UCSB LIBRARY
 
 
 THE 
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED, 
 
 What must 1 do to be saved ? 
 
 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved. 
 
 ACTS J6 : 30, 31. 
 
 BY CALEB KIMBALL, 
 
 AUTHOR OF " THE YOUNG CHRISTIAN DIRECTED," &O 
 
 SEVENTH EDITION. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 BENJAMIN PERKINS & CO., 
 
 NO. 100 WASHINGTON STREET. 
 
 1851.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, by 
 CALEB KIMBALL, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 ,O r J
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE following pages are designed 
 to assist those to enter the way of life, 
 who are awakened to the importance 
 of personal religion. He, who, with 
 such an object in view, is to impart, 
 and they, who, while approaching a 
 crisis so momentous, are to receive, in- 
 struction, alike need to be under the 
 constant guidance of the Holy Spirit. 
 It has been my object to present, in 
 simplicity and with directness, such 
 considerations as seemed best adapted 
 to impress the mind, and lead the
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 awakened sinner to an immediate and 
 unconditional surrender 'to Christ. To 
 derive the greatest benefit from the 
 perusal of this book, it should be read 
 in course, not hastily, but with deep 
 and solemn reflection. Remember that 
 you are now reading for eternity, and 
 that every sentence will in some way 
 affect your endless destination. Read, 
 therefore, with a devotional spirit, feel- 
 ing your entire dependence upon God, 
 and looking up to him with fervent de- 
 sires for the continued presence of the 
 divine Teacher. Often pause and re- 
 flect ; make the truth your own ; apply 
 it to yourself, for whom it was especial- 
 ly designed ; admit the truth, when dis- 
 covered, however it may conflict with 
 your former opinions, or undermine 
 your present hopes. In passing from
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 one topic to another, ask yourself, " Is 
 the work done, and done thoroughly ? 
 Will it stand the trial of the last day ? 
 Have I submitted to Christ ? Do I 
 now submit cheerfully and heartily to 
 his authority ? " Rest not till you 
 have satisfactory evidence that you 
 have experienced that great spiritual 
 change required, in the word of God, 
 as an indispensable prerequisite for 
 admission to heaven.
 
 -
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 The Sinner Awakened 9 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 Important Hints to Awakened Sinners 22 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 The Law of God 44 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Conviction of Sin, 51 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 God in Christ the Sinner's Refuge, 60 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 Decision in Religion, 66 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 Dependence and Unconditional Submission, 73
 
 8 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 Repentance, 83 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Faith in God ;.. 94 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Faith in Christ, 113 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Prayer, 133
 
 THE 
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE SINNER AWAKENED. 
 
 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and 
 snid unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, 
 what shall we do ? Acts 2 : 37. 
 
 THE title of this book, " The Awakened 
 Sinner Directed," indicates the importance 
 and solemnity of the considerations which 
 it ought to contain, and the great responsi- 
 bility resting upon him who undertakes to 
 present them. The weight of this respon- 
 sibility he should constantly feel, while 
 directing those whose destinies for a vast 
 eternity his instructions may affect. The 
 individuals, for whose benefit these pages 
 are especially designed, are supposed to be 
 favored with the special operations of the
 
 10 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 Holy Spirit. Persons of this description, 
 in the early stages of their religious im- 
 pressions, are ordinarily alarmed from a 
 consideration of their condition, and of 
 their prospects for another world. The 
 alarm of the awakened sinner arises from 
 an apprehension of danger in view of sin 
 committed, seen, and felt, or from a discov- 
 ery of the consequences resulting from a 
 violation of God's holy law. 
 
 With these preliminary remarks, I shall 
 take it for granted, that you, for whose 
 benefit especially I am now writing, are 
 beginning to feel your guilt and danger, as 
 an impenitent sinner, under the law and 
 government of a just and holy God, and 
 are anxious to know what you shall do to 
 be saved. You are alarmed, and at this I 
 am not surprised ; the only cause for won- 
 der is, that you have slumbered so long ; 
 that alarm, even to fearfulness and quak- 
 ing, did not seize upon you years since. 
 There certainly is, in your case, as an un- 
 pardoned sinner, a sufficient reason why 
 you should be anxious ; and this, I trust,
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 11 
 
 you will be able more clearly to see, before 
 we close this chapter. 
 
 Is it surprising, that the sailor boy 
 should be alarmed, when the heavens 
 gather blackness, when darkness mantles 
 the ocean, the thunders roar, the lightnings 
 flash, the tempest howls, and rocks and 
 whirlpools are just before him ? Stupidity, 
 in such a case, would not only be unnat- 
 ural, but highly criminal. His alarm is 
 perfectly rational it is the result of im- 
 pending danger. And can it be thought a 
 matter of surprise, that a sinner should be 
 alarmed, with his eyes open upon the law, 
 character, and government of God ; with 
 a clear view of his condition as a guilty 
 creature, condemned for disobedience, and 
 passing onward to the retributions of eter- 
 nity, liable every moment to sink to the 
 nethermost hell? His alarm is perfectly 
 rational ; it is an effect corresponding with 
 its cause, and precisely such an effect as 
 we might expect from a correct knowledge 
 of his condition and destiny as an account- 
 able being.
 
 12 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 Yon admit that you are an unpardoned 
 sinner; and a sinner, who has not been 
 pardoned, is represented in Scripture as 
 being under sentence of death, and a death 
 more dreadful than human language is ade- 
 quate to describe. Says an inspired apos- 
 tle, "The wages of sin is death," Rom. 6: 
 23 ; and God repeatedly declares, by Eze- 
 kiel the prophet, " The soul that sinneth, 
 it shall die." Ezek. 18 : 4, 20. The na- 
 ture of this death, to which you and every 
 impenitent sinner are exposed, we must 
 learn from the word of God. It is to be 
 damned. "He that believeth not shall be 
 damned." Mark 16 : 16. It is indigna- 
 tion and wrath, tribulation and anguish. 
 "But unto them that are contentious, and 
 do not obey the truth, but obey unright- 
 eousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation 
 and anguish, upon every soul of man that 
 doeth evil ; of the Jew first, and also of 
 the Gentile." Rom. 2 : 8, 9. It is to be 
 turned into hell. " The wicked shall be 
 turned into hell, and all the nations that 
 forget God." Ps. 9: 17. It is everlasting
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 13 
 
 punishment. "These [the wicked] shall 
 go away into everlasting punishment." 
 Matt. 25 : 46. It is torment in hell. " The 
 rich man also died, and was buried; and 
 in hell he lifted up his eyei, being in tor- 
 ments." Luke 16: 22, 23. It is outer 
 darkness, where there is weeping and gnash- 
 ing of teeth. " And cast ye the unprofitable 
 servant into outer darkness ; there shall be 
 weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matt. 
 25 : 30. It is fire that shall never be 
 quenched, where their worm dieth not. 
 "If thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is 
 better for thee to enter into life maimed, 
 than having two hands to go into hell, into 
 the fire that never shall be quenched; 
 where their worm dieth not, and the fire is 
 not quenched." Mark 9 : 43, 44. It is 
 eternal damnation. "He that shall blas- 
 pheme against the Holy Ghost, hath never 
 forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal 
 damnation." Mark 3 : 29. It is to be 
 punished with everlasting destruction from 
 the presence of the Lord. "When the 
 Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven 
 2
 
 14 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, 
 taking vengeance on them that know not 
 God, and that obey not the gospel of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ : who shall be punished 
 with everlasting destruction from the pres- 
 ence of the Lord, and from the glory of his 
 power ; when he shall come to be glorified 
 in his saints, and to be admired in all them 
 that believe." 2 Thess. 1: 7 10. It is 
 the wrath of God. "He that believeth 
 not the Son, shall not see life ; but the 
 wrath of God abideth on him." John 3 : 
 36. "The same shall drink of the wine 
 of the wrath of God, which is poured out 
 without mixture into the cup of his indig- 
 nation ; and he shall be tormented with 
 fire and brimstone in the presence of the 
 holy angels, and in the presence of the 
 Lamb." Rev. 14: 10. It is a lake of fire. 
 "And the sea gave up the dead which 
 were in it ; and death and hell delivered up 
 the dead which were in them ; and they 
 were judged every man according to their 
 works. And death and hell were cast into 
 the lake of fire. This is the second death.
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 15 
 
 And whosoever was not found written in 
 the book of life was cast into the lake of 
 fire." Rev. 20: 1315. 
 
 From this full and terrific description of 
 the doom awaiting impenitent sinners in 
 another world, you can see the nature of 
 that death to which you are exposed, and 
 must be convinced, I think, that your so- 
 licitude respecting it is not without foun- 
 dation. In this description there is no 
 exaggeration it is a simple statement of 
 truths, known to the infinite God, a being 
 of boundless knowledge and inviolable ve- 
 racity. From this disclosure of truth we 
 see why, in Scripture, the Holy Spirit, 
 when addressing the sinner, speaks in lan- 
 guage so full of intensity as the following : 
 "Flee from the wrath to come" "Lay 
 hold on eternal life" "Strive to enter in 
 at the strait gate" "Turn ye, turn ye 
 from your evil ways, for why will ye die ? " 
 Were the sufferings, to which you are 
 exposed, to continue only a million years, 
 there would be a sufficient reason why you 
 should feel far greater solicitude respecting
 
 16 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 it than you now discover ; but when you 
 reflect, that, after as many millions of ages 
 have rolled away, as there are stars in the 
 sky, and drops of water in the ocean, and 
 particles of dust in the world, your misery, 
 should you die unpardoned, will only have 
 just commenced, and that eternity will still 
 be stamped upon the awful scene before 
 you, you may well ask, with the trembling 
 solicitude of the jailer, or the intense 
 anxiety of the three thousand on the day 
 of Pentecost, "What shall I do to be 
 saved?" 
 
 Reflect, moreover, that to this world of 
 unextinguishable fire you are as near as 
 you are to death, and death may overtake 
 you at any moment; "for what is your 
 life ? It is even a vapor, which appeareth 
 for a little time, and then vanisheth 
 away." 
 
 It is important here to remark, that the 
 anxiety you feel for your personal safety is 
 not salvation. An individual may be greatly 
 alarmed in prospect of impending danger, 
 and yet not escape the calamity which
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 17 
 
 threatens him. A person upon a battle- 
 field may be filled with terror in view of 
 the instruments of death which are hurled 
 thickly around him, and yet not escape 
 them. His alarm will be of service to 
 him only so far as it induces him to has- 
 ten to a place of security. And so it will 
 prove with you. Your anxiety for salva- 
 tion will avail you nothing, unless it impel 
 you to flee to Christ for pardon and 
 safety. 
 
 A young man, who professed to believe 
 that all will be saved, suddenly exclaimed, 
 "Hell, hell, hell ! O ! I am going to hell ! " 
 This he continued to do, from day to day, 
 until, sinking beneath the pressure of his 
 distress, his voice was hushed in death. 
 God opened his eyes upon the destruction 
 which awaited him; he saw it, and was 
 terrified. Although directed to Christ for 
 salvation, and repeatedly urged to look to 
 him for pardon, he still lingered in his sins, 
 and died, apparently without hope and 
 without forgiveness. 
 
 From this example take warning ; for 
 2*
 
 18 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 you may be greatly alarmed, and yet sink 
 to perdition. It is not enough to be awa- 
 kened ; you must cry for pardon. It is not 
 enough to be anxious for your soul ; you 
 must humble yourself before God, and 
 confess and forsake your sins, that you 
 may have mercy. It is not enough to be 
 alarmed in view of impending wrath ; you 
 must hasten to Christ for refuge, and trust 
 for salvation in him who is "the end of 
 the law for righteousness to every one that 
 believeth." 
 
 Although alarm is not that kind of con- 
 viction which immediately precedes for- 
 giveness, it is, nevertheless, a state of mind 
 far more hopeful than total indifference. 
 While you remain stupid, you will neither 
 discover your danger, nor make an effort 
 to escape it ; but if alarmed, you may do 
 both. While stupid, you will not realize 
 your guilt; but if alarmed, you may be 
 led to discover the enormity of transgres- 
 sion. While stupid, you will not feel your 
 need of pardon ; but if alarmed, you may 
 be induced to cry for mercy. While stu-
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 19 
 
 pid, you will indulge the pride of your 
 heart ; but if alarmed, you may be con- 
 strained to humble yourself before God, 
 and in doing it receive forgiveness. While 
 stupid, you will not go to Christ ; but if 
 alarmed, you may be led to look on him 
 whom you have pierced, and mourn. While 
 stupid, you will not become reconciled to 
 God j but if alarmed, you may be induced 
 sweetly to bow to his authority, and be 
 freely pardoned and justified by his grace. 
 A profane man and a Sabbath-breaker, 
 being naturally passionate and a great op- 
 poser to religion, was exceedingly mad 
 against a revival, with which the town 
 where he resided was mercifully visited. 
 Returning one Sabbath from a visit to an 
 adjoining town, his opposition to the work 
 of God was greatly excited by hearing of 
 new instances of conversion. At evening 
 he took up his little child, and sung, 
 
 " Life is the time to serve the Lord, 
 The time to insure the great reward." 
 
 When he had sung thus far, he thought a
 
 20 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 voice said to him, "Thou awful wretch, 
 thou hast spent all thy life in sin." The 
 next moment he exclaimed, " I am sinking 
 into hell." His wife caught the child from 
 his arms, and his pious, aged parents, hear- 
 ing his dreadful cries, hastened to the spot, 
 and observing his great distress, while he 
 continued to exclaim, " I am sinking into 
 hell," they knelt by his side, and besought 
 the great God, for Christ's sake, to have 
 mercy upon their guilty son, who, while 
 he deserved only indignation and wrath, 
 now felt the need of his pardoning grace. 
 In about half an hour he ceased his ago- 
 nizing cry, and began to weep like a sub- 
 dued child. In the morning he rose, read 
 his Bible, erected his family altar, and, 
 with a contrite heart, offered upon it the 
 sacrifice of prayer and praise. In this ex- 
 ample, you see distressing alarm speedily 
 followed by contrition of spirit and quiet 
 submission to the will of God. With this 
 fact before you, and the case of the jailer, 
 who, in his distress, fell trembling at the 
 apostles' feet, cease not to plead for mercy.
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 21 
 
 until, with a broken heart, you can rest 
 sweetly upon the bosom of Jesus, and ex- 
 claim with believing Thomas, " My Lord 
 and my God."
 
 22 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 Jsi fi-> MOV ; i-->if n'i-x 
 fruvf yf/ - 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IMPORTANT HINTS TO AWAKENED SINNERS. 
 Let him that readeth understand. Mark 13 : 14. 
 
 As awakened sinners are in danger of re- 
 sisting the Holy Spirit and losing his con- 
 victing operations, I shall here offer a few 
 words of caution. It is important, then, 
 that you clearly understand, and deeply feel, 
 that your condition is peculiarly critical. 
 It is by no means certain, though you are 
 convicted, that you will be pardoned and 
 saved ; that point is yet to be proved. 
 Conviction is not conversion ; solicitude for 
 one's self is not unconditional submission 
 to God. Many, very many, have been 
 convicted of sin, have been in great distress 
 for their souls, have sighed and wept, have 
 prayed, read the Bible, attended meetings 
 of religious inquiry, and asked, with solici-
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 23 
 
 lude, what they should do to be saved, who 
 have not repented nor received pardon. 
 They resisted the Spirit, they lost his con- 
 victing operations, and relapsed into a state 
 of stupidity and hardness of heart, from 
 which, perhaps, they were never awakened, 
 until death broke their slumbers, and hur- 
 ried them to the bar of God. You, too, 
 are in danger, in great danger, of pursuing 
 the same course with the same fatal result. 
 Of this I wish you to be fully apprized. 
 Be willing to know the worst of your case; 
 it can do you no harm ; it may prove to 
 you an unspeakable blessing. Your soul 
 is inconceivably precious, and its salvation 
 a matter of infinite moment. 
 
 You must give your earnest, prayerful 
 attention to this subject. Fitful anxiety is 
 not what you need. You must think, and 
 think calmly, closely, solemnly ; the sub- 
 ject demands it. You must feel, too, and 
 deeply feel, that you are in danger, in im- 
 minent danger, of resisting the Spirit and 
 losing your present impressions. The Holy 
 Ghost is mild, gentle, and easily grieved ;
 
 24 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 beware that you resist not his operations 
 and provoke his departure. Yielding your 
 whole heart to his impressions, plead 
 earnestly that he will work in you with 
 mighty power ; dread his departure, as you 
 would the announcement of your final 
 doom. Should the Spirit leave you, you 
 would have no more true conviction, you 
 would neither repent, nor bow to Christ, 
 nor take a step in the way to heaven. 
 Look carefully to your thoughts and pur- 
 suits, take heed to your conversation, be 
 careful with whom you associate. You 
 must act, and act decidedly, but act right 
 and in the fear of God. You are awakened, 
 your case is therefore hopeful ; you have 
 encouragement not to remain as you are, 
 but to go forward to the mercy-seat and to 
 the cross of Christ. If convinced of sin, 
 and in earnest for pardon, you will be hum- 
 ble and teachable you will be anxious 
 to receive instruction upon experimental 
 and practical religion. I invite your atten- 
 tion, therefore, to the following considera- 
 tions.
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 25 
 
 1. All true religion is based upon a cor- 
 rect knowledge of God and his government, 
 and the way of salvation by Jesus Christ. 
 For want of this, darkness has covered the 
 earth, and gross darkness the people. The 
 errors and delusions which have distracted 
 the church, and the disorder which some- 
 times attends revivals of religion, result 
 mainly from this source. Awakened sin- 
 ners often grope in darkness, and are per- 
 plexed at every step, either for the want of 
 proper instruction, or from inattention to 
 the sources of information within their 
 reach. The light shines, but their eyes 
 are closed upon it ; the truth is revealed, 
 but they neglect to search it out. A man, 
 in pursuit of an immense treasure, deposit- 
 ed for him in a distant land, will take 
 special pains to learn the geography of the 
 country, to ascertain the best course to be 
 pursued, the trials and obstacles to be en- 
 countered, and will furnish himself with 
 all the means requisite for the attainment 
 of his object. His success will depend 
 very much upon his knowledge and his 
 3
 
 26 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 application of it in the execution of his 
 purpose. As you are awakened by the 
 Spirit, and are, I trust, in earnest to secure 
 your eternal salvation, a treasure infinitely 
 more precious to you than earth's accumu- 
 lated wealth, it is highly important that 
 you should obtain, as far as practicable, a 
 correct knowledge of the eternal, self-ex- 
 istent, .independent, and unchangeable Je- 
 hovah, of his holiness and hatred of sin, his 
 justice in punishing it, his wisdom, power, 
 and love as displayed in the plan of redemp- 
 tion, and his truth and faithfulness in the 
 administration of his government. Labor 
 to get a clear view of the character and 
 work of Christ, as God manifest in the flesh, 
 his atonement, mediation, intercession, abil- 
 ity and willingness to save, and of all 
 these combined, as the ground of your ac- 
 ceptance with God. The character and 
 work of the Spirit, too, who enlightens, 
 subdues, quickens, regenerates, reconciles 
 the soul to God, and sanctifies it for the 
 heavenly state, demand your serious and 
 prayerful attention. Strive to get a clear
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 27 
 
 knowledge of yourself not only of your 
 actual transgressions, secret and open, and 
 your sins of omission, which are, perhaps, 
 not less criminal, but of your original de- 
 pravity, the entire corruption of your moral 
 nature, a view of which in himself con- 
 strained the Psalmist to exclaim, "Behold, 
 T was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did 
 my mother conceive me," and which occa- 
 sioned the declaration in Ezekiel, "A new 
 heart will I give you, and a new spirit will 
 I put within you." The law of God, re- 
 pentance, regeneration, justification by faith 
 through the righteousness of Christ, which 
 consists in his perfect obedience to the 
 divine law, and his atoning sufferings and 
 death, as our substitute, are subjects which 
 properly come within your anxious inqui- 
 ries. Labor, also, to get a clear view of the 
 evil of sin. What was it which drove 
 Adam and Eve from their blissful garden? 
 What was it which deluged the world 
 with a flood of waters, and swept its guilty 
 inhabitants to destruction ? What brought 
 down upon Sodom and Gomorrah a storm
 
 28 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 of fire ? What has convulsed empires and 
 desolated cities ? What crucified the Son 
 of God? What has occasioned all the 
 misery which has been experienced from 
 the fall of Adam to the present hour? 
 What has occasioned the woes of the sec- 
 ond death ? Sin, sin ; and to escape it, we 
 may well put forth our unceasing and most 
 vigorous efforts. 
 
 2. Beware that you mistake not the de- 
 sign of the Spirit, nor slight his operations 
 by setting a low estimate upon his work. 
 He comes to deliver you from the bondage 
 of corruption, to make you a son and an 
 heir of God, a king and a priest in his up- 
 per temple, and to put you ultimately in 
 full possession of "a far more exceeding 
 and eternal weight of glory" in the pres- 
 ence of God and the holy angels, and in 
 the presence of the Lamb. This, to you, 
 is an unspeakable blessing learn, then, to 
 estimate it by its intrinsic excellence, as 
 well as by the blood of Jesus, which pur- 
 chased it, and the character of that divine 
 agent, who labors to make you a partaker
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 29 
 
 of the unmerited and sovereign grace of 
 God. 
 
 3. Guard against any constitutional ten- 
 dencies to pride and ambition, to anger, 
 fretfulness, and the gratification of unhal- 
 lowed lusts and passions. Avoid idle and 
 vain conversation, light reading, parties of 
 pleasure, and vain amusements. Covet not 
 worldly honors and distinctions. All these 
 are hostile to the work of the Spirit. 
 
 4. Resist not the Spirit by concealing 
 your convictions. Such conduct reflects 
 great dishonor upon this divine agent, and 
 is exceedingly offensive to God. It has 
 checked in many a bosom those awakening 
 operations which, had they been cherished, 
 might have resulted in salvation. There 
 is nothing in religion or its Author, or in 
 the work of securing it, of which we ought 
 to be ashamed. We may well be ashamed 
 of our sins, but never of the fact that we 
 are about to forsake them. If you would 
 secure salvation, you must rise above the 
 fear of man, and the opposition and sneers 
 of the ungodly. Peace in believing is 
 
 3*
 
 30 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 rarely, if ever, obtained until this obstacle 
 is surmounted. It matters little what 
 wicked men or devils think of us, if the 
 infinite God approve our conduct. "Fear 
 not them which kill the body, but are not 
 able to kill the soul ; but rather fear him 
 which is able to destroy both soul and 
 body in hell." Matt. 10 : 28. The three 
 thousand on the day of Pentecost did not 
 resist the Spirit by concealing their con- 
 victions. They were not afraid to have it 
 known that they were anxious to secure 
 salvation. The convicted jailer did not 
 hesitate to disclose his anxiety to the apos- 
 tles, and to ask what he should do to be 
 saved. The awakened eunuch freely con- 
 fessed his ignorance to Philip, and cheer- 
 fully received his instructions respecting 
 the way of salvation. "He that doeth 
 truth, cometh to the light, that his deeds 
 may be made manifest, that they are 
 wrought in God." John 3: 21. You can- 
 not obtain and enjoy true religion, without 
 imparting the knowledge of the fact to 
 others. The pearl of great price is too
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 31 
 
 valuable to be wrapped up in a napkin, and 
 laid away as useless. The lamp of salva- 
 tion, when lighted in the soul, cannot be 
 concealed under a bushel. The religion 
 of Jesus, to accumulate, must be diffusive ; 
 the more we give away, the more we have. 
 If you are favored with the convicting 
 power of the Holy Ghost, thank God and 
 honor his Spirit by cherishing his gracious 
 influences. Disclose your feelings freely 
 to your pastor, or to some experienced 
 Christian, who is able to guide you in the 
 way of life. If the pride of your heart rise 
 in opposition, crush it at once and go for- 
 ward. Pride must be subdued, or you 
 must lie down in despair forever. Perhaps 
 your pastor has a special meeting for 
 anxious inquirers ; if so, attend it. Pray 
 before you go, pray on your way to the 
 meeting, and pray while you are there, 
 that the Holy Spirit may unfold to you the 
 plan of redemption, and reveal Christ in 
 your soul the hop v e of glory. If you have 
 perplexities, disclose them. A few minutes' 
 conversation with one who is skilled in
 
 32 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 directing souls to Christ, may be of greater 
 service to you than hours of religious read- 
 ing. Meetings, too, for prayer and exhor- 
 tation, if properly conducted, you will find 
 of special service. They are calculated to 
 deepen religious impressions, where they 
 exist, and to lead even the thoughtless to 
 serious reflection. 
 
 5. As the Bible is the best book, so it 
 is the first book, which awakened sinners 
 should read, and it should be perused by 
 them more than all others. It is the word 
 of God, the sword of the Spirit, that pene- 
 trates the heart. Here you will find truth 
 without error, day without night, and a 
 full-orbed sun without a cloud. Read por- 
 tions of Scripture every day, particularly 
 in the New Testament, Psalms, Isaiah, and 
 the minor prophets. Read the Bible with 
 close attention and great solemnity. Read 
 it, too, with self-application, and remember 
 it was written for you in particular, as well 
 as for others. Pray over the Bible, pray 
 often and fervently, that God, by his Spirit, 
 will enable you to understand its truths
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 33 
 
 and feel their power. I charge you not to 
 neglect this duty. If you are troubled 
 with skepticism, this is the way to remove 
 it. Reading the Bible carelessly, without 
 prayer, is the direct way to grieve the 
 Spirit and become an infidel. *If you can- 
 not comprehend the whole of divine truth, 
 you can understand enough of it to learn 
 the way to heaven. As you become wiser 
 and holier, you will understand it better. 
 
 6. Give close and serious attention to 
 the gospel, whether preached upon the Sab- 
 bath or on other occasions. This is a point 
 of great importance. Divine truth, when 
 clearly exhibited and faithfully pressed 
 home upon the heart and conscience, is 
 calculated to deepen religious impressions. 
 Go not from one religious meeting to an- 
 other in pursuit of novelties. An itching 
 ear is a dangerous thing, and, if gratified, 
 will retard, if not entirely obstruct, the 
 work of the Spirit. Your object should 
 be to find Christ, not novelties ; and Christ 
 may be found where the gospel is faithfully 
 preached and attentively heard. If you
 
 34 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 are now blessed with a spiritual minister, 
 attend steadily upon his ministrations ; if 
 not, select a godly man as your pastor, and 
 let his house of worship be your home on 
 the Sabbath. 
 
 7. As you are m pursuit of salvation, 
 you must fully decide to withdraw yourself 
 from wicked associates. Their company 
 and conversation are destructive to religious 
 impressions. You cannot follow Christ 
 and Belial ; the two are entirely opposed. 
 On this point you must act with great 
 decision. "If sinners entice thee, consent 
 thou not." So long as you are unwilling 
 to forsake the company of the wicked, you 
 are unwilling to follow Christ. '' Where- 
 fore come out from among them, and be 
 ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not 
 the unclean thing ; and I will receive you ; 
 and will be a Father unto you, and ye 
 shall be my sons and daughters, saith the 
 Lord Almighty." 2 Cor. 6: 17, 18. 
 
 8. Allow me still further to say, that, in 
 seeking religion,' you should never yield to 
 discouragement and despondency. Such
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 35 
 
 feelings are disastrous to energetic and suc- 
 cessful action. There is no occasion for 
 them, If God the Father, Christ, and the 
 Holy Spirit, in their respective offices in 
 the work of redemption, are engaged for 
 your salvation, you have ample reasons for 
 encouragement. Are your sins numberless 
 and great ? The blood of Jesus Christ is 
 available and efficacious to purge away 
 their guilt. "The blood of Jesus Christ, 
 his Son, cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 
 1: 7. "Though your sins be as scarlet, 
 they shall be as white as snow ; though 
 they be red like crimson, they shall be as 
 wool." Isa. 1: 18. Is your heart hard? 
 The fire and hammer of the Spirit can 
 break and dissolve it. Is your mind dark? 
 The divine Comforter can illuminate it. 
 Do mountains of difficulty appear in your 
 path'? The Holy Spirit can remove them. 
 He will level mountains and fill up valleys. 
 and make for you a way to the cross. It 
 is surprising to see how difficulties vanish 
 wjb^en a sinner, in earnest for salvation, is 
 willing to cast himself upon the mercy of
 
 
 36 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 God, and go forward. Saul of Tarsus and 
 the ttyief on the cross, though great sin- 
 ners, did not yield to despondency. They 
 looked to Christ at once and in earnest, 
 and obtained pardon. God, the Father, is 
 willing to save you. For your encourage- 
 ment he says, " Look unto me and be ye 
 saved." Isa. 45: 22. "O Israel, thou 
 hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy 
 help." Hos. 13: 9. Christ, the Mediator, 
 is your advocate in the court of heaven. 
 " He bare the sin of many, and made in- 
 tercession for the transgressors." Isa. 53: 
 12. The Holy Spirit is striving to. make 
 you willing and obedient, that you may 
 find rest to your soul. Talk not, then, of 
 discouragement, nor fo a moment yield to 
 despondency, while the Three that bear 
 record in heaven are engaged for your sal- 
 vation. Ruined as you are by sin, you 
 must look away from your guilty self to 
 the unchanging God. His power and love 
 are infinite, and his mercy and grace 
 abounding. Up, then,, and by repentance 
 and faith work out your salvation, while
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 37 
 
 God is working in you both to will and to 
 do of his good pleasure. 
 
 9. Awakened sinners sometimes labor 
 under an apprehension that they have 
 passed the day of grace, or committed the 
 unpardonable sin, and are thus hindered in 
 their way to Christ. But such fears are 
 evidently groundless, for the Holy Spirit 
 would not strive with one for whom there 
 was no possibility of pardon. Those who 
 have passed the day of grace, or committed 
 the unpardonable sin, are generally charac- 
 terized by blockish stupidity, great hard- 
 ness of heart, or bitter opposition to evan- 
 gelical truth, and contempt for the means 
 of grace. Satan will strive to make you 
 believe that your sins are too great to be 
 forgiven ; that the day of mercy is over ; 
 that the way of life is too difficult to find, 
 and top strait and unpleasant to pursue ; or 
 that, to you, heaven is lost forever. In 
 these and kindred ways, he will labor either 
 to quiet your fears, or to plunge you into 
 hopeless despair. All such suggestions you 
 must steadfastly resist, as coming from the 
 4
 
 38 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED, 
 
 father of lies, who goes about like a roar- 
 ing lion, seeking whom he may devour. 
 Let the purpose of your heart be, 
 
 " I'll go to Jesus, though my sin 
 
 Hath like a mountain rose ; 
 I know his courts ; I'll enter in, 
 Whatever may oppose. 
 
 " I can but perish, if I go ; 
 
 I am resolved to try, 
 For if I stay away, I know 
 I must forever die." 
 
 In a religious meeting, favored with 
 tokens of the divine presence, I remarked, 
 for the encouragement of such as wished 
 to obtain salvation, that all present might 
 undoubtedly receive forgiveness, if they 
 would seek it in earnest ; for I could not 
 think that any one, who had committed 
 the unpardonable sin, would be inclined to 
 meet wkh the people of God, to unite with 
 them in his worship. 
 
 A lady present, who for years had been 
 in a despairing state, from an impression 
 that her day of grace was over, dwelt up- 
 on that thought with great interest. It
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 39 
 
 appeared to her so reasonable, that, over- 
 coming her feelings of despair, and having 
 resolved to seek salvation, she tarried with 
 the inquirers to ask what she should do to 
 be saved. In a short time, guided by the 
 Holy Spirit, she was enabled cheerfully to 
 surrender her heart to Christ ; she found 
 peace and pardon, and saw in Jesus that 
 fulness and all-sufficiency which made 
 him, to her, the chief among ten thousand, 
 and the one altogether lovely. As she fol- 
 lowed on to know the Lord, her faith and 
 hope were established, and she went on 
 her way rejoicing. 
 
 If, then, you are awakened by the Holy 
 Spirit, and feel inclined to read the Bible, 
 and meet with the people of God for reli- 
 gious instruction, and are anxious to find 
 the way of life, you may rest assured that 
 you have not committed the unpardonable 
 sin, but should go immediately to Jesus, 
 that you may be pardoned and justified, 
 and "have your fruit unto holiness, and the 
 end everlasting life." 
 
 10. Some awakened sinners mistake
 
 40 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 both the nature and design of conviction, 
 and are thus retarded in their way to 
 Christ. They suppose that they must pass 
 through a long season of mental anxiety ; 
 must continue, for weeks together, in great 
 distress and anguish of spirit, to make a 
 kind of atonement for sin, and thus prepare 
 the way for God to accept them. But such 
 impressions are incorrect, and should im- 
 mediately be relinquished. The design of 
 conviction is riot to atone for sin, but to 
 bring the sinner to Christ. No amount of 
 suffering which he can endure in the pres- 
 ent life can meet the demands of divine 
 justice. Could you live for a million 
 years in a fire as intense as that which 
 consumed John Rogers at the stake, it 
 would not atone for a single sin. The 
 atonement which God requires is infinite, 
 and Christ has made it ; your duty is to 
 trust in it immediately, and then for Jesus's 
 sake you will be pardoned and accepted. 
 The period of conviction may be very 
 short, and yet answer the divine purpose. 
 In convincing you of sin, God seeks not
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 41 
 
 your distress but your repentance ; not your 
 suffering for transgression, but your contri- 
 tion for it ; not a righteousness which you 
 can make, but the acceptance of that 
 which Christ has wrought for you. 
 
 A young man once observed to me, that 
 he was convicted and converted under one 
 sermon. He saw his sins, was sorry for 
 them, resolved to forsake them, repented, 
 accepted Christ as his Saviour, and found 
 peace. He has for years given as good 
 evidence of genuine piety as those con- 
 verted during the same revival, who con- 
 tinued for days and weeks in the deepest 
 distress. 
 
 The conviction and anxiety of the jailer 
 lasted but a few minutes. When Christ 
 was presented to him, he accepted him at 
 once as his surety, and rejoiced, believing 
 in God with all his house. The distress of 
 awakened sinners on the day of Pentecost 
 was of short duration. Christ was present- 
 ed to them as the object of their trust, and, 
 looking to him by faith, they at once re- 
 ceived him as the Lord their righteousness. 
 4*
 
 42 
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 11. It is not desirable that those who 
 are seeking religion should suspend their 
 ordinary employment, provided that em- 
 ployment be such as God approves. To 
 think intensely and without cessation upon 
 a subject so absorbing as the soul's salva- 
 tion, is exhausting both to the mind and 
 body, and in some constitutions produces a 
 nervous excitement exceedingly deleterious 
 in its consequences. You will find your 
 regular, lawful employment, if properly 
 pursued, a help rather than a hinderance to 
 you, in seeking salvation. It will afford 
 relief to the mind, and that kind of relief 
 essential to its most vigorous and success- 
 ful action. If religion can be enjoyed in 
 the highest degree, as it evidently may, in 
 connection with the faithful discharge of 
 our secular duties, why may it not also be 
 obtained while engaged in the discharge 
 of those duties ? An idle or indolent per- 
 son is far less likely to obtain the pearl of 
 great price, even if he seeks it, than one 
 who has been trained to habits of industry 
 and activity. Indolence is offensive to
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 43 
 
 God, and grieves the Spirit. You can re- 
 pent and believe in Christ in the shop, 
 field, or counting-room, any where and 
 every where in the lawful pursuits of life. 
 You are to live in the daily exercise of 
 sincere repentance for sin and a vigorous 
 faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
 44 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE LAW OF GOD. 
 
 Thou shnlt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
 thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great com- 
 mandment. Matt. 22 : 37, 38. 
 
 IT is very important that the awakened 
 sinner should have a correct knowledge of 
 the divine law and his relations to it, for 
 "by the law is the knowledge of sin." 
 The depth, pungency, and genuineness of 
 conviction will ordinarily be in proportion 
 to the clearness of his views of this fun- 
 damental principle in the divine govern- 
 ment. The law of God, then, is briefly 
 expressed by our Saviour in those two 
 great precepts, " Thou shalt love the Lord 
 thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
 thy soul, and with all thy mind," and 
 "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 
 Matt. 22: 37, 39. It requires the intelli-
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 45 
 
 gent universe to love Jehovah unceasingly, 
 and to the extent of their powers, for all 
 those glorious perfections imbodied in his 
 character ; and to love all other beings in 
 proportion as they bear the moral impress 
 of their Creator. 
 
 This law is spiritual. It reaches the 
 inner man, and is violated by an unholy 
 thought, feeling, or motive, no less than by 
 external actions. Impressed with the spir- 
 ituality of this divine precept, an apostle 
 declares, " The law is spiritual ; but I am 
 carnal, sold under sin." Rom. 7: 14 
 
 This law is extensive. It lays its claim 
 upon all, of every age, and sex, and rank, 
 and nation, who have ever lived or ever 
 will live, till the world shall be consumed. 
 The law of God extends to other worlds. 
 Saints and angels in heaven bow to its au- 
 thority, and will delight to obey it perfectly 
 through the whole range of their endless 
 existence. Fallen spirits, too, in the world 
 of despair, are under this law. Disobedi- 
 ence has neither destroyed moral obligation 
 nor annihilated their power to do right.
 
 46 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 The law of God is holy. Like its infi- 
 nite Author, it shines out in the beauty of 
 holiness, and reflects the perfect image of 
 uncreated excellence. In view of the un- 
 sullied purity of the divine precepts, an 
 apostle exclaims, "Wherefore the law is 
 holy ; and the commandment holy, and just, 
 and good." Rom. 7: 12. The Psalmist 
 also expresses the same sentiment. "The 
 law of the Lord is perfect ; the statutes of 
 the Lord are right ; the commandment of 
 the Lord is pure." Ps. 19: 7, 8. 
 
 The law of God is reasonable. It is 
 reasonable that moral ' beings should be 
 holy and happy ; that they should love 
 their Creator supremely, obey him perfectly, 
 and be in a condition to receive and im- 
 part the highest possible good. All this 
 the law of God requires, and if perfectly 
 obeyed, will invariably accomplish. It is 
 designed to make the universe unspeakably 
 and eternally happy. Perfect obedience to 
 it, fills heaven with uninterrupted loyalty 
 and bliss. A law, so holy in its nature, and 
 securing to the universe the highest con-
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 47 
 
 ceivable good, is not only reasonable, but 
 is, in fact, the perfection of reason. 
 
 The law of God is just. It renders to 
 all their due. It secures to God his honor, 
 and to all his creatures their rights. "Just 
 and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." 
 Rev. 15: 3. 
 
 The law of God is perpetual in its obli- 
 gations. Its demands and prohibitions are 
 ever the same. , What it requires of a 
 moral being now, it will require of him to 
 all eternity. " Think not," says our Sa- 
 viour, "that I am come to destroy the law 
 or the prophets ; I am not come to destroy, 
 but to fulfil." Matt. 5: 17. And an apos- 
 tle reasons, "Do we, then, make void the 
 law through faith ? God forbid ; yea, we 
 establish the law." Rom. 3:31. "For- 
 ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven." 
 Ps. 119: 89. 
 
 The law of God is penal. The penalty 
 annexed to the divine law is endless death, 
 which the impenitent will experience in the 
 future world, including the loss of heavenly 
 blessedness and the pains of hell forever.
 
 48 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 " The wages of sin is death." Rom. 6 : 23. 
 " The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Ezek. 
 18: 4. 
 
 This law you are under, and from its 
 obligations you can never be released. It 
 requires you to love God with all your 
 heart ; but this you have not done, for " all 
 have sinned, and come short of the glory 
 of God." Rom. 3: 23. As you have 
 sinned by violating the divine law, you 
 are, if impenitent, liable to experience its 
 tremendous penalty, for "cursed is every 
 one that continueth not in all things which 
 are written in the book of the law to do 
 them." Gal. 3: 10. 
 
 It is important to have a clear idea of 
 what is meant by violation of law. The 
 apostle John has defined sin to be "trans- 
 gression of the law." He does not say 
 that twenty sins, merely, are a transgression 
 of the law, but sin, one sin, is a violation 
 of the divine law. The man who with- 
 holds supreme affection from God one min- 
 ute, as really violates the law of God as he 
 who withholds it twenty minutes. One
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 49 
 
 \ct of disobedience is as really and properly 
 sin, as twenty acts of disobedience. One 
 sin, indeed, is not so criminal as twenty 
 sins, but it is on that account no less sin. 
 The person who withholds supreme affec- 
 tion from God one minute, as effectually 
 excludes himself from the kingdom of 
 heaven on the ground of legal justification, 
 as he who withholds affection from God 
 ten years, or ten million years ; for sin, one 
 sin, is a transgression of the law, and God 
 declares, "The soul that sinneth, it shall 
 die." You perceive, therefore, that one 
 act of disobedience is a violation of Gpd's 
 law, and deserves its penalty, and that each 
 specific act of disobedience in each moment 
 of an impenitent life deserves the same 
 tremendous penalty. Look, then, at past 
 sins. If you are now unconverted, they 
 are as numerous as the moments of your 
 accountable existence, and each of them 
 deserves everlasting destruction from the 
 presence of the Lord, and from the glory of 
 his power. In view, then, of your condi- 
 tion as an unpardoned sinner, you may 
 5
 
 50 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 well be alarmed, and ask, with the anxious 
 jailer, "What shall I do to be saved ?' ? 
 And now, trembling as a transgressor be- 
 neath the quakings of Sinai, where this law 
 was delivered, I point you to Christ cruci- 
 fied as your hiding-place from the endless 
 and fearful penalty of God's violated law. 
 " His blood cleanseth us from all sin." He 
 is " the end of the law for righteousness to 
 every one that believeth," and the only 
 refuge for the sinner against the inflexible 
 demands of divine justice 
 
 " Hock of ages, cleft for me, 
 Let me hide myself in thee." 
 

 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 51 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CONVICTION OF SIN. 
 
 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and 
 said onto Peter and to the real of the apostles, Men and brethren, 
 what shall we do ? Acts 2 : 37. 
 
 CONVICTION of sin always precedes re- 
 generation, and arises from a view of our 
 relations to the law of God. The three 
 thousand, on the day of Pentecost, were 
 pricked in their heart, or convicted of sin, 
 before they asked what they should do 
 to be saved, or found peace in believing. 
 The prodigal son was convinced that he 
 had done wrong in spending his time and 
 property in riotous living, before he re- 
 turned to his father's house and made con- 
 fession. This will be found substantially 
 true of every returning penitent. He must 
 be made sensible that he is wandering from 
 the right way before he will change his
 
 52 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 course. Conviction of sin is the work of 
 the Holy Spirit, and on this divine agent 
 we must rely to disclose to us our guilt, and 
 lead us to Christ for pardon. 
 
 The convicted sinner should labor to get 
 a clear and impressive view of the character 
 and law of God; of his relations to that 
 law ; and of the nature and criminality of 
 sin, as well as of its endless and fearful 
 consequences in the coming world. There 
 is a class of awakened sinners who are 
 anxious, not because they have sinned and 
 offended God, but on account of threatened 
 punishment. Could they certainly know 
 that there were no deathless worm and 
 unquenchable fire as the portion of the 
 ungodly, their anxiety would cease, and 
 they would continue to sin with the same 
 unconcern as before. An awakened sinner, 
 being asked whether he should have much 
 solicitude about himself if there were no 
 hell, replied, in effect, that he should not ; 
 and such replies are not unfrequent in the 
 early stages of religious thoughtfulness. I 
 knew an individual who, in passing to hei
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 53 
 
 home, is said to have stopped suddenly and 
 cried aloud, because, as she observed, she 
 saw hell open before her and herself sink- 
 ing into it. But when these vivid impres- 
 sions had passed away, her anxiety ceased, 
 and she could disobey God and trample 
 upon the blood of Jesus with the same 
 indifference as before. Now, it is evident 
 that the cause of her distress was not sin, 
 but liability to suffering. When I met her, 
 several years after, she was apparently in- 
 different, though in the gall of bitterness 
 and bonds of iniquity. 
 
 Anxiety, or conviction, arising merely 
 from this source, will not resuk in saving 
 conversion. It is right, indeed, that the 
 sinner should know, and deeply feel, that 
 there is a hell as endless and as dreadful as 
 the Word of God declares it to be, for this 
 is one way in which we discover the crim- 
 inality of sin. It is proper that motives 
 drawn from this source should be urged 
 upon him to impel him to flee from the 
 wrath to come. "Knowing therefore the 
 terror of the Lord, we persuade men." 2 
 5*
 
 54 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 Cor. 5: 11. "Turn ye, turn ye, for why 
 will ye die, O house of Israel?" Ezek. 
 33: 11. It is probable that the attention 
 of most convicted sinners is first awakened 
 by an apprehension of danger, and it is 
 quite natural that such should be alarmed, 
 and even tremble, in view of their exposure 
 to divine indignation. But before the 
 heart is changed, these feelings give place 
 to a sense of sin, because it is wrong in its 
 nature and tendency, opposed to God and 
 his government, and deserving his endless 
 frowns. The burden and confession of the 
 Prodigal were, "Father, I have sinned," 
 and the Publican,- under a deep conscious- 
 ness of guilt, would not lift up so much as 
 his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his 
 breast, saying, " God be merciful to me a 
 sinner." These were cases of genuine 
 conviction, and in both of them, sin com- 
 mitted, seen, and felt, was the principal 
 burden which pressed upon the soul. 
 
 I once asked a convicted sinner whether 
 it was sin, or the fear of hell, which dis- 
 tressed him. "0," replied he, in substance,
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 55 
 
 " I have scarcely thought of hell. My sins 
 distress me ; I have offended God and 
 abused his goodness and mercy all my 
 days." His views were no doubt correct, 
 and such views are calculated to humble 
 the transgressor in the dust, lead him to 
 confess his sins, and cry for mercy. 
 
 It is not punishment which gives to sin 
 its criminality. Sin is wrong in itself, and 
 would be so were there no future punish- 
 ment, and it should be hated and forsaken 
 on this account. It is wrong to steal and 
 commit murder, and would be so were 
 there no state prison and gallows awaiting 
 the transgressor. Sin reflects great dishonor 
 upon God, and is a violation of infinite 
 obligations ; it dishonors Christ, the Medi- 
 ator, hinders the work of the Spirit, and, 
 if not restrained in its operations, it would 
 annihilate the moral government of Jeho- 
 vah, and fill creation with universal misrule. 
 It is, therefore, an infinite evil, and God 
 and holy beings abhor it on this account, 
 and so should you. 
 
 Do you now ask how you may know
 
 56 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 whether or not your convictions are genu- 
 ine ? To this I reply, if your sins appear 
 to you odious and dreadful, and if you de- 
 sire above all things to be delivered from 
 their polluting and reigning power ; if it 
 pains you to the heart that you have vio- 
 lated the law of God in thought, word, and 
 deed, and in numberless instances abused 
 his mercy and love ; if you are filled with 
 anxiety because you have crucified the 
 Son of God and often resisted the Spirit of 
 grace ; if your past life seems to you an 
 unbroken series of transgression, and your 
 sins so heinous in the sight of God as to 
 deserve the endless death threatened in his 
 Word ; if you feel that the law and gov- 
 ernment of God are right, and that he 
 would be just should he exclude you, on 
 account of your disobedience, from his 
 heavenly presence, and shut you up in the 
 prison of despair forever, your convictions 
 are genuine, and, if wisely improved, will 
 result in saving conversion to God. 
 
 Awakened sinners are sometimes hin- 
 dered, in their way to Christ, from an ap-
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 57 
 
 prehension that their convictions are not 
 sufficiently pungent. They have not that 
 deep distress and overwhelming anxiety, 
 which others appear to have, and therefore 
 conclude that their views of sin are ma- 
 terially defective. They are waiting for 
 some wonderful discovery or overwhelm- 
 ing sense of their guilt and danger, which 
 shall crush them to the dust before they 
 repent and believe in Jesus. Now, all such 
 waiting is sinful. Knowingly to pursue a 
 wrong or wicked course till justice, with a 
 drawn sword, appears in your path to exe- 
 cute vengeance, is rebellion against God. 
 You would think a man insane, who, 
 knowing his house to be on fire, should 
 wait till he should himself be enveloped in 
 flames, before he made, an effort to escape. 
 And is the sinner less unreasonable, who, 
 knowing that he is in the way to hell, 
 shall wait till its fires flash in his face, be- 
 fore he attempts to find a refuge in Jesus ? 
 It is not for the sinner to dictate when, or 
 how, the Holy Spirit shall work, or what 
 amount of conviction he shall awaken in
 
 58 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 the mind. Some are more stupid and 
 stubborn than others,- and require more di- 
 vine influence to rouse them to action and 
 constrain them to bow. If convinced by 
 the Holy Spirit that you have sinned 
 against God, and are in the broad way to 
 death, you should stop immediately, change 
 your course, yield to his heavenly guid- 
 ance, and enter at once the way of life. 
 If you discover but one sin, repent of that, 
 and let every new discovery of native de- 
 pravity, or actual transgression, be attended 
 with deep, godly sorrow. The depth and 
 genuineness of conviction cannot always 
 be ascertained by the external distress 
 which may accompany it. As we are dif- 
 ferently constituted and educated, some 
 will express far more than others under the 
 same amount of conviction. If convinced 
 by the Spirit that you are an unpardoned 
 sinner, passing onward to a fearful and 
 wasteless eternity, your duty is plain. You 
 should go immediately to God, and, from 
 the depths of penitential sorrow, say with 
 the Prodigal, " Father, I have sinned."
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 59 
 
 You should go directly to Christ, and, feel- 
 ing your guilt and unworthiness, make a 
 full and final surrender of yourself to him, 
 and by an act of faith receive him as the 
 Lord your righteousness, and cling to him 
 as your almighty Deliverer.
 
 60 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 -las'i ( bu Mlirj i!i vlfcmi!) .-. iAaitih eoY 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 GOD IN CHRIST THE SINNER'S REFUGE. 
 
 God ia our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 
 Ps. 46:1 
 
 SINNERS who are awakened by the Holy 
 Ghost, and alarmed in view of their guilt 
 and danger, feel their need of a refuge. 
 Their first inquiry is, " What shall I do to 
 be saved ? " To all such, whether slightly 
 impressed or nearly overwhelmed with a 
 sense of sin, the following remarks may not 
 be inappropriate. 
 
 God in Christ is the sinner's refuge. He 
 is the great Creator and sovereign Proprie- 
 tor of all things. He said to Abraham, " I 
 am the Almighty God." Gen. 17: 1. "His 
 arm is not shortened, that it cannot save." 
 All worlds and all events are at his disposal. 
 Wicked men and devils are in his hands
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 61 
 
 He wounds and heals, he kills and makes 
 alive, at his pleasure. His power is infi- 
 nite. You see, therefore, that in respect to 
 strength, your refuge is adequate to your 
 wants. 
 
 Another important circumstance connect- 
 ed with the sinner's refuge is, that it is 
 near at hand. A man pursued by an ene- 
 my, will task his powers to the uttermost 
 to save his life if he discovers just before 
 him an impregnable and accessible fortress. 
 God in Christ, the sinner's refuge, is not 
 only omnipotent to save, but accessible and 
 near, "a very present help in trouble." He 
 is "not far from every one of us, for in him 
 we live, and move, and have our being." 
 Acts 17: 27, 28. You are encircled with 
 his presence ; and when, with a contrite 
 spirit, you cast your burdened soul upon 
 his infinite arm, you will hear him say, 
 "Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be 
 not dismayed, for I am thy God." Isaiah 
 41: 10. This great Deliverer is near to 
 bless and to save, when, with a filial spirit, 
 you read the Bible, enter your closet to 
 6
 
 62 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 pray, bow around the family altar, or go out, 
 as did Isaac, at eventide, to meditate. He 
 is near to pardon and comfort when you 
 meet for prayer in the social circle, or enter 
 his holy sanctuary to receive instruction. 
 
 God is not only near the trembling sin- 
 ner, but he is willing to save. " As I live, 
 saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in 
 the death of the wicked ; but that the 
 wicked turn from his way and live." Ezek. 
 33 : 11. To all who are distressed in view 
 of sin, Jehovah proclaims, " Look unto me, 
 and be ye saved ; for I am God, and there 
 is none else." Isaiah 45: 22. He said to 
 his ancient people, "O Israel, thou hast 
 destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help." 
 Hosea 13:9. 
 
 God, moreover, is merciful, and compas- 
 sionate, and tenderly kind. He proclaims 
 himself to be "The Lord, the Lord God, 
 merciful and gracious." Ex. 34: 6. He 
 is also ready to forgive. He freely pardons 
 sinners of all nations. He takes so much 
 pleasure in bestowing pardon that he even 
 invites and entreats the sinner to ask for it.
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 63 
 
 He pardons all classes j the young and the 
 old ; the slave and his master ; the poor and 
 illiterate no less than the wealthy and the 
 learned. God pardons many and great 
 sins, and sins of peculiar aggravation. He 
 pardoned the sins of Manasseh, Saul of 
 Tarsus, and Peter, and he will pardon your 
 sins, if, like them, you cherish a contrite 
 spirit. "Though your sins be as scarlet, 
 they shall be as white as snow ; though 
 they be red like crimson, they shall be as 
 wool." Isa. 1: 18. God, in the atonement 
 of Christ, makes provision for the pardon 
 of future sins. He justifies as well as par- 
 dons, and treats his pardoned ones, for Je- 
 sus's sake, as righteous in his sight. God 
 pardons upon the most reasonable condi- 
 tions ; and these conditions are, repentance 
 for sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 God not only pardons upon the most rea- 
 sonable conditions, but even assists the 
 sinner by the operations of the Holy Spirit 
 to fulfil these conditions. God is bound- 
 less in resources, and is both able and will- 
 ing to supply your wants.
 
 64 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 This infinite being, holy and just, and 
 hating sin as he does, you, though a great 
 transgressor, and unworthy of the least of 
 all his mercies, can meet in Christ as 
 your gracious Father and unfailing Friend. 
 Through Christ, the Mediator, you can 
 draw near to him at all times, spread out 
 your wants, confess your sins, and receive 
 from him pardon, hope, eternal life, and 
 blessedness before his throne. Such is the 
 sinner's hiding-place from the endless and 
 fearful penalty of God's violated law.
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 65 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DECISION IN RELIGION. 
 Choose you this day whom ye will serve. Josh. 24 : 15. 
 
 DECISION is no less essential to success in 
 seeking salvation than in prosecuting any 
 worldly enterprise. The mind never acts 
 efficiently in the pursuit of wealth, honor, 
 pleasure, any real or imaginary good, until 
 it acts decidedly. If, then, as a convicted 
 sinner, you desire immediately to enter the 
 way of life, you must, relying upon divine 
 assistance, come now to a full, deliberate, 
 and unalterable determination to devote 
 yourself entirely and forever to the service 
 of God. Under an impressive sense of 
 your weakness and dependence, you must 
 make this decision in the strength of God, 
 and in full view of the sins to be relin- 
 quished, the trials to be endured, and the 
 6*
 
 66 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 duties of practical piety to be performed to 
 the end of life. It is not enough partially 
 to decide on this subject ; a partial decision 
 is no decision. Nor is it sufficient to re- 
 solve that at some future period religion 
 shall be your chief concern ; many have 
 done this, and lost their souls. To defer 
 submission to Christ to a future time, is to 
 conclude, for the present, to rebel against 
 God. On a subject so momentous as the 
 endless well-being of your precious soul, 
 you must, with the utmost sincerity, say 
 with the Psalmist, "O God, my heart is 
 fixed," and, like him, carry out immediately 
 this unchangeable purpose in a life of daily 
 repentance, faith, and prayer. Until such a 
 determination is formed, you will make no 
 progress towards God and heaven. The 
 Prodigal did not return to his father's 
 house till he decided to do it. Having 
 formed a deliberate and solemn purpose to 
 go home, he executed it immediately ; he 
 rose and went to his father. Nor did he 
 act without good and sufficient reasons in 
 this matter. In view of his own guilt and
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 67 
 
 wretchedness, and the known kindness of 
 his father, his ability and willingness to 
 help him, lie resolved to go home and cast 
 himself upon the mercy of his grieved and 
 dishonored parent. This is a happy illus- 
 tration of correct decision connected with 
 immediate and successful action in seeking 
 salvation. It is an illustration given by 
 Christ himself, and may therefore be safely 
 followed. You perceive, then, that the 
 Prodigal's decision was, in an important 
 sense, the turning-point in his salvation. 
 Had he not decided to return home, he 
 must have perished with starvation. He 
 did not confer with flesh and blood in this 
 matter ; he neither lingered nor hesitated ; 
 he raised no objections, and yielded to no 
 fears in regard to his reception. Like a 
 man in earnest to save his life, he chose at 
 once the best way, and, with becoming 
 zeal, pursued it. From considerations un- 
 speakably more weighty, you are urged to 
 decide now to enter, with all your heart, 
 upon a life of piety. Like the Prodigal, you 
 have wandered from your Father's house :
 
 68 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 you have forsaken the Lord your Maker, 
 and lightly esteemed the Rock of your sal- 
 vation. You have enjoyed divine goodness, 
 and abused it; you have lived through 
 divine forbearance, and have slighted it. 
 The warnings and threatenings, the invita- 
 tions and kind entreaties, of your Father in 
 heaven you have disregarded. Pardon 
 full, free, and purchased by the blood of 
 Jesus you have treated with contempt. 
 Your sins are numberless, great, and aggra- 
 vated beyond expression, because commit- 
 ted against such clear displays of the 
 boundless goodness and grace of God. 
 You are a condemned transgressor, passing 
 on to judgment and fiery indignation which 
 must devour the ungodly. Endless misery 
 is before you, and you are liable to sink 
 into it at any moment while unpardoned. 
 "He that believeth not shall be damned." 
 Mark 16 : 16. A storm of divine wrath is 
 hanging over you, and will beat upon you 
 with untold and accumulated violence, 
 unless you find a refuge in Jesus. Why, 
 then, do you linger? If Noah hastened
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 69 
 
 into the ark to escape the flood, and Lot 
 fled from the flames of Sodom, you may 
 well be in earnest to escape the flood of 
 divine wrath, and the lake of unquencha- 
 ble fire. "He that believeth- shall be 
 saved." "The Spirit and the bride say, 
 Come, and whosoever will, let him take the 
 water of life freely." 
 
 Nor let it be thought presumptuous for a 
 sinner to decide on a point pertaining to 
 his salvation. It is, indeed, the very thing 
 which God requires. He rebuked his an- 
 cient people for their indecision. "How 
 long halt ye between two opinions? If 
 the Lord be God, follow him." He urged 
 them to an immediate choice of himself as 
 their chief good. "Choose you this day 
 whom ye will serve." It is not presump- 
 tion for a sinner to obey God and secure 
 his own salvation. Others have decided 
 to forsake their sins, and live a life of faith 
 and prayer, and you may follow their ex- 
 ample. 
 
 In a meeting of special religious interest, 
 I once asked if any one present would, like
 
 70 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 the prodigal, arise and go to his father. 
 To my surprise, a middle-aged man, who 
 had been a great sinner, arose, and said, in a 
 low, trembling voice, " I will arise and go 
 to my Father," and sat down. It was, with 
 him, a moment of great interest ; his pur- 
 pose was fixed ; he resolved, with divine 
 help, to abandon his wicked ways and be- 
 come a follower of Jesus. Burdened with 
 a sense of his guilt, he went home, and 
 sought a retired place in which to pour out 
 his complaint before God. His convictions 
 were pungent, but of short duration. I 
 heard him sigh in his distress, as he fell 
 upon his knees by my side, and cried for 
 mercy. In a short time, heavenly light 
 beamed upon his soul, arid he sat penitently 
 at the feet of Jesus. He became a devoted 
 Christian. His determination to be on the 
 side of Christ, you perceive, led to imme- 
 diate and happy results. 
 
 A young man once entered my room 
 without the least apparent concern for his 
 salvation, though rationally convinced that 
 he must be born again or be lost. I urged
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 71 
 
 him to seek religion immediately ; but he 
 hesitated ; he was not quite ready. Again 
 and again I entreated him, by all the con- 
 siderations which I could draw from the 
 Word of God, to devote himself, without 
 delay, to the service of Christ ; but still he 
 refused. Before he left, I made one more 
 appeal, and said, in effect, " Will you seek 
 salvation now, with all your heart ? " He 
 replied, "I think I will." He was a young 
 man of decision of character ; his purpose 
 was formed, and he knelt by my side 
 while I commended him to God in prayer. 
 The Holy Spirit blessed the effort ; he was 
 immediately awakened, and the next day 
 he was deeply concerned to know what he 
 should do to be saved. In a few hours, he 
 hopefully surrendered his heart to God, and 
 found peace in believing. He appeared 
 openly upon the side of Christ, and has 
 continued to adorn the doctrines of God 
 his Saviour by a holy life. Now, had not 
 that young man concluded to make re- 
 ligion his first concern, he would have 
 remained an enemy of God, and still trav-
 
 72 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 elled on in the way to despair. Reflection, 
 argument, and entreaty, accompanied with 
 divine influence, brought him to a decision 
 which speedily resulted in his hopeful con- 
 version to God. 
 
 Since, then, awakened reader, God has 
 granted you the convicting influences of 
 his Spirit, I charge you by all that is pre- 
 cious in heavenly blessedness, and dreadful 
 in the wrath to come, now to make a full 
 and final committal of yourself to Jesus, 
 and live, henceforth, not unto yourself, but 
 unto Him who died for you, and rose 
 again.
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 73 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DEPENDENCE AND UNCONDITIONAL SUBMIS- 
 SION. 
 
 And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt tbou have 
 me to do ? Acts 9 : 6. 
 
 WHEN we speak of the sinner's helpless- 
 ness, it is not to be understood that he is 
 wanting in any natural power to do his 
 duty, but that, having violated the law of 
 God, and thereby involved himself in guilt 
 and ruin, he is entirely dependent upon a 
 divine and almighty agency to extricate 
 him from his perilous condition, and so to 
 renovate his soul that it shall completely 
 harmonize with the will of God, arid be 
 prepared for a holy and blissful heaven. 
 
 With this preliminary remark, I observe, 
 
 that as awakened sinners are inclined to 
 
 trust in their own righteousness, and to 
 
 feel that their prayers, anxieties, and efforts 
 
 7
 
 74 AWAKENED SINWER DIRECTED. 
 
 will recommend them to the divine favor, 
 a great point is gained, when they are 
 thoroughly convinced, that as transgressors 
 of God's law. they are utterly undone, that 
 their own righteousness is filthy rags, that 
 by nature and by practice they are entirely 
 depraved, that in themselves there is no 
 good thing, that the carnal mind is enmity 
 against God, and that every imagination of 
 the thought of the heart is only evil con- 
 tinually. This scriptural view of them- 
 selves, as condemned sinners under sen- 
 tence of death, will lead them to realize their 
 entire dependence, and to feel that if saved 
 at all, they must be saved by the sovereign 
 grace of God, bestowed freely through 
 Jesus, the Mediator. The sinner must re- 
 nounce his own righteousness as utterly 
 worthless, before he will accept the right- 
 eousness of Christ ; he must cease to depend 
 upon himself before he will rely upon God 
 for salvation ; he must feel his entire help- 
 lessness as a guilty transgressor in the 
 hands of God, and exposed to his wrath 
 forever, before he will hasten for shelter to
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 75 
 
 the atoning blood of Jesus. The apostle 
 Paul, speaking of himself, says, "I was 
 alive without the law once ; but when the 
 commandment came, sin revived, and I 
 died." Rom. 7: 9. When he saw the 
 spiritual nature, extent, and purity of God's 
 law, sin revived, or he discovered his guilt 
 as a transgressor of that law, and died at 
 once and forever to the hope of being jus- 
 tified and saved by legal obedience. He 
 was slain by the law before he began to 
 live in Christ ; he was made to feel his 
 entire helplessness as a condemned trans- 
 gressor under sentence of eternal death, 
 before he exclaimed in brokenness of heart, 
 "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" 
 God humbles the sinner before he exalts 
 him ; he strips him of his own righteous- 
 ness before he clothes him with the right- 
 eousness of Christ ; he enables him to feel 
 his entire weakness before he girds him 
 with the strength of salvation ; he discov- 
 ers to him his guilt and deformity before 
 he discloses to him the beauty of holiness ; 
 he allows him to taste the wormwood and
 
 76 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 the gall before he gives him the cup of 
 salvation ; he makes him to feel his utter 
 helplessness, as a sinner condemned to die, 
 guilty, hopeless, and sinking under the pres- 
 sure of his wrath, before he extends to him 
 the arm of deliverance. All this he does 
 to break his hold on sin and self, and every 
 earthly dependence, and bring him into a 
 state to receive pardon as a gratuitous favor, 
 and ascribe the glory of his salvation to his 
 infinite and sovereign grace. 
 
 An original but appropriate illustration 
 of the sinner's dependence and helpless- 
 ness, and God's treatment of him in this 
 condition, was once given by an unlettered 
 Indian, who, having taken a worm, laid 
 him upon the ground, and, drawing a circle 
 round him, kindled a fire upon its cir- 
 cumference. The worm crawled in all 
 directions, and finding himself encircled 
 by the consuming element, returned to 
 the centre of the circle, to die. At this 
 moment the Indian extended his arm, and, 
 plucking him from his perilous condition, 
 conveyed him to a place of safety. So it
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 77 
 
 is with the sinner. When, by the illumi- 
 nation of the Holy Spirit, he discovers that 
 within he is entirely depraved ; that above 
 him is an avenging God, and beneath him 
 a burning hell ; when, in his distress, he 
 has wearied himself out with fruitless at- 
 tempts to save himself, and is just ready to 
 sink in hopeless despair, he casts himself, 
 as an undone sinner, at the feet of a cruci- 
 fied Saviour, the central point of God's 
 infinite goodness and matchless grace, and, 
 relying simply and solely upon the mercy 
 of his offended Creator, exclaims, "Lord, 
 save me, or I perish." Then God extends 
 to him the arm of deliverance, plucks 
 him as a brand from the burning, purges 
 away his guilt, and, having planted his feet 
 upon the Rock of Ages, enables him to see 
 that his salvation is purely of grace, and to 
 ascribe the glory of it entirely and forever 
 to God and the Lamb. 
 
 Reader, to this point you must be brought, 
 
 or you must perish. Salvation begins here ; 
 
 your extremity is God's opportunity j upon 
 
 him you are entirely dependent ; he alone 
 
 7*
 
 78 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 can deliver; pardon and spiritual life are 
 his gifts. When, despairing of help from 
 all other sources, you look to him in earnest, 
 and cry for mercy in your helplessness, you 
 will realize in him a Saviour to the utter- 
 most. God finds you when you lose your- 
 self ; the moment you die to sin, you live 
 in Christ. 
 
 " The mount of danger is the place 
 "Where we shall see surprising grace." 
 
 Convicted sinners are inclined, also, to 
 make conditions, upon which they will 
 bow to the divine will, instead of submit- 
 ting, as they should, unconditionally, to 
 the authority of God. I once asked an 
 anxious inquirer if she was willing to fall 
 unconditionally into the hands of God. 
 "O, no!" she replied, in effect, "for if I 
 should, I fear he would send me to hell ; " 
 all the while forgetting that she was en- 
 tirely in the power of her infinite Sovereign, 
 who was able in a moment to crush her 
 forever. Now, you perceive, she was mak- 
 ing conditions. If she could know certainly
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 79 
 
 that God would save her, she would sub- 
 mit ; if not, she would continue to rebel. 
 Persons under conviction are ready to do 
 every thing but the right thing, to pursue 
 any course except that which the Saviour 
 approves. One would submit to God if he 
 was thoroughly convicted of sin ; another 
 would do it if he was worthy to be saved ; 
 and a third would give up his heart if he 
 was certain God would accept it. One 
 class of persons would follow Christ if they 
 could ha.ve religion and conceal it ; another 
 would be very obedient if they certainly 
 knew they were among the elect, or could 
 have salvation and still indulge forbidden 
 lusts. In these and kindred ways, anxious 
 inquirers insult their Maker, resist his Spirit, 
 and hedge up their way to heaven. This 
 course must be abandoned or the trans- 
 gressor must die. It ill becomes a sinner, 
 under sentence of death, to dictate to his 
 judge upon what conditions he will accept 
 pardon ; or a rebel, overtaken by justice, to 
 prescribe to his sovereign upon what terms 
 he will submit and be loyal. If, reader,
 
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 you are anxious for salvation, but still im- 
 penitent, God is your righteous Judge, and 
 you the culprit ; he is your independent 
 Sovereign, and you the rebel ; he is in the 
 right ; his character, law, and government, 
 are just; you are in the wrong in heart 
 and conduct entirely wrong. God is un- 
 changeable. On your part, therefore, un- 
 conditional submission or death is the only 
 alternative. "Yield yourselves unto God," 
 is the divine command. The surrender 
 which you are required to make, must be 
 of body and soul ; friends, property, learn- 
 ing, influence, all must be sincerely and 
 heartily surrendered to God. . A partial 
 surrender is no surrender ; God will have 
 the whole or nothing ; he deserves it, and 
 should he require less, it would prove your 
 ruin. His choice must be your choice ; his 
 will your will ; his pleasure your delight ; 
 and his service your constant and endless 
 employment. 
 
 Your surrender to God must be imme- 
 diate. He requires and deserves your ser- 
 vice now, and you sin if you withhold it.
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 81 
 
 Every moment's delay is attended with 
 unspeakable hazard. While you linger, 
 you may die and sink to perdition. 
 
 Your surrender to God must be volun- 
 tary and cheerful. A reluctant service God 
 will not accept. "God loveth a cheerful 
 giver." You must fall into his hands, not 
 only cheerfuly, but joyfully, and be willing 
 that he should dispose of you and yours 
 according to his sovereign pleasure. 
 
 Your surrender must be attended with 
 holy love. As God possesses every possible 
 excellence, you are required to love him 
 with all your powers. It must be attended, 
 also, with deep humiliation and sincere 
 contrition for past sins, and a full, unshaken 
 purpose to deny all ungodliness and every 
 worldly lust. 
 
 You must submit to God in faith, with 
 confidence in his being and perfections, the 
 rectitude of his government, and his ability 
 and willingness to save. 
 
 These are the conditions of your surren- 
 der and acceptance with God. They are 
 liberal and reasonable ; all that you ought
 
 82 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 to ask, or your injured Sovereign to offer. 
 They are honorable conditions ; honorable 
 to God and honorable to yourself; and, 
 when you bow and accept them, Christ 
 becomes to you- wisdom, righteousness, 
 sanctification, and redemption ; you are 
 saved, and Jehovah is glorified. 
 
 Your present position, then, is one of 
 great solemnity. Life and death are before 
 you ; the Judge standeth at the door. The 
 point to be reached is immediate and un- 
 conditional submission to God. Bow to 
 his will, and your salvation is sure. 
 
 " Sinner, why, why will you die ? 
 God, your Saviour, asks you why."
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 83 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 REPENTANCE. 
 
 Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may ba 
 blotted out. Acts 3 : 19. 
 
 EVANGELICAL repentance, as expressed in 
 the Greek Scriptures, is a radical change 
 of mind in view of sin, as it relates to God 
 and his law, a turning of the soul from 
 the love and practice of sin to the love of 
 holiness and obedience to God. This 
 thorough change in the sinner's views, 
 purposes, and dispositions is preceded by 
 genuine conviction of sin, and is accompa- 
 nied with that deep, godly sorrow or regret 
 on account of it, which results in life ever- 
 lasting. " Godly sorrow worketh repent- 
 ance to salvation, not to be repented of." 
 2 Cor. 7 : 10. 
 
 A man on a journey of great responsi- 
 bility, and requiring speed, at length dis-
 
 84 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 covers that he has taken a wrong direction, 
 which, if pursued, will prove extremely 
 disastrous. This discovery or conviction 
 of his real condition is immediately fol- 
 lowed by sorrow or regret. In view of it 
 he repents, or changes his mind, and, hav- 
 ing turned directly about, enters the right 
 way. Thus it is with the repenting sinner. 
 On his journey to another world, he is con- 
 vinced by the Holy Spirit that he is a great 
 sinner in heart and life, entirely wrong, 
 pursuing the way to destruction; a de- 
 struction, too, deep as hell, broad as im- 
 mensity, and endless as the eternity of 
 God. His conviction of sin, if thorough 
 and genuine, is followed by godly sorrow, 
 not merely for the evils which sin has oc- 
 casioned, but for sin itself, because it is 
 vile and malignant, subversive of right 
 government, dishonorable to God, and ruin- 
 ous to the best interests of the universe. 
 Convicted of sin, and grieving on account 
 of it, he repents, or is entirely changed in 
 his views, feelings, and conduct, and at 
 once enters upon a life of faith and prayer.
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 85 
 
 Before his repentance he took pleasure in 
 sin now he hates it; before he repented 
 he was averse to the duties of religion 
 now he loves them ; before his repentance 
 he cherished idols in his heart, and wor- 
 shipped them now he abhors and aban- 
 dons them, and worships God in the beauty 
 of holiness. He is "a new creature in 
 Christ Jesus ; old things are passed away ; 
 behold, all things are become new." Once 
 he was in the way to death now he is in 
 nhe way to life ; once he hated God and 
 Holiness now he admires the divine char- 
 acter, and delights in the law of God after 
 the inner man. "To repent," says Mr. 
 James, "is more, much more, than mere 
 sorrow for sin ; this is evident from what 
 the apostle has remarked: 'Godly sorrow 
 worketh repentance to salvation, not to be 
 repented of.' 2 Cor. 7: 10. True sorrow 
 for sin is a part of repentance, and only a 
 part, for the Scripture just quoted evidently 
 makes a distinction between them. Many, 
 very many, grieve for their sins, who never 
 repent of them. Men may grieve for the 
 8
 
 86 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 consequences of their sins without mourn- 
 ing for the sins themselves. The meaning 
 of the word repent, is, a change of mind. 
 Repentance, therefore, signifies an entire 
 change of a man's views, disposition, and 
 conduct, with respect to sin." It is equiva- 
 lent in meaning to regeneration. The new 
 birth means a change of heart, and repent- 
 ance is that same change, viewed in ref- 
 erence to sin. 
 
 Genuine repentance is not only preceded 
 by conviction of sin, and accompanied with 
 penitential sorrow, but is attended, also, 
 with self-condemnation and self-abasement. 
 The repenting sinner is stripped of his vain 
 excuses ; he no longer attempts to conceal 
 or palliate his guilt, or charge the blame of 
 his sins upon Adam, God, or his minister. 
 He reproaches and condemns himself, and 
 feels that he alone is the guilty party. 
 The language of his heart is, "Father, I 
 have sinned." "Woe is me, for I am un- 
 done." "Unclean, unclean." "O! wretch- 
 ed man that I am, who shall deliver me 
 from the body of this death ? " He feels,
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 87 
 
 moreover, that his sins have been commit- 
 ted against God, and grieves mainly on this 
 account. Such were the feelings of peni- 
 tent David, as expressed in the fifty-first 
 psalm. ''Against thee, thee only, have I 
 sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." 
 He had murdered one, disgraced another, 
 and dishonored himself in the eyes of the 
 nation ; and yet all this was small, compared 
 with his guilt in the sight of God. It cut 
 him to the heart that he had offended and 
 insulted the- infinite majesty of heaven and 
 earth, that God of loving kindness and 
 tender mercy who had not only redeemed 
 him by his grace, and shielded him in the 
 day of battle, but had honored him in the 
 eyes of the nations by taking him from 
 the sheep-cote and making him king over 
 his people Israel. David was a child of 
 God, a true penitent ; it was not, therefore, 
 punishment which he feared, or for which 
 he grieved. It was sin ; sin in himself, sin 
 against God, clearly seen and deeply felt, 
 which crushed his spirit, and constrained 
 him to exclaim, "Have mercy upon me.
 
 88 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 O God, for I acknowledge my transgres- 
 sions, and my sin is ever before me." Had 
 there been no hell, God and sin would 
 have remained the same, and his sorrow 
 would not have been less deep, nor his 
 grief less poignant. The burden upon the 
 Prodigal's heart was, "Father, I have 
 sinned against heaven and in thy sight." 
 Peter's tears flowed in a gushing stream, 
 not because he was sinking to hell, for he 
 was then on his way to heaven, but be- 
 cause he had sinned, and dishonored and 
 grieved his beloved Lord and Master, by 
 publicly and shamefully denying him un- 
 der circumstances of peculiar aggravation. 
 
 True repentance is also attended with a 
 thorough reformation in heart and life. 
 Secret and open sins will be abandoned, 
 wicked ways forsaken, unrighteous princi- 
 ples relinquished, and God and Christ will 
 be all in all. David's repentance was fol- 
 lowed by a course of consistent and elevat- 
 ed piety. In his earnest longings for en- 
 tire purity, he prays, a Wash me thoroughly 
 from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 89 
 
 sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God, 
 and renew a right spirit within me." Paul's 
 sorrow for sin was attended with a mighty 
 moral change in feeling and conduct. 
 From a bitter persecutor he became a most 
 devoted follower of Jesus, and successfully 
 defended the faith which he once attempt- 
 ed to destroy. Peter's repentance ended 
 not in sighs and sobs. He preached and 
 prayed like one in earnest to save souls, 
 and died a martyr to the cause. A man 
 who has been burned in the fire, will not 
 knowingly rush into the flames. A travel- 
 ler who has once been stung by a scorpion, 
 will not knowingly cherish that venomous 
 creature in his bosom. Much less will the 
 sinner, who has been effectually taught by 
 the Spirit the evil nature arid tremendous 
 consequences of sin, knowingly and habit- 
 ually transgress the divine command. 
 
 The true penitent will not only forsake, 
 but hate his sins. Objects and pursuits 
 which he once loved, he now detests. 
 Feelings and conduct which once appeared 
 comparatively innocent, he now regards as 
 8
 
 90 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 utterly vile, entirely opposed to God and 
 holiness, and he abhors them on this ac- 
 count. Such was the experience of David. 
 "I hate vain thoughts." Ps. 119: 113. 
 "Cleanse thou me from secret faults." Ps. 
 19: 12. The feelings of Job correspond 
 with those of David in this particular. 
 When he had a clear view of God's infinite 
 holiness, he not only abhorred his sins, but 
 himself on account of them. " Wherefore 
 I abhor myself, and repent in dust and 
 ashes." Job 42: 6. The repentance of 
 the Corinthian converts was attended with 
 the same happy results. "For behold this 
 self-same thing, that ye sorrowed after a 
 godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in 
 you ; yea, what clearing of yourselves ; 
 yea, what indignation ; yea, what fear ; 
 yea, what vehement desire ; yea, what 
 zeal; yea, what revenge!" 2 Cor. 7: 11. 
 Such in nature and effect is evangelical 
 repentance. The Spirit of God is its au- 
 thor, and the contrite sinner its subject. It 
 differs materially from false repentance or 
 that which Judas experienced. It is said
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 91 
 
 of that traitor, that he repented, but he did 
 not reform ; ho lived a thief and died a 
 murderer. Had he been a true penitent, 
 he would have looked to Jesus for pardon, 
 forsaken and hated his sins, and commenced 
 a religious life. He was sorry, no doubt, 
 that he had committed a sin which exposed 
 him to the endless displeasure of God, 
 amidst the flames of the bottomless pit; but 
 for sin itself, irrespective of its conse- 
 quences, we have reason to believe he was 
 not sorry, for he went away immediately 
 and hanged himself ; that is, he committed 
 a sin next in criminality, probably, to that 
 of betraying his Lord. The elements. of 
 hell were in his bosom, where its fires were 
 already kindled. Paul's repentance made 
 him a saint the repentance of Judas left 
 him a devil. "Have I not chosen you 
 twelve, and one of you is a devil? He 
 spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.' 
 John 6: 70, 71. 
 
 Reader, have you repented? Do 
 now repent ? Is your heart filled with an-j 
 guish for sin ? This work is appropriately
 
 92 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 your own ; no one can do it for you. 
 Should others shed rivers of tears on your 
 account, it would avail you nothing, while 
 you remain impenitent. The fountain of 
 godly sorrow must be opened in your own 
 bosom ; the tide of penitential grief must 
 gush from your own heart. The Spirit is 
 now striving ; why do you resist him ? He 
 works in you both to will and to do, and 
 you must work out your salvation with 
 fear and trembling. " Except ye repent ye 
 shall all likewise perish." Yes, you must 
 repent or perish, and perish, too, in the 
 world of despair, and perish everlastingly. 
 
 But do you ask, When shall I repent ? 
 A strange question indeed for an awakened 
 sinner to propose. You would be surprised 
 to hear a man, standing on the brink of a 
 burning lake, ask whether he should go 
 forward or backward, and when he should 
 do it. You are to repent immediately. 
 While you are reading these pages, your 
 heart should break in contrition, and flow 
 out in penitential sorrow. Convicted sin- 
 ners on the day of Pentecost asked not
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 93 
 
 when they should repent, but what they 
 should do. They felt the burden of guilt, 
 and desired to have it removed at the ear- 
 liest possible moment. 
 
 But I hear you say, I fear I am not suf- 
 ficiently convicted of sin. Are you con- 
 victed at all? If so, repent immediately, 
 renounce and abhor your sins. Would you 
 travel to the top of Sinai, that you may 
 feel the hottest bolts of offended justice, or 
 go down to the burning pit, that you may 
 experience the wailings of the lost, before 
 you repent ? On your way to Calvary you 
 must pass Sinai. Be thankful that you are 
 not required to be crushed by its thunders, 
 before you can reach the mount of mercy.
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FAITH IN GOD. 
 
 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, 
 and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. 1 Pet. 
 1:21. 
 
 WE shall consider, in this chapter, the 
 nature, importance, and objects of Faith, 
 and attempt to show how it may be exer- 
 cised so as to secure salvation. 
 
 1. The nature of Faith. Faith, in gen- 
 eral, is that principle in the soul which en- 
 ables us to trust in the word and character 
 of a being possessing attributes worthy 
 of confidence. It presupposes knowledge ; 
 for we cannot trust in one of whom we 
 are entirely ignorant. It requires integrity 
 in the being in whom it is reposed ; for we 
 cannot confide implicitly in one who is 
 known to deceive. It is attended with 
 peace, joy, and sensible comfort ; implies
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 95 
 
 expectation, leads to obedience, and insures 
 reward. Take an illustration : 
 
 A man guilty of some capital offence, 
 and under sentence of death, is confined in 
 prison, waiting for his execution. While 
 reflecting upon his forlorn and hopeless 
 condition, a person enters his cell and 
 hands him a letter. He opens and reads 
 it, and finds it contains a promise, in the 
 handwriting of his prince, that if he will 
 sincerely and publicly confess to him his 
 crime, he shall be pardoned and set at lib- 
 erty. Knowing that his prince, being a 
 man of truth, always fulfils his promises, 
 he believes his declaration. This is faith, 
 and the strength of his faith will be in 
 proportion to the evidence he has of his 
 sovereign's integrity. He now expects his 
 liberty, not because he desires it, or de- 
 serves it, but because his sovereign has 
 promised it, and his expectation is attended 
 with sensible comfort, even before he re- 
 ceives forgiveness. Having signified his 
 acceptance of the proposed conditions, he 
 is released from his chains, his prison door
 
 96 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 is opened, he appears in the presence of his 
 prince, makes the confession required, is 
 pardoned, and set at liberty. His faith led 
 to obedience, and obedience secured re- 
 ward. What, now, were the cause and 
 ground of that man's faith ? Not his de- 
 sires to be released from his confinement ; 
 for these he had, while, to his own mind, 
 his condition was hopeless. Nor was it the 
 integrity of his prince, merely, for this was 
 a well-known fact before he received offers 
 of pardon. The cause of his faith was, 
 evidently, the word of his prince, and his 
 integrity was the ground of it. Had his 
 sovereign been deceitful, he could not have 
 believed him. Had he been a man of 
 integrity, and made no offers of pardon, his 
 condition would still have been hopeless. 
 
 In this illustration we see the operation 
 of the understanding and heart, in the ex- 
 ercise of faith. The prisoner, perceiving 
 the conditions of pardon, and their connec- 
 tion with his future happiness, and expect- 
 ing his liberty on the ground of his sove- 
 reign's integrity, heartily accepted them ;
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 97 
 
 \ 
 
 he confessed his crime, reformed his life, 
 and, becoming an obedient subject, was 
 restored to royal favor. 
 
 2. The importance of Faith. Is it a 
 doom unspeakably dreadful to die in sin 
 and sink to perdition ? "If ye believe not 
 that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." 
 John 8 : 24. "He that believeth not shall 
 be damned." Mark 16: 16. Is deliver- 
 ance from the tremendous penalty of God's 
 violated law a blessing greatly to be de- 
 sired ? " Christ is the end of the law for 
 righteousness to every one that believeth." 
 Rom. 10: 4. Is a state of justification and 
 peace with God an honor and a privilege ? 
 "Being justified by faith, we have peace 
 with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 Rom. 5:1. Is purity of heart essential to 
 the heavenly state ? " Purifying their hearts 
 by faith." Acts 15: 9. Do those inherit 
 peculiar honors who are children of God 
 and sons of God ? " Ye are all the children 
 of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Gal. 3: 
 26. "As many as received him, to them 
 gave he power to become the sons of God, 
 9
 
 98 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 even to them that believe on his name." 
 John 1 : 12. Is life everlasting in heaven 
 an imperishable treasure ? " He that be- 
 lieveth on the Son, hath everlasting life." 
 John 3 : 36. From these declarations of 
 Scripture, you perceive, at once, the im- 
 mense importance of faith in Christ. 
 
 3. The object of Faith. The triune 
 Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 possessing all those infinite and adorable 
 perfections ascribed to him in his Word, 
 and reflected in his works of creation and 
 providence, is the object of saving faith. 
 He is an object surpassingly grand, attrac- 
 tive, and glorious, and is, in all respects, 
 worthy of the highest confidence of his 
 intelligent creatures. Such was the object 
 of Abraham's faith. "Abraham believed 
 God, and it was counted unto him for 
 righteousness." Rom. 4: 3. Such is the 
 object of every true believer's faith. " He 
 that cometh to God, must believe that he 
 is, and that he is a rewarder of them that 
 diligently seek him." Heb. 11: 6. 
 
 Saving faith respects Christ as its object,
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 99 
 
 especially in his mediatorial character as 
 the Son of God, our atoning priest, inter- 
 cessor, king, and judge. Says our Saviour, 
 "Ye believe in God ; believe also in me." 
 John 14: 1. "Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and thou shall be saved." Acts 
 16:31. " This is the will of him that sent 
 me, that every one which seeth the Son, 
 and believeth on him, may have everlast- 
 ing life." John 6: 40. These passages 
 sufficiently indicate the object of the be- 
 liever's faith. All who believe in Christ, 
 take his word as the rule of their life. 
 
 4. We are now to consider how faith 
 may be exercised so as to secure pardon 
 and salvation. Awakened reader, you have 
 now arrived at a most interesting point, 
 the point upon which, especially, your sal- 
 vation depends. Faith in God and Christ 
 is the leading grace. Without it, you are 
 a vessel of wrath, fitted to destruction; 
 with it, you are a vessel of mercy, fitted 
 for glory, honor, and immortality. Are you 
 anxious to believe, and would you believe, 
 if you knew how to do it ? I invite your
 
 100 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 attention, then, to the following consid- 
 erations : 
 
 1. God is the object of saving faith, and 
 you are to approach him and believe in 
 him, through Jesus the mediator. He says, 
 " Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the 
 ends of the earth ; for I am God, and there 
 is none else." Isa. 45: 22. This com- 
 mand, accompanied with a precious prom- 
 ise, is addressed to all, and to you in par- 
 ticular. It presents God as the object of 
 faith, salvation as the reward of faith, and 
 looking to God as the way to secure this 
 salvation. Faith is the eye, that looks to 
 God. You have only to look and be saved. 
 How easy and simple ! What could be 
 more so ? Looking, here, is the same thing 
 as believing or trusting. You are to look 
 to God for salvation, and to believe in 
 looking. But how are you to look effectu- 
 ally ? Saving faith is an exercise of the 
 heart, and implies affection. You must 
 look to God, then, not with your bodily 
 eye, not with your understanding merely, 
 but with your heart. " For with the heart
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 101 
 
 man believeth unto righteousness." Rom. 
 10: 10. In looking to God, effectually, 
 you must believe in him, and trust in his 
 word with all your heart. Such was the 
 instruction of Philip to the inquiring Eu- 
 nuch. " If thou believest with all thy 
 heart, thou mayest." Acts 8 : 37. 
 
 But what are you to believe with all 
 your heart ? You are to believe not only 
 that God is, and that his word is infallible 
 truth, but that he will faithfully perform 
 what he has promised ; that if you comply 
 with his requisitions, you will be saved ; 
 that is, you shall realize all that is implied 
 in present and eternal salvation. 
 
 2. You are to believe immediately. Yes, 
 while reading these pages you are to exer- 
 cise faith. And why not ? God will never 
 be more worthy of your confidence, than 
 he now is. It will never be easier for you 
 to exercise faith in him, than it now is. 
 Nothing but accumulated guilt and over- 
 whelming destruction can be gained by 
 waiting. Your condition is perilous ; it is 
 fearfully alarming. " He that believeth 
 9
 
 102 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 not, is condemned already; the wrath of 
 God abideth on him." Unbelief is that 
 great sin which emphatically deserves 
 death, and you are guilty of it every mo- 
 ment. You have multiplied these sins, till 
 their cry for vengeance has entered into 
 the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. To this 
 and to all other sins God has proclaimed 
 his irreconcilable hatred. His language is, 
 "Do not that abominable thing which I 
 hate." Look unto God, and be saved ; 
 believe in him now, and you shall live. 
 The jailer believed immediately, and was 
 pardoned and justified. The man in pris- 
 on, under sentence of death, on receiving 
 offers of pardon from his sovereign, be- 
 lieved at once, and was released from con- 
 demnation. Your duty is plain; it is a 
 pressing duty ; believe in God now, be- 
 lieve with all your heart, and you shall be 
 saved. 
 
 3. You are to believe joyfully. " He 
 that believeth, shall be saved ; " yes, shall 
 be saved from endless sinning and endless 
 suffering. O reader, what joyful tidings !
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 103 
 
 You should rejoice in the offers of pardon, 
 and rejoice, too, that you can accept them. 
 The jailer rejoiced, believing in God, with 
 all his house. He had occasion for it ; his 
 sins were pardoned, his guilt was purged 
 away, and his heaven secured. You, too, 
 should rejoice in believing, and rejoice ex- 
 ceedingly, that you can believe now. The 
 Spirit is striving ; God is near as the ob- 
 ject of faith ; salvation is the reward of 
 faith, and this reward is obtained simply 
 by believing. On the first exercise of 
 faith, you are to be delivered from the bon- 
 dage of corruption, and brought into the 
 liberty of the sons of God ; you are to be 
 pardoned, justified, and received into royal 
 favor. Glad tidings indeed ! Rejoice and 
 believe ; believe in God and rejoice, and 
 you shall have occasion for augmented joy 
 to all eternity. 
 
 4. Saving faith implies expectation. In 
 the exercise of faith in God, you are to 
 expect salvation, free, full, and eternal sal- 
 vation, purchased and offered through the
 
 104 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 mediation and death of his Son ; and you 
 are to expect it on the ground of his vera- 
 city, of which you have as good evidence 
 now as you ever will have. You may, in- 
 deed, feel your unworthiness of so great a 
 blessing ; but you must not doubt the abil- 
 ity or willingness of God to bestow it. 
 Unbelief is sin ; it is an insult offered to 
 the great Jehovah. You would feel your- 
 self dishonored, should you offer to relieve 
 a beggar, and he should doubt your sincer- 
 ity, or question your veracity. The evi- 
 dence of both is as clear to his own mind 
 now, as it will be to-morrow, or next year. 
 God is true and faithful; "just and right 
 is he." " Hath he said, and will he not 
 do it? Hath he promised, and will he not 
 make it good ? " Has God ever deceived 
 you, or proved unfaithful to his promises ? 
 You know he has not. Believe in him, 
 then, and expect salvation ; take him at 
 his word, trust in him -now, and you shall 
 be immediately pardoned and justified 
 through faith ; confide in him implicitly,
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 105 
 
 with all your heart, and you " shall be as 
 Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, 
 but abideth forever." 
 
 5. Saving faith leads to obedience, and 
 insures reward. If we have true faith in 
 God, we shall not only believe his word, 
 but cheerfully obey it, without asking 
 questions or requiring reasons for the di- 
 vine procedure, and shall find, with the 
 Psalmist, that " in keeping his command- 
 ments there is great reward." Such was 
 the faith of Abraham. When required to 
 leave his own country for a land of stran- 
 gers, he " obeyed, and he went out not 
 knowing whither he went." Says the 
 apostle John, " If we confess our sins, he 
 is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 
 and to cleanse us from all unrighteous- 
 ness." 1 John 1:9. In these few words, 
 the method of pardon and acceptance with 
 God is clearly described. We have only 
 to confess our sins, humbly, with deep 
 contrition and entire renunciation, and God 
 is both faithful and just to forgive them. 
 Yes, he will do more, (and more certainly
 
 106 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 needs to be done ;) he will, by the sancti- 
 fying power of his Spirit, ultimately cleanse 
 us from all unrighteousness, make us per- 
 fectly holy, and fit us for heaven. All this 
 God has promised. Do you believe it, and 
 does your faith lead to obedience ? Are 
 you proving it by your own experience? 
 Have you confessed, and do you now hum- 
 bly and penitently confess your sins, ex- 
 pecting to be forgiven on the word and 
 truth of God ? This is faith ; and faith 
 exercised shall be rewarded ; you shall be 
 forgiven. The man in prison first believed 
 the offers of pardon made by his prince, 
 and, on the strength of his faith in the 
 word and veracity of his sovereign, he 
 obeyed ; that is, complied with the condi- 
 tions of pardon, and was rewarded ; he 
 was pardoned and set at liberty. This 
 view of the subject accords with the expe- 
 rience of David. On the strength of his 
 faith in the word and veracity of God, he 
 says, " I acknowledge my sin unto thee, 
 and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, 
 I will confess my transgressions unto the
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 107 
 
 Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of 
 my sin." Ps. 32: 5. 
 
 But you say, I have confessed my sins a 
 hundred times, and yet I feel the burden ; 
 they are not forgiven. And did you con- 
 fess them in faith ? Did you expect to be 
 forgiven ? Is your humility as deep as that 
 of the Publican, and your contrition as 
 thorough? Like Peter, have you grieved 
 for and mourned over sin ? Look well 
 to these questions, and answer them hon- 
 estly, before you complain. One thing 
 more. Have you forsaken your sins, as 
 well as confessed them ? Have y6u done 
 it in faith ? " He that covereth his sins 
 shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth 
 and forsaketh them, shall have mercy." 
 Prov. 28 : 13. Are you ready to abandon, 
 now and forever, all sins of action, secret 
 and open profaneness, Sabbath-breaking, 
 excessive worldliness, dishonesty, and sins 
 still more gross and flagrant, if you have 
 been guilty of them ? Sins of heart, too, 
 unbelief, pride, ingratitude, selfishness, ha- 
 tred, malice, revenge, and a host of forbid-
 
 108 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 den lusts and appetites, must be sacrificed. 
 Sins of omission, also, equally numerous, 
 and perhaps not less criminal such as neg- 
 lect of God, want of love to him, neglect 
 of prayer, not loving your neighbor as 
 yourself, want of love to enemies, neglect 
 of Christ, and others of a kindred nature, 
 must be abandoned. The dearest and 
 most hidden sin, that traitor of the soul, 
 must be brought out and slain upon the 
 altar of God. Make this sacrifice cheer- 
 fully, heartily, and in faith, and you shall 
 have mercy, and such mercy as includes 
 pardon^peace, hope, consolation, and tri- 
 umph, and a crown of life, which fadeth 
 not away, in heaven. This shall be your 
 everlasting reward. 
 
 Here it may be proper to remark, that 
 there are some sins which God requires us 
 to confess to man as well as to himself, 
 before they can be forgiven, and conscience 
 will point them out. I refer now to wrongs 
 and injuries done to others. A yourrg man, 
 who had been remarkable for his integrity 
 and correctness in external deportment, in
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 109 
 
 an hour of temptation, when he could do 
 it without detection, withheld a sum of 
 money from its owner, and laid it aside for 
 his own use. Some time after, the Spirit 
 of God visited the place of his residence, 
 and among others, he was awakened. His 
 convictions were pungent ; he sighed, and 
 wept, and prayed, but found no relief. 
 Others conversed with him, and pointed 
 him to the Lamb of God ; but his burden 
 remained. To some it was a matter of 
 surprise, that one so amiable should be 
 crushed so long, and seek salvation with so 
 much apparent earnestness, but not obtain 
 it. He, however, knew the reason. That 
 money, unjustly withheld, that wedge of 
 gold, that accursed thing, was still in his 
 house, and conscience would not suffer him 
 to rest, nor God grant him pardon, till it 
 was brought out and restored. He knew 
 his duty, but refused to do it ; the struggle 
 was long and severe ; conviction was con- 
 suming his energies : the rebukes of con- 
 science were terrible ; a cross was before 
 him ; it must be taken up ; but O, how 
 10
 
 110 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 could he do it? His reputation was at 
 stake; disgrace would be fastened upon 
 him. He had confessed his sin to God, 
 but that was not enough; he must confess 
 it to man ; he saw clearly that he must do 
 it, or lie down in endless burnings. At 
 length he disclosed the matter to a confi- 
 dential friend, and was advised to go to the 
 man, and tell him that he had made a mis- 
 take in reckoning, and would make resti- 
 tution. " O, no," he replied, "that will 
 not do ; I made no mistake ; I did it know- 
 ingly; I must tell the whole." Here you 
 see the power of conscience. This friend 
 advised him to go and confess the whole, 
 as conscience bade him. He did so : taking 
 the money, he hastened to the man, as if 
 avenging justice was behind him, fell upon 
 his knees, confessed his sin, and made res- 
 titution. The man, surprised at the mat- 
 ter, cheerfully forgave him. His burden 
 disappeared ; he arose with a light and joy- 
 ful heart, believed in God, and for years 
 has been a valuable member of the church 
 of Christ.
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. Ill 
 
 Reader, have you cherished unkind feel- 
 ings towards another, or injured him in 
 character or property? Go and confess 
 your fault, and, as far as possible, make 
 restitution, as conscience bids you. Is it 
 humbling ? That may be one reason why 
 God requires it. The pride of your heart 
 must be brought down ; humility is essen- 
 tial to saving faith. " He that humbleth 
 himself shall be exalted." "Confess your 
 faults one to another, and pray one for an- 
 other, that ye may be healed." James 
 5: 16. 
 
 Let us go back now to the illustration 
 in the former part of the chapter, and sup- 
 pose that the man in prison, through un- 
 belief, had refused to accept the oilers of 
 pardon made by his sovereign ; what would 
 have been the consequence ? He must 
 have been executed ; the kindness, mercy, 
 and benevolence of his sovereign, even, 
 could not have saved him. He would 
 have lost his life, too, not because he had 
 broken the law, and deserved to die, but 
 because, in his unbelief, he had refused to
 
 112 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 accept the offers of pardon. He would 
 have deserved twice to die, first for his 
 crime, and secondly for his unbelief. You, 
 too, awakened sinner, if you continue in 
 unbelief, must die inevitably and everlast- 
 ingly. The mercy and benevolence of 
 God in Christ, even, cannot save you. 
 Your conviction of sin, your prayers and 
 tears, your anxiety for salvation, will avail 
 nothing, unless you believe. " He that 
 believeth not shall be damned." Mark 
 16 : 16. If, then, you perish eternally, un- 
 belief will be the real cause of your de- 
 struction. Faith is the saving grace. " He 
 that believeth shall be saved." Whatever 
 else may be done, if faith be not exercised, 
 you will be lost ; and you will be saved, if 
 you have true faith in God, should death 
 overtake you the next moment.
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 113 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 FAITH IN CHRIST. 
 
 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and them shall be saved. Acts 
 16: 31. 
 
 As saving faith respects Christ as its 
 object, we shall now attempt to show how 
 it may be exercised so as to secure the 
 blessings of his atonement. Faith in God 
 and faith in Christ are essentially the same, 
 possessing similar properties, and differing 
 only in the objects on which they rest. 
 
 Saving faith respects the character, word, 
 and works of Christ. The character of 
 Christ includes not only his being and at- 
 tributes, as he existed from eternity, but all 
 the divine perfections, happily blended and 
 embodied in a human form, and shining 
 out illustriously and gloriously in the per- 
 son of Christ. The word of Christ com- 
 10*
 
 114 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 prebends all that he has himself said or 
 revealed by the Holy Spirit in the sacred 
 Scriptures. The works of Christ include 
 all that he has done in creating, sustaining, 
 and redeeming the world, and all that he 
 has done and will do for his people as their 
 intercessor at the right hand of the Majesty 
 on high. 
 
 Christ, the object of the believer's faith, 
 is eternal, unchangeable, infinite in wisdom 
 and holiness, almighty, all-sufficient, mer- 
 ciful and compassionate, in himself infi- 
 nitely desirable, attractive, and lovely, and 
 able and willing to save unto the utter- 
 most all that come unto God by him. " As 
 many as received him, to them gave he 
 power to become the sons of God, even to 
 them that believe on his name. Which 
 were born not of blood, nor of the will of 
 the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of 
 God." John 1: 12, 13. Faith is the hand 
 that receives Christ. -Receiving Christ is 
 the same as believing, trusting or confiding 
 in him, and implies an expectation that he 
 will perform all that he has promised.
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 115 
 
 1. Relying upon the assistance of the 
 divine Spirit, you are to believe in Christ 
 immediately, and joyfully to receive him 
 by faith, with all your heart, as revealed in 
 the Bible, not merely as God, for God 
 out of Christ 'is a consuming fire,' (Heb. 
 12 : 29 ;) not merely as man, for, " Cursed 
 be the man that trusteth in man, and 
 maketh flesh his arm." (Jer. 17: 5.) But 
 you are to receive him by faith in his 
 divine and human natures combined, as 
 God manifest in the flesh, for "in him 
 dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead 
 bodily ; " and in this capacity you are to ac- 
 knowledge him as your mediator, standing 
 between you and God, to negotiate terms of 
 reconciliation. You must receive him by 
 faith as your atoning priest, obeying the 
 divine law, and suffering its penalty in 
 your stead, for God the Father poured upon 
 him, as our substitute and expiatory sacri- 
 fice, those vials of his wrath, which must 
 have crushed our hopes forever, and sent 
 us to a world of endless weeping. You 
 must receive Christ as your king, admit
 
 116 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 him to the throne of your heart, submit 
 cheerfully to his authority, and obey his 
 laws. You must receive him also as your 
 intercessor at the right hand of God, to ad- 
 vocate your cause, and as your final judge, 
 not only to search your heart, but to ab- 
 solve you from legal penalties, and admit 
 you to life everlasting in his presence 
 above. 
 
 In thus believing on Christ, you are to 
 expect all the blessings included in being a 
 son and heir of God, and you are to expect 
 them on the ground of his infallible word 
 and inviolable veracity, for he declares, 
 " Heaven and earth shall pass away; but 
 my words shall not pass away." Mark 
 13: 31. O, glorious Saviour, infinitely 
 worthy of our highest confidence and 
 purest love ! 
 
 2. It is essential to faith in Christ, that 
 we be cut off entirely from every created 
 dependence. Awakened sinners are much 
 more inclined to trust in a Saviour of their 
 own creation, than to confide in Jesus, 
 whom God hath appointed. But this
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 117 
 
 course must be abandoned, or true faith 
 will not be exercised. As the scion must 
 be entirely separated from its original stock 
 before it can be grafted into the new one, 
 and be made a partaker of the root and 
 fatness of the same, so the sinner must be 
 entirely cut off from every created depend- 
 ence, before he can be united to Christ by 
 faith, and receive from him spiritual and 
 eternal life. So long as you trust in your 
 morality, your convictions, your friends, 
 the world, or any other refuge of lies, Christ 
 will not accept you. These must all be 
 abandoned ; the altar of Moloch must be 
 demolished ; these idols of the heart must 
 be surrendered ; you must cut loose from 
 them all, and launch abroad upon the 
 fathomless ocean of redeeming mercy and 
 love. Christ alone, Immamiel, God with 
 us, must be your Saviour. 
 
 3. In the exercise of saving faith, the 
 sinner, aided by the Holy Spirit, commits 
 himself, in all his guilt and helplessness, en- 
 tirely to Christ, and relies on him alone for 
 salvation. This committal Saul of Tarsus
 
 118 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 made, when he said, "Lord, what wilt 
 them have me to do?" The thief upon 
 the cross made it, as he uttered the petition, 
 "Lord, remember me when thou comest 
 into thy kingdom." When this point is 
 gained, the conflict ceases, the clouds dis- 
 appear,- and beams of heavenly light break 
 in upon the soul. Anxious sinner, do 
 earthly supports fail you ? Has the hope 
 of saving yourself vanished? Is every 
 other path obstructed, except that which 
 leads to the cross ? Happy moment ! 
 Blessed crisis ! The way is now open for 
 you to be saved. Faith begins where 
 works cease ; life commences where death 
 terminates. Go to Jesus; go just as you 
 are, wretched, miserable, poor, blind, naked. 
 
 " All the fitness he requireth 
 Is, to feel your need of him." 
 
 He kindly invites you, " Come unto me, 
 all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and 
 I will give you rest." Matt. 11: 28. 
 Make a full and final committal of yourself 
 to Christ, and you shall find rest, rest,
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 119 
 
 too, which includes pardon, justification, 
 and eternal life. 
 
 'But how shall I make this committal?' 
 Jeremiah, the prophet, was once let down 
 into a dungeon by his enemies, where he 
 must soon have perished from hunger and 
 other causes, had he not been rescued by 
 the power of another. Ebed-melech, an 
 Ethiopian, having interceded with the 
 king in the prophet's behalf, obtained an 
 order to take thirty men with him, and 
 draw Jeremiah out of the dungeon. The 
 order was executed, and the prophet saved. 
 (Jer. 38.) Now, apply this illustration to 
 yourself. The prophet, sinking in the 
 mire arid exposed to death, saw clearly 
 that he had no power adequate to his deliv- 
 erance; that, if saved at all, he must be 
 rescued by the power of another, while at 
 the same time he felt that he had some- 
 thing to do ; he could cry for help, and 
 accept it when offered. You, as a con- 
 demned sinner, under sentence of death, 
 and sinking in guilt to a world of misery, 
 have no power to save yourself. You
 
 120 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 perceive, that, if rescued at all, you must 
 be rescued by an arm of infinite strength, 
 while at the same time you have something 
 to do in the work of salvation. The friends 
 of Jeremiah, aware of his condition, let 
 down to him ropes and other means of de- 
 liverance, and promised to raise him up out 
 of the dungeon, if he would avail himself 
 of the instrumentality which they offered. 
 Jesus, the sinner's friend, aware of your 
 condition, has come to deliver you ; he has 
 made all the provision requisite for your 
 salvation, and promises to save you from 
 impending destruction, if you will by faith 
 receive him as your deliverer, and rely for 
 acceptance with God upon his mediation 
 and atonement. 
 
 When the ropes were let down to the 
 prophet, and his friends had assured him 
 that they would draw him out of the dun- 
 geon, his condition and prospects were 
 immediately changed ; faith began to oper- 
 ate, and it did not seem difficult for him 
 to exercise it. He believed that he could 
 be saved, and was comforted ; he expected
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 121 
 
 deliverance, for he had confidence in the 
 strength of the ropes and the assurance of 
 his friends, in their ability and willingness 
 to fulfil their promise, and he intended to 
 avail himself of their offer. This was 
 faith in its incipient operations ; but still he 
 was not yet rescued. It was not enough 
 for the prophet to realize his perilous con- 
 dition, and be distressed in view of it ; or 
 to believe that he could be rescued, and 
 even expect it ; all this was not enough ; 
 he must do one thing more, and the very 
 thing required. He must in faith commit 
 himself to those ropes, and cling to them, 
 relying solely upon his friends for deliv- 
 erance : he did so, and was rescued ; his 
 faith, in an important sense, saved him, 
 although in reality delivered by the power 
 of others. 
 
 From these remarks you perceive, that it 
 is not enough that Christ has made an 
 atonement, and promises to save the peni- 
 tent believer, and that he even stands with 
 outstretched arms to receive him. It is 
 not enough that you believe the fact, and 
 11
 
 122 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 even intend and expect to be saved ; it is 
 not enough that you have been convicted 
 of sin, and felt yourself sinking to perdi- 
 tion ; that you have prayed, and read the 
 Bible, and asked what you should do to be 
 saved ; all this is not enough ; if you stop 
 here, you will perish. You must do one 
 thing more ; you must have the faith of 
 committal, and in the exercise of it fall into 
 the arms of Christ, relying on him alone 
 for salvation. Till this point is reached, 
 there is no safety; till this act is performed, 
 there is nothing done to any saving pur- 
 pose. " By faith ye stand." " Believe on 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
 saved." At this point salvation begins, 
 and beyond it spiritual life will be enjoyed, 
 till faith is crowned with immortality above. 
 " Receiving the end of your faith, even the 
 salvation of your souls." 
 
 Do you thus believe ? Have you made 
 the final committal of yourself to Christ, 
 and will you in faith follow him ? I charge 
 you to do it, and to do it onward till death 
 is swallowed up in victory, and faith shall 
 be consummated in the full fruition of God.
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 123 
 
 In the deliverance of Jeremiah, we have 
 a happy illustration of divine and human 
 agency combined in the sinner's salvation. 
 God mercifully interposed in his behalf; he 
 inclined him to take hold of those ropes, 
 and enabled him to cling to them every 
 moment, till he was raised to a place of 
 safety. Upon this invisible, divine power 
 the prophet relied ; and had it been with- 
 held, had he been stupid, stubborn, or un- 
 believing, or yielding to unreasonable fears, 
 had he refused to make an effort, he must 
 have perished in the dungeon. In the 
 prophet sinking in the mire, behold where 
 and what you are, on whom you must de- 
 pend, and what you must do to be saved. 
 You see that, if you are stupid or stubborn, 
 if you refuse to believe, or yield to ground- 
 less fears, you must perish in your sins. 
 Your own efforts are no less essential to your 
 salvation than divine agency; they must 
 both move together. When God acts, 
 you must act ; when the Spirit strives, you 
 must yield to his influence ; when Christ is 
 presented as your all-sufficient deliverer,
 
 124 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 you must accept him by faith. And why 
 not ? Is he not both able and willing to 
 save ? You know he is. Has he ever 
 proved treacherous? You know he has 
 not. Has he not saved multitudes, like 
 yourself, perishing in sin ? You know he 
 has. By faith, then, fall immediately into 
 his almighty arms of love and mercy. He 
 saves to the uttermost ; give him your su- 
 preme affection, yield entirely to his con- 
 trol, cling to- him with all your heart, de- 
 pending every moment upon divine assist- 
 ance, as you rise, step by step, to your 
 home and your treasure on Mount Zion 
 above. 
 
 4. Saving faith receives Christ as a de- 
 liverer from sin as well as from suffering. 
 The great end contemplated in the atone- 
 ment of Christ, was to deliver his people 
 from their sins, and restore them to the 
 moral image of God, which was lost in the 
 fall. Hence the angel said to Joseph, 
 " Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he 
 shall save his people from their sins." 
 Matt. 1 : 21. " Unto him that loved us,
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 125 
 
 and washed us from our sins in his own 
 blood," is the ascription of praise to the 
 Lamb from the redeemed in heaven. This 
 great purifying process commences with 
 the first exercise of evangelical faith, or at 
 regeneration, wrought in the soul by the 
 Holy Spirit. " According to his mercy he 
 saved us," says an apostle, "by the wash- 
 ing of regeneration, and renewing of the 
 Holy Ghost." Tit. 3: 5. 
 
 Are you burdened with sin ? " Behold 
 the Lamb of God. which taketh away the 
 sin of the world," and your sins in partic- 
 ular, if you look to him by faith. The 
 blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us 
 from all sin." 1 John 1: 7. That blood is 
 as available now, and as efficacious to take 
 away sin, as when it poured in a gushing 
 tide from the cross. Beneath that tide you 
 must place your guilty soul; through the 
 efficacy of that blood, received by faith, 
 and applied by the Holy Spirit, you are to 
 be purified from all iniquity. The guilt of 
 Paul and Peter was purged by it, and yours 
 must be removed in the same way. " Look- 
 11*
 
 126 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 ing unto Jesus." says an apostle, "the au- 
 thor and finisher of our faith." Heb. 12 : 2. 
 Do you say, 'I have looked once and 
 again, and find no relief?' Did you look 
 in faith, expecting to be cleansed, not only 
 from actual transgression and sins of omis- 
 sion, but from the original corruption of 
 your nature, which must be removed by 
 the blood of the Lamb ? Apply to the 
 blood of Jesus, and continue to look to him 
 till the progress of death is arrested, and 
 the burden of sin is gone ; but be careful to 
 look with an expecting faith. The Israel- 
 ites, who were bitten by the fiery serpents, 
 were required to look to the brazen serpent 
 raised upon a pole in the midst of the 
 camp ; and as many as looked were healed. 
 When bitten by a serpent, they did not fas- 
 ten their eyes upon their wound, till the 
 poison, coursing on to their vitals, had dif- 
 fused itself through their whole system. 
 No ; when sensible of their condition, they 
 resorted to no expedients of their own de- 
 vising, but were anxious mainly to get at 
 the remedy ; they looked immediately, and
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 127 
 
 in earnest, to the brazen serpent, expecting 
 to be healed both from the testimony of 
 Jehovah, and from the fact that no one 
 had perished who had complied with his 
 requisition, and they continued to look until 
 their restoration was complete. Christ cru- 
 cified is to you what the brazen serpent was 
 to the Israelites; for "as Moses lifted up 
 the serpent in the wilderness, even so must 
 the Son of man be lifted up ; that whoso- 
 ever believeth in him should not perish, but 
 have eternal life." John 3: 14, 15. Sensi- 
 ble, then, of your perishing condition as a 
 sinner, you must not look continually at 
 your sins, but look away from yourself, 
 immediately and in earnest, to the atoning 
 blood of Jesus, expecting a moral renova- 
 tion, and continue to look in earnest expec- 
 tation, till your sins are blotted out, and 
 Christ is formed in you the hope of glory. 
 
 5. Justification results from faith in 
 Christ, and is essential to salvation. 
 
 Justification is the opposite of condem- 
 nation ; it includes pardon and implies 
 righteousness. We are both pardoned and
 
 128 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 justified, or treated as righteous, through 
 faith in Christ. Pardon affects our relation 
 to sin, justification our relation to God ; 
 pardon releases from penalty, justification 
 restores to favor ; we are pardoned often, 
 yet justified but once ; pardon delivers 
 from condemnation for the past, justifica- 
 tion secures from condemnation for the fu- 
 ture. "There is, therefore, now no con- 
 demnation to them which are in Christ 
 Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but 
 after the Spirit." Rom. 8: 1. "It is God 
 that justifieth who is he that condemn- 
 eth?" Rom. 8: 33, 34. 
 
 Before you can enter heaven, you must 
 be pardoned and justified, for " there shall 
 in no wise enter into it any thing that de- 
 fileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomi- 
 nation, or maketh a lie." Rev. 21: 27. 
 
 You cannot be justified by your own 
 works, for "by the deeds of the law there 
 shall no flesh be justified in his sight." Rom. 
 3: 20. "He that believeth not is con- 
 demned already." John 3: 18. Your jus- 
 tification and acceptance with God must
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 129 
 
 come through the righteousnes of Christ. 
 But what is the righteousness of Christ ? 
 Of this it is important that you should 
 have a clear and distinct idea. The right- 
 eousness of Christ consists in his perfect 
 obedience to the divine law, which we had 
 broken, and his sufferings and death to 
 atone or make satisfaction for the sins with 
 which we were chargeable in violating that 
 law, and for which we deserved to be pun- 
 ished in the world of despair forever. His 
 pains procured our pardon, his conflicts our 
 triumphs, and his ignominious death our 
 life of endless pleasure and joy before the 
 throne. For " the Lord hath laid on him 
 the iniquities of 'us all." "He bare our 
 sins in his own body on the tree." All, then, 
 that Christ did and suffered for us, while 
 on earth, as our substitute or propitiatory 
 sacrifice, both in respect to obedience and 
 atonement, may be regarded as our right- 
 eousness. Hence he is called in Scripture, 
 " The Lord our Righteousness." Jer. 23 : 
 6. "Who of God," says an apostle, "is 
 made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
 
 130 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 and sanctification, and redemption." 1 Cor. 
 1: 30. When we, in the exercise of re- 
 pentance and faith, receive Christ as our 
 surety or righteousness, God the Father 
 freely forgives all our sins, accepts and 
 treats us as righteous in his sight, solely on 
 account of what Christ has done for us, 
 and we, being justified by faith, are enti- 
 tled to all the privileges and blessings of 
 the sons of God. " Being justified freely 
 by his grace, through the redemption that 
 is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth 
 to be a propitiation through faith in his 
 blood, to declare his righteousness for the 
 remission of sins that are past, through 
 the forbearance of God ; to declare, I say, 
 at this time, his righteousness ; that he 
 might be just, and the justifier of him 
 which believeth in Jesus." Rom. 3: 24 
 26. " For he hath made him [Christ] to 
 be sin [or a sin-offering] for us, who knew 
 no sin, that we might -be made the right- 
 eousness of God in him." 2 Cor. 5: 21. 
 So long as we abide in Christ, we have his 
 perfect righteousness to shield us from the
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 131 
 
 penalty of the law, and to render us the 
 objects of divine approbation. 
 
 " "When Justice calls for sinners' blood, 
 The Saviour shows his own." 
 
 And here I remark, that justification by 
 faith is attended with sensible comfort. 
 "Being justified by faith, we have peace 
 with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 The believing jailer experienced this peace, 
 and the eunuch went on his way rejoicing. 
 If you are still burdened with sin, under a 
 sense of condemnation, have no peace in 
 believing, no consolation in God, you are 
 not in a justified state. The faith which 
 saves, not only affords present comfort, but 
 looks forward with sure expectation to the 
 glories of God's upper kingdom as its ulti- 
 mate reward. " Whom he called, them he 
 also justified ; and whom he justified, them 
 he also glorified." Rom. 8: 30. 
 
 Where now is the mystery of faith? 
 Look and be saved ; believe and live. It 
 is so simple, that a child may exercise it, 
 and so plain, that the most illiterate need 
 not mistake.
 
 132 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 Reader, the object of faith is now before 
 you, Jesus, the Mediator of the new cove- 
 nant. He is near, precious, inviting, infi- 
 nitely glorious, and mighty to save. Sal- 
 vation, the reward of faith, is within your 
 reach. If you perish, it will not be merely 
 because you have sinned, but because in 
 unbelief you reject salvation. The present 
 moment is yours ; it is loaded with bless- 
 ings to be secured by faith, or lost by 
 unbelief. A single act may decide the 
 question, whether, for a vast eternity, you 
 sing in heaven or weep in despair.
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought 
 always to pray, and not to feint. Luke 18 : 1. 
 
 THE awakened sinner must pray, and, if 
 in earnest to secure salvation, he will pray 
 often and fervently for divine forgiveness. 
 You cannot restrain him from praying ; 
 the desires of his burdened soul will break 
 forth in earnest cries for deliverance. " O ! 
 that I knew where I might find him, that 
 I might come even to his seat, for the 
 arrows of the Almighty are within me, the 
 poison whereof drinketh up my spirit ; " 
 "Have mercy upon me, O God, according 
 to thy loving kindness ; " " Lord, save me, 
 or I perish," will be the spontaneous ex- 
 pressions of his soul, while, with a bur- 
 dened heart, he lifts up his imploring eye 
 12
 
 134 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 unto Him who has said, " I, even I, am the 
 Lord, and besides me there is no Saviour." 
 Isa. 43 : 11. " I, even I, arn he that blot- 
 teth out thy transgressions for mine own 
 sake, and will not remember thy sins." 
 Isa. 43 : 25. 
 
 Reader, have you prayed ? If not, en- 
 ter your closet immediately, and, in the 
 deepest prostration of soul, confess your 
 sins before God. Confess them heartily 
 and without reserve, in deep self-abase- 
 ment ; mourn over them with sincere, god- 
 ly sorrow. A contrite spirit God will not 
 despise. Are you too proud to enter your 
 closet, and confess your sins? You are, 
 then, too proud to be forgiven. A lofty 
 spirit God abhors ; " the proud he knoweth 
 afar off." "God resisteth the proud, but 
 giveth grace unto the humble." You must 
 sink low at his feet, in brokenness of heart, 
 before you can be exalted to the elevated 
 station of being a son-and an heir of God. 
 " He that humbleth himself, shall be ex- 
 alted." When or where can the sinner 
 expect forgiveness, if not in humble con-
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 135 
 
 fession at the feet of Jesus ? The posture 
 in prayer, the feelings to be cherished, and 
 our attempts to express them, are all favor- 
 able to the work of the Spirit. You must 
 pray, or your present religious impressions 
 will not be deepened, or even retained ; 
 the Spirit will be grieved, and take his 
 departure, it may be, forever. 
 
 I would advise you to kneel, in your 
 secret devotions ; not that God regards the 
 exterior, but because our posture in prayer 
 affects ourselves ; an humble posture be- 
 comes the suppliant. And here I remark, 
 that there is no king's highway to the cross 
 or to heaven. The wealthy and honorable, 
 the judge upon the bench, and the sovereign 
 upon his throne, must go to God as does 
 the most illiterate beggar, in humbleness of 
 spirit, and, as guilty suppliants, confess 
 their sins and plead for mercy. To the 
 poor and contrite in spirit, who tremble at 
 his word, God looks with favor. 
 
 But do you say, " I am too wicked to 
 pray " ? It is quite evident, then, that you 
 are too guilty and too needy to live with-
 
 136 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 out praying. But where, in the Bible, has 
 God declared, in respect to you or any 
 awakened sinner, that you are too wicked 
 to pray ? Christ " came, not to call the 
 righteous, but sinners to repentance." The 
 number and magnitude of your sins are 
 most powerful reasons why you should 
 confess them to God, and plead for pardon. 
 Were you an angel, you would have no 
 need of praying : were you a devil, it 
 would avail nothing if you should pray. 
 But you are neither ; you are a great sin- 
 ner, in a world of mercy, and can be par- 
 doned freely, if, in contrition and faith, 
 you ask it. Says our Saviour, "Ask, and 
 it shall be given you." Matt. 7:7. " But 
 let him ask in faith, nothing wavering." 
 James 1 : 6. Can you expect pardon on 
 easier conditions ? The publican was a 
 great sinner ; but he prayed, and God heard 
 him, for he was pardoned and justified. 
 The thief on the cross was a great sinner ; 
 but he prayed, and Jesus heard him, and 
 the same day received him to heaven. 
 Simon, the sorcerer, was a great sinner;
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 137 
 
 yet Peter exhorted him to repent, and to 
 pray to God, that the thought of his heart 
 might be forgiven. I have never known 
 an awakened sinner to make any progress 
 towards the right way, while he refused to 
 pray. The Holy Spirit works most effect- 
 ually, in subduing the heart, when the 
 sinner is in deep prostration before God, 
 pleading for mercy. But " the sacrifice 
 of the wicked is an abomination to the 
 Lord." Prov. 15 : 8. Yes, and you have 
 offered that sacrifice quite too long. " The 
 sacrifices of God [or such as God accepts] 
 are a broken spirit." Ps. 51 : 17. This is 
 the offering he requires at your hand, and 
 he will accept no other. " But," you re- 
 ply, " I have not that brokenness of spirit." 
 And can you expect it, while you stupidly 
 or stubbornly refuse to ask it ? " If any of 
 you lack wisdom, [or true religion,] let 
 him ask of God, that giveth to all men 
 liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall 
 be given him." James 1:5. " Seek, and 
 ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened 
 12*
 
 138 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 unto you." Matt. 7 : 7. Your duty is 
 plain ; do it, then, without delay. 
 
 But how shall I ask, so as to secure the 
 blessing ? Cease to disobey God, and 
 grieve his Spirit by vain excuses. Read 
 the fifty-first Psalm, again and again ; pon- 
 der well the noble sentiments expressed in 
 every verse, until, by drinking in the spirit 
 of the author, you make them your own. 
 Sink as low in self-abasement as David 
 did, confess as freely and fully your sins, 
 and cherish the same spirit of contrition, 
 and you will soon shine out in the lustre of 
 a new creation, and delight in the law of 
 God after the inner man. " And ye shall 
 seek me, and find me, when ye shall search 
 for me with all your heart." Jer. 29: 13. 
 A first right feeling must be exercised ; and 
 where shall it be exercised, if not while 
 pleading for mercy at the Saviour's feet ? 
 A first right act must be performed ; but 
 when shall it be performed, if not while 
 attempting, like the man with the withered 
 hand, to obey the command of Jesus ? He 
 willed the act, and Christ gave him power
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 139 
 
 to perform it ; and you will find the Saviour 
 no less ready to assist you in your efforts 
 to obtain salvation. 
 
 A youth in college, who had opposed a 
 revival of religion, then in progress, began 
 at length to feel the gentle strivings of the 
 Spirit, and called on the president, to ask 
 what he should do. After this interview, 
 he returned to his room, turned the key of 
 his door, for the first time in his life knelt 
 down to pray, and, while offering up his 
 petitions, a great change took place in 
 his feelings he loved every body, and 
 particularly those whom, for their reli- 
 gion's sake, he had hated the most bitterly. 
 More than twenty years, spent in the ser- 
 vice of Christ, have since elapsed, and he 
 still looks back to that season of prayer, as 
 the time when he first began to live by 
 faith upon the Son of God. 
 
 A young man returned home from a re- 
 ligious meeting, somewhat impressed with 
 the importance of experimental piety, A 
 friend, aware of his state of mind, urged 
 him immediately to commence a religious
 
 140 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 life ; but for this he was not quite ready. 
 She continued to impress upon him his duty, 
 and he, to check her importunity, affect- 
 ed a burst of laughter, and observed, "You 
 see how much I care about religion." His 
 friend, knowing that God and truth were 
 on her side, and perceiving that the Spirit 
 was striving, continued to urge upon him 
 the importance of personal religion, and 
 invited him to pray with her before he 
 retired to rest. It was a favored moment ; 
 conscience smote him ; he knew that he 
 ought to be a Christian ; and, yielding to 
 her request, he knelt down, for the first 
 time in his life, to pray. While expressing 
 his feelings in broken petitions, confessing 
 sin, and grieving on account of it, his will 
 bowed, his pride was humbled, and he 
 gave himself up to Christ. That prayer, 
 and that struggle, he will never forget. 
 Then he began to live in Christ by faith, 
 and discovered the first, rays of that Sun of 
 righteousness, which has since been ris- 
 ing in strength and brightness to meridian 
 day.
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 141 
 
 These facts are directly to the point; 
 they show the importance of prayer as a 
 means of grace in seeking religion. The 
 father met the prodigal, embraced him with 
 paternal tenderness, and freely forgave him, 
 when that dissolute son returned home 
 and made confession. 
 
 If Satan suggests that you are too wicked 
 to pray, reject the suggestion as coming 
 from the father of lies, and, in obedience 
 to Christ, enter your closet and pray. 
 Carry with you into the closet a feeling of 
 unlimited dependence, and let it attend you 
 at every step in your way to Christ. In 
 all your attempts at prayer, rely upon 
 the Holy Spirit for assistance. He knows 
 what you need, and can remove every 
 obstacle from your path to the cross. He 
 alone can awaken right desires, and pro- 
 duce in you the principle of faith. Are 
 you ignorant ? The Spirit will teach you. 
 Do you find it difficult to express yourself 
 in prayer ? The Spirit will help your in- 
 firmities. God can understand your broken 
 petitions.
 
 142 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 " Prayer is the burden of a sigh., 
 
 The falling of a tear, 
 The upward glancing of an eye, 
 When none but God is near." 
 
 Are you burdened with sin ? Ask God, 
 for Jesus's sake, to remove it. Are you 
 covered with guilt ? Beseech him to wash 
 you in the blood of atonement. Do you 
 need faith ? Ask it of God, "who giveth 
 liberally, and upbraideth not." " What 
 things soever ye desire, when ye pray, be- 
 lieve that ye receive them, and ye shall 
 have them." Mark 11: 24. In your at- 
 tempts to pray, never lose sight of Christ ; 
 he is your strength and righteousness and 
 medium of access to God. Ask every thing 
 in his name, plead his merits alone, accept 
 him as your surety, bow and make a cheer- 
 ful surrender of all, keeping nothing back. 
 Ifyoar burden be heavy, cast it upon him; 
 he is able to bear it. To the heavy laden, 
 who came to him, he promised rest, and he 
 adds, " Him that cometh unto me I will 
 in no wise cast out." If you obtain not 
 the blessing at your first request ask again,
 
 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 143 
 
 and continue to ask ; the Saviour encour- 
 ages importunity. Plead earnestly, and 
 plead with expectation ; give him no rest. 
 The Syrophcenician woman did so, and 
 obtained the blessing. On no consideration 
 relax your effort, or cease to plead till your 
 salvation is secured, " for in due season 
 you shall reap, if you faint not." " They 
 that sow in tears shall reap in joy." 
 J{ Whosoever shall call upon the name of 
 tihe Lord shall be saved." 
 
 Reader, I have now finished my remarks 
 upon those topics, to which, to my own 
 mind, it seemed most important to direct 
 your attention as an awakened sinner. 
 This solemn subject I must now leave 
 with you, hoping that the thoughts already 
 suggested may assist you in entering the 
 way of life. May the Spirit of God guide 
 you into all truth, and enable you, day by 
 day, to receive the incorruptible seed of 
 the word, which liveth and abideth for-
 
 144 AWAKENED SINNER DIRECTED. 
 
 ever. " Fight the good fight of faith ; lay 
 hold on eternal life." "Press toward the 
 mark for the prize of the high calling of 
 God in Christ Jesus." So shall your peace 
 be as a river, and your path, like the shin- 
 ing light, grow brighter and brighter unto 
 the perfect day.
 
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