
 making it fall the more heavily on the beasts that 
 perish. 
 
 Yes, in all its woe of want and torture, of terror 
 and of death, the curse is made to fall on those 
 inferior creatures, which, but for the mournful 
 change which everything indicates, would once have 
 permitted a little child to lead them, and the weaned 
 child to put his hand upon their den. 
 
 3. Even on the inanimate works of creation the 
 curse has fallen, for everywhere we perceive the 
 withering hand which has touched them. " Cursed 
 is the ground for thy sake," was the fiat of the 
 living God when addressing him who has entailed so 
 many miseries upon us, " cursed is the ground for 
 thy sake, in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days 
 of thy life, thorns and thistles shall it bring forth 
 to thee." 
 
 Everywhere the indications are not few, that a 
 mighty and deteriorating change has fallen upon 
 whatever is material and inert, as well as upon what 
 has animal life. On the mountains, on the plains, 
 and on the forests ; on the rivers, on the vast deep, 
 and on the globe itself ; for " the earth has trembled.
 
 THE CURSE. 
 
 and quaked, and reeled to and fro like a drunken 
 man." 
 
 We now behold not anything but what may be 
 deemed to be the ruins of what was the fairest 
 scene of this once fair world. 
 
 Where now the plain which was " well watered 
 everywhere," " even as the garden of the Lord " ? and 
 which the man of God so wistfully coveted, when 
 he lifted up his eyes and saw all its loveliness and 
 fertility? and what is now the land, which once, 
 and for generations, was all but literally flowing 
 with milk and honey ? Does not it, as well as the 
 parched deserts of Africa, tell us in accents which 
 cannot be mistaken, that the curse has no limits, 
 tracking every nation and every clime ? and do not 
 the devouring earthquake,' and the terrific lightning, 
 and the crush of the thunder, utter the same voice, 
 and echo it to the tempests of the deep ? and all 
 of them, as in fearful concert, do they not re-echo 
 this sad truth, that the curse has fallen with a heavy 
 hand on all that is visible and tangible, on all that 
 is material, whether it be animate or inanimate ? 
 
 Such were the conclusions at which one arrived, 
 who, when the dreams of youth were passed, when 
 the season of gaiety was fled, and when all the sad 
 realities of life had. crowded thickly in upon him,
 
 THE CURSE. 
 
 withdrew for a season from the world, and all its 
 occupations and allurements, to ascertain, if possible, 
 why man in his hest estate is the creature of dis- 
 appointment and of sorrow; and why he is a 
 stranger to abiding happiness, when even in posses- 
 sion of all that heart can desire of what the world 
 offers to its most successful votaries.
 
 THE DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 BUT, admitting the curse to have heen as direful and 
 as universal, as it is felt and described to be, would it 
 thence follow that any individual would be justified 
 in believing and in affirming that God's design in 
 making man was that he should be miserable all the 
 days of his life ? and that this was the end for which 
 he was created in God's image ? If so, it may be 
 asked, why were such wondrous faculties of body 
 and of mind bestowed upon man ? And why is he 
 still possessed of marvellous capacities of enjoy- 
 ment, if "pain and sorrow, disease and infirmity, 
 accident and disappointment, losses and distress" 
 were to be the final causes of his existence ? 
 
 And why is the external world to him replete 
 with objects the contemplation of which is calcu- 
 lated to minister to a very high degree of enjoy- 
 ment ? 
 
 If it be true that man was made to be miserable, 
 why, then, do the heavens still declare to him the 
 glory of God? and why does the firmament still
 
 THE DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 show his handiwork ? Why does the light still 
 shine, and the rain fall, and the earth bring forth its 
 increase ? Why do " seed-time and harvest, and 
 cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and 
 night," still continue to him, and minister to his 
 enjoyment ? 
 
 If man were created to be cursed, why do the 
 mountains and all hills, the fruitful trees and all 
 cedars, and the teeming valleys, with their all- 
 beauteous array, abound with sources of delight ? 
 And why do the sounds which float in the air, come 
 to man with inspirations of the grand and the 
 beautiful, if misery be the object for which he was 
 created ? 
 
 And why do the rivers, seas, and oceans, and the 
 air and the earth, " teem with delighted existence" 
 if this be the purpose of his creation ? 
 
 Even what is termed Natural Theology teaches us 
 far otherwise, as is completely seen in the very 
 attractive work on that subject, of one of the clearest 
 writers of modern times, who successfully main- 
 tains that " throughout the whole of life as it is 
 diffused in nature, and as far as we are acquainted 
 with it, looking to the average of sensations, the 
 plurality and the preponderancy is in favour of 
 happiness by a vast excess ;" that in our own species 
 
 B 3
 
 10 THE DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 the prepollency of good over evil, of health for 
 example, and ease over pain and distress, is evinced 
 by the very notice which calamities excite, and 
 which things (in his opinion) show that " the 
 common course is in favour of happiness; that 
 happiness is the rule, misery the exception, and that 
 were the order reversed, our attention would be 
 called to examples of health and competency, in- 
 stead of disease and want." 
 
 " That the world abounds with contrivances, and 
 that all the contrivances, with which we are ac- 
 quainted, are directed to benevolent purposes ; " that 
 though " evil, no doubt, exists, it never is, that we 
 can perceive, the object of contrivance;" and he 
 considers one great cause of our insensibility to the 
 goodness of the Creator, to be the very extensive- 
 ness of his bounty, that " we prize but little, what we 
 share in common with the generality of our species." 
 That when we "hear of blessings, we think forth- 
 with of successes, of prosperous fortunes, of honours, 
 riches, preferments, i. e. of those advantages and 
 superiorities over others, which we happen to possess, 
 or to be in pursuit of, or to covet. 
 
 " That the common benefits of our nature entirely 
 escape us. That these are the great things, and 
 constitute what most properly ought to be accounted
 
 THE DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 11 
 
 the blessings of Providence." Such are some of the 
 conclusions of the admirable Paley, from which 
 conclusions no reasonable being can justly dissent. 
 
 And if Natural Religion bespeaks the divine be- 
 nevolence, and clearly indicates that man was not 
 made to be miserable, what does not the written 
 Word make known to us on this important point ? 
 
 Does it not tell us that God created man in his 
 own image, " in the image of God created he him " ? 
 and can we believe or imagine that He thus created 
 him for the purpose of inflicting a curse on him all 
 the days of his life ? if so, why was he placed in 
 that paradise, in which grew every tree that is 
 pleasant to the sight, and good for food ? and what 
 designs were to be answered by his being created in 
 that moral image ? We read that God " saw every 
 tiling that he had made, and, behold, it was very 
 good" (Gen. i. 31), which words clearly indicate the 
 benevolent character of the Almighty. And all the 
 blessings with which He visited our first parents even 
 after their Fall, and the causing the world after the 
 deluge to be peopled by the sons of a good man who 
 for ever might have transmitted the truth to their 
 descendants of every clime and country, and the 
 promises which God made in after times to Abraham, 
 saying unto him, " in thee shall all the families of
 
 THE DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 the earth be blessed," these sufficiently prove to us, 
 that man's misery was not the object of his creation. 
 Indeed, no one who is conversant with the contents 
 of the Bible can fail to perceive how consonant 
 blessing is with the character of the Almighty. 
 The manner in which He directed Moses to tell 
 Aaron, how he was to bless the children of Israel is 
 a striking proof of unlimited benevolence : " on this 
 wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying 
 unto them, 
 
 " The Lord bless thee, and keep thee ; 
 " The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be 
 
 gracious unto thee. 
 " The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and 
 
 give thee peace." 
 
 This alone were sufficient to satisfy every thought- 
 ful person that benevolence is strikingly the attri- 
 bute of Him who made the round world and all that 
 therein is; but the Bible abounds with passages, 
 which declare most palpably the grateful truth that 
 " The Lord, the Lord God (is) merciful and gracious, 
 long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth:" 
 " That he will bless his people with peace; 
 " That happy is the people whose God is the Lord ; 
 " That the children of Zion are to be joyful in 
 
 their king ;
 
 THE DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 13 
 
 " That the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord ; 
 " That the Lord is good to all, and his tender 
 
 mercies are over all his works ; 
 " That he filleth the hungry soul with goodness." 
 
 And in the New Testament (1 Tim. vi. 17) we 
 are enjoined to trust in the living God, " who giveth 
 us richly all things to enjoy." 
 
 We are also commanded to pray to Him, as to 
 " Our Father in heaven ;" how, then, can He take 
 complacency in the miseries of his children ? Can 
 He indeed have created them only to render them 
 wretched all the days of their lives ? No, the reve- 
 lation written with the pen, and the* unwritten reve- 
 lation of the great external world, speak the same 
 language ; and from pole to pole declare, not only 
 the glory of God, hut his illimitable henevolence. 
 Why, then, it may he asked, is the curse fallen so 
 heavily upon man and the child of man, if his 
 Creator is a Being of infinite benevolence ? to which 
 question it may he replied, that possibly the hand of 
 benevolence may be traced even in the curse itself, 
 and in all its heaviest afflictions.
 
 THE DESIGN OF AFFLICTION. 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 THE DESIGN OF AFFLICTION. 
 
 FEOM the evidence of natural theology, and from 
 the written revelation, it has been stated that there 
 is ample proof of the divine benevolence, and hence 
 that man was made to be happy, and placed within 
 the reach of all sources of enjoyment; and yet it 
 cannot be denied that he is the creature of affliction 
 and of misery; 'in the midst of life, being in death; 
 in the midst of prosperity, being in adversity; in 
 the midst of health, being in sickness ; doomed to 
 labour, but often not obtaining the fruit of his toil ; 
 trusting to the future, which never realizes his ex- 
 pectations ; and reaping disappointment and vexation 
 of spirit from all his plans and pursuits, and even 
 from his so-called pleasures : 
 
 Such being the fact, it maybe useful to endeavour to 
 ascertain why the "affliction and the misery, theworm- 
 wood and the gall," so frequently enter into the lot, 
 and make up so much of the experience of the human 
 race ; and if it be found that they are the means of 
 effecting that which prosperity and earthly enjoy-
 
 THE DESIGN OF AFFLICTION. 15 
 
 ments have never secured for us, we may well come to 
 the conclusion that our Heavenly Father " though he 
 cause grief, yet will have compassion according to the 
 multitude of his mercies;" and that " willingly he 
 does not afflict nor grieve the children of men, to 
 crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth." 
 
 What, then, is the design of the affliction and the 
 misery, the wormwood and the gall, which are so 
 touchingly referred to hy the prophet Jeremiah ? 
 
 That our souls having them in remembrance, we 
 may be humbled ; and, being humbled, we may come 
 to ourselves, like the prodigal son; and, recalling 
 to mind, that it is of the Lord's mercies that we are 
 not consumed, we may therefore have hope, since his 
 compassions fail not, and having hope we may go 
 unto Him, who, having redeemed our lives, has said, 
 " Fear not ; " and going unto Him we may be recon- 
 ciled to our Father and our friend, the guide of our 
 youth ; and who is most willing to be the stay and 
 solace of our declining years. 
 
 Such, no doubt, was in the mind of him, who in 
 his deepest sorrow said, " Kemembering mine 
 affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the 
 gall, my soul hath them still in remembrance, and is 
 humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore 
 have I hope." (Lam. iii. 19-21.) Words uttered by
 
 16 THE DESIGN OF AFFLICTION. 
 
 him who affectingly said, " I am the man that hath 
 seen affliction by the rod of his mouth ; " and in 
 using these words, the Prophet has been justly con- 
 sidered as personifying the faithful, and bewailing 
 their calamities; which were many and heavy, on 
 account of their perverseness, their backsliding, their 
 ingratitude and idolatry; for, like a broken bow, 
 God's own people had started aside, each one follow- 
 ing the devices and desires of his own heart ; so 
 that " the gold was become dim, the most fine gold 
 changed ; " and the stones of the sanctuary poured 
 out in the top of every street; and the precious 
 sons of Zion (in times past comparable to fine 
 gold) were now esteemed as " earthen pitchers, the 
 work of the hands of the potter ; " and Zion itself 
 was made to bewail its own pitiful estate, in terms 
 of the most affecting nature ; for all the judgments 
 which God had denounced against his rebellious 
 people were now falling rapidly and heavily upon 
 them, so that, in their affliction and their misery, 
 they drank deeply of the wormwood and the gall ; 
 for " the Lord had accomplished his fury, he had 
 poured out his fierce anger, having kindled a fire in 
 Zion, which devoured the foundations thereof." 
 
 This language of the Prophet, when personifying 
 the people, is singularly striking, nay almost over-
 
 THE DESIGN OF AFFLICTION. 17 
 
 whelming ; it might be thought with one of old that 
 
 " every letter was written with a tear ; every word 
 
 the sound of a breaking heart ; that the author was 
 
 compacted of sorrows, disciplined to grief from his 
 
 infancy, one who had breathed but in sighs." 
 
 " He hath brought me into darkness ; 
 
 " He hath builded against me ; 
 
 " He hath hedged me about ; 
 
 " He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone ; 
 
 " He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for 
 
 the arrow ; 
 
 " He hath filled me with bitterness, and made me 
 drunken with wormwood." 
 
 Who can fail to perceive, in these words of the 
 Prophet, the expressions of bitterness ? of bitterness 
 but ill-suited to any one under the chastening hand 
 of his Father and his God ; in giving way to which 
 bitterness, hope appears to be gone ; but from the 
 expressions first quoted, viz. " Remembering mine 
 affliction and my misery, the wormwood end the 
 gall, my soul hath them still in remembrance, and 
 is humbled in me," we learn the end for which the 
 children of men are afflicted ; and when this end 
 is accomplished, the hope follows, that hope which 
 revives the spirit of the contrite and humble. 
 
 We have, then, in the language of the Prophet,
 
 18 THE DESIGN OF AFFLICTION. 
 
 when personifying the people, 1st, affliction; Sndly, 
 bitterness of soul, the first, but not sanctified, result 
 of affliction ; Srdly, this bitterness giving way to 
 humility; 4thly, then hope following after humility; 
 5thly, afterwards resignation ; Gthly, and confidence 
 in the mercy and never-failing goodness of God; 
 7thly, and the goodness of God in all his dispen- 
 sations vindicated. 
 
 Hence the question is without difficulty answered, 
 Why do the afflictions and the misery, the worm- 
 wood and the gall, so frequently await us ? 
 
 Because without them we should never know 
 ourselves ; and, not knowing ourselves, should never 
 be humbled ; and, not being humbled, should never 
 go earnestly to God ; and, not going to Him, should 
 never have hope, neither " dn all time of our tribu- 
 lation nor in all time of our wealth, not in the hour 
 of death nor in the day of judgment." In mercy, 
 then, it is that God afflicts us, and not because He 
 has any pleasure in the sufferings of his creatures ; 
 and so long as He does afflict us, we have a proof 
 that He has not forsaken us, but that his Spirit 
 is still striving with us. With truth it may be 
 affirmed that, sooner or later, we have had this 
 proof of his goodness, for affliction is fallen upon 
 every one of us without exception, and we all feel,
 
 THE DESIGN OF AFFLICTION. 19 
 
 or have felt, its weight pressing heavily upon our 
 souls. 
 
 Some of us have felt it keenly, in the death of 
 friends ; in the decay of health ; in the disappoint- 
 ments of life ; in the loss of riches. 
 
 Others have heen deeply afflicted by the blighting 
 of their fondest hopes ; by the uncertain tenure of 
 every earthly possession ; by the coolness of former 
 associates ; and by the melancholy forebodings of 
 the mind. 
 
 Some have felt the wormwood and the gall, in the 
 irreparable evils of misplaced confidence; in the 
 brevity of human life ; in the prevalence of evil ; in 
 the remaining corruptions of their nature; in the 
 never-ending contest between right and wrong ; and 
 in the unsatisfying nature of earthly pleasures, earthly 
 pursuits, and whatever is done under the sun. 
 
 By all these things, and by all the unnumbered 
 ills of our earthly career, God designs that we 
 should be moved, and so moved, that they may 
 minister to our humility, to the knowledge of our- 
 selves, and hence to our best interests ; for without 
 them, we may be well assured that there would be 
 no hope of recovering the moral image of our God, 
 that image so wondrously stamped on our first 
 parents, but which so soon was effaced, and by the
 
 20 THE DESIGN OF AFFLICTION. 
 
 effacing of which they have handed down unto us 
 the sad inheritance of all the sorrows which have 
 fallen so heavily upon us, and yet not too heavily, 
 for without them there would, in all probability, 
 have been no humility, and therefore no hope. 
 
 Experience, indeed, tells us, that long life, many 
 and deeply- attached friends, unlimited possessions, 
 a ceaseless flow of spirits, a refined taste, an ear 
 into which the melody of sounds falls with little 
 short of transport, and an eye that can all but 
 pierce through the cloud which veils from us the 
 glory of the great " I AM " experience tells us that 
 these things, in which we so naturally delight, and 
 which we labour to preserve, are not so favourable 
 to humility, to a contrite heart, and to holy and 
 heavenly aspirations, as are afflictions and miseries, 
 the wormwood and the gall. 
 
 Even the prosperity of our children, their health, 
 their strength, their gladsome hearts and buoyant 
 spirits, their elastic step, and eyes beaming at once 
 with hope and intelligence, and, above all, their 
 tender and winning affection these, and all things 
 of joy and gladness kindred to them, yes, even 
 these, are but too often less beneficial to us than 
 is the loss of them, as they are gradually removed 
 one by one, and removed, it may be, to unteach us
 
 THE DESIGN OF AFFLICTION. 21 
 
 that idolatry into which we so easily fall, and which 
 is tenfold more seductive than the worshipping of 
 images made with human hands. 
 
 Thus, in judgment God remembers mercy, and 
 gives us hope, and more than hope, in affliction, the 
 punishment of our sins heing intended to lead the 
 soul to have them in remembrance, and thence to 
 apply to Him for pardon, whose property is to 
 have mercy and to forgive ; for who find the need 
 of assistance but the miserable and forlorn ? Who 
 but the wretched require aid ? and who but the 
 distressed are likely to strive for a remedy for all 
 their sorrows and sufferings, their privations and 
 declensions ? 
 
 The sick gladly hear of the physician who can 
 cure their diseases. 
 
 The broken-hearted willingly listen to Him who 
 is ready to heal them. The captive sighs for 
 liberty, and is not long deaf to him who pro- 
 claims it. 
 
 The meek have no difficulty in receiving the 
 doctrines of those who preach good tidings unto 
 them, and whose speech distils as the dew, as the 
 small rain upon the tender herb ; and, oh ! how 
 wistfully do the distressed fix their eyes on those 
 who, in every time of sorrow, can give them pro-
 
 22 THE DESIGN OF AFFLICTION. 
 
 mise of relief; and when they hear that there is 
 balm in Gilead, that there is a spiritual physician, 
 who can recover the health of the daughter of 
 God's people, and that it is He who has sent them 
 their manifold trials and afflictions to humble them, 
 that they may have hope, then their spirits within 
 them revive, and they come to the just conclusion, 
 that their God and Father " will not cast off for 
 ever, to crush under his feet all the prisoners of the 
 earth." 
 
 To the best and most upright of God's ancient 
 servants, to him "whose bow abode in strength," 
 the cruel treatment of his fierce brethren was the 
 particular affliction which made him trust more and 
 more in his God, and in thus trusting, " his hands 
 were made strong by the hands of the mighty God 
 of Jacob." 
 
 To David, misplaced confidence in Ahithophel, 
 and the ingratitude of his too tenderly beloved son 
 to Nebuchadnezzar, mental alienation were the 
 trials employed for their individual benefit. 
 
 To Hezekiah, sickness, and to Naaman, the 
 leprosy to Habakkuk, the famine, and to Daniel, 
 persecution, were the separate means best suited to 
 promote their trust in God. To Solomon, the 
 incapacity of finite good to give satisfaction, was
 
 THE DESIGN OF AFFLICTION. 23 
 
 the affliction which taught him that all things are 
 vanity and vexation of spirit. 
 
 To Job, the loss of his all, his possessions, his 
 health, his children, these were the sorrows which 
 made him feel that he was vile. To the widow 
 woman of Nain, the death of her only son ; to 
 Martha and Mary, the loss of their brother ; to 
 the centurion, the wasting sickness of his servant ; 
 to Bartimseus, the want of vision ; to the nobleman 
 of Capernaum, the sickness of his son ; these were 
 the means of leading the several sufferers to rely for 
 aid upon Him who was the author and the finisher 
 of their faith. 
 
 And what were not fear to the gaoler of Philippi ? 
 poverty to the prodigal son ? his Little daughter's 
 being at the point of death to Jairus ? what were 
 not these but their afflictions and their misery? 
 and yet to what, but to them, did they owe the 
 very best of all blessings, humility, sorrow, peni- 
 tence, spiritual life, sanctified aspirations, god-like 
 jealousy, and fear of themselves ? 
 
 And shall we repine, when thus in mercy God 
 visits us, " and takes away everything which makes 
 us love earth, that we may love Him supremely ? " 
 
 Who, then, that rightly considers these things, 
 can deny, that (as we have already intimated) years
 
 24 THE DESIGN OF AFFLICTION. 
 
 of prosperity are not favourable to seriousness 
 and reflection ? who has not found that they tend 
 rather to harden, than to soften, the heart ? who 
 can doubt that the influence of health is not so 
 salutary as is that of sickness '? and that the con- 
 tinuance of every earthly blessing touches not so 
 tenderly the heart, as its removal tends to chasten 
 it ? and who so simple as to be ignorant that the 
 realizing of our brightest hopes brings not with it 
 so much of wisdom and humility as does their total 
 failure ? 
 
 Hence, through sad experience, we may be led 
 finally to see the hand of mercy in all the ills 
 brought on us by the curse ; and especially if (as 
 in the examples already quoted), by their force, we 
 should be brought to trust for help in Him who 
 died for our sins and rose again for our justifica- 
 tion ; in Him who could not refrain from tears 
 when sympathizing with the sisters of Lazarus, 
 and who, when He beheld the devoted city, wept 
 over it, saying, " If thou hadst known, even thou, 
 at least in this thy day, the things which belong to 
 thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes." 
 Hence we conclude that man's best interests were 
 to be promoted by the very sorrows of life, which 
 were designed to lead him to have hope, and more
 
 THE DESIGN OF AFFLICTION. 25 
 
 than hope, in Him who is emphatically " the resur- 
 rection and the life " ; and this hope we assuredly 
 shall have, if to Him we go in our deepest afflic- 
 tion ; and if, in our saddest bereavement, we pray 
 to Him to have mercy upon us, to sanctify all our 
 sufferings, to alleviate our distress, to open the 
 eyes, which until now may have been spiritually 
 blind; to unstop the ears, which heretofore may 
 have been deaf to the gentle voice of religion ; ad- 
 dressing us in accents of mercy, to win us to the 
 ways of verity and judgment. 
 
 Without doubt it may be affirmed of all of us, 
 that hope will be ours, if earnestly and with perse- 
 verance we pray to this most gracious Being, to 
 give us hearts attuned to his love, and minds which 
 (with their wondrous powers of thought) can find 
 no contemplations so suitable as the perfections 
 of their Creator ; for ours will be the " hope of 
 salvation which will be for a helmet," when, seeing 
 the hand of God in all our sorrows, we go to the 
 Kedeemer, in life to keep us as the apple of his eye ; 
 in death, and its dark shadow, to be our rod 
 and staff; and in eternity, to be our unspeakable 
 blessedness.
 
 26 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, AS EXHIBITED IN 
 THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 HAVING deeply considered that misery was not 
 the ohject for which man was created, hut that his 
 every affliction and sorrow was designed to produce 
 beneficial results ; and learning from even a partial 
 perusal of Holy Writ, that patriarchs, prophets, and 
 apostles, and persons of every rank and sphere, 
 were blessed by means of their respective trials, he 
 who is true to himself, and true to his God, will 
 make a firm resolution carefully to examine, day 
 by day, that blessed Book which is able to make 
 him wise unto salvation. 
 
 The earnest inquirer after truth and happiness 
 came to read God's Word in a very different spirit 
 from that in which he formerly, and but occa- 
 sionally, perused it; he acknowledged that his 
 acquaintance with revelation had been as yet but 
 very imperfect ; and he now thinks, that his views 
 and opinions of the character and attributes of the 
 Almighty were probably most erroneous ; otherwise
 
 AS EXHIBITED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 27 
 
 he never could for a moment have imagined, that 
 God created man to be wretched, even though 
 unnumbered sorrows await him in his earthly pil- 
 grimage. 
 
 In his retirement, the inquirer carried into effect 
 his resolution to read the Scriptures unceasingly ; 
 and in steadily so doing, a ray of light broke in 
 upon his own mind, whereby he concluded, that the 
 God who made him, and who has preserved him, 
 and who never abandoned him, by allowing him to 
 be happy in finite pursuits, is not that dread Being 
 who is only to be feared, and whose name filled him 
 with awe and alarm whilst he was only a votary of 
 the world. He now begins to think, that the 
 Almighty is the giver of even- good and perfect 
 gift ; and he feels the force of the words of him 
 who said, " Acquaint now thyself with him, and be 
 at peace." 
 
 In like manner, in proportion as every morally- 
 honest man becomes acquainted with the Bible, so 
 will he be enabled to form sublime views of the 
 majesty and infinity of Him who walketh in the 
 circuit of heaven, and who sitteth upon the circle of 
 the earth. 
 
 But, it may truly be asked, how can peace be the 
 result of our becoming acquainted with the attri- 
 
 c 2
 
 28 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, 
 
 butes of omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, 
 holiness, purity, truth ? 
 
 No doubt every attribute of God ought to excite 
 feelings of devout adoration ; and his omnipresence 
 may well lead us to exclaim with the psalmist, 
 " Whither shall I go from thy spirit ? or whither 
 shall I flee from thy presence ? " but to whom, 
 except to a good man, is the thought of God's 
 omnipresence calculated to afford peace ? 
 
 The omnipotence of Him who said, " let there be 
 light, and there was light," and who again said, " I 
 form the light and create darkness," and of whom 
 the psalmist affirmed, " the north and the south 
 thou. hast created," no doubt will fill, with deepest 
 reverence, the hearts and minds of the righteous ; 
 but on how many will not 'the thought of that attri- 
 bute produce anything but peace ? 
 
 On the careless and worldly, the very notion of 
 omniscience causes a horrible dread ; it is no 
 gratification to them to believe, that there is a 
 Being who knoweth the secrets of the heart, that 
 his eyes are upon the ways of man, that He seeth 
 all his goings, that there is no darkness nor shadow 
 of death where the workers of iniquity may hide 
 themselves. 
 
 Nor can the attributes of purity, holiness, truth,
 
 AS EXHIBITED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 29 
 
 and justice, be calculated to console any but the 
 real servants of God, when it is remembered that 
 He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, that He 
 cannot look upon iniquity ; hence, the consideration 
 of these attributes would indeed produce fearful 
 misgivings, were it not that there is another attri- 
 bute, viz. that of mercy, which comes to be the one 
 which most engages the attention, and tends to 
 inspire with hope him who has been impressed with 
 the words, "Acquaint now thyself with God, and 
 be at peace " ; and this attribute of mercy is most 
 suitable to him who begins to believe that disap- 
 pointment has been his in his highest prosperity, 
 because he has been seeking for happiness in things 
 finite, and employing his time in everything but 
 what tended to the glory of God, and to the welfare 
 of his fellow-creatures. 
 
 But the days of carelessness are gone, and 
 temporal and fleeting objects no longer are to 
 engage the exclusive, nor even the chief attention 
 of the mind of him whose conscience, heretofore 
 mute, now tells of opportunities lost, of time mis- 
 spent, and of thoughts unchastened, and to whom, 
 therefore, the attribute of mercy has unutterable 
 charms ; hence, every passage of the Bible is now 
 read with redoubled attention, to discover whether
 
 30 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, 
 
 indeed it be true, that man's permanent happiness is 
 the distinct object of all the designs of his heavenly 
 Father. 
 
 Will not, then, the heart of such a person leap 
 with joy, when he perceives the full force of this 
 declaration, "it shall bruise thy head," when in 
 that declaration is seen a prediction, that the power 
 of man's great adversary should be destroyed ; 
 and in the clearer development of the attribute of 
 mercy in the subsequent promise to Abram, that 
 in him " all the families of the earth " should " be 
 blessed " ? 
 
 To the man whose eyes begin to be opened to 
 the gracious designs of God's providence, the 
 many acts of forgiveness manifested towards the 
 twelve patriarchs, and to their descendants, will not 
 fail to indicate the gracious character of Jehovah ; 
 for he will learn, that when " their heart was not 
 right with him, neither were they stedfast in his 
 covenant" (Ps. Lxxviii. 37), yet "He being full of 
 compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed 
 them not : yea many a time turned he his anger 
 away, and did not stir up all his wrath, for he 
 remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that 
 passeth away, and cometh not again." (v. 38, 39.) 
 
 The setting up of the brazen serpent by Moses
 
 AS EXHIBITED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 31 
 
 at God's command, so that every one who was 
 bitten should live if he looked upon it, and the 
 standing of Aaron "between the dead and the 
 living," and the acceptance of an atonement for the 
 people, afford no ordinary instances of the exercise 
 of this attribute of mercy. 
 
 Nor will any one fail to be struck with the indi- 
 cations of the same merciful character, in averting 
 the threatened judgment on Nineveh, and in the 
 wonderful cure of the Syrian, by which he was not 
 only healed of a most afflictive disease, but by 
 which he learnt to know, that " there is no God in 
 all the earth, but in Israel." (2 Kings v. 15.) 
 
 Nor will it escape notice, that the passages of the 
 Old Testament are very many, and very decisive, 
 on this point. The psalmist, in addressing his 
 Maker, said (Ps. Ivii. 10), "Thy mercy is great 
 unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds ; " 
 and again (Ps. Ixxxvi. 5), he thus addresses that 
 gracious Being, by whom he had been remarkably 
 forgiven in his sad declensions, " Thou, Lord, art 
 good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy 
 unto all them that call upon thee." 
 
 In the prophecy of Isaiah (Iv. 7), what cheering 
 words are these : " Let the wicked forsake his way, 
 and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him
 
 32 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, 
 
 return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon 
 him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly 
 pardon"; and (in Ivii. 19) " the high and lofty 
 One that inhabiteth eternity " condescends to say, 
 " I create the fruit of the lips ; peace, peace to him 
 that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the 
 Lord ; and I will heal him." 
 
 The commission to Ezekiel utters the same truth 
 when he is commanded to say unto the people, " As 
 I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in 
 the death of the wicked ; but that the wicked turn 
 from his way and live " ; and of like force are the 
 touching expressions in the book of Joel (ii. 12, 13) : 
 " Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even 
 to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with 
 weeping, and with mourning : and rend your heart, 
 and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord 
 your God ; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to 
 anger and of great kindness, and repenteth him 
 of the evil": in which most beautiful words none 
 can fail to perceive, that man's welfare, and not his 
 wretchedness, is the thing promised, if he will but 
 seek it in God's appointed method. 
 
 But if the passages of the Bible, to which we 
 have referred, have done much to delineate the 
 merciful character of God, what may not be ex-
 
 AS EXHIBITED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 33 
 
 pected to be the result of dwelling on the vivid 
 representations of the prophets of Him who says, 
 " though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as 
 white as snow; though they be red like crimson, 
 they shall be as wool." (Is. i. 18, 19.) "Fear not, 
 I have redeemed thee ; I have called thee by thy 
 name, thou art mine. When thou passest through 
 the waters, I will be with thee; and through the 
 rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou 
 walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; 
 neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." 
 
 These are some of the passages in the Old 
 Testament which are now read over and over again 
 with the greatest attention ; and every successive 
 perusal of them gives increasing conviction of the 
 truth, which now has obtained admission into the 
 mind and heart of him who, for a time, quitted the 
 world, with its occupations and allurements, to 
 ascertain why so much of misery saddens the lot of 
 the children of men ; and, adopting the psalmist's 
 language, he can now say, "the entrance of thy 
 words giveth light." (Ps. cxix. 130.) 
 
 The parts, however, of the Old Testament which 
 are now read with increased attention, are those 
 which make known the coming, and the character, 
 of Him who was so sublimely predicted by these 
 
 c 3
 
 34 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, 
 
 names : " wonderful, counsellor, the mighty God, 
 the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace" (Is. ix. 
 6) ; who was to he a " covert from the tempest," "as 
 the shadow of a great rock in a weary land" (xxxii. 
 2) ; by whom the " eyes of the hlind" were to he 
 opened, and the "ears of the deaf" were to he un- 
 stopped (xxxv. 5) ; who was " to hring out the 
 prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in 
 darkness out of the prison-house " (xlii. 7); all of 
 which predictions and promises alike make known 
 the merciful character of the God of heaven and 
 earth, who has made such ample provision for the 
 full and perfect remission of our sins, and the 
 thought of whom should, therefore, fill us with un- 
 bounded love and gratitude. 
 
 For, though the Prophet could, with too much 
 truth, represent the coming Kedeemer as saying, 
 " Who hath believed our report ? and to whom is 
 the arm of the Lord revealed ? " and though he 
 could foretell that, in man's estimation, He would 
 grow up " as a root of a dry ground ; " that He 
 would have "no form nor comeliness" when they 
 should see Him, and no beauty that they should 
 desire Him ; and that even, instead of loving and 
 adoring Him, He would be despised and rejected of 
 men, and become a man of sorrows, and acquainted
 
 AS EXHIBITED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 35 
 
 with grief; yet ? with equal clearness, could the 
 Prophet declare of our hlessed Lord, that his every 
 suffering would he the fruit of his illimitable love 
 for a lost world ; that " he was wounded for our 
 transgressions, he was hruised for our iniquities ; " 
 that " the chastisement of our peace was upon him, 
 and with his stripes we are healed" (liii. 5). Well, 
 indeed, may we ask, What words would suffice to 
 indicate the measure of that divine love, which 
 caused his voluntary sufferings to he thus announced : 
 " I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks 
 to them that plucked off the hair : I hid not my 
 face from shame and spitting" ? (1. 6.) 
 
 Yet how beautifully and tenderly is every one 
 that thirsteth invited to come to the waters ! and 
 how are they who " spend their money for that 
 which is not bread," besought to " incline their ear, 
 that their souls may live, and that an everlasting 
 covenant may be made with them, even the sure 
 mercies of David." (Iv. 3.) 
 
 Can anything more truly declare the loving- 
 kindness of the Lord, than Ms inspiring the Prophet 
 to prefigure, in these terms, the office of Him who 
 was to come on an errand of mercy : " The Spirit of 
 the Lord is upon me : because the Lord hath 
 anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek :
 
 86 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, 
 
 he hath sent me to bind up the hroken-hearted, to 
 proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of 
 the prison to them that are bound"; "to comfort 
 all that mourn " ; " to give unto them beauty for 
 ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of 
 praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Ixi. 3) ? Such are 
 some of the gracious terms in which the heavenly 
 office is described, of Him \vho came " from Edom, 
 with dyed garments from Bozrah, who was glorious 
 in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his 
 strength, of him who spake in righteousness, 
 mighty to save." (Ixiii. 1.) Even to the house of 
 David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a 
 fountain was to be opened " for sin and for unclean- 
 ness." (Zech. xiii. 1.) 
 
 To the mercy of God there is, therefore, no limit ; 
 and from the entire tenor of the Scriptures, it is 
 palpable that God designs his creatures to trust in 
 Him as their Father in heaven, who cannot take 
 pleasure in the sufferings of his children ; but who 
 looks with complacency on their happiness, when- 
 ever that happiness arises from the love and prac- 
 tice of whatsoever tlungs are truthful and holy. 
 
 The careful studying of even the Old Testament 
 has awakened, and deepened, the conviction, that 
 in judgment God remembers mercy ; that He is
 
 AS EXHIBITED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 37 
 
 long-suffering, and of great kindness ; that judgment 
 is his strange work ; that his " property is to have 
 mercy and to forgive," which truth becomes more 
 and more strikingly evident as the very many parts 
 of the Old Testament are read, which exhibit the 
 character and the office of the Redeemer, who in 
 the fulness of time was to come in the flesh, to 
 whom all the nations were to look for salvation, for 
 reconciliation, and for peace, and in whom the 
 Gentiles were to trust. 
 
 Even this partial acquaintance with God is not 
 unaccompanied by some measure of that peace 
 which the world never gave, and never can take 
 away ; and, perhaps, soon will be followed by more 
 than an anticipation, it may be a foretaste, of that 
 real and heartfelt happiness which is laid up, even 
 in this life, for those " that fear God, and that think 
 upon his name." (MalJiii. 16.) 
 
 And he who was led to make these researches by 
 the force of disappointment and of misery, when hope 
 itself ceased to give promise of the future, and when 
 the faint echo of human applause no longer fell 
 delusively upon his ear, began to see, that in his 
 own case, afflictions, the fruits of the curse, had 
 been most salutary, because, by reason of them, the 
 Word of God (heretofore neglected) was steadily
 
 38 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, 
 
 read, marked, and dwelt upon, to enable him to 
 acquaint himself with God, and to be at peace. 
 
 In the midst of all that heart could desire, or the 
 world could offer, of the things which are as fleeting 
 and as evanescent as ourselves, the inquirer was 
 "wretched and miserable;" and he, at first, came 
 to the unhappy conclusion that he was so because 
 man was created to be miserable, since a curse was 
 fallen upon everything ; but research and consi- 
 deration caused him to conclude, that all the ills 
 under the curse were sent in mercy ; and he himself 
 unreservedly admits that he is, and has been, a 
 partaker of the beneficial end of affliction, because, 
 by reason of its force, he was first led to quit for a 
 time the all- engrossing occupations of the world, to 
 try to find out why it was that disappointment and 
 sorrow always overtook and attended him, even in 
 his greatest prosperity, ere friends began to fail, 
 while his eye was not yet dim, and before he began 
 to think that the grasshopper would be a burden to 
 him. The inquiry having been thus far blessed, he 
 that made it was bent on pursuing it; and his 
 further pursuit of it, in all the prophets, in the 
 Psalms, and in the books of Moses, brought him to 
 be better acquainted with all the attributes of Him 
 who is, and who was, and who is to be the great " I
 
 AS EXHIBITED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 39 
 
 AM" the Maker and Disposer of all things ; whom 
 he has discovered to be full of pity and compas- 
 sion, long-suffering and of great goodness, "not 
 willing that any should perish, but that all should 
 come to repentance." (2 Pet. iii. 9.) Peace, then, 
 in an enlarged measure, became his ; and great 
 good he enjoyed in his earnest endeavour to obey 
 the injunction of Eliphaz, "Acquaint now thyself 
 with God, and be at peace."
 
 40 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, 
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, AS DEVELOPED IN 
 THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 IT has been maintained that an acquaintance with 
 most of the attributes of God, as omniscience, omni- 
 presence, omnipotence, holiness, truth, and justice, 
 is calculated to alarm the mere man of the world, 
 the votaries of pleasure, the lukewarm, and the 
 careless ; but that when they come to perceive, and 
 to appreciate the attributes of love, goodness, and 
 mercy, their fears may be dispersed, and that some 
 measure of peace may be theirs, in the hope that 
 there is forgiveness for them. 
 
 For who that ever dwelt on the gracious promises 
 of pardon, on the assurances of reconciliation, and 
 on the invitations of mercy, to which the inquirer's 
 attention has already been drawn, can doubt that 
 the sincere searcher after truth will thereby have a 
 deep conviction of the divine benevolence, and that 
 he himself may become a partaker of the blessings 
 announced in the Old Testament ? 
 
 And if this be the result of a careful and devout
 
 AS DEVELOPED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 41 
 
 examination of those oracles, of which our Lord 
 said, " Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think 
 ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify 
 of me," what must not be the hopes and the aspira- 
 tions of the inquirer, when he comes, by reading 
 the Gospels with equal care, to compare the type 
 with the antitype, the prophecy with its fulfilment, 
 the predicted Saviour with Him who claimed to be 
 the Son of God ? What, we repeat, must not be his 
 hope, who, after a prayerful and earnest examination 
 of the historical part of the New Testament, sees 
 therein reflected, as in a mirror, the effulgence 
 of that divine and adorable Being, who came to be 
 at once a King, a Prophet and a Priest, and who 
 took upon Himself the form and substance of a man, 
 so as to undergo the penalty of our transgressions, 
 and who is the great intercessor between the dead 
 and the living ? 
 
 Each fresh perusal of the Gospels gives addi- 
 tional prominence to the all-consoling attributes of 
 love, compassion, and mercy, which are exhibited in 
 every word, in every desire, and in every action of 
 the lowly Jesus : indeed, his words, and his deeds 
 proclaim these attributes in accents, which tongues 
 the most eloquent and impassioned are powerless to 
 express.
 
 42 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, 
 
 The very heavens themselves are called upon to 
 sing, and the earth to be joyful, and the mountains to 
 break forth into singing, when it is announced that 
 " the Lord hath comforted lu's people, and will have 
 mercy upon his afflicted" (Isa. xlix. 13), and now 
 that He is a sojourner upon earth, " who in the 
 time of his mortal life came to vist us in great 
 humility," what in Him is every thought, but one 
 of benevolence ! and what in Him every deed, but 
 one of beneficence! 
 
 How does his every act appeal to our best feel- 
 ings, and to our inmost thoughts, and testify to the 
 matchless, the all-surpassing tenderness of his 
 nature! realising the glowing, but accurate, pre- 
 diction of the prophet Isaiah, and which Cluist 
 himself declared was fulfilled in the ears of the 
 people, when at Nazareth He so appropriately 
 opened the book of the Prophet, and found the 
 place were it was written, " The Spirit of the Lord 
 is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach 
 the Gospel to the poor ; he hath sent me to heal the 
 broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, 
 and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at 
 liberty them that are bruised. To preach the ac- 
 ceptable year of the Lord." (Luke iv. 18, 19.) 
 
 Nor can any one fail to perceive, that in his short,
 
 AS DEVELOPED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 43 
 
 but most blessed life, all these particulars were fully 
 accomplished : 
 
 (1.) To the poor, especially to the poor in spirit, 
 the Gospel in all its fulness was preached, and with 
 a mild dignity and tenderness which were well calcu- 
 lated to cheer the drooping spirit. In the com- 
 mencement of his merciful career, when Jesus 
 " went up into a mountain," and opened his mouth, 
 these were his first gracious words, " Blessed are the 
 poor in spirit : for their' s is the kingdom of heaven." 
 (Matt. v. 3.) In answering those who inquired 
 whether He were the person " that should come," the 
 expected Messiah, one of his beautiful observations 
 was, " the poor have the Gospel preached to them," 
 by which, as by his blessed deeds, John was to form 
 his own conclusion, whether Jesus were or were not 
 the looked-for Saviour. 
 
 The unlimited extent to which the offer of mercy 
 was to reach, was afterwards declared, when He com- 
 missioned his Apostles to go and preach the Gospel 
 to every creature, the full meaning and extent of 
 which Gospel He had so strikingly communicated in 
 these words : " And as Moses lifted up the serpent 
 in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be 
 lifted up : that whosoever believeth in him should 
 not perish, but have eternal life." (John iii. 14, 15.)
 
 44 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, 
 
 How touchingly did He preach the Gospel to the 
 woman of Samaria! "Whosoever drinketh of the 
 water that I shall give him, shall never thirst : but 
 the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a 
 well of water, springing up into everlasting life." 
 (John iv. 14.) 
 
 To the multitude that followed Him to Capernaum, 
 He affectingly preached the Gospel, when He said 
 with unspeakable love, " I am the bread of life : he 
 that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he 
 that believeth on me shall never thirst" (John 
 vi. 35), and also when He added, " I am the living 
 bread which came down from heaven : if any man 
 eat this bread he shall live for ever : and the bread 
 that I will give, is my flesh, which I will give for 
 the life of the world." (v. 51.) 
 
 How admirably did He preach the Gospel, when 
 He reproved the ill-considered zeal of James and 
 John, when they wanted Him to command fire to 
 come down from heaven, and consume the Sama- 
 ritans, who would not receive Him, because his face 
 was as though He would go to Jerusalem ! " Ye 
 know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the 
 Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but 
 to save them." (Luke ix. 55, 56.) 
 
 Well, indeed, did the Psalmist say, when speaking
 
 AS DEVELOPED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 45 
 
 of Him whose message -was entirely of mercy, " Full 
 of grace are thy lips, because God hath hlessed thee 
 for ever" (Ps. xlv. 3) ; and of all the gracious words 
 which He ever addressed to the poor, and to the 
 poor in spirit, none ever exceeded in mercy those 
 addressed to the sister of Lazarus : " I am the re- 
 surrection and the life: he that helieveth in me, 
 though he were dead, yet shall he live ; and who- 
 soever liveth and helieveth in me, shall never die." 
 (John xi. 25, 26.) Such Gospel as this, and so 
 preached hy Him who came to save a lost world, 
 could scarcely fail to be suitable to the wants of 
 one, seeking rest for the sole of his feet, in a world 
 of sin and sorrow ! and the deeds of this adorable 
 Preacher, in their amplitude and benevolence, are 
 now meditated on with devout gratitude. 
 
 (2.) -But he who can be grateful for such a 
 Gospel, will be scarcely less thankful, when he dis- 
 covers the manner in which the Saviour fulfilled the 
 prediction, that He was " to heal the broken-hearted." 
 We use the word " discovers " to signify the sense 
 in which, for the first time, he who was a mere 
 man of the world, saw the true spirit of benevolence 
 influencing all the actions of the meek and lowly 
 Saviour. 
 
 What moral music to the broken-hearted is not
 
 46 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, 
 
 to be found in these soothing words : " Come unto 
 me all ye that lahour and are heavy laden, and I 
 will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and 
 learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and 
 ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matt. xi. 28, 
 9). What so suited as this invitation to comfort 
 all that mourn ; and to heal the spirits of those 
 who heretofore have spent their money, and their 
 time, in procuring that which never spoke happiness 
 to their souls, and which truly could never give the 
 promise of it ? 
 
 The " woman in the city, which was a sinner," 
 and " who washed his feet with tears, and did wipe 
 them with the hair of her head," well knew the 
 merciful character of Him who came to heal the 
 broken-hearted, and felt it, in all its force, when 
 He said unto her, "Thy sins are forgiven" (Luke 
 vii. 48) ; her sins were many, and deep indeed 
 must have been her sorrow for them; but she was 
 spiritually healed by the great Physician of Israel. 
 
 Many were broken-hearted on account of their 
 own bodily sufferings, or the sufferings of those 
 most dear to them (some of which we shall here- 
 after specify), in healing the bodies of whom, Christ 
 took away the sorrows of their souls. 
 
 The parable of the prodigal son strikingly exem-
 
 AS DEVELOPED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 47 
 
 plifies the manner in which the " friend of sinners " 
 would heal the broken-hearted, and how ready He 
 would ever be to receive them, and to rejoice at 
 their return to their Father's house, saying of each 
 of them, " For this my son was dead, and is alive 
 again ; he was lost, and is found." (Luke xv. xJ4.) 
 
 (3.) The Prophet also had foretold that He 
 would preach " deliverance to the captives," in 
 which, no doubt, was comprehended not only the 
 captivity of the body, but also that moral captivity 
 of the soul, whereby " we are tied and bound by the 
 chain of our sins;" and in what way could He 
 more palpably prove his benevolence and bene- 
 ficence, than by delivering us from being the 
 captives of Satan, of the world, of our prejudices, 
 and of our passions, and captives by reason of the 
 fear of death ? Even captivity itself was to be 
 taken captive by this all-gracious and divine Re- 
 deemer. 
 
 (4.) As a consequence of preaching, and of 
 affording, deliverance to the captives, He would 
 " set at liberty them that are bruised," bruised by 
 their subtle adversary the devil, bruised by their own 
 consciences, bruised by the " enormity and aggrava- 
 tion of their past transgression," the "remembrance 
 of which would now be grievous unto them, and
 
 48 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, 
 
 the burden thereof intolerable," until set at liberty 
 by Him who said of the " chief among the pub- 
 licans," " This day is salvation come to this 
 house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham." 
 The occupations of Zaccheus had been but little 
 suited to the exercise of self-denial and of justice ; 
 but how is he set at liberty from every selfish and 
 sinful desire by the holy influences of Him who 
 went to be "guest with a man that was a sinner" 
 (Luke xix. 7) ; and what a satisfactory proof that 
 the bruised conscience of Zaccheus was set at 
 liberty, is afforded by his noble affirmation, " Be- 
 hold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the 
 poor, and if I have taken anything from any man 
 by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." (v. 8.) 
 But the most striking instance of setting any one 
 at liberty, especially one that had been bruised 
 mentally, spiritually, and physically, is afforded us 
 in the life and sufferings of the great Apostle of the 
 Gentiles, who, " though troubled on every side, was 
 not distressed; though perplexed, was not in de- 
 spair ; though persecuted, not forsaken ; though cast 
 down, was not destroyed" (2 Cor. iv. 8, 9) ; who 
 was " always bearing about in the body the dying 
 of the Lord Jesus" (v. 10); yet "none of these 
 things moved him ; neither counted he his life dear
 
 AS DEVELOPED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 49 
 
 unto himself, so that he might finish his course with 
 joy, and the ministry which he had received of the 
 Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of 
 God." (Acts xx. 24.) Hence he so truthfully 
 could say, "As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as 
 poor, yet making many rich ; as having nothing, 
 and yet possessing all things." (2 Cor. vi. 10.) 
 
 (5.) Moreover, the New Testament makes known 
 to us the recovering of sight to the blind, as well 
 as the other manifold miracles of our Lord, all 
 bespeaking his unwearied deeds of compassion ; for 
 what but compassion could have led Him, in so unob- 
 trusive a manner, to have given sight to the blind 
 man at Bethsaida (Mark viii. 22-26) ? and what 
 else but love to man could have caused Him to bestow 
 the same blessing on him who was blind from his 
 birth ? (John ix. 1.) The giving of sight to Bar- 
 timseus, and his companion in suffering, was felt 
 to be an act of such goodness that " all the people, 
 when they saw it, gave praise unto God." (Luke 
 xviii. 43.) 
 
 The cleansing of the leper (Matt. viii. 1); the 
 healing the centurion's servant (v. 5) ; the curing 
 of the man sick of the palsy (ix. 2) ; the raising to 
 life the daughter of Jairus (v. 18) ; the restora- 
 tion of the nobleman's son at Capernaum (John
 
 50 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, 
 
 iv. 47) ; the raising of Lazarus (John xi.) ; hut 
 especially the healing the daughter of the woman 
 wfyo " was a Greek, a Syrophenician hy nation (Mark 
 vii. 26) ; these, and all the other miracles enume- 
 rated by the Evangelists, afford us irrefragable 
 proofs of his love, and are not only the tests of his 
 divine office, the credentials of his embassy, but 
 they are the fruits of his mercy, and of his un- 
 bounded compassion, which are further evidenced 
 by lu's commission to his disciples, to go forth, and 
 to perform, in his own name, deeds of the same 
 heavenly charity, thereby indicating that the re- 
 moval of physical diseases was to be significant of 
 his power to heal the diseases of the soul, and to 
 restore man to his lost happiness. We cease, then, 
 to wonder at what is recorded in the gospels, viz. 
 that the ecstatic feelings of the witnesses of his 
 deeds vented themselves in hosannahs to the Son of 
 David, and in these words, " Blessed is he that 
 cometh in the name of the Lord, hosanuah in the 
 highest ! " 
 
 What, then, was the conclusion at which he 
 arrived, who duly considered the words and deeds 
 of Him who was to be a light to lighten the Gen- 
 tales (Luke ii. 32), as well as to be the glory of 
 (God's) people Israel"? That he could no longer
 
 AS DEVELOPED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 51 
 
 resist the manifold evidence thereby afforded of 
 Christ's mission to save a lost world, to restore man 
 to the moral and spiritual image of his Maker, and 
 thus to remove all causes of gloom and despond- 
 ency, so that he might no longer go on his way 
 mourning, and be the creature of disappointment ; 
 but that his "warfare" might be "accomplished," 
 his iniquity be forgiven, and that his troubled con- 
 science might be appeased in the certain conviction 
 that there is "balm in Gilead," that there is a 
 "physician there," who can and will recover "the 
 health of the daughter " of God's people, and make 
 pleasant their way in the otherwise short and sor- 
 rowful journey of life. 
 
 When once the full force of these blessed truths 
 was felt, and when it was no longer doubted that 
 Christ came on an errand of mercy, that his object 
 was to call sinners to repentance, to invite into his 
 fold all of every age, and of every country, who 
 have heretofore lived to themselves, and for merely 
 worldly purposes when once all this was felt, he, 
 who heretofore had sought in vain for happiness in 
 things finite, asked, Why he himself should not be a 
 partaker of these blessings ? why repentance should 
 not be given unto him ? and why pardon and salva- 
 tion should not be his ? and, considering that the 
 
 D 2
 
 52 THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY, ETC. 
 
 offers of mercy were unlimited, and that of Christ 
 it was declared, " Him hath God exalted with his 
 right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give 
 repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins " (Acts 
 v. 31), and that Christ himself hath said, "there is 
 joy in the presence of the angels of God over one 
 sinner that repenteth" (Luke xv. 10), he not only 
 resolved to go, hut did go, to Him that healeth the 
 broken-hearted, to confess his unnumbered sins, 
 negligences, and ignorances, and to pray to God to 
 give him true repentance, to blot out all his trans- 
 gressions, " and to endue him with the grace of his 
 Holy Spirit," " to amend his life according to God's 
 holy Word." And thus he gradually became a 
 partaker of that peace and that contentment, the 
 absence of which first led 1 him, for a time, to quit 
 the busy occupations of life, to inquire why he 
 himself then was, and ever had been, even in the 
 
 midst of health, power, and riches, an utter stran- 
 
 
 ger to that tranquillity and that blessedness, the 
 
 enjoyment of which, he heretofore imagined, could 
 only have justified, or at least have explained, the 
 creation of the human race.
 
 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION, ETC. 53 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION, AND WHAT 
 CONVERSION MEANS. 
 
 THE careful reading of the Word of God led to 
 the happy conviction, 1st, that God indeed is a 
 Being of infinite mercy, who "' hateth nothing that 
 he has made," but who rejoices in the happiness of 
 his creatures, and has made ample provision for 
 that happiness by sending his beloved Son to redeem 
 them from all their transgressions, and to restore 
 to them the lost image in which their first parent 
 was originally created ; and 2ndly, that Jesus Christ 
 came for the full and perfect exercise of the gracious 
 attribute of mercy ; that He yearns over the sorrows 
 of afflicted humanity, and provides a remedy for 
 those sorrows. It has been observed that the hopes 
 of the searcher after happiness became brighter in 
 proportion as he realized to himself, in all its beauty 
 and grace, this adorable attribute of mercy, by 
 which he was induced to pray to God for reconcilia- 
 tion and for peace ; whereby he was enabled to
 
 54 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION, 
 
 believe that " the voice of joy and health " is 
 indeed " in the dwellings of the righteous." He 
 became convinced that the religion of our blessed 
 Lord is not merely a beautiful theory, promising un- 
 ceasing happiness only in the world to come, but that 
 it is something, the effect of which, even in this life, 
 is visible, tangible, audible a reality that is seen, 
 felt, and heard by those who daily and devoutly 
 meditate on that one matchless Exemplar of all that 
 is pure, of all that is lovely, of all that is divine and 
 heavenly, in spirit and in deed. 
 
 Another thought, however, entered the mind, 
 causing the lively oracles of the living God to be 
 read, and re-read, with increased anxiety, whereby it 
 was clearly ascertained, 1st, that another divine Per- 
 son was spoken of, who wa^ styled the Holy Ghost, 
 the Paraclete, the Comforter, who was to bring all 
 things to remembrance which Christ bad taught 
 his disciples and followers ; and Sndly, that by 
 the influence of the Holy Ghost, a mighty change 
 was to take place in the hearts and minds of all who 
 should rise to the resurrection of the just, since by 
 man's Fall his nature was become corrupt, sinful, 
 and totally unfitted for heaven and its unspeakable 
 holiness ; and thence, that holy and heavenly facul- 
 ties must be his, who would be a companion of"
 
 AND WHAT CONVERSION MEANS. 55 
 
 angels and archangels, of seraphim and cherubim, 
 in the future world of spirits. 
 
 The words of our Lord on this subject had, 
 indeed, often been read, especially those addressed 
 to his disciples, when he said, " Except ye be con- 
 verted, and become as little children, ye shall not 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven " (Matt, xviii. 3) ; 
 but their meaning had escaped the comprehension 
 of him, who now rightly values the Scriptures. He 
 had heard much of the doctrine, as it afforded an 
 endless topic of controversy to polemics; but that 
 all men, without exception, were to be converted ere 
 they could enter into the kingdom of heaven, had 
 never forcibly struck his attention till now. This 
 truth, however, comes fully to be considered, and it 
 assumes its proper importance in his estimation ; 
 he is sufficiently expert in logic and in physics to 
 know that everything which exists has faculties 
 suited to the state in which it exists ; and, by 
 analogy, he can perceive that the same law must 
 hold good in things moral and spiritual ; but the 
 conclusions at which he arrives are now drawn from 
 the Bible, and are the result of very careful exa- 
 mination, and of long-continued reflection, and are 
 in perfect agreement with the conviction of myriads 
 of holy men, who have found the Scriptures " pro-
 
 56 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION, 
 
 fitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
 instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. iii. 16), and 
 who, therefore, have maintained 
 
 1 . That the words, " except ye be converted, ye 
 cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven," were 
 not addressed by Christ to the Greek, to the 
 Gentile, to the heathen, but to his own followers, 
 who claimed, as descendants of Abraham, to be 
 the worshippers of the true God ; and hence, that 
 this conversion had reference to the heart of man, 
 and not to his abandoning a false, and embracing 
 a true religion ; that the word " conversion " is 
 by Christ used in the same sense in which He 
 employed it when He applied the language of 
 Isaiah, saying, " For this people's heart is waxed 
 gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their 
 eyes they have closed ; lest at any time they should 
 see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and 
 should understand with their heart, and should 
 be converted, and I should heal them." (Matt. 
 xiii. 15.) 
 
 2. That being in an unconverted state is, ac- 
 cording to the various and oft-recurring passages 
 of the Bible, the being dead in trespasses and sins ; 
 that it is having the heart deceitful and desperately 
 wicked ; that it is walking according to the course
 
 AND WHAT CONVEHS10N MEANS. 57 
 
 of this world, the being corrupt according to the 
 deceitful lusts. 
 
 It is manifested by the wishing to serve, and the 
 striving to serve, two masters ; by the anxious 
 endeavour to have the all of pleasure, power, and 
 self-indulgence, which this earthly state affords, 
 and yet to hope that that far-off world will be ours, 
 where the symphonies of angels and archangels are 
 heard ; and where the voice of many waters, and 
 the anthems of the redeemed, in grandest chorus, 
 re- utter the song of Moses and the Lamb. 
 
 To be unconverted is to be the counterpart of 
 him who was clothed with purple and fine linen, 
 and fared sumptuously every day ; it is living without 
 God in the world ; i. e. without making his will the 
 rule of life his honour, the object of all we think 
 and do ; it is seeking our own, and not the things 
 which are Jesus Christ's. 
 
 It is to have the understanding darkened, the 
 conscience seared ; it is living as aliens and strangers 
 to the commonwealth of Israel ; it is seeking, and 
 not striving to enter in at the strait gate; it is 
 putting the hand to the plough, and looking back- 
 ward ; it is yielding our members as instruments of 
 sin unto unrighteousness ; it is living to ourselves, 
 for selfish pleasures, selfish plans, selfish pursuits ; 
 
 D 3
 
 58 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION, 
 
 it is giving way to the worst passions of our nature ; 
 it is to be dead in trespasses and in sins, which 
 intimates the universal prevalence of corruption, for 
 it has been well said that, " there are no degrees in 
 death," since " all things, of which it can be truly 
 said that they are dead, are equally dead." 
 
 What, then, was the full purport of our Lord's 
 words, and of the words of the Apostles on this sub- 
 ject ? Clearly, that the mind with its every thought, 
 and that the heart with its every affection, were to be 
 changed to be converted from that state into which 
 sin had betrayed them ; and the addressing of his 
 words to his own disciples proved that Christ knew 
 that their views of religion and its requirements 
 were erroneous; that their standard of spiritual 
 excellence was low, and required to be elevated ; and 
 that as yet they were in bondage to the spirit of the 
 world and of selfishness; and it was the constant 
 aim of our adorable Kedeemer, to bring them into 
 the way of all truth, and to the practice of all 
 righteousnesss, and through them to teach to coming 
 ages the true and perfect meaning of Conversion. 
 
 In weighing our Lord's expressions, and those of 
 his Apostles, we shall at once see, that Conversion 
 signifies nothing less than, "the putting on the new 
 man, which after God is created in righteousness
 
 AND WHAT CONVERSION MEANS. 59 
 
 and true holiness (Eph. iv. 24) ; it is the being 
 " transformed hy the renewing of" our minds, that 
 we may " prove what is that good, and acceptable, 
 and perfect will of God" (Horn. xii. 2) ; it is to be 
 delivered "from the power of darkness" and to be 
 "translated into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Col. 
 i. 13), so that it becomes our meat and drink "to do 
 the will of God; " it is when " the eyes of our under- 
 standing being enlightened" (Eph. i. 18), we imbibe 
 the very spirit of Christ himself, and live as He lived, 
 in all self-denial, and meekness, and holiness. 
 
 When converted, new principles and new views, new 
 feelings and affections are ours ; our tastes, our incli- 
 nations, and our pursuits have undergone a great 
 change; old things are passed away; the whole soul, 
 the entire mind, and all our affections are God's ; 
 He is the first, the supreme object of our love, and 
 we have now made no partial but a perfect sur- 
 render " of ourselves, our souls, and bodies, to be 
 a holy and lively sacrifice unto him." We no 
 longer persuade ourselves that we can serve God, 
 and at the same time walk after the course of this 
 world. 
 
 Nor will it be doubted, that what the really con- 
 verted find to do, is done with all their might ; that 
 with them there is firmness, energy, resolution, which
 
 60 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION, 
 
 are not inconsistent with aU the amiable and engag- 
 ing qualities of the heart. 
 
 Moreover, their estimate of Christianity is no 
 longer erroneous, but in all its length and breadth 
 and fulness they accept it, and live by it, as the 
 rule of their actions; they know that it means 
 much more than a respect for the principles of 
 religion ; much more than a mere attendance 
 upon its ordinances ; than a regard for its insti- 
 tutions, or than an admiration of its ministers, 
 and a zeal for its propagation ; for they but too 
 well know that all these may exist, and that the 
 love of the world may still be the supreme passion 
 of the soul. 
 
 The truly converted know in whom they have 
 believed, and by whose Spirit ( they have been brought 
 from darkness into marvellous light ; the banner of 
 their Saviour now becomes their standard ; they 
 know that they must not waver, but fight the good 
 fight of faith ; their courage is above suspicion ; 
 their allegiance beyond a taint. 
 
 Their loins are girt about with truth ; they are 
 now armed with the breast-plate of righteousness, 
 and they take the shield of faith, and the helmet of 
 salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, well knowing 
 that otherwise the battle against sin, the world, and
 
 AND WHAT CONVERSION MEANS. 61 
 
 the devil, will not be fought the conquest not 
 achieved, the triumph not secured. 
 
 With those converted into the image of their 
 Lord and Master, to enter the enemy's camp is to 
 create supicion ; to parley with the foe is the first 
 step to a surrender ; to he friendly with the enemy 
 is to betray their own cause, it is to be all but trai- 
 tors. 
 
 As it is with earthly combatants, so is it with the 
 members of the church militant, who acknowledge 
 Christ to be their leader : their allegiance is undi- 
 vided ; their submission, entire ; their readiness to 
 obey his commands is perfect. They now under- 
 take not anything in their own strength. 
 
 To be faithful and consistent is, with them, to be 
 wise ; they have counted the cost ; they strive not 
 for an earthly diadem ; they breathe a new atmo- 
 sphere ; they are raised in the scale of existence, not 
 being governed by gross and sensual faculties, but 
 by high and holy principles. 
 
 They are moderate in all things, concerning which 
 the world is immoderate ; they value not things pre- 
 sent, things unsubstantial, and things evanescent, 
 above the salvation of their souls : they put not 
 the approbation of their fellow-creatures in compe- 
 tition with the favour of their God.
 
 62 THE NECESSITY OF CONVERSION, 
 
 They are far less anxious for the worldly pros- 
 perity of their children, than for their becoming 
 trees of righteousness, planted of the Lord; they 
 wish them to flourish, but it is in the courts of the 
 house of their God. 
 
 The welfare of a fleeting existence is not more 
 important to them than the realities of eternal ages : 
 they spend not their strength for a shadow, nor 
 their money for that which is not bread : the out- 
 ward adorning of the body is not, in their eyes, 
 equal to the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. 
 
 The fascination of elegant manners; the beauty 
 of form and of countenance; and the cultivation 
 of all that can give distinction among the distin- 
 guished, is never for a moment compared with the 
 holy and pure faculties, which will make heaven a 
 state of enjoyment. 
 
 When the grave opens, where, they ask, will be, 
 to the unconverted, all that to them constituted the 
 ornament of society ? where the polish, and the 
 high bearing, and the dignified deportment? where 
 the fascination, the beauty, and the distinction of all 
 that is now to be consigned to dust and ashes ? 
 Alas ! the thought of all these things creates but 
 the appalling reflection, that for their sake an eter- 
 nity of blessedness was lost, for they were cultivated
 
 AND WHAT CONVERSION MEANS. 63 
 
 as above all value; whatever else was neglected, 
 even the conversion of the soul, they were coveted 
 and obtained, as being of surpassing importance. 
 
 It behoves, then, all men to follow the example of 
 our inquirer, and to retire for a time from the 
 world to ask themselves for what they are living ? 
 for the glory of God ? for the honour of Christ ? 
 for the blessedness of their children ? for the ran- 
 som of their friends ? for the redemption of the 
 lost? and if they can answer these questions in the 
 affirmative, they may be well assured that they are 
 the sons of God, that they are " heirs and joint heirs 
 with Christ, and part of that building fitly framed 
 together unto a holy temple" to be the habitation 
 of their Lord and his Christ for ever and ever.
 
 64 WHO ARE TO BE CONVERTED ? 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 WHO ARE TO BE CONVERTED ? AND WHEN ARE 
 THEY TO BE CONVERTED ? 
 
 THE .questions having been considered, viz. What 
 is meant by being unconverted, and by being con- 
 verted ; and what are the principles and conduct of 
 those who are truly changed into the moral image of 
 their Redeemer, further questions arise, which are, 1st, 
 Who must be converted? 2ndly, When must they 
 be converted ? 3rdly, By whom are men converted ? 
 4thly, How can this newness of life be obtained 
 which is signified by the word conversion ? 
 
 And 1st, if it be true that all things which exist, 
 are endued with capacities suited to the state in which 
 they exist, the faculties of those which inhabit the 
 air, and the great deep, being correspondent to their 
 proper element, so that death is the result of being 
 taken respectively from one, to be placed in the 
 other; and if it be true that even for the enjoyment 
 of what may be termed the more refined pleasures 
 of earthly life, such as are afforded by poetry, paint-
 
 AND WHEN ARE THEY TO BE CONVERTED ? 65 
 
 ing, and music, that a taste and an ear for these 
 things are pre-requisites, ere the soul can he enrap- 
 tured hy the pealing of the Hallelujah Chorus, or the 
 eye he suffused at the sight of the touching crea- 
 tions of Raphael, or the mind elevated by the sub- 
 limity of him who soared far beyond the flight of 
 ordinary mortals, the all but divine Milton ; and if, 
 moreover, for all science, physical and metaphysical, 
 each one pursuing it with success, must take plea- 
 sure therein, by finding in himself faculties capable 
 of nearly comprehending all mysteries and all know- 
 ledge ; if all these things be true, it will necessarily 
 follow that every person, without exception, who 
 would be happy in heaven, must have faculties 
 suited to the element of that state .or place. 
 
 It will readily be admitted that heaven is a state of 
 purity, holiness, and godliness, the element of love, 
 and of charity unfeigned; that there is no room 
 there for emulation, for variance and wrath for 
 bitterness, strife, and oppression ; that there are no 
 enemies there to hate, nor any to hate the more 
 bitterly because of their having first injured those 
 whom they hate ; that in heaven there will be none 
 on whom to expend the outpourings of our wrath, 
 or on whom to inflict the heavy injuries of our 
 malice, rendered still more injurious by reason of
 
 66 WHO ARE TO BE CONVERTED ? 
 
 the calm, and unsuspected, and therefore unguarded- 
 against, manner in which they were inflicted : that 
 the whispers of calumny will find no entrance there ; 
 nor the murderous weapons of those who would 
 slay myriads of their fellow- creatures, rather than 
 forego some claim of ill-defined right : that the 
 curse of war, of ambition, pride, revenge, and lust, 
 and all other curses, are unknown there ; and hence 
 that the faculties in which such curses have their 
 origin, can have no room for exercise there. 
 
 It is quite clear, therefore, since we are all the 
 children of disobedience and sin, that a new and 
 heavenly nature must be ours, if we would be happy 
 in heaven ; and therefore that all must be converted, 
 who would dwell with the spirits of just men made 
 perfect ; that not only the .openly profligate and im- 
 moral, the abandoned and unjust, the cruel and 
 rapacious, but also the merely lukewarm and exter- 
 nally moral, and those formalists who, valuing 
 supremely the ordinances, forget the entire spirit of 
 religion. 
 
 Hence, since all are by nature sinful, and all are 
 under the influence of evil passions, these passions 
 must be subdued in all, and this sinful nature in all 
 be eradicated ; and that all are thus wicked, is palpa- 
 ble from Holy Writ, which affirms that the heart of
 
 AND WHEN ARE THEY TO BE CONVERTED ? 67 
 
 man is " deceitful above all things, and desperately 
 wicked;" that "there is none that doeth good, no 
 not one ; " that we are all gone out of the way ; that 
 wickedness is hound up even in the heart of a child. 
 
 All, then, of every age, of every nation, and of 
 every rank, must be converted into the moral image 
 of their Lord and Saviour, if they would dwell with 
 Him in the heaven of heavens : the high and the 
 low, the learned and the unlearned ; the Greek and 
 the barbarian ; the courteous as well as the unbend- 
 ing ; the gentle as well as the stern ; all must come 
 under that mighty influence whereby they become 
 the sons of God. Men of taste, and men of refine- 
 ment ; those who are outwardly moral, and charita- 
 ble, in the world's sense of that word, will not be will- 
 ing to admit this to be true, even though the Apostle 
 indicates that a man may bestow all his " goods to 
 feed the poor," and give his "body to be burned," 
 and yet be destitute of that heavenly charity, which 
 never faileth, neither in earth nor in heaven. 
 
 Not only must the oppressor, but also the oppressed 
 be converted ; the slave as well as his master ; the 
 poor as well as the rich ; the grave as well as the 
 gay ; the calm as well as the violent ; all who are 
 meek by temperament, as well as all who are dis- 
 dainful ; all, without exception, must undergo a
 
 68 WHO ARE TO BE CONVERTED ? 
 
 change as great, and as all-comprehensive in its 
 effects, as that which Saul underwent, ere he was 
 admitted to he partaker " of the inheritance of the 
 saints in light." (Col. i. 12.) 
 
 The reason why all must be converted, including 
 the Jew and the Gentile, the Scythian and the Greek, 
 they who have, and they who have not the Gospel 
 preached to them, is, that conversion is not only a 
 national but a personal change, and that the uni- 
 versal church of Christ consists of the individu- 
 ally converted, of every nation, tongue, and lan- 
 guage ; and not of those, who having had all the 
 advantages of living where Christ's religion is estab- 
 lished, yet never, in any measure, partook of the 
 spirit of that religion. 
 
 The reception of Christianity by Gentile nations 
 has been thought, by some, to embrace all that is 
 meant by the word conversion ; but that is only a 
 part of its import, since it signifies, as we have seen, 
 an entire change of heart, of mind, of thought, and 
 of desire ; the putting off the old, and the " putting 
 on the new, man" so that "old things are passed 
 away, and all things are become new." 
 
 It is not bigotry to say, for it is what Christ and 
 his Apostles say, that, without conversion, no man 
 can see God; no one have Him for their friend
 
 AND WHEN ARE THEY TO BE CONVERTED ? 69 
 
 " who is the first and the last," -who liveth and was 
 dead, and is alive for evermore. (Rev. i.) 
 
 It is not narrow-mindedness to affirm, for it is 
 what the inspired Apostle affirms, that, without this 
 conversion, to none can it ever be granted " to drink 
 of the pure river of life, clear as crystal, proceeding 
 out of the throne of God and of the Larnh." 
 
 It is not illiberality to declare, for the whole 
 tenor of Scripture declares the same truth, that 
 heaven itself would he as the blackness of darkness ; 
 that the light, which emblazons the throne of God, 
 and the empyreal brightness of the presence of the 
 great I AM, the Lord God Almighty, would be as 
 clouds and darkness, and thick darkness itself, to 
 those who are not changed and transformed, by the 
 renewing of their minds, into the resemblance of 
 his dear Son; for how, if not conformed to his 
 spiritual excellence, could any be happy in that 
 " city which hath no need of the sun, neither of 
 the moon to shine in it," since the glory of God 
 doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof ? 
 or how could they desire to remain in that holy 
 place, where " there is no temple, for the Lord God 
 Almighty and the Lamb are the temple thereof" ? 
 
 It may be asked, how can any persons express 
 themselves so positively on things which are beyond
 
 70 WHO ARE TO BE CONVERTED ? 
 
 the ken of human vision, beyond the knowledge of 
 finite faculties, beyond the comprehension of worms 
 of the dust ? 
 
 The answer, however, is, that they so speak and 
 write, because they find these things to be written 
 in the Word of God, as with a sunbeam ; that they 
 find them declared and re-declared, affirmed and re- 
 affirmed, in every variety of manner and of expres- 
 sion ; so stated and so affirmed that the wayfaring 
 man cannot err, unless he be determined to err, re- 
 specting them : all of which statements and restate- 
 ments of the same truth, in such a variety of terms, 
 show the vast and all-surpassing importance of the 
 doctrine, that without conversion no one can enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 It may be thought that ,such an assertion of such 
 a doctrine is calculated to terrify men, and to convey 
 gloomy views of religion ; but surely, to announce, 
 with all solemnity, to reasonable creatures, that they 
 cannot be blessed in time or in eternity, without the 
 possession of faculties, which are described with 
 great clearness, surely this is best calculated to 
 induce them to strive to obtain those faculties, to 
 hunger and thirst, nay to pant, after them ! 
 
 Assuredly it is no hindrance to the happy termi- 
 nation of a voyage, previously to ascertain the num-
 
 AND WHEN ARE THEY TO BE CONVERTED ? 71 
 
 ber, and the situation, of sunken rocks ; to know 
 what currents and under-currents exist ; what winds 
 for a long time set in adversely to our destination ; 
 and what, at other times, are most favourable to our 
 course : and in the voyage of life, are we to have no 
 knowledge of the things necessary to be avoided; 
 and of those which must be done ? no acquaintance 
 with the under-currents and adverse gales ? Are we 
 to continue to be ignorant of the hitherto unknown 
 and unsuspected, because unthought-of dangers ? 
 Is not knowledge, in this as in the other case, the 
 most probable method of avoiding the dangers, and 
 overcorning the difficulties of our course ? and of 
 enabling us to reach the haven of rest, which to 
 the righteous is the dwelling-place of their Father 
 and their God ? 
 
 The assertion, and re- assertion, that all without 
 exception must be converted, is for this purpose 
 that our fairest hopes, and brightest prospects, may 
 not be wrecked ; that we may not approach the 
 vortex of sin, and death, and eternal disappoint- 
 ment, while believing that all is safe, and while 
 thinking, without any ground for the thought, that 
 happiness after death will be our portion. To be 
 deceived on this point, till we have passed that 
 bourn whence no man may return, is to be for ever
 
 72 WHO ARE TO BE CONVERTED ? 
 
 deceived ; it is a deception, the bitter results of 
 which will be everlasting. . . . 
 
 Having considered the full import of the term 
 conversion, and that all, without exception, must 
 be converted, we are next led to ask, When must 
 this change take place ; this emancipation from the 
 power and dominion of evil be effected ; this 
 entrance into the family and household of God be 
 secured ? When are we to be delivered from the 
 influence of the world its censure and its ap- 
 plause, its discountenance and its favour ? 
 
 To which this plain answer can be given, That all 
 which is comprehended in this description of man's 
 change of life and character, takes place during the 
 brief period of his pilgrimage in this world; that 
 if he be not converted in this life, he will never be 
 converted in the life to 'come; that, as the tree 
 falleth so it lieth ; that death changes the place, or 
 state, of the soul's existence, but that it does not 
 alter a man's principles, his propensities, his nature ; 
 that these will cling to him through eternity ; that 
 if he be unrighteous at his death, he will for ever 
 be unrighteous; that there is an impassable gulf 
 between the abodes of never-ending sorrow and the 
 mansions of happiness and peace, which is unde- 
 niably made known to us by our Lord himself, in
 
 AND WHEN ARE THEY TO BE CONVERTED ? 73 
 
 the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. (Luke 
 xvi. 19.) 
 
 In the grave no accents of mercy are heard, no 
 invitations to repentance given ; the voice of pro- 
 phets, and apostles, and of Christ's ministers, is 
 for ever silent there : the time to obtain new and 
 heavenly faculties is the time of life ; we must 
 " seek the Lord while he may be found," we must 
 " call upon him while he is near." (Is. Iv. 6.) 
 
 The whole tenor of revelation indicates that the 
 season of probation, the opportunity of making 
 our calling and election sure, the time of striving 
 for the mastery over every corrupt inclination, 
 and the becoming emancipated from ourselves, the 
 world, and the powers of darkness, is before we 
 are summoned hence, no more to have an interest 
 in anything that is done under the sun. 
 
 It may also be observed, that the best time is the 
 season of youth, health, and strength, when all our 
 faculties are perfect, and when best they will enable 
 us to serve God, and our fellow-creatures, and that, 
 therefore, the offering of ourselves to Him then will 
 be most acceptable, as indicating that the love of 
 God, and not the vanity of life, has led us to seek for 
 perfect peace and happiness, in becoming conformed 
 to the divine spirit of the Saviour of Mankind.
 
 74 WHO ARE TO BE CONVERTED ? 
 
 The best time, therefore, to surrender our minds 
 and hearts, and all our faculties, so that we may be 
 made like unto Jesus Christ, is, unquestionably, the 
 time of youth; to offer them to God only on a 
 death-bed, would imply that they never would be 
 offered at all if death were never to overtake us ; 
 and that then we offer them, not from the love 
 of God, and all that is heavenly, but only to avoid 
 the worm that dieth not and the fire that is not 
 quenched ; exactly as all would in this life escape 
 the penalty of sin, whose natures would probably 
 still remain sinful, even after the pardon of their 
 manifold transgressions.
 
 BY WHOM IS CONVERSION" GRANTED ? 75 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BY WHOM IS CONVERSION GRANTED ? AND HOW 
 IS IT TO BE OBTAINED ? 
 
 IT may now with propriety be asked, By whom is 
 this mighty result to be effected, which signifies the 
 entire change of thought, feeling, and motive, in 
 ever}- one who is blessed in time and in eternity ? 
 And can any one doubt, that none less than the 
 Almighty, the Lord of heaven and of earth, can 
 take away the heart of stone, and in lieu thereof 
 give a heart and mind capable of feeling and ap- 
 preciating, and of being conformed to, all things 
 divine and heavenly? We are all well persuaded 
 that God alone could create light and create dark- 
 ness; that He alone could call into existence all 
 tilings physical and material ; and give shape, form, 
 and motion to material substances, animate and in- 
 animate; and that none but He could stamp on 
 man that intellectual essence which affords far 
 higher indications of Divine power and goodness 
 than all and every variety of material substances 
 
 E 2
 
 7(i BY WHOM IS CONVERSION GRANTED ? 
 
 and forms, whether of the earth, the air, or the 
 great deep : hence we may fairly conclude, that if 
 the minor, though vast and stupendous, works of 
 creation, yet minor when compared with higher 
 existing capacities, had God for their Author, most 
 assuredly must the Almighty he the first, the last, 
 and the alone Cause of the existence of the crown- 
 ing work of creation, viz. the moral, the spiritual 
 heing, whose faculties were to be suited to the ele- 
 ment of holiness, purity and love eternal. 
 
 How could any but He who, when the earth was 
 without form and void, and when darkness was 
 upon the face of the deep, said, " Let there be light, 
 and there was light;" how could any but He say, 
 Let there be spiritual light; let the light of the 
 Gospel shine into men's hearts ; let them be con- 
 verted and transformed into Christ's image ? how 
 could any but He thus speak, so that the minds of 
 men should effectually be created in Christ Jesus 
 unto good works ? 
 
 Even the construction of a leaf, the formation of 
 a flower, the production of a tree, required nothing 
 less than the hand of Omnipotence; how, then, 
 can anything less than that hand be required in 
 the formation of man ? who is fearfully and won- 
 derfully made, with the high endowments of reason
 
 AND HOW IS IT TO BE OBTAINED ? 77 
 
 and intelligence, and, above all, with such spiritual 
 faculties as may enable him to be the peer and 
 compeer of saints and angels, of seraphim and of 
 cherubim. Hence this holy being is the workman- 
 ship of Him who made the great and round world 
 and all that therein is. 
 
 The Psalmist saw all things in this light ; he 
 never contemplated even a flower of the field, 
 without considering its Maker, and the purposes for 
 which it was created ; and with a transition of 
 thought the most rapid, he at the same moment 
 considered who was his own Maker, and for what 
 end he had been created ; and this train of thought 
 carried him quickly from the material to the im- 
 material world ; from earth to heaven ; from things 
 perishable, to things durable ; and he thus learnt to 
 bless God, who had not only called him into phy- 
 sical and mental, but also into moral and spiritual, 
 existence, having granted to him holy feelings and 
 aspirations. 
 
 We however, who see not God in everything that 
 is material, are apt to forget his agency in things 
 spiritual, and therefore do not ascribe to Him the 
 origin of " holy desires, good counsels and just 
 works." We attribute them to our better principles, 
 which we think are the fruits of education, and of
 
 78 BY WHOM IS CONVERSION GRANTED ? 
 
 the solicitude and care of our parents ; or of the 
 vigilance of our teachers and friends, in guarding 
 us against sin and danger. 
 
 Even we are disposed at times to attribute our 
 good qualities, and our attainments in religion, to 
 our superior natures, so that \ve thank God we are 
 not like other men, "extortioners, and unjust," 
 quite forgetting the question, and what is involved 
 in it, " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the 
 leopard his spots ?" (Jer. xiii. 23.) 
 
 A wise man however, at all times, and in all 
 places, sees the hand of God, and traces to it all 
 creation, of whatever is or ever has been: at the 
 rising or at the setting of the sun, at noon day or 
 when the moon is walking in her brightness, to him 
 that hand is visible ; when in his secret chamber, or 
 when sauntering in the fields, in the cool of the 
 day, he is perpetually reminded of it: when all 
 things breathe peace and gladness; in retirement, 
 or . when surrounded by dearest friends ; and in 
 every vicissitude, he sees the hand of God : in the 
 blade of grass, and in the flowers of the field; in 
 the trees of the forest, in the cedars of Lebanon ; in 
 the fertile vale, and in the everlasting hills, that 
 hand is ever to be traced : in the firmament of 
 heaven, with its myriads of stars, and with its
 
 AND HOW IS IT TO BE OBTAINED ? 79 
 
 planets ever rolling in their courses, the hand is 
 seen to be divine which made them all : in the 
 mighty deep, and in the devouring earthquake ; in 
 the loud, portending thunder, and in the terrific 
 lightning, and in the desolations of the tempest, 
 the hand of the Lord God Almighty is seen, moving 
 mysteriously indeed. 
 
 But not in these only is the divine power and 
 agency visible, but also in the still small voice of 
 conscience, warning us of sin and danger, of misery 
 and of death ; in the preaching of the Gospel ; in 
 the never-ending afflictions of life ; in the decay of 
 health ; in the blessings with which even this world 
 teems ; in sickness, wealth, and poverty, and in all 
 the multiplied, though varied, methods which He 
 employs to convert men to holiness, to purify their 
 conscience from dead works, and to " cleanse the 
 thoughts of their hearts by the inspiration of his 
 Holy Spirit," in all these things can the hand of 
 the Lord God omnipotent be discerned. 
 
 Hence the God of physical creation is the God 
 of grace, and in the mind of all who understand 
 the full design of revelation, what may be termed 
 the physical attributes of the Almighty appear in all 
 their grandeur and power, sweetly harmonizing with 
 the moral attributes of holiness, truth, goodness,
 
 80 BY WHOM IS CONVERSION GRANTED ? 
 
 mercy, and compassion, and all incessantly em- 
 ployed to influence us to become the sons of God, 
 the ransomed of Christ, so as to be suited for 
 dwelling "in the heavenly Jerusalem," and being 
 admitted into " the general assembly and church of 
 the first-born, which are written in heaven." 
 
 Having, then, seen that conversion is the gift of 
 God, and that without it no man can see God, it 
 remains for us to consider, How can we obtain this 
 mighty, this entire, change of heart and mind, of feel- 
 ing and of principle, on which the happiness of the 
 future depends ? how can we be enabled to " cast 
 off the works of darkness and to put on the armour 
 of light," so as to be emancipated from the dominion 
 of evil, to be delivered from earthly contamination ? 
 to which solemn inquiries the words of the Apostle 
 may afford the most suitable reply, viz. by " looking 
 unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." 
 (Heb. xii. 2.) By prayer, then, all these blessings 
 can be procured ; by prayer, the grace of the Holy 
 Spirit may be obtained, to destroy in us all those 
 evil natures, propensities, and passions, which till 
 now have carried us captive, and have held us under 
 their sway and bondage.
 
 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 81 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 
 
 WHO that has read the Bible can have any doubt, 
 that if he ask, he will receive ; that if he seek, he 
 will find ; that if he knock, it will be opened unto 
 bim ; that if he ask for the bread of life, it will 
 abundantly be given to him ; that if he thirst for 
 the wells of salvation, they will flow for him ; that 
 if he seek for life eternal, he will find it ; that if he 
 lift up his voice for understanding, if he seek her as 
 silver, and search for her as for hid treasure, who 
 can doubt, that then he will understand the fear of 
 the Lord, and find the knowledge of God ? who 
 can doubt, that the gate of heaven will be opened to 
 him who so knocketh as to prove that he is de- 
 termined it shall not be for ever closed upon him, 
 who can doubt this, when he calls to mind our 
 Lord's words, who, in teaching his disciples to pray, 
 stated to them, that though " a friend will not rise 
 and give to him that required! bread, yet that, 
 because of his importunity, he will rise and 
 
 E 3~
 
 82 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 
 
 give him as much as he needeth," who that reads 
 this, can fear that his own importunity for the 
 hread of life shall not procure for him as much as 
 he needeth ? Who can read what Christ said about 
 the unjust judge, and hear in mind his words, " that 
 men ought always to pray and not to faint," and 
 douht that his own prayers for newness of life will 
 be heard ? 
 
 The unjust judge feared not God, neither regarded 
 man. And there was a widow (Luke xviii.) who went 
 to him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary; " and 
 he would not for a while, but afterward he said 
 within himself, Though I fear not God nor regard 
 man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will 
 avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary 
 me." "And shall not God avenge his own elect, 
 which cry day and night unto him, though he bear 
 long with them ? I tell you that he will avenge them 
 speedily;" avenge them of their adversary the devil, 
 who so steadily and with such zeal endeavours to keep 
 them within the duress of the " strong man armed." 
 
 That which is intended here, is to teach us con- 
 stancy and perseverance in our requests for the 
 spiritual mercies which we desire. When we are 
 praying for strength against our foes, and against 
 our passions, which are our worst enemies, we must
 
 THE EFFICACY OF PEAYER. 83 
 
 be instant in prayer ; we must pray without ceasing 
 and not faint, we must tarry though the vision wait, 
 and then shall we not seek God's face in vain. 
 
 Christ by this parable shows what is the power 
 of importunity among men, who, even when uninflu- 
 enced by justice, equity, and the love of their fellow- 
 creatures, and equally uninfluenced by mercy and 
 compassion, will be swayed by importunity to do 
 what is just and equitable. 
 
 The judge feared not God, and as a consequence of 
 this, he regarded not man ; had he feared God, bis 
 religion would have taught him what was due to his 
 fellow-creatures, due to himself, and due to bis office, 
 which by his injustice he was bringing into discredit; 
 the cry was, Avenge me of mine adversary, do jus- 
 tice to me against him ; but for a while he would 
 not listen to ber. 
 
 Incessant prayer, however, can do much, for by 
 her continually troubling him, by her fixed purpose 
 never to rest, nor to let the judge rest, till she were 
 avenged, till justice were done to her, she obtained 
 a favourable decision from one who would willingly 
 have taken no notice of her, she being too poor to 
 further her cause by those means which influenced 
 unrighteous judges, and made it a proverb that the 
 balances of deceit were in their hands (Hosea xii.),
 
 84 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYFR. 
 
 as they had been in the times of the preacher, who 
 " saw under the sun the place of judgment, that 
 wickedness was there ; and the place of righteous- 
 ness, that iniquity was there." (Eccle. iii. 16.) 
 
 But notwithstanding the widow's poverty, and her 
 destitute condition, she having no friend to entreat 
 for her ; and notwithstanding the indifference of the 
 judge to his own character and reputation, yet by 
 importunity, by incessant prayer, by unwearied en- 
 treaty, she compelled him to listen to and to redress 
 her complaint. 
 
 Now all this is said by our Lord for the encou- 
 ragement of men, that they may pray fervently, con- 
 tinually, and with faith ; and especially is it intended 
 for the encouragement of those who wish to be de- 
 livered from every adversary which is warring against 
 their admission into the number of the true Israel- 
 ites of God. 
 
 " Hear what the unjust judge saith ;" he cannot, 
 he fully admits, any longer resist the prayer of the 
 widow, by which we are taught to conclude that 
 God cannot and will not resist the prayers of those 
 who truly call upon Him, for this is the import of 
 his own gracious question, " and shall not God 
 avenge his own elect ? " 
 
 What then, we repeat, is here taught us ? that if
 
 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 85 
 
 we pray without ceasing ; if we be resolved to have 
 the blessing ; if we will not suffer the angel to depart 
 till he have given us his benediction ; if we will not 
 give sleep to our eyes, nor slumber to our eyelids, 
 till we be converted, and thus avenged of our spiri- 
 tual adversary ; that if we will not be satisfied, till 
 we have been ransomed from the tyranny of sin, 
 and until Christ be to us the resurrection and the 
 life, so certainly shall we find rest unto our souls ; 
 so assuredly shall we become the sons of God, and 
 so undoubtedly shall the second death have no 
 power over us. 
 
 And why is this ? Because God has appointed 
 prayer to be the means of procuring his choicest 
 gifts; night and day must we therefore cry unto Him 
 for mercy; and at noonday our entreaties must, like 
 incense, ascend to heaven for the favour of God; and 
 then it will be seen, by the urgency, the frequency 
 and the faith of our prayer, that we value the bless- 
 ing. When the Almighty said to his people, " I 
 will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be 
 clean ; a new heart also will I give you, and a new 
 spirit will I put within you; and I will cause you to 
 walk in my statutes, and do them," He added, " I will 
 yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to 
 do it for them." (Ezek. xxxvi. 37.) That He would
 
 86 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 
 
 give them the blessing, was to he learnt hy the 
 vision of the valley of dry hones, which was to he 
 emblematical of their spiritual resurrection to life ; 
 and when there had been a noise, and behold a 
 shaking, and the bones came together, bone to 
 his bone ; and when the sinews and the flesh came 
 upon them, and when there was as yet no breath in 
 them, the Prophet was commanded to pray for it, 
 and to say, " Thus saith the Lord God; Come from 
 the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these 
 slain, that they may live;" and when he had prayed, 
 we read, that " breath came into them, and they 
 lived." 
 
 It was once well said, " that prayer is the safety of 
 all stations, and the consolation of all sorrows ; the 
 soul of piety, the support of faith, and the founda- 
 tion of all true religion ;" ' and who that ever found 
 it piercing the heavens, and arresting, as it were, the 
 attention of Jehovah himself, can doubt its power 
 to cause spiritual manna to drop down from the 
 clouds ? who can doubt its efficacy to procure the 
 " living bread, of which if a man eat he shall never 
 hunger, and the living waters" of which if he do but 
 drink "he never shall thirst" ? 
 
 If any one can doubt that prayer will effectually 
 obtain the blessings of spiritual life, let him but care-
 
 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 87 
 
 fully attend to the prayers offered to God at the de- 
 dication of the Temple ; which dedication was surely 
 to signify, or at least to be emblematical of, the 
 dedication of the heart and mind to God. 
 
 The answers to the prayer of dedication clearly 
 show that prayers are heard in heaven, especially 
 those prayers in which we implore blessings which 
 God delights to grant to his creatures, viz. holy 
 affections, spiritual desires, and heavenly faculties, 
 from which flow charity, gentleness, meekness, long- 
 suffering, goodness, faith unfeigned : these may well 
 be termed the best gifts of our heavenly Father, and 
 which He rejoices to bestow in the greatest abund- 
 ance upon his children. In answer to Solomon's 
 prayer, the Almighty said, " I have given thee a wise 
 and understanding heart, and I have also given 
 thee that thou hast not asked, both riches and 
 honour." 
 
 What encouragement is here afforded to us to 
 ask for a "wise and understanding heart;" to 
 beseech the God of heaven and earth to grant us 
 his grace, that we may be entirely conformed to 
 the image of his dear Son ! and moreover, how 
 does the grant of worldly riches, not asked for, 
 prove the wisdom of being "careful for nothing, 
 but in all things by prayer and supplication, with
 
 88 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 
 
 thanksgiving, making our requests known unto 
 God " ! how does this show the benefit of seeking 
 " the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness," as 
 the first, the last, the chief, the greatest, nay, the 
 sum of all blessings, in comparison with which 
 every earthly possession is but a shadow; every 
 temporal joy, vanity; and every worldly gratification, 
 vexation of spirit, in comparison, indeed, with which, 
 all other things are as unsubstantial as the world 
 itself! 
 
 None will deny that the wonderful judgment of 
 Solomon was the fruit of that " wise and understand- 
 ing heart" for which he prayed, and which, in 
 answer to prayer, was given to him : and shall we 
 hesitate to ask the same blessing, of the willing 
 Giver of every good and perfect gift? shall we 
 refuse to pray to God, to bestow upon us those 
 faculties whereby we may be enabled to inhabit a 
 "house not made with hands, eternal in the 
 heavens"? 
 
 The dedication of the Temple was well pleasing 
 to God, as emblematical, or indicative, of the dedi- 
 cation of the hearts of the people to Him ; their 
 prayer was accepted, as being the expression of 
 their desire that the Almighty would dwell with 
 his people, i. e . that He would " endue them with
 
 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 
 
 his Spirit, and enrich them with his heavenly 
 grace : " what the Ark contained, which was especially 
 valuable, was the law ; which law would be doubly 
 valuable when written, not with ink, but with the 
 spirit of the living God ; not on " tables of stone, 
 but on the fleshly tables of the heart." 
 
 In this manner ought the soul to be solemnly 
 offered to God ; and prayer to be made, that it may 
 be the resting-place of Jehovah. The material 
 Temple was but a type, a shadow of the spiritual 
 Temple, for the building of which earthly Temple 
 nothing was accepted which was not voluntarily 
 given ; which may instruct us to make a willing 
 surrender of ourselves to God, and truly to pray 
 for hearts to be dedicated entirely to his service, 
 and to his glory and honour. 
 
 The dedication of the Temple was most solemn ; 
 the bringing the Ark into the Temple was done with 
 extraordinary preparation and grandeur ; the Levites 
 with their sons, were arrayed in white linen (typical 
 of purity) ; having cymbals, psalteries, and harps, as 
 the work was of joy and gladness ; and with them one 
 hundred and twenty Priests, sounding with trumpets ; 
 and it " came even to pass, as the trumpeters and 
 singers were as one, to make one sound, to be heard 
 in praising and thanking the Lord," saying, " For
 
 90 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 
 
 he is good ; for his mercy endureth for ever : 
 that then the house was filled with a cloud" (the 
 symbol of God's presence), "even the house of the 
 Lord, so that the Priests could not stand to minister, 
 hy reason of the cloud : for the glory of the Lord 
 had filled the house." 
 
 And if, when the material Temple is dedicated to 
 the Lord, there be the symbol of his presence, and 
 the glory, how much more glorious shall the minis- 
 tration of the Spirit be, when that which is more 
 valuable than all the temples of the world, viz. the 
 soul of man, shall, by prayer, be brought as an 
 offering unto God ! that soul, to which the Gospel 
 of Christ having been a savour of life unto life, is 
 now, without reserve and without hesitation, willingly 
 offered, for the acceptance of Him who said to every 
 one that thirsteth, " Come ye to the waters, and he 
 that hath no money ; come ye, buy, and eat ; yea, 
 come, buy wine and milk without money and without 
 price." 
 
 Everything teaches us to pray for the spiritual 
 blessings which have been enumerated. The 
 presence of God by his symbol in the Temple is a 
 type of Christ's presence in the heart of man; a 
 symbol of his presence, wherever two or three are 
 met together, to pray to their God and Father in
 
 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 91 
 
 heaven. He is ever the minister of his Church, and 
 therefore ever present to hear, to accept, to hless ; 
 ever present to arouse, to convict, to convert; 
 present to take the spoils of his warfare, because 
 he came "from Edom, with dyed garments from 
 Bozrah, glorious in his apparel, travelling in the 
 greatness of his strength, mighty to save." He is 
 ever present, speaking in righteousness, and over- 
 coming all obstacles, since " He alone has trodden 
 the wine-press, for of the people there w s none 
 with him, therefore his own arm brought salvation 
 unto him," therefore will He overcome all our 
 adversaries, for the time of his redeemed is come ; 
 therefore let us pray and faint not let us pray, as 
 they who believe that "days without prayer are 
 days without hope." 
 
 It remains to be stated, that, if we hope to have 
 our prayers answered, we must indeed be willing to 
 dedicate ourselves fully to God's service ; we must 
 be ready to make a total surrender of everything 
 which stands between us and life eternal ; everything 
 which impedes our progress in religion, and which 
 militates against all " holy desires, all good coun- 
 sels, and all just works." The blessing God will 
 give, but He will be sought for it; of itself we 
 cannot expect it to come, any more than we can
 
 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 
 
 expect the earth spontaneously to give its increase : 
 it is in the moral, as it is in the material, world ; 
 there is a spiritual as well as an earthly husbandry; 
 the means of grace are in our hands ; the hope of 
 glory is set before us ; but if the chief means, 
 prayer, be not employed, and constantly employed, 
 the blessing will not be obtained, for he that soweth 
 sparingly reapeth sparingly, as well in religion as 
 in the products of the earth. 
 
 But since conversion is God's gift, it may be 
 thought that till that gift be communicated we can 
 do nothing, not even seek for it by prayer. To what, 
 however, does our Lord liken his own kingdom, but 
 to treasure hid in a field, which when a man has 
 found (which implies seeking for it) he hideth, and 
 for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, 
 and buyeth that field, since it is now of supreme 
 importance in his estimation ; and obtain it he will, 
 though it cost him the sacrifice of all and every 
 other possession in the world. 
 
 In this spirit, if we faint not, but pray to obtain 
 conversion, it will be granted to us ; but if we be 
 indifferent to it, so indifferent as to be waiting, 
 without prayer, till it come of itself, we show that 
 we really do not wish to be changed ; that we have 
 no desire to be raised from " the death of sin unto
 
 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 93 
 
 the life of righteousness." Unto him who asked what 
 he should do to obtain eternal life, our Lord said, 
 " If thou u'ilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou 
 hast, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and 
 conie and follow me." But alas ! how many, like this 
 young man, refuse to follow Christ, who yet wish 
 to have treasure in heaven, after quitting this 
 mortal scene ! 
 
 Man's salvation, however, is spoken of in the 
 Bible as depending upon his striving to " enter in 
 at the strait gate ;" and by the expression, " many 
 shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able," surely 
 they are meant who do it carelessly ; they seek 
 indeed, but not in sincerity ; they would escape the 
 doom of the lout, forgetting that this is but part of 
 the salvation which Christ came to secure to his 
 true followers : but there is yet something with them 
 more valuable than salvation ; some enjoyment, 
 some present gratification, some earthly possession, 
 of more importance than life eternal ; they are like 
 him of whom Christ spake, when He said, "so is 
 he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not 
 rich towards God." 
 
 We feel, it may be, that we are not converted, 
 and yet this feeling produces no disquietude, no 
 misery, no agony, no fervent persevering prayer. We
 
 94 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 
 
 know that without conversion no man can enter into 
 the kingdom of heaven ; and that, thus dying, he 
 must be lost ; we admit that death may overtake us, 
 ere we are become the children of God in reality ; 
 and that "now is the accepted time, now is the 
 day of salvation :" we know all this, and yet are 
 not alive to our great peril ; are not daily bearing 
 in mind that, when our sun is set, when our race is 
 run, the opportunity will be gone for ever of making 
 our calling sure. We are, it may be, enjoying the 
 world, and God's temporal blessings, and so thought- 
 less as to be comparatively happy ; and we thus go 
 on, making no efforts to obtain new hearts and new 
 minds : then is it not quite clear that there are other 
 things, which to us, in reality, are of greater conse- 
 quence than the favour of God, the love of Christ, 
 and the communion of the Holy Spirit ? 
 
 Did we but think of what we are, and of what we 
 soon shall be ; did we but reflect that time is passing 
 away, and that our opportunities of doing and re- 
 ceiving good are rapidly diminishing; did we but 
 reflect that heaven cannot be a state of happiness, 
 saving to those who have heavenly faculties, and 
 that these faculties must be obtained in this life, 
 and that prayer is the appointed means of obtaining 
 them ; did we but rightly reflect on time and eter-
 
 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 95 
 
 nity, on death and on that which will follow after 
 death ; did we but fully allow our minds to realise 
 the thought that all which now ministers to our 
 joy and to our pleasure, which raises our spirits 
 and excites our hopes, that all will very soon be as 
 though it never had been, oh! how ready should we 
 be to abandon the sins which do so easily beset us, 
 and how, like the importunate widow, should we be 
 unceasing in our prayers to have our requests 
 granted ! how should we strive, as in an agony, to 
 be avenged of our spiritual adversaries, how pray to 
 be visited by the Almighty, to have our minds en- 
 lightened, to have our natures changed, to have our 
 hearts cleansed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 
 to have our " consciences sprinkled from dead works 
 to serve the living God." 
 
 But it may be said that we do not thus feel, and 
 cannot thus feel, prior to having received the very 
 conversion of heart, which we are considering, and 
 which is declared to be the gift of God ; but there 
 are many things which we can do, and which we do 
 not do, with adequate energy : we can read the Word 
 of God, and thereby endeavour to ascertain his 
 will, and the purposes for which He created and 
 preserves us ; we can regularly attend the House of 
 God, and hear the blessed Gospel of salvation
 
 !)fi THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 
 
 preached to those who are in darkness and in the 
 shadow of death : moreover, we can peruse the works 
 of those who have written with power and skill, with 
 discrimination and with learning, with charity and 
 with a catholic spirit : we can also learn from the 
 experience of upright and holy men, of those who 
 having felt the all of gratification which the world 
 can offer, have found their capacities only satisfied 
 with the contemplation of the eternal and the infi- 
 nite, and their happiness only secured by their con- 
 version into the beautiful image of the Redeemer; 
 by their having received the impress of Him who 
 was the personification of integrity and purity : of 
 long-suffering and of charity, of gentleness, com- 
 passion, and kindness. 
 
 When any one wants rank, power, and promotion, 
 and knows that by entreaty he can obtain them, he 
 fails not to use all and every means to convey, to 
 the giver thereof, his heartfelt desire to procure 
 them ; and he who truly waits to be converted, will 
 not fail to beseech the Lord of all power and might 
 to grant him the grace of his heavenly benediction. 
 If, however, we be already converted, we must still 
 look to Christ, as not only the author, but the 
 finisher, of our faith ; we must pray that we fall 
 into no sin, nor run into any kind of danger ; that
 
 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 97 
 
 we may be like a city set on a hill ; that our light 
 may so shine that men, seeing our good works, may 
 glorify our Father in heaven ; that hy our conversa- 
 tion, our actions, our tempers, and deportment we 
 may recommend to others the principles of Chris- 
 tianity ; that they, perceiving its power to produce 
 in us high and upright motives of action, and to 
 suppress in us whatever is selfish, may be led to 
 embrace the same principles, and to apply mightily 
 to God to be brought under their complete and all- 
 effective influence. 
 
 When we thus adorn religion, we recommend it 
 powerfully to others ; and though many hate it, be- 
 cause it tacitly condemns them, yet, in time, a con- 
 sistent course of benevolence and piety, a career 
 marked by unceasing acts of disinterestedness, 
 followed by the animated joys thence arising, as well 
 as by those which flow from holiness and purity, 
 and the peaceable fruits of meekness and charity 
 all these may have an effect on some, who in searching 
 for happiness in this life have ever been deluded ; 
 who in pursuing after peace have never obtained it ; 
 who in panting after rest have ever been mocked ; 
 who in their every pursuit have reaped a harvest of 
 sorrow and uncertainty ; and who, finding mutability 
 stamped on all within their reach, have never been
 
 98 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 
 
 so completely disappointed as when they have 
 secured those very things, the possession of which 
 they believed would secure contentment. 
 
 On such persons as those now referred to, a 
 consistent course of religion, showing itself not less 
 in cheerfulness of temper than in mildness of dis- 
 position and kindness of manner, may have a most 
 beneficial result, and lead some to seek in religion 
 for that peace, those joys, and that rest, which they 
 in vain have yet panted after, and which the world 
 can neither give nor take away ; hence the benefit 
 which others may derive from our obtaining the in- 
 estimable blessing of conversion. 
 
 We must also pray that we may bring no disgrace 
 upon our profession, never forgetting the deep fall 
 of David, of Solomon, and Hezekiah ; nor the sins 
 of their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; 
 nor the offences of even the very followers of Christ 
 Jesus, such as those of Peter, John, and James. 
 
 He who would not only be blessed, but who has 
 in him a right spirit, will earnestly desire the 
 blessedness of others ; and having felt the need of 
 conversion, and having unceasingly prayed for it 
 for himself, will offer equally fervent prayers for all 
 who are near and dear to him, and for all mankind, 
 that they may be brought into the fold of the great
 
 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 90 
 
 Shepherd of Israel. Our example in leading men 
 to love whatever things are pure, lovely, and of good 
 report may do much, but when we would be in- 
 strumental in securing the salvation of others, we 
 must pray and faint not. 
 
 When we are anxious for the weal of those whom 
 we love in this world, whose earthly welfare rather 
 than our own we would promote, whose happiness 
 we would further at any cost of our own satisfactions, 
 whose enjoyments we would extend by all and every 
 means in our power ; then let us faint not, but pray 
 without ceasing unto the author and finisher of our 
 faith. 
 
 To wish for the salvation of others is good ; it is 
 a prayer, because it is the desire of the heart ; it 
 may not at first be reduced to words and uttered, 
 but the wish will soon be followed by the ardent 
 and oft-expressed prayer that the Almighty would 
 hear in heaven his dwelling-place ; and hearing, 
 answer and forgive ; and bless by the influence of 
 his Holy Spirit; bless by creating and making a 
 new heart in all whom we love, and who having 
 long been the tenderest objects of our regard, their 
 salvation is become needful for the completion of 
 our own happiness in this world. 
 
 Let us then pray and faint not, when we think of 
 
 F y
 
 100 THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER. 
 
 Him, the great intercessor, who stands between the 
 living and the dead ; let us take a censer and put 
 fire therein from off the altar, and put in incense, 
 and go quickly into the congregation, and fall down 
 before God, and say, " Spare thy people, O Lord, 
 and give not thy heritage to reproach ; spare thy 
 people whom thou hast redeemed with thy most pre- 
 cious blood ; deliver them from going down quickly 
 into the grave ; preserve them from the second 
 death: by thy baptism, fasting, and temptation, 
 spare thy people from blindness of heart, from pride, 
 and hypocrisy; by thine agony and bloody sweat, 
 spare them from all deadly sin, hatred, and malice ; by 
 thy cross and passion, redeem them from the deceits 
 of the world, the flesh, and the devil ; by thy death 
 and burial, spare them from all hardness of heart, 
 all false doctrine ; by thy glorious resurrection and 
 ascension, oh, spare them in all time of their tri- 
 bulation, in all time of their wealth, in the hour of 
 death, and in the day of judgment."
 
 THE PASSAGE FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. 101 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CAN THE TRUE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST KNOW 
 THAT THEY HAVE PASSED FROM. DEATH UNTO 
 LIFE ? 
 
 IT has been well remarked by a powerful historical 
 writer, that " Christianity, which seems to aim only 
 at the happiness of another life, also constitutes 
 man's blessedness in this ; " a truth the elucidation 
 of which is one of the main designs of this work ; 
 and which truth none will doubt, if they admit it to 
 be probable that, real Christians may know that 
 they have passed from death unto life ( 1 John iii. 
 14) ; since such knowledge must surely fill them 
 with peace and joy in believing. 
 
 Have any men ever attained this knowledge ? 
 and, if so, how have they attained it ? Yes, men 
 have attained it, and have made known to others 
 their attainment of it, in language the full import of 
 which none can mistake. The Apostle Paul, in 
 writing to the Eomans, said (viii. 16), "The Spirit 
 itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the 
 children of God ; " and he afterwards affirmed, " that
 
 102 THE PASSAGE FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. 
 
 the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to 
 be compared with the glory which shall be revealed 
 in us." He moreover said, in his own triumphant 
 language, "I am persuaded, that neither death, nor 
 life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor 
 things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor 
 depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to 
 separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord." 
 
 Indeed it can scarcely escape the observation of 
 an attentive reader, that all the Epistles of this 
 holy and happy man were written under the con- 
 viction that his own name was inscribed in the 
 book of life ; for even when lamenting the remain- 
 ing corruptions of his nature, by which another law 
 in his members was warring against the law of his 
 mind, yet he knew who 'would deliver him from 
 "the body of this death" (vii. 24); and therefore 
 he thanked God through Jesus Christ our Lord, 
 and he then added, " for the law of the Spirit of life 
 in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of 
 sin and death." 
 
 The manner in which he commenced his Epistles 
 is sufficient to prove that he was not hoping to be 
 adopted of God at some future time, but that he then 
 knew he was " a servant of Jesus Christ, called to
 
 THE PASSAGE FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. 103 
 
 be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God ;" 
 God being his witness that without ceasing he 
 always made mention in his prayers of those in 
 " Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints." 
 
 To the Corinthians he did not write in any doubt- 
 ful manner concerning his own spiritual state ; but 
 beautifully said, " Blessed be God, even the Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, 
 and the God of all comfort ; who comforteth us iu 
 all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort 
 them which are in any trouble, by the comfort where- 
 with we ourselves are comforted of God." (2 Cor. 
 i. 3, 4.) Here there is one who speaketh of some- 
 thing which already is his, and he tells us who it 
 was who conveyed to him this comfort ; for he says, 
 " as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our 
 consolation also aboundeth by Christ." (2 Cor. i. 5.) 
 
 So to the Ephesians he exultingly wrote, " Blessed 
 be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in 
 heavenly places in Christ" (i. 3) ; indeed his language 
 was ever that of thanksgiving for having received 
 an unspeakable blessing ; and even when a "pri- 
 soner of Jesus Christ" how touchingly could he 
 write unto "Philemon our dearly beloved, and fel- 
 low-labourer," and to the " beloved Apphia, and
 
 104 THE PASSAGE FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. 
 
 Archippus our fellow- soldier, and to the church in 
 thy house ;" and greet them in these terms, so ex- 
 pressive of the indwelling in his own heart of the 
 blessedness of the redeemed, " Grace to you, and 
 peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. (Philemon 3.) 
 
 But the Apostle Paul expressed himself not more 
 clearly on this point than did the heloved Apostle 
 John, who very holdly said, " We know that we have 
 passed from death unto life" (and he gives an ex- 
 cellent reason for this knowledge, viz.), " because we 
 love the brethren" (1 John iii. 14) ; which words 
 help us to understand when it is that the Spirit itself 
 beareth witness with our spirit " that we are the 
 children of God," viz. when we are living, as Christ 
 lived, a life of love and mercy. 
 
 Again, the same Apostle, in enforcing brotherly 
 love, admirably wrote, " My little children, let us not 
 love in word, neither in tongue ; but in deed and in 
 truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, 
 and shall assure our hearts before him." (1 John iii. 
 18, 1 9.) "And hereby we know that he abideth in us, 
 by the Spirit which he hath given us" (24). And in 
 chap. iv. 12, 13, we have a repetition of the same 
 blessed truth, that men may possess the knowledge of 
 being enrolled among the true followers of the Lamb
 
 THE PASSAGE FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. 105 
 
 of God : " If we love one another, God dwelleth in 
 us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we 
 that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he 
 hath given us of his Spirit." He had previously 
 though incidentally spoken of the happy state of 
 Christ's real children, when he said, " Behold what 
 manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, 
 that we should be called the sons of God!" "Be- 
 loved, now are we the sons of God ; and it doth not 
 yet appear what we shall be ; but we know that, when 
 he shall appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall 
 see him as he is" (iii. 1,2). In this strain the Epis- 
 tles were written, and they all fully testify to the 
 abundant joy of those who were filled "with the 
 peaceable fruit of righteousness ;" for they had not 
 received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but 
 they had " received the spirit of adoption, whereby 
 we cry Abba, Father" (Rom. viii. 15) ; and hence the 
 Apostle Paul strikingly said, " We knoiv, that, if our 
 earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we 
 have a building of God, a house not made with 
 hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Cor. v. 1.) 
 
 The happiness of the real followers of Christ was 
 a present and not a prospective happiness ; in life 
 they were filled with peace and joy in believing ; for 
 millions of worlds they would not have lost the 
 
 F 3
 
 106 THE PASSAGE FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. 
 
 peace of God which passeth understanding ; to them 
 to live was Christ. If Paul were in stripes, in im- 
 prisonments, in tumults, in labours, yet how trium- 
 phantly could he say, " as sorrowful, yet alway re- 
 joicing ; as poor, yet making many rich; as having 
 nothing, and yet possessing all things" (2 Cor. vi. 
 10): he had already learned to comprehended, "with 
 all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and 
 depth, and height ; and to know the love of Christ, 
 which passeth knowledge," and was filled with " all 
 the fulness of God." (Eph. iii. 18, 19.) His con- 
 versation was in heaven ; and in all his troubles 
 and persecutions he looked " for the Saviour, the 
 Lord Jesus Christ," who, he well knew, would change 
 his vile body, "that it may be fashioned like unto his 
 glorious body, according to the working whereby he is 
 able even to subdue all things unto himself." (Phil, 
 iii. 2J.) Hence with so much calmness, nay, with 
 such serene happiness, he could speak of his ap- 
 proaching death ; nothing moved by the anticipation 
 of the last conflict which was to precede it, the cer- 
 tainty of which conflict caused him to say, " For I 
 am now ready to be offered, and the time of my 
 departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, 
 I have finished my course, I have kept the faith : 
 henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righte-
 
 THE PASSAGE FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. 107 
 
 ousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall 
 give me at that day : and not to me only, hut unto all 
 them also that love his appearing." (2 Tim. iv. 6-8.) 
 
 It may, however, be objected, that few Christians 
 now obtain the knowledge that their sins are for- 
 given, and that their names are written in the book 
 of life, since the Spirit beareth not witness with 
 their spirits whereby they can cry Abba, Father : if 
 such an opinion should, unhappily, be true, it would 
 only prove that there are men who are satisfied with 
 something far below what the Almighty has con- 
 ferred, is conferring, and ever will, according to his 
 revealed Word, confer on all who are bent on obtain- 
 ing the full measure of that grace, and of those 
 spiritual blessings, which are the inheritance of the 
 redeemed of the Lord, of those who are come " unto 
 the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." 
 (Eph. iv. 13:) 
 
 It is indeed much to be feared, that but too many 
 consider heaven to be a state of blessedness which 
 is to be granted to them as a compensation for all 
 the sorrows and sufferings of this life ; instead of 
 looking upon it as the completion, the perfection of 
 that happiness, which is abundantly granted to all, 
 who, being " risen with Christ, seek those things 
 which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
 
 108 THE PASSAGE FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. 
 
 hand of God" (Col. iii. 1); to all who are "dead 
 indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord." (Rom. vi. 11.) 
 
 Unto such as are ever fighting the good fight of 
 faith ; who are true to themselves, and to their Lord, 
 the Spirit of God will ever hear witness with their 
 spirits that they are " the sons of God." In the 
 language of a learned writer (Bloomfield), "the Holy 
 Spirit, by his sanctifying grace on our hearts, con- 
 firms the testimony of our minds and consciences 
 that we are the children of God."
 
 WHEN AND HOW DOES MAX'S SPIRIT, ETC. 109 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 WHEX AXD HOW DOES MAX'S SPIRIT BEAR WITXESS 
 THAT HE IS A CHILD OF GOD ? 
 
 AT all times when a man is labouring with his 
 might to keep God's commandments, his own spirit 
 will testify that he is a child of God ; for, as the 
 Apostle John admirably affirms, "he that keepeth 
 his commandments, dwelleth in him, and he in him. 
 And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the 
 Spirit which he hath given us." (1 John iii. 24.) 
 
 Everyman truly in earnest will have the testimony 
 of his own conscience, now enlightened by God's 
 grace, that he is indeed a sincere follower of Christ 
 Jesus, and therefore that he has " been planted in 
 the likeness of his resurrection : knowing this, that 
 our old man is crucified with him, that the body of 
 sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should 
 not serve sin." (Horn. vi. 5, 6.) 
 
 With such knowledge, then, as this, who can be, 
 who ought to be, unhappy ? and such knowledge all 
 may attain, long ere Death comes, to remove them 
 from the church militant into the church triumphant.
 
 110 WHEN AND HOW DOES MAN'S SPIRIT BEAR 
 
 To those, however, who are only hoping to be saved 
 from the power and from the punishment of sin, 
 and who scarcely can be convinced that already 
 their past sins are blotted out, and that nothing 
 shall " separate them from the love of God, which 
 is in Christ Jesus our Lord," these questions may 
 fairly be put : Does not your growth in grace, and 
 increase of piety, your patient continuance in well- 
 doing, and your nearer resemblance to Christ, show 
 that you have " received a kingdom which cannot 
 be moved " ? Does not the realizing of God's pre- 
 sence, the abiding sense of his fatherly correction, 
 and daily communion with his Spirit, testify " that 
 the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly fur- 
 nished unto all good works"? (2 Tim. iii. 17.) 
 Does not the adding to faith virtue, and to virtue 
 knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to 
 temperance patience, and to patience godliness, 
 and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to bro- 
 therly kindness charity, does not this convince you 
 that the God of peace, " who brought again from 
 the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd 
 of the sheep, will make you perfect in every good 
 work to do his will, working in you that which is 
 well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ"? 
 And do not your ardent desires to persevere in
 
 WITNESS THAT HE IS A CHILD OF GOD ? Ill 
 
 righteousness; and your aspirations after holier 
 affections ; your gradual emancipation from worldly 
 customs; the diminishing effect of worldly in- 
 fluences ; the estrangement of the mind from what- 
 ever impedes you in your journey Zionward; the 
 alienation of the heart from the snares which here- 
 tofore militated against your best thoughts ; and the 
 casting away the sins which did so easily beset you ; 
 do not all these things prove that the good work 
 is begun in you, and will be perfected to the day 
 of Christ? 
 
 By all these things the spirit of men may bear 
 witness that they are "no more strangers and 
 foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and 
 of the household of God " (Eph. ii. 19) ; and there- 
 fore they may well be filled with "joy and peace 
 in believing." 
 
 The being willing to part with that which is 
 dearer than the right eye, or more valuable than the 
 right hand, rather than offend against God ; the 
 seeing that to be wrong, which once and for long 
 you believed, and wished to believe, was right ; the 
 selling all that you have to buy the field in which is 
 hid treasure ; the acting up to your new and clearer 
 views of duty ; the ceasing to parley with corrupt 
 affections and inclinations ; and your strict adherence
 
 112 WHEN AND HOW DOES MAN'S SPIRIT BEAR 
 
 to your rule ; assuredly are manifestations that " the 
 God of peace is working in you that which is well 
 pleasing in his sight." 
 
 The increasing portion of time which you give to 
 visiting the afflicted ; the greater exertions which 
 you make to awaken the thoughtless to a solemn 
 consideration of what they are, and what they soon 
 will he; and the more frequent conversations into 
 which you enter, to rouse or to encourage, to warn 
 or to console, those whom you know and love, and 
 who are committed to your care, these things show 
 that, " he who commanded light to shine out of 
 darkness, hath shined in your hearts to give you 
 the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in 
 the face of Jesus Christ." 
 
 The never-ending efforts which are made to con- 
 ciliate others, to obtain their good will ; and then to 
 make that good will a moral means wherehy to 
 instil into their minds, as the gentle dew of heaven, 
 holy thoughts, good counsels, righteous principles, 
 these efforts declare your " fellowship in the gospel, 
 your consolation in Christ, your fellowship of the 
 Spirit, and the fulfilling of your joy." (Phil, ii.) 
 
 The daily lessening of your temporal enjoyments, 
 and even wants, many of them heing artificial, that 
 your means of doing good may increase with your
 
 WITNESS THAT HE IS A CHILD OF GOD ? 113 
 
 years, and that your deeds of beneficence may be 
 more numerous, as the time of your sojourning upon 
 earth is rapidly passing away ; and the distributing 
 to the afflicted members of Christ's church, to those 
 who have enjoyed better days, but who in all their 
 privations have stood spiritually unscathed by 
 adversity ; also the entire dedication of every faculty 
 to God's service, and your increasing desire to do 
 all the good in your power to the greatest number 
 of persons, this shows that the good work is pro- 
 ceeding unto perfection. 
 
 The tears of joy which are shed when any one is 
 converted by your instrumentality ; when, through 
 your prayers and conversation, in any one instance, 
 a multitude of sins may have been covered ; your 
 unwearied prayers that your children may be trees 
 of righteousness planted of the Lord ; and that the 
 years of your parents may not end till their sins are 
 forgiven ; that their sun may not go down till their 
 transgressions are blotted out ; that they may indeed 
 be " spared a little ere they go hence and be no more 
 seen," spared till, from the four winds of heaven, 
 breath shall be breathed upon them that they may 
 live ; these tears and prayers afford fresh evidence 
 that the seed sown hath not fallen upon thorns, 
 but that it is bringing forth fruit unto perfection.
 
 114 WHEN AND HOW DOES MAN'S SPIRIT BEAR 
 
 Your incessant pleading with the Holy Ghost, 
 and your intercessions with the Lamb which standeth 
 upon mount Zion, when you pray for " all sorts 
 and conditions of men ; " for the oppressor and the 
 oppressed ; for all that " profess and call themselves 
 Christians ; " for your own nearest and dearest con- 
 nections, that all may be saved with an everlasting 
 salvation ; that they, with whom you dwell upon 
 earth, may be united to you in the bonds of a 
 friendship which shall be as holy as it shall be 
 lasting ; that you alone may not Jje partakers of the 
 kingdom of heaven, but that with them unitedly 
 you may hold communion with the Father of lights ; 
 that in your sojourning upon earth you may 
 strengthen and build up each other in all that is 
 pure, disinterested, and heavenly ; this will make 
 palpable, that like " as the hart panteth after the 
 water-brooks," so your souls pant after the living 
 God. 
 
 Your supplications now are, that they who stand 
 may be strengthened ; that the weak-hearted may 
 receive help and comfort ; that God would raise up 
 them that fall; that He would beat down Satan 
 under your feet. Your aspirations are after greater 
 purity, closer conformity to Christ ; and thus you 
 become " enriched in everything, in all utterance, and
 
 WITNESS THAT HE IS A CHILD OF GOD ? 115 
 
 in all knowledge ; even as the testimony of Christ 
 was confirmed in you : so that ye come behind in no 
 gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ : who shall also confirm you unto the end." 
 (1 Cor. i. 5-8.) 
 
 Formerly you believed that man could repent 
 when he liked, and turn to God by an effort of his 
 own will ; and that he was far from being so sinful 
 and so degenerate as by many he is described to be ; 
 but now you are conscious that all men are liable 
 to fall into sin, prone to run into danger; that the 
 heart of man is deceitful above all things and des- 
 perately wicked, that the " frailty of man without 
 God cannot but fall ;" and you address your hea- 
 venly Father saying, " Keep, we beseech thee, O 
 Lord, thy Church with thy perpetual mercy ; deliver 
 us by thy help from all things hurtful, and lead us 
 to all things profitable to our salvation :" and your 
 clearer views of man's Fall, and man's utter in- 
 ability of himself to think, to desire or to do good, 
 manifest not only an increase of knowledge, but of 
 higher attainments in religion, in faith, in hope, and 
 in charity. 
 
 At times you are depressed, because fearful that 
 with so many remaining corruptions of human na- 
 ture you cannot truly be Christians ; yet still you
 
 116 WHEN AND HOW DOES MAN'S SPIRIT BEAR 
 
 hunger and thirst after righteousness; it is your 
 meat and drink to do the will of God ; all lower 
 desires are decaying ; how cheerless to you now are 
 earthly satisfactions; how vain all sublunary j oys ; 
 how is everything abandoned which did harass and 
 hinder you ; and how is every weight laid aside, and 
 the sin which did so easily beset you ; how temperate 
 you now are in all things, striving for the mastery ; 
 and how does all this bear witness that the man of 
 God, in you, will be "thoroughly furnished unto all 
 good works." (2 Tim. iii. 17.) 
 
 Indeed your own conclusions are often such as 
 the Apostle arrived at when he said, "Wherefore, we 
 receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us 
 have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, 
 with reverence and godly fear." (Heb.xii. 28.) And 
 this indeed is the aim of your lives, and often you 
 reap the reward of having sown early and late ; of 
 having, in season and out of season, exhorted with 
 all long suffering, of having thrown your bread upon 
 many waters, which " after many days hath not re- 
 turned void unto you ;" and you are convinced " that 
 the Lord will not forsake his people for his great 
 name's sake, because it hath pleased the Lord to 
 make them his people." (I Sam. xii. 22.) 
 
 Formerly you lived to yourselves, and for selfish
 
 WITNESS THAT HE IS A CHILD OF GOD ? 117 
 
 ends ; but to the weak you are now become weak, 
 that you may gain the weak ; you are made all 
 things to all men, that you may save some ; you 
 now rejoice with them that rejoice; the sympathies 
 of human nature are no longer dormant, or simply 
 confined to the narrow circle of your families and 
 friends, but are excited by the sight of a world 
 lying in sin and darkness ; and especially by the 
 sight of those who are hurrying, without any losses 
 or any afflictions to arrest them, in their rapid 
 career to that doom, where there is rest neither day 
 nor night ; and your anxiety for the weal of others, 
 and for their salvation from ruin, may well indicate 
 that the love of Christ dwells richly in you. 
 
 The greater renunciation of self, which is manifest 
 in your being kindly affectioned to one another, in 
 honour preferring one another, is a fair test of true 
 religion : as is also the no longer minding high 
 things, but condescending to men of low estate ; the 
 recompensing to no man evil for evil, and not 
 avenging yourselves, but giving place unto wrath, 
 is the result of having " by the mercies of God 
 presented your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, accept- 
 able unto God : " and thus the entire man, with all 
 his affections, imbibes the leaven of the Gospel, till 
 it affects him completely, influencing his words, his
 
 118 WHEN AND HOW DOES MAN'S SPIRIT BEAR 
 
 desires, and his deeds ; and bringing him into the 
 image of Christ, in all its force and amplitude, in 
 all its grace and beauty. Hence it may well be 
 affirmed, that " light is sown for the righteous, 
 and gladness for the upright in heart." (Ps. xcvii. 
 
 11.) 
 
 The man of God takes no anxious thought for 
 the morrow, no anxious thought what he shall eat, 
 or what he shall drink, or wherewithal he shall be 
 clothed ; things which heretofore far too often en- 
 gaged his thoughts when he was forgetting that the 
 life is more than meat, and the body than raiment ; 
 now, however, his conviction is, that the robe of 
 Christ's righteousness is the only apparel to be 
 coveted ; and that a man's life consisted! not in the 
 abundance of the things which he possesseth, but 
 that it consists in calm reflection on what we are, 
 what we ought to be, and Avhat we still may be ; 
 that it consists in preferring eternal joys to the 
 transitory pleasures of sense ; and in the persuasion 
 that wealth and power, talent and philosophical 
 wisdom, are not the constituent parts of a man's 
 life, but only adjuncts of a pilgrimage through a 
 world the fashion of which is passing away. 
 
 Blessed, thrice blessed, are they who thus think, 
 and feel, and live ; "joy and gladness" shall be in
 
 WITNESS THAT HE IS A CHILD OF GOD ? 119 
 
 their dwellings, " thanksgiving, and the voice of 
 melody." (Is. li. 3.) 
 
 In times past, they were afraid of a man that 
 shall die ; afraid of his censure, his wrath, his power 
 to do evil ; fearing every day, as is the sad lot of mil- 
 lions, " because of the fury of the oppressor ; " but 
 now they fear Him only "who hath stretched forth 
 the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth " 
 (Is. li. 13), since high and holy fears have taken the 
 place of fears which began and ended in weakness, 
 in selfishness, and in irreligion. 
 
 With those who possess the Word of God's grace > 
 and " have an inheritance among them that are 
 sanctified," there is the habit of making a conscience 
 of everything ; they readily give up all gratifica- 
 tions which make the Spirit of God to retire, with- 
 drawing from things which, though innocent in 
 themselves, diminish the desire to pray ; they take 
 good heed, lest their " liberty become a stumbling- 
 block unto them that are weak ; " and, in the spirit 
 of the Apostle, they determine to do nothing which 
 tends to the hindrance of the weaker bretliren ; and 
 thus they have an earnest of the goodness of God, 
 who will so " replenish them with the grace of his 
 Holy Spirit, that they may always incline to his 
 will and walk in his way."
 
 J20 ADDITIONAL TESTS BY WHICH A MAN'S 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ADDITIONAL TESTS BY WHICH A MAN'S SPIRIT 
 BEARETH WITNESS THAT HE IS A CHILD OF 
 GOD. 
 
 OTHER evidences there are to which men can appeal, 
 to enable them to ascertain whether they are already 
 walking in the way of life everlasting; and they 
 are here specified by way of showing that there is 
 no part of God's commandments which good men 
 ever intentionally or habitually neglect ; but that it 
 is their delight to observe them all, to the utmost 
 of their power, well knowing that they were re- 
 deemed from dead works to serve the living God. 
 Hence another source of happiness to them is the 
 frequent perusal of God's holy Word ; the finding 
 that " the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing 
 the heart ;" that the law of the Lord is an undefiled 
 law, converting the soul, which happiness is aug- 
 mented by feeling, that " the judgments of the Lord 
 are true and righteous altogether," that they are
 
 SPIRIT BEARETH WITNESS, ETC. 121 
 
 " more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine 
 gold ; sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb : " 
 hence the converted, instead of receding, or being 
 weary in well-doing, behold " with open face as in 
 a glass the glory of the Lord, and are changed into 
 the same image from glory to glory, as by the 
 Spirit of the Lord." 
 
 When they were under the influence of things 
 secular, what related to time only received their 
 attention ; but since eternity, and whatever is in- 
 cluded in that solemn word, has engaged their 
 attention, they exhibit a manifest preference of re- 
 ligious writings to works of art and learning, of 
 talent and of genius, which, however calculated to 
 exercise the mind, and to purify the taste, do but 
 little to amend the heart and to chasten the feelings. 
 Their habits are now fixed, one of which is, the 
 making all science, and all knowledge, and all 
 tongues, subsidiary to the science of religion; esteem- 
 ing the power to tell the number of the stars, to 
 measure their distances, and to understand their 
 laws, as secondary to the ability of comprehending 
 so much as is revealed of the omniscience, omnipo- 
 tence, omnipresence, eternity, and goodness of Him, 
 who though He made " darkness his secret place, 
 his pavilion round about with dark water," yet
 
 122 ADDITIONAL TESTS BY WHICH A MAN*S 
 
 has emphatically declared, " to this man will I 
 look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite 
 spirit, and trembleth at my word." (Is. Ixvi. 2.) 
 
 Happy, indeed, are they who thus value all 
 secular wisdom and all scientific pursuits as only 
 good when conducive to the reverence of the First 
 Great Cause, and also conducive to the well-being 
 of those creatures which are the workmanship of 
 God's hands; they have then in themselves an 
 evidence that they have built their house on a 
 rock, which will not fall when the rain descends, 
 and when the floods come; for truly they have 
 built on the rock which has withstood the shocks of 
 time and of every tempest, which has triumphed 
 over principalities and powers ; triumphed, not now 
 to be overcome, stood, not now to fall ; sunk 
 deeply, not now to be blasted by the fury of the 
 tempest. 
 
 The real Christian has learnt to value all things 
 according to their proper estimate ; he does not now 
 believe that things temporal and evanescent are 
 worth more thought, and deserving more considera- 
 tion than things durable, than those riches which 
 render not only himself wealthy, but which enable 
 him to be instrumental in making all others equally 
 wealthy, who are willing to partake of them, and to
 
 SPIRIT BEARETH WITNESS, ETC. J 23 
 
 receive at his hands those treasures which give 
 present joy, and the promise of joy eternal ; and 
 when thus occupied, a good man is conscious that 
 God is pouring upon him the " continual dew of 
 his hlessing." 
 
 The conduct of most men regarding their children 
 is a test of their principles and character ; a righ- 
 teous man knows whether he is more anxious for 
 their eternal welfare, than for their temporal pros- 
 perity ; " in all things, by prayer and supplication 
 with thanksgiving," he makes his requests known 
 unto God, and prays, " that the Almighty would 
 endue them with his Spirit, enrich them with his 
 grace, embrace them with the arms of his mercy, 
 and bring them to life everlasting : " he well knows 
 that God will provide for the temporal wants of his 
 children, and he is now equally convinced that, in 
 answer to prayer, all things will be granted which 
 will tend to their weal in time and in eternity; and 
 though friends be few, and animosities be rife ; the 
 health fail, and earthly possessions vanish ; " although 
 the fig-tree should not blossom, neither should fruit 
 be in the vines ; the labour of the olive should 
 fail, and the fields should yield no meat; the 
 flock should be cut off from the fold, and there 
 should be no herd in the stalls: yet he can rejoice 
 
 G 2
 
 124 ADDITIONAL TESTS BY WHICH A MAN'S 
 
 in the Lord, and joy in the God of his salvation." 
 (Hab. iii. 17, 18.) 
 
 Admirable religion, indeed, which enables you to 
 trust yourselves, your children, your friends to 
 God's care, under the firm belief, that He who has 
 ministered seed to the sower will both minister 
 bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, 
 and increase the fruits of your righteousness ; that 
 He who hath clothed the grass of the field will not 
 forsake you ; and as a consequence, that, having food 
 and raiment, you ought therewith to be contented ; 
 surely this significantly bespeaks that you are 
 walking worthy of the vocation wherewith you are 
 called ; that you are continuing in the faith grounded 
 and settled ; and that you are not moved from the 
 hope of the Gospel, but are increasing in the know- 
 ledge of God. 
 
 If any one would, indeed, know what spirit he is 
 of, he may ascertain it by the fact that he begins no 
 work or conversation without first asking God's 
 blessing ; and that he constantly watches the sug- 
 gestions of the heart, to ascertain the motives of his 
 conduct, and to see if he be influenced by lurking 
 self-seeking, or by the love of his fellow-creatures. 
 Let him also ascertain what are his thoughts and 
 feelings respecting the brethren in Christ ; ask, Is he
 
 SPIRIT BEARETH WITNESS, ETC. 125 
 
 partial to their society ? Does he respect their per- 
 sons, and is it ever his desire that their characters 
 for integrity, for candour, honour, singleness of 
 rnind, and high and holy motives of action, may he 
 apparent to all men ? that they may shine as a city 
 set on a hill ? If these things exist in him he has 
 that which well betokens the spirit of Ms Lord and 
 Master. 
 
 In all good men there is the heartfelt desire that 
 the ministers of religion, who stand between the 
 porch and the altar, may have their hands strength- 
 ened; that they may be illuminated " with true 
 knowledge and understanding of God's Word, that 
 both by their preaching and living" they may 
 adorn the doctrines of the Gospel; that they may 
 faithfully speak God's Word, whether men will hear 
 or forbear ; that, as true watchmen in Israel, they 
 may warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save 
 his life; that they may not cry, Peace, peace, where 
 there is no peace, nor allow men to hurry to perdi- 
 tion while believing themselves to be in a state of 
 salvation ; but that as a shepherd seeketh out his 
 sheep, " when they are scattered," they, the ministers 
 of Christ, may seek out the sheep, " which have been 
 scattered in the cloudy and dark day ; that they may 
 bring again that which was driven away, and bind
 
 J26 ADDITIONAL TESTS BY WHICH A MAN'S 
 
 up that which was broken, and strengthen that 
 which was sick, that the flock may be saved, and 
 that they may be no more a prey." Such desires, 
 such fervent wishes of the heart, for the success of 
 Christ's ministers, are pleasing tests that men have 
 put on the armour of light ; " that the redeemed 
 are coming behind in no gift, but that the God of 
 all grace hath called them unto his eternal glory; 
 they being born again, not of corruptible seed, but 
 of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth 
 and abideth for ever." 
 
 An additional proof that men are already gathered 
 into the fold of the Great Shepherd is to be found 
 in the augmented and still augmenting exertions, 
 which, in unison with their prayers, are made to 
 place in the hands of the Jew and the Greek, the 
 bond and the free, the barbarian and the Scythian, 
 the glorious Gospel of Christ : what was done is not 
 felt to be enough ; more must be done, and more 
 is done ; greater exertions are made ; larger portions 
 of their possessions are contributed; and others 
 likewise are brought to aid in the great work, in 
 causing the light to shine where there was no solace 
 in sickness, nor consolation in pain, no support in 
 death, no hope beyond the grave, because no Saviour 
 was known, and therefore none applied to for re-
 
 SPIRIT BEARETH WITNESS, ETC. 127 
 
 demptiou ; no Holy Ghost addressed, in prayer for 
 conversion of heart. That this sad state, however, 
 may not continue, but that there may he support 
 for the weary and consolation for the heavy laden, 
 and that there may be hope beyond the grave, the 
 prayers of the righteous are unceasingly offered to 
 God in behalf of the heathen ; and exertions suitable 
 to those prayers being made, the heart of him who 
 thus prays and acts is filled with peace and joy in 
 believing, and he goes on his way rejoicing ; for he is 
 conscious that he is fulfilling the law, having put on 
 the Lord Jesus ; and becoming daily more like his 
 blessed Master ; possessing in a greater degree the 
 desire to live as He lived, for the benefit of others ; 
 he is persuaded" that God " will prevent him and 
 further him with his continual help," since all his 
 works are begun, continued, and ended for the 
 glory and by the power of Him who " proclaims 
 liberty to the captives, giving beauty for ashes, the 
 oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for 
 the spirit of heaviness." (Is. Ixi. 1, 3.) 
 
 The growing attachment to religious ordinances, 
 as a means of grace, is another test of a man's real 
 principles and character; for none but the true 
 servants of God can find " how amiable are the dwell- 
 ings of the Lord of Hosts ; " none but the soul of
 
 128 ADDITIONAL TESTS BY WHICH A MAN'S 
 
 such an one " hath a desire, a longing to enter into 
 the courts of the Lord ;" his heart and flesh rejoice 
 in the living God ; to him one day in God's courts 
 is better than a thousand, and he prefers being a 
 door-keeper in God's house, to dwelling in the 
 tents of ungodliness. He rejoices when his friends 
 say, " We will go into the house of the Lord, our 
 feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem ;" and 
 he responds to their invitations when he says, " O 
 pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper 
 that love thee ; peace be within thy walls, and pros- 
 perity within thy palaces." It is not grievous to 
 him to be thus employed at all times, much less is 
 it grievous to be so employed on the Sabbath day ; 
 which he truly keeps holy, calling it " a delight, 
 the holy of the Lord, honourable," and honouring 
 Him, " not doing his own w,ays, nor finding his own 
 pleasure, nor speaking his own words ; " and not 
 finding the services of religion to be wearisome, but 
 most refreshing to the soul. By him now there is 
 the banishment from the mind of secular thoughts, 
 and the devoting the Sabbath to holy exercises, to 
 self-examination, to reading God's Word, to in- 
 structing children or dependants in the principles 
 of Christ's religion; to cultivating that charity 
 which suffereth long and is kind, that heavenly
 
 SPIRIT BEARETH WITNESS, ETC. 129 
 
 principle which, when prophecies shall fail, when 
 tongues shall cease, when knowledge shall vanish 
 away, shall remain in the redeemed for ever and 
 ever. 
 
 In not repining at losses, sickness, or any other 
 adversity, or by reason of the declining friendship 
 of those once concerned in your welfare, and whose 
 regard was a source of much enjoyment; but being 
 tranquil by knowing that your light affliction, which 
 is (comparatively) " but for a moment, worketh for 
 you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
 glory;" in this there is the assurance that you have 
 already passed from death unto life ; as also in not 
 envying other men's prosperity ; in using this world 
 as not abusing it ; in being less excited than formerly 
 by the moving events of the world ; if poor, being 
 satisfied, if so be that you are rich in good works ; 
 if wealthy, considering yourselves to be but simply 
 stewards of Him whose is the silver and the gold ; 
 in the diminished fear of death; and in the con- 
 fidence that you shall fear no evil, when you walk 
 through the valley of the shadow of death, that 
 valley already trodden by so many of your friends, 
 the companions of your youth, and the desired and 
 hoped-for stay of your declining years; all these 
 things abundantly signify that already Christ is to 
 
 G 3
 
 130 ADDITIONAL TESTS, ETC. 
 
 you a "refuge from the storm, and a shadow from 
 the heat," and you may well be convinced, that He 
 will swallow up death in victory that, having waited 
 for Him, He will save you, because you are glad and 
 rejoice in his salvation.
 
 DOUBTS AND ANXIETIES, ETC. 131 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DOUBTS AND ANXIETIES OF SINCERE MEN- 
 REMOVED. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING all that has been advanced on 
 this head to enable conscientious men to ascertain 
 whether they are or are not actually the servants 
 of Christ, there are some who, it may be, are still 
 doubtful whether they have truly the love of God 
 in them ; for often when they would do good, evil 
 is present. Let them then compare themselves with 
 what they were years ago ; let them consider their 
 former indifference to things holy and upright, their 
 exceeding love of those pleasures which they now 
 esteem but lightly, and which they try altogether to 
 abandon ; let them likewise bear in mind how great 
 is their gratification when they hear of the good 
 which is being done in the world, and when they find 
 those to be thinking aright, feeling aright, and doing 
 aright, in whose welfare they have a deep interest. 
 
 Others there are who believe, or fear, that all is 
 not well with them, because they go on but slowly, 
 making only slight advances in religious knowledge :
 
 132 DOUBTS AND ANXIETIES 
 
 gloomy views are theirs, because they do not always 
 feel delight in the ways of religion ; hopes and ap- 
 prehensions alternately affect them ; they have no 
 abiding sense of God's presence and of the witness 
 of his Spirit ; they are not filled, as many are, with 
 joy and peace in believing ; they have not always 
 found the ways of religion to be ways of pleasantness ; 
 fears and misgivings, and anticipations of evil, beset 
 them continually ; they feel but little spontaneous 
 lifting-up of the heart to God in secret prayer in- 
 deed, prayer itself is sometimes wearisome, and their 
 devotions almost lifeless. 
 
 It is indeed a common thing for the best men to 
 feel that the mind is never fixed ; that it continueth 
 not in one stay ; that, like a broken bow, it starts 
 aside ; that the most trifling things can and do 
 withdraw the attention, even when in God's house, 
 from the holy and graceful character of Christ ; and 
 thus sincere men write bitter things against them- 
 selves, and their souls " refuse to be comforted." 
 
 But if there were no love of God in the heart, 
 would there be depression of spirits in men because 
 they themselves are no better than they are ? would 
 there be grief that they make so little attainment in 
 holiness, vexation of spirit that they cannot com- 
 pletely overcome the world, sorrow that they are
 
 OF SINCERE MEN REMOVED. 133 
 
 not more holy, distress of mind because they can- 
 not closely follow Christ's example ? would there 
 be pain because their tempers are not milder, their 
 dispositions more placable ? would there be disquie- 
 tude because the light of God's countenance does 
 not always shine upon them ? and would there be 
 agony because they are not what they wish to be, 
 and what they gladly would be ? 
 
 All these sorrows and griefs, all this disquietude 
 and agony, instead of being so many proofs that 
 the love of God is not in them, are palpable evi- 
 dences that they have made far greater progress in 
 piety, far greater advances in religion, and that they 
 have far more of the spirit of God influencing them, 
 than they ever yet believed or imagined themselves 
 to have. 
 
 To hate sin is good, to avoid sin and evil-doers 
 is better, and to walk closely in the footsteps of 
 Christ Jesus is still better; to love the brethren 
 because they are the brethren, and not from any 
 worldly feeling, or from the hope of any earthly ad- 
 vantage, is a test that the work of Christ in the 
 heart is not only begun, but hath taken deep root ; 
 and bespeaks that it will be continued and ended 
 by the influence of Him who first implanted in it 
 holy aspirations.
 
 134 DOUBTS AND ANXIETIES 
 
 Eefiection and calm thought, prayer and self-exa- 
 mination, will do much to give good men right 
 views on these points, and enable them to form an 
 accurate estimate of themselves, and of their actual 
 condition ; yet some believe that they are never so 
 rightly minded, never acting so consistently with 
 the spirit of Christianity, as when they are thinking 
 ill of themselves, believing ill of themselves, and 
 writing bitter things against themselves condemn- 
 ing equally all they do, all they say, all they think, 
 and all they desire ; and thus their souls refuse 
 to be comforted ; they " remember God and are 
 troubled; they complain and their spirit is over- 
 whelmed : " but surely it cannot be right that they 
 should always be thinking only of their siufulness, 
 their depravity, their cupidity, pride, and hatred ; 
 there are better things than these to think of, far 
 better things than these to dwell on ; and which, if 
 thought on and cultivated, yield the fruits of peace, 
 joy, long-suffering, gentleness, patience, meekness, 
 godliness, brotherly love, piety, and purity ; and 
 fruits like these ought to yield comfort and happi- 
 ness; and this happiness ought to be enjoyed, yea, 
 and enjoyed as the gift of God's Spirit. 
 
 If any have enjoyed, and are enjoying, the happi- 
 ness referred to, it is not wise in them to diminish
 
 OF SINCERE MEN REMOVED. 135 
 
 its full effect by any gloomy and melancholy anticipa- 
 tions that they may not always equally possess it ; 
 for how can they know that they may not always be 
 as happy as heretofore in the love of Christ ? how 
 can they tell that their present joy will suffer dimi- 
 nution '? how tell but that it may be increased ? 
 how be confident that, before their happiness is on 
 the wane, their spirits may no longer inhabit a world 
 of sin and misery ? how can they know but that, in 
 a very short time, they may be placed beyond the 
 power of falling into sin, and of running into any 
 kind of danger, because placed beyond the grave ? 
 
 Let not, then, the followers of Christ think only 
 of the evils of their nature ; but let them reflect 
 also on the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in their 
 hearts, if so be that they are his temple ; let them 
 remember God, and not be troubled ; let them 
 rejoice while they can rejoice ; let them joy because 
 God will continue to " pour water on him that is 
 thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground ; " and 
 " then shall they know, if they follow on to know 
 the Lord," that " they who wait upon him shall 
 renew their strength." 
 
 Let religion have its proper effect on your minds, 
 if ye be Christ's ; let the buoyancy of your spirits, 
 the cheerfulness of your tempers, the bright expres-
 
 136 DOUBTS AND ANXIETIES 
 
 sion of your countenance, and the animation of your 
 manners, all declare, with a force that cannot be 
 misunderstood, that your minds are no longer over- 
 whelmed, but that the love of God is shed abroad 
 in your hearts ; that this love is not only cheering 
 you, but is also exciting you to all that is pure 
 and benevolent, and leading you to pray for others 
 to possess the pearl of great price, to partake of 
 the same confidence, and to enjoy the dew of God's 
 heavenly blessing ; so that the air may bring on its 
 wing, to them as to yourselves, inspirations of 
 happiness from God, and the sky minister to holy 
 feelings of devotion, and the earth become also 
 to their perceptions vocal in its thanksgiving to 
 God, and the mighty waters send into their ears 
 voices of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord God 
 Almighty. ' 
 
 When thus you feel, all things of earth and air, 
 of sea and sky, administering to your happiness, 
 because speaking God's praise, then will you under- 
 stand the ecstatic feelings which religion produced 
 in the Psalmist, which prompted him to call upon 
 " angels and archangels, and the sun and moon, the 
 stars and light, the heavens and the waters which 
 were above the heavens, fire and hail, snow and 
 vapour, wind and storm, mountains and all hills, to
 
 OF SINCERE MEN REMOVED. 137 
 
 praise the Lord." If any have a right to be happy, 
 they are they who in religion have found a remedy 
 for the various ills of life ; they are they who, being 
 converted into Christ's faith, possess the sources of 
 real and unfading joy ; theirs is now an imperish- 
 able crown ; they have built upon that rock which 
 the wide waste of waters shall not move, nor the 
 tempests of the world shake, nor the dominion of 
 evil invade ; they have been redeemed by the Lamb 
 which was slain, but which now standeth on Mount 
 Zion ; they have been buried with Christ unto 
 death ; they are dead unto sin ; and as their Lord 
 rose quickly from the dead, and ascended into 
 heaven, so are their souls raised from death, so are 
 their minds ascended unto his Father and their 
 Father, unto his God and their God. Their hearts 
 and their treasure are in heaven, therefore let them 
 no longer refuse to be comforted, but let them rejoice 
 with joy unspeakable and full of glory ; let them 
 rejoice beyond measure, because the Almighty has 
 affirmed respecting the penitent, " it was meet that 
 we should be glad, for this my son was dead and 
 is alive again, he was lost and is found." 
 
 There may yet, however, be persons, whose souls 
 still refuse to be comforted, because their tempta- 
 tions are many, and they are not always able to
 
 138 DOUBTS AND ANXIETIES 
 
 resist them ; and because at times they grievously 
 offend against their own clear convictions of what is 
 right : but the commission of these sins never makes 
 them like them, or cleave to them ; no good man 
 feels satisfaction in his thoughts or peace in his con- 
 science for having committed sin ; on the contrary, 
 he abhors himself on account of sin ; he feels that 
 he is vile, unclean ; and in dust and ashes repents 
 of his misdeeds ; his prayer is, " Have mercy upon 
 me, God, after thy great goodness, according to 
 the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences." 
 But if it be said, What can be the meaning or the 
 value of conversion, if it will allow a man thus to 
 sin ? what advantage arises from being of God's 
 family, if the members of it can thus offend ? there 
 is one simple answer to such a question, viz. that the 
 characteristic of God's people is, that they avoid sin, 
 hate sin, and love all that is contrary to it ; and that 
 if ever they do sin, it is not from deliberation ; from 
 a preference of evil to good ; from a love of criminal 
 indulgences ; otherwise, why would there be subse- 
 quent abasement ? why the stings, the goads, of con- 
 science ? why the penitential tears and deep heart- 
 felt sorrow, and the almost unutterable prayers, 
 that the light of God's countenance may not totally 
 be withdrawn from them ?
 
 OF SINCERE MEN REMOVED. 139 
 
 A good man cannot sin willingly; he cannot 
 allow himself to continue in sin, and yet have the 
 approval of his conscience ; sin is not his element, 
 his meat and drink ; and whenever he sins through 
 the weakness and frailty of a body of sin and death, 
 he forsakes his happiness, and his happiness for- 
 sakes him and will not return, until he arises and 
 goes to his Father, and implores and obtains of 
 Him forgiveness and a renewed spirit. As water is the 
 element of one great class of created beings, and air the 
 element of another class, so is holiness the element 
 of the redeemed of Christ ; in no other element can 
 they exist ; it is to them the medium of life, it is 
 life itself; and as impure air debilitates the material 
 man, so every admixture of evil weakens and in- 
 jures the spiritual man, and makes him hurry from 
 it as from the pestilence ; in truth, it becomes almost 
 as instinctive in good men to avoid sinful propensi- 
 ties as it is instinctive in the lower creation to avoid 
 poisonous and noxious plants. Change in their 
 outward circumstances may indeed await them 
 everywhere, and mutability may be stamped on all 
 around them, and the earth under their feet may 
 seem as about to give way; yet they know that there 
 is an Almighty God in heaven to whom change is 
 unknown, and with whom is no variableness nor
 
 140 DOUBTS AND ANXIETIES 
 
 shadow of turning, and they become persuaded that 
 He will preserve them in every adversity, and that 
 in their deepest affliction He will keep them as the 
 apple of his eye, so that finally they will fall into 
 no sin, nor run into any kind of danger. 
 
 The conclusion, then, at which every sincerely 
 good man may arrive is, that happiness ought to he 
 the possession of all who read God's character as 
 revealed in the Scriptures, and who see his power in 
 the firmament above ; of all who trace his benevo- 
 lence in the dew of heaven, and in the teeming pro- 
 ductions of the earth, and who see his beneficence 
 in the sun that shines, in the rain that descends, 
 in the tender grass of the field, in the vicissitudes 
 of the seasons, in the spontaneous production of 
 all that sustains the myriads of creatures which 
 exist in the earth, the air, and the sea ; and who 
 have felt that, in man's affection for his own off- 
 spring and in his care for their welfare, there is an 
 emanation of God's own love to his children. Such 
 a man now sees goodness, bespeaking design and 
 contrivance that all things may abound in blessing, 
 for those who are the workmanship of God's own 
 hands. 
 
 In the midst of all his trials, privations, and sor- 
 rows, the result of man's Fall, there are often in
 
 OF SINCERE MEN REMOVED. 141 
 
 him undying, nay undecaying, faculties of enjoy- 
 ment ; there is a sense which ministers peace to Ms 
 soul and calmness to his feelings. The whisperings 
 of the trees bring music to his ear, and the sounds 
 which float in the air come to him with inspirations 
 of the awful and the grand, and transport Ms 
 thoughts from earth to heaven, and almost make im- 
 material that which is corporeal and perishable; there 
 are cadences, indeed, which might make him weep, 
 hut for the calm and tranquillizing thoughts which 
 they bring, but for the hopes of the future which 
 they inspire, but for the far-off regions of holiness 
 and purity to wliich they transport his mind, re- 
 gions which promise rest to the weary and consola- 
 tion to the heavy laden, consolation ever required 
 when this wide waste of human misery and deso- 
 lation forces itself ou his attention. 
 
 And who that has this faculty, almost divine who 
 that has chords responding in Ms soul to the out- 
 ward sense can fail to believe that it is one of God's 
 gifts to help him in his pilgrimage ? and if outward 
 forms and substances, and the melodies of sound, 
 can contribute to his happiness, how much more 
 must the love of Christ minister to joys unspeak- 
 able and full of glory ! and point to the place where 
 hallelujahs are the unceasing employment of those
 
 142 DOUBTS AND ANXIETIES 
 
 arrayed in the robe of Christ's righteousness, and 
 whose souls drank deeply of the inspiration of the 
 moral harmony, of which external sounds, in all 
 their grandeur and elevation and depth, in all their 
 sweetness, flow, and cadence, are but the type, the 
 symbol, the faint and sensible echo ! 
 
 Who that is born of God can be deaf to this 
 moral harmony, and untouched by these heavenly 
 joys, which will find their full expression only in 
 the anthems of the redeemed, who, casting their 
 crowns before the Lamb, and veiling their heads 
 from the ineffable splendour of the Lord God Omni- 
 potent, with one mighty voice fill the heaven of 
 heavens with ascriptions of praise, glory, honour, 
 and power unto Him that was, and is, and is to be ? 
 
 With such faculties, the life of the good man is a 
 life of happiness, and he no longer regards death as 
 an enemy, but as a friend, for eternity is his home : 
 poor he was when he lived without God in the 
 world; but since he feared and loved God, incom- 
 parable riches have been his ; his physical eye may 
 become dim, and the hearing of his ear, by which he 
 listened to the sad music of humanity, may be im- 
 paired, and the perceptions may be clouded; but 
 the mental eye, and the divine faculty, and the 
 moral perceptions, are not weakened, not obscured ;
 
 OF SINCERE MEN REMOVED. 143 
 
 unlike the physical faculties, which, being of the 
 earth earthy, are impaired as they verge to their 
 home the grave, the spiritual faculties, as they ap- 
 proach their home, the dwelling-place of eternal 
 truth and eternal equity, the abode of all that is 
 pure they, the spiritual faculties, will expand ac- 
 cording to the expansion and infinity of the objects 
 which will for ever fix the attention of the ransomed 
 of the Lord : here, indeed, they see through a glass 
 darkly, but in heaven they will behold their Re- 
 deemer face to face; here they know in part, but 
 there they will know even as they are known ; they 
 will see Christ as He is, and, beholding Him, will be 
 transformed more and more into his image; and 
 knowing this, the peace of God which passeth un- 
 derstanding is now abundantly theirs. 
 
 The happiness of the redeemed is strengthened 
 by their never- failing trust in their Saviour ; He is 
 their life, their light, their portion ; He is their 
 counsellor, their friend : the Ancient of Days is the 
 author and finisher of their faith ; by Him liberty 
 was preached, salvation offered, freedom from the 
 dominion of evil promised, and emancipation from 
 the works of darkness communicated; and, there- 
 fore, they rest in peace, since their warfare is accom- 
 plished by Him who came to save a lost world.
 
 144 REASONS WHY SOME PERSONS DERIVE 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 REASONS WHY SOME PERSONS DERIVE NO 
 HAPPINESS FROM RELIGION. 
 
 IF, after what has been stated, it should still be 
 maintained by some persons that the bulk of men 
 are unhappy who profess to be governed by reli- 
 gion, may it not be suggested of such men that 
 possibly their views of religion, its doctrines and its 
 duties, are and ever have been erroneous ? Pro- 
 bably their great desire is to be saved, and, it may 
 be, they trust they will be saved; but to the 
 death of Jesus Christ, perhaps, they do not look 
 exclusively for salvation ; they would, indeed, like 
 the Syrian of old, do some great thing that they 
 might be saved, and they would look to the grace 
 of God and to the merits of Jesus Christ to make 
 up the deficiency of their own good works ! 
 
 Naaman wanted to be healed, but was not willing 
 to use the means appointed for his recovery, because 
 they were too simple and gratuitous, and, therefore, 
 did not gratify his pride, which required that the
 
 NO HAPPINESS FROM RELIGION. 145 
 
 Prophet should " come out and call upon the name 
 of the Lord his God ; " his servants implied that if 
 the Prophet had bid him do some great thing he 
 would have done it, and in this he was the type of 
 but too many who would be healed ; but it must be 
 by some other means than those which God has 
 appointed. How, then, can they be happy ? They 
 must do some great thing, or some great thing 
 must be done for them, in a way of which they 
 approve ; by the free grace of God they do not 
 want to be saved ; their salvation, in part, must be 
 the result of some acts of their own, of some 
 deeds of charity, forgetting that, if they be the 
 real disciples of Christ, all their charitable acts are 
 the fruits, and in no measure the cause, of salva- 
 tion; as the light of day is the result and not the 
 cause of the rising of the sun; yet, notwithstand- 
 ing the clearness of the Scriptures on the important 
 and decisive doctrine, that we are saved only by the 
 mercy and grace of God, as secured by the merits, 
 passion, and death of Christ, they still want to do 
 something, or that their priests should do some- 
 thing for them, as a counterpoise and atonement 
 for their manifold sins and transgressions. 
 
 None, however, can do this; for though they 
 have the gift of prophecy, and understand all 
 
 H
 
 146 REASONS WHY SOME PERSONS DERIVE 
 
 mysteries, and all knowledge; and though they 
 have faith so that they could remove mountains; 
 and though they were to hestow all their goods to 
 feed the poor, and were to give their bodies to be 
 burned ; this, and much more than this, cannot save 
 them ; austerities unheard of cannot redeem them ; 
 nor can unnumbered sacrifices save them ; nor the 
 erection of magnificent temples ; nor the endowing 
 of churches ; nor the building of hospitals ; neither 
 can a man by any means redeem his brother, nor 
 give to God a ransom for him, " so that he must 
 let that alone for ever." 
 
 In the language of the Prophet, each one may 
 truly say, "Wherewith shall I come before the 
 Lord, and bow myself before the high God ? shall 
 I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves 
 of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with 
 thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers 
 of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my trans- 
 gression, the fruit of rny body for the sin of my 
 soul?" (Micah vi. 6, 7.) and yet, notwithstanding 
 these and similar questions, who, to be freed from 
 the upbraidings of an accusing conscience, does not 
 want to do some great thing to recommend himself 
 to God for mercy ? 
 
 Who, to be possessed of the peace which passeth
 
 NO HAPPINESS FROM RELIGION. 147 
 
 understanding, to be delivered from the punishment of 
 sin, to lose the melancholy forebodings of the future 
 suggested to the mind when it knows not what will 
 follow after death who, to be assured that the moral 
 leprosy is cleansed, would not do many great things, 
 if it were in his power to do them ? But when God 
 says, " Wash and be clean," who is willing to gain 
 such an advantage by - such simple means ? 
 
 Few are desirous to be delivered from the punish- 
 ment of sin, and to be cleansed from its pollutions, 
 unless some great thing be done by them or by 
 those whose deeds are imagined to prevail with their 
 heavenly Father ; but it may with much propriety 
 be asked, Has no great thing already been done for 
 them ? Is not the opening a fountain for all sin 
 and uncleanness a great thing ? Is it not a great 
 thing, that the blood of Christ has been poured out 
 for the sprinkling of our consciences from dead 
 works to serve the living God ? Is it not a great 
 thing, that He who is mighty to save came down 
 from heaven for us men and for our salvation, that 
 for our sakes He was despised and rejected of men, 
 and that for us He became a man of sorrows and 
 acquainted with grief? Is it not a great thing, 
 that a ransom has been found, that help has been 
 laid upon one that is mighty, that He who came
 
 US REASONS WHY SOME PERSONS DERIVE 
 
 from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, tra- 
 velling in the greatness of his strength, was mighty 
 to save ? In comparison with which things, what 
 are all hurnt offerings and sacrifices, and rivers of 
 oil, and votive gifts, and dedications of wealth, and 
 the building of temples ? 
 
 When men, however, are told these things, they 
 too much resemble Naaman, who went away in a 
 rage ; and frequently there is no one at hand to 
 suggest to each one as to him, " If the prophet 
 had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not 
 have done it ? how much rather then, when he saith 
 ,to thee, Wash, and be clean?" As it was, however, 
 with him, so it is with us; his was the leprosy, 
 so is ours ; but ours is of the mind and the heart 
 mental, moral, and spiritual leprosy; and we are 
 unhappy, because we have no reason to hope that 
 all which we can do will avert the just punishment 
 of our sins. 
 
 Why, then, should we not be willing to accept the 
 truth as it is revealed in the Scriptures ? why not 
 be willing to be saved in, by, through, and according 
 to God's appointed way of salvation ? We may rest 
 assured that we shall never be happy till God's 
 Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are the 
 children of God, and it never will so bear witness
 
 NO HAPPINESS FROM RELIGION. 149 
 
 until we know that there is no remedy for us but in 
 the atoning blood of Christ. 
 
 For Naaman there was but God's method; no 
 alternative but to wash and be clean, or to continue 
 to be a leper ; and at last he felt this, through the 
 force of his disease, which was palpable, visible, and 
 hateful, tainting his life's blood and goading his 
 soul ; he therefore at last consented to be healed in 
 any way whatever, however unsuitable to his pride ; 
 and listening to the suggestion of those around 
 him, and to their touching expostulation, he went 
 and washed in Jordan, and was cleansed of the 
 leprosy, and then, and not till then, was he happy, 
 for only then it was that he could say with truth, 
 " Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, 
 but in Israel" (2 Kings v. 15) ; and it is only when 
 cleansed from the spiritual leprosy, that we can 
 assuredly know there is no redeemer but the one 
 Saviour, who died that we might be saved everlast- 
 ingly, and in believing this we shall have peace. 
 
 Let us, then, like Naaman, feel and know that we 
 are lepers, lepers in mind, in heart, and in desire ; 
 let us think of the end to which our leprosy is carry- 
 ing us, the second death, banishment from God, 
 from Christ, from heaven ! Let us, like him, desire 
 to be healed, and then let us go to the spiritual
 
 150 REASONS WHY SOME PERSONS DERIVE 
 
 Jordan, to the fountain open for all sin and unclean- 
 ness, and no longer attempt to hew out for ourselves 
 cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water; let 
 us go to the Lamb of God, and no longer depend 
 on our own fitness, or on the number of our alms- 
 deeds, or on the austerities of our later days, for 
 the cancelling of the transgressions of our lives. 
 
 The God of Naaman is our God ; He took no 
 pleasure in the misery which the leprosy occasioned 
 him ; nor has He any pleasure in the miseries which 
 follow our sins : the Friend of Naaman is our friend, 
 though we perhaps know it not, as Naaman, for a 
 long time, knew it not, though God was sending 
 him the leprosy, and its attendant misery, for his 
 good, when he was most elated with his own worldly 
 success. 
 
 What Naaman did to be happy, we must do, viz. 
 we must wash and be clean ; not simply to be freed 
 from the guilt of sin, not merely to be ransomed 
 from the punishment due to our trangressions, but 
 to be cleansed from evil desires, to be purified from 
 dead works, to be freed from the love of iniquity, 
 and to be emancipated from its power ; no longer to 
 be tied and bound with the chain of our sins ; no 
 longer to be the slaves of passion, the victims of 
 cupidity, and the bond-slaves of concupiscence ; but
 
 NO HAPPINESS FROM RELIGION. 151 
 
 to become like our Master in meekness and in 
 gentleness, in long-suffering and self-denial; like 
 Him in purity, moral dignity, and heavenly-minded- 
 ness ; like Him in benignity, and in deeds of com- 
 passion, as well as in feelings of sympathy. 
 
 If, however, we do not want such a salvation as 
 this, but desire to sin, and then to be forgiven : to 
 sin again, and again to be pardoned; to neglect 
 Christ, and yet to have Him for our Saviour ; to dis- 
 obey God, and then to look up to Him as a friend ; 
 to grieve the Holy Spirit, and then to rely on Him 
 as our comforter; how can we derive consolation 
 from such a religion as ours must then be ? 
 
 If we have been unhappy and have never pos- 
 sessed the peace of God, let us carefully examine 
 ourselves, to ascertain whether we wish to serve the 
 world, and follow its pomps, its vanities, and never- 
 ending gaieties, and yet hope to be blessed by 
 Him who emphatically said, " Ye cannot serve two 
 masters;" whether we are ready to deny our Lord, 
 and to be ashamed of Him, and yet hope that He 
 will acknowledge us; whether we are desirous of 
 being the ministers and servants of sin, and yet 
 hope for the joys and blessedness of those whose 
 conversation is in heaven ; and whether we banish 
 God from our thoughts, and then imagine that ours
 
 152 REASONS WHY SOME PERSONS DERIVE 
 
 will be the peace which he possesses who has set 
 God always before his face ; if so, then shall \ve be 
 disappointed indeed. 
 
 If, however, our grief have been thoroughly 
 weighed ; if our calamities have been laid to- 
 gether in the balances ; if the arrows of the Al- 
 mighty are within us ; if the poison thereof have 
 drunk up our spirits ; and if the terrors of God 
 have set themselves in array against us ; if the 
 burden of our sins be intolerable ; if the remem- 
 brance of them be grievous ; if we have been 
 brought to feel the need of the great Physician ; and 
 if we have prayed to Him in all truth and earnest- 
 ness to cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the in- 
 spiration of his Holy Spirit, then shall we be brought 
 to know that there is no God in all the earth but in 
 Israel ; no Saviour but the Lamb which standeth 
 upon Mount Zion ; no alpha, no omega no begin- 
 ning, no end but He whose Spirit invites the weary 
 and heavy-laden to go unto Him, and who further 
 says, "Let him that heareth say, Come. And let 
 him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let 
 him take the water of life freely." 
 
 Thus, when we give up all hope of being saved 
 by any other than God's own appointed method of 
 salvation ; and when in truth we actually go to
 
 NO HAPPINESS FROM RELIGION. 153 
 
 Christ, as the Israelites went and looked up to the 
 brazen serpent, and as Naaman went and washed in 
 the river Jordan, then, indeed, happiness will be 
 ours, especially if we remember that sin is no more 
 to have an influence on us, as the leprosy had BO 
 more an influence on the Syrian after he washed in 
 the river Jordan and was made clean. 
 
 On no other ground is happiness promised to 
 Christians, than that of being saved by God's 
 mercy through Jesus Christ, and by their being 
 thus redeemed from dead works to serve the living 
 God. 
 
 H 3
 
 154 FURTHER REASONS WHY SOME PERSONS 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 FURTHER REASONS WHY SOME PERSONS DERIVE 
 NO HAPPINESS FROM RELIGION. 
 
 OUR blessed Lord, in addressing his disciples before 
 his final sufferings, said to them, " Peace I leave 
 with you ; my peace I give unto you : not as the 
 world giveth give I unto you ; " and one of the 
 signal fruits of his religion is that peace which 
 the world neither gives nor takes away ; but then it 
 is a fruit which none can expect to obtain who do 
 not love God with all their hearts and minds, and 
 souls and strength ; and . if there be many who 
 never partake of that peace, who yet are disciples 
 of Christ, and the children of light, may it not be 
 because the fault is entirely in themselves ? They 
 live below their privileges ; and one reason of their 
 so living is, that they do not always forsake every- 
 thing which militates against their growth in grace ; 
 they often covet, and strive to obtain, tilings as 
 means of enjoyment, the love of which is a snare to 
 them ; and hence they resemble those of whom our
 
 DERIVE NO HAPPINESS FROM RELIGION. 155 
 
 Lord spake, when He said, " The children of this 
 world are in their generation wiser than the chil- 
 dren of light ; " hence the happiness which belongs 
 to those who forsake all to follow Christ is un- 
 known to many who still may be comprehended in 
 the expression " the children of light." 
 
 Not that our Lord conveyed the idea that the 
 children of this world are ever absolutely wise : for 
 He well knew that a wise man proportions his exer- 
 tions in obtaining an object according to the 
 magnitude, importance, and duration of that object ; 
 and that he indicates a sad want of wisdom who 
 bestows immense pains and labour in procuring 
 things which are trifling in themselves, or which 
 lead to no useful results. 
 
 That the children of this world are not absolutely 
 wise, is clear from the solemn denunciations of our 
 Lord against their love of money, which is the root 
 of all evil, and against their extreme regard for all 
 those things which minister to vanity, to pride, and 
 to ambition. Wealth, and the pleasures of this life ; 
 rank and high station; power, good connections, 
 and human knowledge ; fame, ease, and indulgence ; 
 are the things for which the children of this world 
 live, and for the attaining of which they use every 
 effort ; but never were they praised for loving and
 
 156 FURTHER REASONS WHY SOME PERSONS 
 
 striving to obtain these things. For what, indeed, -will 
 wealth do for the children of this world ? It will 
 procure for them friends,who will flatter them so long 
 as their wealth lasts ; who will blind their eyes and 
 consume their time, often keep them from prayer 
 and from self-examination, and lead them to try to 
 be independent of their fellow-creatures ; wealth, 
 indeed, will give great care and anxiety, sleepless 
 nights, and days of disquietude. 
 
 Wealth not seldom makes its possessor a mark 
 for adventurers, whether it be in the hands of age 
 and decrepitude, or of youth and inexperience. The 
 grave has often prematurely been opened for those 
 who but for their wealth might have attained to a 
 great age, receiving and dispensing blessings. Alas ! 
 how many beings have existed, who but for their 
 immense possessions had never been unhappy, nor 
 tasted the bitterness of subsequent indifference and 
 neglect from those who, having won their affections, 
 should have been their protectors ; and how many 
 have survived every hope of enjoyment at the hands 
 of those whom they enriched ! 
 
 Wealth will not enable a man to redeem his 
 brother, nor himself from death, the remembrance 
 of which is indeed " better to him who is at ease in 
 his possessions."
 
 DERIVE NO HAPPINESS FROM RELIGION. 157 
 
 Hence there is no wisdom in loving wealth ; nor 
 is there wisdom in living for the pleasures of life, 
 for it may he asked, Do these pleasures leave no 
 sting behind them ? are they never followed by 
 weariness and disgust ? will the tabret and the harp, 
 the lute and the viol, always cheer the heart ? will 
 earthly pleasures satisfy the young, the gay, the 
 hopeful, much less the aged, the sorrowful, and 
 the hopeless ? will pleasures, so termed, remove the 
 ills of life ? will they give any satisfaction, when we 
 apprehend that the means of indulging in them 
 may probably be taken away for ever from us ? 
 Hence the love of pleasure is no indication of 
 wisdom. And what will rank or high station do 
 for men ? Will it place them beyond the reach of 
 infirmity, insure domestic happiness, remove trials 
 and afflictions, silence the voice of censure, pre- 
 vent the death of their first-born, secure them from 
 dying childless so that their inheritance and rank go 
 not to strangers ? will it remove diseases, prolong 
 life, speak peace to the conscience when the over- 
 flowings of ungodliness make man afraid ? and will 
 it remove the fear of judgment to come ? Will 
 power give happiness, secure contentment, and thus 
 answer men's early expectations? make them just 
 and upright? Is power certain, never on the wane,
 
 158 FURTHER REASONS WHY SOME PERSONS 
 
 and if retained never so long, is it followed by 
 respect, admiration, and regard ? Are its possessors 
 long, if ever, the objects of reverence and esteem, 
 and not of dread and suspicion ? Is not crime but 
 too often the only way to power, and one man's 
 sway not seldom the cause of a nation's calamity ? 
 If, however, a man be bom to power, he will even 
 then, if wise, not cling to it as a thing greatly to be 
 desired and delighted in. 
 
 The children of this world are extremely anxious 
 to form good connections, and ensure the elevation of 
 their children ; but will such connections secure hap- 
 piness even in this life, much less in the life to come ? 
 Will they procure an entrance into the kingdom of 
 heaven ; fit us for being numbered among the spirits 
 of just men made perfect; make us suitable com- 
 panions of apostles, prophets, patriarchs, angels ; 
 and render us capable of enjoying the presence of 
 the Lamb that sitteth upon the throne for ever and 
 ever ? 
 
 As to human knowledge, which is the passion of 
 some men, will it keep them from sinning against 
 God, change the heart, purify the affections, elevate 
 the thoughts, ennoble the mind, make men kind 
 and benevolent, cause them to be humble, single- 
 hearted, placable ? Will it remove selfishness and
 
 DERIVE NO HAPPINESS FROM RELIGION. 159 
 
 vanity, pride and ostentation? We are told that 
 " in much wisdom is much grief," and " he that 
 increased! knowledge increaseth sorrow." 
 
 And what will fame do for men ? and where will 
 be the monuments of their greatness, when the 
 trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised, 
 and the books be opened, and they shall be judged 
 according to their works ? What will the applause 
 of the world have profited its votaries, when time 
 shall be no more, if, in the presence of an assembled 
 universe, God shall say unto them, " Depart, ye 
 cursed, into everlasting fire"? Hence none were 
 praised by reason of their love of these things ; yet 
 it is much to be feared that the children of light are 
 very much influenced, at times, by the love of some 
 or other of them; and hence theirs is not the enduring 
 peace which they would enjoy if they were " stead- 
 fast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of 
 the Lord." 
 
 But if the children of this world be not abso- 
 lutely wise in the objects of their choice, in what 
 sense can they be wiser than the children of light ? 
 In the skill with which they adapt the means to 
 the end, in the unwearied diligence with which they 
 strive for that end, in the' unceasing labour which 
 they employ to obtain the objects which they pant
 
 160 FURTHER REASONS WHY SOME PERSONS 
 
 after, in the unconquerable resolution to overcome 
 every obstacle which impedes the success of their 
 efforts ; for to procure the possessions, power, plea- 
 sure, distinctions, and honours of this life, they exert 
 themselves with an energy not often known to, and 
 not often exhibited by, the children of light, whose 
 object is of transcendently greater importance, and 
 whose exertions ought to be correspondingly greater, 
 instead of being very often far less than those of 
 the children of this world, whose wisdom is ever 
 conspicuous in their pre-eminent diligence; and 
 diligence indeed is theirs, for they rise up early and 
 late take rest, and eat the bread of carefulness : they 
 are not satisfied with hoping to gain the things 
 which they desire ; they are not content until they 
 know that they have obtained them ; they compass 
 sea and land, forsake their highest delights and 
 most endearing attachments, the companions of 
 their youth, the partners of their early and later 
 joys, their brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, nay, 
 wives and children, when by so doing they are the 
 better enabled to " add house to house, and field to 
 field," and the world praises them for their energy. 
 
 If glory be their passion, " which it is dreamed 
 can be gained by war," then they endanger their 
 own lives, and perhaps the lives of their sons,
 
 DERIVE XO HAPPINESS FROM RELIGION. 161 
 
 and that, too, sometimes in wars of very questionable 
 justice, that their names may be handed down to 
 posterity in remembrance of their prowess and 
 valour; the cry of the widow and the fatherless 
 stops them not in their fearful career; fame they 
 must have, at all and every cost. 
 
 Others risk station, happiness, and life, and 
 hazard the repose of the world, rather than forego 
 some vague and ill-founded claim of power and 
 prerogative. 
 
 When planning their success, what restlessness 
 and disquietude do the children of this world mani- 
 fest ! what devotion is given to their cause ! They 
 allow not even the thought of death and judgment, 
 of heaven and hell, to embarrass them, in the pur- 
 suit of the objects which they love supremely. 
 Whatever they desire, they desire with all their 
 hearts, and whatever they endeavour to obtain, it is 
 with untiring labour and zeal. 
 
 When, however, do we now hear of the children of 
 light forsaking fathers and mothers, brothers and 
 sisters, friends and country, or even the customs of 
 life, for Christ's sake and for the sake of his Gos- 
 pel? When do they abandon their high delights 
 and powerful attachments ? When do they risk sta- 
 tion, happiness, health, and life, rather than hazard
 
 102 FURTHER REASONS WHY SOME PERSONS 
 
 their salvation? Where their vigilance and zeal, 
 their caution and earnestness, when seeking after 
 the riches of eternity ? "where their anxiety ? their 
 disquietude? Are they not but too often com- 
 paratively cold and formal, in their efforts to obtain 
 eternal blessedness? While the children of this 
 world employ much time, great labour, and often 
 stupendous talents, that they may secure the things 
 of time and sense, and that they may obtain the 
 empty distinction of being greater, more learned, 
 and richer than others ; but how little of their time, 
 and what a small portion of their possessions, will 
 some of the children of light sacrifice, and how 
 little of conformity to the world will they renounce, 
 that they may become more and more like their 
 blessed Lord ! Hence how can they wonder that 
 neither joy nor peace enters their dwellings? how 
 be surprised that happiness in this life is never 
 their portion ? 
 
 Let not religion, however, bear the blame of this, 
 but let such men see and know, that they go 
 mourning because very different is their estimate 
 and Christ's estimate of religion and its demands, 
 and because they are continually lowering the stan- 
 dard of holiness, and because they endeavour to 
 reconcile that which Christ has declared to be irre-
 
 DERIVE NO HAPPINESS FROM RELIGION. 163 
 
 concilable, the love of the world and the love of 
 God. 
 
 The world may blame them for being too precise, 
 for being too much concerned about a future state, 
 nay, for being righteous over-much; but our Lord 
 blames them for not being sufficiently watchful and 
 self-denying, and for being far too much concerned 
 for food and raiment, and all other things pertain- 
 ing to time ; and He not only blames such persons, 
 but, as a severe punishment, withholds from them 
 that peace and those joys in believing which He 
 abundantly bestows upon all who are true-hearted, 
 single-minded, and who do everything to the glory 
 of God. 
 
 It was well observed of old, " that our Saviour, 
 in comparing the Gospel to a merchantman, who 
 found a pearl of great price and sold all to buy it. 
 has brought this instance home to our present dis- 
 course. If we did as verily believe that in heaven 
 those great felicities, which transcend all our appre- 
 hensions, are certainly to be obtained through the 
 death and merits of Christ, by leaving our vices 
 and lower desires, what can hinder us but we 
 should, at least, do as much for obtaining these 
 eternal glories as the children of this world do for 
 obtaining a perishable reward, if, indeed, they do
 
 1G4 FURTHER REASONS WHY SOME PERSONS 
 
 obtain it ; " and if we did thus act, where would be 
 the lamentation that the ways of religion are paths 
 of gloom and dissatisfaction ? 
 
 Misery, however, must be the lot of the unstable, 
 for they oscillate between their duty to God and 
 their love of this world ; the many objects of ambi- 
 tion are of far too much value in their estimation, 
 and if they could be happy in the pursuit of them, 
 there would be but little hope of their final salva- 
 tion. Blessed be God, however, "Ambition," as was 
 forcibly declared by an eloquent prelate, " is full of 
 distractions ; it teems with stratagems and is swelled 
 with expectation, and sleeps sometimes as the wind 
 in a storm, still and quiet for a moment, that it may 
 burst into an impetuous blast ; fears when none is 
 nigh, and prevents things which never had intention, 
 and falls under the inevitability of such accidents 
 which either could not be foreseen or not prevented. 
 It is an infinite labour to make a man's self miser- 
 able; and, therefore, there is no greater unreason- 
 ableness in the world than in the designs of ambition ; 
 for it makes the present certainly miserable, unsatis- 
 fied, troublesome, and discontented, for the acquire- 
 ments of an honour, which nothing can secure, and, 
 besides a thousand possibilities of miscarrying, it 
 relies upon no greater certainty than our lives."
 
 DERIVE NO HAPPINESS FROM RELIGION. 165 
 
 Hence, if this be true, how can even the men of 
 this world be happy in such pursuits ? how, by 
 possibility, can the children of light expect to be 
 happy when seduced from their allegiance to Christ 
 to follow after them ? Let them all, who would be 
 blessed in time and in eternity, imitate the energy, 
 the skill, the unceasing perseverance of the children 
 of this world ; let them be wise in time, and wise 
 in the best wisdom ; let their loins be girt about, 
 and their lights burning, and let them be like unto 
 men who wait for their Lord ; let not the eternal 
 world of spirits be to them of no more consequence 
 than the duration of this perishable globe ; let 
 them remember that the Judge of quick and dead 
 will require a solemn account of all their time, 
 their talents, their possessions, their visitations 
 of mercy, and of the means of grace by which 
 they might have been kept in the ways of verity 
 and wisdom, of peace and joy, if they had been 
 true to themselves, to their duty, and to their 
 Redeemer.
 
 166 TO DO WITHOUT DELAY 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 TO DO WITH OUR MIGHT, AND WITHOUT DELAY, 
 WHATSOEVER OUR HANDS FIND TO DO, SINCE 
 " THERE IS NO WORK, NOR DEVICE, NOR KNOW- 
 LEDGE, NOR WISDOM IN THE GRAVE," WHITHER 
 WE ARE HASTENING. 
 
 IT must be admitted that the happiness, which is 
 mentioned as belonging, even in this life, to the real 
 servants of Christ, is never to be dissociated from 
 perfect obedience to the law of Christ ; and that it 
 is promised to none but such as are alway living in 
 the performance of every moral and spiritual duty ; 
 indeed, it may with propriety be affirmed, that the 
 path of duty is the path of happiness, and that 
 none therefore should expect it, who do not do with 
 all their might what they have to do ; otherwise they 
 may soon go from bad to worse, till their con- 
 sciences become seared ; and then, as a consequence 
 of self-delusion, they will endeavour to lower the 
 standard of religion and its requirements. 
 
 There are in the world but too many who name
 
 WHATSOEVER OUR HANDS FIND TO DO. 167 
 
 the name of Christ, and depart not from iniquity ; 
 if such could be happy, their doom would be all 
 but fixed ; they try hard to serve two masters, God 
 and Mammon ; and, bearing the name of Christians, 
 they imagine they love God because they do many 
 things to please Him; it may be they keep, or 
 imagine they " keep, the commandments from their 
 youth upward ; " but the one great thing which 
 stands between them and life eternal they will not 
 renounce. 
 
 It may be that, in the ardour, and more than 
 ardour, in promoting their worldly advancement, and 
 in their keen anxiety to outrun all their competitors 
 in worldly prosperity, they may occasionally have 
 misgivings that all is not right, especially when they 
 read these awful words, " I went by, and lo, he was 
 gone : I sought him, but his place could no where 
 be found" (Ps. xxxvii. 37) ; but they cannot be 
 brought to see and feel the moral madness of being 
 lukewarm, and of putting bitter for sweet and sweet 
 for bitter. In worldly affairs they are consistent, 
 and believe that no man is doing with Ms might 
 what he has to do who systematically omits any one 
 thing which is essential to success, or who continues 
 to do, or to retain, anything which militates against 
 success. No happiness, however, can be theirs who
 
 168 TO DO WITHOUT DELAY 
 
 endeavour to reconcile the greatest amount of 
 worldly possessions, honours, and pleasures, with 
 the hope of life eternal ; and who maintain a system 
 whereby many solemn warnings of the Bible find 
 no entrance into the soul, or are only admitted 
 theoretically and for the sake of argument.. 
 
 They object to such a severe religion as, in their 
 opinion, is made to consist of negatives ; quite for- 
 getting the first negation and all that therein is 
 comprehended, viz. " Of the tree of the knowledge 
 of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the 
 day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" 
 (Gen. ii. 17); forgetting, also, that eight of the 
 Ten Commandments are negations ; and that other 
 things besides theft, murder, and false witness are 
 forbidden, so that men are not to love the world 
 and the things of the world, not to call evil good, 
 and good evil, not to condemn that they be not 
 condemned. 
 
 If, however, nine commandments be kept, and 
 the tenth be broken, men are not, in religion, doing 
 with their might what they have to do. 
 
 What happiness, then, is to be looked for in a 
 religion so morose as this, which would banish all 
 cheerfulness, all joy, and all vivacity from the world ? 
 All false joy, all deceitful cheerfulness, all that
 
 WHATSOEVER OUR HANDS FIND TO DO. 169 
 
 laughter which resembles madness, Christ's religion 
 would banish, nay, is designed to banish ; but the 
 serenity, the love, the joy which is to be found in 
 the dwellings of the righteous, it never banishes. 
 
 One thing is perfectly certain to him who derives 
 his religion from the Scriptures, viz. that there can 
 be no real fellowship between righteousness and un- 
 righteousness ; no actual communion between light 
 and darkness; no concord with Christ and Belial; 
 no part with him that is an infidel and with him 
 that believeth ; no agreement with the temple of 
 God and idols. (2 Cor. vi. 14-16.) Men may, indeed, 
 turn a deaf ear to these solemn truths; they may 
 invent or embrace any system, or any number of 
 systems, of religion ; but by the standard of Holy 
 Writ they will be tried, when they stand at the 
 bar of God's tribunal ; and Holy Writ most severely 
 denounces every attempt to substitute man's stan- 
 dard of what is right in lieu of God's solemn 
 requirements, which are, that we are to love Him 
 with all our heart, and mind, and soul, and strength. 
 
 Of the once faithful city, it was said of old, 
 " it icas full of judgment, righteousness lodged in 
 it, but now murderers;" its silver was become 
 dross, its wine mixed with water; every one loved 
 gifts and followed after rewards, so as to occasion
 
 170 TO DO WITHOUT DELAY 
 
 the affecting exclamation, " How is the gold be- 
 come dim, and the most fine gold changed ! " and 
 this because of the worse than unstable mind of 
 the people, because of their perpetual backslidings, 
 and this by reason of their having failed to do with 
 all their might what they had to do, which was, 
 steadfastly " to cleave unto the Lord their God." 
 
 Can it, then, occasion wonder, that the Almighty 
 should have said to them, "Bring no more vain 
 oblations"? vain, because not offered in the only 
 spirit in which any oblations are pleasing to God, 
 i. e. in the spirit which makes the love of Him the 
 supreme affection of the soul: the lukewarm are 
 his abhorrence ; He describes them as being loath- 
 some in his sight ; and by the Apostle James, the 
 double-minded are said to be unstable in all their 
 ways ; and the waverers are compared to a " wave 
 of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed." 
 
 To the grave the children of men are all hasten- 
 ing; and they will do well to bear in mind that 
 there they can do no work to escape the second 
 death, to flee from the wrath to come, to become 
 like Christ, to obtain the apparel of the redeemed : 
 no work, by which to do good to their fellow- 
 creatures ; no work, by which the Gentiles may be 
 brought to the light of Christ, and kings to the
 
 WHATSOEVER OUR HANDS FIND TO DO. 171 
 
 brightness of his rising ; no work, by which those 
 who never heard of a Saviour may be led to dwell 
 under the shadow of his healing wings. 
 
 To all things now there is a time and place ; but 
 long before men reach the grave, from many of 
 them may be taken the power of doing with their 
 might what they have to do : daily they are ap- 
 proaching nearer and nearer to it, which is another 
 reason for doing with all their might what is to be 
 done ; and they know not what final good or evil 
 may be the result of their doing, or of their not 
 doing with all their might what they have to do, 
 and what they ought to do, to answer the purposes 
 for which the grave has not yet been opened for 
 them. But when once consigned to its darkness, no 
 more invitations of mercy will ever be heard by 
 them, and no warnings to flee from the wrath to 
 come will reach them there ; the voice of Christ's 
 ministers will there be as silent as the dust to which 
 their bodies will be reduced ; neither Prophets nor 
 Apostles will there call upon any in the name of 
 the Lord, saying, " Turn ye, turn ye ; why will ye 
 die ? " no work, nor device, nor wisdom, nor know- 
 ledge, find entrance there ; no plans are ever there 
 formed and carried out for the accumulation of 
 wealth, the extension of power, the attainment of
 
 172 TO DO WITHOUT DELAY 
 
 rank, or for the acquirement of knowledge ; even 
 the tabret and the harp, the lute and the viol, utter 
 no harmonious sounds there. The weary are at 
 rest there, and when consigned to it, man's warfare 
 is accomplished, or his doom is fixed for ever. 
 
 While, then, there is time, while our lives last, 
 let us be earnest for the salvation of our souls, and 
 the souls of all mankind ; lejt us abandon all things 
 which do so easily beset us, and let us be true to 
 ourselves, to our God, and to all around us ; let us 
 be assured that energy in the pursuit of a valuable 
 object commands respect ; that decision of character 
 is most praiseworthy, whilst carelessness in the 
 attainment of the same object is reprobated, as 
 betokening a sad want of firmness of purpose : and 
 in our endeavours to obtain those things which fade 
 not away, shall we be deficient in that energy 
 which alone can bring success, and alone prove 
 that we are carrying on an unsparing warfare 
 against that sin which is the greatest hindrance in 
 running the race that is set before us ? And shall 
 we postpone till a future day the doing with our 
 might whatsoever our hands find to do ? Assuredly 
 not, for the time of our sojourning here is short, 
 and very short, in all probability, will be the portion 
 that remains to us : to all, indeed, the time is short,
 
 WHATSOEVER OUR HANDS FIND TO DO. 178 
 
 both to the good and the bad ; to the latter the time 
 is short, to sin and make a mock of sin, to grieve 
 the Holy Spirit, to trifle with conscience, to neglect 
 the means of life eternal, to despise the dispensa- 
 tions of mercy. The time is short, to turn the 
 Gospel into a savour of death unto death, to crucify 
 afresh the Saviour, to put off the day of repentance, 
 to fill up the measure of our iniquities. The time 
 of trial and probation is short ; the time to laugh at 
 the upright, to attempt to serve two masters; the 
 time to amass wealth, to build, to sow, to plant, to 
 reap, is short ; and also the time of self-indulgence 
 is short indeed. 
 
 To the upright, also, and to those who would be 
 wise, the time is short; the time for prayer, for 
 self-examination, and for contrition, is short; the 
 time to obtain a new heart and a right spirit, the 
 time to strive to enter in at the strait gate, and 
 for growth in grace, is short. The time to serve 
 God; to labour in the vineyard of the Lord of 
 hosts ; to make our peace with the judge of quick 
 and dead ; to combat with the world, our own 
 passions, and Satan, is short. The time is short to 
 obtain the robe of Christ's righteousness; to put 
 on the armour of light ; to hear the sound of the 
 Gospel; to listen to the accents of mercy; and to
 
 TO DO WITHOUT DELAY 
 
 hear the invitations, rebukes, warnings, and entrea- 
 ties of those who labour for our eternal welfare. 
 The time of divine patience is short ; and the time 
 to benefit others; to circulate the Scriptures; to 
 awaken our friends to a sense of their danger ; to 
 weep over our own and others' declensions, is short ; 
 the time of adversity, sorrow, and sickness; the 
 time of Satan's power to tempt ; the time for death 
 to do his work ; for the grave to open ; and the time 
 of separation from endeared friends, who have died 
 in the faith and fear of the Lord, is short indeed. 
 
 Let it, then, be employed rightly ; let us so num- 
 . ber our days that we may apply our hearts unto wis- 
 dom, and then great happiness will be in store for 
 us : let us strive with all our might to obtain an in- 
 heritance incorruptible, and that fadeth not away ; 
 let us secure an eternity of blessedness ; let us pray 
 unceasingly for such spiritual faculties and capaci- 
 ties, whereby the presence of the Lord God omni- 
 potent, the communion of the Holy Spirit, the 
 friendship of the Lamb, and the love of the spirits 
 of just men made perfect, may constitute our hap- 
 piness from eternity to eternity. 
 
 Let this be the grand object of all our thoughts ; 
 to this end let every energy be directed ; for the 
 accomplishment of this purpose let every nerve be
 
 WHATSOEVER OUR HANDS FIND TO DO. 175 
 
 strained ; for if we fail in this it had been better 
 for us that we had never been born, or that a 
 millstone had been put around our necks, and that 
 we had been cast into the sea, in the first moment 
 of our existence. 
 
 To be born to die eternally ; to be rich in this 
 world and to be everlastingly poor in the world to 
 come ; to be polished and graceful in person, and 
 to be deformed and loathsome in soul ; to have the 
 mind cultivated, and the heart untaught, undis- 
 ciplined, unchastened; to have friends and adher- 
 ents for a few years, and for ever to be the compa- 
 nions of the lost; to have had life and death offered, 
 and to have preferred darkness, gloom, and everlast- 
 ing mourning, to the bright and empyreal Presence 
 of Him whom the heaven of heavens cannot con- 
 tain ; to have had set before us the ways of sin and 
 disappointment, and the narrow road which leads to 
 endless happiness, and to prefer the broad road 
 which leadeth to destruction, this is surely a moral 
 insanity far more dreadful, far more terrific, far 
 more direful, than that mental madness which casteth 
 on every side "firebrands, arrows, and death" (Prov. 
 xxvi. 18) ; this is an insanity which might make 
 angels weep, and the eyes of all men run down with 
 rivers of tears !
 
 176 TO DO WITHOUT DELAY 
 
 To be accursed of God, when through Christ we 
 might have been blessed eternally; to be doomed 
 to the worm that dieth not, when we might have 
 had our robes made white in the blood of the Lamb, 
 is surely what none of us propose to ourselves 
 as the end of our earthly career ! 
 
 To be driven to the regions of despair, when we 
 might have stood before the throne of God, serving 
 Him day and night in his temple ; to be consigned 
 to blackness, and darkness, and eternal sorrow, when 
 the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, 
 might have caused us to hunger no more, nor thirst 
 any more, cannot assuredly be the final object for 
 which our lives are continued to us. 
 
 Instead of having the seal of the living God in 
 our foreheads, to be cut off by the sword of Him 
 who is faithful and true, when He treadeth the wine- 
 press of the fierceness of Almighty God ; to die 
 the second death, when we might, through the great 
 Atonement, have had part in the first resurrection, 
 is indeed an insanity far more deplorable than the 
 fury of the maniac, than all and every mental 
 alienation, than the madness which blights and 
 blasts all of man in which he was created superior 
 to the beasts that perish. 
 
 The gate of mercy is still, however, open to us,
 
 WHATSOEVER OUR HANDS FIND TO DO. 177 
 
 for God is a God of mercy and long- suffering, "not 
 willing that any should perish, hut that all should 
 come to repentance ; " hence it is that the world is 
 still poised in space, and the sun continues to shine, 
 the rain to descend, and the earth to give its in- 
 crease; hence the moon, in its silent majesty, is 
 still appointed for certain seasons, and the heavens 
 still declare the glory of God ; hut the ruin "which 
 yet awaits the world will come, and, whenever it 
 arrives, will be universal." The grass will then be 
 withered for ever, and the lilies of the field will no 
 more be arrayed in their glory; the fig tree will 
 not again blossom, nor will fruit be in the vines ; 
 the labour of the olive will then fail for ever ; winter 
 and summer will return no more ; the stork in the 
 heaven will no longer know his appointed time ; 
 the mountains and the everlasting lulls will then 
 be shorn of their splendour, and all that is gorge- 
 ous and sublime in creation will pass away, and no 
 more awaken the attention of man, nor direct his 
 thoughts to Him who laid the foundations of the 
 earth ; man will no longer go forth to his work and 
 to his labour till the evening ; his occupations will 
 end, his toil cease ; the merchandise of gold, and 
 silver, and precious stones, will no longer occupy 
 his thoughts ; all earthly pleasures will be ended 
 
 i 3
 
 TO DO WITHOUT DELAY 
 
 for over ; the voice of harpers and musicians, of 
 pipers and of trumpeters, will be heard no more at 
 all in his feasts, for, as a leaf falleth off from the 
 vine, so shall the host of heaven be dissolved, and 
 " the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll ; " 
 and us the fig tree casteth her untimely figs when 
 shaken of a mighty wind, so certainly will the 
 '' elements melt with fervent heat." Then, indeed, will 
 be literally fulfilled that which was to the Prophet 
 a figurative vision of the world being reduced to its 
 first chaos, which he predicted ; when he said, " I 
 beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form and 
 void ; and the heavens, and they had no light. I 
 beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and ;ill 
 the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was 
 no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. 
 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wildemes--. 
 and all the cities thereof were broken down at the 
 presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger." 
 (Jer. iv. 23-26.) 
 
 The windows of heaven will not again be opened^ 
 nor will the foundations of the great deep again be 
 broken up; but the ruin of the world will be 
 universal., and by an element far more searching 
 and far more violent in its operation than that by 
 wlm-li the old world was overthrown ; " for the
 
 WHATSOEVER OUR HANDS FIND TO DO. 179 
 
 day of patience will have its period, and the day 
 of retribution will come, and that suddenly and 
 irresistibly." 
 
 "Seeing, then, that these things shall he dissolved, 
 what manner of persons ought we to he, in all holy 
 conversation and godliness ? " Beflecting, moreover, 
 on the brevity of man's life, and of the great work, 
 which he has to perform in it, we shall be wise if 
 we examine ourselves, to ascertain whether we are 
 nearer to heaven as we are nearer to the grave; 
 whether we have truly been converted, and whether 
 we are influencing others for good or for evil, or 
 whether we are still attempting to serve two masters ; 
 still desirous of enjoying the greatest possible 
 amount of earthly satisfactions, with the hope of 
 being considered the followers of the Lamb of God ; 
 ever bearing in mind, that after the dissolution of 
 this world there will be new heavens and a new 
 earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness; and that 
 our capability of entering into these new heavens 
 will depend upon the faculties which the Holy 
 Spirit has bestowed upon us, and on the manner of 
 persons which we have been in this life. 
 
 Soon there will be to us the ushering in of 
 eternity, the thought of which is surely calculated 
 to raise our minds from earth to heaven ; from the
 
 180 TO DO WITHOUT DELAY, ETC. 
 
 ever deceitful allurements of this lower world to the 
 consideration of those pleasures which are at God's 
 right hand for evermore ; and to lead us to reflect 
 on what we are, whither we are going, and what 
 soon will he the termination of all our plans, pro- 
 jects, and exertions. The stamp of eternity is fixed 
 on us ; we can now never cease to exist, either in 
 the body or out of the body, or when the material 
 and immaterial parts of man shall be reunited. 
 For us there never can be the cessation of con- 
 sciousness; from everlasting to everlasting our 
 faculties will be exercised, and without end we 
 shall be happy or miserable : miserable if, having 
 sown unto the wind, we reap the whirlwind ; if, 
 having sown unto the flesh, we reap corruption ; 
 if, having heard the Gospel, we have despised its all- 
 gracious offers; but happy, if, having sown unto 
 the Spirit, we reap the fruits of the Spirit, which are 
 love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, and 
 meekness; happy, if, having believed that all the 
 things which were foretold by the Apostle would 
 come to pass, we have been diligent, " that we might 
 be found of God in peace, without spot and 
 blameless."
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 181 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 IT will be borne in mind, that the object of these 
 pages has been to lead into the way of happiness 
 such as heretofore have been entire strangers to the 
 peace of God, by exhibiting to them the conduct of 
 one who, having been in the possession of all that this 
 life can offer, quitted for a time the busy haunts of 
 men, to endeavour to learn why vanity and vexation 
 and utter disappointment are so stamped on all 
 things finite, so that they who live in them, and for 
 them, are utter strangers to real peace of mind and 
 to enduring happiness. 
 
 The first conclusions of such a person were, that 
 a curse was stamped on all things animate and in- 
 animate, of the earth, the air, and the sea ; and for 
 a time he believed that the Creator of them had 
 made them to be cursed; but further inquiry led 
 him to perceive that the indications of benevolence 
 in the outward world, and in man's capacities, were 
 too many to allow him to continue to believe that 
 the great Creator of all tlu'ngs could have called
 
 182 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 rational beings into existence that they might ever 
 be miserable. That a curse had fallen on everything 
 could not be denied, but did it thence follow, he in- 
 quired, that all things were made to be cursed ? From 
 the evidence of natural theology, but especially 
 from the evidence of revealed religion, proofs mani- 
 fold were soon discovered that everything was very 
 good in its original creation, but that subsequently 
 a curse had fallen upon it. The question then arose, 
 " Why was this curse sent, and why do affliction 
 and misery so frequently enter into the lot of man, 
 and make up so much of the experience of the 
 human race?" To answer which question our in- 
 quirer determined to examine, day by day, the ancient 
 records of God's people, by which records he clearly 
 saw that the design of every affliction was to bring 
 men to themselves, and to 'the knowledge and ser- 
 vice of their Maker, for " that willingly " the Al- 
 mighty " does not afflict any of the children of 
 men." 
 
 After arriving at this conclusion, we have seen 
 how such a person employed all his time in be- 
 coming acquainted with the will of God as revealed 
 in the Old Testament ; and that gradually he be- 
 came more and more acquainted with the attributes 
 of the Almighty as therein made known to man,
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 183 
 
 but especially with the attribute of mercy, as in- 
 dicated in the predictions respecting our blessed 
 Lord, and afterwards in the history of the same 
 blessed being, as recorded in the New Testament. 
 
 We have likewise seen that his views and opinions, 
 by such steady perusal of the Scriptures, became 
 changed, and that he began to think that his 
 misery, and the absence of all happiness in his 
 worldly career, were in mercy designed to arrest 
 him in his progress to ruin, and to bring him to 
 the knowledge of all that man requires to make him 
 happy, and thus the contents of the Bible became 
 of the greatest importance in his estimation, for 
 therein he discovered that there was a gracious 
 Being who would be rest to the weary and salvation 
 to the lost. 
 
 Hence the inquirer came to comprehend rightly 
 the purposes for which he was made, for which his 
 life had been preserved, and the purposes for which 
 Christ came upon earth, viz. to redeem him and all 
 men who panted after salvation. 
 
 He further became acquainted with the truth, 
 that not only are man's sins to be forgiven, but that 
 his nature must be changed, ere heaven can be a 
 state of happiness to him ; and that there is a Being 
 spoken of in the New Testament, by whose in-
 
 184 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 fluences that new nature would be given to every 
 one striving to obtain it ; and by the conduct of 
 persons whose history is related in the Bible, he 
 discovered what were the lives, the deeds, the de- 
 sires, and the words of the redeemed of Christ, 
 what they did, and what they avoided ; what they 
 loved, and what they abhorred. 
 
 Gradually he came to the conclusion that happi- 
 ness in this life, as well as in the life to come, may 
 be and ought to be the portion of every truly good 
 man, since the Spirit of God bears witness with his 
 spirit that he is a child of God ; that the Apostles 
 and disciples of Christ had this two-fold witness, 
 and that it is promised to all who in spirit and in 
 truth walk in the footsteps of their Lord and 
 Master, the habitual conduct and deeds of good 
 men being to them their evidence, or enabling their 
 own spirits to bear witness, that they are the children 
 of God, on the principle that " by their deeds ye 
 shall know them," and that good fruit cometh not 
 of a corrupt tree. That the means are thus afforded 
 whereby a man may know whether he be, or be not, 
 now in a state of salvation, as they were afforded to 
 the Apostle of old, who said, "We know that we 
 have passed from death unto life, because we love 
 the brethren."
 
 THE CONCLUSION. ]85 
 
 That many men are not happy in religion and 
 by religion, he always knew to be true, but he now 
 believes that their happiness was not to be traced to 
 the principles of Christ's holy faith, but to their not 
 having had right views and opinions of that reli- 
 gion ; but that, as of old, " they being ignorant of 
 God's righteousness, and going about to establish 
 their own righteousness, have not submitted them- 
 selves unto the righteousness of God" (Rom. x. 3) : 
 they have believed in Christ, but have not looked 
 up to Him solely and entirely for salvation; and 
 hence their consciences have not allowed them to 
 be at peace, nor will they ever be at peace so long 
 as they think that their own good works are to be 
 in part the efficient cause of their justification 
 before God. 
 
 Furthermore, that many are strangers to peace, 
 who in the main are good men, but who are not al- 
 ways consistent ; /or though they may not put their 
 hands to the plough and look backwards, yet they 
 have sufficient yearnings after the perishable things 
 of this life to bring them within the censure of our 
 Lord, who said, " The children of this world are in 
 their generation wiser than the children of light ; " 
 and hence they go mourning all the days of their 
 lives, often wondering whether thev are, or are not,
 
 J8G THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 Christians, and having fears and misgivings that the 
 light of God's countenance is withdrawn from them. 
 
 Such were the separate and successive conclusions 
 at which he arrived, who, by the stress of the world's 
 inability to speak peace to his conscience, withdrew 
 for a time from the occupations and pleasures of 
 life to ask why he, and all around him, were per- 
 petually pursuing a shadow; and it will be seen 
 that, in his retirement, and by reason of his re- 
 searches, new views and a new sense of duty 
 became his, and that peace and comfort accom- 
 panied him, and became more and more his posses- 
 sion, as he progressed in his now blessed employ- 
 ment; and that he became fully persuaded of the 
 unlimited benevolence of the great Creator of all 
 things, of the undying love of the Eedeemer, and of 
 the readiness of the Paraclete to visit with his holy 
 influences the children of men, so as to bring them 
 into the spiritual image of Him that made them. 
 
 "\Yith such sentiments, and after such conclusions, 
 the result of many prayers, and of repeatedly study- 
 ing the Scriptures, it will not be surprising if the 
 rest of the inquirer's life were employed in God's 
 service, and for the well-being of his fellow-crea- 
 tures; and that, when so employed, he should truly 
 have walked in the way of happiness, even in the
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 187 
 
 short, and but too often sorrowful, journey of life, 
 especially after it became the rule of his remaining 
 day, to do with his might whatsoever his hand 
 found to do, he well knowing that " there is no 
 work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the 
 grave, whither" man goeth; and thus he avoided 
 the rock on which many have all but made ship- 
 wreck of faith, and have " pierced themselves 
 through with many sorrows," instead of always 
 living in perfect acquiescence with the will of God. 
 Let us, then, at once do with our might what we 
 have to do, and let us lose no time in following the 
 example of him whose wise conduct is held forth 
 to imitation in these pages : the way of happiness 
 he knew not; he sought for it in the world, but 
 found it not ; he sought for it in the Scriptures, and 
 there he learnt by whom, through whom, and in 
 whom it was to be found ; he prayed for it unceas- 
 ingly, and his prayers were heard, and an answer of 
 peace was vouchsafed to him ; he lived for some 
 years in the service of his God, and ever found the 
 ways of religion to be ways of pleasantness ; and 
 when he quitted this mortal scene it was with the joy- 
 ful hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through 
 the merits and atonement of the great Redeemer, of 
 Him who came to seek and to save the lost.
 
 188 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 Let us, then, unhesitatingly follow his example, 
 and quit the allurements of the world to examine 
 carefully the Scriptures, to learn what our duty is, 
 and what our wisdom is ; let us not, for the sake of 
 things finite, be untrue to ourselves and to our 
 God ; let us anticipate our separation from all 
 which is dear to us in this life, and think of our 
 rapid departure from those scenes in which we 
 might still be a blessing to all around us; let us 
 live no longer for the sake of things material and 
 perishable, but let our treasure be in heaven. By 
 the grace of God's Holy Spirit may we so live, that 
 by our prayers, and by our exertions, the capacious 
 mansions of the redeemed may receive the ran- 
 somed souls of all who are intrusted to our care ; 
 let us hasten the coming of our Lord, by living to 
 his glory, and by furtherin'g the kingdom which He 
 is establishing; and then will our lives have answered 
 the end for which they were given to us ; and then, 
 by our example, by our holy conversation and 
 godliness, we shall, probably, have caused many 
 to go to Christ as their Lord and their Redeemer, 
 their only Potentate, their mighty Prince, to reign in 
 their hearts world without end. Amen, and Arnen. 
 
 Woodfail and Kinder, Printers, Angel Court, Skinner Street, London.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 Form L9-Series 4939
 
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