INCIDENTAL ILLUSTRATIONS OP THE ECONOMY OF SALVATION, s JBjrdriiua and Ittius* BY Mrs. PHCEBE PALMER, ii AUTHOR OF "THE WAY OF HOLINESS," "ENTIRE DEVOTION,'' "USEFUL DISCIPLE," ' FAITH AND ITS EFFECTS," "RECOLLECTIONS OF MRS. L. N. C," ETC., ETC. 40 I can scarcely think any pains misspent that brings me solid evidence of the great truth, that tne Scripture is the Word of God, which is indeed the Great Fundamental. — Boyle. 1 am resting on the Old Foundations. — Dying Words of Olin. NEW YORK: "FOSTER AND PALMER, Jr. 14 Bible House. 1 866. Entered according to Act oPCongress, in the year 1853, By Walter C. Palmer, M. D. In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. PRINTED BY Q 22 O . C . RAND & AVtl.i, TO REV. BISHOP AND MRS. HAMLINE, THE LONG TRIED AND gharlg C|eri»i*fc Jrienbs of mg feari, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED, BY THE AUTIXOR. 101795 ($0 the jtaiter. All religious truth necessarily connected with human salva- tion is older, and more impregnable, than the everlasting hills Truth is an attribute of the Deity, and, therefore, from everlast- ing to everlasting. In offering a new book, we will not promise to present new truths. But it is our expectation to present old truths, newly dressed, with, perhaps, originality of conception. In such diversified aspect, and simplicity of attire, do we hope to in- vest some of the more important truths of the Bible, that we fondly anticipate, dear reader, you may not tire, as together we pass through the volume. With few, have opportunities for diver- sified observation, on religious experience, been more ample than with the writer; and it is without hesitation we assure you, that we shall present to you new developments of truth, in the con- templation of which, you cannot fail to be interested and profited. We assure you of this ; for we have, ourselves, been interested, and newly taught, and inspired in our heavenward way, as we have thus carefully marked the operations of grace on a diversity of mind. The workings of the Holy Spirit, in developing instructive truth, are as diversified as is the construction of the human mind. And there is heavenly wisdom in noting minutely these diversities of operations ; for, " Whoso is wise will observe, and he shall understand the loving- kindness of the Lord." Then we will invite you, pleasant reader, to accompany us in marking these minute Dbservances, trusting that, in our communings, we shall 1* VI TO THE READER. together be made wiser, and be better able, by the perusal, to understand the loving- kindness of the Lord. With a prayerful and humble reliance on the Spirit of all Truth, we present our Incidental Illustrations to the reading public, from a solemn con- viction that it is due to the grace of God; believing that the difficulties, in many minds, may be met by observing how other minds, similarly constituted, were helped out of difficulties. The writer has one leading aim, in all she has written ; and that is, to give prominence to the fact that the Bible is the Woud or God. The God of the Bible is no respecter of persons. The Bible is not a sectarian book, but, to all of every name, it is a sufficient rule of faith and practice, and all its doctrines are easy to be understood to those who, with humility and decision, resolve on obedience to its precepts. It reproves the dogmatic, the aspiring, and the captious, and sets wide open the door of life with equal readiness to the most humble peasant, as to the most profound theologian, provided he, with equal decision and humility, obeys its simple requisitions. " If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God." Thus making a knowledge of its doctrines dependent on the sincerity of the intentions and the obedient docility of the inquirer, rather than upon his ability for theological speculations. It has been the aim of the writer to set forth Bible doctrines and duties as simplified to her own perceptions, by the teachings of the Spirit, tlirough the Written Word, and made tangible by every-day illustrations and experiences. It was by a reference to these, that the Savior taught the multitude. And if, by so doing, we may make truth more tangible, we will not dread the fastidiousness of the critic, . but will commit our reputation and our work to Him who judgeth righteously, and who will keep that which we have committed •into him against that day. d^nl^nts. PA 61 An Old-fashioned Choir, , , 11 Jesus receives Disciples immediately, 13 Holiness versus Infidelity, 25 A Healthy Countenance, 29 A Sinner Convicted by the Smile of a Christian, 31 Effect of Christian Courtesy and a Happy Face, 33 The Old Landmarks, 36 Wesley Speaking for Himself, 36 When are we to believe ourselves Wholly Sanctified? 37 Are Conversion and entire Sanctification simultaneous ? 38 How soon may entire Sanctification succeed Conversion? 88 May Holiness of Heart be received by one Act of Faith? 39 Must this Blessing be Professed in order to be Retained? .40 The Sweetest Thing I ever told you, 43 Can I believe myself Sanctified before I am so ? 45 Unity of the Spirit, 47 Religion an Active Principle, 48 Come to the Right Point, and then Believe, 49 M I cannot see into this Way," 61 Why are there not more Missionaries ? 53 One of Satan's Devices, '56 The Talent— used or lost, 60 To a Secularized Minister, 61 A Watchman away from his Post, 63 AnOpposer Smitten, 64 Victory in Death, 65 What is wanting ? 67 The Sisters — How a Church was built, 68 The Salvation — retained or lost, 71 Ministry, Education and Politics, 73 Secular Business, and a Call to the Ministry, 75 Conversion of a Jew, 77 The two Teachers — Jesus and Gamaliel, 78 Have you given up All ? Yes, All, 79 The Pious Mistress and her Servant, 80 Stingy Christians, 82 Why is his Chariot so long in coming ? 84 Church Poverty Self-imposed, 85 A Hundred and Fifty Dollars and Twelve Souls, 87 • t • Vlll CONTENTS. PAGE The Longer Way and Shorter Way tested, 91 A Bflvival may be withheld in mercy, 97 Last Days of Bishop Hedding, 99 At Kadish Barnea, 104 The only Foundation of Faith, , 105 The Nobleman, 106 Christ in the Heart, 1C8 The Time appointed, 109 A Pioneer Faith required of Ministers, 109 My Experience, 109 The great Bequisition, 113 Confession, 114 Steadfastness, 115 A Point beyond Wavering, 116 To a Bereaved Father, 117 The Old Paths, 121 A Satanic Expedient, 123 The Celestial Garb assumed, 125 To the Law and to the Testimony, 128 Fruits of the Controversy, 133 The Man who did not know where he was, • 135 The Half-hour Proposition, 138 In Darkness from Neglect of Duty, 146 The Witness of the Spirit, 148 To a Seeker of the Witness of the Spirit, 150 Personal Effort to enlist Seekers of Salvation, 154 A Flight to the Altar, 155 The Mistake, 158 A Conversion questioned, and why, , 162 A sudden and unquestionable Conversion, 165 The Captain and his Guest, 167 Justification and Sanctification, 171 Where does the one end and the other begin? 171 The Crisis, 172 Can we be more than Perfect ? 174 Universalism harrowed out, 175 Love-feast Testimony, .176 The Machinery and the Motive Power, 178 A Bemarkable Meeting, 186 Of that Faith which Sanctifies wholly now, 188 The Steps in Faith taken by your Friend, 189 Awakened just in time, 191 The Invincibles, 197 Humanity in Heaven, 198 Divinity on Earth, 200 Privileges are Duties, 201 One Idea, 202 " This one Thing I do," 208 Mil isterial Trials and Triumphs , . .205 C O NTENTS . IX ■ PAOI Reputation in Heaven, 207 The Rejected Minister's Refuge .• 208 Seeking the Lost, 210 The Inebriate, 211 A Ministering Angel took the Name, 217 The Magistrate, the Lawyer, and the Merchant, 218 Gatherings by the Way, 220 A Starless Crown, 220 How new Victories may be obtained, 221 The Work guarded, not the Workmen, 222 Family Gathering, 223 To a Galifomian, 226 Providence indicates the Will of God, 226 Business subservient to Soul-saving, 226 Christians in Search of Gold, 228 The Bridal Party, 229 The Wedding Tour, 229 Married Life commenced aright, 283 Sunday Morning News, 236 Converted and called to Preach in three Days, 238 Supplementary, 242 Close Quarters, 246 God's Forewarnings, • 261 Providential Admonitions disregarded, 252 A Cup of Cold Water, 254 The Traveller entertained, 264 The Generous Hostess rewarded, 257 My Rich Poor Friend, 259 My Poor Rich Friend, 261 A Covenant well-ordered and sure, 263 Equality, 265 The Colored Woman and the Lawyer, 265 Life a Failure, 268 Wealth first, the Ministry afterwards, 268 The Incog, 271 The Incog in the Nursery, 271 " " Kitchen, 273 « " Parlor and Chamber, 274 " " Counting-house, 275 " " Church, 276 « " Pulpit, 277 The Minister's Wife, 279 Proxy Worship, 289 286 Praying by Proxy Singing by Proxy, ' • 287 Scriptural Worship, 292 Conviction of the Unlearned and Unbelieving contemplated, 292 Scriptural- Singing, 298 A Trophy of Congregational Singing, 8W * C ONTEN T S . tjum A Debt paid, 302 How Frances experienced Religion, 302 I don't mean to be made Unbappy to-day, 304 Metaphysical Difficulties considered, 307 Place the Stake a little farther, 312 The Incog and the Pocket-book, 314 Do not Profess before you Believe, 319 A New Church on Right Principles, .323 I don't believe in Holiness, .325 Conversion of Sinners and Sanctification of Believers, 328 The Conversion of a Husband delayed, 331 Show the Footmarks, 335 Relation of Christian Experience, 835 My Experience is not my own, 337 The Word of their Testimony, 838 Sensitiveness, 342 Do the Sanctified feel sensitively? 842 A Messenger told it, 844 Do you persecute Christ ? 845 The Methodist Ministry, 347 Publishit. Tellit, 353 Father M , 355 Young Converts may be wholly Sanctified, 363 A Singular Vow 366 Thank-offering for Salvation from Trouble, 367 God appropriates what is given to Him, 368 How is it with that Child ? 369 Get down Low, 370 God's Word its own Evidence, 372 Enriched by Trials, 374 Worse than Judas, 875 The Savior Sold for less than Thirty Pieces of Silver, 375 Aristocracy in Religious Associations, 877 Who are the Aristocracy of Heaven ? 379 Who most proper to take charge of a Convert, 379 INCIDENTAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF TH1 ECONOMY OF SALVATION. »*!»« Jin ©td-JfaaMmtfll d|Juur. Christians are — and in fact ought to be — very happy. Do you shrink away from me and say, " O, that sounds old-fashioned and fanatical " ? Well, agreed. But pray, my friend, do not leave me until I introduce to your attention some old-fashioned friends, who are inviting us to unite with them in adoring triumphant song. And with whom shall we join ? Here is David. Shall we unite with him, and " shout unto God with the voice of triumph " ? And here is Isaiah. Surely, we will nc longer let him chide our silence. Then let us strike the note yet higher, and "sing unto the Lord, for he hath done excellent things ; this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion ; for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee." And yet I must detain you, for here is the importunate Zephaniah, beseechingly saying, " Sing, O daughter of Zion ! shout, O Israel ! be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem ! " And Ezra is here also, 1% ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Great excitement. Why not? Shouting and soul- saving. telling us of a great excitement which attracted much attention in his day, when all the people shouted with a great shout, and praised the Lord, because the foun- dation of the Lord's house was laid, so that the noise was heard afar off; for the people shouted with a loud shout. Now if you had been there, my friend, would you have chided them, as old-fashioned and fanatical ? But lo ! here comes John ! Hark ! Do you not hear a great voice of much people ? What are they singing ? " Alleluia : salvation, and glory, and honor, and power unto the Lord our God ! " Listen ! They challenge us to unite with them. Shall we do it? Alleluia! It is done ! How exhilarating the strain ! Surely our spirits are already proving the raptures of the redeemed and blood-washed ! And why not ? As the redeemed of the Lord, we will — we must — claim our purchased inheritance with the saints, and will return to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon our heads ! " But what have happy Christians, the songs of the redeemed, and the shouts of the inhabitants of Zion, to do with the salvation of souls ? Is not this the one legitimate calling of the Christian ? And how little have the tri- umphs of Christians to do with the salvation of those who are blinded by the god of this world ! " Do not be too fixed in your opinion, my friend. Let me illustrate by an incident which came under my observation, and then tell me if the joy of the Lord is not the strength of the church. ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 13 The joy of salvation. The young la * jrrlm^ «u» ^»». % S*althg djmmtemmr^ Have you a healthy countenance ? Does your face, that divinely constructed index of the human soul, speak to the beholder of the pleasures of salvation — the joy of the Holy Ghost ? Do not think me officious in pressing this question, or in my more minute inquiries. The heavenly Healer bids me ask you. He has a balm on hand which " maketh the face to shine " in the image of the heavenly. Yes, shine ! So that, though the lips may not possess muscular power to move, and the tongue be palsied amid the physical agonies of dissolving nature, the shining, speaking countenance may tell of joy unutterable, and full of glory. Have you never seen 8* 30 . ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Health in sickness. Skill of the Heavenly Healer. David on health. this ? I have ; and, from vivid sketches in memory, might portray countenances, most radiant with healthful beauty, though, at the same time, the physical frame was variously and hopelessly diseased. Physical disease, say you, I might, endure, but O, these many and varied mental solicitudes ! — How can I, amid these, exhibit a beaming, healthful countenance ? I tell you, the heav- enly Healer can meet your condition. Your case may be intricate, but it would indicate a sinful distrust in his divine skill, should you yield to the idea that the pecu- liarities of your condition may not be readily met. David regarded it as really important that he should have a healthy countenance. He chided his soul for being disquieted and cast down, and he was not willing his soul should remain in this condition, but hastens to cheer her, and directs her attention to God, the infinite Source of bliss-inspiring hope. David's eye of faith was fixed on the future. And, though exercised with trials which, for the present, were not joyous, he was not willing that his soul should be sad. This, he knew, would disfigure his countenance, and he bids his heart hope in God, " Who," says he, "is the health of my countenance." Then David cared what sort of a countenance he pre- sented. And are you sufficiently careful what sort of countenance you present? When you looked so dis- quieted, careworn and sad, how did you present the skill of the Divine Healer ? You profess to have come to him, and to have committed your case fully to him. It is his will that his saving health may be known among ill nations. If he cause his face to shine upon you, it ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 31 The reflector. God is in a Christian. The life, the face and th^ shout. is in order that you may reflect his image ; that your face may shine upon others ; that gentle, loving, trust- ful, heart-cheering, health- restoring influences may ema- nate from your radiant, healthful countenance. And why not, if God is the health of your countenance ? How significant the expression, " Who is the health of my countenance, and my God " ! If we behold, in every Christian, a habitation for God through the Spirit, — if it is God working in us to will and to do, why ought not the world to behold, in every Christian, a counte- nance so healthful, and radiant, that Christianity may be everywhere commended for its ability to make its pos- sessor happy ? tmtmt % pinner (fymAtjkti trg tfa $m\U of a dpmsttan. I have known H. M , ever since I was a child, and, from his very countenance, conceived the idea that there was something very happifying in the enjoyment of the right sort of religion. His religion might have been too obviously engrossing to suit the taste of some. But the smile of heavenly bliss which lighted up his face, and the frequent outbursting of his heart — " O, bless the Lord " ! M Precious Savior " ! found a lodg- ment in my young heart which, to the present hour, 32 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Convicted at the sight of a Christian's face and converted is telling to the praise of the Savior. If Christians cannot be happy, who can? I have known more than one convinced of sin and brought to Christ by observing the happy countenances of Christians. Here is one who is now, and for many years has been, a triumphant believer. When a child, she was beholding the smiling countenance of a minister. He was not in the pulpit, neither was he speaking. • But he was filled with the joy of the Lord, just as every Christian ought to be. It was "God, who was the health of his countenance," and, through his shining face, the Holy Spirit spoke to the young heart of my own dear sister. "It is because that minister enjoys religion that he is so happy." So said the Holy Spirit. From that mo- ment, she resolved that she would never rest until she also enjoyed religion. This dear child afterwards found that her heart was very sinful. She saw that she could not enjoy religion until she was saved from her sins. Most earnestly did she cry to God for forgiveness. The third day after, she was so powerfully converted, that it seemed as if her newly-forgiven, new-born spirit, would almost have left its clay tenement. As Daniel, in the presence of the angel, she swooned away. And was it surprising ? for a greater than Gabriel had come, and had said, "A new spirit will I put within you." — "Thy sins are forgiven, accepted thou art, She listened, and heaven sprang up in her heart." O ! is it not strange that Christians are not generally ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 3-3 Salvation and exhilaration. The Catholic priest, the Protestant family and the Bible. more happy? Is it wonderful that Christians should sometimes manifest happy excitement when these entran- cing changes come over them ? Who can contemplate the soul's translation from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son, without at once seeing that such a change must produce some sort of exhilara- tion! Do not, my friend, be afraid of happy excite- ment. Few persons, in these days, have had more of such excitement than David and Paul, and many of the Old and New Testament saints. ■ *«» * dffert of Christian (^urtesg and a iapjjg ■!» ' §J!u{ Did Sandmarte. WESLEY SPEAKING FOR HIMSELF. Reader ! how would it strike you were I to take you just now to a newly opened grave, to hold converse with an exhumed tenant of the tomb ? Over fifty years has the spirit of that tenantless body been in the spirit-world, and now it comes to commune with thee. But I will not detain you with a grave scene. The opened grave and the exhumed body may indeed awe your spirit. But, though it were in our power to introduce you actually to such scenes, the perturbation of your mind might pre- clude that calm, solemn attention which w r e would now invite to a message from one who, being dead, yet speaketh ; our God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. We will call you to listen to the spirit-tones of one whose unexhumed body still rests in the peace- ful tomb, but whose sainted spirit still communes with thee, through his writings. As a child of Methodism, we ask you to listen to important truths from him who ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 37 ■ The cardinal doctrine. The question. "Wesley's answer. under God, was the founder of Methodism. You cannot consistently fail to feel a deep interest in relation to the Bible doctrine of Christian holiness. It was to spread this that the Wesleys were thrust out. And it is to secure your harmony with Mr. Wesley on this cardinal doctrine of Methodism, that we have introduced this article. WHEN ARE WE TO BELIEVE OURSELVES WHOLLY SANCTIFIED ! Do you ask, with a recent writer, " Does God require me to believe he sanctifies me wholly at some particular time, and promise that, when I so believe, he will do it ? If so, where in the Bible is that requisition made ? " Hear the answer from Mr. Wesley : — " But what is that faith by which we are sanctified, saved from sin, and perfected in love ? . . . . It is a divine evidence and conviction that he is able to do it now. And why not ? Is not a moment to him the same as a thousand years ? He cannot want more time to accomplish what is his will. And he cannot want, or stay for, any more worthiness or fitness in the persons he is pleased to honor. We may therefore boldly say, at any point, 'Now is the day of salvation.' 'To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.' 'Behold, all things are now ready, come unto the marriage.' " To this confidence, that God is both able and willing to sanctify us now, there needs to be added yet one thing more, a divine evidence and conviction that he doeth it. In that hour, it is done. God says to the inmost soul, 1 According to thy faith be it done unto thee.' Then the 4 38 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE A mischievous opinion Sanctification after justification. How long ? soul is pure from every spot of sin ; it is clean from all unrighteousness." ATtE CONVERSION AND ENTIRE SANCTIEICATION SIMULTANEOUS ! Do you ask whether the work of regeneration and the work of entire sanctification are not simultaneously wrought in the heart ? Mr. "Wesley will answer in his sermon on the " Scripture Way of Salvation." " Hence may appear the extreme mischievousness of the seemingly innocent opinion, that there is no sin in a believer ; that all sin is destroyed, root and branch, the moment a man is justified." Also, Vol. i. p. 405 : "The new birth is not the same with sanctification. . . . This is a part of sanctification, not the whole ; it is the gate to it, the entrance into it." Again, he says, Vol. iii. p. 154 : " He differs from some of the clergy of the Church of England, because ' they speak of justification either as the same thing with sanctification, or as some- thing consequent upon it.' I believe justification to be wholly distinct from sanctification, and necessarily ante- cedent to it." HOW SOON MAY ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION SUCCEED CONVERSION] Do you, then, on being assured that you are not wholly sanctified at the moment of conversion, ask how soon you may expect to have that work wrought? Mr. Wesley answers : " Now, with God, one day is as a thousand years. It plainly follows that the quantity of time is nothing to him. Centuries, years, months, days, hours, and ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 39 Forty witnesses. Six hundred and fifty-two witnesses in London. moments are exactly the same. Consequently, he can as well sanctify in a Jay after we are justified as in a hun- dred years. Accordingly, we see in fact there is no dif- ference, that some of the most unquestionable witnesses of sanctifying grace were sanctified within a few days after they were justified." He, as was his custom, illus- trates his views by various experiences, and says : " I spoke to these, forty in all, one by one. Some of these said they received the blessing ten days, some seven, some four, some three days, after they found peace with God, and two of them the next day. What marvel, since one day with God is as a thousand years ? " MAY HOLINESS OF HEART BE RECEIVED BY ONE ACT OF FAITH] Do you say that you cannot conceive how the soul can be wholly sanctified instantaneously, and by one act of faith? Hear Mr. Wesley's views on the subject : "Not trusting to the testimony of others, I carefully examined the most of these myself, and, in London alone, found six hundred and fifty-two members of our society who were exceeding clear in their experience, and of whose testimony I could see no reason to doubt ; .... and every one of these, after most careful in- quiry, I have not found one exception, either in Great Britain or Ireland, but had declared that his deliverance from sin was instantaneous ; that the change was wrought in a moment." . . In the same connection he goes on to say, "What shall we do that this work may be wrought in us ? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and 40 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Faith. What about profession ? Advice to Miss B. all his wisdom, and power, and faithfulness are engaged on thy side. In this, as in all other instances, by grace we are saved, through faith. Sanctification is not of works, lest any man should boast. It is the gift of God, and is to be received by plain, simple faith." MUST THIS BLESSING BE PROFESSED IN ORDER TO BE RETAINED? But is it important, after receiving this blessing, that I profess it in scriptural terms, and is this profession par- ticularly helpful, in Mr. Wesley's opinion, toward retaining it ? Here let Mr. Wesley give his own testimony ; and we will also permit the sainted Fletcher, who also, being dead, yet speaketh, to unite in the tes- timony : " One great means of retaining it is, frankly to declare what God has given you, and earnestly to exhort all believers you meet with to follow after full salvation." " I doubt we are not explicit enough, in speaking on full salvation, either in public or in private." In his letters to Miss B., who had just received the blessing of entire sanctification, Vol. vii. p. 103, he ad- vises her to profess it, and says : " Undoubtedly, it will be a cross to declare what God has done for your soul, nay, and afterwards Satan will accuse you on the account, telling you you did it out of pride ; yea, and some of your sisters would blame you, and perhaps put the same construction on it." In Vol vii. p. 13, he says : " I buried the remains of Joseph Norbury, a faithful witness for Jesus Christ. For about ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 41 Wesley's fears. Fletcher's testimony. Satan's bait. three years he has humbly and boldly testified that God had saved him from all sin." Again he says : " I am afraid Christian perfection will be forgotten. Encourage Richard Blackwell and M. Coolley to speak plainly. A general faintness in this respect has fallen on the whole kingdom. Sometimes I seem almost weary of striving against the stream of both preachers and people." Mr. Fletcher, after giving in a strong and explicit testimony of his personal realizations of the power of Christ to save from all sin, says : " Yes, I rejoice to declare it and bear witness to the glory of grace, that I am dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. I received this blessing four or five times before, but I lost it, by not observing the order of God, who has told us, i With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with . the mouth confession is made unto salvation.' But the enemy offered his bait under various colors, to keep me from a public declaration." He then goes on at length to specify what sort of bait Satan used to keep him from an open, explicit declara- tion of entire sanctification ; the baits are much the same as have been publicly urged recently, and made the occasion of many losing the blessing, but we will not now take time to specify. Suffice it to say, that, after he had received the blessing the fifth time, and had learned this wile of the devil, we hear no more of his being beguiled, s v these satanic sophistries, into the loss of the blessing ; and we have reason to believe he maintained a steady public profession to the last. 4* 42 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Certain societies did not prosper. Why? Letter to Adam Clarke. Mr. Wesley, on p. 459, Vol. iv of his Journal, speaks with regret of the fact, that Methodism in certain quar- ters had gained no ground, and then gives, as a reason : 1 ' The preachers had given up the Methodist testi- mony. Either they did not speak of perfection at all, (the peculiar doctrine committed to our trust,) or they spoke of it only in general terms, without urging believers to go on unto perfection, and to expect it every moment. And where this is not earnestly done, the work of God does not prosper." " I examined the society, and was surprised to find fifty members fewer in it than I left in it last October. One reason is, Christian perfection has been little insisted on ; and, where this is not done, be the preachers ever so eloquent, there is but little increase, either in the number or grace of the hearers." — Vol. iv, p. 120. "Perceiving that they had suffered much by not having the doctrine of perfection clearly explained and strongly enforced, I preached ex- pressly on that head." — Vol. iv, p. 557. We have a letter before us written but one year before Mr. Wesley's decease, bearing directly on these subjects. It is to the Rev. Dr. Adam Clarke, and reads thus : « London, Nov. 26th, 1790. " Deak Adam. — The account you send me of the continuance of tht great work of God in Jersey gives me great satisfaction. To retain the grace of God is much more than to gain it ; hardly one in three does this. And this should be strongly and explicitly urged on all who have tasted of perfect love. If you can prove that any of our pi eachers or leaders, either directly or indirectly, speak against it, let him be a preacher or leader no longer. I doubt whether he should continue in the society. Because he that could speak thus in cur con- gregations cannot be an honest man. ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 45 A glorious witness. " The sweetest thing. No favoritism with God. I wish Sister Clarke to do what she can, but no more than she can. Betsy Ritchie, Mrs. Johnson and M. Clarke are women after my own heart. Last week, I had an excellent letter from Mrs. Pawson, (a glorious witness of full salvation,) showing how impossible it is to retain pure love without growing therein." — Vol. vii, p. 206. » mtm » " ®fo Stawtet ®{mtjj | mtt UU fijni." Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomh.— David. " Let me tell you one of the sweetest things I .ver told yon in all my life. Jesus has washed my he?* t in his own most precious blood, and he has beautified it, and he has come and brought his Father witn him to abide with me ! " So said a lovely Christian, whose very countenance seemed to bespeak the indwelling of the Holy Trinity. What a glorious experience ! And yet not more glorious than is guaranteed by the will of our Father to every one of his children. Our Father has no favor- ites ; his will runs alike to all. The sweet experience of the lovely Christian just referred to will surely be desired by all who read these lines. Then why not claim it ? It is embraced in the will of your Father, precious child of Jesus ! Open the will of your Father just now. Read John xiv. £3 : " If a man love me, he will keep my words ; and my Father will love him, and %A ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE The heirs and the will. Holiness in the children honors the Father. we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." Here is the experience of this beloved child of God, to which you have just listened, made sure to you. Are you not complying with the conditions, " If a man love me," &c. ? Surely, you will now claim this glorious portion of your inheritance. When an earthly father leaves a will, specifying the inheritance which, at a vast expenditure of toil and self-sacrifice, he has made avail- able for his children, how eagerly each one gathers around to ascertain distinctly what his portion of the inheritance may be ! And why should not every child of God, with far greater eagerness, search diligently to know distinctly his portion of the inheritance ? Would not the name of an earthly parent be dishonored, if, after an inheritance calculated to show his great love to his children had been purchased, his children, through negligence, should leave their rights unclaimed, and live in penury ? So do you not only wrong yourself, but you dishonor the worthy name by which you are called, if you do not, with becoming eagerness and de- cision, resolve on claiming, at once, the inheritance pur- chased for you by the blood of Jesus. When you search the Scriptures, search them as the records of your Father's will ; and remember that not only is your Father willing that you should claim your portion of the inheritance, but his honor as your Father stands connected with your living in the enjoyment of these purchased privileges. Can you, to the praise of Jesus, and in honor of your Father in heaven, say, " Jesus hath washed my heart in his own most precious blood, . ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 45 His blood. The gift and the altar. Imperfect sacrifices. and has beautified it, and has brought his Father with him to abide with me " ? " His blood demands the purchased grace ; His blood's availing plea Obtained the help for all our race, And sends it down to me." »m*m* Ojjmt J Mum vxgulf £anr iip& tojfow J am so. God's service is a reasonable service, and such a requisition would be unreasonable and unscriptural. The Jews, under the old dispensation, were not required to believe that their offerings were sanctified before they were laid upon the altar. It was by virtue of the altar upon which their offerings were laid that they were sanctified. " Whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy." How, then, could they believe their offerings were holy before they touched the altar? Neither could they believe their offerings acceptable unless they brought such as were perfect, and without blemish, as required by the law. Witness those Jews who, in the days of the prophet Malachi, brought the lame, the blind, the torn and sick for sacrifice. Could they be- lieve that God would accept their imperfect sacrifices \ God had said he would not, and how could they believe that he would? They lingered long, and desired it 46 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Consecration must precede faith. The Christian's altar. much, wearying the Lord, and covering his altar with tears ; but their efforts were all worse than useless ; they could not believe God would accept their imperfect sacrifices, for he had said he would not, and he cannot deny himself. The difficulties with many offerers who come to the Chistian altar may be thus solved. They are told that the blessing of entire sanctification is received by faith, but are not duly observant of the fact that an entire setting apart of all for God must necessarily precede faith. They try to believe before the offer- ing is laid on the altar. How inconsistent and worse than futile are such efforts ! Christ alone can make us whole. As many as touched him belie vingly in the days of his incarnation were made perfectly whole. " We have an altar." This altar is Christ. His blood is the purifying medium. He says, " For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they may be sanctified through the truth ; " as though he had said, For their sakes I set my- self apart to endure the agonies of Gethsemane, and to bleed and expire on the cross, that they, through faith in my purifying blood, may be sanctified. And now Christ waits to receive the offerings of his people. Offer- ings presented to God through Christ are " holy, accept- able." So great virtue is there in Jesus, our atoning sacrifice, that as many as touch him believingly are made whole of whatever diseases they have. Of the Chris- tian's altar, it may ever be said, " whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy." We think few find it diffi- cult to believe after the sacrifice is bound to the altar, ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 47 Reasons why so few are entirely sanctified. even with cords to the horns of the altar. Christ then becomes our light and our salvation. Faith is wonder- fully simple. The difficulties mainly come by trying to believe the offering is " holy, acceptable," before it is laid upon the Christian's altar. Many, as the Jews in the days of Malachi, are not willing to bring that which is without blemish. They sin after the similitude of those covetous Jews, and bring the lame, the blind, the torn and sick for sacrifice. How few are willing to go without the camp, bearing the reproach of the pro- fession of this grace ! How few are willing to be of no reputation for him who made himself of no reputation for us ! How few are, in all respects, willing to com ply with the conditions upon which entire sanctification is promised, and how few, consequently, are enabled to believe for the blessing ! Alas ! how utterly impos- sible is it to believe while we love the praise of men more than the praise of God ! " How can ye believe who receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only ? " < I §omt io tfa rtJght print, m& tton %i8m. Yes, the way of holiness is entered by faith. But your error is here. You have been perplexing yourself about the doctrine of faith before you have any right to exercise the faith which brings you into the enjoyment of the blessing. The Spirit only can take of the things of God, and reveal them to us. And what right have you to expect the Spirit's aid in helping you to beleive, until you make the necessary sacrifices ? I know you would not be willing to believe an untruth ; but you would believe an untruth if you believed God accepted you wholly, unless you gave yourself wholly to him. " God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." He dways draws nigh unto us, (bringing light and salvation with him,) to the degree we draw nigh unto him Let me illustrate. 50 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Pleadings but no surrender. Light may become darkness. I saw a professor much, conformed to the spirit of the world. " Why do you not get the blessing of holiness ? " I asked. " I do not know/' she replied, " unless it be that it is so difficult for me to exercise faith." I had conversed with this person months before, on an occasion when she was weeping and pleading before God for the grace of entire sanctification. Said I, as I witnessed her importunate pleadings, " Are you willing to comply with the conditions upon which God promises the blessing ? Are you now intending to give up con- formity to the world, resolved to come out, and be separate ? " She answered only with tears and groans. I affectionately expostulated, and urged the necessity of making the surrender now, while the Holy Spirit was enlightening her mind. She hesitated, and, though she greatly desired that God would accept her sacrifice, yet she felt that she could not bring her mind to comply with the conditions, and give up all. Finding that my prayerful entreaties were ineffectual, I faithfully laid the consequences before her thus : " You are dependent on the Holy Spirit for the light you have in regard to the duty of present holiness. If you do not, as a worker together with God, use this light, by obeying it, you will lose it, and then, though you had worlds to offer in an attempt to purchase it back, it were in vain. Light resisted on any given point becomes darkness, and then how great is that darkness ! Your darkness will be such, that you will doubtless sincerely think your ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 51 Delusion. " Why are you not holy ? " self to be in the way to heaven, though not in the way of holiness. You will think this because, if you will not believe, and obey the truth, God will give you over to delusion, and you will believe a lie. You will think yourself as safe as professors in general, and you will doubtless die in the same light in which you live, as the mass of professors do. There is nothing enlightening in death ; it only unclothes the spirit. You will then stand at the door of heaven, and, among the " many" in that day, will say, a Lord, Lord, open unto us," and he shall answer, " I know you not, whence ye are." Then shall ye begin to say, " We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets." But he shall say, " I know ye not, whence ye are." This professor did not comply with the only condition upon which God had promised to make her holy. We parted, and now as I was saying, after the lapse of a few months again we met. Now, on my beseechingly saying, " Why are you not holy ? " she replies, " O, I suppose it is because it is so difficult for me to exercise faith." " Jf tannnt m into tttis Wn%" "I cannot see into this way of holiness. I have wished to know more about it, and I thought I would ask you." So said a young and amiable looking lady, who, 52 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE " Do you use all your light? " " Ah, that is the thought." from her exterior, one might judge, had yet to learn that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. " Do you, in regard to getting into this way, use all the light you already have ? Have you been doing the will of God as far as you have known it ? " " I fear I have not." " There is no duty set forth more clearly in the Bible than that of entire consecration. ' Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price ; therefore, glorify God in your body and spirit, which are God's.' Here, in most explicit terms, you see the claim that your Redeemer now has, and ever has had, on the entire service of your soul, body, and spirit. You do not need any more light in order to ascertain the duty of an immediate and entire surrender of your whole being to God. Have you made this surrender ? " With tearful eyes she exclaimed, " Ah, that is the thought that is ever suggested, when I ask for more light ! I know I ought to lay all upon the altar of God ; but I have not yet presented the sacrifice." " Then, of course, you have no right to expect to know of the doctrine of entire holiness. God has said, if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doc- trine ; but, until you come to the point to do his will, you cannot know. Mark this. It is one thing to intend, or to be willing, to do a given act ; and it is quite another thing actually to do it. Thus, under the Jewish dispen- sation, a person might see the duty of presenting his offering according to God's requirement ; he might intend to be obedient, or he might even be willing to do ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 53 " Do as well as you know." Holiness and the missionary work. it. But, unless the offering was actually laid upon the altar, it was not made holy. For it was only that which touched the altar that was made holy. " Now, if you want light to beam directly from heaven on your way, I will tell you precisely the point and the only point, where you may gain it. Do what you already know to be your duty. ' Bind the sacrifice to the altar, even with cords to the horns of the altar.' Here at this point will you know that * God is the God who showeth us light.' Till you bind the sacrifice here, fully purposed that it shall ever remain, you cannot know ex- perimentally of the faith that sanctifies." »^*m- 5 Wtt thm noi.vxon URiasumarieg ? Because entire devotedness to God does not more generally prevail. The first question with an individual entirely devoted to God, is, " What wilt Thou have me to do ? ' Are the fields ripe, ready to harvest, and does he see the laborers few ? how does the heart of the devoted one bound forward to enter the field ! Does he see a portion of the Lord's vineyard wholly destitute of culture where thousands of perishing heathen are waiting to receive the seed of the gospel ? he will not wait for impressions, sights, or sounds, in order to be assured of a divine call. 6* <>4 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Education and the ministry. The mind that was in Christ. The knowledge of the fact, that millions of heathen are now accessible, constitutes a call to one who has it in his power to go. Educational abilities are desirable, but too much ado may be made on this subject. Christ, who called Peter from his fishing nets, and Matthew from the receipt of custom, may not always require a long scholastic training for the work of soul-saving, either for home or foreign service. What service can be conceived of as so acceptable in the sight of God as soul-saving ? And are there not demands on both the ministry and laity, wholly beyond what have been met ? If the reception of the mind that was in Christ be the criterion by which Ave are to judge whether we belong to him, it were well for some, from among both the ministry and the laity, to bring themselves to this test, in view of the great demand there is at present for laborers. Many who peruse these lines have bright and happy homes. Endearing relationships, kin- dred spirits, and joyous anticipations, make the idea of leaving home and all "the dear delights of ripe society " exceedingly painful. But how did the mind that was in Christ inspire him to act ? In leaving the bosom of his Father to save the perishing, did he not, for your sake, leave endearing relationships ? In leaving the society of angels, and all the pure spirits in the regions of im- mortality, did he not make sacrifices for you ? Do you manifest, either to your own heart's satisfaction, or to the satisfaction of the gazing world, that you love and pity the perishing, as Christ loved and pitied you ? Say not that you have the spirit that was in Christ, unless you ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 55 " Will you be a missionary ? " Doors opening. " Thy kingdom come." are thus actuated ; and ever keep in mind the solemn fact , " If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his." I will not ask you now whether you are a minister, or a lay member ; but I will ask you a question, the answer to which I implore you will now settle as in the imme- diate presence of God. Will you be a missionary, either in person or by proxy ? Hundreds of missionaries are now needed in the foreign field. See every portion of China opening for the reception of the Christian mis- sionary ! See the thousands in India and Turkey, wait- ing to receive the seed of the gospel ! See the signs of the times betokening that God is about to take away the vail which, for ages, has been on the Jewish mind ! The latter day glory is about to burst upon us. The prayer, " Thy kingdom come," presented by you a thousand times, is about to be answered, and what do you intend to do specifically towards hastening the answer ? Will you, in person, enter the mission field ? Perhaps, if you have not ministerial talent, the Lord may accept your services as a physician, a tradesman, a farmer, a carpenter, a blacksmith. What an amount of work f©r the Christian laborer does the present state of the world present ! " See where the servants of the Lord, A busy multitude, appear ; For Jesus day and night employed, His heritage they toil to clear. The love of Christ their hearts constrains, And strengthens their unwearied hands, They spend their sweat, and toil and pains, To cultivate Immanuel's lands." 56 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE False teachers. A strange question. " No ! no ! no ! " ®nt af jfetan'a faitra. Such is the exceeding subtlety of Satan, that the most devoted and earnest disciple may be ensnared by his devices, without the most careful reliance on God for wisdom, and a minute obedience to the directions of the written word. The danger of being beguiled by teachers whose theories may not be in entire conformity with the written word, is obviously set forth in the following con- versation, between one who would be a spiritual guide, and a mother in Israel. Said the former, w Would you not be willing to sin, if God required it ? " " No, indeed," quickly responded that mother in Israel ? " Then you are not entirely dead, or you would be willing to do any thing that God wants you to do," said the subtle reasoner. " God never wanted any body to sin ! He hates sin," responded the mother. " Why ! not be willing to sin, if it would be for the glory of God ? " exclaimed the reasoner in an expostu- lating tone. " No ! no ! no ! It could not be for the glory of God ! God never wanted any one to sin." So ex- claimed this mother in Israel, while a feeling of abhor- rence possessed her soul in view of being thus assaulted by Satan. She plainly saw that this subtle reasoner would fain, as an angel of light, have infused into her ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 5 7 Wicked thoughts. A strange theory. " I don't know ahout that." soul the doctrine of devils, and her righteous spirit was vexed, in view of the boldness of the attack. Not willing to yield at the first repulse, the reasoner continued his questionings. ' " Do you ever have any wicked thoughts ? " She replied that wicked thoughts were sometimes suggested to her mind, but she resisted them by prayer. He rejoined, " This is evidence that you are not yet dead, for if you were dead, and had wicked thoughts, they would not be from the devil, for the devil never has any thing to do with the soul that is entirely dead." He then went on to descant on his own experience, and stoutly maintained, that Satan had not had any thing to do with him, during the past fifteen years. This mother in Israel, perceiving that he who -would be her instructor, had already been led far into error by his ignorance of Satan's devices, was deeply grieved in spirit. She knew he imagined that he had been led into a higher state, of which he said she could not know, until she had also reached the same point, and well knowing how vain her efforts in teaching him would be, she, with an air bespeaking dubiousness and sorrow, shook her head significantly, and said, " I don't know about that ! " • With a look of complacency, sad indeed to witness, this would-be teacher in religion remarked : " Once you were my teacher, but now I am your spiritual teacher." And thus, in his self-sufficiency and assumption of 58 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Deceitfulness of error. A doctrine of devils. What saith the word? superior spiritual knowledge, he turned away from one who had indeed exercised, in former years, a motherly supervision over him in spiritual things. How little do we know, after having once become ensnared by the subtleties of the deceiver, how far and how rapidly we may proceed in error ! How passing strange, that one should go so far as to imagine he could sin to the glory of God, when God, by his word, declares that he cannot look upon sin with allowance ! Yet so it was. This errorist had been so far deluded as to imagine that, though he had not sinned for fifteen years, and indeed could not sin, yet God, for his own glory, might do things in him and by him which, by those not in this higher state, might be regarded as sinful. Surely, this is in no ordinary degree a doctrine of devils. What more could Satan desire than that pro- fessed Christians assume the ground that they may sin for God's glory! But in what awful terms does the God of the Bible denounce those that assume this ground ! " He that committeth sin is of the devil." " The soul that sinneth, it shall die." " But," says the errorist, ' He that is born of God cannot sin ; ' though the act may appear sinful to those in a lower state, yet, in \ he sight of God, they are all his own acts, for ' He docth the work.' And what a strange perversion of Scripture is here! God, who has said, "Thou shalt not kill," has, with equal authority, said, " Avoid the cq/jtearance of evil." " God is not tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." What a scandal on the pure doctrines of Christianity did Paul regard the slan- ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 59 " Whose damnation is just." Duty of the faithful. derous reports of those who proclaimed it as one of the sayings of the early .Christians, " Let us do evil that good may come ; " so exceedingly injurious to the pure cause of Christ did he regard it, that he pronounced the damnation of such, just. And how should such doctrines be regarded, by those who adhere to the blessed doctrine of Christian Perfec- tion ? Shall we, who believe that the express object for which our Savior endured the cross was to save his peo- ple from their sins, have our forces weakened by a semblance of fellowship with such doctrines ? God grant that we may all stand as faithful monitors, to give timely warning of " Satan's devices." May we ever serve as faithful and efficient instructors to those who would find the one and only w r ay leading from earth to heaven. It is the way of holiness w r hich has been cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in. The Bible speaks of no " higher " way, but it teaches the necessity of constant progress in the way of holiness. Neither do the Scriptures give us any authority for the belief, that the Holy Spirit will lead us into any other state, than may be plainly inferred from the Bible. For any one to imagine, that the Holy Spirit will lead him into a state, beyond where the teachings of the word may be specially needful, or lead him into a state or a belief, for which an explicit u thus saith the Lord," may not be given, is erroneous. And wherever such a device has obtained, whether among ministry or laity, we fearlessly, in the name of the Lord, pronounce it a device of Satan. 60 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE The buried talent taken away. Of one who would not preach. ©to afalent — und or tost. Is it not possible to neglect a gift so long that it shall be taken away and given to another ? I have known of some remarkable cases of this sort. One was that of a most intimate friend, now a lay member of the church of Christ, but, whether he is now in the enjoyment ot religion, is a questionable matter. Formerly, he was called, by the voice of the church and his own con- science, to an official relation; but he refused, and placed himself in circumstances not eligible for the rela- tion, and where he might escape importunity on the subject. Too well, alas ! did he succeed. But the Mas- ter of the household, who has said, "Occupy till I come," did not permit him to hold his gift without occu- pying. No ! he took it away, and, for years past, this brother has not been able even to open his mouth in prayer with his family. He says his gift has been taken away, and his friends think so too. A few months since, a brother who, some years ago, felt that he was called to the ministry, came to see me. He refused, and the chastisements of the Lord were brought to bear heavily upon him. And yet he delayed, till now it is evident, from his physical ailments and his disastrous financial condition, that the Lord no more requires him in the holy vocation of the ministry. He had neglected his gift too long. The last hour will come with you, my brother, when you, also, will have neglected the gift too long. Will preaching once, or twice, or a ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 61 Will the Master say, " Well done? " Solicitude. dozen times a year, answer the claims of God upon you, in view of the dispensation of the gospel which he has committed to you ? 1 fear it will not be said of you, "Well done, good and faithful servant," unless you now decide on redeeming the time. I say "now" be- cause it seems to me that the crisis in your career is now reached. I do not think my mind would have been so solemnly urged in this communication to you, but through the operations of the Holy Spirit. Shall I tell you that I have just passed a wakeful night in your behalf? You may be surprised at this, in view of our short acquaint- ance, but it is even so. I do not mean that I slept none, but my slumbers were broken and dreamy, and I seemed to be, most of the time, engaged in entreating you to use your talent ere it should be taken from you. ■ ■>■ i ®rr a jtatamd JPmteter. I have accustomed myself so much to talking on paper, that, with me, the responsibility of a paper talk seems to differ but little from that of an oral communi- cation. I will not apologize for yielding to urgings made on my mind by the Holy Spirit ; and I believe it is through influences thus induced I now address you. Had opportunity offered yesterday afternoon, I might 62 ILLFSTEATIONS OF THE Called to the ministry. A work that Gahriel can't do. have said about the same things I now write. But, as Providence did not then seem to permit a free inter- change of thought, I could not chide myself for the omission. Yet my heart is so burdened, that I have concluded that my expectations, at that time, were frus- trated in order to indicate the present as the better mode of communicating with you. I asked you, on Saturday evening, whether you had not reason to believe that God had once committed to you a dispensation of the gospel. You answered unhesitatingly in the affirmative. O, what a wonderful trust is this ! It seems to me that the highest archangel might covet a dispensation so gloriously replete with grace. Yes, God has dispensed, to my Brother , the ability to do what even Gabriel may not do. Why was not the angel, who, in answer to the alms and prayers of Cornelius, was sent from God to him, per- mitted to dispense to him the gospel of his salvation ? Was it not because a higher and more responsible trust had been committed to Peter than might be committed to an angel, even though that angel might have been Gabriel himself? O, indeed, my brother has been entrusted with a higher gift than any with which God charges an angel of light. Now, my dear brother, let me ask you before the Lord, in whose presence I stand, have you been faithful to the solemn trust ? Have you, in the use of this precious gift, been instant in season, out of season, so that, when your Lord cometh anu knocketh, you may open to him immediately, and say, "Here, Lord, is thine own with usury " ? ECONOMY OF SALVATION. t>3 No substitute. The unfaithful watchman, and lost souls. Do you think the claims of your Lord and Master would be satisfied, should you say, " Lord, though I have not used this gift for the identical purpose for which it was entrusted, yet I have not thrown it wholly away, but have used the influence gained by ministerial char- acter for educational and other purposes " ? Would this satisfy the claims of your Judge ? If not, O, hasten, my brother, and repent ! Yes, repent, and bring forth fruits meet for repentance. O, hasten and redeem the time ; for the day is far spent, and already the Judge is at the door ! I ■ ! » % ^Watchman atrctg flnrat te foal You have been called to stand as a watchman on the walls of Zion, but you have deserted your post. Souls, that ought to have been warned by you, have undoubt- edly perished. And where will their blood be found ? Do not think me severe, my dear brother, but can you expect to enjoy the bliss of the blood- washed company in heaven, while scores are eternally wailing " where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched ? " — souls, who might have been saved, had you improved the dispensation of the gospel committed to you. Had you given them timely warning, they might now have been singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. These suppositions are not improbable nor unscriptural. See 64 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Blood-guiltiness. " Let the dead bury their dead." The revival. Ezekiel 53 : 6 — 9 : " He is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hands. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked to turn from his way, if he turn not from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul." The Lord deliver my brother from blood-guiltiness. In your case, I cannot see but you must either thus be found guilty of blood, or that God will raise up another to do your work, and to take your crown, unless you begin at once to redeem the time. Shall it not be the latter, my brother ? Will you not let the dead bury their dead, and now give yourself up afresh and unreservedly to the identical work to which you have been called ? i m*m > Jut %pw ^mitten. I have recently been visiting a village where scores have been brought to see their need of a Savior. The village is not large ; but, in proportion to the number of inhabitants, I think the revival is the most general I ever witnessed. On Sabbath evening, the pastor re- quested that those who were resolved to seek the Lord would manifest it by rising. About seventy arose. But what a solemn announcement was made that even- ing ! A young physician, who, by his impious course, had set God at defiance, was announced as on the very verge of eternity, and requesting the prayers of the ECONOMY OF SALVATION* 65 The opposer — succeeded for a time — but God took him. congregation. This young man had been extensively known in the village as an opposer of religion. Three years previous to this time, the Lord commenced to work in the place, when this young man openly said he would put a stop to it. For this purpose, he got up a ball, and so engaged the attentions of the community that he actually gained his point. No special work of the Spirit had been known from that time till this. And now God was about to take him away. The next morning, the bell, in solemn tones, from the spire of that village church, told the community that the oppo- ser was removed. God had taken his own work in hand. The work of the Lord went on with power while I remained, till it really seemed as if the whole place was turning to the Lord. •- tmtmt fitting in jpatk "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their tea timony." — Revelation xii. 11. Some time since, an incident was related at the Tues- day afternoon meeting, which was about as follows. An aged believer, while passing over the waters of Jordan, was severely buffeted by Satan. All the sins of his former life were in appalling array brought out be- fore him ; and even his well-intended efforts were so distorted by the presentations of the fierce accuser as to 6* 66 ILLUSTRATIONS" OF THE The dying saint. The unrolling catalogue. " Is that all ? '* appear sins of sufficient enormity to sink him forever. The appalling catalogue of the past, as, in its unrollings, it presented another, and another, and yet another sin, of deeper die, would have overwhelmed him but for a vivid recollection, which, in this time of need, was worth more than untold millions of gold. It was amid this scene of peril that the Holy Comforter brought to his remembrance, " The blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin." But still the catalogue of the past unrolled, presenting yet another and another item, which would have been still more appalling but for the gentle whisperings of the ever-blessed Comforter, continually urging upon his recollections, " The blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin." And still this aged disciple, sustained by the truth which the Holy Spirit had brought so vividly to his remembrance, was enabled to keep his head above the water ; and, as the cruel tempter still presented to his spirit's vision one sin after another, as though the catalogue were never to be finished, the veteran believer would, with self-abhorrence, and yet with hopefulness, exclaim, " Is that all ? " " No," vociferated the tempter, " that is not all ; here is something more ; " and yet again, " something more ! " till at last Satan was wearied as it were with his own work, and conceived, doubt- less, that he had already brought up enough to over- whelm his antagonist, who was now fainting in the death struggle. But the accuser did not perceive that the Holy Spirit, as a peaceful dove, was hovering near him in this awful hour of conflict. The tempted one, ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 67 The name of Jesus and victory If you had been holy. The promise. again rallying, cried out, " Is that all ? ' " Yes," said the tempter, "that is all." "Now," said the tempest- tossed believer to his exulting foe, " let me put at the foot of that list the name of Jesus ; for the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin ! ' We need not add, that the tempter was vanquished, and the exulting victor bounded triumphantly over the swellings of Jordan, imid shouts of victory, through the blood of the Lamb ! ime you first began to minister in holy things, doubt- /.ess you had, since that time, been in unbroken and jffective service in the ranks of the ministry, and scores, f not hundreds more had, through your agency, been converted and sanctified. You need this blessing now, in order to enter afresh tito the service of the sanctuary. " Be ye clean that bear he vessels of the Lord." If you see wherein you may have missed the mark, and have not done as much toward oaving souls as you might have done, confess this before God and your brethren. " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." And how long will it take 68 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE " Lay yourself on the altar now." " The hand of a woman." our promise-keeping God to do this ? If confession is made now, ought you not to expect forgiveness and cleansing now ? Your Savior says, " Come, for all things are now ready." The longer you stay away, the deeper the stains of impurity become. You will glorify God more by coming now, than by lingering till the morrow, and, even ere the morrow, you may be instrumental in the sanctification of others. Let me ask, my dear brother, do you now lay yourself, with all your interests near or remote, upon the altar ? You cannot look for the fire to descend and consume your sacrifice, unless your offering is upon the altar. It is not until you pre- sent yourself wholly to God through Christ that you can know the all-cleansing efficacy of that blood which puri- fies. O, that from this hour you may realize the full power of saving grace ! <3te JHatere— §mtr a dpmrdt urns 3Mtt. »' The Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." Often has the observation of Deborah, with the accompanying circumstances, come to mind in unison with the thought of two devoted sisters residing in the village of L . In this place, which is contiguous to a seat of learning, where many Gamaliels of the present day have been tuitioned in those aristocratic views which would expose to contumely, and keep at a distance the ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 69 A coward. A gay professor renovated. Results. approach of Methodism, these sisters have been instru- mental in rearing our banner. At the same place resides a brother who, for several years, has been a member of our communion. Though possessed of enlightened piety which, if sufficiently ardent, would have gathered others around him, he stood, for some years, shrinkingly alone. Gracious influences often urged him to invite a gath- ering of the people for social worship. As time passed on, probabilities for successful action on the part of Methodism grew less promising. About four years since, the elder of two sisters, than exceedingly gay, vis- ited the city of . Here, coming in contact with a lover of holiness, a plainly attired female disciple of the Lord Jesus, she became convinced that she was her- self a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God. She yielded to the persuasions of the Spirit, renounced the world, and, on making this surrender, found the way to the cross, which had before seemed inaccessible, perfectly easy. She returned home with a spirit fired with the life- renewing energies of the gospel, and it was not long ere she obtained a fellow-helper in an only sister. A fond mother also soon afterwards joined with them in their heavenward course. Through the instrumentality of Mrs. S., the female who had been helpful in the conversion of the elder, with others who had become interested, these lambs of the fold were directed to the more elevated work of the believer. No sooner did they become understanding^ 70 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE — — .... ■ ...... ■ .... ■ - ■ . . . . — — t Two churches raised up. Practical deductions. convinced, than they resolved, at every sacrifice, on securing the prize of their high calling. And they have all since become zealous witnesses that the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all unrighteousness. The neigh- bors were invited to their house for social worship, but the place soon became too small. Many zealous wor- shippers and two churches are the result of the work thus commenced. The brother who had so long stood alone, mourning over the desolations of Zion, most heartily cooperates with the zealous sisters in their labors of love, and he, with themselves, is now walking onward, by the might of the Spirit, in the King's highway. The example of these sisters brings out the express design of the Savior in redeeming us unto himself. Witness his words : " Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." And what an encour- aging consideration that God so often takes the weak things of this world to confound the mighty ! And should not such an exemplification of the blessedness of entire devotedness to God be inspiring to all who seek the upbuilding of Zion ? How little probability is there that these two sisters would have been thus inspired, and thus successful, had they not thus early been filled with the might which inward holiness gives ! How was it that the brother, who had occupied the ground years before, had been shrinking from the monitions of the Holy Spirit ? Had he obeyed, his exertions might before have resulted in rearing the walls of Zion in that place. ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 71 Barac had the offer. " The Missionary Books " Had lie, early in his religious career, received the full baptism of the Holy Ghost, as did these two sisters, he would not have yielded to his shrinking flesh/ and the Lord might not have raised up these two sisters to do what he, in his manly strength, if wholly sanctified, might have done. Barac seemed fairly to have had the offer of doing what Deborah afterwards did, and it was not to his credit that God sold Sisera into the hand of a woman. »*■»> ife Valuation— retahwit ox tasi You gave me an encouraging account of the " Mis- sionary Books," in your last, and said, as far as you could ascertain, about twenty persons had, within a few weeks, received the blessing of entire sanctification through reading them. And, among these, are six in the college who are preparing for the ministry ! And not only young men, but, among the number who have put on the whole armor, are gray-haired men, who are boldly testifying, from experience, that, " The blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin." Hallelujah ! the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth ! I shall long to hear how these, my dear southern friends, endure. The sanctified have much to endure. "We are sanctified to prepare us for conflict," says the devoted Bishop H. " God arms us a th the whole 72 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE God's object in our sanctifies tion. Wesley's opinion. armor of righteousness, in order that we may stand the fiercest fire from the ranks of the enemy. Yet in all we may stand. I have known some intimately, who, though placed in the front of the battle, and called to en- dure the hottest fire, have remained unshaken for years. Yet my heart is moved with tenderest sympathy and solicitude for those who are babes in this grace. With Mr. Wesley, I have observed it is exceeding common for persons to lose it more than once before they are estab- lished therein." That excellent man also warns us against yielding to the impression, that persons who have pro- fessed this attainment were deceived, because they are not now in the enjoyment of it. After describing a most instructive experience of this blessing, he says, " Now suppose, ten weeks or ten months hence, this per- son should be cold and dead, shall I say she deceived her- self, this was merely the work of her imagination ? Not at all ; I have no right so to judge, or authority so to speak. I will rather say, she was unfaithful to the grace, and so cast away what was really given. There- fore that way of talking, which has become so common, of staying to see if the gift be really given, which some take to be so exceedingly wise, I take to be exceedingly foolish. If a man say I feel nothing but love, and I know him to be an honest man, I believe him. What, then, should I stay to see ? Not whether he has such a blessing, but whether he will keep it." See Mr. HartwelPs tract, " Old Paths," in reply to H. Mattison. Mr. Wesley goes on to say, "What a grievous error, to think those that are saved from sin cannot lose what ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 73 Purity may be lost — or kept. The lawyer. they have gained ! It is a miracle if they do not, see- ing all earth and hell are engaged against them ; while, meantime, so few even of the children of God endeav- or skilfully to help them. . . . Two things are certain : the one that it is possible to lose even the pure love of God ; the other that it is not necessary — it is not unavoidable, it may be lost, but it may be kept." Yes, we may be kept, by the power of God through faith. Christ is able to keep that which we have committed into his hands unto that day. He is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the pres- ence of his glory with exceeding joy. imahtg, flfduratum and §0litks. On Saturday evening, I called, when on my way to meeting, on Brother S -, the lawyer, who, you will remember, made such an interesting confession, last Thursday evening, in the altar. I was there introduced to a gentleman who was a student at the Wesleyan University at the same time Brother S was there. I found afterwards, that this gentleman, who was in- deed prepossessing in his appearance, was formerly a flaming minister, and, about six years since, was called, from the midst of a gracious revival in his charge, to take the presidency of one of our literary institutions, the duties of which, he has been rilling till within the 74 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE The exclamation. Not clear in justification. No standing still. last two or three weeks. He had now come to this city, intending to take the editorship of a political paper. Said Brother S , in view of this arrangement, " What ! you, a minister, come to enter into politics, and I, a lawyer, have had to get out of them to save my soul." I knew nothing of these matters, however, till a subsequent interview, but O, how continuously am I assured that God does give me wisdom when I put my trust in him ! I think I had not been with this brother more than two minutes when, on ascertaining he was a minister, I said, " Brother, do you enjoy the witness of entire sanctification ? ' He said he feared he was far from it, and knew not that he could speak with clear- ness of a state of justification. I observed that his case, in this regard, was not remarkable. If he had not, in obedience to God, been going on to entire holiness, he could not, of course, have been standing still, any more than the Israelites could have stood still after they were brought out of Egypt, and had journeyed forward to the borders of the promised land. The Lord would not let them stand still there ; they either had to obey and go forward, or go back ; and thus it must be with our- selves. From this moment his case was laid as a bur- den on my soul. He went to the Saturday night meet- ing, and became more deeply convicted of his need of inward purity. On the Sabbath, yet clearer light pen- etrated his soul. He told me he had lost his relish for preaching, and had not preached more than once or twice in a year ; but he went with me to my parish, (the city prison,) and labored there and preached at. ECONOMY OF SALVATION 75 The burden. The message. What would the apostles have said ? N , on " Perfect love casteth out fear/' in the evening. My heart was so burdened with his case, that I spent the night in wakefulness, in his behalf. I believe the Lord sends messages now through human agencies just as truly as in former days, and O, how pressed in spirit I was, until I had delivered the burden of my heart to this brother ! The result was, that he felt the message to be as the word of the Lord to him. The , Spirit had dictated the message, and now carried it to his inmost heart. He felt, as I had believed, that a crisis of wonderful magnitude in his career had come. He wept in deep humility before God, and now says that his work is the ministry. I believe it does us good not only to confess our faults before God, but before one another ; and, yesterday afternoon, at the meeting, this brother made an humble confession, and he now feels that nothing less than the full baptism of the Holy Ghost can make him permanently what God intends he should be. ■i» Stoatlar $Mtw88 and a djjatl to tte Jfthtfetrg. I wonder if Peter, John, James or any of the other apostles, had been called, after the day of Pentecost, to devote themselves to the cause of education, or to fill many a situation which clergymen now fill connected with dollars and cents, whether they would not have X 76 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE " It is not reason." If God's order were followed. said, " It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables." Doubtless they would say, to their brethren of the laity, " Look ye out among you men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word." I feel quite sure that either Peter, James or John, while the freshness of their baptism was upon them, would have felt that they were coming down from the duties of their high vocation if any situation, how- ever eligible, had been offered not wholly connected with the ministry of the word. But we do not read that they ever lost the freshness of that baptism, and, from the subsequent tone of their writings, we may con- clude that such was even their devotion to their work that they would ever have felt that it was " not reason " for them to leave the ministry of the word, for any other work. "Were it now the order of the church that ministers of the present day should tarry at Jerusalem until endued with power from on high, by the reception of the full bap- tism of the Holy Ghost, and were the freshness of this baptism ever retained, what a different aspect would the church present ! Many more brethren, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, might be found to manage those matters which now take the attention of ministers, and far more effectual would be the labors of those men who should give themselves continually to prayer, and the ministry of the word. The reason why we do not now witness more of those ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 77 The needful baptism. Twice at the altar. " Shiloh is come." remarkable displays of grace which some think to be a peculiarity of apostolic days, is doubtless only because ministers and people do not feel that it is an imperious and divine injunction that they tarry at Jerusalem until they receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. ■ » > » i (tymmhrt of a Jatr. Two or three evenings since, a Jew was converted at the altar of the church where we worship. He came for- ward two evenings. As I conversed with him on the first occasion, and would have told him how to trust in Christ, he said, " I do not understand." I endeavored to simplify, but he continued to say, " I cannot under- stand." " I came here," said he, " to confess that I now believe in Christ as the true Messiah." His expec- tation seemingly had not gone so far as to say, " I have found him of whom Moses, in the law and the prophets, did write." The next evening, he came forward to espouse Christ as his personal Savior, and the Lord gra- ciously enabled him to call Jesus Lord by the Spirit. And most interestingly did he testify of it before a large congregation. He stands at the head of a company of inquirers who have, for some time past, been meeting to investigate in regard to a coming Shiloh. Now, he boldly testifies that Shiloh has come. He is very intelligent, and given to investigation. We do not doubt but that 78 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE The testimony. The Christian's Teacher. Lessons. the Lord is about to raise him up as a preacher of right- eousness among his own people. I have learned that several of his inquiring friends were present at the time he went forward, and, from the altar, testified of his experimental knowledge of Christ as his Savior. One of the largest and most expensive synagogues in Amer- ica is within a few steps of this church ; and our pastor thinks that this is only the beginning of a work among our friends who have so long been looking for Shiloh to come. « » » »i Sto two Starctert '— Jtstra and dtomalM. 1 have heard nry dear Dr. P. say, in speaking of the scholarship of Paul, that he was regarded as more than ordinarily favored because he sat at the feet of Gamaliel; but that the most obscure Christian has a Teacher with whom Gamaliel is not to be compared. The Christian sits at the feet of Jesus. Christ is his Teacher, and is ever, in love, saying to his pupil, " Learn of me." You say you have been taking some new lessons in trusting the Lord. I shall wait for your answer to this with much interest, expecting, of course, to learn the result of these new lessons in trusting the Lord. I have also been taking some new lessons, of late, in the art of holy warfare. Blessed be the Cap- tain of my salvation. He does teach " my hands to war, and my fingers to fight." ECONOMY OF SALVATION. .79 Increasing light obeyed. Last needless ornament gone. gaw pit rjiuM ty Jlin §t$ f Jill A lady, who by some might have been called a star in the fashionable world, was wholy sanctified last night. About three months since, she was converted. But, in looking upon her, and observing how light was grad- ually brought to her mind as she became better able to endure it, I thought of the Savior's words to his disci- ples, " I have many things to say unto you, but ye can- not bear them now." Her influence has been consider- able in view of the many who, more recently than her- self, have been brought to Christ ; and O, how I longed that she, in all things, might be an example to believ- ers ! She has, by degrees, been parting with her relics of worldliness, till I really hope that she has now parted with her last one. This one had given me uneasiness, and I asked her if she would not give it up. " I will," said she. Last night, she came to the social meeting, adorned as a woman professing godliness. Her appearance was not only lovely, but of good report as a follower of Jesus. As I noticed that this sister's last needless ornament was gone, it brought vividly to my recollection a scene in the history of Jacob and his household, where he was commanded to go up to Bethel, there to receive a renewal of the promises to himself and to his seed. Before going up, they were to put away all their household gods, and their earrings, and change their garments, and be clean. After they had made these preparations, Jacob took their household 80 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Jacob at Bethel. The sacrifice. Faith. Conversion of a Catholic. gods, and their earrings, and hid them under an oak, doubtless with the intention that they should never — never — be again resumed. Thus prepared, they went up to Bethel, and most graciously did the Lord accept them. Jacob's name was changed to Israel, and the Lord renewed his covenant to him and his seed forever. And thus it was with this sister. She had searched out her last idol, and hid it. " Have you given up all ? " I asked. " Yes, all" she replied. " If you are indeed wholly given up, the Lord waits now to receive you wholly. He does not mean five minutes hence, but now." " Now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation." She appropriated the promises, and was cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. I had thrown my arm around her, as I stood conversing, and so great was the power resting upon her that her physical system began to give way, and she sunk under " The overwhelming power of saving grace." u pious (Pistras and tor JSmrant. A Catholic girl, of more than ordinary intelligence, was translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son, a few hours since. Christ manifested himself to her as her reconciled Savior while I was endeavoring to direct the eye of her faith. ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 81 The soul of a domestic saved. Responsibility of a mistress. Sweetly did the peace of God, which passeth all under- standing, take possession of her heart. She has been living with a dear friend of mine, who took her in as extra help in the hour of sickness. As the occasion passed by, she still kept her, for she perceived that the spirit of the Lord had begun to brood upon the chaos of her heart. Her zeal and sincerity seemed worthy of a better faith ; and, now that God sent her, in the order of his providence, where the light of truth shone upon her, she was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. But it was by a gradual process. And my friend acted upon the principle that she would sacrifice that which cost her something, and so, in the hope of securing the ultimate salvation of the girl, she still re- tained her, though she did not longer need her services. How do millions of this world's wealth sink into insigni- ficance in view of the salvation of one soul ! If this soul may be a star in the crown of my friend, the wealth of the richest kingdom on earth would be as dust in the balance compared with 'the gain of having saved a soul from death. The relation of mistress and servant involves higher responsibilities than many ima- gine. If every pious lady at the head of a household establishment should feel that the souls of those who are dependent on her care are as priceless as her own in the sight of God, would there not be greater sacrifices made for their spiritual benefit ? #2 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Of praying and giving. God gives to us as we give. Penuriousness. Jtinjjj tptm&m " Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought ? Neither da ye kindle a fire on mine altar for nought." I am thankful for the opportunity to say, that, if our friends should do much more toward sustain- ing the institutions of religion among themselves, it would do much towards bettering their spiritual condi- tion. The Bible makes it as much a duty to give according as God has prospered us, as it makes it our duty to pray. One reason why many are spiritually lean is, because they are so lean in their manner of giving. God gives, generally, in both spirituals and temporals, in about the proportion we give to others. " Give, and it shall be given you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over." Those who do not give gospel measure do not receive gospel measure. We ought to regard it at least as great a privilege to give as to receive. But why do I thus speak ? The Bible makes it greater. " It is more blessed to give than to receive." Yet this is a privilege of which our friends do not avail themselves as they ought. In the first place, if they have a church to build, or repair, instead of regarding it as a privilege to lay up specifically for that purpose, as David did, unwilling to sacrifice that which cost him nothing, some, I fear, would regard it as a privilege to have our city friends, by public subscriptions or private donations, pay off the debt to the last cent. And, from the scanty ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 33 Scanty ministerial support. Costless offerings. God's reproof. support that some of these give their minister, I have thought that they might feel themselves as so much in pocket if their minister might be sustained from abroad also. Certain it is, that it would be more comfortable for the feelings of their minister, who is sometimes left to feel as though he was receiving his scanty support more as a dependent on the charities of his people, than as an ambassador from the court of heaven. In the days of the prophet Malachi, there were those who were dis- posed to sustain the institutions of religion in about the same way. They waited long, and in earnest entreaty, at God's altar. They were ready to sacrifice also, but it was not of that which cost them any thing. Have you not noticed how ready some people were to appro- priate to their minister that which they cannot turn in- to money? Well, just such offerers were those who waited at the altar in the days of this ancient prophet. And these would have had the prophet beseech God that he would be gracious unto them. But what does the Lord, by the mouth of the prophet, say ? " Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? Neither do ye kindle a fire on mine altar for nought ; I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of Hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand." And when the blessing of the Lord is withheld from such a people, as it ever must be, how apt they are to suppose that it is for want of power with God in their minister ! But, though the most holy minister that ever filled the sacred desk, or even Gabriel from the throne of God direct, should minister to such a people, 84 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Who can bless when God curses ? A revival prayed for. Why delayed ? it were in vain to supplicate the blessing of God. God has pronounced a curse on those who offer polluted bread upon his altar. And who can minister blessings to those, upon whom God has pronounced curses, unless they will first repent and forsake their covetous practices ? tmtmt "Htltg is \m ^tonot so tonj in rowing?" I am thankful to learn that you are, with such ardent longings, looking for a revival of religion. May the Lord give my dear brother the desire of his heart in seeing the church quickened, and in beholding repen- tant sinners brought home to Christ. To rejoice in this is to rejoice in the joy of Christ and of angels. It was the joy of Christ to see many sons brought to glory. Angels rejoice over one sinner that repenteth. I do not think that your heavenly Father will reprove you for your earnestness in this behalf. But "Ye have need of patience." * Perhaps the chariot wheels are waiting in order that the church may be better prepared for the weighty responsibility that an ingathering to the fold of Christ ever imposes. Nursing fathers and mothers are as much needed in the family relation of heaven, as in the family relation of earth. How soon would the new-born in- fant languish and die if it were not for the most careful ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 85 Additions to. the church may be useless. A cheap gospel. and minute assiduities of those to whom it is entrusted i Alas ! how often do babes, born into the kingdom of Christ, languish and die for want of the pains-taking assiduities of holy love ! For want of a holy, zealous membership, not unfre- quently has much of the the fruit of a revival been lost. Though weight may have been added to the church in numbers, yet, in this, the church is not advantaged, un- less her membership, in their individual capacity, be as lights in the world. Every member who is not a light which may be safely followed, tarnishes her glory, and retards her triumphant march towards those higher re- gions of light and glory into which God intends that she shall, ere long, merge. m»i dpturch JPoMrfg £*lfl-imjj<)8flL How much shall we give to relieve it ? I have long felt that we are but stewards ; and, whether the Lord would have us appropriate means to sustain churches the financial condition of whose mem- bership requires that they should sustain themselves, and where the people are suffering from penuriousness just as much as the church is suffering from debt, has often placed me in embarrassing circumstances. Not to give when solicited is always a trial ; but to give to cnurches who want a cheap gospel is doing them no 80 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Many calls. The man who is reputed rich. Ilis rule of giving favor, and is making me, in the eye of God, an unwise steward. Rather would I be in the place of the hea- then, who know not the gospel, than in the place of those who put so light an estimate upon it as to be unwilling to make sacrifices of time and money for its support. We have hundreds of calls for expenditures of both time and money in this city, of which our friends can know but little. The poor, from almost every lane and alley in our city, are calling for aid ; not only our own poor, but we have, as you know, an influx of the destitute from almost every nation under heaven. We have not only the churches where we worship to sustain, the most of which are largely in debt, but we sustain several mission stations, besides entertaining scores of calls from destitute portions of the land, where the church is breaking up new ground. To give, under circumstances of this sort, is blessed — far more blessed than to receive. The one of whom you speak, who is reputed rich, is not rich according to the worldling's acceptation of that term. The reason why some have thought him rich is probably the fact that he endeavors to give according as the Lord pros- pers him ; that is, he does not increase his personal and domestic expenditures as his means increase, but economizes in these that he may give to the cause of Christ as God has prospered him. He who does not do this is not a Bible Christian in this regard. I know he gives one hundred dollars yearly to one foreign sta- tion alone, has done it for years past, and expects to do it, should the Lord spare him, for years to come. In ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 87 No help for the indolent- Dollars and souls. Case of the Indian church. the church where he holds his own relation, he has probably paid two or three hundred dollars during the past year, while scores of other calls have made demands on his purse. But as to the church in , I think he would say that even one dollar is too much to give to a people who know the excellency of the gospel, but are unwilling to give of their own means for its sup- port. r m*m* % fgmutml mi Jpftg guitars and Wxvdw jtomls. The coupling of dollars and souls thus may look sin- gular, but, when the results of time are summed up in the light of eternity, it will doubtless appear that they have often sustained a connection unthought of at the time. Shall I illustrate my meaning by an incident of recent occurrence ? Some time since, a missionary from a distant Indian settlement visited our city for the purpose of raising funds, to resuscitate a church edifice which had been well-nigh ruined by a freshet. The call was one which so evidently ought to be met, that no one doubted a ready response. Said one, belonging to a church which, according to its means, had met a variety of calls with surprising promptness, " We have been doing so much for others that I fear we do not look sufficiently at home. An application will, of course, be mar'e to our 88 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE The application. The answer. The rejoinder. Board of Trustees for this object, but here is this, and the other church of our city, who has a membership able to buy us out fifty or a hundred times over. It is not reason that we should so often be entertaining col- lections of this sort when there are churches so much more able to do it." About thus the matter stood, when the weary, worn missionary brother made application for a collection, as had been anticipated. " Your call ought to be met," said the one addressed, soothingly ; " but, brother, why do you not first go to churches far more able to give than ourselves ? " mentioning several such. The missionary replied, " I have been to these, but such are their own embarrassments that they can do nothing for me." One of these had just contracted a debt of seven hundred dollars for the fresco painting of its walls alone, beside other large expenditures, amount- ing to four or five thousand dollars for matters perhaps equally important. Of course, he could not urge a col- lection under such embarrassments. " Come," said the person addressed, " if I can have any influence towards getting you a collection at our church, you shall have it." " Not many of the mighty or noble have been called among us, yet our people give nobly." "Hardly can I account for our ability to give as we do, only that the Lord blesses us in giving." "Indeed, I have re- garded our remarkable religious prosperity as connected with this matter." " We have no organ to be paid for, nor organist to pay, nor money to lay out for fresco painting, or other mere decorations." " But dollars with us look very small, when an expenditure of money may ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 89 The collection. The divine blessing. Twelve conversions. tell on the salvation of souls. And since our more wealthy brethren cannot make up your deficiency, we take satisfaction in doing it." The collection being announced for the next Sabbath morning, the missionary came. The cloud of the divine presence rested down upon the congregation to an unusual degree. The people gave, because they had a mind to give. In a few moments, the one hundred and fifty dollars were announced, and more could as readily have been obtained had it been needful. " God will bless a people who give after this sort," said an individual present. And God did bless. That day, the work of revival, with which that church had, for months, been blessed, received a new impulse, and, ere its close, it was found that twelve souls had been con- verted. We well knew that we had merited nothing, and m humbleness of mind before God could only say, " Of thine own have we given thee." But we felt, in our hearts, that the temple of Solomon could not have been more evidently blessed with tokens of the divine presence than our unadorned, yet commodious, temple had been on that day. When one said, at the close of the day, " Should we not have been losers had we re- fused that collection, — one hundred and fifty dollars and twelve souls ? " our hearts said, " Let us live and die with a people who have not so many artificial wants as to put up the bar against applications from necessitous churches." And inexpressibly glad were we that the woe of which Mr. Wesley speaks had not yet fallen 8* 00 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Stained windows ani fresco paintings. What a lawyer said. upon us, when rich men should become necessaiy to us. Should we not think our Quaker friends had lowered the dignity of their position if, in order to attract the at- tention of the more wealthy, they should deem it neces- sary to build churches with lofty spires, stained window- glass, and fresco paintings ? And, as an individual, I know that there are those of other denominations who are looking down with pity upon us in view of the inno- vations of this description which are now coining in upon us. But, alas ! how prone we are to incline, with God's ancient, peculiar people, to say, " Make us a king that we may be like to the nations that are about us " ! God had designed that they should stand alone, and, by their exhibitions of glory and strength, attract the eyes of surrounding nations to them ; and how sadly did they mistake the mark in coming over to the usages of other nations instead of bringing other nations over to them ! What a coming down was this ! Said a lawyer, one ol the most intelligent and influential men residing in one of our large cities, " Our Methodist friends mistake the matter when they come down from their simplicity. 1 now and then get into one of their little social meet- ings to hear an old Methodist brother speak. I sup- pose some might call him illiterate ; but there is more; divinity in one of his simple recitals of experience than in most of the sermons I hear." He then gave his views in regard to our departures from our well-known original simplicity in building and decorating churches, in language much as above expressed. May the Lord ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 91 The best test. A direct way to the light. Mi . C. save us from being influenced by the opinions of men who would have us build Methodist cathedrals, and who refer us back to the temple of Solomon as a model for a place of Christian worship. xi » Site " longer Mag " and " jHwrter Mag " tested. Experience is the best test. I am not fond of dis- cussion on the plain Bible doctrine of Christian holi- ness, — a doctrine which the Scriptures have made so plain that " the way-faring men, though fools, shall not err therein." To my mind, there seems to be a direct, and not a circuitous way of coming to the light on this, the crowning doctrine of the Bible, and the most dis- tinctive doctrine of Methodism. " If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine." If he does not do his will, and specifically seek to obey the command, "Be ye holy," have we a Bible reason for believing that he does know of the doctrine ? And if he does not experimentally know of the doctrine, would it not be better for him to pause, and, either by the longer or the shorter way, come into the enjoyment of the wit- ness of this grace, as did the now sainted minister, who, as I am about to relate, fairly tried both the longer and the shorter ways ? Mr. C, when quite young as a minister, felt that he was called of God to be a man of clean hands and a pure 9£ ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE The blessing lost. " The longer way " tested. The resolution. heart. He sought, with all his heart, this preparation for the duties of his holy calling, and quickly felt that the Holy Spirit bore witness with his spirit that the work was wrought. Shortly afterwards, being at a meeting in the old John St. Church in New York, he felt it his duty to confess that God had sanctified him wholly. He shrunk from the duty, and lost the blessing just as Fletcher did, and as hundreds of others have lost it since his day. He felt keenly his loss, and spoke of it with much regret, but did not regain it again till after the lapse of twenty years. Daring these twenty years, he never lost his deep interest in the subject, but sought it by fasting, prayer, and tears. Fasting, prayers, and tears, are all good, and all helpful ; but they will not take the place of saving faith. One act of faith can raise the dead to life, and can do more for us than twenty years of groans and tears without it. " Without faith, it is impossible to please God." If ever any one effectually tried the longer way, this eminent minister of Christ did. I might give the results of this trial of twenty years more in detail, for he was my chosen friend, and I have rather a minute knowledge of the whole experi- ment ; but I forbear. Many of my dear brethren in Christ, who will read these lines, are already but too well acquainted with this oft-trodden and re-trodden ground to need a detailed account of what would be but a transcript of their own painful experiences. Suffice it to say, that this brother beloved in Christ resolved subsequently to try the " shorter way." ECONOMY OF SALVATION Advice. The open fountain Wesley on conviction. I was present, and well remember just how he came to make the resolve, and with what feelings and words he ventured to experiment on the shorter way. And, before God, I adjure every minister of Christ to go and do likewise, if they shall find that the result of the experiment, in the case of my friend, proved it to be of God. Mr. C. was at the house of a Christian friend with whom he had, for a score of years, been conversant. The conversation turned, as it had often done before, on the subject of present and full salvation. The friend spoke of the fountain open in the house of David, — of the privilege of every sincere and earnest believer to plunge at once into this ever-open fountain. Mr. C. replied in a manner somewhat chilling for him to the heart of his ardent friend : " Sister, — I have a great veneration for the teachings of Mr. Wesley. No man, since the days of the apos- tles, has, in my opinion, come nearer inspiration than he. And Mr. Wesley says, ' The soul is often more painfully convicted previous to receiving the blessing of sanctifi- cation than previous to receiving the blessing of justifi- cation.' It seems to me that I have never had those painful convictions that Mr. Wesley speaks of." Said his friend : " Brother C, I have known you over twenty years, and seldom have I seen you but you have said something expressive of your painful convictions and your deep feeling on the subject of holiness. Now, suppose all the painful convictions of the past twenty years were ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE jsitions and responses. " Do you think he would save you? ' jred up within the compass of a few months, would A these amount to painful convictions ? " " Indeed they would ! " he exclaimed. '* Well, some are not convicted over a few months for this blessing, and others not over a few weeks. Now if all the feeling you have had on this subject were brought up within the compass of a few weeks, would it not be painful conviction ? " " O, it would indeed have been most painful ! " His friend then remarked, that many were not con- victed over a few days for this blessing, — that the light discovering inbred corruption burst suddenly upon them. " And now, Brother C, imagine what might be the amount of your pain if all the conviction you have had, during the past twenty years, were condensed within the compass of a few short days." His very nature shuddered at the thought of what must be the poignancy of such long-continued feeling, if thus concentrated, and he fairly yielded the point. His friend, knowing that neither tears, earnestness, nor conviction are our Savior, that Christ is the only Savior, and that one plunge into the open fountain can do more towards cleansing the soul from sin than rivers of tears, earnestly inquired, — " Brother C, if you knew you were going to die in two minutes, what would you do ? " " I would cast myself on the infinite merits of my Savior ! " he quickly responded. " Do you think he would save you ? " ECONOMY OF SALVATION. '• What, from all sin ? " A man cornered. The only way into the holit ' " Yes, I, even I, through his precious merits, woulu be saved ! " What, from all sin ? " Yes, ' From all iniquity, from all He would my soul redeem.' " t% What ! without any more conviction ? " exclaimed his friend. At this point, he manifested much emotion, and, amid tears and smiles, exclaimed : — " O, sister, you have cornered me ! ' He now saw where his error had been, in taking the " longer way," when, in less than two minutes, he might, at any period during his earnest religious career, have cast himself wholly on the infinite merits of his Savior, and been saved at once from all sin. And, now that he perceived his error, he delayed not, but at once cast himself as fully and everlastingly on Christ as, perhaps, he would have done, if he had been about to take a leap into the eternal world. The moment he did this, he consciously realized that he was saved fully, and was enabled to testify that the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin. On the evening of that day, I heard him testify, before a large congregation, in one of our city churches, of the blessedness of the one and only way into the holiest — by virtue of a present and entire reliance on Christ. And is not this the present duty of every believer ? Does God leave it to our choice whether we will now obey the command — whether we will now be holy or not ? Surely, brethren, it is not left optional with ourselves whether we ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE - inefficiency. " Be ye clean." Wesley on early sanctifications. , — , . take the longer or the shorter way. God commands resent holiness. The early apostles did not need this grace more than ourselves. Our inefficiency from not having earlier obtained this grace will, I fear, tell in the loss of souls. Dear ambassador for Christ, how many more souls might you have been instrumental in saving, had you entered into the enjoyment of this grace when God first called you by his Spirit, saying, " Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord " ! Would you not have been instrumental in saving more souls if you had been filled with the power of inward holiness ? What has become of these souls who might thus have been saved 1 Is there not danger that God may require their blood at your hands ? Surely, you have already lingered quite too long. Redeem the time. If God says to you now, " Be ye holy," he does not mean to-morrow. Opinions of men about a longer or a shorter way will furnish no excuse on points where the Bible is so clear. Hear Wesley, as he mingles Bible admonition and cogent argument : M Now, with God, one day is as a thousand years. It plainly follows, that the quantity of time is nothing to him. Centuries, years, months, days, hours, and moments, are exactly the same. Consequently, he can as well sanctify in a day after we are justified as in a hundred years. There is no difference at all un- less we suppose him to be one with ourselves. Accord- ingly, we see, in fact, that some of the most unquestion- able witnesses of sanctifying grace were sanctified within a few days after they were justified." — Wesley s Works, Vol. vii. p. 14. If these are fair deductions from scrip- ECONOMY OF iJi/ATION. &l K solemn question. The church and young converts. Individual responsihility. ture and experience, what is your state to-day before God ? And are you sure that some of these, who may have been following your example in not going over to possess this good land, may not have stumbled over you, and Mien to rise no more ? tm»m* % ftomrcl mag it xmihMA in Jftmsj, Yes, an unholy membership clogs the chariot wheels of the church, and prevents her aggressive movements. Unless a devoted, earnest membership undertakes to lead forth those who are newly-born to Zion, how un- likely are the new-born babes to retain the ardors of their first love ! How soon does the world resume its hold on the heart ! and it is thus that the church is so much burdened with the spiritually dead. But on whom does the guilt lie ? Where may the blood of these souls be found ? Of whom will God require it ? O, indeed, an ingathering of precious lambs into the fold does bring vast responsibilities on the individual members of a church. I do not doubt but that it is often in mercy to the church that God does not hear her oft-repeated prayer for a revival. In view of this, it is no wonder that we are divinely admonished that "judg- ment must begin at the house of God." It is not sur- prising that the disciples were required to wait until endued with power from on high. 98 ILLUSTfc.xIONS OF THE Nursing parents. Let the church prepare herself. No time lost at Pentecost. If the church is first filled with the spirit of Christ, and then, by his constraining love, is brought to feel a travail of soul for the perishing, with what carefulness will her members, thus constrained, watch over those born into the family of Christ through their instrumen- tality ! Where a church is in such a case, nursing fathers and mothers are not wanting. If the church is ready for her increased responsibility, I do not doubt, my dear brother, that you will soon see the enlarged — " the almost impatient desire ' of your heart granted. If the church is not ready, I pray you, for the Lord's sake, be instant, in season and out^ of season, in pleading with her, and with God in her behalf, that she prepare herself for the work of soul- saving. Tell her that God waits to endue her with power from on high. Tell her that, if she would be thus endued, she must wait specifically before God in this behalf as did the early disciples. After they had seen three thousand pricked to the heart in one day, hoM r ever, I presume they did not think that the time they had spent in waiting to be endued with power had been lost. Perhaps some of them might have been impatient, but they waited, and the power came. So will it be with the church in the present day. Let the church get in readiness, and then show her readiness by laboring for and with souls, and more may be done by her, in a prepared state, in one week, than might before have been accomplished by the labor of months. ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 99 The question is with the church. Leading trait in the character of Hedding. I pray that the Lord may give you grace to continue earnest in effort for the salvation of sinners. And may he also empower you for yet greater faithfulness to the church by way of arousing her to a sense of her respon- sibilities, for, with her, I do not doubt, rests the question, whether God shall work mightily among you in the awakening and conversion of sinners. ■ m l « i » ($0 a Umawd J[athfl\ 1 awoke, at an early hour this morning, with the question, " Wilt thou be made whole ? " It seemed as though the Holy Spirit was proposing the inquiry to me, in order that I might propose it to another. Surely, this question implies the necessity of the hearty assent of the will, on the part of the afflicted, to be made whole. 118 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE The patient must consent to a cure. Melancholy forebodings. The Comforter The process must be submitted to, by which the heavenly Healer proffers to effect the cure. But I have neither time, nor inclination, just now, to discuss doc- trinal points. And your mental anguish, and your posi- tion as a theologian, alike remind me that it would be uncalled for, and in ill taste. But I hope you will forgive me when I say, I fear you do wrong in refusing to be comforted. It was not one of the New Testament saints that said, " I will go down to the grave, weeping." Your affliction is keen, and your natural sensibilities are acute ; but you would not have us infer that the God of all consolation has not a remedy precisely suited to the necessities of your con- dition. My very heart groaned when I read, " I cannot hope that the little which remains to me of life, will suffice to make me whole ! I feel that I am shut up to one unbroken scene of anguish and tears, for the rest of my life. ' My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God ? ' " Is this, my brother, the language of one, whose heart has long been the abode of the Sanctifier ? Has not the Comforter come, to abide with you forever ? Surely, we are witnesses of these things, and so, also, is the Holy Ghost, which God hath given to them that obey him. The Holy Spirit, which is the Comforter, has come. He has taken up his abode in your heart. The love of God shed abroad in your heart, and other fruits of the Spirit so abundantly bestowed, prove his indwelling. The Comforter proposes consolation, but you refuse the proffered grace, and say, that you will go down to the ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 119 ** Do you not grieve the Spirit ? " We should testify of the Comforter. grave mourning for your son. Is this right ? Do you not grieve the Holy Spirit? That you should have tribulation is not surprising ; otherwise, how could you know how to minister " comfort to them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith you yourself are comforted of God " ? O, my dear brother ! why do you not, in the name of the Lord, resist the tempter, when he says, " Where is thy God " ? The least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist ; and, if David had enjoyed the light and glory of the Spirit's dispensation, would he have uttered such an exclamation ? When the Savior says- to his disciples, "It is expedient for you that I go away, for, if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you," does not his language imply an obligation, on the part of every believer, to prove and testify of the consoling influences of the Comforter ? The Israelites tempted the Lord when they said, " Is the Lord among us ? ' And when the tempter says, " Where is thy God ? " and we yield to repeated questionings of this sort, are we not sinning after the same similitude ? • I hope you will not think me wanting in sympathy. The Lord knows that he has given me sensibilities which are keen. And, before the Comforter came to abide in my heart, O, how acutely did I suffer the pangs of bereavement ! But O, how have nature's ties been re peatedly riven ! Twice were we written childless ; our two eldest boys being removed by death. And yet again did death enter our dwelling : a dear little daughter, one of the most lovely and beautiful beings my eyes ever 120 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Bereavement. The divine intention met. " Overmuch sorrow" guarded against beheld, was taken away with a stroke. Through grace, we were kept from charging God foolishly in this third and most painful visitation. We knew that the Judge of all the earth would do right. So keenly did we feel the infliction, that we dared not let it pass without the designed improvement. So sure were we that our heavenly Father would not permit such a signal affliction to befall us without intending that some signal good should be accomplished, that we were in haste to learn the lessons which Infinite Love would communicate ; well assured that " He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men." And we feared a severer infliction in case this did not accomplish the purpose whereunto it was sent. I believe it was the design of God, that the death of that lovely child should be made the occasion of the spiritual life of many. There is danger of what the Bible terms " overmuch sorrow." And unless we are careful to keep within the guards of grace, we may be swallowed up of this sorrow. We saw our danger, and turned our stricken hearts and our weeping eyes away to the Comforter. We looked away from the grave ; for " the sorrow of this world worketh death." We felt that we could not, without involving guilt, enfeeble our physical and mental ener- gies by looking into the grave. And, now that our loved one was beyond our care, we felt that it was due that the energies which might have been more exclusively devoted to the loved object, should be rendered diffusive, and directed to other channels, where they might flow abroad in streams of spiritual life to multitudes. ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 121 The denunciation. All religious experience is to be tested by the Bible. w @ttt itoita. 1 Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein." — The word op God. There is nothing new in religion. With the Apoca- lypse the volume of revelation closes. " If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book ; and if any man shall take away from the words of this book, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." Any spiritual manifestation which may not, in all its aspects, consist with the written word of God, is questionable. Never can the soul be brought into a higher state than that for which an explicit, " Thus saith the Lord," may be given. It is an inspiring thought, that the Bible only sets boundaries to the attainments of the believer, such as may be inferred from the exceed- ing greatness of God's power, and the riches of his grace. But the exceeding greatness of God's power, and the riches of his grace, may only be known by the revelation he has given of them in his written word. Says one, " In remarking thus, you do not give sufficient prominence to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Living, as we do, under the dispensation of the Spirit, are we not warranted in the conclusion that we are being' led into all truth when we submit ourselves wholly to his dictations?' No! Apart from the instructions of the written word, we may not expect to be thu$ 11 122 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE The Bible a plain book. The way of holiness the only way. directed. For the Bible is expressly the voice of the Spirit. Neither do the Scriptures favor any thing mystical in re- ligion. Refined sentimentalism, or any thing that the common mind, imbued with the spirit of Christ, may not readily apprehend, should surely be avoided ; for, by the most unsophisticated may these old paths be found. And so undeviatingly may be the onward step even of the humble intellect that the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein. "No prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation." The Holy Spirit, through Peter, speaks of this open, free access to truth as a matter first in importance ; " Knowing this first." Let us not, then, by the relation of mystical experiences, favor the idea that new light, revealing a higher state than that given in * the old Bible landmarks, has been revealed to us. The Bible speaks of no third state, higher than a state of holiness ; it only admonishes us to go on, "perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord." Says an inquirer, " Is not God ever making further revelations of his mind by the developments of experi- ence which we witness in his progressive workings, in the hearts of the eminently pious ? " With my eye on that word, which God has magnified above all his name, I answer, No. Nothing reliable can be gathered thus. Otherwise, the volume of revelation is not closed. New revelations, with these new developments in experience, are, upon this supposition, continually being made. Then let us not encourage in others, nor seek for our- selves, any experience, however specious, for which an explicit reason from the Bible may not be given. Let ECONOMY OF SALVATION. VZo We should give no sanction to mystical experiences. Satanic deceptions. us, who profess to have found the old paths — the highway of holiness, be careful how we give our sanction to those mystical experiences whose tendencies lead to quietism, antinomianism, perfectionism, and other un- scriptural isms, which, from time to time, have told so disastrously against the doctrine of heart holiness — Christian perfection. » • > > ■ % jsatanir (feptditttt " The power of Satan is great, and it is his appropriate business continually to assault the saints of God." — Prof. Upuam. Satan is a formidable enemy. Neither is he alone in his walkings to and fro in the earth. He has many emissaries. " Many spirits are gone out into the world." If these spirits were always clothed in their native robe, then to the holy soul would the danger of being beguiled by them be comparatively small. But here they are walking to and fro through the earth, ever infesting the path of the pious, and, in exterior, so like good angels that only by the most careful scrutiny can their deceptions be discovered. Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, and so exceedingly subtle is he that human wisdom furnishes no criterion by which his identity may, with certainty, be detected. The lamp of heaven alone emits rays by which the decep- tions of Satan can be' discovered. " Thy word is a lamp." By this light, Satan is detected ; and the inquirer is led to infallible conclusions. i£4 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE He accuses the saints Extract from Upham. Fancied annihilation of self. But to take one step without this lamp to guide our feet is exceedingly dangerous. Satan is unceasing in his efforts to overcome. It is not the cold professor, but the saints, that he accuses day and night before God. Professor Upham says, " Thou hast contended with Satan, and hast been successful. Thou hast fought with him, and he has fled from thee. But O ! remember his arti- fices. Do not indulge the belief that his nature is changed. True, indeed, he is now very complacent, and is, perhaps, singing thee some syren song ; but he was never more a devil than he is now. He now assaults thee, by not assaulting thee, and knows that he shall con- quer when thou fullest asleep." And in view of the fact that it is not until the end of time that he is to be cast down, how deceived is he who imagines that he has attained to a higher state where the life of nature is so extinct that Satan can find no ground to work upon — a state of boasted exemption from his attacks ! To all professors of holiness the author already quoted very properly says : u The cost of holiness was the blood of the Son of God, and greatly does he mistake who supposes that it can be preserved short of " eteb- NAL VIGILANCE." My heart is sad when I hear the sincerely pious talk of a " higher state, a state of which the Bible nowhere speaks, promising exemption from the assaults of Satan ; or what is, in fact, equal to this assumption, a state where, self being annihilated, the individual can no longer be attacked, but God, in the individual, receives the assault. How disastrous must be the tendencies of these refined ECONOMY OF S A L V A T T O N . 125 A satanic victory Perfectionism The warning cry should be heard. mysticisms ! Hardly can I conceive of any thing dis- playing more of the subtlety of Satan than this. If he can beguile us into the belief that we are beyond his power, so that the most prayerful vigilance is not neces- sary, he has already obtained a great victory. At this point, the mighty have fallen. Here the dreadful doctrine denominated " perfectionism" begins. Dear brethren in Christ, let us be up and doing With the sword of the Spirit, let us carefully guard every approach, in semblance, toward this doctrine. Shall the glorious doctrine of Christian holiness again be coun- terfeited and brought into disrepute by the errings of those who have once been its able and sincere advocates ? Let one who, for many years, has been observing the insidiousness of Satan on these points — one who often has had occasion to remark, that the time now is, that Satan would deceive, if it were possible, even the very elect — let such an one raise the warning cry, and give you some idea of the manner of him whose coming is in " all deceivableness and lying wonders." > m$m i "And no marvel ; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.' 5 Satan is well aware that light cannot have fellowship with darkness. He, therefore, does not approach the holy soul as a fiend of darkness ; otherwise, his rejection were certain. For, in the truly holy, Satan comes and 11* 126 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Satan's audacity. The terror of his insinuations. finds nothing. It is only Avith that which bears the semblance of light, that the sanctified sonl can have fel- lowship. But how high is his aim, and how wonderful his audacity ! Who would have thought that he would come to our Lord ? Surely, he could not have thought to find any thing there. And shall the disciple imagine that he may reach, in this world, a state of exemption from his attacks ? " As he was, even so are we in this world." " The disciple is not above his master ; but every one that is perfect shall be as his master." And ,now the deceiver comes to the disciple even as he came to our Lord, bringing detached portions of Scripture, and, with much sagacity, suiting the temptation to our physical emergencies or mental aptitudes. Blending truth with error, he now suggests, — "You are holy. All your desires and affections must, therefore, spring from a pure source. Satan, therefore, can find nothing in you, and wherefore should he come ? Your body and soul having been, by an irrevocable act, forever con- secrated, set apart and sealed, the tendencies of your being must, therefore, be wholly spiritual, and without alloy. The energies constraining your actions must, of course, be divine in origin. Your whole life being, therefore, one of ceaseless aspiration toward God, you will not need stated seasons of prayer. Acts of this sort would indicate that you were going before the Spirit rather than following after the Spirit. As you have given yourself up to follow the leadings of the Spirit wholly, you may now expect to be led into all truth, and will not need that any man teach you ; for the ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 127 Questions by a lover of the old paths. The deceiver's response. anointing that you have received teacheth you all things. In relation to the observance of various religious duties, your inclinations are to guide you ; for, since they all originate in purity, resistance to them will be resistance to the Holy Spirit. To be passive, then, is your highest duty." " But," asks the inquirer after the old paths, u am I authorized in believing I shall be led by the Spirit apart from the written word ? Does not our Lord say, ' Except a man deny himself and take up his cross daily, he cannot be my disciple ? ' Am I not, by the teachings of the Bible, continually being urged to be ' instant in season and out of season,' — ' pray in all prayer and intercessions for all saints ? ' Does not the Spirit, through the Scriptures, ever admonish me to be ( stead- fast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord ? ' Am I not warned against neglecting the ordi- nances of God's house ' as the manner of some is,' and am I not, in the command to follow Christ, required to ful- fil all righteousness, and, in all things, to be an example to believers ? " " Ah ! " replies this questionable Spirit, " you are not yet in the light, and, therefore, cannot apprehend the privileges of this higher state. You have not yet submitted to the entire crucifixion of self. In the principle that prompts these restless doings — doings — self, in a specious form, is to be seen. You know not yet what it means to be dead indeed ; and not until the life of nature expires, can you know that holy liberty which the Spirit gives to those who are made free 128 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Mysterious experiences questioned. The Bible is the test. indeed In this holy resting out of self, where all the animal propensities have been so fully crucified that they can never again revive, there are mysteries which the uninitiated cannot receive." Thus in obscurity, and as an object of compassion, is this inquirer after the old paths left. This questionable spirit, having taken its victim into a higher state than that for which a reason can be given from the Bible, the inquirer after the old paths cannot, of course, be initiated, until he also con- cludes to travel beyond the limits of Bible experience. " @o tto Saw and io t\u Sksthwmg." " To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it l» because there is no light in them.' 1 — Isaiah viii. 20. But the Bible gives light, and it is not in vain that the inquirer turns to the law and to the testimony. And now, how shall wc try this questionable spirit, of whom we have been speaking, and know whether his teachings be of God, or of Satan transformed as an angel of light ? Thanks be to God, we have an infallible test. " To the law and to the testimony." Never, then, need the sim- plest mind be turned out of the way, even though his enemy be exceeding subtle. What, then, do the Scriptures teach us in regard to the tempter ? Do they promise us, in this state of proba- tion, exemption from his attacks ? No ; for, in all points, ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 129 Christ's temptations. Nature not dead. was Christ, our exemplar, tempted, yet without sin. " But," says one, " we do not read of Christ's being tempted, other than in the early part of his career, and, as the disciple travels onward with him, he rises to yet higher ground, until he arrives at a state beyond the power of the tempter." The life of the Savior was well- nigh a continuous series of temptation. When about to finish his earthly career, he said to his disciples, " Ye are they who have been with me in my temptations." But we know that the disciples were not with him in his temptation in the wilderness, and it therefore follows, that he was subject to temptation during the whole period of his life. And what indications are there in his sufferings in the garden, where he was " in an agony," and upon his arrest, where he said " Now is the power of darkness," and upon the cross, where he cried, " My God, why hast thou forsaken me ? " that up to the last the Lamb of God was pursued by the tempter ! And then the idea of the entire extinction of our nat- ural life, so that we are no more in danger of being ensnared through our natural propensities, is also erro- neous, and has often led to great error in practice. The Incarnate God took upon himself our nature. He was very man, as also very God. In him we perceive the two natures — human and divine. His human nature shrunk from suffering, and, in view of the cup which the Father gave him to drink, he said, " If it be possible, let this cup pass from me." Had the Savior embraced the idea that the life of nature was entirely extinct, in- sreud of saying, " Not my will but thine be done," what ISO ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE How betrayals may come. What Satan loves. would have been done to ransom a world of sinners ? Well, " as he was, even so are we in this world ; " and let us not imagine that we can arrive at a state where our natural tendencies may not betray us into error. The disciple may, and ever should, be in a state where the human will is wholly subjected to the divine will. But should the requirement be such as to cause a shrink- ing of the flesh, let him not be discouraged ; for this shrinking of the flesh will not render him less pleasing to his Father. Our heavenly Father loves to see his children willing to do painful duties. Let us, then, not talk of a higher path than that in which the Savior trod before us. And let us regard with suspicion all attempts to fix on a higher way than that marked by his foot-prints. The higher our state, in reality, is, the more subtle will Satan be in his inventions to effect our overthrow. Could he induce one who has been long and successfully engaged in promoting holiness, to favor any of his spe~ cious pretences, what a conquest would be gained ! — a conquest well worthy a jubilee in the lower regions. Ah ! Satan loves a shining mark ! With Paul, then, let us keep our body under ; for the tempter tempts the disciple as his Lord ; that is, through the medium of the flesh. As followers of Christ, let us closely keep our eye fixed upon his example in all things. Does the multitude press upon us, so that we may not ever, as we would, find time for earnest plead- ings and deep communion, without sometimes rising ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 131 Examples. Stated prayer. Old paths. before day? let us rather do this than be deprived of seasons of soul-transforming fellowship with God. Let us also take the example of the Old and New Testament saints. With Abraham, let us be with our families, early at the altar. If David, amid his many concernments, as sovereign of a mighty kingdom, could regard his stated seasons of devotion as so important as to fix the resolve that he would, morning, noon and night, pray and cry aloud, — and if Daniel, amid his high responsibilities, and vexations from his heathenish neighbors, regarded his stated hours for communion with God as so impor- tant as not to admit of interference, — let us look with suspiciousness upon an inclination to regard these mat- ters as unimportant. If the enemy would beguile us to yield to this inclination, in whatever form he may come, let us say, " Get thee behind me, Satan , for thou savor- est not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. " Yes, to the old paths ! "The way the holy prophets went, The road that leads from banishment, The King's highway of holiness, We '11 go, for all his paths are peace." u But," say some, " we live under the dispensation ol the Spirit ; and now, in searching out the old paths, you go so far back as to take us from under the dispensation of liberty proposed by the Spirit, as though we were to be again justified by the deeds of the law." Not so. Paul, in referring to things aforetime, said, " These things were written for our instruction." If holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, they 132 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Sanctuary privileges. Prayer. The standard. doubtless acted, in the matter to which we have referred, under the direct leadings of the same Spirit by which, we trust, we are led. With them and with the early dis- ciples also, let us highly esteem sanctuary privileges. " Let us not forget the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is." In all the outward, as well as the more private, duties of the Christian, let us, in all fidelity, obey the command, " Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. " If, in being or doing thus, we may be called to resist the shrinkings of nature, we will say, with our precious Lord, " Not my will, but thine be done," remembering that it is through much tribulation we enter the kin°dom. The Bible being the only infallible standard, and no human authority being comparable with it, the latter being only right as far as it is found one in sentiment with it, let this book, above all others, be the book of books with us. An inspired one loved it so much, that it was his meditation day and night. Let it, with us, be the last book at night, and the earliest at dawn. I know one who has been in the daily habit of studying it thus for years past on her knees, and many a lesson has she thus learned in humble waiting before God, com paring Scripture with Scripture, believing that spiritua things can only be spiritually discerned. If we take the entire voice of the written word for the government of our conduct, our lives will present one beautiful assemblage of graces. Otherwise, we may wrest the Scriptures to our own destruction. Even Satan can quote detached pas.^ ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 183 The entire voice. Itesponsibility of controversialists. sages to suit his own purposes ; but let us obey the order of God, and compare Scripture with Scripture, and hearken to the entire voice of the Old and New Testa- ments. I believe the late controversy on the subject of holi- ness has been the means of getting many persons, both among the ministry and laity, into a position where they feel far less uneasiness, in regard to the duty of perfect- ing holiness in the fear of the Lord, than they otherwise would. If the idea obtains that we must go on for years in a state of justification before we can reasonably expect to get into the enjoyment of holiness, who can tell the disastrous effects of the vagueness in pursuit which must result to every mind entertaining such an idea ? If the friend of the man who, in view of his immediate necessities, went for three loaves, had pre viously said to him, " Know that I am your friend, and if, at any time, you come to a point of extreme neces- sity, come to me ; and, though I will not pledge my- self to say when, yet know that, if you continue long enough pleading, your necessities will, at some future period, be met, " — would the man, under such cir- cumstances, have had much courage or faith in going to his friend ? When the weary, hungry traveller, whose stay, probably, was designed but for the night, came to 12 134 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE When grace is promised. Ministers' necessity. his dwelling, and found him unprepared to set bread before him, w r ould he have thought of going to his friend, whose promise was for some indefinite period ? No ! He would have said, " My friend may starve before my emergency will be met from that source." Not so with our Almighty Friend, in whom all fulness dwells. " Grace to help in time of need ' is just what he has promised. Inward purity — holiness of heart — furnishes a readiness for every good work. A minister needs it preparatory to an entrance upon the holy services of the sanctuary. His heart tells him that he is not thoroughly furnished unto every good work, until he receives this grace. He, from whose hand he receives his commission, says, " Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord." If he has not received it previous to entering upon his ministry, his conscience tells him that he ought to have it now. If he obeys man rather than God, and embraces the opin- ion that he may preach it successfully without enjoying it, M That many a minister is more useful without it than others are with it," he will be held responsible, at last, for following the traditions of men rather than the oracles of God. And thus with the lay member whose heart tells him that he needs this further bestowment of grace to fit him fully for the duties of his holy calling. He may get into an easier place for conscience by yield- ing to the idea rtiat he cannot be holy now ; that the blessing may be away in the distance. He may, if he choose, adopt the opinion that his want of greater suc- cess in laboring for God has not been attributable to his ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 135 Easier but not safer. Important question. want of an application of the all-cleansing blood. But adopting the opinion does not make it true. With the main writer in the recent controversy, he may conclude that he is about as safe without it as with it ; and think that God will not condemn him for not going up tc possess the good land, though he long since was brought out of spiritual Egypt. He may conclude that the case of the Israelites who entered not in because of unbelief furnishes no admonition to him ; and thus he may get into an easier place for conscience ; but whether he has got into a safer place, the light of eternity will reveal. tmtmt ®to Part who didn't \\mw Whxtt §£ Wins. One traveller, accosting another by the way, said, "Do you, my brother, enjoy the blessing of entire sanctification ? " "I do not know but I received that blessing at the time I was justified ; for I rather think I have loved God with all my heart ever since." " You know that we have received of that spirit whereby we know the things freely given to us of God Nothing is more explicitly given than the will of God on this point. ' This is the will of God, even your sanc- tification.' Now do you know that you are wholly sanctified ? " " Iwould rather not speak confidently, but I think 136 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Are you an exception ? Afraid to promise. I have been willing to cut off a right hand, or pluck out ? ight eye, ever since my conversion." " It matters little, my dear brother, when you received the blessing ; whether at the time of your conversion, or since. Mr. Wesley says, ' I will not say that God may not cut short his work, and sanctify a soul wholly at the moment of conversion ; but of the hundreds with whose experience I have been familiar, I have not met with one such case.' So I will say, in regard to your- self; I have known no such case, among the hundreds with whom I have been conversant ; but if you think your case an exception, of course I will not dispute it. Hut, since it is your privilege to know, will you not r 3solve before God to have the matter settled, before you rest your head on your pillow this night ? " " O, I should be afraid to make such a resolve ! What if I should not get it ! " ".So you are afraid to trust God for what he has promised to give you. He says, ' Now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation.' When Jesus said, f It is finished,' then he wrought out this salvation for you ; and now, on the part of God, all things are ready. But it is a pearl of great price, and you will not get it until you feel that no expenditure of time or inter- est is too great for its attainment. Will you decide on having it before you sleep ? " " I really dare not promise, for I might fail in getting it." In saying thus, do you mean to assume that God might be unfaithful, and not give what he has prom- ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 137 Definiteness and importunity. Resolve. Light. ised? When the disciples said, ' Lord, teach us how to pray,' the Savior, by an illustration, taught them to pray precisely thus. Definiteness and unyielding importu- nity now, were the lessons taught on this occasion. (See the parable of the three loaves.) The man applied to, had, perhaps, not told his importunate friend he would give him three loaves if he came ; but God has told you that it is his will even your sanctification now, and are you afraid to trust him for the fulfilment of his word ? " This brother was a man of business, and he concluded that the object called for a concentration of all his energies, and he deliberately resolved before God, that he would not give sleep to his eyes, or slumber to his eyelids, until he faiew that he was wholly sanctified throughout body, soul, and spirit. ■" The day of the Lord is near in the valley of decis- ion." Immediately, on his making this resolve, God began to draw nigh unto him. He soon saw very clear- ly that he was not wholly sanctified. I met with him again on the afternoon of the same day." " I see," said he, " now that there is unbelief in my heart." " Well, the Holy Spirit has revealed this to you in order that you may be saved from it ; but you do not feel that you can save yourself ; and, if Christ alone is to save you from it, why not trust in him to save you just now ? " He now felt that there was too much to be done in his heart to be so fully saved in so short a time. But 12* 138 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Saved from perplexity. Feast of tabernacles. he was told that the longer he staid away in any degree from the atonement, the deeper the stain of sin becomes, as every moment's delay makes us the more unworthy. He was persuaded, at last, to make the venture ; and, in a moment, proved that, " He is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us." He, from this time, became a joyful witness that " The blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin." How soon was he saved from his doctrinal perplexities on resolving that he would not rest until he experimentally knew of the doctrine ! " Short is our longest clay of life; And soon its prospect ends ; Yet, on this day's uncertain date, Eternity depends : But equal to our being's aim, The space to virtue given, And every moment, well improved, Secures an age in heaven." It was at a camp-meeting, and the closing love-feast was being held. Much interest had prevailed on the subject of holiness during the process of the meeting, and many had there received the sanctifying seal. Scores of clear witnesses had already testified, in scriptural terms, of the power of the Sanctifier, and scores more, with longing looks, were waiting to testify that the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin. ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 139 Parting talk. What is God going to do with the sacrifice? A lady who was at this feast of tabernacles from a distance, as an invited guest, at last arose, and asked the privilege of a little parting talk, which was more than willingly granted. She spoke, as nearly as I can remem- ber, about as follows : — " I did not speak at an earlier period in this love-feast, because it always has seemed to me ungenerous for any one to occupy much time when others are waiting, long- ing for the privilege of giving in a testimony. Truly, it may, this morning, be said, ' Praise waiteth for thee, O, God, in Zion ! ' I have waited till others have fin- ished giving in their testimonies, intending to occupy a little more time than might be admissible, if it were not for the fact that I am so soofi to leave you, and may never again have the privilege of mingling in your soci- ety till we meet at the feast of the Lamb. I cannot tel] you how greatly the testimonies I have heard this morn- ing have inspired my heart. I have looked upon the witnesses who have risen to testify that they have set themselves apart and received the sanctifying seal, as set apart to labor and to be henceforth ' workers together with God,' in saving the world. I heard a sister at a meeting similar to this, say, in an affecting, earnest man- ner, ( I have laid my sacrifice upon the altar, but O, what is the Lord going to do with it ? ' Brethren and sisters, God is going to use our sacrifices. He intends to use us as instruments in the salvation of our relatives, friends and neighbors. As in ancient time, when the walls of Jerusalem were being reared, every man was required to build over against his house, so every one 140 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Something more than a name. The work of the Christian. is now called to a specific proportion of labor. And entire holiness implies an entire identification with the work of the Lord. Not that I think the Lord would have us unmindful of our ordinary avocations, but he would have us make our every-day associations subser- vient to the spiritual interests of those with whom we are thus connected, so that we may say : — ' Every work I do below I do it to the Lord.' " From my own realizations, I can testify that entire sanctification — holiness to the Lord — is something more than a blessing in name The terms are significantly expressive of the state. I have no fellowship with any sort of sanctification that wraps itself up in rapturous 01 mystical experience, and does not tell on the salvation of sinners. Holiness implies the dedication of all the pow- ers of body and mind to the promotion of Christ's king- dom — an entire identification of interest with the purposes of God. And here, let me testify that, for the last sev- enteen years, I consciously have had no separate interests from those which stand connected with the salvation of the world. Every thing sinks into insignificance in comparison with the great work of saving sinners. If I have a passion for one thing above another, it is that oi soul-saving. We are called to be followers of Christ ; and, though we cannot follow him in his vicarious death, yet we can follow him in manifestations of self-sacrificing zeal and love. Christ left the pure atmosphere of heav- en, the songs of angels, and the holy society of kindred spirits, where all is harmony and love, for a residence of ECONOMY OF S A L * /. S 1 O N . 141 Jesus' sacrificing spirit. A tiuesUts.. A proposition. years in this sin-polluted world, to bear Ci the contradic- tion of sinners/' to hear the wails of sorrow occasioned by sin, and to endure the agonies of the cross ; all to save sinners. Did the spirit of Christ induce him to make sacrifices ? Then the Christian must, in his meas- ure, be actuated by the same spirit ; for " If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his." I always measure my attainments in grace by the degrees I possess of the mind that was in Christ. ' The Christian lives to Christ alone, To Christ alone he dies ' " I need not say to you, my dear brethren and sisters, that you cannot retain the blessing of holiness, unless, on all suitable occasions, you are willing to confess it. It is a gift from God, and God requires the acknowledg- ment of every good thing that is in us, by Christ Jesus. But do vou indeed desire that the communication of your faith may be greatly effectual ? Do you desire that your friends and neighbors may know that entire sanctification is something more than a blessing in name ? Do you desire that the cause should not be harmed by its being said of you, ' What do ye more than others V Do you desire that a greater revival than has been known in this region, should be the fruits of this camp-meeting ? Then let me suggest to you a way by which these most desira- ble results may be brought about. Let me ask that you here set apart a given portion of every day to labor specifically in the work of soul-saving. I do not mean solely that you devote this time to prayer for sinners ; 14& ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Personal effort. David's principle. A fraction of time every day for soul-saving. this, of course, you will not neglect ; but what I mean is, that you set apart a portion of time daily to go out among sinners, and let them know that you are praying for them, and that you mean to follow them with your prayers and entreaties till they are won over to Christ. Let them know that you feel that their state is exceed- ingly perilous, and their souls of such infinite worth that you are willing to make sacrifices of time and labor in their behalf, and are resolved not to give them up. David scorned to sacrifice that which cost him nothing. Let your business associations and domestic arrangements show that your time and means are set apart for holy purposes, all being made subservient to the salvation of those around you. Do not forget that you are to act not only on the principle which David avowed, when he said, ' Shall I sacrifice that which cost me nothing ? ' but, if you have the spirit of Christ, you are required to exhibit before the world the principles upon which your Savior practised. Trample on pleasure and pain, repu- tation, ease and wealth ; bid defiance to the shrinkings of the flesh ; forego, if need be, the companionship of the pious, to seek and save the lost, perishing sinner. If you cannot appropriate two hours per day, specifically in this employ, appropriate one. If you cannot, by rising earlier or retiring later, or by more careful economy in saving up your moments from things less important, save up two hours for soul-saving, then, if you can, set apart one hour, and if you are so circumstanced, by your engagements to others, that you cannot set apart one hour, you surely can, in the evening, if &at through the day. ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 143 Order. "Decision. Now ! How souls are ^s*; Motives for a plan of labor. appropriate one half-hour out of the twenty- four, for this one great work of the Christian. <: Little is ever accomplished without system and decision. ' Order is heaven's first law.' If any thing of moment is to be done, the time must be set when we are to say, £ It shall be done now.'' All the sinners on this ground intend to be saved ; but they do not bring it to the point now. Many of them, doubtless, will leave it day after day, till the last day of life comes unexpectedly, and what should have been the business of life is left till too late, and all is lost. So it may be with us in regard to lost opportunities. Souls will be lost which ought to have a timely warning from us, anless we set apart some time to labor for them. It is true that, with the wholly sanctified, all the time is sanctified. Time, with talent and influence, has been laid upon the altar. We do not doubt but every child of God on this encampment i?itcnds, on going home, to work for God during the coming year as never before. Yet, as ever, each hour will bring its demands of ordi- nary care ; and I fear little more will be done than has been done, unless some specific appropriation of time be made. " We have come a long distance to be present with you ; but a hundred times over should we be repaid if we might only know that all here, who have professed to be wholly sanctified, would set apart but one half- hour daily, from this day, September 2d, 1854, to Sep- tember 2d, 1855, specifically to the work of soul- saving." 144 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE A demonstration. Three hundred yolunteers. The computation. Perhaps a score or more of preachers were around, and on the minister's stand, with the excellent presid- ing elder at their head. The sister then turned appeal- ingly to the presiding officer of the meeting, and asked if it would meet his approval to have a demonstration of those who engage in this " half-hour proposition." The worthy elder hailed the proposal with delight, and desired all, who would solemnly before God so engage, to rise and so pledge themselves by standing on their feet. A host of laborers, of about three hundred, arose, and stood looking like an army of invincibles. O, how the sight of our eyes gladdened our heart, as we be- held this band of strong, joyous volunteers for God ! The sister who had made the proposal was affected, and cried out, " Now I know that you will, indeed, have such a revival as has never before been witnessed in this region. Praise ! praise the Lord ! ' The presiding elder, with evident elation of feeling, began to sum up how many glorious days of labor three hundred half-hours daily would make ; but the hour set for closing the meeting had already more than arrived, and this ever-to- be-remembered band of God's sacramental host received the apostolic benediction, and separated with the purpose of each man going after his man as in the days of an- cient warfare. But five days had intervened when we again heard from "the regions round about," where this army of God's elect had been scattered, and what was our joy on hearing that the work of revival had already begun in power in several places ! " It began with the half- ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 145 Results. The laborers. Proposition to the reader. Father Reeves. hour proposition" said the informant. In several places, souls had been brought to bow at the foot of the cross as earnest seekers of salvation. In one place, eighteen, in another eleven, &c, &«. Alleluia ! the Lord God omnipotent reigneth ! " See where the servants of the Lord, A busy multitude, appear, For Jesus day and night employed, His heritage they toil to clear. " The love of Christ their hearts constrains, And strengthens their unwearied hands ; They spend their sweat, and toil, and pains, To cultivate Immanuel's lands." And now let me solemnly, as in the more immediate presence of God, ask every reader of this article to unite in this iC half hour proposition" Do not say that you cannot spare the time. Scorn to sacrifice that which costs you nothing. If Christ made such sacrifices to save your soul, rejoice in the privilege of sacrificing that which costs something in laboring to save the souls of others. Have you ever read " Father Reeves," the poor mechanic, who, though not unmindful of the duty of caring for his own household, found that working from six o'clock in the morning till eight at night, did not leave him quite time enough to go out among the people and work for God, so he resolved on living on six or seven shillings per week less, and to sacrifice the time to God. His biographer says, "He felt called upon to make sacrifices ; " and faith in God, and love for souls impelled him to make them. A poor mechanic sacrificing some- thing over one dollar and a quarter per week, that he 13 146 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE We must give time. Serving God by proxy. 450 visits a year. In darkness. might give the time to the Lord, is an act of faith and devotion rarely equalled, and is worthy the consideration of men of superior social position, who will willingly give a subscription to a benevolent object, in order to do good by proxy, but who shun personal service. ' Obe- dience is better than sacrifice,' a subscription costs a rich man little, and it is not clear from Scripture that any thing short of personal devotion to the cause of God, will be accepted by him who hath said, " Occupy till I come." Father Reeves kept an account of the number of his visits for several successive years, and during the earlier part of his life they average four hundred and fifty a year, and during the latter part of his life they average six hundred and fifty a year. This was a man who, for the greater part of his long life, was wholly dependent on his daily labors, and yet, with all this amount of labor, he found time for public, closet and family duties. Take an extract from his diary as a sample. (See Diary, Dec. 1831.) m>i Jtt lartass jfrrrm ^t%\td 4 IMg. You say you are in darkness ; have lost your roll, and cannot again find it, and that you are more than miserable. Deeply do I sympathize with you. But, surely, you have not forgotten, " If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father." Also, "If we con ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 147 The laborers axe few ! An enthusiastic doctrine. Christ was dishonored. fess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousnes." You con- fess your sin, and why not at once claim forgiveness and cleansing ? In view of your statements, I do not doubt but you trespassed in refusing to labor in promoting the cause of holiness. " The laborers are few." Witnesses who testify of purity of heart are greatly needed, especi- ally in the region in which you reside. And in propor- tion to the scarcity of the laborers is the call imperative to those whom God has enabled, from their own experi- ence of the great salvation, to testify of what they know. The feeling of disinclination to labor, of which you speak, was doubtless from the power of the tempter. But "that we are not to do good unless our hearts are free to it," Mr. Wesley denominates an " enthusiastic doctrine." Indeed, in proportion to the magnitude of the work the Lord has for us to do, we shall be called to withstand satanic influences calculated to deter us from our work. But, surely, there is no sin in feeling these dissuasive influences, if we do not yield to them. The greater the shrinking of the flesh, the greater the victory if we only resist. You did not resist, and the Captain of your sal- vation was dishonored by your defeat ; and darkness and misery have been brought upon your soul. But is it not your duty, now that you confess your sin, to believe God not only forgives, but, as you again present yourself wholly to God through Christ, is it not also your duty to believe that the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all unrighteousness ? And, since you lost the blessing by not laboring to promote the cause of holiness when 148 , ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Pilgrim and his roil. The open fountain. Of faith, the witness of the .Spirit, aiid joy you had reason to believe it was your duty to do so, resolve that you will, from this hour, redeem the time in efforts to promote the cause as never before. Do not forget that, when Pilgrim lost his roll, he went right back to the place where he lost it, and found it again., The same fountain in whose waters you washed and were clean, is still open, still flowing, and still it clean- seth from all unrighteousness. Will you not, with me, now praise the Lord for this ? Will you not just now M Plunge into the purple flood, Rise in all the life of God » ? i <» i SCto titttes of the £pirit. All your difficulties, my dear brother, seem to be the consequence of this error. As soon as your sensi- ble emotion had subsided, and you were called to walk by faith, you gave up your confidence, and thought you had lost the witness of the Spirit. Now the witness of the Spirit is not joyous emotion. At the time of its reception, we may have joyous emotion ; but this is not the witness of the Spirit. " He that believeth hath the witness in himself." This, I apprehend to be an internal conviction, produced by the Spirit, that we have the grace for which we have believed. This con- viction may have been produced in the heart by some noiseless and almost indiscernible process. But, if we ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 119 Faith and emotion. Christ in the wilderness. " Cast not away your confidence." have that knowledge, it does not matter how it has been received, or when. To know the fact is enough. " The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit." You were saved by grace, through faith. Had you remembered this, you would not have thrown away the blessing of salvation, just so soon as God began to test your faith. The Spirit descended like a dove, and abode upon the Savior. Immediately afterwards, he was taken by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. We may not presume that while he was there with the wild beasts, and subject to more, far more, dreadful suggestions than you have ever known, he had sensi- ble emotions of joy. No j his joy was to submit to the will of his heavenly Father, and it was the will of his Father that he should be tempted. And so his joy consists in this. Looking at the matter in this way, we can easily conceive how we may count it all joy when we fall into divers temptations. So, my brother, you see we may know, with the Savior, that we have the abidings of the Spirit, however severely tempted. Had you, while being tempted, obeyed the command of your Lord, " Cast not away your confidence" you would have found yourself a gainer in the end. A firmer establishment of soul would have succeeded, and you would now have been prepared to comfort those who are in tribulation, with the comfort wherewith you were comforted of God. In casting away your confidence, 13* 150 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Faith not emotion. Confession before forgiveness. you displeased God ; for he has said, " The just shall live by faith," (not emotion.) In yielding up your faith because you had not joyous emotion, you grieved the Holy Spirit to such a degree, that I do not wonder your distress has become so grievous. For God has said, " If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." TO A SEEKER OF THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. You say, my dear brother, that you will do any thing 1 will advise. In the name of the Lord, I would now advise that you confess your sin in having cast away your confidence. Tell the Lord that you now desire and intend, from this moment, to obey him, and, as he has said " The just shall live by faith," you desire rather to live a life of faith, than a life of emotion. And, now, my brother, begin at once to bring forth fruits meet for repentance. Resume your confidence. God did not take it from you. You cast it away, and now he again commands you to believe. Do not wait till you are more worthy ; for every moment's delay makes you more unworthy. Do not try to save yourself; for Christ alone can save. Not even in the least degree can you save yourself. If your heart is unmoved, and hard, do not calculate on bringing it up unto a condition of earnest and vigorous affection yourself. Let your first endeavor be to yield it up to God. He has assured you that the preparation of the heart is with him. It is your Savior who is to take away the heart of stone, and give a heart of flesh. If you should yield your heart up wholly to him in pre- ECONOMY OF SALVATION 151 Christ receives what we give. What is the witness. cisely the state in which it now is, what do you think he would do with it ? Do you imagine it would long con- tinue in its present unfeeling condition? My advice is, that you now resign yourself believingly into his hands. Are. you doing this now ? Do you say, yes? Then Christ is now receiving you — he is now saving you. Now is the day of salvation. He is doing it, let your emotions be what they may. You may say, I do not feel it. Remember faith is not feeling. You are not saved by feeling, but by faith. "Thy faith hath saved thee ; go in peace, and sin no more." Yes, the moment you do this, you are saved. Could you weep rivers of tears, you could not induce the Savior to save you in any other way. We must trust in Christ to do for us what w r e know w r e cannot do for ourselves. The faith that saves is trust. And the gospel proposes no other way to be saved than that of a present and con- tinuous trust in Christ. Emotion, or no emotion, if you are now doing this, you are now being saved. When you do this, the Spirit, through the revealed word, tells you that you are saved. He that believcth hath the witness in himself. The consciousness, or, in other words, the knowledge that it is so, is the witness of the Spirit. For it is the Spirit alone that can produce this consciousness. A short time since, a sister said to me, " I believe I do love the Lord with all my heart." " Do you not know it? " said I. " Yes, I know it," she replied ; " but I want the witness" I turned to Dr. B., who was standing by, and said, " Here, Dr. B., is a sister who believes and knows 152 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE "I believe, and know, but want the witness." that she loves the Lord with all her heart, but she wants the witness of the Spirit that it is so." Dr. B., addressing himself to her, said, " You believe the sun shines — you know it, and now do you want the witness of it ? Is not the knowledge of it imparted through the agency of the Holy Spirit, witnessing with your spirit ? What witness, beyond what you have, do you need, since you have the knowledge of the fact ? ' O, yes, " He that believeth hath the witness in himself." Remember that, in believing the word of the immutable Jehovah, you have a founda- tion for your faith immovable as the throne of the eter- nal. You believe your fallible friend, and, without a shadow of doubt, speak to your friends of your faith in my word. Your faith in me produces some effect; for your exhibit, not only by your words, but by your ac- tions, your faith in what I say. Should I write you now that one of your dearest friends, for whose salvation you have been greatly desirous, was converted at the 1ST St. altar, last evening, your heart would at once leap with delight, and you would hasten to inform your Brother S . It is because you have faith in my written word. But how . can I speak in words that will do justice to the subject, when I would speak of the dif ference between the words of man and the words of God . " The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." " He that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." But where shall I pause? When I get on this theme, — the divinity of the word of God, — my heart ever burns with heavenly inspirations, and its ardors seem to know no bound. ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 153 You brought it upon yourself The simplicity of faith. »But I must pause now. Time fails me, and I may not proceed. My object, just now, is to assure you of your error in entertaining the idea that the witness of the Spirit was gone, because your sensible emotions of joy had subsided. I want to convince you that you brought this grievous distress upon yourself because you gave up your hold upon the promises in conse- quence of imbibing this erroneous impression. I want to tell you that, if you now heartily believe God, you will have an experimental realization of salvation. This realization is produced in the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, and is the witness of the Spirit. By what power could it have been produced, but by that of the Spirit ? You see the singular position of the sister to whom I have referred, who said, " I want the witness ;" but I have met with many who occupy about the same position, and who are continually indulging themselves in endless perplexities about the doctrine of the witness of the Spirit, as though there were an indefinable mys- teriousness about it. Whole books have been written as elucidatory, and I have, in my mind's eye, those who have labored more to study and inwardly digest these, than they have in coming down to the simple Bible fact, "He that believeth hath the witness in himself." The Bible makes it so simple and intelligible, that the multiplying of words seems like putting darkness for light. My dear brother, let us thank God, and take courage. Let us just now bow down, and, in humble- ness of mind, laud and magnify his excellent name, that he has made the way of salvation so plain that way- faring men, though fools, shall not err therein. 154 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Duty of " the bride." The persevering invitation. fJOTomtt (Kfflart to dhtlist Jfedura of Jlaltmto. A protracted meeting is in progress, and what earnest Christian does not feel the importance of going, under such circumstances, and inviting sinners to come to Christ ? " The Spirit and the bride say, Come." It is not enough that the Spirit say, Come ! The bride must do her part of the work, and also say, Come ! And is not the Spirit always saying, Come ? And if the bride, or, in other words, the church, in her individual membership, — if these were also ever saying, Come, — what a contin- uous work of revival should we have ! I once heard a minister, by way of illustrating this text, say : A lady provides a feast, and fixes her mind resolutely on having this and the other particular friend present. She goes to her friend, but her friend pleads previous engagements. But she resolves on taking no denial. As her friend brings up excuses, she, with affectionate fixedness of purpose, puts one after another aside, and finally triumphs in success. Well, the Spirit and the bride say, Come ; and are you, as a member of Christ's church, diligently saying — to your friends, neighbors, and to those unawakened sinners connected with the congregation with whom you stand in church relation, — saying to all these, " Come, for all things are now ready " ? Much may be accomplished by these efforts. The Spirit does the work, but the church, in her indi- vidual membership, are the agents. And though the Snirit says, Come, we are not to expect to see the work ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 155 A work for every Christian. A visit to the gallery contemplated. accomplished unless the individual membership come up * f to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty." Do not think it optional with yourself whether you will extend these gospel invitations. It is the design of God that every redeemed sinner shall be specially invited. What a work is before every individual Christian ! Surely, help is needed. What might be the result of this meeting, should every mem- ber, individually and collectively, engage in urging the gospel invitation ! We little know what the result of one well-directed effort may be. Shall I tell you of some encouragements and condescensions of grace con- nected with my own efforts in urging the gospel invita- tion? A FLIGHT TO THE ALTAR. Sitting, one Sabbath evening, in the midst of one of our large city congregations, my heart was deeply pen- etrated, as I cast my eye on the thoughtless ones in the gallery. Judging from appearances, most of them were votaries of fashion and folly. " Without God, having no hope in the world " ! exclaimed my heart, as I pre- sented wishful desires to heaven in their behalf. " Sup- pose," said the Spirit, u it should be your duty to go up there, and mingle with them, and try to urge some of them to come to Christ." I was not then so much accus- tomed to being " instant in season and out of season," and my nature shrunk from the publicity, and the apparent officiousness of such an act. But I dared not do other- wise than bring the matter closely to the Lord, and, in doing so, duty was made plain. 156 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Serious but mute. A message from God. A sudden movement. I then asked believingly, that the Lord would direct my steps. I noticed a young lady that looked serious, though not apparently affected. I addressed her on the subject of religion, but could elicit no answer to my various inquiries, though she seriously listened. My efforts being apparently unavailing, I left her. I pressed, with urgency, the gospel invitation on several others. A few accepted, and went forward for prayers. But still, my heart seemed pressed with the conviction that the object for which I had been specially sent there was not answered. I asked the, Lord if it were indeed so, that mv mind might still be directed. The young lady I had addressed on entering the gallery, still sat there, in a serious and rather pensive mood. Believing that " He that asketh reccivcth" I asked for a message from God to her, and felt that I received what I had asked. I went to the young lady, and, trusting in the Spirit to give power, I solemnly said, " I have a message from God unto thee ! ' It was evident that the Holy Spirit accompanied the words with much power to her inmost heart. The great deep was being broken up, and the large tears began to drop in quick succession. Observing this, I said, " If you wish to have the united prayers of God's people, I will go with you from the gallery, and we will go forward to- gether to the altar of prayer." But she was still, as before, silent. A young lady rose by her side to go out, when she suddenly started up too. The movement was so unexpected, and she was so powerfully convicted, that I thought she was going to dart out of the church, to hide. ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 157 The surprise. Haste. A family of eleven converted. from the presence of God, and I, with sorrow and sur- prise, said, " What ! going away ? " " Going down to the altar ! " she exclaimed quickly. As I had promised to go with her, I, of course, felt the duty of being true to my word. But she preceded me to the altar so rapidly, that, in order to go with her, I really had to make myself a spectacle to the congregation, and run. Her haste reminded me of Bunyan's Christian, fleeing from the City of Destruction, crying, Life ! Life ! Eternal Life ! For three days, she sought Jesus, sorrowing, when he revealed himself to her, the " fairest among ten thousand," and the one " altogether lovely." Her friends were all entirely irreligious ; and, themselves unaccustomed to attend the means of grace, they opposed her attendance, and variously persecuted her, to turn her from the right way of the Lord. She had been a gay votary of the world. I advised her not to compromise true Christian principles in any iota, but to serve the Lord with earnest steadfastness, manifesting that she had given up the world, and exhibiting, by her daily walk and conversa- tion, all the lovely proprieties of a religious life, assuring her, if she would do this, that the Lord would permit her to see the salvation of her relatives. It was not long before the different branches of the family, father, mother, brothers and sisters, married and unmarried, were also induced to attend the means of grace ; and, in less than three months, the family circle, eleven in num- ber, were all brought into the fold of Christ. Surely, it 14 158 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE A danger. God gives the word, and we must carry it. Labor not in vain. is important to attend to these gentle impressions which the Holy Spirit makes on the heart. We would not encourage fanatical hap-hazard efforts ; but there is danger of over-nicety — danger of being so fearful of following impressions, as not to follow any impression made by the Holy Spirit on the heart. How can the Holy Spirit do much with such instrumentalities toward the world's conversion ? It is God that gives the word, and we, as agents, must be ready to convey it to the sinner. A number of times have I, during our protracted meeting, looked upon the gay and thoughtless, and asked the Lord to speak through me to them. I have then, as in the case just narrated, taken the message, and delivered it as from the High and Holy One. God has honored my faith, and often owned the effort in the speedy conviction of the sinner. Surely, in this, as in all other matters, " according to our faith "it is done unto us. I believe, in answer to strong faith, God will always send the message to the sinner's heart ; and though they may not always yield, yet it is the duty of the church to give the invitation, whether sinners will hear or forbear. The throne of God must be guiltless. Christians are workers together with God, and, if truly spiritually-minded, are either a savor of life unto life, or of death unto death, to those with whom they communicate. THE MISTAKE. On one occasion I made an apparent mistake, by speaking to a professor, supposing I was addressing one ECONOMY OF SALVATION. . 159 A professor taken for a worldling. A gay lady. Expostulation. whose heart was wholly in the world. " And why did you speak to me as to one not professing religion ? " asked this gay church member. We did not tell her, being quite sure that she might readily infer the cause. Is not " the friendship of this world enmity with God ? " and if any man will be the friend of the world, is he not the enemy of God ? Strange ! that the professed follow- ers of Christ should love to be so like the world in spirit and appearance, that it should be difficult to distinguish them. The next evening I thought, now I will be careful not to speak to a professor for a worldling again. I will look for the most in eligious-looking, worldly-conformed person in the house. I singled out one who seemed wholly irreligious, and was remarkable for the gaiety of her appearance. I asked her if she did not think it her duty to set out in the service of the Savior. She assured me that she had not been in the habit of thinking seri- ously on the subject. I said, " Though you may not have been in the habit of thinking much, yet it is your duty to think. It was the sin of Israel that thev did not consider. You know, as a redeemed creature, you belong to God. You know that you are not your own ; for you have been bought with a price. O, why do you not begin to seek the Lord ? " She was courteous and respectful, as every one duly acquainted with the proprieties of life will be, when addressed in regard to the highest, and most ennobling of all subjects, the salvation of the soul. But from the 1(30 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE An excuse offered — and answered. A question of faith. A concession. fact that it is not common, in our congregations, to address persons in regard to their individual salvation, who do not manifest any interest on the subject, she probably wondered why I should have singled out such an unlikely subject as herself. As a reason why she could not begin at once to seek the Lord, she said, " I have no feeling on the subject of religion." " But do you not know that it is your duty to begin to seek the Lord ? " " I suppose it is." "Let us settle this question. It either is your duty, or it is not. You believe the Bible is the word of God, do you not ? " She looked as if she could chide me for asking the question, and exclaimed, with some warmth, "Certainly I do !" " And do you, indeed, believe it to be God's word, as truly as though you could hear him speaking in tones of thunder from the heavens, as when uttered on Sinai ? " " I do ! " " If, then, you could hear the voice of God, sounding out from the highest heavens, speaking directly to you, telling you the precise moment when you must begin to seek the Lord, you would not delay one moment. You would not hesitate about duty, would you ? " " No, indeed, I would not." " Now; my friend, God is speaking to you from heaven this moment. You say you believe the Bible is his word, as truly as though you could hear him speak from (( (( ECOJNOMY OF SALVATION. 161 The act and the time. Directions for obtaining the requisite feeling. heaven. God, by the voice of his word, is now saying to you, 'Give me thy heart.' If you say, ' When, Lord ? ' he tells you just when. ' Now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salvation.' i It is time to seek the Lord.' How can the duty of the present moment be made plainer ? You cannot, without making yourself a greater sinner, hesitate for one moment. You cannot hesitate from the idea that you are not convicted ; for the knowledge of duty is ^con- viction." But I have no feeling." If I will tell you just how you may get feeling, will you follow my advice ? " « I will." Then, go kneel there, with those seekers of salvation. Begin to call upon the Lord. Christ is exalted to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance unto Israel, and remission of sins. Call upon Christ for the gift of repentance. You will then have the united prayers of God's people. There will be more than two or three agreed in presenting your case to God. The fervent, effectual prayer of the righteous availeth much. Many seekers of salvation have found the Savior under sim- ilar circumstances. It is not until the day that you seek the Lord with all your heart, that he promises to be found of you. Seek him now with all your heart, and he will now be found of you. You know your duty, and if you will now yield to these convictions, you will have all the feeling that will be needful. It is not feeling that is to save you ; Christ alone is the Savior. 14* 16£ ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE Seeking God without a tear. Converted in an hour. The jailer and Peter Yielding to these solemn convictions of duty, but without shedding a tear, this gay votary of fashion went forward, and, with several other seekers of salvation who had presented themselves, she knelt at the altar of prayer. She had been there but a few moments before manifestations of feeling were abundant. She wept profusely. She sought the Lord with all her heart. And how long does it take such an one to find the Lord ? If I should say the whole process of awakening and con- version did not occupy quite an hour, would you doubt the genuineness of the work ? Do not say, yes, until after you have ascertained how long it took the Lord to convert the jailer in the days of Paul. # A CONVERSION QUESTIONED, AND WHY! I say this, because the experience of one of my friends, whose conversion was thus rapid in its pro- cesses, was so seriously questioned as to be well-nigh fatal to the convert. The conversion was not ques- tioned because the fruits were wanting ; but because it was so sudden. And these questionings, too, were from the lips of grave divines. Suppose, the second day after the jailer's conversion, he had casually fallen in with the apostle Peter. He tells Peter of the bliss- ful heart realizations which have resulted from his faith in Christ. With a joyous excitement consequent on the sudden transition from the darkness of unbelief to the light of faith, he expatiates on the blessedness of his change, — the joy and peace of believing. He expects heart-inspiring sympathy from Peter, as the old friend ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 163 A cooling caution from Peter — and then another from John. of Paul, his spiritual father. " But/' says Peter, u my friend, you need to be careful. Paul generally produces an excitement wherever he goes. A great many sud- den conversions take place under his ministry, and, as a consequence, spurious conversions are not uncommon. You had better be careful, very careful, not to let the intelligence of your conversion spread abroad till after you have waited long enough to test your conversion fully, and know that it is genuine. Do you not think our young convert, the jailer, by this time, begins to feel his confidence decreasing, and the excitements of his first love somewhat lessened ? But he goes on, and unexpectedly meets the apostle John, another of the old friends of his spiritual father, Paul. His confidence and love begin to gather re- newed inspirations, and he tremblingly again ven- tures to tell of the happy change wrought in his heart through faith in Christ. John looks serious, and, instead of manifesting joyous reciprocation, begins to speak of the danger of being deceived. " But," says the jailer, " Paul recognized me as a true convert, and baptized me as such. He did not tell me I had reason to fear deception, because I was so suddenly converted." " Yes," says John, " but Paul was himself three days under conviction, and how can it be that you should be converted in so short a time ? " " It has been much on my mind," says our young convert, " that I ought to come out at once before the world in the profession of my faith." " But," says John, " you had better wait, and be sure that the change is real, and not the effect of 164 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE The young convert and his pastor. Dissuasions. Darkness. Light again. sudden excitement ; for, if you should chance to fall away, as some other of Paul's converts do, how much would it be to the disadvantage of the cause which you wish to serve ! " Now this is not a fancy picture. We had a friend whose conversion was well-nigh as sudden as the jailer's. And there were two ministers whose abili- ty to settle theological difficulties might have placed them beyond Peter or John, if time spent in theolog- ical studies were the criterion. Our unconverted friend had accompanied us to a place, where it was not unu- sual to witness sudden and remarkable displays of the awakening, justifying and sanctifying power of God. He was awakened, and suddenly converted perhaps in about as short a time as was the jailer. Yielding to the same sort of inspiration which David felt, when he said "Come unto me, all ye that fear the Lord, and I will tell you what he hath done for my soul," he went to tell his pastor, who belonged to a different theological .school from that of the minister under whose labors he had been so suddenly converted. He was met in just about the way above supposed. It was distressing to see the perplexity of his mind on his return. But we assured him that the Lord could convert a soul just as thoroughly in half an hour, as in half a century. He had felt it his duty openly to profess Christ that evening. But, yielding to these dissuasions, he became disheartened, and resolved not to come out in an open profession. This resistance to duty brought great dark- ness upon his mind. After laboring with him prayer- ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 165 A caution reiterated, and consequent failure. The sportsman. fully for some time, his confidence was again restored, and he resolved to confess Christ. Again he left us, rejoicing in faith, and strong in resolution, when the tempter again, through a minister, attacked him on the same grounds ; the suddenness of his conversion, and the danger of profession ; and again he returned per- plexed and discouraged as before. Could such an one be expected to hold fast his faith, and in the end make a good confession before many witnesses ? Surely, it would have been well-nigh miraculous if he had. He was not taken away from under such influences, and he did not en- dure better than the jailer might have endured, if placed under circumstances such as we have described. His conversion was doubtless pronounced an ephemeral con- version. And those sage theological friends perhaps thought the wisdom of their counsels vindicated by the result to a demonstration. A SUDDEN AND UNQUESTIONABLE CONVERSION. But I had another friend who, though even more suddenly converted, did not fall in with the same sort of doctors of divinity, and endured manfully. My friend, Mr. , was a man of fine natural address, and a lover of pleasure. He often attended divine wor- ship, and often, on the Sabbath, made resolves to devote himself to the service of Christ. But he had thoughtless companions, and he was fond of the race, and his social and sportive qualities were ever bringing him into the snare of Satan. Each week witnessed him under yet greater condemnation from broken resolves. One Sat- 166 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE A midnight vow on the two Testaments. Help and salvation. urday night, returning late from his business, he reflect- ed on his many broken vows. His conscience told him he ought to do better ; but his heart was so sadly re- minded of his many failures, that he scarcely dared to vow again. But a new thought struck him. He had reached his home. It was now about the solemn mid- night hour. The lights in his dwelling were all ex- tinguished. But he knew where the good old family Bible was. He remembered that the God of the Bible was a covenant-keeping God, and opening it between the Old and New Covenant, he, as in the solemn presence of God, with one hand placed on the Old Testament, and the other on the New, renewed his resolves, and said, " O Lord, if thou wilt help me, I will serve thee forever." Strength from heaven was immediately let down into his soul. He felt that God, as his Almighty Helper, began to w work in him mightily to will and to do of his good pleasure." He laid his head on his pillow that night, conscious of the inworkings of the Holy Spirit. He greeted the light of the blessed Sabbath, a new creature in Christ Jesus. To his own perceptions, and to the observation of his friends, " Old things had passed away." By his beaming countenance, and with his lips, he testified that the joy of the Lord was his strength. Though his sudden change was singularly unlooked for, yet we never heard the genuineness of his conversion questioned. His consistent, happy, useful life bore ample testimony that he had passed from death unto life — ECONOMY OF SALVATION. 167 Breakfast on board a steamer. The inquiry. " 0, I am happy." " Will he not his help afford ? Help while yet I ask is given ; God comes down, the God and Lord, Who made both earth and heaven." *m»m t $fa GJ-ajjiain m& bis