Digitized by the Internet Arciiive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/anxiousinquireraOOjamerich THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER SALVATION. BYEEV JOHN ANGELL JAMES, OF BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND. What must I do to be saved ' Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 1(5:30, 31. J7 yy^ OF THE ^ \ RED UNDER THE SANCTION OF THE AUTH rUKIVERSITyl PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN TILACT SOCIETY, 150 N A S S A U - S T R E E T , NEW YORK. ^33 i' ' we seek to make ourselves godly before we come to Christ, and wish to come under that character, we are shutting ourselves out from the blessing of justification ; for this is grant- ed only to them who consider themselves un* godly. 3. Another mistake into which inquirers fall, is to indulge a misplaced solicitude about the evi- dences of personal religion. I know that the sacred writers speak much and often on the subject of evidences of personal religion. But a person must have religion before he can pos- sess the evidences of it ; and at present your solicitude should be rather to be a Christian, than to know you are such. It is, however, a very common case for persons, as soon as they begin to be anxious about religion, to begin also to be anxious to find out the marks of sal- vation in themselves. Hence they are ever microscopically analyzing all their feelings, watching their motives, reviewing their con- duct ; sometimes hoping when they see, or think they see, a good mark; but more generally desponding, as the result of seeing so much that is positively wrong, or really defective in 132 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. tte state of their hearts. I wish you to attend to this remark, that "inquirers after salvation should be much more occupied in looking to Christ, than in looking into their own hearts ; and that when they do look into themselves, it should be for conviction, and not for consola- tion." Consider the case of the Israelites when bitten by the fiery serpents in the wilderness. Num. 21 : 7-9. Moses, you know, was ordered to make a brazen serpent and elevate it upon a pole, and whosoever looked upon the brazen figure lived. "Look and live," was the man- date and promise. Now cannot you fancy you see the poor poisoned creatures straining their very eyes in gazing upon the object appointed for their healing ? Do you think they spent all their time, or much of their time, or any of it, in examining the wounds to see if they were healing ? Were they so foolish as to look off from the means of cure, to ascertain their prog- ress in recovery ? No. They would not have taken their eye from the brazen serpent to look at a second sun, if it had been at that time kindled in the firmament. Their eye was fixed ; and as they looked, they felt their pain assuaged, their fever cooled, their health re- MISTAKES OF INQUIRERS. 133 turning : if they looked off, they felt in danger of relapse; and in this way they recovered. Thus should it be with the sinner ; he should look to Jesus : healing is there ; and is obtain- ed, not by looking to see if it is come, or is coming. The more the mind is fixed on Christ, the more clear its views are of his mediatorial work; the more steady and fixed the eye of faith is on the cross of Him who was " lifted up, that whosoever believeth should not perish, but have eternal life,'^ the firmer will be the consciousness of the soul that it does believe, and the more abundant will be all the fruits and evidences of faith. The Israelite had no doubt of his healing as long as he looked to the brazen serpent, for he felt it going on ; nor will the soul doubt of its acceptance with God, so long as it looks to Christ. " He that be- lieveth hath the witness in himself," not only of the truth of Christianity, but of his own per- sonal religion. The way to have evidences increased, is to have faith increased ; and the way to have faith increased, is not by looking into ourselves, who are the subjects of faith, but out of ourselves to Christ, who is the object 134 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. of faith. Faith is the main-spring and regu- lator of all the graces : our joy, our love, our hope will all be in proportion to our faith ; and our faith can never be strengthened by an anxious and constant poring over the feelings of our hearts. Nor can our faith be strength- ened merely by determining to be strong in faith, but by an intelligent and increasingly clear view of the person and work of Christ. " How long,'' said David, " shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily ?" He tells us almost immediately after how he got rid of his grief, even by looking away from himself to God : " I have trusted in thy mercy, my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation." Psa. 13 : 2, 5. The peace of mind that true faith brings into the soul, the relief which it affords from the burden of sin, and the fruits of holi- ness in a godly life, are evidences that faith is genuine ; but there can be neither peace nor holiness without faith. Many, I apprehend, are greatly deceived in their supposed object in seeking for marks of conversion : it is not evidences of faith they are seeking after, but matter of faith — not evidences that they have leceived the righteousness of Christ, but evi- MISTAKES OF INQUIRERS. 135 dences out of which they make a righteous- ness of their own; they want comfort, and instead of looking for it in Christ, they are looking for it in themselves. Hence, when they have found, or think they have found a good mark in themselves, they rejoice in it as those that have found great spoil. Doubting, dejected, and anxious sinner, thou hast been reading, thinking, hearing, praying, striving, examining, consulting books of evi- dences and lists of marks of salvation, inquir- ing of others how they feel and what they con- clude to be evidence of a work of grace, and yet thou art as far from any satisfactory con- clusion as to thy state as ever ; like the beast in the mire, all thy striving serves but to sink thee deeper and deeper. Now then take an- other plan, since thine own has failed, and instead of a constant search for evidences, look to Christ; keep thine eye fixed on him; meditate upon the divinity of his person, the suf- ficiency of his atonement, the perfection of his righteousness, the riches of his grace, the uni- versality of his invitations. Look at the object of faith, the grounds of faith, the warrant of faith: the more thou doest this, the stronger 136 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER, thy faith will become; and the stronger thy faith is, the greater thy peace will be. Instead of laboring to love Christ, and becoming de- jected that thou dost not love him more, take another course, and dwell upon the love of Christ to thee. Meditate on his amazing grace, his most wonderful compassion, not only to the world in general, but to thee, as part of the world ; labor and pray to be able to compre- hend, with all saints, " what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." This, this is the way to grow in love to him ; for if we love him, it is because he first loved us. 1 John, 4:19. It is a great principle, which I am anxious to impress upon you, that subjec- tive religion, or in other words, religion in us, is produced and sustained by fixing the mind on objective religion, or the facts and doctrines of the word of God. Neither evidences nor comfort should be sought directly, or on their own account, or as separate things, but as the result of faith. Take this as an important sentiment, that the subject of evidences belongs more to the believer than to the inquirer — to the Christian who professes to be already in MISTAKES OF INQUIRERS. 137 the way, and not to the anxious seeker after the way. 4. But there is another mistake which in- quirers are apt to make, which, though nearly allied to what I have already stated, is suffi- ciently distinct to justify a separate considera- tion, and that is, confounding faith and assurance. Faith is such a cordial belief that Christ died for sinners, as leads to a dependence upon him for salvation ; assurance, as the word is usually understood in religious discourse, means a per- suasion that I do so believe and am in a state of salvation : faith means a belief that Christ is willing to receive me ; assurance means con- viction that he has received me, that, in short, I am a Christian. Now it is manifest that these two are different from each other ; one of them, that is, faith, signifying the performance of au action or coming into a certain state ; and the other the consciousness that I have come into that state. It is also equally evident that faith must precede assurance. We must first believe that Christ died for sinners, and trust in him, before we can know that we have be- lieved. The first simple act of faith is a belief that Christ died for all sinners, for the whole 138 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. world ; the next, as arising out of it, if it be not indeed included in it, is, that he died for us as a part of the world. I belieye, says the sinner who is coining with confidence to Christ, that " God so loved the world as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life :" then, as I am a part of the world, I believe he loved me and is willing to save me ; I trust in Him as my atoning sacrifice and my all : this is faith. The soul then feels joy and peace in believing, love to God, gratitude to Christ, hatred of sin, subjugation of the world, fellow- ship with the righteous ; now says the person, " I know I believe, I am conscious both of the act of believing and also of its gracious effects :" this is assurance. I may illustrate this by referring again to the rebellious subjects and their gracious sove- reign. A ringleader of the revolt can scarcely persuade himself that he can be included in the act of amnesty ; he reads the proclamation again, which runs thus : " The king, pitying his deluded subjects, and filled with clemency, will grant a gracious pardon to all, whosoever they be, who will lay down their arms by such a MISTAKES OF INQUIRERS. 139 day.'^ Having examined the proofs of the au- thenticity of the act, and being satisfied on that point, he says, " It is really true, and I believe that the king is willing to pardon all that sub- mit ; and as he has made no exception against any, but says, whosoever will lay down his arms shall be forgiven, I believe that there is mercy for me." Thus far faith goes ; and even be- fore he reaches the scene of pardon, or takes a step towards it, his mind is at rest ; the proc- lamation itself, as soon as it is understood and believed, gives him comfort ; he has no doubt of his being accepted. He goes and lays down his arms, and now he is assured he is safe ; he is conscious he has done what the monarch re- quired, and he feels he has what the monarch promised. In his case, however, you perceive that there would not be much solicitude about assurance. Faith and compliance with the monarch's demand would be all that he would concern himself about. Assurance would fol- low upon faith and action. So should it be with anxious inquirers after salvation : their business is to believe — what? that they are Christians ? no ; for a belief that I am a Christian, is not faith, but assurance — ^but to 140 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. believe the gospel, whicli is God's proclama- tion of mercy and pardon to his rebel subjects. They are to feel persuaded that God has loved them in common with other sinners, has in- vited them, has promised to receive them ; and availing themselves of this revelation of mercy, to commit themselves and their eternal all to Him. Then, from the peace-giving effect of this upon their conscience, and the purifying effect of it upon their hearts, they may be assured they have believed, and have passed from death unto life. Faith then is not assurance, but the cause of it. Now, inquirer, are you not aware you have confounded these two ; and have been conse- quently walking in great perplexity ? You are dejected, and find no peace. Why ? " Oh," you say, " my faith is so weak ; indeed I am afraid I have no faith." Now, what do you mean by having no faith ? "I am afraid I am not a Christian. I fear I do not believe. I am full of unbelief." And let me tell you that you never can be delivered from distress in this way, for you are wanting to know you are a Christian before you are one ; you are striving to know you are a believer before you believe ; MISTAKES OF INQUIRERS. 141 you wish to be assured you are accepted of Christ, in order that you may go to him for acceptance. Faith is not believing that you are a Christian, but believing that Christ died for sinners, and trusting in him ; and unbelief is not doubting that you are a Christian, but doubting Christ's willingness to save you, and thus rejecting him. My advice to you then is, to leave assurance, as a first matter, out of con- sideration. Your business at present is with faith : you are to believe ; you are to commit your soul to the atonement of Christ ; you are to be persuaded that he died for sinners, died for you, and is willing to save you. This is the assurance you are to seek ; and this is what the apostle means by the full assurance of faith : an unhesitating confidence that the Lord Jesus is able and willing to save to the uttermost; and therefore able and willing to save you. Get your mind full of conviction of the truth of this ; let your soul be thrown, as it were, wide open to admit this delight- ful persuasion, that Christ is mighty to save, delighted to save, waiting to save all — you among the rest, you as willingly as any of the rest — and cast your soul -upon him ; then 142 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. will this truth give you such peace, and exert such a power over your heart, as to prove to you the existence and reality of your faith, and you shall have the blessed assurance at once of God^s love in Christ, and of your ac ceptance in him. PERPLEXITIES OF INQUIRERS. 143 CHAPTER VII. PERPLEXITIES WHICH ARE OFTEN FELT BY INQUIRERS. 1. Many are exceedingly perplexed and dis- tressed on the subject of their personal election to eternal life, I have nothing to do now with those care- less or profane persons who make this awful doctrine an excuse, or rather profess to make it an excuse, for the entire neglect of religion ; and who with a wicked indifference exclaim, " If I am elected to be saved, I shall be saved without any concern of mine ; but if I am not elected, no effort of mine will or can save me." The fact is, that such persons do not believe in the doctrine of election at all, nor indeed care any thing about salvation ; but are utterly ignorant and careless, and refer to this solemn truth either to quiet their own conscience, or to silence and turn away the voice of faithful admonition. But there are others who do feel, especially in the early stages of religious in- •144 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. quiry, no small degree of perplexity on this subject. Now here let me at once inform you, that you who are inquiring after salvation have nothing to do with the doctrine of election, as a rule of conduct. The sublime truth of God's sovereignty in the salvation of his people, is introduced in Scripture not to discourage the approach of the sinner to Christ for salvation, but to remind those who have come to him, that their salvation is all of grace ; to take away from them all ground of boastiug ; to confirm their faith in the accomplishment of the divine promises; to promote their comfort; to incul- cate the necessity of personal holiness ; and to encourage Christians amidst the afflictions of life. Rom. ch. 8, 9 ; Eph. 1 : 4, 5, 9, 11 ; 1 Pet. 1 : 2. But it was never designed to be a source of discouragement to penitents. The rule of your conduct is the invitation and promise of Christ, not the secret purposes of God : " The secret things belong unto the Lord our God ; but those things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." Deut. 29 : 29. The mercy of God is infinite ; the merit of Christ's atonement is infinite ; the power of PERPLEXITIES OF INQUIRERS. 145 the Spirit is infinite ; and the invitations of the gospel are universal. " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden/' And thus saith the Lord, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked." " The Lord is long-suffering to us-ward ; not willing that any should per- ish, but that all should come to repentance. '^ *' Him that cometh I will in no wise cast out." " Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." Now these are the words of Scrip- ture, and must therefore be true ; and here is the rule of your conduct. You can understand this, but you know little of the secret purposes of God. Besides, if you knew you were elected, you would not be received and saved because of this knowledge, but by believing in Christ, who invites men not as elected to life, but as lost sinners condemned to death. If you had been permitted to read the decrees of heaven, and had seen your name in the Lamb's book of life, you would not be one whit more welcome to Christ than you are now that you know nothing about the matter. You are invited ; and if you neglect the invitation which you do know, because of a decree which you do not know, the blame of perishing will lie at your own door ; luquirer. 3 146 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. and you will find at last that yon are lost, not in consequence of any purpose of God determin- ing you to be lost, but in consequence of your own unbelief. Why should the purpose of God in reference to salvation be the only view of the divine pur- poses which perplexes you? Do you not be- lieve there is also a purpose which refers to the events of your natural life and death ? But do you on this account hesitate in sickness to take the medicine prescribed for you by a skilful physician, lest you should not be ordained to life ? No. You say, and with reason, " I know not the divine purpose ; my business is with plain rules of duty, and instituted means ; for if I am to live, I can expect recovery only by those means." Act thus in reference to your soul. You are invited to use the means of life ; if you are to be saved, you must be saved in the use, not in the neglect of these means, and if you use them aright you certainly will be saved. If any use at all is to be made by an inquirer, of the doctrine of election, it is a use in his own favor. You know not that you are not elected, and the very solicitude of your mind about salvation makes it probable that PERPLEXITIES OF INQUIRERS. 147 you are^ since that solicitude is usually em- ployed by God as one of the methods through which he fulfils his purposes of mercy to ruined man. Besides, if you get away from the invi- tation, and instead of making that the rule of your conduct, trouble your head with other views and subjects, you will find as much per- plexity in God's foreknowledge as you do in his decree. Even those who deny the purposes of God have just as much reason to perplex themselves with divine prescience, and say, "Whatever God foresees, and nothing but what he foresees, will take place : now he fore- sees either that I shall be saved or lost ; and as I do not know that he foresees that I shall be saved, I am greatly discouraged." Aban- don at once therefore all solicitude about the unrevealed purposes of God, and fix your atten- tion on the invitation. Christ bids you come to him for salvation ; and every bar and obsta- cle which lies in the way of your coming is placed there by you, and not by him. He does not say, Come when you have ascertained your election, but, Come and ascertain it. He does not say. You are welcome if you have read the decree ; but, You are welcome if you believe 148 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER/ the promise. He does not say, Come under the presumption that you are predestinated ; but, Come with the assurance that you are bidden. Your business is to make your calling sure, and then you will no longer doubt of your election. 2. Another source of perplexity with some, is a fear that they have committed the unpardon- able blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, This is by no means an uncommon ground of painful solicitude ; and even when it does not amount to a deep and terrifying conviction, yet the subject haunts the imagination with many distressing fears, keeps the peace unsettled, and prevents that calm and tranquillizing reliance to which the penitent is invited. Now I wish you to know, that in whatever awful and ter- rific obscurity this subject is enveloped, no one that is really anxious about his salvation need fear that he has passed the line of hope and en- tered the region where mercy never dispenses pardon ; the very fear of having committed this sin, when such fear is connected with a tender concern for salvation, is a proof that it has not been committed. It may be taken for granted that in every case where this mysterious crime has been committed, the transgressor is given PERPLEXITIES OF INQUIRERS. 149 up either to a deadly stupor, or a raging frenzy of the conscience. But perhaps the best way of removing the apprehension, is to explain the subject which occasions it. What is the nature of this sin ? Read the account of it: "Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men ; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him ; but who- soever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.^' Matt. 12 : 31, 32. The occasion of these awful words was the conduct of the Pharisees in ascribing the miracles of Christ, the reality of which they could not deny or doubt, to the power of the devil. It is probable, however, that the words had a special reference to the gift of the Holy Spirit, which was to follow our Lord's crucifix- ion. The day of Pentecost, properly speaking, commenced the dispensation of the Spirit — • wlien his divine gifts conferred upon the apos- tles, completed the eviderxe of the Christian economy ; and the language of Christ seemed 160 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. to direct the Pharisees forward, in the way of impressive warning, to that event, and remind them, though they understood him not, that the malicious contempt cast upon his miracles, if repeated after the Holy Ghost should be poured out, would fill the measure of their iniquities, seal them up in unbelief, and place them be- yond the reach of mercy. There would remain no further evidence of the divine mission of Christ ; the last and the fullest attestation to his Messiahship would be rejected and reviled with malice of heart. If, in addition to this, you will recollect the meaning of the term blas- phemy, which signifies to speak reproachfully, opprobriously, or impiously, you will then have the nature of this crime before you. It is knowledge in the mind that miracles were wrought ; malice ii; the heart against Christ, in attestation of whom they were given ; con- tempt of the Holy Ghost their author ; and the language of spite upon the tongue, reviling the miracles themselves by ascribing them to the agency of devils. It is not simple unbelief under the dispensation of the Spirit ; it is not mere infidelity, even under very aggravated cir- cumstances ; but it is the union of conviction, PERPLEXITIES OF INQUIRERS. 151 malice, and impiety. It is therefore evident, that if this sin is now ever committed, no serious inquirer after salvation need entertain the ap- prehension that it has been committed by him. He has not passed the boundary of mercy ; nor is there a sin he has ever been guilty of, how- ever enormous in magnitude, or however pain- ful in remembrance, but the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse it away. 3. But this leads to another perplexity which is felt by others ; who, though they do not fear that they have been guilty of this unpardonable crime, are distressed by the apprehension that their sins are too greats too numerous^ or too pe- culiar to he forgiven. Sometimes convinced sinners are enabled by divine grace to indulge the hope of pardon almost as soon as they feel the conviction of sin. Yea, some are led to see the evil of sin at first, more by the mercy of the gospel than the stern justice which appears in the law ; but others are long and sorely harassed by fears of rejection, before they are brought to a com- fortable expectation of forgiveness. This is more commonly the case with those who have gone to great lengths in sin, and have resisted 152 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. the clearest and loudest warnings of conscience : it is not unusual for such persons, when truly awakened to a sense of their sin and danger, to plunge into the very depths of despondency. In some cases I think it possible that this de- sponding frame of mind is really cherished, as 'if it were an evidence of sincere and deep penitence : there are those who look upon doubts and fears as the marks of a work of grace, and proofs of genuine piety. Such doubts and fears, however, are never to be sought, since true godly sorrow is both accompanied and promoted by faith and hope. Despair tends to harden the heart, and to freeze up the feel- ings of penitence. God cannot be glorified, nor Christ honored, by doubting of his ability or willingness to save. I am persuaded that many persons say more about theit sins being too great to be pardoned, than they either be- lieve or feel, from a supposition that it is a token of humility to talk thus. Watch against this, for it is an act of guilty insincerity ; it is trifling with sacred things, and should be avoided. But there are many who are really distressed with the most painful solicitude, and the most PERPLEXITIES OF INQUIRERS. 153 gloomy apprehensions about the pardon of their sins. Now here let me put a plain question to you : Is your concern merely to be pardoned, or to be sanctified as well as pardoned ? Are you afraid only of being left under the punishment of sin, or do you also fear being left under its power ? If you are so selfish as to be anxious for nothing but your own safety, without caring for holiness, no wonder you are left by God to despondency. You do not yet understand the design of Christ's work, which is not merely to deliver from hell, but also from sin. Change then, or rather, enlarge the object of your hope, so as to include sanctification as well as justifi- cation, and in all probability your unbelief and distress will soon give way ; for it will be found easier, perhaps, to some, to believe that God is willing to make them holy, than to forgive them. Desponding sinner, think of this ; the salvation of Christ is designed to make you a new creature, and to restore the image of God to your soul ; and do you not believe that God must be infinitely willing to do this ? After all, however, there are some who, even wi.th this view of the design of Christ's death, still cherish the idea that their sins cannot be 154 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. forgiven: none have sinned, tliey think, like them; there are aggravations in their sins, not to be found in the conduct of any other. Now I refer such burdened and desponding minds, To the promises of God^s word. Read atten- tively such declarations as are found in the following passages : Isa. 44:22; 55:6, 7; Mi- cah 7 : 18, 19 ; Matt. 12 : 31, 32. Dwell espe- cially upon this last passage, because it most explicitly declares that the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is the only sin excepted from forgiveness. If then you are led to see that you have not committed the only sin for which there is no forgiveness, it must, I think, appear plain to you that your transgressions are not unpardonable. Dwell much upon the perfection of Christ's work in making atonement for sin. The apos- tle declares, that " the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.'' 1 John, 1:7. It would seem as if this declaration were written on purpose to meet such cases as yours. This scripture says positively, the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. " No," you say, in flat and perverse contradiction, " it PERPLEXITIES OF INQUIRERS. 155 cannot cleanse iro'm mine/' Did Christ die to save sinners, and yet are there some sinners to be found, according to your view, whom he cannot save? Then his work of salvation is unfinished, and his character as a Saviour is incomplete. Has he not saved millions already by the merit of his death ? Well, suppose all the sins of those millions had been in you alone, could he not as easily have saved you in that case, as he has saved them? Certainly he could. Can you really make up your mind to go and say to Christ, " Lord, thou canst not, wilt not save me ; there is neither love enough in thy heart, nor power enough in thy Spirit, nor merit enough in thy great sacrifice to save me. Look upon me and behold a sinner whom even thou canst not save : behold in me a sin- ner to whom thy uttermost ability cannot reach.'' No, you cannot say this ; and yet you may say it, and innocently say it, if what you affirm is true, that your sins are too great to be forgiven. Let it be admitted, for the sake of argument, that you are the chief of sinners, still Christ can save you ; so at least the apos- tle thought when he said, " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that 156 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. Christ Jesus came into tiie world to save sin- ners, of whom I am chief.'' And now read what follows : " Howbeit, for this cause I ob- tained mercy ; that in me first," or as it signi- fies, in me the chief sinner, "Jesus Christ might show forth all long-sufi'ering, for a pat- tern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." 1 Tim. 1 : 15, 16. Think what Saul of Tarsus was, a bloody per- secutor, and even murderer of the disciples of Christ ; yet Christ not only pardoned him, but raised him to the dignity of the chief of the apostles. For what purpose? To be a pat- tern of God's mercy to the end of time. Yes, there he stands upon the pedestal of his own immortal writings, a monument of the riches, power, and sovereignty of divine grace, bear- ing this inscription : I, who was a blasphemer, a persecutor and injurious, obtained mercy. Let no man ever despair : for if there arise a greater sinner than I was, let him look on me, and hope for pardon through the. blood of Christ. I was forgiven to encourage the wick- edest of men to repent, to believe in Jesus, and expect salvation. Consider well the other instances recorded PERPLEXITIES OF INQUIRERS. 157 in the word of God, of pardon granted to some of the greatest sinners. There is scarcely one class of sinners, or one kind of crime, which is not specifically mentioned in Scripture as hav- ing been pardoned. Think of Manasseh, an apostate, an idolater, a wholesale murderer, a man whose example and authority as a king were employed to fill a nation with iniquity ; of the dying malefactor who was saved upon his cross ; of the Jews who were converted on the day of Pentecost, and who, though they had been the murderers of Christ, were for- given; of the once polluted members of the Corinthian church. 1 Cor. 6 : 9-11. What proofs are these that no sins will keep a man from salvation, that do not keep him from Christ. The fact is, that greatness and little- ness, few and many, have nothing to do with this matter, in the way of making it more diffi- cult, or more easy to obtain mercy. No man is pardoned because his sins are fewer than others, and none is rejected because his sins are more. Great sinners are welcome ; for as the skill of the physician is the more displayed in dangerous and difficult cases than in slight ones, BO is the grace of Christ the more illustriously 158 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. manifested in the pardon and sanctification of notorious sinners, than in the salvation of those who have not gone so far astray. If God's mercy be infinite, it must be as easy for him to pardon a million sins as one. Desponding sin- ner, doubt no longer. The greatest sin you can commit, is to disbelieve God's promise to forgive your other sins. Unbelief is the most heinous of all sins. " He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar.'' 1 John, 5 : 10. Yes, you are giving God the lie to his face, as often as you say your sins are too great to be forgiven. Do you not tremble at this? Is there not abominable pride in unbelief? Who and what are you, that you should suppose God has any object or interest in deceiving you by a false promise ? Are you so considerable a person, that he should falsify his word in order to draw you into false confidence? Believe then from this hour, that God is more willing to forgive you the greatest of your sins, than you imagine he is to blot out the least oi them. 4. Some are perplexed with the notion, that as " the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomina- tion to God," and as none of the works of un- PEEPLEXITIES OF INQUIRERS. 159 regenerate persons are acceptable to God, if is not right for them to pray, since they are not yet believers in Christ. With regard to the expression above alluded to, which speaks of the sacrifice of the wicked, it means the hypo- critical religious services of men who are still living in the commission of known sin, and im- piously designing to make some atonement for their iniquities by their sacrifices. This is evident from the passage itself, where it is also said, the way of the wicked is abomination, that is, his conduct ; and because his conduct is abominable, therefore his prayer is also abominable. This passage is best expounded by a reference to Isaiah 1 : 10-18. It applies to a totally different case from yours. Your prayers, indeed, do not merit the divine bless- ing which you are anxious to obtain, however frequently or fervently they may be presented. You ought not to pray with the idea that there is any worth in your prayers to make any atonement for your sins; nor ought you to look for peace and comfort from your prayers. I go a step further, and remind you that unless you pray in faith, your prayers are not such as God has engaged to answer. You should be- 160 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. lieve that God is willing and waiting to bestovr all spiritual blessings, for lie lias promised to do so. To doubt at the time you pray whether God will grant what he has promised, is sin ; and to doubt whether it is your duty to pray because you do not yet know that you are accepted of God, is unquestionably wrong. You may as well question whether it is your duty to read the Bible, or to go to public worship. Did not Peter tell Simon Magus to pray? ** Repent, therefore," said he, "of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee; for I perceive that thou art in the gall of bit- terness and bond of iniquity." Acts 8 : 22, 23. Still, I would remind you, that as long as you pray in an unconverted state, your prayers are only the operations of self-love ; they are but the cries of misery after relief, the desire of the soul after happiness; and, however fre- quently or fervently repeated, prefer no claim on God for his blessing. The sin lies not in praying — for if sincere, there is no sin in cry- ing to God for help — but in not believing. Instead therefore of leaving off prayer, or har- assing your mind with doubts concerning it, PERPLEXITIES OF INQUIRERS. 161 continue instant in prayer, mourning for your sins, and believing at the same time the prom- ise of mercy in Christ Jesus. You are to add to your prayer faith, and it is your duty at once to believe ; but should it not be that your soul loses immediately its guilty fears, still you are to pray for mercy, and for faith to receive it. It cannot be wrong for a soul to cry for mercy. With such light as you have, lift up your desire to God. Pray for more knowledge, stronger faith, and firmer hope. Prayer is your duty, and it is your privilege ; and let no speculative difficulties have a moment's influ- ence to induce you to suspend it. Cry for mercy as a sinner ; but do not remain in unbe- lief, supposing that prayer can be a substitute for faith ; for as 1 said before, so I repeat, God does not bind himself to answer any prayers but those of faith. la^iUiMr .1* 162 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. CHAPTER VIII. DISCOURAaEMENTS WHICH PRESENT THEl^" SELVES AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF A RE- LiaiOUS COURSE. The word of God teaches us to expect these. What means the strait gate, but an entrance attended with difficulty? "What means count- ing the cost, but contemplating obstacles and preparing to meet them? Bunyan knew the course to heaven when he placed the slough of despond in the first stage of the journey. You are mistaken if you expect, by one easy stride, to reach the firm and solid ground beyond the dismal swamp.^ Sincerity will diminish diffi- culties, and finally overcome them, but it will not prevent them. Prepare then for discour- agement, for you will be sure to meet with it ; and it is both wise and merciful to forewarn you of it, lest you should conclude that some strange thing has happened to you. But ob- serve, no part of this discouragement comes from God. He interposes no obstacle, raises JDISCOURAaEMENTS. 16S no difficulties, presents no objection. A doubt of his willingness to save, a distrust of his mercy, would be fatal to your hopes. But all is clear ground, so far as he is concerned. Dwell on this thought, it is a blissful one ; ponder here, before you go another step ; arm yourself to meet every discouragement, come from what quarter it may, with this conviction, that God waits to be gracious; yes, like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, he is out looking for you, his infinite mercy is in motion towards you, he runs towards you faster than you go to him. What then is your dis- couragement ? tiaiidO lo iooi^a oM U ban 1. The cold indifferericejih&TepnlsiYe shyness of some professing Christians. You thought that the very look of anxiety, the very counte- nance that seemed to say to their eyes, if not to their ears, "What shall I do to be saved?" would draw the sympathies of many upon you ; instead of which, you perhaps feel that you are left without a friend to commiserate or guide you, and are compelled in the agony of youi* soul to say, even to the multitij.de that go up to Zion, "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? come, see if there be any sorrow like unto mine. 164 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. Will no man care for my soul V^ Ah, my friend, let me tell you in the beginning of your career, that you cannot expect too little from man, nor too much from God. It is the scandal of the church of Christ, and in measure also of its ministers, that in many cases serious inquirers after salvation are shamefully neglected. But shall this discourage you? What, when all heaven is interested on your behalf; when Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are concerned for you ; when the blessed angels are rejoicing over you, and flying on wings of love to minister to you as an heir of salvation! Look to God; and if the neglect of Christians should lead you to a more simple dependence upon Christ, you will be a gainer in the end. Too many friends and too much attention might do you injury, by leading you to depend too much upon an arm of flesh. 2. Many are discouraged by witnessing the low state of religion among professors. They see no counterpart to their anxiety in some who have long borne the Christian name. While they themselves are crying, *'What shall I do to be saved ?" they hear little from the lips of many Christian professors, but, What shall we DISCOURAaEMENTS. 165 eat or drink ; wherewithal shall we be clothed ; what is the news of the day, or what is the state of trade? They see so much worldly- mindedness, so much imperfection of temper, so many things unworthy of the Christian charac- ter, that they can scarcely believe there is a reality in religion, and are sometimes ready to give all up as a mere name. Nay, from some of these very professors they receive plain hints that they are too anxious, too precise, too ear- nest and urgent. ye wicked professors, ye child-murderers — for by what softer name can I call you, in thus attempting to strangle the children of God in the birth ? — I beseech you to consider the mischief you are doing, and aban- don this effort to extinguish the solicitude of souls who may be beginning to feel the ener- gies of spiritual life. And ye inquirers after salvation, be not diverted from Christ and eternal glory. If these men are living below their profession, this is their business, not yours. Salvation is necessary for you, whether they are sincere and earnest in seeking it or not. It will be no compensation for the loss of your soul, to think that they lost theirs. If there were not yet one real Christian, this 166 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. would be no excuse for your neglecting to be- come one. Look into the Bible, rather than to the professors of religion. Instead of giving up the matter, you should gather this inference from what you see, that it is no easy thing to be a Christian. Should the unworthy conduct of some professors induce you to relinquish tlie pursuit of salvation, it will be poor consolation in the bottomless pit, to look back upon the cause of your ruin. 3. You are perhaps discoui'aged by the pros- ped of opposition from your nearest friends. You see them all worldly, and plainly perceive that your real conversion to God will place you in direct opposition to them — that your becoming a Christian, and acting as such, will bring into your house the scene described by our Lord, Matt. 10 : 34-38. "0," say you, "how fearful is the prospect before me ! my profession of re- ligion would sound a note of discord in a family where all has been peace till now, although a peace founded on a common disregard of relig- ion, and would introduce confusion and strife where all has been union and harmony." '' I must brave the anger of my husband," says the wife, " and perhaps alienate that heart on which DISCOURAaEMENTS. ^ 167 my spirit has hitherto reposed with such de- light.'^ Or says the child, " I must seem to be disobedient to a parent whom I have hitherto found it to be my duty and bliss to obey. 0, can I do it ? Is there no other way to heaven ? Are there no milder terms of submission to the authority of Christ ?" None, none whatever. I do not conceal that it is an awful alternative. I should be destitute of all sympathy, my friend, if I did not feel for you. But I dare not with- draw the cross. My soul would perish with yours, if I successfully attempted to persuade you that, in your circumstances, repentance, faith, the love of God, and all the other graces and virtues included in decided spiritual relig- ion, could be dispensed with. God will not, cannot relax his demands, and I dare not. Hus- band and wife, parent and child, houses and lands, worldly reputation, and the applause of men, must all give place to Him. He demands the heart, and he has infinitely gracious re- wards to bestow for all your sacrifices for him. He will make the crown infinitely more valua- ble than the cross is terrible. You may be, you ought to be, discreet in your profession ; . you must avoid all unnecessary opposition to 168 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER the wishes of unconverted relatives ; you should, if possible, be ten times more obliging, more devoted, more sweetly kind in all other mat- ters; you should return good for evil; you should exhibit the most undisturbed meekness ; you should try to conquer violence by patience, but you must not, you dare not give up concern for your soul ; you must be willing to die of a broken heart, and by the wrongs of persecution, rather than give up the pui'suit of salvation. Trust in God, He will support you. If he call you to be a martyr in this way, he will first give you a martyr^s faith, and then a martyr's crown. Let the following impressive fact be read by you with solemn awe. '* An accomplished and amiable young woman in the town of , had been deeply affected by a sense of her spiritual danger. She was the only child of a fond and affectionate parent. The deep impressions which accompanied her discovery of guilt and depravity awakened all the jealousies of the father. He dreaded the loss of that sprightliness and vivacity which constituted the life of his domestic circle. He was startled by the answers which his questions elicited ; while he foresaw, or thought he fore- DISCOURAaEMENTS. 169 saw, an encroachnieiit on the hitherto unbroken tranquillity of a deceived heart. Efforts were made to remove the cause of her disquietude ; but they were such efforts as unsanctified wis- dom directed. The Bible at last — how little may a parent know the far-reaching of the deed, when he snatches the word of life from the hand of a child ! — the Bible and other books of relig- ion were removed from her possession, and their place was supplied by works of fiction. An excursion of pleasure was proposed and de- clined ; an offer of gayer amusement shared the same fate ; promises, remonstrances, and threat- enings followed. But the father^s infatuated perseverance at last brought compliance. Alas, how little may a parent be aware that he is adorning his offspring with the fillets of death, and leading to the sacrifice like a follower of Moloch. The end was accomplished ; thoughts of piety and concern for the immortal future vanished together. But 0, how in less than a year was the gaudy deception exploded ! The fascinating and gay L . . . M . . . was prostrated by a fever that bade defiance to medical skill. The approach of death was unequivocal, and the countenance of every attendant fell, as if they i70 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. had heard the flight of his arrow. I see, even now, that look directed to the father by the dying martyr of folly. The glazed eye was dim in hopelessness ; and yet there seemed a some- thing in its expiring rays that told of reproof and tenderness and terror in the same glance. And that voice — its tone was decided, but sepul- chral still — * My father, last year I would have sought the Redeemer. Fa — ther — your child is^ . Eternity heard the remainder of the sentence, for it was not uttered in time."* In connection with this striking fact, read the fol- lowing portions of Scripture. Matt. 5 : 10-12 10 : 21-39 ; 1 Cor. 4 : 9-13 ; 2 Tim. 2 : 10-13 Heb. 10 : 23-39 ; ch. 11 ; 1 Pet. 1 : 6-9 ; 4 : 12-19 2 Pet. 2 : 20-22 ; Rev. 7 : 9-17. 4. The discouragements of others lie nearer home still, they find them all in tlieir own hearts. The feeling with many is, that they make no progress; their views gain nothing in clear- ness, their convictions in depth, nor their heart in peace. They are neither more spiritual nor more decided than they were ; and they some- times, in almost hopeless despondency, are ready to give up the whole matter. Such a * Letters to a Friend. DISCOURAaEMENTS. 171 state of mind is a very common and a very perilous one, and affords ground for real alarm. Your duty and safety lie in considering that the fault is in yourself, and not in God ; you, you are to blame : you are perhaps halting be- tween two opinions ; you are still probably en- deavoring to compromise between religion and the world ; you are not giving that fixed, de- voted attention to the object which it demands. You must therefore go afresh to the work. You must feel just like a man who has been swimming in a tide that is bearing him further from the shore, and who feels that it is neces- sary to make more vigorous efforts, or he is inevitably lost. Give up ! No, any thing but that. To perish now, with your increased light and responsibility, would be to perish terribly. While you are carrying on these heartless efforts, you may die ; and in what a state I But perhaps your complaints are the result of deep anxiety, from the consideration that there is no advance till you are really estab- lished in the full knowledge of faith and hope of the gospel. To this established state you ought to come, and to come without delay; and nothing hinders you from coming to it but 172 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. an evil heart of unbelief, and to this point I press you to come. But should your know- ledge not grow as rapidly, nor your peace in- crease as solidly as you expected or desired — should you feel yourself slow of growth in all that appertains to Christian and happy experi- ence, do not sink into a heartless and despair- ing frame, a kind of desponding pursuit of salvation, as of an object you are never to ob- tain. What you should do is immediately to repent, and believe the gospel; you cannot come to enlarged views and to settled peace without this. Going back, or giving up, is just the last thing you should think of. To turn back now, would be to turn back when near the cross. Look up, sinner; the stupendous object is before you, close by you ; look up to the crucified One. It is further back to your former state of indifference, than to the place of refuge. Just as you are, with no more knowledge, no more religious feeling, no more comfort, believe. Look up, I say again, to the cross ; it is distinctly visible to the eye of faith from every point of the road along which you are journeying, and may be viewed any moment by him who will look that way. It is the sight BISCOUHAaEMENTS. 173 of that dear object tliat will present every other in a right light, and kindle every grace that belongs to true religion. But may it not be that your obstructions to a more rapid growth arise from some specific cause? Is not some sin indulged, some cor- ruption cherished ? Is there not some sacrifice which you are unwilling to make, something which you are unwilling to surrender, although your judgment tells you the surrender ought to be made, and your conscience demands it ? You must give up the forbidden thing, or your salvation is impossible : that one sin will, like a concealed worm at the root of a flower, eat out the very life of your religion, and cause it to droop, wither, and die. Is it a companion from whom you are unwilling to separate, but whose society is hindering your progress? And will you sacrifice your souFs salvation, heaven, and eternal glory, all that is dear to you as an immortal creature, and deliberately choose everlasting perdition, for that sin, or that friend ? Take your choice between heaven and sacrifice, hell and present gratification. Im- mortal man, pause and ponder : canst thou hesi- tate ? There is both awful guilt and imminent 174 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. peril in every moment^s delay. What if God should, as he justly may, send forth the com- mand, " He is joined to idols ; let him alone.^^ Decide then, decide at once. The moment in which thou readest this page may decide it ; foi if thou art unwilling to give up thy sinful prac tice, or sinful companion, God may from this moment give up thee. But perhaps the slowness of your progress may arise from another cause, I mean your neglect of the promised influence and help ol the Holy Spirit. You have been too self-confi- dent, and are now feeling the consequence of it. At one time, perhaps, your impressions were deep, your convictions strong, your frame lively, and your feelings much excited; but you have suffered yourself to be seduced by Satan, who took advantage of these things, into a spirit of self-confidence and self-depend- ence. You have forgotten that in you there is no good thing, and have forsaken the Foun- tain of living waters. You have never doubted the necessity of the Spirit's influence, but you have neglected it. You have grieved the Holy Ghost, and he has suspended that gracious aid which you so little valued. You have striven, DISCOURAaEMENTS. 175 but it lias been in your own strength ; and now you find that strength to be weakness itself. Now then profit by your error, and commit your soul, not only into the hands of Christ for pardon, but into the hands of the Spirit for sanctification. Now lean upon that divine power which worketh in us both to will and to do. Live in the Spirit ; walk in the Spirit ; pray in the Spirit ; strive in the Spirit. Open your heart to his gracious influence; and let it be a feeling, as well as a conviction, that your spiritual life has no existence separate from his indwelling and inworking in you. It may be, however, that this discourage- ment and complaint of a slow growth in relig- ion are founded in error, and the result of dis- appointment operating upon an humble or a sanguine mind. You may have expected at once to emerge from the thick darkness of an unconverted state, into the very noontide brightness of a full establishment in faith, hope, and love. You expected, perhaps, by one stride, or rather bound, to reach the posi- tion of experienced Christians. But remem- ber, that both in nature and in grace, the works of God come gradually to maturity. 176 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. There is first the babe, then the young man, then the adult : and what a feeble glimmering spark of life is there sometimes in a new-born child ; it is difficult to determine whether it is alive or dead; and even when unequivocal signs of life appear, what vigilant care is neces- sary to preserve the spark from being extin- guished. Such has been the unpromising con- dition in which many a strong and long-lived man has commenced his existence. How anal- ogous to this is the work of grace in the soul. So again with the growth of corn, there is first the blade, then the stalk, then the ear; and as it is in the field of nature, so is often the growth of religion in the heart of man. We must not " despise the day of small things,^' either in ourselves or others, for God does not. It is said of our divine Redeemer, " He shall feed his flock like a shepherd;" and in his flock there are lambs which can neither travel fast nor far ; and what will he do with them ? " He shall gather them with his arms, and car- ry them in his bosom" — not on his shoulder, the emblem of strength, but in his bosom, the image of tender love — "and shall gently lead those that are with young" — ^burdened with DISCOUHAGEMENTS. 177 many fears and painful apprehensions. How kindly did he bear with the dulness and in- firmities and mistakes of his disciples ; how gently did he correct the errors and sustain the minds of the two friends on their sad and gloomy walk to Emmaue, and keep alive the last glimmering spark of hope just when it was ready to expire in their bosom. How gra- ciously, in his addresses to the seven churches in Asia, did he mention all the good he could find among them, not overlooking even the " little strength" that was left in that of Phil- adelphia. Think of this, disheartened inquirer. Trust wholly in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the dawn of true piety in thy heart shall shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day; thy infantine strength will grow to manly power ; thy tender blade shall become the full corn in the ear. Thou art looking to a Sav- iour who "will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax." Weak grace is real grace, and is in connection with an infinite source, in His fulness, who is " the God of all grace," and who " giveth more grace." It is well to be humble, and to think meanly of your attainments, but remember, trees are not dead Inquirer. 1 2 178 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. because they are not laden at once with fruit I saj not these things to paralyze your exer tions after high attainments — for he who ic satisfied with the grace he has, has in reality none — ^but to check despondency, and prevent that disheartening sense of deficiency which benumbs exertion by extinguishing hope. 5. Great discouragement has been experi- enced by others, on account of relapses and backslidings into actual sins. It is, I admit, a grievous aggravation of sin, to fall into it after men have been awakened and convinced; and as there is much danger of this, the word of God contains many awful warnings against it, which have been already referred to. We ought, therefore, to use the greatest watchfulness, and to present the most fervent prayer to be kept from these sins ; and our vigilance should be doubled, in regard to those temptations to which we are most ex- posed from the peculiarity of our constitution, situation, or any other circumstances. Yet sometimes even they who have sincerely and earnestly engaged in the pursuit of salvation, have been, through a want of watchfulness, betrayed again into those sins from which they DISCOURAGE ME NTS. ]79 had been delivered. In such cases the back- slider, under the united influence of remorse and despondency, is apt to give up all for lost, and under the idea that he shall never obtain salvation, renounce the further pursuit of it. Now I would say to you, that while you can- not be too deeply humbled for such relapses, you ought not to think that your case is despe- rate. If such sins could not be pardoned, and such sinners could not be restored, who then could be saved ? " But it is not so much a doubt of pardon for the past," you say, '' that discourages me, as a fear of falling into sin in future." You find your heart so treacherous, your purposes so frail, your corruptions so strong, and your temptations so great — ^you have been so often victorious, and then again have been so often conquered, that you quite despair of success. What mean these despond- ing expressions? They seem to say, either that there is no help for you but in yourself, or that God, who must be your helper, is not able to deliver you. Both are false. There is no help at all in you, but there is all-sufficient help in God. Courage, trembling sinner, God is almighty. Humble yourself under his mighty 180 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. hand for the past, and then rise Tjp and lean upon his mighty arm for the future. The blood of Christ can cleanse the conscience from the guilt of past sin, and the grace of the Holy Spirit can preserve you from the commission of future sin ; the backsliding can be forgiven, and the backslider himself restored, strength- ened, confirmed, and made more than conqueror, as thousands already have been. CAUTIONS. 181 CHAPTER IX. CAUTIONS. 1. Do not seek to relieve your solicitude, or settle your religious peace, by making a pro- fession of religion. This is done by many persons who, after having remained for a long time in unrelieved solicitude, and after having tried all methods but the right one for gaining peace, determine to enter into church-fellowship, and to receive the Lord's supper, with the hope of obtaining that comfort which they have hitherto sought in vain. But does not this look like a self- righteous dependence upon duties? In what way can the Lord's supper give relief to a bur- dened conscience? Is there any thing more meritorious in that ordinance than in any other ? Perhaps you gay that the emblems of the body and blood of our Lord will more deep- ly and powerfully impress the mind through the medium of the senses. So they will; but then the mind must be in a state of knowledge 182 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. and faith to receive the impression : but I am now supposing that you are not yet in that state, that you have never yet committed your soul into the hands of Christ for a full and free salvation ; and in such a state of mind to go to the table of the Lord or the church for peace, is to expect that they can do that for you which the work of Christ cannot do. Is not the blood of Christ able to take away your sins? Is any thing necessary to be added to the righteousness of the Saviour for your justi- fication ? What can ordinances do for you, if this be insuJEcient to save you? The sinner that seeks to lose his burden of guilt anywhere, whether it be at the prayer- meeting or the sacramental table, besides the cross of Christ, is in delusion. It is possible, nay, probable, that by going to the Lord's sup- per you may feel for the time an abatement of yoiu' solicitude ; your imagination may be ex- cited, your feelings moved ; and mistaking this for faith, you may have peace ; but it will be a false or a transient one. Either you will fall asleep in self-deception, or your anxiety will soon return, increased by an apprehension that you have added sin to sin by receiving the CAUTIONS. 183 Lord's supper in an unprepared state of mind. This institution is intended, not to give peace to sinners, but consolation and edification to believers ; not to bring us into a state of faith, but to be received in faith ; not to remove the burden of sin from the conscience, but to keep in remembrance that great sacrifice by which the burden is removed. True it is, that God may reveal himself to the sinner in the break- ing of bread ; but the question is, not what ho may do, but what he may be expected to do ; and even in this case, what is it that relieves the conscience of its burden and gives peace to the mind? Surely not the ordinance itself, but the great truth of Christ's sacrifice for sin, as set forth by it. I do not intend by these remarks to insist on the necessity of a full assurance of hope, as a necessary qualification for a right reception of the Lord's supper ; but certainly there ought to be real, even if it be but weak faith ; for how else can we " discern the Lord's body?" Nothing, no, nothing can give the guilty conscience peace, or take away our sins, but the atoning blood of Christ; and to pass by the cross of the Redeemer without peace of mind, in the hope of finding it in ordinances, 184 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER, is unquestionably to depend for acceptance with God upon our own religious duties, instead of the work of the Saviour. The frame of mind in which we should receive the memo- rials of redeeming love, is that of an humble, thankful, and peaceful reliance upon the medi- ation of our divine Lord for pardon and eter- nal life. 2. It is of great consequence, that in the early stages of your course you should abstain as much as possible from a spirit of controversy. Your great concern is to find out the path of eternal happiness, and enter upon it. Salva- tion is your great object, or rather, the way of obtaining it. Your cry is, " Life, eternal life f and your course should be direct to the cross of the Redeemer. Nothing but what relates immediately to your reconciliation with God should be allowed to engage your attention. Suffer not your mind, then, to be diverted from such subjects as the " new birth," or the justifi- cation of your soul before God, to the thorny controversies which often unhappily exist ever, in the church of God. Take up nothing con- troversially. The subjects of disputation are strong meat for adults, which will choke and CAUTIONS 185 destroy the babe in Christ; and even the former cannot feed much upon them without having their spiritual health impaired, and their soul filled with rank and unhealthy hu- mors. Or, to change the metaphor, the man locked up in the condemned cell, under sen- tence of death, but who has hope of pardon and is taking steps to obtain it, suffers not his mind to be drawn aside from his condition by the questions which may be very properly dis- cussed by the citizen and the patriot. If any one were to carry him a newspaper, and en- deavor to engage him as a partisan in some political strife, he would reply, with a look of astonishment that such topics should be ob- truded on his notice, " What are these matters to a man condemned to die? Assist me in gaining a pardon, and you will do me some service ; but do not engage for such matters a moment of that time which should be devoted to save me from death. When I am restored to liberty I can think of politics, but not now." So let the inquirer act and say, in reference to those proselyting but injudicious persons who by controversy would meet and turn away the Bolicitude which is seeking the way of salva- 186 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. tion. You can study these topics hereafter, but at present " stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." Jer. 6 : 16. Read your Bible and plain practical books, rather than contro- versial ones; be much in prayer and silent meditation ; preserve a tranquil and unruffled mind, for it is in the stillness of devotional feeling, and the peace of devout meditation, and the quiet of untroubled thoughts, that the true light shineth into the soul, and the still small voice of the Spirit of peace is heard. Many, adopting a different course, have plunged into the depths of controversy as soon as they became concerned about religion, and have lost charity in the professed pursuit after truth ; and instead of becoming humble, holy, peaceful Christians, have turned out conceited, stormy, and restless polemics. In an early stage of their career the penitent was lost in the zealot ; in their subsequent progress they took up with a religion of opinions, instead of sanc- tified affections ; and finished their course, it may be feared, not amidst the light and love of heaven, but in that world of unsanctified CAUTIONS. 187 knowledge where " the devils believe and trem- ble." 3. It is necessary to caution you against a spirit of curiosity as well as controversy. You ought to seek after knowledge, as I have already stated. The Scripture abounds in admonitions on this head, and in reproofs to those who repose in indolence upon the lap of ignorance. Diligence in endeavors to grow in knowledge has the promise of success : " Then shall ye know, if ye follow on to know the Lord." Hosea 6 : 3. But this is altogether distinct from a spirit of unhallowed curiosity. The temper which I am anxious to guard you against, shows itself in various ways; some- times in rambling about from place to place of public worship. In some cases this arises from a restlessness and uneasiness of mind, which should be repressed rather than cherished. Like Noah^s raven, they wander about seeking rest, but find none ; or rather, like a person in a fever, forgetting that the cause of disquietude is in themselves, they continually change their place in the vain hope of obtaining that rest which can never come till their condition is altered. Finding no comfort under one preach- 188 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. er, they impute the blame to his sermons, and ramble off to another, under whose ministry they gain a little ease for a while ; but merely by having their attention drawn away for a season from its usual track of thought. The novelty soon ceases, and he is forsaken for an- other, till they have gone the whole round of places within their reach, and they leave the last as far from peace as they were when they left the first. Guard against this error, and learn that it is in Christ, and Christ alone, and not in any particular place of worship, or under any particular ministry, that you can find rest and peace. It is the glorious doc- trine of a free, full, and present salvation in Christ, that must be the pillow of your poor aching and restless head, and not any partic- ular manner or method of representing that doctrine. But this rambling spirit is sometimes merely the eagerness of curiosity. Some persons are ever to be seen in any place where any thing out of the ordinary course is going on; they are to be seen at all times, all places, and all occasions, when and where a popular preacher is to be heard, or any of the stimulating varie- Cr THE ^ CAUTI0NSj^J^JTT"||t6|IT ties whicli abound in the religious world are.to^^ be found. This habit, however, is not friendly -^ to the growth of piety, or the progress of a work of grace in the soul. Even the public meetings of our religious institutions are not always the best atmosphere for the anxious inquirer to breathe. There is a tenderness, a delicacy, and a pensiveness in the feelings of a mind recently awakened to the concerns of the soul, which finds little that is congenial in the comparatively secular aspect of some of those assemblies. Eloquence "and anecdote, as they are frequently employed on such occasions, have but little that is calculated to deepen con- viction or relieve anxiety, but often much to- diminish the one and divert the other. If, in- deed, our anniversaries were always conducted Avith that solemnity and seriousness which thetr object seems to require, then might inquirers after salvation attend them as one of the means of grace ; but in many cases it may be safer to court retirement, to seek to grow in deeper seriousness, and to surrender one's self to the dominion of conscience, and the teaching of God the Holy Spirit. But curiosity may be indulged another way : 190 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. I mean a disposition to pry into the deep mys- teries, the hidden things, the unrevealed secrets of God. Even the most established Christians, yea, the profoundest and most philosophic di- vines may and do sometimes push their inqui- ries too far, and presumptuously put forth their hand to draw aside the veil of the holy of holies. But you especially should abstain from this: such questions as the origin of moral evil, the reconcilableness of God's foreknow- ledge with the freedom of man, the divine pur- poses, the symbolical and unfulfilled prophecies, with other subjects of equal difficulty, are most unsuitable for you in your present state of mind. What you have to do with is the sim- plest and plainest truths of the gospel. Your concern is to obtain pardon and peace, and fulfil the responsibilities resting on your own soul; and to do this, you must not raise mists and clouds of metaphysics around the cross, but look at it as it is presented in the word of God, and as it there appears, clearly, simply, and alone. It has been said, that in the Scripture there are depths in ^hich an elephant may swim, and shallows which a lamb may ford ; your business is at present with the shallows, and to venture CAUTIONS. 191 into the depths is a perilous attempt, which I would not advise you to make. 4. You should beware of setting up other standards of personal religion than the word of God, and making the religious experience of other Christians a test of the truth and reality of your own. The Bible, and the Bible alone, is the true standard of godliness ; and provided your views, feelings, and conduct are conformed to this, it is of no consequence that they do not harmonize exactly with what others experience. Not that there is any radical disagreement in the real " piety of genuine Christians, but with substan tial agreement there may be circumstantial differences; there may be unity of genus, yet variety of species. All true Christians love God, hate sin, feel Christ to be precious, addict themselves to prayer, live holily ; but they may not have been brought to this state by the same methods, nor carry it forward to the same de- gree of perfection. In reading religious biog- raphy, you will see great dissimilarity in the experience of God's people, and will be some- times in danger of sinking into great distress, because you do not feel in all points as the I9t THE ANXIOUS INQUIREK.. saints did whose lives are before you. When you meet with instances of more than usual elevation of personal religion, of nearer ap- proaches than common to perfection, do not conclude that you have no piety because you do not equal them, but rather see what you may become ; be humbled that you are not like them, and let their example stimulate your energies, but not extinguish your hopes, nor paralyze your efforts. 5. I caution you not to allow your convictions to be shaken, nor your mind to be staggered by those instances of backsliding or apostasy which sometimes occur among professors of religion, and even such as were once accounted eminent professors. It does indeed often give an awful shock to the feelings and the steadfastness of inquirers, to witness the fall of those who once stood high in the affection of the church and the esteem of the world. Not a few, it is to be feared, have from that time gone back, and walked the ways of God no more. But how irrational, how guilty is such conduct. Did not Christ forewarn us to expect such instances, when he said, " Woe to the world because of offences : CAUTIONS. 193 it must needs be that offences come, but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh/^ Matt. 18 : 7. Such cases, therefore, are but the accomplishment of a prophecy, and prove, like other fulfilled predictions, the inspiration of Him by whom they were delivered. And they prove in another way, also, the divine origin of the Christian religion ; for if it had not been of God, it must have been destroyed long since by the misconduct of its professed friends, from which it has stood in far greater danger than from the enmity of its avowed enemies. Counterfeits are a presumptive proof of the excellence of that which they profess to imitate, for who is at the trouble of imitating what is worthless? Do not, then, permit your mind to be affected by the conduct of false professors, at least in any other way than that of deep grief that such things should occur to them, and of anxious prayerful care that they may never be repeated in you. Be this your Bupplication : '* Lord, let not all my hopes be vain, t Create my heart entirely new — Which hypocrites could ne'er attain, Which false apostates never knew.'' Inquirer. l O 194 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. CHAPTER X. ENCOURAaEMENTS. Among all the objects of human desire and pursuit, there is not one which we have so much encouragement to seek, or to hope for — there is not one, in reference to which despon- dency is so much out of place — there is not one to which indubitable certainty so surely be- longs, as the salvation of the soul, if it be sin- cerely desired and scripturally sought. The whole Bible is one vast encouragement to seek for eternal life, the death of Christ is another, and the existence and history of the church of God upon earth is a third. Men may despond of gaining wealth, or fame, or rank, or health, but no man out of hell need despond of gaining salvation. It is nea: er to us, and more within our reach, than any other blessing that we can name or think of. Our feelings in regard to ^ earthly possessions can never rise higher than hope; but in regard to salvation, they may ENCOUHAaEMENTS. 195 take the character of certainty, provided we comply with the terms of the gospel. 1. It is one great source of encouragement, that whatever difficulties lie in our way, all centre in ourselves, God will not, and Satan and the world can- not hinder our salvation. There is no obstacle which is in itself insurmountable, no enemy invincible, no objection unanswerable. If a man had any other object in view, for the at- tainment of which there existed no difficulty out of himself, he would feel greatly encour- aged, and be ready to congratulate himself as tolerably certain of success. Reader, the only difficulty in the way of thy salvation is in thy- self. True it is, there are many and great ones there, the least of which thine own strength is too weak to surmount ; but the Lord God Omnipotent has engaged to thee his power, if thou art willing to be helped; and therefore, in this view of the case, even thine own weakness is no insurmountable ob- stacle. The only question is, "Art thou sin- cerely willing and anxious to be saved ?" Once made truly willing, what is to hinder thy salvation? Dwell again and aeain on this 196 THE ANXIOUS INQUIREH. simple idea, for it is full of encouragement, " The only difficulty in my way to heaven is that which exists in my own heart, and God is willing to remove that." 2. It is a great encouragement that God's mind is so full of good-will towards us, and that his heart is so set upon our salvation. If we had reason to suppose that he was reluctant to save us — that his mind was upon the balance between friendship and hostility — that it needed much importunity to entreat him to be merciful, and that he granted us sal- vation unwillingly and grudgingly, this would indeed be discouraging, and might induce a fear that we should not succeed. But the con- trary is the fact. " God is love." " He is gracious and full of compassion," "is rich in mercy," and " plenteous in mercy." He even " delighteth in mercy." " He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." " He delig'hteth not in the death of a sinner, but would rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live." Yea, he confirms it by an oath : "As I live," saith the Lord, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked." Ezek. 33 : 11. Yea, it ENCOURAaEMENTS. 197 is said that the salvation of sinners is so much his delight, that he has engaged it shall be carried on : " The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands." Now by the pleasure of the Lord we are to understand the salva- tion of sinners. Nor is this all, for it is af- firmed that " the Lord taketh pleasure in them that hope in his mercy." Psa. 147 : 11. We cannot please him better than by asking him to save us, and by expecting salvation at his hands. Now, inquirer, take this delightful view of God^s disposition towards you ; for this is the right one. He is love ; he has an infinite de- light in making his creatures happy. It is true his love is a holy love, and therefore the more to be depended upon. Having made provision in the gift and mediation of Christ for saving you in a way consistent with his truth and holiness and justice, and thus removed every obstacle out of the way of the flowing forth of his love towards you, he is infinitely intent on saving and blessing you. All your dark de- sponding thoughts of him are unjust and inju- rious to his mercy. To conceive of him as unwilling to save you, is a slander upon his love, a false and foul calumny upon his grace. 198 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. If he were with difficulty persuaded to save you, why did he give his Son to die for you? The salvation of your soul, the salvation of millions of souls, the salvation of the whole world, is not so great an act of love as the gift of Jesus Christ, After this you need not won- der at any thing, nor doubt any thing. " He that spared not his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things ?" Rom. 8 : 32. You have God^s mind and heart and purpose and attri- butes all on the side of your salvation, and is not this encouragement enough ? 3. Consider the mind, character, and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. He came on purpose to save sinners ; he has done every thing necessary for their salvation, he is able to save to the uttermost ; he has in- vited all to him for salvation ; he has promised to save them ; and will he now fail ? Think of the glory of his person, God manifest in the flesh; think of the design of his incarnation, sufferings, and death ; think of the perfection of his work in satisfying divine justice, magni- fying the law, sustaining the moral government of God in all its purity, dignity, and effective ENGOURAaEMENTS. 199 Hess ; tluiik of the love of his heart, tne power of his arm, and the connection between his mediatorial renown and the salvation of sin- ners; think of his universal dominion over angels, devils, men, nature, providence; think of his continued and prevailing intercession at the right hand of God ; think of his universal invitations, and his absolute promises: what topics these, what sources of encouragement! How much is his heart fixed upon the salvation of sinners : this was " the joy set before him,'' and for which " he endured the cross, despising the shame f this is " the travail of his soul," and by this its ineffable longings will be satisfied. Your salvation is his business, and the accom- plishment of it will be his reward. If he could be conceived to be indifferent to your salvation, will he be indifferent to his own glory? Will he belie his own name, and destroy his own work, and falsify his own promises, and throw away his own reward, and terminate his own renown as a Saviour, by refusing, when you trust in him, to save you ? Is it probable ? Is it possible ? 4. Dwell upon the infinite and oil-sufficient re- sources of the Holy Ghost. 200 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. This divine Agent is as omnipotent to sane* tify, as the power of God was in the beginning to create the heavens and the earth. If you were cast upon your own resources, you might well exclaim, "Who is sufficient for these things ?" and abandon the hope of salvation for fixed and impervious despair. But the economy of redemption provides no less for the effectual application of its benefits by the work of the. Holy Ghost, than for the procurement of them by the mediation of Christ; and the claims of the Godhead were not more com- pletely foreseen and provided for by the latter, than all the weakness and wants and wickedness of the human heart were foreseen and provided for also by the former. There is a glorious completeness in the scheme of redemption: even the suspicious eye of unbelief and the searching look of a troubled and anxious con- science can find out no defect. The blindness of your judgment ; the hardness and deceitful- ness of your heart ; the perversity of your will ; the deadness of your conscience ; the wildness of your imagination; the disorder of your passions; your backwardness to good; your proneness to evil; your reluctance to deter- ENCOURAGEMENTS. 201 mine ; your irresoluteness ; your timidity ; your fickleness — all, all have been foreseen and pro- vided for in the inexhaustible riches of grace in the blessed Spirit of God. On those riches you are encouraged to rely, and to draw with- out- measure and without end. You are not required to act, to speak, to will, to feel, to think, but in dependence on that divine Agent. You are commanded to look to him for every variety of operation, and for every degree of influence, and for every timely putting forth of his power and wisdom that the exigency of your circumstances may require. Read espe- ' cially the following passages of Scripture, and ask if there be not encouragement enough here. Luke 11 : 9-13 ; Rom. 8 : 10-17 ; James 5 : 5, 6; Gal. 5 : 22; John 16 : 7-15; 2 Gor. 12 : 9, 10. 5. Dwell upon the general complexion of the word of God^ as so largely made up of com- mands to seek salvation, invitations to accept of it, promises to insure it, and descriptions setting forth its blessings in their vastness, variety, suitableness, and certainty. If the whole Bible were to be summed up in one short, comprehensive sentence, it would be 202 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. this, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy OF ALL acceptation, THAT JeSUS ChRIST CAME INTO THE WORLD TO SAVE SINNERS, EVEN THE CHIEF." Or reducing it still more, it would all be contained in that one word, of immense, infinite, and eternal import, salvation. Every thing in the Bible tends to this as its centre ; here all the lines of history and prophecy, the Old Testament and the New, the law and gos- pel, meet. Salvation glimmers amidst the clouds and shadows of the Levitical economy, and shines forth in all its glory from the facts of the Christian dispensation. It was the subject that dropped in sweet but mystic accents from the lips of mercy on the despairing minds of our first parents ; it was the subject which came in the softer tones of the ceremonial law, when the thunders of the decalogue had ceased to terrify the affrighted Israelites in Sinai ; it was the subject to which the prophet struck his harp, and came forth in the Psalms of David and the rapt ecstasies of Isaiah ; it was the subject which angels chose as the theme of their song on the night of Christ^s nativity ; it was the subject which evangelists recorded in their histories, and apostles described in their ENCOURAaEMENTS. 203 epistles ; and which even the awful visions of the apocalypse seemed designed to magnify and illustrate, by representing it as the point of harmony between heaven and earth, and the link that connects the events of time with the glories of eternity. The Bible then, inquirer, presents salvation to your attention, and em- ploys all its fulness to attract, all its authority to command, all its graciousness to invite you to the pursuit of this vast possession ; and even uses its threatenings and its thunders for the merciful purpose of driving you for refuge to the hope set before you in the gospel. Is not this encouragement? 6. The unchangeableness of God^s nature and covenant are a source of boundless hope. . He has invited, he has commanded, he has promised : and he is not " a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent f but he is the Father of lights, with whom there 18 no variableness nor shadow of change. Im- mutable in his nature, he is equally so in his purpose and in his promise. Whom he loveth, he loveth to the end. Could ycfii examine the secret lists of his friends, you would find nei- ther blots nor erasures there. "All things 204 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. work together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did pre- destinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified ; and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things ? If God be for us, who can be against us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shalL tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or naked- ness, or peril, or sword? Naj, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor princi- palities, 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." Eom. 8 : 28-39. Sublime language ! Triumphant boast I Inspired and inspiring ex- ultation! Heaven heard it, and approved ; hell heard it, and trembled ; and let saints on earth hear it, and rejoice. Inquirer, trust in this glorious salvation: when begun in the heart, ENCOURAaEMENTS. 205 it shall be carried on until the day of Jesus Christ. Phil. 1 : 6. The Spirit, who builds for himself a temple in the soul of man, will not leave it unfinished, nor suffer it to sink to ruins after he has finished it. Though enemies without may oppose and ridicule, and though enemies within may stir up occasional insur- rection and interruption, the work shall go on till the top-stone shall be brought forth amidst the shouts of, " Grace, grace.^' The purpose of God must stand, in spite of all the force or fraud, the power and malice of earth and hell combined. Is not this encouragement ? 7. Consider the sympathies and prayers of the people of God, Discouraged as you may have been by the indifference and lukewarmness of some, let it comfort you to know that all are not thus. There are myriads of holy ministers of Christ, and millions of pious men and women, from age to age, pouring out their fervent supplica- tions to God for those who are inquiring the way to Zion with their faces thitherward. Have you not heard your case borne, with tenderness and minuteness and earnestness, upon the hearts of your friends at the meetings 206 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. of social prayer, and by your ministers when leading the devotions of the great congrega- tion ? Have you not thus found the feelings of the assembly poui^ed in a full tide of sympathy into your heart? Yes, and not only do the "Spirit and the bride say. Come," in this public manner ; not only does the voice oi united prayer commend you to God, but in thousands of clos- ets of praying men you are commended to God, and divine grace is implored on your soul. In those sad and solemn moments when you are disheartened and ready to faint, when, instead of prayer, you can send forth nothing but groan- ings which cannot be uttered, think of the many intercessors who are praying for you, and "thank God and take courage." 8. Take encouragement from the considera- tion of the ministry of angels; for "are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister unto the heirs of salvation?" What offices they perform we know not, perhaps because tt is not safe for us to know; why they are employed we know not ; or what is the extent of our obli- gation we know not; but the bare fact thai such instruments are employed about you, that such attendants are engaged upon your inter- ENCOUllAaEMENTS. 207 ests, such spectators are witnessing you, such friends are sympathizing with you, is a sweetly pleasing and encouraging idea. They have already rejoiced over your conversion, if indeed you are converted ; and have had you consigned to their care, to minister to your welfare. You may be despised by men, but you are regarded by angels ; you may be neglected by men, but you are attended by angels ; you may be dis- missed by men, but you are associated with angels ; you may be opposed and persecuted by men, but angels ''are ministering spirits sent forth to minister" unto your salvation. Is not this encouragement? 9. Consider how many, who were once tried, disheartened, weak as you now are, have been carried in safety through all their difficulties^ and are now before the throne of God in glory everlasting. The apostle John seems to have set all the doors of the heavenly temple ajar, and the win- dows a little open, that the sights within may just beam upon our eyes, and the sounds just undulate on our ears. "After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could u umber, of all nations, and kindreds, and 208 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying. Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." Rev. 7:9, 10. And who are they that send forth such strains ? They that had come " out of great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white and clean in the blood of the Lamb." They were once upon earth ; once men of like passions with yourself; once begin- ning their religious course, as you now are ; " Once they were mourning here below, And wet their couch with tears ; They wrestled hard, as we do now, With sins and doubts and fears." There is not a burden that oppresses your heart, but what oppressed theirs ; there is not a fear that agitates your mind, but what agi- tated theirs ; there is not a temptation that as- sails you, but what assailed them ; there is not an obstacle that terrifies you, but what terri- fied them ; they were once as ignorant, as weak, as sinful, as timid, as discouraged, as you; there is not a sorrow, a perplexity, or a danger with which you are painfully familiar, but they ENCOURAaEMENTS. 209 passed through before jou. But there they are in heaven, "more than conquerors" over all these things, through Him that loved them^ He that saved them has engaged to save you ; nor is his ear heavy, or his arm shortened. "Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." Heb. 12 : 1, 2. 10. Let the magnitude of the blessing you are seeking, and tJie prospect of its consummation in eternal glory, encourage you. You are seeking salvation, a word which none but the mind of God can comprehend, for it includes, as I have already said, what is infi- nite and eternal. It will bless you for both worlds, this and the next. In the present life, it will bestow upon you the pardon of all your sins; the justification of your person; the re- newal and sanctification of your nature ; adop- tion into the family of God;' the spirit of adoption ; a guardian of your reputation ; a pro- tector of your property ; an auxiliary to your health; a s})riiig of comfort in the dreariest Inquirer. ] ,| 210 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. situation; a light in the darkest scene of dis- tress; a companion in the deepest solitude; a counsellor in every perplexity ; a help in weak- ness ; a check in temptation : it will associate you with the redeemed and holy people of God, conduct you in honor through the chang- ing scenes of life, attend you to the verge of eternity, soften your dying pillow, assuage the grief of separation, and cheer you, amidst the agonies of death, with the hopes of immortality. And all this is but the prelude, the earnest and the foretaste of what awaits you beyond the grave. What that is, should be told only in the words of the Spirit of God ; for " eye hath not seen, nor has ear heard, neither have en- tered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." *' Father," said our Lord, "I will that they whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory." " So shall we ever be with the Lord." "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." " To them who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, honor, and immortality, eternal life." *' Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eter- ENCOURAaEMENTS. 211 nal weight of glory ; for the things which are not seen are eternal." " Who hath begotten us to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." '' 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." " After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, say- ing. Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple ; and He that sit- teth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them to living fountains of waters ; and God shall wipe awaj^ all tears from their eyes." 212 THE ANXIOUS INQUIRER. 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