A / / 
 
 / /. 
 

 
 THE 
 
 ANXIOUS ENQUIRER 
 
 SALVATION, 
 
 DIRECTED AND ENCOURAGED 
 
 BY 
 JOHN ANGELL JAMES, 
 
 \ 
 
 ACTIIOH OP " FAMILY MONITOB," " CHRISTIAN CHARITY," ie. 
 
 " What imirt I do to be ravotl t" 
 " Believe on the I,onl Jesus Christ, and Ihou' 
 halt be ayed." Acte, xyi. 30, 31. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 D. APPLETON & CO. 200 BROADWAY. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY CONNER & COOKE. 
 MDCCCXXXIV.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 ALI subjects must be taught by elementary 
 treatises : to this rule, religion forms no excep- 
 tion ; and as books for children, compose a very 
 useful, though humble department, in general 
 literature, so in the great science of salvation, he 
 aims at no unimportant object, who writes for 
 those who are anxious to be converted, and who 
 are willing, for that purpose, to become as little 
 children in the school of Christ. Such is my 
 design ; to accomplish which, I sought after the 
 greatest simplicity of style. Writing for babes 
 in Christ, I have given little more than the 
 alphabet of personal religion ; but the learning 
 of which is necessary to future progress. Almost 
 11 teachers, whether of children or of adults, 
 ommit the error of taking for granted, that their 
 pupils know more than they really do : it is far 
 better to err in the opposite extreme. If any are
 
 4 PREFACE. 
 
 disposed to think I have carried my endeavour 
 after simplicity too far, and are desirous of some 
 thing more elaborate, I refer them to the excel- 
 lent work of Dr. HENRY, of Charleston, entitled, 
 " Letters to a Friend," recommended by Dr. PYE 
 SMITH, the object of which is precisely the same 
 as my own, but which is written in a more dif- 
 fuse style, and illustrated by a greater variety of 
 
 facts 
 
 J. A. J. 
 Edgbaston, April, 1834.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOH THE PROFITABLE READING OF THE 
 FOLLOWING TREATISE. 
 
 IT may seem strange to some persons, that I 
 should give directions for the performance of an 
 act so well understood as the perusal of a book ; 
 and especially the perusal of a book of so simple 
 and elementary a kind as this. But the fact is, 
 that multitudes either do not know, or do not re- 
 member at the time, how to read to advantage; 
 and therefore profit but little by what they read. 
 Besides, simple and elementary as is this treatise, 
 it is on a subject of infinite and eternal importance, 
 and is perused in the most critical season of a man's 
 everlasting history ; when, in a very peculiar sense, 
 every means of grace, and this among the rest, will 
 be either a savour of death unto death, or of life unto 
 1*
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 life, to the reader. Tremendous idea ! But strictly 
 true. 
 
 Reader, whosoever thou art, it is no presump- 
 tuous thought of the Author, to believe that thou 
 wilt remember the contents of this small Treatis 
 in eternity, either with pleasure and gratitude in 
 heaven, or with remorse and despair in hell. 
 Can it then be an impertinently officious act, to 
 remind thee how to read with advantage what I 
 have written ? 
 
 1. Take it with you into your closet, I mean 
 your place of retirement for prayer ; for of course 
 you have such a place. Prayer is the very soul of 
 all religion, and privacy is the very life of prayer 
 itself. This is a book to be read when you arc 
 alone ; when none is near but God and your con 
 science ; when you are not hindered by the pre 
 sence of a fellow-creature from the utmost freedom 
 of manner, thought, and feeling } when unobserved 
 by any human eye, you could lay down the book, 
 and meditate, or weep, or fall upon your knees to 
 pray, or give vent to your feelings in short and 
 sudden petitions to God. I charge you then to re- 
 serve the volume for your private seasons of devo- 
 tion and thoughtfulness ; look not into it in com-
 
 INTRODUCTION. . T 
 
 pany, except it be the company of a poor, trembling, 
 and anxious Inquirer, like yourself. 
 
 2. Read it with deep seriousness. Remember, 
 it speaks to you of God, of eternity, of salvation, 
 of heaven, and hell. Take it up with something 
 of the awe " that warns you how you touch a holy 
 thing." It meets you in your solicitude about your 
 soul's welfare, it meets you fleeing from destruc- 
 tion, escaping for your life, crying out " what shall 
 I do to be saved ;" and proffers its assistance to 
 guide you for refuge to the hope set before you in 
 the gospel. It is itself serious ; its Author is se- 
 rious ; it is on a serious subject, and demands to 
 be read in a most devout and serious mood. Take 
 it not up lightly nor read it lightly. If your spirit 
 be not as solemn as usual, do not touch it ; and 
 when you do touch it, command away every other 
 subject, and endeavour to realize the idea that 
 God, salvation, and eternity, are before you, and 
 that you are actually collecting the ingredients of 
 the cup of salvation, or the wormwood and gall to 
 embitter the cup of damnation. 
 
 3. Read it with earnest prayer. It can do you 
 no good, without God's blessing ; nothing short of 
 divine grace can render it the means of instructing
 
 8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 your mind, or impressing your heart. It will con 
 vey no experimental knowledge, relieve no anxiety, 
 dissipate no doubts, afford neither peace nor sanc- 
 tification, if God do not give his Holy Spirit 
 And if you would have the Spirit, you must ask 
 for it. If, therefore, you wish it to benefit you, do 
 not read another page, till you have most fervent- 
 ly, as well as sincerely, prayed to God for his 
 blessing to accompany the perusal. I have earn- 
 estly prayed to God to enable me to write it, and 
 if you as earnestly pray to him to enable you to 
 read it, there is thanksgiving in store for us both ; 
 for usually what is begun in prayer, ends in 
 praise. 
 
 4. Read but a chapter at a time. Books that 
 are intended to instruct and impress, should be 
 read slowly. Most persons read too much at a 
 time. Your object is not merely to read this trea- 
 tise through, but to read it in order to profit by it. 
 Food cannot be digested well if too much be eaten 
 at a time, so neither can knowledge. 
 
 5. Meditate upon what you read. Meditation 
 bears the same office in the mental constitution, as 
 digestion does in our corporeal system. The first 
 mental exercise is attention, the next reflection. If
 
 INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 we would gain a correct notion of an object, we 
 must not only see it, but looJc at it; and so also, if 
 we would gain knowledge from books, we must 
 not only see the matters treated of, but look stea- 
 dily at them. Nothing but meditation can enable 
 us to understand or feel. In reading the scriptures 
 and religious books, we are, or should be, reading 
 for eternity. Salvation depends on knowledge, and 
 knowledge on meditation. At almost every step 
 of our progress through a book which is intended 
 to guide us to salvation, we should pause and ask, 
 " Do I understand this ?" Our profiting depends 
 not on the quantity we read, but the quantity we 
 understand. One verse in scripture if understood 
 and meditated upon, will do us more good than a 
 chapter or even a book, read through in haste, and 
 without reflection. 
 
 6. Read regularly through in order. Do not 
 wander about from one part to another, and in your 
 eagerness to gain relief, pick and cull particular 
 portions, on account of their supposed suitableness 
 to your case. It is all suitable, and will be found 
 most so by being taken together and as a whole. 
 A rambling method of reading, whether it be the 
 scriptures or other books, is not to edification : it
 
 10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 often arises from levity of mind, and sometimes 
 from impatience, both of which are states very un- 
 friendly to improvement. Remember, it is salva- 
 tion you are in quest of, an object of such trans 
 cendant importance, as to be a check upon all 
 volatility, and of such value, as to encourage the 
 most exemplary patience. 
 
 7. Read calmly. You are anxious to obtain 
 eternal life ; you are eagerly asking, " What shall 
 I do to be saved." But still, you must not allow 
 your solicitude so far to agitate your mind, as to 
 prevent you from listening calmly and coolly for 
 the answer. In circumstances of great anxiety, 
 men are sometimes so much under the power of 
 excited feelings, that the judgment is bewildered, 
 and not only prevented from finding out what is 
 best to be done, but from seeing it when it is laid 
 down by another. This anxious and hurried state 
 of mind, is very common in those who are just 
 awakened to a concern about salvation ; they are 
 restless and eager to gain relief, but are defeated 
 in their object by their very solicitude to obtain it; 
 the scriptures are read, sermons are heard, advice 
 of friends is received, in a confused state of mind. 
 Now you must guard against this, and endeavour
 
 INTftODUCTlON. 11 
 
 so far to control your thoughts and calm your per- 
 turbation, as to attend to the counsels and cautions 
 which are here suggested. 
 
 8. / very earnestly recommend the perusal of 
 all those passages of scripture and chapters 
 which I have quoted, and which for the sake of 
 brevity I have only referred to, without quoting 
 the words. I lay great stress upon this. Read 
 this book with your bible at your elbow, and do not 
 think much of the trouble of turning to the passa- 
 ges quoted. If unhappily you should consider me, 
 or my little volume, as a substitute for the bible, in- 
 stead of a guide to it, I have done you an injury, 
 or rather you have done yourself an injury by thus 
 employing it. "As new born babes," says the 
 Apostle, " desire the sincere milk of the word, that 
 ye may grow thereby." And as those infants 
 thrive best who are fed from the breast of their 
 mother, so those converts grow most in grace, who 
 are most devoted to a spiritual perusal of the Scrip- 
 tures. If therefore I stand between you and the 
 Word of God, I do you great disservice ; but if I 
 persuade you to read the scriptures, I greatly help 
 you in your religious course. Perhaps, in the 
 present state of your mind, it is not desirous to
 
 12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 oegin and read regularly the Word of God, but to 
 go through those passages which I hare selected 
 and recommended. 
 
 And now may God, of his great goodness and 
 sovereign grace, deign to bless the perusal of this 
 oook to many immortal souls, by making it, how- 
 ever humble the production, the means of conduct- 
 ing them into the path of life.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 DEEP SOLICITUDE ABOUT SALVATION REASONABLE AND 
 NECESSARY. 
 
 READER, you have lately been awakened by the 
 mercy of God, to ask with some degree of anxiety, 
 that momentous question " What shall I do to be 
 saved ?" No wonder you should be anxious ; the 
 Wonder is, that you were not concerned about this 
 matter before, that you are not more deeply solici- 
 tous now, and that all who possess the Word of 
 God do not sympathize with you in this anxiety. 
 Every thing justifies solicitude and condemns indif- 
 ference. Unconcern about the soul, indifference to 
 salvation, is a most irrational as well as a most 
 guilty state of mind. The wildest enthusiasm 
 about these matters is less surprising and unreason- 
 able than absolute carelessness, as will appear from 
 the following considerations. 
 
 1. You are an immortal creature, a being born 
 
 for eternity, a creature that will never go out of 
 
 existence. Millions of ages, as numerous as the 
 
 sands upon the shore, and the drop> of the ocean, and 
 
 2
 
 14 ANXIETY. 
 
 the leaves of all the forests on the globe, will not 
 shorten the duration of your being; eternity, vast 
 eternity, incomprehensible eternity, is before you. 
 Every day brings you nearer to everlasting torments 
 or felicity. You may die any moment, and you are 
 as near to heaven or hell as you are to death. No 
 wonder you are asking " What shall I do to be 
 saved 7" 
 
 2. But the reasonableness of this anxiety ap- 
 pears, if you add to this consideration that you 
 are sinners. You have broken God's law ; you 
 have rebelled against his authority ; you have act- 
 ed as an enemy to him, and made him your ene- 
 my. If you had committed only one single act of 
 transgression, your situation would be alarming. 
 One sin would have subjected you to the sentence 
 of his law, and exposed you to his displeasure : 
 but you have committed sins more in number and 
 greater in magnitude than you know, or can con- 
 ceive of. Your whole life has been one continued 
 sin : you have, so far as God is considered, done 
 nothing but sin. Your transgressions have sent 
 up to heaven a cry for vengeance. You are actu- 
 ally under the curse of the Almighty. 
 
 3. Consider what the loss of the soul includes. 
 The loss of the soul, is the loss of every thing dear 
 to man as an immortal creature ; it is the loss of 
 heaven, with all its honours, felicities, and glories ; 
 it is the loss of God's favour, which is the life of 
 all rational creatures ; it is the loss of even' tliinrr
 
 ANXIETY. 16 
 
 that can contribute to our happiness ; and it is the 
 loss of hope, the last refuge of the wretched. The 
 loss of the soul includes in it all that is contained 
 in that dreadful word, Hell ; it is the eternal en- 
 durance of the wrath of God ; it is the lighting 
 down of the curse of the Almighty upon the human 
 spirit, or rather it is the falling of the human spirit 
 into that curse, as into a lake that burneth with fire 
 and brimstone. How true as well as solemn, are 
 the words of Christ, " What shall it profit a man 
 if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ; 
 or what shall a man give in exchange for his 
 soul." All the tears that ever have been or ever 
 will be shed on the face of the earth ; all the groans 
 that ever have been or ever will be heaved ; all the 
 anguish that ever has been or ever will be endured 
 by all the inhabitants of the world, through all the 
 ages of time, do not make up an equal amount of 
 misery to that which is included, in the loss of one 
 human soul. Justly therefore do you say, who are 
 exposed to this misery, " What shall I do to be 
 saved ?" 
 
 4. This solicitude is reasonable, if we consider 
 that the eternal loss of the soul is not a rare, but 
 a very common occurrence. It is so tremendous 
 a catastrophe, that if it happened only once in a 
 year, or once in a century, so as to render it barely 
 possible that it should happen to you, it would be 
 unpardonable carelessness, not to feel some solici- 
 tude about the matter : how much more then, when,
 
 16 ANXIETY. 
 
 alas ! it is an every day calamity. So far from its 
 being a rare thing for men to go to hell, it is a 
 much rarer thing for them to go to heaven. Our 
 Lord tells us that the road to destruction is throng- 
 ed, while the way to life is travelled by few. Hell 
 opens its mouth wide, and swallows up multitudes 
 in perdition. How alarming is the idea, and how 
 probable the fact, that you may be among this 
 number. Some that read these pages will very 
 likely spend their eternity with lost souls ; it is 
 therefore your wisdom, as well as your duty, to 
 cherish the anxiety which says, (i What shall I do 
 to be saved?" 
 
 5. Salvation is possible, for if it were not it 
 would be useless to be anxious about it. It would 
 be cruel, and only tormenting you before your time, 
 to encourage an anxiety which could never be re- 
 lieved by the possession of the object which excites 
 it Who, if such a thing Avere possible, would say 
 any thing to " lost souls in prison," by way of en- 
 couraging in them a solicitude to be saved? But 
 your case is not hopeless ; you may be saved ; you 
 are invited to be saved. Christ has died for your 
 salvation, and God waits to save you ; all the op- 
 portunities and advantages, and helps, and encour- 
 agements to salvation are round you; the blessing 
 is within your reach ; it is brought near to you ; and 
 it will be your own fault if you do not possess it. 
 Your solicitude is not therefore directed to an un- 
 attainable object.
 
 ANXIETY. 17 
 
 6. Salvation has been obtained by multitudes, 
 and why may it not be obtained by you? Mil- 
 lions in heaven are already saved ; myriads more 
 are on the road to salvation. God is still as will- 
 ing, and Christ is still as able to save you. as them ; 
 why then should not you be saved 1 
 
 7. And then what a blessing Salvation ! A 
 blessing that includes all the riches of grace, and 
 all the greater riches of glory ; deliverance from 
 sin, death, and hell ; the possession of pardon, peace, 
 holiness, and heaven ; a blessing, in short, immense, 
 infinite, everlasting : which occupied the mind of 
 Deity from eternity, was procured by the Son of 
 God upon the cross, and which will fill eternity 
 with its happiness. O, how little, how insignifi- 
 cant, how contemptible is the highest object of 
 human ambition, to say nothing of the lower mat- 
 ters of men's desires, compared with SALVATION. 
 Riches, rank, fame, honours, are but as the small 
 dust of the balance when compared with the sal- 
 vation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory 
 Who that pretends to the least regard to his own 
 happiness would not say, " What shall I do to be 
 saved ?" 
 
 8. The circumstances in which you are placed 
 for obtaining this blessing are partly favourable 
 
 and partly unfavourable. The love of God is 
 infinite ; the merit of Christ is infinite ; the power 
 of the Holy Spirit is infinite ; Jehovah is willing 
 and waiting to save you ; Christ invites ; all things
 
 18 AN X I ETT. 
 
 are ready, and the grace of God offered for your 
 conversion. On the other hand, you have a cor- 
 rupt heart, and are placed in a world where every 
 thing seems to combine to draw off your attention 
 from salvation, and to cause you to neglect it. 
 Satan is busy to blind your mind ; the world to fill 
 your imagination and heart with other objects, so 
 that even the " Righteous are scarcely saved." 
 You cannot quit the world and go into monasteries 
 and convents, but must seek the salvation of your 
 soul, amidst the engrossing cares of this busy and 
 troublesome world, where anxiety about the body 
 is so liable to put away anxiety about the soul, and 
 things seen and temporal are likely to withdraw 
 the attention from things that are unseen and eter- 
 nal. O, how difficult is it to pay just enough re- 
 gard to present things, and yet not too much ! How 
 difficult to attend properly to the affairs both of 
 tarth and heaven ; to be busy for two worlds at 
 once ! These circumstances may well excite your 
 solicitude. 
 
 Anxiety, then, deep anxiety about salvation, is 
 the most reasonable thing in the world : and we 
 feel almost ready to ask, can that man have a soul, 
 or know that he has one, who is careless about its 
 eternal happiness ? Is he a man, or a brute ? Is 
 he in the exercise of his reason, or is he a maniac ? 
 Ever walking on the edge of the precipice that 
 beetles over the bottomless pit, and not anxious 
 about salvation ! O fatal, awful, destructive in-
 
 ANXIETY. 19 
 
 difference ! cherish then your solicitude. You 
 must be anxious, you ought to be so, you cannot 
 be saved without it, for no man ever was, or ever 
 will be. The salvation of a lost soul, is such a 
 stupendous deliverance, such an infinitely momen 
 tous concern, that it is impossible in the very 
 nature of things, it should be bestowed on any one, 
 who is not in earnest to obtain it. This is the 
 very end of your existence, the purpose for which 
 God created you. Apart from this you are an 
 enigma in creation ; a mystery in nature. Why 
 has God given you faculties which seem to point 
 to eternity, and desires which go forward to it, if 
 he has not destined you for it ? ETERNAL, SALVA- 
 TION 13 THE GREAT END OF LIFE : GET WHAT YOU WILL, 
 IF YOU LOSE THIS YOU HAVE LOST THE PURPOSE OF 
 
 EXISTENCE. Could you obtain all the wealth of 
 the globe ; could you rise to the possession of uni- 
 versal empire ; could you by the most splendid 
 discoveries in science, or the most useful inven- 
 tions in art, or the most magnificent achievements 
 in literature, fill the earth with the fame of your 
 exploits, and send down your name with honour to 
 the latest ages of time, still if you lost the salvation 
 of your soul, you would have lived in vain. What- 
 ever you may gain, life will be a lost adventure, if 
 you do not gain salvation. The poorest creature 
 that ever yet obtained eternal life through faith in 
 Jesus Christ, although he had but a mere glimmer- 
 ing of intellect, just enough of understanding to
 
 20 ANXIETY. 
 
 apprehend the nature of repentance ; although he 
 lived out his days amidst the squalid poverty and 
 repulsive scenes of a hovel or a workhouse ; al- 
 though he was unknown even among the poor; 
 and although when he died was buried in the pau 
 per's grave on which no tear was ever shed, the 
 condition of even this poor refuse of society, is in- 
 finitely to be preferred to that of the most success- 
 ful merchant, the greatest conqueror, the profound- 
 est philosopher, or the sublimest poet, that ever 
 existed, if he lived and died without salvation. 
 The lowest place in heaven is infinitely to be pre- 
 ferred to the highest place on earth. Go on then 
 to urge the question, " What shall I do to be 
 saved!" Let no one turn off your attention from 
 this matter. As long as you covet this, your eye 
 and heart and hope are fixed on the sublimest 
 object in the universe; and when officious, but 
 ignorant friends, would persuade you that you are 
 too anxious, point them to the bottomless pit, and 
 ask them if any one can be too anxious to escape its 
 torments? Point them, to heaven, and ask them, 
 if any one can be too anxious to obtain its glories? 
 Point them to eternity, and ask them if any one 
 can be too anxious to secure immortality ? Point 
 them to the cross of Christ, and ask them if any 
 one can be too anxious to secure the object for 
 which he died ?
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS, AND THE IMMENSE IMPORT- 
 ANCE OF RETAINING AND DEEPENING THEM. 
 
 AWAKENED and anxious Sinner, your present 
 situation is a most momentous one. You are in 
 the crisis of your religious history, and of your 
 eternal destiny. No tongue can tell, no pen de- 
 scribe, the importance of your present circumstan- 
 ces. You are just arousing from your long slum- 
 ber of sin and spiritual death, and will now either 
 rise up and run the race that is set before you, or 
 will soon sink back again, as those are likely to do 
 who are just disturbed, into a deeper sleep than ever. 
 The Spirit of God is striving with you, and you 
 will yield to his suggestions, and give yourself 
 up to be led by his gracious influence, or you 
 \vill grieve him by Resistance and neglect, and 
 compel him to depart. God is drawing you with 
 the cords of love ; Christ is saying, " Behold I 
 stand at the door and knock." The Spirit is stri- 
 ving with you. Yield to these silken bands ; open 
 to that gracious Saviour ; grieve not, quench not, 
 the motions of that divine Spirit. Salvation is
 
 22 IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 come near, and heaven is opening to your soul. 
 Remember you may quench the Spirit not only by 
 direct resistance, but by careless neglect. Do not 
 I beseech you be insensible to your situation. A 
 single conviction ought not to be treated with in- 
 difference, nor a single impression be overlcoked. 
 You cannot long remain as you now are, your con- 
 victions will soon end in conversion, or in greater 
 indifference : like the blossoms of spring, they will 
 soon set in fruit, or fall to the ground. Should 
 your present solicitude diminish, it will soon sub- 
 side altogether; and if it subside, it may probably 
 never be revived. It is a most dangerous thing to 
 tamper or trifle with convictions of sin, and reli- 
 gious impressions. If you would not lose your 
 present feelings, take the following advice : 
 
 1. Admit the possibility of losing them. Do 
 not presume that it is impossible for you to relapse. 
 Let there be no approach to the vain glorious, self- 
 confident temper of the apostle Peter, who said, 
 " though all should forsake thee, yet will not I." 
 Nothing is more common than mere transient de- 
 votions. The character of Pliable, in the Pilgrim's 
 Progress, is one of every day's occurrence. There 
 are very few that hear the gospel who are not at 
 one time, or other, the subject of religious impres- 
 sions. Multitudes who are lifting up their eyes in 
 torment, are looking back upon lost impressions. 
 Do not conclude that because you are now so con- 
 cerned about salvation, you must be saved. O no.
 
 IMPRESSIONS. 23 
 
 Many that will read these pages, under the deep- 
 est solicitude, will add to the number of backsliders. 
 Self-confidence will be sure to end in confusion; 
 while self-diffidence is the way to stand. 
 
 2. Dread the idea of relapsing into indiffer- 
 ence. Let the bare apprehension make you trem- 
 ble. Exclaim in an almost agony of spirit, " Oh, 
 if I should prove treacherous ; if my goodness 
 should be as the morning cloud or early dew ; if 
 this heart of mine, which now seems so much 
 in earnest, should become indifferent; if my soul, 
 which now seems not far from the kingdom of 
 God, should go back from its very gates and 
 walk the ways of God no more ; if my friends or 
 minister should meet me in a retreating course, 
 and have to say to me, ' you did run well, what 
 has hindered you.' Dreadful change ! May God 
 in mercy prevent it." My dear reader, let these be 
 your reflections. Let death seem to you to be rather 
 coveted than backsliding ; let it be your feeling 
 that you would rather go forward in the pursuit of 
 salvation, though you were to die the moment 
 your sins were pardoned, than gain long life and 
 the whole world, by going back to indifference. 
 Next to the loss of the soul, there is nothing so 
 dreadful in itself, nor so much to be dreaded, as the 
 loss of religious impressions ; and the latter leads 
 on to the former. 
 
 3. Make it a subject of devout and earnest 
 prayer, that God uould render your impressions
 
 24 IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 permanent, by the effectual aid of his Holy Spirit. 
 Reader, here learn these two lessons, that God 
 alone can seal these emotions upon your heart; 
 and he can be expected to do it only in answer to 
 prayer. It is of infinite consequence that you should, 
 at this stage of your religious history, deeply ponder 
 this great truth, that all true piety in the heart of 
 man is the work of God's Spirit. Do not read an- 
 other line till you have well weighed that senti- 
 ment, and have so wrought it into your heart, as 
 to make it become a principle of action, a rule of 
 conduct. Every conviction will be extinguished, 
 every impression will be effaced, unless God him- 
 self, by his own sovereign and efficacious grace, 
 render them permanent. If God do not put forth 
 his power, you will as certainly lose every pious 
 emotion as you now possess any. You may as 
 rationally expect light without the sun, as piety 
 without God. Not a single really holy feeling will 
 ever come into the mind, or be kept there, but by 
 God. Hence, the object and the use of prayer, are 
 to obtain this gracious influence. Prayer is the 
 first step in the divine life, prayer is the second, 
 prayer is the third, and indeed it is necessary 
 through the whole Christian course. Awakened 
 sinner, you must pray. You must find opportunity 
 to be alone ; you must cry mightily unto God; you 
 must implore his aid ; you must give up a portion 
 of your sleep if you can command no time in the 
 day for prayer. In one sense you should pray
 
 
 IMPRESSIONS. 25 
 
 always. The spirit of prayer should dwell in you 
 and never depart, and be continually leading you 
 to ejaculatory petitions, in the house and by the 
 way, upon your bed and in your occupations ; and 
 this should be the subject of your petitions, that 
 your impressions may not be permitted to die away 
 but go on to conversion. You may read books, 
 consult friends, hear sermons, make resolutions ; 
 but books, friends, sermons, resolutions, will all 
 fail, if God do not give his Holy Spirit. It is very 
 common for beginners to trust too much to means, 
 and too little to God. If you will not, or even if 
 you suppose you cannot, find time for private prayer, 
 you may as well stop at once and give up the pur- 
 suit of salvation, for you cannot be saved without it. 
 4. If you would retain your impressions, and 
 persevere in the pursuit of salvation, you must at 
 once determine to give up whatever you know to 
 be sinful in your conduct, and you must also be 
 very watchful against sin. Thus runs the direc- 
 tion of the word of God, " Seek the Lord while he 
 may be found, call upon him while he is near ; let 
 the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous 
 man his thoughts ; and let him return unto the 
 Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to 
 our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Isaiah, 
 Iv. 6, 7. To the same effect is the language of one 
 of Job's friends. " If thou prepare thine heart and 
 stretch out thine hands towards him, if iniquity be 
 in thy hand put it away." Job xi. 13, 14. It is 
 3
 
 J 
 
 26 IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 right for you at once to know, that the salvation 
 which is in Christ is a deliverance/rcwi sin. " Thou 
 shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his 
 people from their sins," said the angel to Joseph, 
 when he announced the approaching nativity of 
 Christ, " Who gave himself for us that he might 
 redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto him- 
 self a peculiar people, zealous of good works." 
 Titus ii. 14. It is of immense consequence that 
 you should at once have a distinct idea that the 
 salvation you are beginning to seek, is a holy call- 
 ing. Whatever is sinful in your temper, such as 
 malice, revenge, violent passions ; or whatever is 
 sinful in your words, in the way of falsehood, rail- 
 ing, backbiting ; or whatever is sinful in your prac- 
 tice, in the way of sabbath -breaking, injustice, 
 unkindness, undutifulness to parents or masters, 
 must immediately be given up without hesitation, 
 reluctance, or reserve. The 'retaining of one 
 single sin, which you know to be such, will soon 
 stifle all your convictions, and efface all your im- 
 pressions. If you are not willing to give up your 
 sins, it is not salvation you are seeking. You 
 may suppose you wish to become a Christian, 
 and you read the bible, and offer up prayers, and 
 regularly hear sermons, and wonder that you do 
 not get on in religion ; but perhaps the reason is, 
 you are not willing to give up your sins, your 
 worldly-mindedness, your carnal pleasures, or some 
 practice that you find to be gainful or agreeable.
 
 IMPRESSIONS. 27 
 
 although you know it to be sinful. Well then, 
 you cannot get on in this state of mind. Do, do, 
 therefore, look carefully within, examine faithfully 
 your conduct, and see whether there be in you any 
 thing, which you know to be wrong, but which you 
 are nevertheless unwilling to abandon ; if there 
 is, it is vain for you to think of retaining your im- 
 pressions, and becoming a Christian. And let me 
 also remind you, that this Avillingness to give up 
 your sins must be immediate ; you must desire and 
 purpose an instant abandonment of sin. Augus- 
 tine confesses that he used to pray to God to con- 
 vert him, but with this reservation, u Lord, not yet." 
 He wished to live a little longer in the gratifica- 
 tion of his sinful lusts, before he was completely 
 turned to the Lord from his evil ways. Thus there 
 are some who are, or profess to be, desirous to be 
 converted at some time or other, and who are will- 
 ing to give up their sins, but "not yet." There is 
 a mixture of feeling, a concern to be saved, but a 
 lingering love of some sin, and the matter is settled 
 by a resolution to sacrifice the sin at some future 
 time. Awful delusion ! God says now, and you 
 must reply, yes, Lord, no\v. I would now be con- 
 verted from this and every sin. 
 
 And not only must you be willing, to give up 
 sin, but you must watch most carefully against 
 it. You are in a most tender and delicate state of 
 mind ; and a very small indulgence of sin, may put 
 away all your religious feelings. Even the giving
 
 28 IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 way lo a bad temper, may do irreparable mischief 
 to your soul, and hinder your pursuit of eternal 
 life. You ought especially to watch against your 
 besetting sin, whatever it be, according to the ex- 
 hortation of the apostle. Heb. xii. 1. At the same 
 time I would caution you against being discour- 
 aged by occasional failures ; you are not to throw 
 all up in despair because you are occasionally 
 overcome by temptation. Instances of this kind 
 should make you more watchful, but not despond- 
 ing. I shall say more on this subject hereafter. 
 
 5. It is of great consequence for you, to sepa- 
 rate yourselves from irreligious or worldly com- 
 panions. It will require some courage, and call 
 for some painful self-denial, to retire from the 
 society of those with whom you have been in the 
 habit of associating, but if they are ungodly per- 
 sons, it must be done. Read what God and good 
 men have said on this subject. Psalm cxix. 62. 
 Prov. i. 11, 16. ii. 12, 19. xxxix. 6. xiii. 20. 1 Cor. 
 xv. 33. 2 Cor. vi. 14, 18. Comply with these ad- 
 monitions, and quit the society of all who think 
 lightly of religion. Their company and conversa- 
 tion will soon draw you aside from the ways of 
 piety. Their levity, their indifference, their neg- 
 lect of salvation, will be destruction to all your re- 
 ligious feelings. Even Christians of long standing, 
 and of deeply rooted piety, fmd such society very 
 unfriendly to their religion, and avoid it as much 
 as possible ; how much more dangerous will it be
 
 I* ' 
 
 IMPRESSIONS. 29 
 
 to you, whose religion is yet so feeble and incapa- 
 ble of much opposition 1 Even if such compa- 
 nions do not attempt to laugh or reason you out of 
 your concern for your soul, which, however, they 
 will be almost sure to do, and never cease till they 
 have succeeded, their very conversation and gene 
 ral disposition will wither your tender piety, as an 
 east wind does the blossoms of spring. You must 
 then give up either your sinful associates, or your 
 salvation; for if you cannot, or rather will not 
 break off from such companions as are opposed to 
 religion, you may as well relinquish all hope of 
 eternal life, since the preservation of pious feeling, 
 and communion with the ungodly, are utterly in- 
 compatible with each other. 
 
 6. It is transcendently important that you should 
 use all those scriptural means which are calcu- 
 lated and intended to keep up a due sense of re- 
 ligion in the mind. These you must immediately 
 and most earnestly employ : no time is to be lost, 
 no labour is to be spared, no sacrifice is to be 
 grudged. Your soul and all her eternal interests 
 are at stake. ^ Hell is to be escaped, heaven is to 
 be sought, Satan is to be conquered, salvation is to 
 be obtained. Your enemies are numerous and 
 mighty ; your difficulties are immense, though not 
 insurmountable. Every energy must be roused, 
 every exertion must be made, every help called in, 
 every lawful means employed. Read the follow- 
 ing passages of God's Word, and see if religion be 
 3*
 
 30 IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 a light and easy work. " Seek first the kingdom 
 of God and his righteousness." Matt. vi. 33. 
 " Strive to enter in at the straight gate, for many 
 I say will seek to enter in and shall not be able." 
 Luke xiii. 24. "Labour for the meat that en- 
 dureth to eternal life." John vi. 27. " Fight the 
 good fight of faith, and lay hold of eternal life." 
 1 Tim. vi. 12. " Whosoever will come after me, 
 let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and 
 follow me." Mark viii. 34, 38. What metaphors ! 
 What language ! We might almost feel prompted 
 to ask, " Who then can be saved, if such anxiety, 
 such effort, be necessary." Even the righteous are 
 scarcely saved. If you do not, like David, seek the 
 favour of God with your whole heart, you will 
 never have it. You may more rationally think to 
 reach the top of the highest mountain on earth 
 without labour, than to imagine you can reach 
 heaven without effort. If you suppose a. few wishes 
 or a little exertion will do, you mistake, and the 
 sooner you are undeceived the better. But I will 
 now specify the means you should use. 
 
 Immediately commence the devout and diligent 
 perusal of the scriptures. " As new born babes 
 desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may 
 grow thereby." 1 Pet. ii. 1. The bible is the food 
 of the soul, even as the mother's milk is for the 
 nourishment of her child ; and you may as easily 
 believe that the infant will grow without food, as 
 that you will grow in knowledge or grace, without
 
 * . 
 
 IMPRESSIONS. 21 
 
 the scriptures. Read both for instruction, and for 
 impression : read attentively and with meditation : 
 pause and ponder as you go along. Neglect not 
 the Book of God for the books of men ; the latter 
 may be read as the interpreters, but not as the sub- 
 stitutes of the former. If you do not find the bible 
 so interesting to you at first as you expected and 
 wished, still go on, it will grow upon acquaintance. 
 Nothing is so likely to keep up and to deepen re- 
 ligious impressions, as the serious perusal of the 
 scriptures ; they are the very element of devotion. 
 Of two inquirers after salvation, he will be most 
 likely to persevere and to grow in piety, who is 
 most diligent in reading the Word of God. Do not 
 be disheartened by finding much that you cannot 
 at present understand ; there is much that you can 
 understand. Read in course, and instead of be- 
 ginning the Bible, and going regularly through it, 
 take the Psalms, the Gospels, and the Epistles, and 
 make these the first portion you attend to. 
 
 Attend with regularity and seriousness upon 
 the preaching of Ihe gospel. Sermons are invalu- 
 able helps to the anxious inquirer. Hear the word 
 preached with a deep conviction, that it will do 
 you no good but as God blesses it, and therefore 
 look above the minister to God by prayer. Pray 
 before you go to hear sermons ; pray while you 
 hear; and pray after you have heard. Go from 
 the closet of private prayer to the place of public 
 worship, and from the place of public worship back
 
 92 IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 again to prayer. Apply the word as you hear it 
 to yourself, hear with attention, hear as for your- 
 self, hear as for salvation. Avoid a light and 
 careless way of attending upon the means of grace. 
 Grow not sinfully familiar with sacred things. 
 Avoid general conversation after sermons ; and 
 gratify not those evil spirits who desire to steal 
 away the good seed of the word from those hearts 
 in which it is sown. Diligently attend meetings 
 for social prayer : the prayers of good men are 
 like gentle breezes to fan the spark of piety in the 
 young convert's heart. The prayer meeting is 
 an atmosphere of devotion. Inquirers, frequent 
 prayer meetings, then ; it is there the solemn im- 
 pressions of sacred things are strengthened. You 
 are there prayed with, and prayed for : you there 
 hear what more advanced Christians feel and de- 
 sire, and their prayers are some of the best instruc- 
 tions you can receive : there you begin to have 
 your hearts knit together in love with the people 
 of God. 
 
 You should seeJc the instructions and counsels 
 of some pious friend, with whom you should be 
 free and full in laying open the state of your 
 mind. Frequent the company of the righteous, 
 and at once identify yourself with them. You 
 must not be ashamed to be seen with the people 
 of God, but be willing to let your attachment to 
 his cause, and your adherence to his people, be 
 openly known. Many persons wish to come and
 
 IMPRESSIONS. 33 
 
 make secret peace with God, because fear, or pride, 
 or interest, remonstrates against an open admission 
 of his claims. They keep their convictions to 
 themselves, and hence they sometimes soon die 
 away for want of support. But it is especially 
 desirable, that you should make known your 
 mind to your minister. Go without delay to him. 
 Perhaps he has meetings for inquirers, at any rate 
 he ought to have, and even if he has not, he will 
 be glad to hear your account of yourselves, and 
 tenderly sympathize with you under your anxieties. 
 If he be like his Divine Master, he will " gather 
 the lambs of the flock in his arms, carry them in his 
 bosom, and gently lead those that are with young." 
 Be not afraid to go to him ; if you are timid and 
 unable to say much, he will understand your broken 
 hints, kindly elicit your sentiments and feelings, 
 and give you suitable instruction and encourage- 
 ment. One half hour's conversation with a skilful 
 physician of souls, will do more to assist you in 
 this first stage of your religious history, than the 
 reading of many books, and the hearing of many 
 sermons. 
 
 Remember, however, after all there is a danger 
 of too much depending upon means, as well as of 
 too much neglecting them. Forget not what I 
 have said concerning the work of the Spirit of God. 
 He is your helper ; neither friends nor minister ; 
 neither reading nor hearing ; no, nor the bible itself, 
 must lead you away from your dependance on the
 
 31 IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 Holy Ghost. Many inquirers seem to have no 
 hope or expectation of good but in connexion with 
 means ; if they are cut off from sermons even oc- 
 casionally, or have not precisely the same number 
 and kind of ordinances they have been accustomed 
 to, they are gloomy and desponding, fretful and 
 peevish, and hence do not only get no good, but 
 much harm, by their unbelief and bad temper. We 
 must depend upon God, and upon nothing but God, 
 who could bless his people in the darkness of a 
 dungeon, where the bible could not be read, or in 
 the solitude of a wilderness, where no gospel ser- 
 mon could be heard. 
 
 It is of consequence that you should here dis- 
 tinctly understand, that the grace of God in your 
 salvation is rich and free. Your exertions in seek- 
 ing salvation do not merit or deserve it ; and if you 
 receive it, you will not have it granted to you as 
 the reward of your own efforts to obtain it. To 
 imagine that you can claim the grace that is ne- 
 cessary to your conversion, because you profess to 
 seek it, is lo follow the wretched example of those, 
 who in ancient times "went about to establish the'r 
 own righteousness, and did not submit themselves 
 unto the righteousness of God." Your deep con- 
 victions, impressions, and solicitude ; your many 
 tears ; your earnest prayers ; your diligent attend 
 ance upon sermons ; and your partial reformations, 
 as they rise .from no higher or more sacred motive 
 than self-love, and are not originated by love to
 
 IMPRESSIONS. 35 
 
 God, can claim nothing in the way of reward from 
 Him; nor is he bound to save you for that which 
 has no reference to his glory : till you believe God's 
 promise, he is under no obligation even to himself, 
 to save you. Notwithstanding all your concern, 
 you lie at his mercy, and if you are saved, it is of 
 pure favour. This subject will be again referred 
 to hereafter. Nor should you allow yourselves to 
 conclude, that your present concern is sure to end 
 in the con version of your soul to God. Nothing is 
 more likely to deaden, and even to destroy religious 
 impressions, than to infer, that you are sure of being 
 converted, because you are anxious about it ; facts 
 are against such an inference. " I have read of a 
 gentleman, who felt in a dangerous sickness great 
 horror at the review of his past life, and was advised 
 to send for the minister of the parish, who might 
 be able to set his mind at rest. The minister came. 
 The gentleman told him that if God would be 
 pleased to preserve him from death, his life should 
 be the reverse of what it had been. He would 
 regularly attend church ; he would catechize his 
 servants ; he would regularly worship God in his 
 family, and in his closet ; he would, in short, do 
 every thing a good Christian should do. His wishes 
 were accomplished ; he was thankful for his de- 
 liverance, and did not forget his promises. For 
 many months he continued, as far as his conduct 
 could be judged of by the world, to perform his 
 vows. At last, however, he thought so much reh-
 
 3C I M V R E S 3 I N 3 . 
 
 gion superfluous. He first left off the duties of the 
 closet and family ; public duties at last became like- 
 wise too wearisome, and he became again the same 
 man that he formerly was. After some time, he 
 was again seized by a dangerous distemper, and was 
 advised by his friends to send again for the min- 
 ister, that he might afford fresh consolation to his 
 wounded spirit. No, said he, after breaking all 
 the promises that I made to God, I cannot expect 
 mercy from Him. Death found him in this un- 
 happy state of mind, and carried him to that world 
 where there are no changes." This story, with 
 some variations of no consequence, may be told of 
 myriads. Impressions are made upon the minds 
 of sinners, which are attended with visible conse- 
 quences, that give rise to favourable hopes in the 
 breasts of friends and ministers ; but their hopes 
 often prove illusions. " When the Lord slew the 
 children of Israel, then they sought him, and they 
 returned and inquired early after God ; and they 
 remembered that the Lord had been their rock, and 
 the High God their redeemer ; yet they lied unto 
 him with their mouths, and flattered him with their 
 tongues. Psalm Ixxviii. 35. They did not inten- 
 tionally lie. They seem frequently to have been 
 sincere at the time in their promises, not indeed 
 with a godly sincerity ; " yet their hearts -were 
 not right with God, neither were they steadfast 
 in his covenant ;" and the reason why they were 
 not steadfast in the covenant was, because, though
 
 IMPRESSIONS. 37 
 
 they were impressed, their hearts were not right 
 with God. 
 
 Perhaps there is no minister of the gospel who 
 could not furnish some most affecting illustrations 
 of the sentiment, that impressions and convictions 
 do not always end in conversion. I began my own 
 religious course with three companions, one of 
 whom was materially serviceable in some particu- 
 lars to myself; but he soon proved that his religion 
 was nothing more than mere transient devotion ; 
 a second returned to his sin " like a dog to his 
 vomit, and a sow that is washed to her wallowing 
 in the mire." The third, who was for Some time 
 my intimate friend, imbibed the principles of infi- 
 delity ; and so great was his zeal for his new creed, 
 that he sat up at night to copy out Pain.e's Age of 
 Reason. After awhile he was seized with a dan- 
 gerous disease; his conscience awoke; the convic 
 tions of his mind were agonizing; his remorse was 
 horrible. He ordered all his infidel extracts, that 
 had cost him so many nights to copy out, to be 
 burnt before his face ; and if not in words, yet in 
 spirit, 
 
 " Burn, burn, he cried, in sacred rage, 
 
 Hell is the due of ev'ry page." 
 
 His infidel companions and his infidel principles 
 forsook him at once, and before a pious friend who 
 visited him, and to whom he confessed with tears 
 and lamentations his backsliding, he uttered his 
 confessions of sin, and his vows of repentance. He 
 4
 
 88 IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 recovered ; but painful to relate, it was only to re- 
 lapse again, if not into infidelity, yet at any rate 
 into an utter disregard to religion. 
 
 These are awful instances, and prove by facts, 
 which are unanswerable arguments, that it is but 
 too certain that many seek to enter in at the straight 
 gate, but do not accomplish their object. And 
 why ? Not because God is unwilling to save them, 
 but because they rest in impressions without going 
 on to actual conversion. It is dangerous then, 
 reader, as well as unwarranted, to conclude that 
 you are sure to be saved, because you now feel 
 anxious to be saved. It is very true, that where 
 God has begun a good work he will carry it on 
 until the day of Christ Jesus ; but do not conclude 
 too certainly, that he has begun it. You may take 
 encouragement from your present state of mind to 
 hope that you will be saved ; but even now, that 
 encouragement should rather come from what God 
 has promised, and what God is, than from what 
 you feel. To regard your present state of mind, 
 therefore, with complacency ; to conceive of it as 
 preferring any claim upon God to convert you ; to 
 look upon it as affording a certainty that you will 
 be ultimately converted, a kind of pledge and earn- 
 est of salvation, instead of considering it only as 
 struggles after salvation which may or may not be 
 successful, according as they are continued in a 
 right manner, is the way to lose the impressions 
 themselves, and to turn back again to sin or the
 
 IMPRESSIONS. 39 
 
 world. The true light in which to consider your 
 present solicitude, is that of a state of mind which if 
 it terminate in genuine faith, and which it is proba- 
 ble it may, will end in your salvation ; consequently 
 the object of your ceaseless care should be, to per- 
 petuate your anxiety, and seek the grace of Jeho- 
 vah to give you sincere repentance towards God 
 and true faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON THE IMPORTANCE OF GAINING SCRIPTURAL KNOW- 
 LEDGE, AND CLEAR VIEWS OF DIVINE TROTH. 
 
 THERE is scarcely any one point to which the 
 attention of anxious inquirers should be more ear- 
 nestly and carefully directed, than to the necessity 
 of an accurate understanding of the scheme of 
 salvation, and the doctrines of the scripture. You 
 must endeavour to have clear ideas, correct views, 
 precise and intelligent notions. The concern of 
 many persons is nothing more than an ignorant 
 anxiety to be religious ; they have scarcely one 
 definite idea of what religion is. Others are a little 
 better informed than this, but still have no notion 
 of piety, but as either a state of excited feeling, or 
 a course of outward observances. Now it is im- 
 portant that you should perceive that the whole 
 superstructure of personal godliness rests on know- 
 ledge. True conversion is emphatically called, 
 " coming to the knowledge of the truth." Your 
 impressions will be easily effaced, and your con- 
 cern will soon subside, if you do not give yourself 
 time, and use the means to become acquainted with
 
 KNOWLEDGE. 41 
 
 the truth. There is much to be learnt and known, 
 as well as to be felt and done, and you cannot 
 either feel or act aright, unless you do learn. The 
 reason why so many turn back, and others go on so 
 slowly, is because they do not study to make them- 
 selves acquainted with divine truth. Suppose a 
 man were travelling through a strange country, 
 could he get on without consulting his map? 
 Would it be of any service to wish he could travel 
 faster and get on better, if he never looked at his 
 book of roads ? How can you get on in the way 
 to heaven, without studying the bible, which is a 
 map of the road ? Or, changing the illustration, 
 suppose you were in pecuniary difficulties, and 
 some friend had told you not only how to extricate 
 yourself from your perplexities, but also how to 
 acquire great wealth, and in order to guard you 
 from error, had given you long written direc- 
 tions. What would you do? Sit down and wish 
 and long for success, and immediately set out in a 
 great bustle to realize the promised advantages ? 
 No. You would say, " my success depends upon 
 knowledge, upon my making myself accurately 
 acquainted with the particulars of my friend's 
 written directions. I will read them, therefore, 
 with the greatest care till I have every one of his 
 ideas in my mind, for it is quite useless to exert 
 myself, if I do not know how my exertions are to 
 be directed." This you confess is quite rational, 
 and is it not quite as necessary for you to be ac- 
 4*
 
 42 KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 quainted with the subject of religion, in order 
 to be truly pious 1 ? Knowledge, knowledge, my 
 friends, is indispensable. Religion is repentance 
 toAvards God ; but can you repent if you do not 
 know the character of the God whom you. have 
 offended, the law you have broken, and the sin 
 you have committed'? Religion is faith in our 
 Lord Jesus Christ ; but can you really believe, if 
 you do not know whom and what you are to be- 
 lieve? Religion is the love pf God, but can you 
 love a Being whom you do not know ? You must 
 give youjcself therefore time and opportunity for 
 reflection; you must bring your understanding to 
 the business, you must study religion as a science 
 to be known, as well as a passion tp be felt, or a 
 rule to be observed. It is of great consequence 
 that at this stage of your progress, you should 
 clearly understand, that it is an obvious law of the 
 human mind, that neither faith nor feeling of any 
 kind, can be produced by any other means than 
 that of knowledge. Suppose you want to believe 
 a person, or love him, or rejoice in him, could you 
 work up your mind to this faith in a direct way ? 
 No, you must know some grounds on which you 
 can credit him, and some excellences which render 
 him worthy of your affection, and some facts which 
 are a just cause of joy. No passion or affection 
 can be called into exercise but by the knowledge 
 of something that is calculated to excite that affec- 
 tion. You may tiy as long as you please to work
 
 KNOWLEDGE. 43 
 
 upon the mind directly, but the thing is manifestly 
 impossible. Hence then the importance of grow- 
 ing in knowledge of divine things. The way to 
 have your faith increased, is to increase in the 
 knowledge of what is to be believed; and if you 
 would be rooted and grounded in love, you must 
 first be rooted and grounded in the knowledge of 
 what you are to love. The order of nature is first 
 to know, then to feel, then to act ; and grace fol- 
 lows the order of nature. I deduce, therefore, this 
 inference, that in the whole business of religion 
 the eye of the inquirer must be muchfxed on ob- 
 jects out of himself, on those that are presented in 
 the word of God. If you ask what are the subjects 
 which you should endeavour to understand, I place 
 before you the following. 
 
 1. The moral character of God. The know- 
 ledge of God is the basis of all religion. God is a 
 spirit, as to his nature ; almighty, all-knowing, and 
 every were present, searching the hearts and trying 
 the reins of the children of rnen. As to his moral 
 attributes, it is said, " God is love," and " God is 
 light ;" by which we are to understand, that he is 
 both benevolent and holy. Yes, so holy, that the 
 very heavens are unclean before him. He is also 
 so perfectly righteous, so inflexibly just, as to be 
 compelled by the infinite perfection of his nature 
 to reveal his wrath against all ungodliness and un- 
 righteousness of men ; and at the same time a God 
 that cannot lie, but who will fulfil every word of
 
 44 KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 promise or threatening. O my reader, dwell upon 
 this view of the divine character, an infinite hatred 
 and opposition to sin. An infinite purity, an im- 
 mutable justice, an inviolable truth. Pause and 
 ponder : but canst thou lift up thine eyes and bear 
 the sight ? Why the cherubim veil their faces 
 with their wings, as they stand before the great 
 white throne, and say one to another, " Holy, 
 Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts," while the pro- 
 phet filled with terror, falls prostrate, exclaiming, 
 " Wo is me, for I am undone, because I am a man 
 of unclean lips." Isaiah vi. O the deep depravity, 
 the utter sinfulness of man before this holy God ! 
 
 2. You must understand the law, I mean the law 
 of the ten commandments ; the moral law. You 
 must know the spirituality of the law, by which 
 we mean that it demands the obedience of the mind 
 and heart ; it is made for the soul's innermost re- 
 cesses, as well as for the actions of the life. God 
 sees and searches the mind, and therefore demands 
 the perfect obedience of the heart, and forbids its 
 evil dispositions. By the law of God as interpret- 
 ed by Christ, even sinful anger is murder, and un- 
 chaste feelings are adultery. The law demands 
 from every human being sinless perfect obedience 
 from the beginning to the end of life, in thought, 
 word, and deed ; it abates nothing of its demands, 
 and makes no allowances for human weakness. 
 Matthew v. 1748. James ii. 10, 11. The per- 
 fection of the law is a tremendous subject, it is an
 
 KNOWLEDGE. 45 
 
 awful mirror for a sinful creature to look into. 
 You must also understand the design of the law; 
 it is not given to save us, but to govern us and con- 
 demn us ; to show us what sin is, and to condemn 
 us for committing it. Rom. iii. 20. Gal. iii. 19. 
 You can know nothing, if you do not know the 
 law. "Sin is the transgression of the law;" but 
 how can you know sin, if you do not know the law? 
 O inquire how many, how great are thy transgres- 
 sions, if every departure from this law, in feeling 
 as well as in action, is a sin. Nor is this all ; for 
 to fall short of the law is sin, no less then to oppose 
 it. Read what our Lord has said, Matthew xxii. 
 37. " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
 thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
 mind, and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." 
 Alarming representation ! Hast thou thus loved 
 God, and thy neighbour 1 Confounding and over- 
 whelming question ! What a state of sin have 
 you been living in ! Your whole life has been sin, 
 for you have not loved God, and not to love God, 
 is all sins in one. Who can think of greater sin 
 than not loving God ? To love the world, to love 
 trifles, to love even sin, and not love God ! 
 
 3. But this leads me to remark that it is neces- 
 sary you should understand the evil of sin. Men 
 think little of sin : but does God ? What turned 
 Adam and Eve out of Paradise? Sin. What 
 drowned the old world in the flood ? Sin. What 
 destroyed God's own city, and scattered his chosen
 
 4 KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 people, as vagrants over the face of the earth ? 
 Sin. What brought disease, accidents, toil, care, 
 war, pestilence, and famine, into the world? Sin. 
 What has converted the world into one great bury- 
 ing-place of its inhabitants ? Sin. What lighted 
 the flames of hell? Sin. What crucified the Lord 
 of life and glory ? Sin. What then must sin be ? 
 Who but God, and what but his infinite mind, can 
 conceive of its evil nature ? Did you ever think of 
 this ? It was only one sin that brought death and 
 all our woes into the world. Do you not tremble 
 at the thought that this evil is in you? Some will 
 attempt to persuade you, that sin is a trifle ; that 
 God floes not take much account of it ; that you 
 need not give yourself much concern about it. But 
 what says God himself, in his word, in his provi- 
 dence, in the torments of the damned, in the cru- 
 cifixion of his Son ? You have not only sin enough, 
 in yourself to deserve the bottomless pit, and to 
 sink you to it, unless it be pardoned ; but sin enough, 
 if it could be divided and distributed to others, to 
 doom multitudes to perdition. 
 
 4. But it is not enough to know your actual sins, 
 you must also clearly understand your original 
 and inherent depravity of heart. There is the 
 sin of your nature, as well as the sin of your con- 
 duct. Our Lord has told us, " that those things 
 which proceed out f the mouth, come forth from 
 the heart ; for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, 
 murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false-wit-
 
 KNOWLEDGE. 47 
 
 ness, blasphemies." Matthew xv. 18, 19. The 
 heart is the polluted fountain from whence all the 
 muddy streams of evil conduct flow. The heart 
 is the great storehouse of iniquity. Men some- 
 times make excuse for their evil deeds, by saying, 
 that they have good hearts at bottom : this, how- 
 ever, is an awful mistake, for every man's heart, 
 not excepting the most wicked, is really worse than 
 his conduct. Why do not men seek, serve, and 
 love God? Because the carnal mind is enmity 
 against him. Why do sinners go on in sin 1 Be- 
 cause they love it in their hearts. This was not 
 the original condition of man, for God created 
 Adam in his own image, i. e. in righteousness and 
 true holiness; but by disobeying God in eating the 
 forbidden fruit, our first parent fell into a state of 
 sin, and we having descended from him, since the 
 fall, inherit his corruption. Rom. v. 12 21. It is 
 of vast consequence for you to know that you are 
 thus totally corrupt in your very nature, and through 
 all your faculties, for without this knowledge you 
 will be taken up with a mere outward reformation, 
 to the neglect of an entire inward renovation. If 
 you saw a man Avho had a bad and loathsome dis- 
 ease of the skin, merely applying outward lotions 
 and fomentations, you would remind him, that the 
 seat of the disorder was in the blood, and admon- 
 ish him to purify that by medicine. You must 
 first make the tree good, said our Lord, for good 
 fruit cannot be borne by a bad tree. So your heart
 
 48 KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 must be renewed, or you can never perform good 
 works. You not only need the pardon of actual 
 sin, but you need also the removal of original sin. 
 You must have a new heart, a right spirit, or you 
 cannot be saved. Read Psalm li. Psalm hii. John 
 iii. 18. Gal. v. 1925. Ephes. iv. 1724. 
 
 5. You must endeavour at once to gain clear and 
 distinct notions of the precise design of Christ's 
 mediatorial office and 'work. All will be confu- 
 sion in your ideas, and unrelieved distress in your 
 souls, if you do not understand this subject. It is 
 not enough to know in a general way that Christ 
 died to save sinners: did it ever occur to you to 
 ask the question, " Why did God save sinners in 
 this way ?" "Why was it necessary for his Son to 
 become incarnate, suffer and die upon the cross 
 for their salvation ? Why was it not enough thai 
 they should repent and reform, in order to their 
 being pardoned ? What precise end was to be ac- 
 complished by the death of Christ ? I will show 
 you this design. FIRST, as it relates to God. Is 
 not God holy, and does he not abhor sin? Yes, 
 with a perfect hatred. Is he not a righteous gover- 
 nor of the universe, and has he not given a law, 
 to which he demands perfect obedience ; and has 
 he not threatened death upon all who break this 
 law ? Certainly. Have not all men broken this 
 law and incurred its penalty ? Yes. Suppose then 
 that upon the sinner's repentance, even admitting 
 that he were disposed to repent and reform, God
 
 KNOWLEDGE. 49 
 
 Were to receive him back to his favour ; and sup- 
 pose he was to do this in every case, where would 
 be his truth in threatening to iollow sin with pun- 
 ishment ; and how would his holiness or hatred of 
 sin appear, or his justice in punishing sin ? Would 
 it not seem a light thing to sin against God ; would 
 not the law be destroyed, and God's moral govern- 
 ment be set aside ? Could any government, human 
 or divine, exist with an indiscriminate dispensation 
 of pardon to all offenders upon their repentance 1 
 But you say, perhaps, what is to be done ? Is not 
 repentance all that the sinner has to offer? I reply, 
 is repentance all that God is bound to require "? Be- 
 sides, it is not all that the sinner has to give, for he 
 can also suffer the penalty. Convinced and anx- 
 ious sinner, I put it to your own conscience and 
 feelings, do you not begin to see the holiness of 
 God and the evil of sin ; and do you think you 
 could ever be at rest, if you had nothing but repent- 
 ance to offer ? No, you have tried it. You have 
 left off many sins, and begun many neglected du- 
 ties; you have read, and prayed, and wept, and 
 watched, but are you at peace ? No, say you ; as 
 far from it as ever. Why ? Because you know 
 that God is true, and holy, and just, and yet you 
 cannot see how he can be holy, and true, and just, 
 if your sins are forgiven upon your mere repentance 
 and reformation. True, and your conscience will 
 ever be as the sword of the cherubim frightening 
 and driving you back from God as long as you have 
 5
 
 60 KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 nothing Imt tears, and prayers, and doings of your 
 own to bring. Yes, there is a testimony to God's 
 holiness and justice in your conscience. But now, 
 " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the 
 sins of the world." Him hath God set forth to be 
 a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare 
 his righteousness in the remission of sins that are 
 past, through the forbearance of God : to declare, 
 I say, at this time, his righteousness, THAT HE 
 MIGHT BE JDST, and the justifier of him that believ- 
 eth in Jesus. Rom. iii. 25. Read also other lan- 
 guage of the same apostle. " He hath made him 
 [Christ] to be sin [a sin-offering] for us who knew 
 no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of 
 God in him." 2 Cor. v. 21. The prophet Isaiah 
 tells us, " The Lord laid upon him the iniquity of 
 us all." Isaiah liii. And the apostle Peter says, 
 " He died, the just for [in place of] the unjust, to 
 bring us to God." 1 Peter iii. 16. 
 
 So far as God is concerned then, this is the pre- 
 cise design of Christ's death, not to render him 
 merciful, for the gift of Christ is the fruit of divine 
 love, but that he might appear what he is, a holy 
 God in hating sin, a righteous God in punishing it, 
 and a merciful God at the same time in forgiving it. 
 The death of Christ is intended to be a display of 
 holy love, i. e. the union of abhorrence to the sin, 
 and compassion to the sinner ; the union of a just 
 regard to his own character, law, and government, 
 and a merciful regard to the sinful and miserable
 
 KNOWLEDGE. 61 
 
 children of men. Take an illustration : Zaleucus, 
 king of the Locrians, had promulgated a law to his 
 subjects, threatening any one who should be guilty 
 of the crime of adultery, with the loss of his eyes. 
 His own son was the first convicted under the law- 
 The kingly and parental character seemed to strug- 
 gle for predominance ; if the prince be pardoned, 
 what becomes of the law ; if he be punished, how 
 great a calamity will the father endure in the af- 
 fliction of the son ? What is to be done ? The 
 father determines that he will lose one of his eyes, 
 and the son one of his. It was done. Here was 
 punishment and pardon united. Atonement was 
 made to the offended law, as effectually as if the 
 son had been reduced to total blindness. The letter 
 of the law was not complied with, but the spirit of 
 it was exceeded. The case of course is not addu- 
 ced as a perfect parallel to the atonement of Christ, 
 but simply as an illustration of its principles, as 
 tending to show that atonement may be as effectu- 
 ally made by substitution, as by the suffering of the 
 real offender. Anxious sinner, dwell upon the 
 atonement of Christ ; there is thy hope, thy joy, 
 thy life. Behold the Lamb of God bearing the 
 sins of the world, and thine among the rest. Think 
 of the dignity of the sufferer, the extremity of his 
 sufferings, and the consequences of his mediation. 
 Could the law ever be more honoured than by the 
 obedience of such a person ? Could justice be more 
 displayed even by the everlasting punishment of all
 
 52 KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 the human race? Tremble not to approach to 
 God through Christ. He has made provision for 
 the manifestation of his own glory, as well as for 
 the salvation of thy soul. God is upon a throne of 
 grace : the blood of atonement has been shed and 
 sprinkled ; the hand of mercy holds forth the bless- 
 ing of salvation : fix thine eye upon Jesus the Me- 
 diator; rest all thy hope upon his sacrifice ; plead 
 his atonement, and then life eternal is thine. 
 
 2. But you must also be instructed in the design 
 of Christ's death, in reference to yourself. This 
 is immensely important, it is too often but partially 
 understood by the enquirer, amid the throbbing so- 
 licitude of his spirit, and the first alarms of con- 
 scious guilt. With the avenger of blood pursuing 
 him, he is apt to think of little else than safety 
 from vengeance. But there is another enemy he 
 has to fear besides hell, and that is, SIN ; and 
 could he be delivered from hell, vrithout being de- 
 livered from sin, he would find no heaven. When 
 man was created, he was created holy, and conse- 
 quently happy. He was not only placed in a para- 
 dise that was without sin, but he was blessed with 
 a paradise within him. His perfect holiness was 
 as much the Eden of his soul, as the garden which 
 he tilled was the Eden of his bodily senses : it was 
 in the inward paradise of a holy mind that he 
 walked in communion with God. The fall cast 
 him out of this heaven upon earth ; his understand- 
 ing became darkened, his heart corrupted, his will
 
 KNOWLEDGE. 63 
 
 perverted, and his disposition earthly, sensual, and 
 devilish. Not only was his conscience laden with 
 guilt, but as a necessary consequence, his imagin- 
 ation was full of terror and dread of that Holy 
 God, whose voice and presence formerly imparted 
 nothing but soft transport to his soul. He was 
 afraid of God, and unfit for him. His whole soul 
 became the seat of fleshly appetites and irregular 
 passions. In his innocence he loved God supremely, 
 and his companion as himself. He was united by 
 a feeling of dependence and devotedness to God, 
 and to the creature, by a principle of hallowed sym- 
 pathy. But now, he was cut off from both, and 
 came under the domination of an absorbing and 
 engrossing selfishness. Such is the character he 
 has transmitted by the channel of ordinary genera- 
 tion to all his posterity ; they are not only guilty but 
 depraved ; not only under the wrath of God, but 
 despoiled of his image ; not only condemned by 
 God, but alienated from him. Hence then the de- 
 sign of the death of Christ is not only to deliver 
 us from the penal, but also from the polluting con- 
 sequences of sin. True it is, that hell will be 
 eome place set apart for the wicked, where the 
 justice of God will consign them to the misery 
 which their sins have deserved : but what is that 
 misery ? an eternal abandonment of them to them- 
 selves, with all their crimes in full maturity ; so 
 that hell is not only the wrath of God suffered, but 
 that wrath coupled with, as its effects, an eternal 
 5*
 
 54 KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 endurance of all the tyranny of sin. Now the 
 death of Christ is intended as a deliverance from 
 the power of sin. " His naoe is Jesus, for he shall 
 save his people from their sins," not in them. 
 " He died to redeem us from all iniquity, and purify 
 himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. 
 " Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, 
 that he might sanctify and cleanse it, with the 
 washing of water by the word, that he might pre> 
 sent it to himself, a glorious church, not having 
 spot, or wrinkle, or blemish, or any such thing, but 
 that it should be holy and Avithout blemish." 
 Ephes. v. 25 27. And hence it is said to be the 
 profession of believers in their baptism to be under 
 obligation to a conformity to the ends and designs 
 of Christ's death. Rom. vi. 1 7. Do then, my 
 dear friends, take up at once right views of the de- 
 sign of the work of Christ. You are to look to him 
 for SALVATION : but what is salvation ? not only 
 pardon ; not only absolution from punishment ; not 
 merely deliverance from the bottomless pit. These 
 blessings are, I admit,a part of it, but they are only 
 a part : salvation means the crucifixion of your 
 flesh with its affections and lusts ; the mortification 
 of your corrupt nature : the salvation which the 
 gospel offers, is not only a future deliverance from 
 hell, but a present deliverance from sin ; not only 
 a rescue from punishment, but a restoration to 
 favour ; and not only a restoration to the fa- 
 vour of God, but also to his image. Christ died
 
 KNOWLEDGE. 65 
 
 to raise you to the state of Adam before his fall, 
 i. e. to a holy state. The end of all God's deal 
 ings in a way of mercy to the sinner, is to restore 
 to him the dominion of holy principles in his 
 nature : the whole manifestation of holy love in the 
 gospel, is to change the stubborn, selfish, worldly, 
 wicked heart of the fallen creature, into its own like- 
 ness, and thus by making him a partaker of the 
 divine nature, to fit him for divine communion. 
 
 Now let every anxious inquirer, consider this ; 
 let him ask what it is he wants as a fallen, sinful 
 creature ; is it not the deliverance of his soul from 
 the power as well as the punishment of sin? Is 
 he not painfully conscious to himself not only of 
 wrath coming down upon him from God, for his 
 eins, but of a spring of misery in himself in the 
 existence of those very sins ? And is it not for 
 this he should look to Christ ? Could he be saved 
 at all, if not saved from his body of flesh, his cor- 
 rupt nature 1 And can any one save him from this 
 but Christ ? Poor troubled tormented sinner, look 
 to Christ ; in him is all you want : " the Son of 
 God will be made unto you wisdom, and right- 
 eousness, and sanctification, and redemption." 
 1 Cor. i. 30. 
 
 7. Connected with this is the momentous sub- 
 ject of the Justification of a sinner in the sight 
 of God. You must soon be at the bar of God for 
 judgment, and if you are not now justified, you 
 must be then condemned. Yea, if you are not yet
 
 56 KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 justified, which it is to be presumed you are not, 
 you are now in a state of condemnation : " for he 
 that believeth not is condemned already ; the wrath 
 of God abideth on him." Every one who has not 
 yet received Christ, is under the curse of the law ; 
 he is a dead man in law, a sinner doomed to die ; 
 condemned by God, condemned to death eternal. 
 Well may you tremble at your situation, and like 
 the man who after condemnation at the bar of his 
 country's justice, has been removed to await in his 
 cell the execution of the sentence, ask the question, 
 "How shall I escape." At this stage of your ex- 
 perience then it is infinitely desirable you should 
 be clearly instructed in the nature of justification. 
 tt is a subject of immense consequence to the sin- 
 ner, and is therefore frequently mentioned, and 
 treated at great length, in the epistle to the Romans 
 and Galatians. Attend to the meaning of the word. 
 Justification is the opposite of condemnation, as 
 is evident from the following passages : " He that 
 juslifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the 
 just, even they both are abomination to the Lord." 
 Prov. xviii. 15. " Who shall lay any thing to 
 the charge of God's elect, it is God that justijie th, 
 who is he that condemneth.'' 1 Rom. viii. 33. Fix 
 this simple idea in your mind, that justification is 
 the opposite of condemnation, for things are some- 
 times easily and impressively learnt by their con- 
 traries. The justification of an innocent person is 
 pronouncing him just, on the ground of his own
 
 KNOWLEDGE. 67 
 
 conduct ; but how can a sinner who is confessedly 
 guilty of innumerable transgressions be justified? 
 Now you will see at once that the term, in refer- 
 ence to him, is a little different, and signifies not 
 that he is righteous in himself, but is treated as if 
 he had been, through the righteousness of Christ 
 imputed to him. "Justification," says the Assem- 
 bly's Catechism, "is an act of God's free grace 
 unto sinners, in which he pardoneth all their sins, 
 accepteth and accounteth their persons righteous 
 in his sight, not for any thing wrought in them, or 
 done by them, but only for the perfect obedience 
 and full satisfaction of Christ, by God, imputed to 
 them, and received by faith alone." In justifica- 
 tion, God acts as a Judge, in absolving the sinner 
 from punishment, and restoring him to all the privi- 
 leges of a citizen of the heavenly community. 
 
 Justification means not merely pardon, but some- 
 thing more. Pardon would only restore the sinner 
 to the state of Adam before he fell, but when he was 
 not yet entitled to the reward of obedience, and 
 Avhich indeed he never obtained. Justification is 
 pardon connected with a title to eternal life. Justi- 
 fication takes place but once ; pardon may be fre- 
 quently repeated ; justification is that great change 
 which is made in the sinner's relation to God, when 
 he is delivered from condemnation, and is brought 
 from being an enemy, to be a child. If a king 
 were to save a condemned criminal, and immedi- 
 ately adopt him as a child, this would resemble
 
 63 KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 our justification, and his frequent forgiveness of his 
 other offences, when standing in the relation of a 
 son, would resemble God's fatherly love in forgiv- 
 ing the sins of his children. Justification then is 
 God's act iu taking off the sentence of a sinner's 
 condemnation by the law, restoring him to his 
 favour, and granting him a title to eternal life in 
 heaven. But how can a righteous God who has 
 respect for his holy laAV, thus justify a sinner? I 
 answer, on the ground of Christ's righteousness. 
 Thus the law is honoured, because justification 
 proceeds on the ground of a righteousness, which 
 met and satisfied its demands. This is what is 
 meant by the imputed righteousness of Christ, that 
 the sinner is accepted to the divine favour out of 
 regard to what Christ did and suffered on his be- 
 half. This judicial act of God in justifying the 
 sinner takes place when, and as soon as, he believes 
 in Christ, because by that act of faith he is brought 
 into union with the Saviour, and becomes legally 
 one with him, so as to receive the benefit of his 
 mediatorial undertaking. 
 
 In connexion with this, it may be well to show 
 the nature of SANCTIFICATION, and how these two 
 blessings are related to each other. Sanctification 
 signifies our being set apart from the love and 
 service of sin and the world, to the love and 
 service of God ; it is our being made holy ; and a 
 saint, or sanctified one, means a holy one. Justi- 
 fication is the result of Christ's work for utf;
 
 KNOWLEDGE. 59 
 
 sanctification is the Holy Spirit's work in us. Con- 
 ceive of a criminal in jail under sentence of death, 
 and at the same time infected with a dangerous 
 disease ; in order to his being saved he must be 
 both pardoned and cured, for if he be only pardon- 
 ed, he will soon die of his disease ; or if he be only 
 cured, he will soon be executed. Such is the 
 emblem of the sinner's case ; by actual sin he is 
 condemned to die, by inherent depravi'.y he is in- 
 fected with a spiritual disease : in justification he 
 is pardoned ; in sanctification he is cured ; and the 
 two blessings, although distinct, are always united, 
 and are both necessary to salvation. Thus you see 
 justification changes our relation to God, but sauc- 
 tification changes our spiritual condition : and re- 
 generation, or the new birth, means our first en- 
 trance upon a sanctified state. 
 
 Diligently attend to these things, Reader, fix 
 your mind upon them, labour to understand them , 
 a knowledge of these two blessings, justification 
 and sanctification, is a key to the whole bible. O 
 blessed, infinitely blessed state, to be delivered from 
 the condemnation of our sins, and from their domi- 
 neering and defiling power, this is a present sal- 
 vation. 
 
 8. You should also be well instructed in the na- 
 ture and necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit 
 in renewing and sanctifying the sinner's heart. It 
 is an important lesson, and one that should be 
 learnt at the very beginning of your religious
 
 80 KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 course, that the work of the Holy Spirit in the 
 sinner is as necessary to his s-alvation, as the work 
 of Christ for him. As we are all corrupt by nature, 
 in consequence of our descent from Adam, since 
 his fall, we grow up and remain without any true 
 religion, till it is implanted in the heart by divine 
 grace : true holiness is something foreign from our 
 corrupt nature, and the whole business of religion 
 frorrr first to last is carried on in the heart by the 
 Spirit of God. There is not, as I before remarked 
 and now repeat, a truly pious thought, feeling, pur- 
 pose, word, or action, but what is the result of 
 divine influence upon the human mind. Our re- 
 generation or new birth, is ascribed to the Spirit ; 
 hence it is said, " Except a man be born of water 
 and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom 
 of God." John iii. 5. Our right knowledge of 
 God's word is traced up to the Spirit ; hence David 
 prayed, " Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold 
 wondrous things out of thy law." Psalm cxix. 
 18. Paul also prayed for the illumination of the 
 Spirit, on behalf of the Ephesians, i. 17, 18. Sanc- 
 tification is entirely the work of the Spirit ; see 
 2 Thes. ii. 15. 1 Pet. i. 2. Believers are said to 
 " live in the Spirit ;" " to walk in the Spirit ;" " to 
 walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit ;" " to 
 be led by the Spirit ;" " to mortify the deeds of the 
 body by the Spirit;" "to be sealed by the Spirit;" 
 "to have the Spirit bearing witness with their 
 spirit, that they are the children of God j" to enjoy
 
 KNOWLEDGE. 61 
 
 " the earnest of the Spirit ;" and to " bring forth the 
 fruits of the Spirit." Gal. v. 2225. Rom. viii 
 1 16. Ephes. i. 13, 14. Now from all these pas- 
 sages, and many more that might be quoted, it is 
 evident that the work of genuine religion is, from 
 first to last, carried on in the soul by the Holy 
 Ghost. This is his department, so to speak, in the 
 economy of our redemption. The Father is repre- 
 sented as originating the scheme ; the Son as exe- 
 cuting it ; the Spirit as applying it. But in order 
 that your mind may not be perplexed, as is some- 
 times the case, by this doctrine, I will make one 
 or two remarks on the subject of divine influence. 
 
 The design of the Spirit's influence is not to 
 give new mental faculties, but a proper exercise 
 oj those we already possess. This great work is 
 to create a new heart in the sinner, which means a 
 new and holy disposition. Man by nature is so de- 
 praved that he cannot love God ; i. e. he is so des- 
 perately wicked that he is not in a mind to love him, 
 and never will be till God changes his mind. 
 
 The work of the Holy Spirit upon the mind is 
 very mysterious, and we ought not to spend time 
 in endeavouring to comprehend it, nor to indulge 
 in any speculations about it. Our Lord declares it 
 to be a great mystery, where he says to Nicodemus, 
 " 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." John iii. 8. We see the ef- 
 6
 
 62 KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 fects of the wind, but we cannot account for the 
 changes in the atmosphere : so it is in the conver- 
 sion of a sinner. It would greatly arrest the pro- 
 gress of the enquirer to engage in any speculations 
 about this, or any other mystery of divine truth. 
 
 The work of the Spirit is not intended to su- 
 persede the use of our faculties, but to direct 
 them aright. He does not work without us, but 
 by us : he does not change, and convert, and sanc- 
 tify us, by leaving us idle spectators of the work, 
 but by engaging us in it. Hence the admonition 
 of the apostle to the Philippians, ii. 10, 1 1. " Work 
 out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 
 for it is God that worketh in you both to will and 
 to do, of his own good pleasure." The exhorta- 
 tion you perceive does not say, " Since it is God 
 that worketh, there is nothing for you to do, and 
 you may therefore sit still." No, on the contrary, 
 it is, {l Do you work, for God works in you." God's 
 working in us, is a motive for our working. It is 
 the breeze that wafts the ships along, but then the 
 mariner must hoist his sail to catch it ; it is the 
 rain and sunshine that cause the seed to germinate 
 and grow, but the husbandman must plough and 
 sow, for though the seed cannot grow without the 
 influence of the heavens, so neither can it grow 
 without the sowing of the husbandman. 
 
 We cannot itsually distinguish between the in- 
 fluence of the Spirit j and the operations of our 
 own facilities, nor is it necessary we should.
 
 KNOWLEDGE. 63 
 
 We cannot tell where man ends, and God begins, 
 nor ought we to trouble or perplex ourselves about 
 the matter. Hence instead of waiting for any 
 sensible or ascertainable impulse of the Spirit, 
 either before we begin religion at all, or before we 
 engage in any particular exercise of it, we are im- 
 mediately to engage all our faculties, and at the 
 same time, engage them in a spirit of entire depend- 
 ance upon God. We are to fix our attention, to 
 deliberate, to purpose, to resolve, to choose, just as 
 we should in worldly matters, but we are to do all 
 this with a feeling of reliance, and in the very spirit 
 of prayer. It is our obvious duty to repent and to 
 believe, and also to do this at once, and not merely 
 to desire to do it or attempt to do it : but such is 
 the depravity of our.nature, that we never shall do 
 it till God influences us. What we have to do, 
 therefore, is immediately to obey the command to 
 repent and believe ; but to obey in the very lan- 
 guage and feeling of that prayer, " Lord help mine 
 unbelief." We must obey, not only believing that 
 it is our duty to obey, but believing also that we 
 shall be assisted. Hence the very essence of re- 
 ligion seems to be a spirit of vigorous exertion, 
 blended with a spirit of unlimited dependance and 
 earnest prayer. An illustration may be borrowed, 
 as recorded Matthew xii. 10, from the case of the 
 man with the withered arm. Our Lord command- 
 ed him to stretch forth his hand, and he did not 
 say, Lord, I cannot, it is dead ; but relying on his
 
 4 KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 power who gave the injunction, and believing that 
 the command implied a promise of help if he were 
 willing to receive it, he stretched it forth ; i. e. he 
 willed to do it, and he was able. So it must be 
 with the sinner ; he is commanded to repent and 
 believe, and he is not to say, I cannot, for I am dead 
 in sin j but he is to believe in the promised aid of 
 grace, and will to obey in a dependance upon Him, 
 who worketh men to will and to do.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ON REPENTANCE. 
 
 " EXCEPT ye repent ye shall all likewise perish." 
 Such was the awful and tremendous denunciation 
 of our Lord, to those Jews who were at that time 
 listening to his discourse. And except you repent, 
 my reader, you will perish, perish body and soul 
 in the bottomless pit, and perish everlastingly. 
 There is a world of misery in that word perish ; 
 it is deep as hell, broad as infinity, and long as 
 eternity. None can comprehend its meaning but 
 lost souls, and they are ever discovering in it some 
 new mystery of misery. T his misery will be yours 
 unless you repent. Tremble at the thought, and 
 pray to Him who was exalted " to bestow repent- 
 ance as well as remission of sins," that he would 
 confer this grace upon you. But what is it to re- 
 pent ? It is more, much more, than mere sorrow 
 for sin : this is evident from what the apostle has 
 remarked ; " Godly sorrow worketh repentance to 
 salvation, not to be repented of." 2 Cor. vii. 10. 
 True sorrow for sin is a part of repentance and 
 only a part ; for the scripture just quoted, evidently 
 * 6*
 
 M REPENTANCE. 
 
 makes a distinction between them. Many, very 
 many grieve for their sins, who never repent of 
 them. Men may grieve for the consequences of 
 their sins, without mourning for the sins them- 
 selves. The meaning of the word repent, generally 
 used in the Greek scriptures, is a change of mind. 
 Repentance, therefore, signifies an entire change 
 of man's views, disposition, and conduct, with 
 respect to sin. It is equivalent in meaning to re- 
 generation. The new birth means a change of 
 heart, and repentance is that same change viewed 
 in reference to sin. The author of repentance is 
 the Holy Ghost; it is the effect of divine grace 
 working in the heart of man. The following 
 things are included in true repentance. 
 
 1. Conviction of sin. " When he (the Spirit) is 
 come, said Christ, he shall reprove (i. e. convince) 
 the world of sin." John xvi. 8. The true peni- 
 tent has a clear view of his state before God as a 
 guilty and depraved creature. All men say they 
 are sinners, he knows it ; they talk of it, he feels it; 
 they have heard it from others, and taken it up as 
 an opinion, he has learnt it by the teaching of God, 
 who has shown him the purity of the law, and the 
 wickedness of his own conduct and heart, as op- 
 posed to the law. He has looked into the bright 
 and faithful mirror, and has seen his exceeding 
 sinfulness. He perceives that he has lived with- 
 out God, for he has not loved, and served, and 
 glorified him. This in his view is sin ; not loving
 
 REPENTANCE. 67 
 
 and serving God. He may not have been profli- 
 gate, but he has lived without God ; and even if he 
 had been openly vicious, this is the parent vice, his 
 want of love to God. He sees that all his worldly- 
 mindedness, folly,andwickedness,have sprung from 
 a depraved heart ; a heart alienated from God. He 
 formerly thought he was not quite as he ought to 
 be, but now he perceives that he has been alto- 
 gether what he ought not to be ; formerly he knew 
 matters were not quite right, but he now sees they 
 were all wrong ; then he was of opinion he had 
 no very strong claim upon God's justice or even 
 mercy, but now he perceives clearly that he has 
 been so great a sinner that God would have been 
 just had he cast him into hell. This is now his 
 confession : 
 
 Should sudden vengeance seize my breath, 
 I must pronounce Thee just in death; 
 And if my soul were sent to hell, 
 Thy righteous law approves it well 
 
 Can you subscribe to this. Reader ? if not, you are 
 not yet convinced of sin as you must be. No man' 
 knows what sin is, and how sinful he is, who does 
 not clearly see that he has deserved to be cast into 
 " the lake that burneth with fire." 
 
 2. Self condemnation is implied in true repent- 
 ance. As long as a person indulges a self-justify- 
 ing spirit, and is disposed, if not to defend his sins, 
 yet to excuse them, he is not truly penitent, he is 
 not indeed convinced of sin. To frame excuses
 
 (8 REPENTANCE. 
 
 for sin, and to take refuge from the voice of accu- 
 sation and the stings of conscience, in circumstan- 
 ces of palliation, is the besetting infirmity of human 
 nature, which first showed itself in our fallen 
 parents, when the man threw the blame upon th 
 woman, and the woman upon the serpent ; and it 
 has since continued to show itself in all their de- 
 scendants. We very commonly hear those who 
 have been recently led to see their sins, mitigating 
 their guilt ; one by pleading the peculiarity of his 
 situation ; another his constitution ; a third the 
 strength of the temptation ; a fourth imputes his 
 actual sins to his original sin, and endeavours, on 
 this ground, to lessen his sense of guilt. But there 
 is no true repentance while this frame of mind 
 lasts. No, never till the sinner has cast aside all 
 excuses, rejected all pleas of extenuation, and 
 abandoned all desire of self- justification ; never till 
 he is brought to take the whole blame upon him- 
 self; never till he pronounces his own sentence oi 
 condemnation ; never till his mouth is stopped as 
 to excuse, and he is brought unfeignedly and con- 
 tritely to exclaim, guilty, guilty ! is he truly peni 
 tent. Some such as this is now his sincere con 
 fession : " O God, thou injured Sovereign, thou 
 all Holy God, and all righteous Judge, I can attempt 
 to excuse myself no longer. I stand before thee a 
 convicted, self-condemned sinner. What has my 
 life been but a course of rebellion against thee ? It 
 is not this or that action alone I have to lament.
 
 REPENTANCE. 69 
 
 My whole soul has been disordered and depraved. 
 All my thoughts, my affections, my desires, my 
 pursuits, have been alienated from thee. I have 
 not loved thee, thou God of holy love. O what a 
 heart have I carried in my bosom, that could love 
 the world, love my friends, love trifles, yea, love 
 sin, but could not love thee. Particular sins do not 
 so much oppress me, as this awful horrid state of 
 my carnal mind at enmity against thee. O what 
 patience was it that thou didst not crush the poor 
 feeble creature that had no virtue to love thee, and 
 no power to resist thee. My whole life has been 
 one continued state of sin ; what seemed good was 
 done from no good motive, for it was not done out 
 of obedience or love to thee, and with no intention 
 to please or to glorify thee. Once I thought as 
 little of my sin, as I thought of that gracious and 
 righteous God against whom it was committed; 
 and even when the knowledge of sin began to 
 glimmer on the dark horizon of my guilty soul, how 
 perversely did I resist the light, and how deceit- 
 fully, and wickedly, and presumptuously did I 
 attempt to stand up in judgment with thee, and 
 in proud self-confidence plead my own cause. 
 O with what lying excuses, with what false ex- 
 tenuations, did I make my wickedness more wicked, 
 and tempt thy vengeance, and seek to draw thy 
 thunderbolts upon my devoted head. Eternal 
 thanks for thy marvellous long suffering, and thy 
 matchless grace, in not only bearing with my pro-
 
 70 HEPENTANCE. 
 
 vocations, but convincing me of my folly. Stripped 
 of all my pleas, silent as to every excuse, I cast 
 myself before thee, uttering only that one confes- 
 sion, guilty, guilty ; and urging only that one plea, 
 mercy, mercy." 
 
 3. Repentance includes sorrow for sin. If a 
 man does not mourn for sin, he cannot repent of it. 
 The apostle speaks of " godly ^sorrow," and the 
 Psalmist exemplifies it in the fifty-first Psalm. 
 Awakened and anxious Sinner, I commend to thine 
 especial attention that affecting and precious effu- 
 sion of David's contrition. Read it often ; read it 
 upon thy knees in thy closet ; read it as thy own 
 prayer ; read it till thy heart responds a sigh to 
 every groan with which each verse seems still 
 vocal. With those melting strains of a broken 
 heart sounding in thy ears review the history of thy 
 life, and the dark and winding course of thy rebel- 
 lion against God. Pause and ponder as thou tracest 
 back thy steps, in each scene of thy transgression 
 and God's patience. Dwell upon the length of thy 
 terra of sin, and all the aggravations of that sin 
 derived from religious advantages, pious friends, 
 and a reproving conscience. Assail thy hard heart 
 with motives to contrition, fetched from every view 
 of God's mercy and thy own ingratitude, nor cease 
 to smite the rock till the waters of penitence gush 
 forth. Nor let thy sorrow be seljish; mourn more 
 for thy sins as committed against God, than against 
 thyself. Turn again to the fifty-first Psalm, and see
 
 REPENTANCE. 71 
 
 how David felt : {( Against THEE, thee only, have 
 I sinned, and done this evil in THY SIGHT." 
 Wonderful language ! What views of sin were 
 then in his mind; and O what views of God. He 
 had seduced Bathsheba into the greatest sin a wife 
 can commit: he had murdered her -husband; and 
 had thus committed two of the most enormous 
 evils against the well being of society, and yet so 
 impressed was he with a sense of his sin as com- 
 mitted against God, that he could now think only 
 upon this. " Against thee, thou holy, holy, holy 
 Lord God, have I sinned. Against thee, my bene- 
 factor, who didst raise me from the sheepfold to be 
 the governor of thy people. Oh, this is the crim- 
 son hue of my offence, this is the sting of my re- 
 morse ; this is the wormwood and the gall of the 
 cup of bitterness I now drink. Thou art willing to 
 forgive me, and the thought of thy mercy blackens 
 my crime, and envenoms my self-abhorrence." 
 This is godly sorrow ; a grief for sin as sin, and as 
 committed against so holy and gracious a God, and 
 not merely a grief for the mischief we have done 
 to ourselves. Godly sorrow grieves for those sins 
 which God only knows ; for those sins which it 
 knows he \vi\\forgive, yea, which it is assured he 
 has forgiven ; and this is the test of genuine con- 
 trition : do we mourn for sin as sin, or only for fear 
 of punishment ? 
 
 4. Repentance includes hatred of sin, forsak- 
 ing it, and a determination not to repeat it. No
 
 78 REPENTANCE. 
 
 man can truly repent of an act without a feeling of 
 dislike to that act; theSfe two cannot be separated, 
 yea, they are the same thing. Reformation produced 
 by penitence is repentance. A person that has 
 been stung by a serpent, will not caress the reptile 
 while he bathes the wounds he has inflicted, with 
 the tears of sorrow : no, he will destroy the viper, 
 or flee from him, and will ever after be inspired 
 with fresh terror and dislike of the whole serpent 
 race. The penitent regards sin as the viper that 
 has stung him, and will ever after hate it, dread it, 
 and watch against it. Practices that before were 
 delighted in, will be abhorred and shunned ; and 
 instead of trying how near he may come to them 
 without committing them, or how many things he 
 may do that are like them, without doing the very 
 things, he will try how far he can retire from them 
 and how entirely he may avoid the very appear- 
 ance of evil. Will the serpent-bitten man try how 
 near he can approach the rattlesnake without being 
 stung again, or will he fondle reptiles as like the 
 species as they can be, without being so deadly 
 venomous ? No. Observe hew repentance wrought 
 in the members of the Corinthian church : " For 
 behold, this selfsame thing that ye sorrowed after 
 a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, 
 yea, what clearing of yourselves ; yea, what indig- 
 nation ; yea, what fear ; yea, what vehement de- 
 sire ; yea, what zeal ; yea, what revenge." 2 Cor. 
 vii. 11.
 
 U E P E N T A N C F. . 73 
 
 Such is repentance. 
 
 But it is important to guard the Enquirer against 
 some perplexities with which many are very apt 
 to trouble themselves on this subject. 
 
 You are not to suppose that you do not repent, 
 because you have never been the subject of over- 
 whelming terror and excessive grief. Persons 
 in the first stages of religious impression are very- 
 apt to be cast down and discouraged, because they 
 do not feel those agonizing and terrifying convic- 
 tions, that some whom they have heard or read 
 of have experienced. Others, again, are greatly 
 troubled because they do not and cannot shed tears, 
 and utter groans under a sense of sin, as some do. 
 If they could either be wrought up to terror, or 
 melted into weeping, they should then take some 
 comfort, and have some hope, that their convictions 
 were genuine. Now it is very probable that you, 
 Reader, have these fears, and are labouring under 
 some mistakes as the ground of them. 
 
 It may be that this longing after greater terror or 
 deeper grief, may spring from a wrong motive. 
 If you possessed these feelings you would be com- 
 forted, and have hope, you think; yes, and thus by 
 looking to your own feelings for comfort, make a 
 saviour of your experience instead of Christ, as I 
 fear many do. " Oh !" say some, or if they do not 
 say it, they feel it, " now I have had such deep 
 convictions, and such meltings of heart, I think I 
 may hope. But is not this putting their feelings 
 7
 
 74 REPENTANCE. 
 
 in the place of the work of Christ? If you could 
 endure for awhile the torments of hell in your con- 
 science, and shed all the tears of all the penitents 
 in the world, these would not save you ; and to 
 take comfort and hope from these things, would be 
 resting on a sandy foundation. But perhaps you 
 think this deep experience would be a stronger 
 ground of confidence to go to Christ. Is not his 
 own word, then, a sufficient warrant? Do you 
 want any other warrant, or can you have any 
 other ? Is not his invitation and promise, enough ? 
 What can your feelings add to this ? In some 
 cases there is pride at the bottom of this longing 
 after terror and distress : the person who covets it, 
 wishes to be distinguished among Christians for 
 his deep experience and great attainments ; or he 
 may wish to have something of his own to dwell 
 upon with pleasure, a something that shall em- 
 bolden him in his approach to God ; it is in fact a 
 subtle species of self righteousness, a looking to 
 inward feelings if not to good works, as something 
 to depend upon, and to glory in before God. 
 
 This anxiety may arise also from a partial 
 and incorrect view of the nature of real religion. 
 
 I True religion is not a matter of mere feeling and 
 strong emotion, but a matter of judgment, and 
 conscience, and practical principle. You must 
 recollect that the minds of men are variously con- 
 
 i stituted as regards susceptibility of emotion. Some 
 persons are possessed of far livelier feelings than
 
 REPENTANCE. 75 
 
 others, and are far more easily moved ; we see this 
 in the common subjects of life as well as in reli- 
 gion. One man feels as truly the affection of love 
 for his wife and children as another whose love is 
 more vehement, though he may not fondle, caress, 
 and talk of them so much ; he may not even suffer 
 those paroxysms of alarm when any thing ails 
 them, nor of frantic grief when they are taken from 
 him ; but he loves them so as to prefer them to all 
 others, to labour for them, to make sacrifices for 
 their comfort, and really to grieve when they are 
 removed. His. love and grief are as sincere and 
 practical, though they are not boisterous, passion- 
 ate, and noisy : his principle of attachment is as 
 strong, if his passion be not so ardent. Passion 
 depends on constitutional temperament, but prin- 
 ciple does not. Mere emotion therefore, whether 
 in religion or other matters, is no test of the gen- 
 uineness of affection. Do not then, my reader, be 
 troubled on this matter, your religion is not to be 
 tried by the number of the tears you shed, or the 
 degree of terror you feel, or the measure of excite- 
 ment to which you are wrought up ; there may be 
 much of all this where there is not true repentance, 
 and there may be little of it where there is. Are 
 you clearly instructed in the knowledge of God's 
 holy nature and perfect law, so as distinctly to 
 perceive, and really to feel, and frankly to confess, 
 your numberless sins of conduct, and deep de- 
 pravity of heart? Do you truly admit your just
 
 76 REPENTANCE. 
 
 desert of that curse which your sins have brought 
 upon you? Do you cast away all excuses, and 
 take the whole blame of your sins upon yourself? 
 Do you really mourn for your sins, although you 
 may shed few tears or heave few broken groans ? 
 Do you confess your sins to God without reserve, 
 as well as without excuse? Do you truly hate 
 sin and abhor yourse.lf on account of sin? Do 
 you feel a repugnance to sin, a watchfulness 
 against it, a dread of it in the least offences? 
 Are you the subject of a new and growing ten- 
 derness of conscience with respect to sin ? Then 
 you are partakers of true repentance, although 
 you may not be the subjects of those violent emo- 
 tions either of terror or of grief which some have 
 experienced. 
 
 I do not for a moment mean to throw suspicion 
 over the experience of those who have been called 
 to pass through a state of conviction, which, on 
 account of its terrific alarms and unutterable an- 
 guish, may be called the valley of the shadow of 
 death. By no means. God has led some of his 
 people, not only hard by the clouds, and blackness, 
 and thunders, and earthquakes, and trumpet, and 
 awful words of Sinai, but even by the very brink 
 of the burning pit, within sight of its flames, and 
 within sound of its wailings jr but let no man 
 covet such a road to glory ; let no man doubt he 
 has mistaken the road, because he has not wit- 
 nessed these dreadful scenes in his way. All
 
 REPENTANCE. 77 
 
 must pass by both mount Sinai and mount Calvary 
 in the way to heaven, but the view is neither so 
 clear nor so impressive of either of them, to some 
 as to others. 
 
 7*
 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 ON FAITH. 
 
 SUPPOSE a number of the subjects of a wise and 
 good king were, without any just cause, to rebel 
 against him, and take up arms to dethrone him, 
 they would by that act forfeit their lives. Still the 
 sovereign in his great clemency is disposed to 
 pardon them, and for that purpose, sends out a pro- 
 clamation, declaring that all those who before a 
 fixed time would come to him, lay down their arms, 
 confess their offence, and sue for mercy, should be 
 spared and restored to all their privileges as citi- 
 zens ; but that all found under arms and who did 
 not come and cast themselves upon the mercy of 
 their sovereign, should be put to death. What, in 
 this case, is the state of mind and act required in 
 those who would be saved ? Faith. They must 
 believe the proclamation to have been issued by 
 the monarch, and that he will really fulfil his word; 
 they must not only believe the edict itself, but they 
 must confide in the monarch ; this is faith in him. 
 What is their warrant or encouragement to go to 
 him ? His proclamation of mercy, and that alone ;
 
 FAITH. 79 
 
 and not any convictions or desires of their own. If 
 any one of the rebels were desirous of returning, 
 he would not say, " I am greatly encouraged and 
 truly warranted to go and expect forgiveness, be- 
 cause I am very anxious to be forgiven ;" for his 
 desire of pardon of itself, is no warrant to expect 
 it; but he would say, "my sovereign has bid me 
 return and promised me pardon : I have his word, 
 and I can trust him ; I will go therefore, and I con- 
 fidently expect mercy." He goes, and although 
 he knows that he has forfeited his life, and de- 
 served death, and brought himself under condem 
 nation, yet he is assured he shall be spared, be 
 cause the king has promised it, and he trusts in his 
 veracity. This is faith. Does his faith merit for- 
 giveness ? No, but it ensures it. Can the man boast 
 that his works have saved him ? No ; he is saved 
 by grace, through faith. But suppose, when he 
 heard the proclamation of mercy, he was merely 
 convinced of his sin, and in some measure sorry 
 for it, and desired forgiveness, but did not go to his 
 sovereign ; suppose he were to say to himself, " I 
 am afraid to go, the prince is powerful, being sur- 
 rounded by his guards who could destroy me in a 
 moment, and I have been such a ringleader in the 
 rebellion, that I cannot hope for mercy, although I 
 long for it and would do any thing to obtain it." 
 The time of mercy- expires ; the man is taken with 
 arms in his hand ; and he is put to death. Does 
 he deserve to die? Yes, twice over, first for his
 
 80 FAITH. 
 
 rebellion, and secondly for his unbelief. His want 
 of faith, not his rebellion, was the actual cause of 
 his death. His sin would have been pardoned, had 
 he believed. His convictions, his sorrow, his tears, 
 his desire after pardon, could not save him ; he 
 had insulted his sovereign afresh, by doubting his 
 veracity, and disobeying his command. 
 
 Awakened Sinner, take heed that this is not 
 your case. It is the case of many. They are rebels 
 against God, they are guilty of innumerable sins. 
 " God has so loved the world as to give his only 
 begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
 should not perish but have everlasting life." " It is 
 a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that 
 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 
 Thus runs the proclamation of mercy : " Repent 
 of sin, believe in Christ, expect salvation." Many 
 do believe and are saved : but others, and there are 
 multitudes, get no further than conviction ; they 
 know they are sinners, they desire pardon, and are 
 even willing to forsake their sins but, they do not 
 believe in Christ, they do not return to God, by 
 faith in his Son, indulging a confident hope of for- 
 giveness ; they are afraid to go, saying their sins 
 are too great to be forgiven, or they are contented 
 to remain in a state of repentance ; or before they 
 have trusted in Christ and experienced a rea) 
 change of heart through faith, some worldly object 
 or other draws off their attention from the Saviour, 
 and they sink into a state of carelessness, and
 
 FAITH. 81 
 
 gradually go back again to the world. You are 
 never safe, Reader, till you have faith. What- 
 ever may have been your tears, your convictions, 
 prayers, or exercises of mind, you are under the 
 sentence of the law, and exposed to the wrath of 
 God till you believe. -- If death come upon you 
 before you have faith, you will as certainly and as 
 deservedly perish, as the rebel, who though he had 
 expressed his sorrow for his treason, had not come 
 in and cast down his arms, and accepted the royal 
 mercy. You are within the flood mark of divine 
 vengeance till you have confided your soul to Christ. 
 Can we be saved if we are not justified? No. 
 Then we are "justified by faith and have peace 
 with God." Rom. v. 1. Can we be saved unless 
 we are the children of God ? No. Then " we are 
 all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." 
 Gal. iii. 26. Can we be saved without sanctifi- 
 cation ? No. Then " our hearts are purified^?/ 
 faith." When the jailer at Philippi asked with 
 fear and trembling the question, " What shall I do 
 to be saved ?" Paul, replied, "BELIEVE in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved." Acts xvi. 
 31. When our Lord sent out his disciples, he said 
 unto them, " Go ye into all the world and preach 
 the gospel to every creature, he that BELIEVETH and 
 is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth 
 not shall be damned." Mark xvi. 15, 16. It is 
 also said in another place, " He that BELIEVETH on 
 him is not condemned, but he that believeth not
 
 82 FAITH. 
 
 is condemned already because he hath not, believ 
 ed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. 
 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting 
 life, but he that believeth not the Son, shall not 
 see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." 
 John iii. 15, 16. " He that believeth on the Son 
 of God hath the witness in himself; he that be- 
 lieveth not God hath made him a liar; because he 
 ^believeth not the record that God gave of his 
 Son." John v. 10. See then the importance, the 
 tremendous importance, of faith in Christ. It is 
 the hinge on which salvation turns ; it is that, with- 
 out which all knowledge, and all impressions, and 
 all convictions, and all duties, will leave us short 
 of heaven at last. Fix it deeply in your mind, 
 therefore, that FAITH is THE SAVING GRACE, or in 
 other words, it is that state of mind with which 
 salvation is connected ; being brought into this 
 st^e you would be saved though you died the next 
 hour, and without which you would not be saved, 
 even had you been for years under the deepest 
 concern. 
 
 But you will probably wish to know a little more 
 about this transcendently important state of mind ; 
 and I shall therefore set before you, 
 
 1. WHAT you are to believe. Faith in general, 
 means a belief of whatever God has testified in his 
 word ; but faith in Christ means the belief of 
 what the scripture saith of HIM ; of his person, 
 pffices and work. You are to believe that he is " the
 
 FAITH. 83 
 
 Son of God ;" " God manifest in the flesh ;" God- 
 man Mediator : for how can a mere creature be 
 your Saviour ? In faith, you commit your soul to 
 the Lord Jesus. What ! into the hands of a mere 
 creature ? The divinity of Christ is thus not 
 merely an article of faith, but enters also into the 
 foundation of hope. You are required to believe 
 in the doctrine of atonement ; that Christ satisfied 
 divine justice for human guilt, having been made 
 a propitiation for our sins ; and that now his sacri- 
 fice and righteousness are the only ground or foun- 
 dation on which a sinner can be accepted and ac- 
 quitted before God. You are to believe, that all, 
 however previously guilty and unworthy, are wel- 
 come to God for salvation, without any exception, 
 or any difficulty whatever. You are to believe that 
 God really loves the world, and is truly willing 
 and waiting to save the chief of sinners, and 
 that he therefore loves you; and thus instead of 
 dwelling in the idea of a mere general or universal 
 love, you are to bring the matter home to yourself, 
 and to believe that God has good will towards you, 
 has given Christ to die for you. You are a part of 
 the world which God loved, and for which Christ 
 died, and you are not to lose yourself in the crowd. 
 You are not to consider the scheme of redemption 
 for any body, or for every body, but yourself; but 
 you are to give the whole an individual bearing 
 upon yourself. You are to say, " God is well dis- 
 posed -towards me; Christ is given for me; died
 
 84 FAITH. 
 
 for me as well as for others ; / am invited ; / shall 
 be saved if I trust in Christ : and /am as welcome 
 as any one to Christ." Faith is nut a belief in 
 your own personal religion, this is the assurance of 
 hope ; but it is a belief thatXJod loves sinners, and 
 that Christ died for sinners, and you amongst the 
 rest ; it is not a belief that you are a real Christian, 
 but that Christ is willing to give you all the bless- 
 ings included in that term. It is the belief of 
 something out of yourself, but still of something 
 concerning yourself. The object of faith is the 
 work of Christ for you, not the work of the Spirit 
 in you. It is of great consequence you should at- 
 tend to this, because many are apt to confound 
 these things. If I promise a man alms, and he 
 really believes what I say, and expects relief, I, in 
 the act of promising him, am the object of his 
 faith, and not the state of his own mind in the act 
 of believing. If therefore you would have faith, 
 or possessing it, would have it strengthened, you 
 must fix and keep your eye on the testimony of 
 Christ which you find in the gospel. 
 
 2. I will now show you HOW you are to believe. 
 But is this necessary? There is no mystery in 
 faith when we speak of believing a fellow-creature. 
 When the rebel is required to believe in the pro- 
 clamation of mercy sent out by his sovereign, and 
 to come and sue for pardon ; or when the beggar is 
 required to believe in the promise of a benefactor 
 who has promised him relief, does it enter into his
 
 FAITH. 85 
 
 mind to ask how he is to believe ? What in each 
 of these cases does faith mean 1 A belief that the 
 promise has been made, and a confidence in the 
 person who made it that he will fulfil his word. 
 Behold then the whole mystery there is in faith 
 It is a belief that Christ really died for sinners, 
 that all who depend upon him alone shall be saved j 
 and a trust in him for salvation. Yes, it is, if we 
 may substitute another word as explanatory of 
 faith, it is TRUST in Christ. Faith, and confidence 
 in Christ, are the same thing. " I know whom I 
 have believed," says the apostle, " and am persua- 
 ded he is able to keep that which I have committed 
 to him." Believing, being persuaded, and the act 
 of committing, are the same act ; they all mean 
 faith. It is to rest upon the word and work of 
 Christ for salvation ; to depend upon his atonement 
 and righteousness, and upon nothing else, for ac 
 ceptance with God ; and really to expect salva- 
 tion, because he has promised it. If there be no 
 expectation, there is no faith ; for faith in a man's 
 promise, necessarily implies expectation of its ful- 
 filment. This, then, is faith; looking for or ex- 
 pecting salvation for the sake of Christ's work 
 alone, and because God has promised it. If you 
 want another illustration, take the case of the ser- 
 pent-bitten Israelites. Num. xxi. 4 9. John iii. 
 14. The people who were stung were commanded 
 to look on the brazen serpent. Those who really 
 believed the promise that such an act would be fol- 
 S
 
 80 ^ FAITH. 
 
 lowed with healing, went out and looked at the 
 appointed means of relief: their looking was their 
 believing ; and what did that look imply ? Ex- 
 pectation. They who did not look did not expect 
 healing, and they who did look expected relief. If 
 therefore you are not brought to expect salvation, 
 you do not believe, for as soon as you really be- 
 lieved, you would indulge the expectation of salva- 
 tion. " Faith is the substance (or confident ex- 
 pectation) of things hoped for," Expectation of 
 salvation for Christ's sake alone, and because he 
 has promised it, being faith, faith may be said to 
 be weak or strong in proportion as our expectation 
 is more or less confident, and free from doubts and 
 fears. 
 
 3. But WHEN is a sinner to believe ? Strange 
 question ! And yet one that it is necessary to an- 
 swer, because it is sometimes asked. Suppose if 
 when you promised alms to a poor starving beggar, 
 or forgiveness to a person that had injured you, 
 either of these persons were to ask, " When am I 
 to believe your promise," would you not feel some 
 surprise at the question ? The very nature of the 
 case suggests the propriety and necessity of imme- 
 diate faith. Your veracity is as great at that 
 moment as it ever will be, and therefore demands 
 instant confidence. Suppose the beggar were to 
 say, " I do not yet sufficiently feel my poverty, to 
 believe you now, but when I am more pinched with 
 hunger, I will take you at your word and come."
 
 FAITH. 87 
 
 Would not this be exceedingly preposterous 1 And 
 yet this is the very conduct of many persons in 
 reference to Christ, and faith in him for salvation. 
 They know that trust in him alone is necessary to 
 salvation ; that they must at length come ; but 
 they seem to regard it rather as an exercise or state 
 of mind, to which they are to be brought at some 
 future time, and by some means they know not 
 how, than as a duty to be immediately performed. 
 Their inward feeling is, a hope that they shall 
 have faith some time or other,"without ever once 
 imagining that they are required at once, and with- 
 out delay, to commit their soul to Christ. 
 
 Do, Reader, reflect upon this matter, this neces- 
 sity of instantly believing. Are you now a sin- 
 ner ? You know you are. Can you do any thing 
 now or hereafter to save yourself? You know 
 you cannot. Is Christ now a Saviour, able and 
 willing to save you now ? You know he is. Will 
 he be more able or willing to save you a month, or 
 a year hence, than he is at this moment 1 Cer- 
 tainly not. Does he say, " come unto me, not now, 
 but at some future time ; believe me, but not yet ; 
 trust in me after awhile ?" You know he does 
 not. Every invitation, every promise, every en- 
 couragement, relates to the present moment. The 
 words of scripture are, " To-day if ye will hear his 
 voice harden not your hearts. Now is the accepted 
 time, NOW is the day of salvation. Come, for all 
 things are ready. He is waiting to be gracious,"
 
 88 FAITH. 
 
 What prevents, but that you now, as you read this, 
 believe in Christ ? What hinders you, except your 
 own unwillingness, from this moment trusting in 
 the Lord Jesus for salvation ? What now, you 
 say, still startled at the idea of instantly taking to 
 your anxious bosom the sweet and soothing hope 
 of salvation. " Why not now?" I ask. "Would 
 God," you are ready to say, " I could, for I have 
 no peace of mind : I feel that I am a sinner, and 
 yet am distressed at times, that I do not feel this 
 enough. I am agitated and perplexed, for I have 
 no reason to hope my sins are forgiven. I cannot 
 approach God as a reconciled Father; on the con- 
 trary I am afraid of him, and fear if I were to die, 
 I should not meet him in peace." 
 
 Permit me here to remind you, tnat you never 
 can be at peace till you have faith ; peace is the 
 fruit, and, let me tell you, it is the Jirst fruit of 
 faith. Observe what the apostle has said : " In 
 whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye 
 rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." 
 1 Pet. i. 8. It is said of the Philippian jailer, "he 
 rejoiced, believing in God." Acts xxi. 34. You 
 never can have settled peace of mind, except it be 
 a false peace, till you believe in Christ : you are 
 seeking it in various ways, and occasionally obtain 
 a short pause to your solicitude, by prayer, by 
 hearing sermons, by dwelling on what you suppose 
 are evidences of your conversion, by fully pur- 
 posing to leave off your sins, and to serve God
 
 FAITH. 89 
 
 more entirely. But notwithstanding all this, you 
 are not in possession of settled comfort. Your joy 
 is more like an occasional flash from a taper in a 
 dark night, than steady sunshine : so that some- 
 times you are ready to give up religion altogether, 
 and turn back again to the world ; for you seem to 
 be as far from comfort as ever. But stop, and ask 
 this question, " Am 1 seeking peace in the right 
 way 1 Have I ever yet really, fully, and entirely 
 believed in Christ ? Have I truly committed my 
 soul to him, and expected salvation according to his 
 promise?" No: for if you had, you would not 
 now have been in your present state of agitation. 
 What is to give peace to a sinner feeling the burden 
 of guilt upon his conscience? What is to relieve 
 him from his distress 1 Nothing but faith in 
 Christ ; not the faith itself, but the object which 
 faith looks at, which is Christ. Many are saying, 
 " if I did but know that I had faith; or if I could 
 feel my faith stronger, I could then rejoice." But 
 this is seeking peace in faith itself, instead of seek- 
 ing it by faith in Christ. Faith is not our Saviour, 
 but only the eye that looks to him, the foot that 
 goes to him, the hand that receives him. Take an 
 illustration: Imagine that you were afflicted with 
 some dangerous disease, and anxious for recovery ; 
 in the midst of your solicitude, and after trying all 
 kinds of remedies without effect, a physician comes 
 in, and says. " I have brought you an infallible 
 cure for your complaint ; it has cured thousands, 
 S*
 
 90 FAITH. 
 
 and will most certainly cure you." What would 
 be the effect of this communication upon you? 
 Just according to the state of your mind in reference 
 to the report which the physician gives of his 
 medicine. If your anxiety about recovery, and 
 your fear of a cure, were greater than your faith 
 you would gain no peace ; the want of confidence 
 in the medicine would keep you in deep solicitude. 
 But suppose you were to believe the statement of 
 your medical friend, and had full confidence in the 
 remedy, what then would be the effect of the re- 
 port ? You would immediately rejoice ; you would 
 not wait till you had taken the medicine, and till 
 you felt yourself cured, before your solicitude was 
 relieved; no, but as soon as you believed in the 
 efficacy of the remedy, you would say, "Joyful 
 news, I am to be healed, and restored to health." 
 Now what in this case relieves you from your 
 solicitude, and gives you comfort ? The state- 
 ment of your friend, or in other words, faith in that 
 statement. The glad news of a coming cure, be- 
 lieved by you, makes you glad. It is not the act 
 of believing that you rejoice in, but the statement 
 believed. You would immediately take the medi- 
 cine ; and then when you experienced its healing 
 influence, you would rejoice still more. Your joy 
 in this case would be of two kinds : the first is the 
 joy of faith, in the assurance that you would be 
 cured; the second is the joy of experience, in find- 
 ing that you arc. cured.
 
 FAITH. 91 
 
 Apply this to the case of a sinner who feels his 
 miserable condition under the power and guilt of 
 sin. In his anxiety he tries various methods to 
 obtain relief: he leaves off sin, and tries to be good; 
 but a sense of unpardoned sin still lies upon his 
 heart, and he is far off from settled comfort. In 
 this situation, Christ, the physician of souls, comes 
 to him in the message of the gospel, and says, " My 
 blood cleanseth from all sin, and my Spirit can re- 
 new and sanctify the hardest and most polluted 
 heart ; look to me, and thou shall be saved." What 
 is the duty of the sinner in this case ? immediately 
 and fully to believe, and at once, as the evidence 
 and necessary fruit of his faith, to rejoice. If he 
 really does believe, he will rejoice , and if he do 
 not rejoice, it is because he does not believe. He 
 is not to wait till he is saved, before he takes com- 
 fort, but he is to take comfort in the first place, in. 
 believing that there is a Saviour, and that he may 
 be saved. He is not to wait for his comfort till he 
 feels that he is justified, renewed, and sanctified ; 
 for how can he come to this state unless he be- 
 lieves ? His first comfort must be the joy of faith ; 
 and this he must take to himself at once; the joy 
 of experience comes afterward. He must first re- 
 joice in the promise of spiritual healing, and then 
 afterwards he will rejoice in the sense of healing. 
 When the Jews who were pricked to the heart by 
 Peter's sermon, cried out in agony, " What shall 
 we do ?" He replied, u Repent, and be baptized,
 
 92 FAITH. 
 
 every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for 
 the remission of sins : then they that gladly received 
 the word were baptized." Acts ii. 37 41. They 
 gladly received the word, i. e. they believed the 
 promise, and were made glad. Here was irnmedi 
 ate faith, producing instant joy : they did not wai 
 till they felt they were saved, but rejoiced at once 
 Now observe another case : Paul, in one of his 
 Epistles, says, " Our rejoicing is this, that in sim- 
 plicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, 
 but by the grace of God, we have had our conver- 
 sation in the world." 2 Cor. i. 12. Here is the 
 joy of experience. It is the peace of believing, 
 that the enquirer has to do with ; and is it not 
 cause enough of delight that God has loved the 
 world, and you, as a part of the world, so as to give 
 his Son for your salvation ; that you are invited ; 
 that Christ is able and willing to save you. But 
 still you cling to the idea, if you could be sure you 
 believed, you would be comforted ; if you had evi- 
 dence of faith, you would take peace. Then it 
 would be these evidences that would comfort you, 
 and not the work of Christ. 
 
 It is also of importance, that you should clearly 
 understand that you are never in a state of faith if 
 you are not brought to some degree of comfort ; if 
 you still feel the load" of guilt upon your conscience, 
 and all its tormenting fears in your mind ; if you 
 are still anxiously asking the question, "What 
 shall I do to be saved ?" if you are still afraid of
 
 FAITH. 93 
 
 God ; if you still are without any hope of forgive- 
 ness, you do not believe ; for genuine faith, even 
 though it were not a full assurance, would in some 
 measure relieve you from this anxiety. It is very 
 common for persons to say they believe, and yet 
 have no comfort ; and then they are asking, " Why 
 am I not at peace ?" Because you really do not 
 believe in Christ ; you are deceiving yourself. It 
 is faith, genuine faith, you want; you have not yet 
 really trusted in Christ; you have not believed the 
 glad tidings of salvation ; for can any man believe 
 glad tidings concerning himself, and yet not be 
 made glad by them? Believe then, believe truly, 
 believe now, and enter into peace. 
 
 5*
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MISTAKES INTO WHICH ENQUIRERS ARE APT TO FALL. 
 
 IN an affair of such tremendous consequence as 
 the salvation of the soul, it is important that every 
 error of any moment into which Enquirers are in 
 danger of falling, should be clearly pointed out to 
 them. Satan is called the Father of lies, and 
 when his delusive influence is added to the natural 
 deceitfulness of the human heart, ihe danger of 
 mistake is great indeed. Our caution against 
 errors, should, of course, be in proportion to the 
 importance qf the consequences they draw after 
 them. Oh how awful is the idea of committing a 
 fundamental error in religious matters, and perse- 
 vering in that error till death ; we shall then have 
 eternity to deplore it, but never a moment to correct 
 it. Oh how dreadful to die and find ourselves mis- 
 taken as to our character and destiny. But even 
 where the error is not of so serious a nature, it may 
 still be the source of much disquietude. 
 
 1. The first error, and it is both a very common 
 and a very dreadful one, which enquirers are in 
 danger of committing, is to mistake knowledge,
 
 MISTAKES. 95 
 
 impression, and partial reformation, for genuine 
 conversion. In this day of prevailing evangelical 
 preaching, and religious instruction, when there is 
 no persecution to try men's sincerity, and even 
 much credit attaching to a profession of religion, 
 there is most imminent danger of self-delusion. 
 The preaching of the present day is of an exciting 
 and impressive character, which, added to the ten- 
 dency of a religious education to give knowledge, 
 is very likely to produce a state of feeling that may 
 be mistaken for conversion. Ignorant friends, anx- 
 ious parents, and even injudicious ministers, who 
 are too eager to swell the number of their com- 
 municants, upon perceiving a little impression of 
 mind and a little alteration of conduct in young 
 people, or in others, may express a favourable 
 opinion of their conversion, flatter them into a belief 
 that they are safe, engage them too hastily to join 
 the church, and receive the Lord's Supper, while 
 at the same time, perhaps, the great change has 
 never been wrought ; and thus the soul is in all 
 probability sealed up in delusion to eternal perdi- 
 tion. Nothing can now awaken them ; for although 
 their impressions die away, and they become almost 
 as careless, as worldly, as sinful as ever; yet they 
 have taken up a profession of religion, have been 
 led to believe they are Christians, and therefore 
 repress every rising fear, and stifle every incipient 
 alarm. Fatal case, and it is the case of multitudes. 
 It may be worth while to set before you how far
 
 96 MISTAKES. 
 
 persons may go, and not be really converted. 
 They may have'many and deep impressions, many 
 and strong convictions; they may have much know- 
 ledge of their sinful state, and a heavy and bur- 
 densome sense of their guilt ; they may look back 
 upon their past lives and conduct with much re- 
 morse ; they may be sorry for their sins ; and may 
 desire to be saved from the consequences of them, 
 being much alarmed at the prospect of the torments 
 of hell. Was not Judas convinced of sin, and did 
 he not weep bitterly and confess his sin, and was 
 he not filled with remorse ? Was not Cain con- 
 vinced of sin ? I have known many persons, who, 
 at one time, appeared to be more deeply impressed 
 with a sense of sin, and to have stronger convic- 
 tions and remorse than those who were truly con- 
 verted, and yet they went back again to the world 
 and sin. Nor is a detestation of sin always a sign 
 of true conversion. Hazael, before he was King 
 of Syria, detested those very crimes, which he 
 afterwards perpetrated in the fulness of his pride 
 and power. Unconverted persons may even wish 
 to be delivered from the fetters of those corrupt 
 lusts, which have long held them fast. There are 
 few notorious sinners, who do not frequently hate 
 their sins, and wish and purpose to reform. Yea, 
 persons may sometimes desire to be delivered from 
 all sin ; at least they may desire it in a certain way, 
 because they think that it is necessary in order to 
 be saved from hell. And as conviction of sin may
 
 MISTAKES. 97 
 
 exist without conversion, so may religious joy. 
 ' The stony ground hearers heard the word, and 
 with joy received it," Matthew xiii. 20. and yet 
 they had no root in themselves, and endured only 
 for awhile. The Galatians had great blessedness 
 atone time, which the apostle was afraid had come 
 to nothing. Gal. iv. 15. Multitudes rejoiced in 
 Christ when he made his entrance into Jerusalem, 
 who afterwards became his enemies. A person 
 may admire the people of God, and covet to be of 
 their number, as Balaam did, and yet not really be- 
 long to them. Many take great pleasure in hearing 
 sermons, and going to prayer meetings, and singing 
 hymns, and frequenting missionary and other public 
 meetings, who are not truly born of the Spirit. So 
 also do many persons leave off sinful actions, and 
 give up many wicked practices, and seem to be 
 quite altered for a time, who yet, by their subse- 
 quent history, show that they are not converted. 
 There may be considerable zeal for the outward 
 concerns of religion, as we see in Jehu, without 
 any right state of mind towards God. Many have 
 had great confidence of the reality of their conver- 
 sion ; they have had dreams, impressions, and an 
 inward wftness, as they suppose, who too plainly 
 proved by their after conduct, that they were under 
 an awful delusion. But it would be almost end- 
 less to point out the various ways in which men 
 deceive themselves, as to their state. Millions 
 who have been somewhat, yea, much concerned 
 9
 
 98 MISTAKES. 
 
 about religion, have never been born again of the 
 Spirit. More are lost by self-deception, than by 
 any other means. Hell resounds with the groans 
 and lamentations of souls that perished through 
 the power of a deceived heart. 
 
 Do, do examine yourselves. Exercise godly 
 jealousy over your own state. Never forget that 
 nothing short of the new birth will save you. 
 " Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, 
 he can never enter into the kingdom of heaven." 
 John iii. " If any man be in Christ he is a new 
 creature; old things are passed away ; behold 
 all things are become new." 2 Cor. v. 7. The 
 very nature must be changed, entirely changed. 
 We must be renewed in the spirit of our mind. 
 There must be a superhuman, a divine, a total 
 alteration of disposition. Our views and tastes, 
 our pains and pleasures, hopes and fears, desires 
 and pursuits, must be changed. We must be 
 brought to love God supremely, both for his holi- 
 ness and justice, as well as for his mercy and love 
 in Christ ; to delight in him for his transcendent 
 glory, as well as for his rich grace : we must have 
 a perception of the beauties of holiness, and love 
 divine things for their own excellence : we must 
 mourn for sin, and hate it for its own evil nature, 
 as well as its dreadful punishment : we must feel 
 delight in the salvation of Christ, not only because 
 it delivers us from hell, but makes us like God, and 
 all this in a way that honours and glorifies Jeho-
 
 MISTAKES. 99 
 
 vah : we must be made partakers of true humility, 
 and universal love, and feel ourselves brought to 
 be of one mind with God in willing and delighting 
 in the happiness of others : we must be brought to 
 feel an identity of heart with God's cause, and to 
 regard it as our honour and happiness" to do any 
 thing to promote the glory of Christ in the salva- 
 tion of sinners : we must feel a longing desire, a 
 hungering and thirsting after holiness, as well as a 
 disposition to put away all sins, however gainful or 
 pleasant : we must have a tender conscience that 
 shrinks from, and watches against little sins, secret 
 faults, and sins of neglect and omission, as well 
 as great and scandalous offences : we must love 
 the people of God, for God's sake, because they 
 belong to him and are like him ; we must practise 
 the self-denying duty of mortification of sin, as well 
 as engage in the pleasing exercises of religion. 
 This is to be born again ; it is no mere transient 
 impression upon the imagination, but it is a per- 
 manent renewal of the disposition j it is not an 
 occasional impulse, but an abiding character ; the 
 subject of it may not be violently agitated, but he 
 is lastingly altered ; his passions may not be power- 
 fully moved, but his principles, tastes, and pursuits, 
 are engaged on the side of true holiness. He is 
 now a spiritual man, whereas he was a carnal one, 
 and all things are by him spiritually discerned. 
 Nothing short of this entire change of heart, this 
 complete renovation of the nature, must satisfy you ;
 
 100 MISTAKES. 
 
 for nothing less than such a view of Christ in his 
 glorious mediatorial character, and such a depend- 
 ance by faith upon his blood and righteousness for 
 salvation, as changes the whole heart, and temper, 
 and conduct ; throAvs the world as it Avere into the 
 back ground, and makes glory hereafter, and holi- 
 ness now, the supreme concern, is religion. 
 
 2. Enquirers are often in error on the subject of 
 their immediate obligation to believe and go to 
 Christ ; and are waiting, as they say, for a day 
 of power at the pool of ordinances.* They are 
 seeking and praying, but they have no idea that it 
 is their present duty, without waiting another 
 hour, to give themselves to Christ. They are ex- 
 pecting some sensible impression, or impulse upon 
 their mind, to make known to them when it is 
 their duty to believe, and also enable them to be- 
 lieve. They suppose it will be made clear to them 
 as it was to the cripples by the troubling of the 
 Avaters, that they are no longer to wait, but then to 
 descend into the pool of salvation. 
 
 Now this is a most grievous and injurious error, 
 and keeps many minds for a long period in great 
 distress, and actually prevents some from coming 
 to Christ at all. I must first tell you, that it is an 
 utter perversion of scripture, to consider the pool 
 
 * There is in this chapter a repetition of some of the ideas 
 and even expressions contained in a former section, but it 
 is on a subject of so much importance that I do not choose 
 to suppress them.
 
 MISTAKES. 101 
 
 of Bethesda as an emblem of the healing of sinners 
 by the work of Christ ; and the situation of the 
 diseased persons waiting for the healing visit of the 
 angel, as descriptive of the duty of sinners to wait 
 for some impulse or'power from above, before they 
 believe. The fact was related merely to show the 
 power and glory of Christ in working a miracu- 
 lous cure. Where in all the New Testament are 
 sinners told to wait till some future time, before 
 they believe ? Where is it said, " Believe, but not 
 now:" hope, but not now: wait for some power or 
 impulse to enable you to believe. On the contrary, 
 is it not said, " To day if ye will hear his voice 
 harden not your hearts, Now is the accepted time, 
 now is the day of salvation ?" Is not God willing 
 to pardon you this moment ; Christ willing to save 
 you this moment; the Spirit waiting to renew and 
 sanctify you this moment? Are not all the pro- 
 mises true now, all the blessings of salvation ready 
 and waiting for your acceptance now ? What then 
 are you waiting for, or why should you wait at all ? 
 Could a voice from heaven, or any impulse in your 
 own hearts, make it more certain than the word of 
 God makes it, that Christ is willing to save you ? 
 Look steadily at this promise, " Come unto me all 
 ye that labour and I will give you rest." Is that 
 the language of Christ ? Yes. Is it true ?- Yes. 
 Does it say any thing about waiting for impulse ? 
 No. What then are you hesitating about 1 It is 
 as true this moment as it ever will or can be, and 
 9*
 
 108 MISTAKES. 
 
 if you wait for any thing else but the word of 
 Christ, you will spend all your time in waiting, 
 and die deceived at last. True, you need the in- 
 fluence of the Spirit to assist you to believe, but 
 that influence is always as ready as the work of 
 Christ. 
 
 But, say others, " we are waiting to be more 
 deeply convinced of sin." Are you convinced that 
 you are under the condemnation of the law ; such a 
 sinner as to be totally depraved in your nature, as 
 well as guilty of innumerable actual sins, and de- 
 serving of hell ? Is this clear to your judgment, 
 and really felt by your conscience ; then what are 
 you waiting for ? If you say, for more sorrow of 
 heart, more pungent convictions, I would ask again, 
 how deep do you suppose your convictions must 
 be, before you believe in Christ, and hope for mercy ? 
 Can you fix on any standard on this subject? Be- 
 sides, do you suppose that if your convictions were 
 ten times as deep as they now are, that these feel- 
 ings of yours would be your warrant to go to 
 Christ, or render you more welcome to Him, or be 
 in any measure your ground of hope ? Are you 
 not wishing for deep convictions, to take comfort 
 in them, instead of Christ 1 Has Christ any where 
 said, he will not receive you till your convictions 
 have attained to a certain depth ? The question is, 
 are you really convinced ? not how deeply are you 
 convinced. And then, as to godly sorrow, this will 
 be promoted by faith. " They shall look on me
 
 MISTAKES. 103 
 
 whom they have pierced, and mourn," says the 
 Lord Jesus, concerning the Jews. Zech. xii. 10. 
 The belief of God's love to us in Christ, the sweet 
 hope of his mercy Avill melt the heart to tender- 
 ness. I wish you to dwell upon this. It is the 
 hope, the sense of God's love, that warms and 
 thaws the cold and frozen heart of man. As you 
 gaze upon a crucified Redeemer by faith ; as you 
 hear God say, " I, even I, am he that blotteth out 
 thy sins by the blood of my Son, I will forgive ihee 
 all, notwithstanding thy rebellion, and thy too 
 great lukewarmness," your soul will dissolve in 
 ingenuous grief and love. In keeping back from 
 Christ ; in waiting for deeper emotions, before you 
 come to him, you are defeating your own purpose. 
 The more and sooner you hope in Christ, the 
 sooner and more will you mourn for sin. Every 
 fresh view you take of his cross, when you are in- 
 dulging an expectation of mercy, will deepen your 
 emotions of sorrow, and your convictions of the 
 evil of sin. All the sensibilities of your heart will 
 be moved by the amazing spectacle ; and that very 
 scene which conveys to your soul the sense of 
 pardon, will convey also a sense of the bitterness 
 of transgression. Wait no longer then ; believe, 
 believe now ; commit your soul at once to the 
 Saviour, and rejoice in hope of salvation. 
 
 Others are waiting for more holiness, for some 
 preparatory process, before they rest upon Christ 
 for eternal life. A preparatory process indeed
 
 104 MISTAKES. 
 
 there is, and must be, carried on in the heart before 
 the sinner will go to Christ. But what is that 
 process ? Nothing which is to prevent his soul 
 for a moment, when he is anxious about salvation, 
 from depending upon Christ. It is the work of the 
 Holy Spirit giving him a sense of his sin, and a 
 desire to flee from the wrath to come. But in the 
 case of those whom I am addressing, I mean those 
 who are anxious about salvation, this is already 
 done ; they are convinced of sin, and desirous to 
 flee from impending judgment. What more is ne- 
 cessary tq prepare them to believe in Christ ? But 
 what is meant by those who talk thus, is, that there 
 must be a long course of conviction ; a production 
 and growth of holy affections ; a series of holy 
 actions \ an expansion of religious knowledge ; and 
 that then, and not till then, sinners are encouraged 
 to trust in Christ, and hope for salvation. Now it 
 is very true that every sinner in coming to Christ by 
 faith, must be prepaiad and ready to give up every 
 sin ; he must be willing to sacrifice sins that may 
 be as pleasant as a right eye, and as useful as a 
 right hand ; he must be willing to take up his cross 
 and follow Christ to bonds, imprisonment, and 
 death ; he must consider himself as " called unto 
 holiness ;" and this is his state of mind, as soon 
 as he is really convinced of sin : what more in the 
 way of preparation for pardon does he need ? Is 
 not a man prepared for forgiveness, as soon as he 
 is aware of his transgression ? If a father promise
 
 MISTAKES. 105 
 
 
 
 pardon to an offending child as soon as he con- 
 fesses his fault, has that child any need to say, " I 
 will prepare myself for pardon by a long course of 
 future good conduct ?" His father is ready to for- 
 give him, and he of course is ready to be forgiven, 
 upon the very first moment of true penitence. If 
 God had said he would not pardon us, till months 
 or years of good conduct had taken place, it would 
 have been only mocking us ; for what good conduct 
 can we perform till he has received us into his 
 favour, and bestowed upon us his Spirit ? The 
 first concern of a sinner is, or should be, to be par- 
 doned ; the second, to be holy ; and he should de- 
 sire the first, in order to the second. It is a radical 
 error to suppose that sanctification goes before 
 justification. We must first be justified, before 
 we can be sanctified. Mark this well. I repeat 
 it, and repeat it in capitals, that you may notice 
 and weigh it, WE MUST BE JUSTIFIED BEFORE WE CAN 
 BE SANCTIFIED. We are justified by faith ; and 
 without faith we cannot please God ; consequently, 
 till we believe, we can perform no good works ; 
 and when we believe, we are accepted of God. 
 Faith, then, is immediately our duty, without wait- 
 ing for any preparatory process. But, perhaps, this 
 will be made still more plain, by a reference to 
 examples. Take then the conversions, or at least 
 some of them recorded in scripture. 
 
 Take the case,of the penitent thief. Luke xxiii. 
 40 43. What preparatory process went on in
 
 IQ6 MISTAKES. 
 
 this man's mind, and heart, and conduct, beyond 
 the work of the Spirit in convincing him of sin? 
 He appears to have thought of his sin, and repented 
 for the first time, when he was crucified ; and al- 
 most the same moment believed in Christ, and 
 entertained a hope of mercy. 
 
 Read the account of the three thousand con- 
 verted on the day of Pentecost. Acts ii. Up to the 
 time when they heard Peter's sermon, they were the 
 murderers of Christ ; by that sermon they were con- 
 vinced of sin, and within an hour after the sermon, 
 they were rejoicing in the assurance of pardon. 
 Now what preparatory process was carried on in 
 their hearts, beyond the work of the Spirit in con- 
 vincing them of sin ? 
 
 Consider the conversion of the apostle Paul, 
 who was a bloody persecutor ; and a day or two 
 after, not only a pardoned sinner, a baptized be- 
 liever, a rejoicing Christian, but a consecrated 
 apostle. What preparatory process in the way of 
 long cherished convictions, or holy actions, was 
 there in him ?-^Acts viii. 
 
 Consult the narrative of the Philippian jailer. 
 Acts xvi. 25 34. In the same night he was con- 
 vinced of sin ; he believed in Christ; he was filled 
 with peace ; and was baptized. When in agony of 
 soul he cried out, " what shall I do to be saved ?" 
 his heaven inspired teacher replied, "^Believe in the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved." The 
 apostle did not speak to him of any preparatory
 
 MISTAKES. 107 
 
 * 
 
 process, any long course of prescribed duties, any 
 training for his reception by Christ, but simply 
 said, " Believe ;" and he meant, of course, believe 
 now ; and so the trembling penitent understood 
 him, for he believed at once, and entered into peace. 
 I bring forward these instances, and almost all 
 the other cases of conversion spoken of in the 
 New Testament are of a similaa nature, not to 
 prove that all conversions are eqinlly sudden and 
 remarkable, but to prove this one point that no 
 other preparation in the sinner's mmd is necessary 
 in order that he should believe find be justified, 
 but a real conviction of sin. As soon as a man 
 knows he is a lost sinner, that is, is truly con- 
 vinced of his state of condemnation, he is required 
 to believe in Christ, and to hope for pardon ; he is 
 then in a state, a Jit state to receive it ; and more- 
 over, he would not be, and could not be, more fit 
 by waiting ten years in the most agonizing con- 
 victions, or the most sacred performance of duty. 
 The sinner is condemned, and is any moment after 
 conviction in a state to be reprieved ; and he can 
 never begin to perform the acts of a good citizen, 
 till he is justified. Faith is the very first act of 
 evangelical obedience, which any one can render 
 to God, and it is the spring of all others. We 
 never can be holy till we believe in Christ ; and 
 therefore all ideas of preparation for coming to 
 Christ are erroneous, arise from mistaken views of 
 the way of a sinner's acceptance with God, and are
 
 108 MISTAKES. 
 
 Tfjt 
 
 generally to be traced to a principle of self-right- 
 eousness. This, perhaps, is the case with many 
 who will read these pages ; they want to be more 
 prepared either by convictions, or by holiness, for 
 coming to Christ ; i. e. they want something o 
 their own in which to glory ; something to give 
 them courage and confidence in approaching the 
 Saviour ; something to render them less dependent 
 on free, sovereign grace ; something to entitle 
 them, if not to salvation, at least to the righteous- 
 ness of Christ as the meritorious cause of it. 
 Anxious Enquirers, you know not the secret work- 
 ings of pride and self-righteousness in your soul ; 
 you are not yet acquainted with the deceitfulness 
 of the human heart; you are ignorant of the arti- 
 fices of Satan, or you would detect in those long- 
 ings after some preparatory process, a scheme of 
 the enemy of souls to keep you from Christ ; yes, 
 it is a veil to hide from your view the glory of his 
 cross, and a stumbling-block to hinder you from 
 approaching the fountain of life. Wait no longer ; 
 
 "If you tarry till you're better, 
 You will never come at all." 
 
 It is of infinite consequence for you to remember, 
 that you are received, not as worthy, but as un- 
 worthy ; not as favourites, but as those who have 
 been enemies ; not as deserving life by your con- 
 victions, but as sentenced to death for your trans- 
 gressions. " To him that worketh not, but believ- 
 eth on him that justifieth THE UNGODLY, his faith is 

 
 MISTAKES. 109 
 
 counted for righteousness." Rom. iv. 5. Mark 
 that expression, there is a vast comprehension of 
 subject in it; it is the key to a correct knowledge 
 of justification ; " believeth in him that justifieth 
 the UNGODLY." We are justified, so far as we are 
 concerned, under the character of " ungodly." If 
 then we seek to make ourselves godly before we 
 corne to Christ, and wish to come under that cha- 
 racter, we are shutting ourselves out from the 
 blessing of justification ; for this is granted only to 
 them, who consider themselves ungodly. 
 
 3. Another mistake into which enquirers fall in 
 the commencement of a religious course, is to in- 
 dulge in a misplaced solicitude about the evi- 
 dences of personal religion. I am not so unskilful 
 in the word of righteousness, as to be ignorant 
 that the sacred writers speak much and often on. 
 the subject of evidences of personal religion. But 
 a person must have religion, before he can possess 
 the evidences of it; and at present your solicitude 
 should be rather to be Christians, than to know 
 you are such. It is, however, a very common 
 case for persons, as soon as they begin to be anxious 
 about religion, to begin also to be anxious to find 
 out the marks of salvation in themselves. Hence 
 they are ever microscopically analyzing all their 
 feelings, watching their motives, reviewing their 
 conduct ; sometimes hoping when they see, or 
 think they see, a good mark ; but more generally 
 desponding as the result of seeing so much that is 
 10
 
 110 MISTAKES. 
 
 positively wrong, or really defective in the state 
 ff their hearts. I wish you to attend to this re- 
 mark, " That enquirers after salvation should 
 be much more occupied in looking to Christ, than 
 in looking into their own hearts : and that when 
 they do look into themselves, it should be for con- 
 viction, and not for consolation." Consider the 
 case of the Israelites when bitten by the fiery ser- 
 pents in the wilderness. Moses, you know, was 
 ordered to make a brazen serpent and elevate it 
 upon a pole, and whosoever looked upon the bra- 
 zen figure lived. " Look and live," was the man- 
 date and promise. Now cannot you fancy you 
 see the poor, poisoned creatures, straining their 
 very eyes in gazing upon the object appointed for 
 their healing? Do you think they spent all their 
 time, or much of their time, or any of it, in examin- 
 ing the wounds to see if they were healing ? Were 
 they so foolish as to look off from the means of 
 cure, to ascertain their progress in recovery ? No. 
 They would not have taken their eye from the 
 brazen serpent to look at a second sun, if it had 
 been at that time kindled on the firmament of hea- 
 ven. Their eye was fixed ; and as they looked, 
 they felt their pain assuaged ; their fever cooled ; 
 their health returning ; if they looked off, they felt 
 in danger of relapse ; and in this way they re- 
 covered. Thus should it be with the sinner; he 
 should look to Jesus: healing is there; and is 
 obtained, not by looking to see if it is come, or is
 
 MISTAKES. lit 
 
 coming ; the more the mind is fixed on Christ, the 
 more clear its views are qi f his meiaa 1 work ; 
 the more steady and fixed the eye of faith is on the 
 cross of him who was lifted up, that whosoever 
 believeth should not perish but have everlasting 
 life, the firmer will be the consciousness of the 
 soul, that it does believe, and the more abundant 
 will be all the fruits and evidences of faith. The 
 Israelite had no doubt of his healing as long -as he 
 looked to the brazen serpent, for he felt it going 
 on ; nor will the soul doubt of its acceptance with 
 God, as long as it looks to Christ. " He that be- 
 lieveth hath the witness in himself," not o r ly of 
 the truth of Christianity, but of his own pt sonal 
 religion. The way to have evidences inci 3ased, 
 is to have faith increased ; and the way to have 
 faith increased, is not by looking into ourselves, 
 who are the subjects of faith, but out of ourselves 
 to Christ, who is the object of faith. Faith is the 
 mainspring and regulator of all the graces ; our 
 joy, our love, our hope, will all be in proportion to 
 our faith ; and our faith can never be strengthened 
 by an anxious and constant poring over the feelings 
 of our hearts. Nor can our faith be strengthened 
 merely by determining to be strong in faith, but 
 by an intelligent and increasingly clear view of 
 the person and work of Christ. " How long," said 
 David, " shall I take counsel in my soul, having 
 sorrow in mv ' t daily." He tells us almost 
 immediate ' -he got r d of his &n<:f, even
 
 113 MISTAKES. 
 
 by looking away from himself to God, " I have 
 trusted in thy mercy, I have rejoiced in thy sal- 
 vation." Psalm xiii. 2 5. The first evidence of 
 faith is the peace of mind that it brings to the soul, 
 or the relief which it affords from the burden of 
 sin ; the next is holiness, but there can be neither 
 peace nor holiness till there is faith. Many peo- 
 ple, I apprehend, are greatly deceived in their sup- 
 posed object in seeking for marks of conversion, it 
 is not evidences of faith they are seeking after, but 
 matter of faith ; not evidences that they have re- 
 ceived the righteousness of Christ, but evidences 
 out of which they make a righteousness of their 
 own ; they want comfort, and instead of looking 
 for it in Christ, they are looking for it in them- 
 selves. Hence, when they have found, or think 
 they have found, a good mark in themselves, they 
 rejoice in it, as those that have found great spoil. 
 Doubting, dejected, and anxious sinner, thou 
 hast been reading, thinking, hearing, praying, stri- 
 ving, examining, consulting books of evidences, 
 and lists of marks of salvation, enquiring of others 
 how they feel, and what they conclude to be evi- 
 dence of a work of grace, and yet thou art as far 
 from any satisfactory conclusion, as to. thy state, 
 as ever ; like the beast in the mire, all thy striving 
 serves but to sink thee deeper and deeper. Now 
 then take another plan, since thine own has failed, 
 and instead of troubling thyself about evidences, 
 look to Christ; keep thine eye fixed on him; me-
 
 MISTAKES. 113 
 
 ditate upon the divinity of his person ; the suffi- 
 ciency of his atonement ; the perfection of his 
 righteousness ; the riches of his grace ; the univer- 
 sality of his invitations. Look at the object of 
 faith, the grounds of faith, the warrant of faith 
 the more thou dost this, the stronger thy faith wilL 
 become ; and the stronger thy faith is, the greater 
 thy peace will be. Instead of labouring to love 
 Christ, and becoming dejected that thou dost not 
 love him more, take another course, and dwell 
 upon the love of Christ to thee. Meditate on his 
 amazing grace, his most wonderful compassion, 
 not only to the world in general, but to thee, as 
 part of the world ; labour and pray to be able to 
 comprehend with all saints, Ck what is the height, 
 and breadth, and depth, and length of the love of 
 Christ, which passeth knowledge." This, this is 
 the way to grow in love to him, for if we love him, 
 it is because he first loved us. It is a great prin- 
 ciple, which I am anxious to impress upon you, 
 that subjective religion, or in other words, religion 
 in us is produced fhid sustained by fixing the mind 
 upon objective religion, or the facts and doctrines 
 of the word of God. Neither evidences, nor com- 
 fort, should be sought directly, or on their own ac- 
 count, or as separate things, but as the result of 
 faith. Take this as an important sentiment, that 
 the subject of evidences belongs more to the be 
 liever, than to the enquirer j to the Christian who 
 10*
 
 114 MISTAKES. 
 
 professes to be already in the way, and not to the 
 anxious seelcer after the way. 
 
 4. But there is another mistake which enquirers 
 are apt to make, which, though nearly allied to 
 what I have already stated, is sufficiently distinct 
 to justify a separate consideration, and that is con- 
 founding faith and assurance. Faith is such a 
 cordial belief that Christ died for sinners, as leads 
 to a dependance upon him for salvation ; assurance, 
 as the word is usually understood in religious dis- 
 course, means a persuasion that I do so believe, and 
 am in a state of salvation : faith means a belie! 
 that Christ is willing to receive me ; assurance 
 means conviction that he has received me ; that, 
 in short, I am a Christian. Now it is manifest 
 that these two are different from each other; one 
 of them, that is faith, signifying the performance 
 of an action or coming into a certain state; and 
 the other the consciousness that I have come into 
 that state. It is also equally evident that faith 
 must precede assurance. We must first believe 
 that Christ died for sinners, before we can know 
 that we have believed. The first simple act of 
 faith is a belief that Christ died for all sinners, for 
 the whole world ; the next as arising out of it, if it 
 be not indeed included in it, is that he died for us 
 as a part of the world. I believe, says the sinner, 
 who is coming with confidence to Christ, that God 
 so loved the world as to give his only begotten 
 
 Son. that whosoever believed on him should not 
 
 i
 
 MISTAKES. 115 
 
 perish, but have everlasting life : then as I am a 
 part of the world. I helieve he loved me, and is 
 willing to save me: this is faith. The soul then 
 feels joy and peace in believing, love to God, gra- 
 titude to Christ, hatred of sin, subjugation of the 
 world, fellowship with the righteous ; now says 
 the person, " I know I believe, I am conscious both 
 of the act of believing, and also of its gracious 
 effects ;" this is assurance ; I may illustrate it by 
 referring again to the rebellious subjects, and their 
 gracious sovereign. A ringleader of the revolt, 
 can scarcely persuade himself that he can be in- 
 cluded in the act of amnesty ; he reads the procla- 
 mation again, which runs thus : The king, pity- 
 ing his deluded subjects, and filled with clemency, 
 will grant a gracious pardon to whomsoever will 
 lay down their arms by such a day. Having ex- 
 amined the proofs of the authenticity of the act, 
 and being satisfied on that point ; he says, " It is 
 really true, and I believe that the king is willing 
 to pardon all that submit ; and as he has made no 
 exception against any, but says, whomsoever Avill 
 lay down his arms shall be forgiven, I believe that 
 there is mercy for me. Thus far faith goes; and 
 even before he reaches the scene of pardon, or 
 takes a step towards it, his mind is at rest, the 
 proclamation itself, as soon as it is understood and 
 believed, gives him comfort; he has no doubt ol 
 his being accepted. He goes and lays down his 
 arms, and now he is assured he is safe ; he is con-
 
 116 MISTAKES. 
 
 scious he has done what the monarch required, and 
 he feels he has what the monarch promised. In 
 his case, however, you perceive that there would 
 not be much solicitude about assurance. Faith 
 and compliance with the monarch's demand, would 
 be all that he would concern himself about. As- 
 surance would follow upon faith and action. So 
 should it be with anxious Enquirers after salva- 
 tion : their business is to believe what ? that they 
 are Christians ? No ; for a belief that / am a 
 Christian, is not faith, but assurance ; but to be- 
 lieve the Gospel, which is God's proclamation of 
 mercy and pardon to his rebel subjects : they are 
 to feel persuaded that God has loved them in com- 
 mon with other sinners ; invited them ; has pro- 
 mised to receive them, and take the comfort of this 
 revelation of mercy ; and then, from the pacifying 
 effect of this upon their conscience, and the puri- 
 fying effect of it upon their hearts, to be assured 
 they have believed, and have passed from death 
 unto life. Faith then is not assurance, but the 
 cause of it. 
 
 Now, Enquirers, are you not aware you have 
 confounded these two ; and have been consequently 
 walking in great perplexity ? You are dejected, 
 and cannot be comforted. Why? " Oh," you 
 say, "my faith is so weak; indeed I am afraid I 
 have no faith." Now, what do you mean by ha- 
 ving no faith 1 "I am afraid I am not a Chris- 
 tian. I fear I do not believe. I am full of unbe-
 
 MISTAKES. 117 
 
 lief." And let me tell you that you never can be 
 delivered from distress in this way ; for you are 
 wanting to know you are a Christian hefore you 
 are one ; you are striving to knoAV you are a be- 
 liever before you believe; you wish to be assured 
 you are accepted of Christ, in order that you may 
 go to him for acceptance. Faith is not believing 
 that you are a Christian, but believing that Christ 
 died for sinners ; and unbelief is not doubting that 
 you are a Christian, but doubting Christ's willing- 
 ness to save you. My advice to you then is, to 
 leave assurance as a first matter out of considera- 
 tion, to talk nothing, and think nothing about it. 
 Your business at present is with faith ; you are to 
 believe ; you are to commit your soul to the atone- 
 ment of Christ ; you are to be persuaded that he 
 died for sinners, died for you, and is willing to 
 save you. This is the assurance you are to seek ; 
 and this is what the apostle means by the full as- 
 surance of faith ; an unhesitating confidence that 
 the Lord Jesus is able and willing to save to the 
 uttermost ; and therefore, able and willing to save 
 you. Get your mind full of conviction of the truth 
 of this ; let your soul be thrown, as it were, wide 
 open to admit this delightful persuasion, that Christ 
 is mighty to save ; delighted to save ; waiting to 
 save all you among the rest ; you as willingly as 
 any of the rest; and then will this truth give you 
 such peace and exert such a power over your heart, 
 as to prove to you the existence and reality of your
 
 118 MISTAKES. 
 
 faith. The assurance which the Scripture speaks 
 of, is the assurance of God's love to you in Christ ; 
 and this, I again say, is the only assurance which 
 you have to do with at present.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PERPLEXITIES WHICH ARE OFTEN KELT BY ENQUIRERS. 
 
 1. Many are exceedingly perplexed and dis- 
 tressed on the subject of their personal election 
 to eternal life. 
 
 I have nothing to do now with those careless or 
 profane persons, who make this awful doctrine an 
 excuse, or rather profess to make it an excuse, for 
 the entire neglect of religion; and who with a 
 wicked indifference exclaim, " If I am elected to 
 be saved, I shall be saved without any concern of 
 mine ; but if I am not elected, no effort of mine 
 will or can save me." The fact is, that such per- 
 sons do not believe in the doctrine of election at 
 all; nor indeed, care any thing about salvation, 
 but are utterly ignorant and careless, and refer to 
 this solemn truth, either to quiet their own con- 
 science, or to silence and turn away the voice of 
 faithful admonition. But there are others who do 
 feel, especially in the early stages of religious en- 
 quiry, no small degree of perplexity on this sub- 
 ject. Now here let me at once inform you, that
 
 120 PERPLEX1TI 
 
 you who are enquiring after salvation, have nothing 
 to do with the doctrine of election; nor, in 
 has any o;, \villi the secret \>u. 
 
 of G' '"/. ']'! truth 
 
 of G<> igrity in the s;il 
 
 is introduced in Scripture, not to the 
 
 approach of the sinner to Christ f<; a, but 
 
 to remind those who hare come to him. that their 
 salvation is all of grace ; to take away from them 
 all ground of boasting; to confirm their faith in 
 the accomplishment of the divine promises; to 
 promote their comfort ; to inculcate the neces- 
 sity of personal holiness ; and to encourage Chris- 
 tians amidst the afflictions of life. Rom. via. ix. 
 Ephes. i. 4, 5. 9, 11. 1 Peter i. 2. But it is 
 never designed to be a source of discouragement 
 to penitents. The rule of your conduct is ihe in- 
 vitation and promise of Christ, not the secret pur- 
 poses of God: "The secret tilings belong unto 
 the Lord our God; but those things that are re 
 vealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, 
 that we may do all the words of this law." Deut. 
 xxix. 29. The mercy of God is infinite ; the me- 
 rit of Christ's atonement is infinite; the power of 
 the Spirit is infinite; and the invitations of the 
 Gospel are universal. " Come unto me all ye that 
 labour and are heavy laden." And thus saith the 
 Lord, " I have no pleasure in the death of a sin- 
 ner." " The Lord is long suffering to us ward, 
 not willing that any should perish, but that all
 
 PERPLEXITIES. 12 
 
 should come to repentance." " Him that cometh 
 I will in no wise cast out." " Whosoever will, 
 let him take of the water of life freely." Now 
 these are the words of Scripture, and must, there- 
 fore, be true ; and here is the rule of your conduct. 
 You can understand this, but you know nothing 
 about the secret purposes of God. Besides, if you 
 knew you were elected, you would not be received 
 and saved because of this knowledge, but because 
 you believed in Christ, who invites men not as 
 elected to life, but as lost sinners condemned to 
 death. If you had been permitted to read the de- n&U*/> 
 crees of heaven, and had seen your name in the/7- / 
 Lamb's book of life, you would not be one w hit^ . / 
 more welcome to Christ, than you are now, that V 
 you know nothing about the matter. You are in 
 vited ; and if you neglect the invitation which 
 you do know, because of a decree which you do 
 not know, the blame of perishing will lie at your 
 own door; and you will find at last that you were 
 lost, not in consequence of any purpose of God de- 
 termining you to be lost, but in consequence of 
 your own unbelief. 
 
 Why should the purpose of God in reference to 
 salvation, be that only view of the divine decrees 
 which perplexes you? Do you not believe there 
 is also a purpose which refers to the events of your 
 natural life and death 1 But do you on this ac- 
 count hesitate in sickness to take the medicine pre- 
 scribed for you by a skilful physician, lest you 
 11
 
 122 PERPLEXITIES. 
 
 should not be ordained to life ? No. You say, 
 and with reason, " I know nothing about the Di- 
 vine purpose ; my business is with plain rules of 
 duty, and instituted means; for if I am to live, I 
 can expect recovery only by these means." Ac 
 thus in reference to your souls : leave the decree 
 out of consideration ; for you know nothing about 
 them, and have nothing to do with them. You 
 are invited to use the means of life ; if you are de- 
 creed to be saved, you must be saved by these, and 
 if you use them aright you certainly will be saved. 
 If any use at all is to be made by an Enquirer, of 
 the doctrine of election, it is a use in his own fa- 
 vour. You know not that you are not elected, and 
 the very solicitude of your mind about salvation, 
 is a presumption that you are, since that solicitude 
 is the way in which God carries his decree into 
 execution. Besides, if you get away from the in- 
 vitation, and instead of making that the rule of 
 your conduct, trouble your head with other views 
 and subjects, you will find as much perplexity in 
 God's foreknowledge, as you do in his decree. 
 Even those who deny the purposes of God, have 
 just as much reason to perplex themselves with 
 Divine prescience, and say, " Whatever God fore- 
 sees, and nothing but what he foresees, will take 
 place ; now he foresees either that I shall be saved 
 or lost ; and as I do not know that he foresees that 
 I shall be saved, I am greatly discouraged." 
 Abandon at once therefore all solicitude, and in-
 
 PERPLEXITIES. 123 
 
 deed all thoughts about the decree, and fix your 
 attention on the invitation. Christ bids you come 
 to him for salvation ; and every bar and obstacle 
 which lies in the way of your coming, is placed 
 there by you, and not by him. He does not say, 
 " Come when you have ascertained your election, 
 but come and ascertain it. He does not say, you 
 are welcome if you have read the decree, but you 
 are welcome if you believe the promise. He does 
 not say, come under the presumption that you are 
 predestinated, but come with the assurance that 
 you are bidden. Your business is to make your 
 calling- sure, and then you will no longer doubt 
 of your election. 
 
 2. Another source of perplexity with some, is a 
 fear that they have committed the unpardonable 
 blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. 
 
 This is by no means an uncommon ground of 
 painful solicitude; and even when it does not* 
 amount to a deep and terrifying conviction, yet 
 the subject haunts the imagination with many dis- 
 tressing fears, keeps the peace unsettled, and pre- 
 vents that calm and tranquillizing reliance, to which 
 the penitent is invited. Now I wish you to know 
 that in whatever awful and terrific obscurity this 
 subject is enveloped, no one that is really anxious 
 about his salvation, need to be under the least fear, 
 that he has passed the line of hope and entered the 
 region where mercy never dispenses pardon ; the 
 very fear of having committed this sin, when it is
 
 124 PERPLEXITIES. 
 
 connected with concern about religion, is as cer- 
 tain a proof that it has not been committed, as if 
 it were declared by a voice from heaven. It may 
 be taken for granted that in every case where this 
 mysterious crime has been committed, the trans- 
 gressor is given up either to a deadly stupor, or a 
 raging frenzy of the conscience. But, perhaps, 
 the best way of removing the apprehension, is to 
 explain the subject which occasions it. What is 
 the nature of this sin 1 Read the account of it : 
 " Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and 
 blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men ; but the 
 blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be 
 forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a 
 word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven 
 him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy 
 Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this 
 world, nor in the world to come." Matthew xii. 
 * 31, 32. The occasion of these awful words, was 
 the conduct of the Pharisees in ascribing the mi- 
 racles of Christ, the reality of which they could 
 not deny or doubt, to the power of the devil. Still, 
 though this was the occasion of the words, it was 
 not a description of the sin, for this was speaking 
 against the Son of Man, and not against the Holy 
 Ghost, which was not yet poured out. The day ot 
 Pentecost, properly speaking, commenced the dis- 
 pensation of the Spirit ; when his divine gifts, 
 conferred upon the apostles, completed the evi- 
 dence of the Christian economy; and the language
 
 PERPLEXITIES. 125 
 
 of Christ, therefore, seemed to direct the Pharisees 
 forward, in the way of impressive warning to that 
 event; and to remind them, though they under- 
 stood him not, that the malicious contempt cast 
 upon his miracles, if repeated after the Holy 
 Ghost should be poured out, would fill the mea- 
 sure of their iniquities; seal them up in unbelief; 
 and place them beyond the reach of mercy. There 
 would remain no farther evidence of the divine 
 mission of Christ ; the last and the fullest attesta- 
 tion to his Messiahship would be rejected and re- 
 viled with malice of heart. If in addition to this, 
 you will just recollect the meaning of the term 
 blasphemy, which signifies, to speak reproachfully, 
 opprobriously, or impiously, you will then have 
 the nature of this crime before you. It is know- 
 ledge in the mind that miracles were wrought ; 
 malice in the heart against Christ, in attestation 
 of whom they were given ; contempt of the Holy 
 Ghost their author; and the language of spite upon 
 the tongue, reviling the miracles themselves, by 
 ascribing them to the agency of devils. It is not 
 simple unbelief under the dispensation of the 
 Spirit, persevered in till death ; it is not mere in- 
 fidelity, even under very aggravated circumstances ; 
 but it is the union of conviction, malice, and im- 
 piety. It is, therefore, evident, that if this sin is 
 now ever committed, no enquirer after salvation 
 needs for a moment entertain any apprehension 
 that it has been committed by him. Tic. has not 
 
 u*
 
 126 PERPLEXITIES. 
 
 passed the boundary of mercy ; nor is there a sin 
 he has ever been guilty of, however enormous in 
 magnitude, or however painful in remembrance, 
 but the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse it away. 
 
 3. But this leads to another perplexity which is 
 felt by others ; who, though they do not fear that 
 they have been guilty of this unpardonable crime, 
 are distressed by the apprehension, that their 
 sins are too great, too numerous, or too peculiar 
 to be forgiven. 
 
 Sometimes convinced sinners are enabled by 
 divine grace to indulge the hope of pardon, almost 
 as soon as they receive the conviction of sin. Yea, 
 some are led to see the evil of sin at first, more by 
 the mercy of the gospel, than the stern justice 
 which appears in the law ; but others are long and 
 sorely harassed by fears of rejection, before they 
 are brought to a comfortable expectation of for- 
 giveness. This is more commonly the case with 
 those who have gone to great lengths in sin, and 
 have resisted the clearest and loudest warnings of 
 conscience ; it is not unusual for such persons, 
 when truly awakened to a sense of their sin and 
 danger, to plunge into the very depths of despon- 
 dency, and to remain for a long time without hope 
 or peace. In some cases, I think it possible, that 
 this desponding frame of mind is really cherished, 
 as if it were an evidence of sincere and deep pe- 
 nitence : there are those who look upon doubts 
 and fears as the marks of a work of grace, and
 
 PERPLEXITIES. 127 
 
 proofs of genuine piety. This, however, is a great 
 delusion, since true godly sorrow is both accom- 
 panied and promoted by faith and hope. Despair 
 tends to harden the heart, and to freeze up the 
 feelings of penitence. God cannot be glorified, 
 nor Christ honoured, by doubting of his ability or 
 willingness to save. I am persuaded that many 
 persons say more about their sins being too great 
 to be pardoned, than they either believe or feel, 
 from a supposition that it is a token of humility to 
 talk thus. Watch against this, for it is an act of 
 guilty insincerity ; it is trifling with sacred things, 
 and should be avoided. But there are many who 
 are really distressed with the most painful solici- 
 tude, and the most gloomy apprehensions about 
 the pardon of their sins. Now here let me place a 
 plain question to you : is your concern merely to 
 be pardoned, or to be sanctified as well as par- 
 doned 1 Are you afraid only of being left under 
 the punishment of sin, or do you also fear being 
 left under its power ? If you are so selfish as to 
 be anxious for nothing but your own safety, with- 
 out caring for holiness, no wonder you are left by 
 God to such dark despondency. You do not yet 
 understand the design of Christ's work, which is 
 not merely to deliver from hell, but also from sin. 
 Change, then, or rather enlarge the object of your 
 hope, so as to include sanctification as well as jus- 
 tification, and in all probability your unbelief and 
 distress will soon give way ; for it will be found
 
 128 PERPLEXITIES. 
 
 easier, perhaps, to some to believe that God is will- 
 ing to make them holy, than to forgive them. 
 Desponding sinner, think of this ; the salvation of 
 Christ is designed to make you a new creature, 
 and to restore the image of God to your soul ; and 
 do you not believe that God must be infinitely will- 
 ing to do this 1 
 
 After all, however, there are some, who even 
 with this view of the design of Christ's death, can- 
 not be induced to hope that their sins can be for- 
 given : none have sinned, they think, like them ; 
 there are aggravations in their sins, not to be found 
 in the conduct of any other. Now I refer such 
 burdened and desponding minds, 
 
 To the promises of God's word. Read atten- 
 tively such declarations as are found in the follow- 
 ing passages: Isaiah xliv. 22. Isaiah Iv. 6, 7. 
 Micah vii. 18, 19. Matthew xii. 31, 32. Dwell 
 especially upon this last passage, because it most 
 explicitly declares, that the blasphemy against the 
 Holy Ghost is the only sin excepted from forgive- 
 ness. If you are convinced, as I think you must, 
 that you have never committed that sin, it is 
 absolutely impossible that your sin can be unpar- 
 donable. 
 
 Dwell much upon the perfection of Christ's 
 work in making atonement for sin. The apostle 
 declares, that " the blood of Jesus Christ his Son 
 cleanseth us from ALL sin." 1 John i. 7. It would 
 seem as if this declaration were written on pur-
 
 PERPLEXITIES. 129 
 
 pose to meet such cases as yours. This scripture 
 says positively, the blood of Christ cleanseth from 
 ail sin. " No," you say, in flat and perverse con- 
 tradiction, " it cannot cleanse from mine." Did 
 Christ die to save sinners, and yet are there some 
 sinners to be found, according to your view, whom 
 he cannot save ? Then his work of salvation is 
 unfinished, and his character as a Saviour is in- 
 complete. Has he not saved millions already by 
 the merit of his death ? Well, suppose all the 
 sins of those millions had been in you alone, could 
 he not as easily have saved you in that case, as 
 he has saved them? Certainly he could. Can 
 you really make up your mind to go and say to 
 Christ, " Lord, thou canst not, wilt not, save me , 
 there is neither love enough in thy heart, nor pow- 
 er enough in thy Spirit, nor merit enough in thy 
 great sacrifice, to save me. Look upon me and behold 
 a sinner, whom even thou canst not save : behold in 
 me a sinner, to whom thy uttermost ability cannot 
 reach." No, you cannot say this; and yet you may 
 say it, and innocently say it, if what you affirm is 
 true, that your sins are too great to be forgiven. Let 
 it be admitted for the sake of argument, that you are 
 the chief of sinners, still Christ can save you ; so at 
 least the apostle thought, when he said, " It is a 
 f aiihful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, 
 that Jesus Christ came into the world to save 
 sinners, of whom I AM CHIEF." And now read 
 what follows * Howbeit for this cause I obtained
 
 130 PERPLEXITIES. 
 
 mercy ; that in me first (or as it signifies, in me the 
 chief sinner) Jesus Christ might show forth all 
 long suffering, for a pattern to them which should 
 hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." 1 
 Tim. i. 15, 16. Think what Saul of Tarsus was ; a 
 bloody persecutor, and even murderer of the disci 
 pies of Christ ; yet Christ not only pardoned him, 
 but raised him to the dignity of the chief of the 
 apostles. For what purpose ? To be a pattern of 
 God's mercy to the end of time. Yes, there he 
 stands upon the pedestal of his own immortal wri- 
 tings, a monument of the riches, power, and sove- 
 reignty of divine grace, bearing this inscription : I, 
 
 WHO WAS A BLASPHEMER, A PERSECUTOR AND INJURI- 
 OUS, OBTAINED MERCY. Let no man ever despair ; 
 for if there arise a greater sinner than I was, 
 let him look on me, and hope for pardon through 
 the blood of Christ. I was forgiven to encourage 
 the wickedest of men to repent, to believe in Jesus, 
 and expect salvation. 
 
 Consider well the other instances recorded in 
 the Word of God, of pardon granted to some of the 
 greatest sinners. There is scarcely one class of 
 sinners, or one kind of crime, which is not speci- 
 fically mentioned in scripture as having been par- 
 doned. Think of Manasseh, an apostate, an idol- 
 ater, a wholesale murderer, a man whose example 
 and authority as a king were employed to fill a na- 
 tion with iniquity ; of David, who was guilty of 
 the united crimes of adultery and murder; of the
 
 PERPLEXITIES. 131 
 
 dying malefactor, who was saved upon his cross ; 
 of the Jews who were converted on the day of Pen- 
 tecost, and who though they had been the mur- 
 derers of Christ, were forgiven ; of the once pol- 
 luted members of the Corinthian church, 1 Cor. 
 vi. 9 11. What proofs are these that no sins will 
 keep a man from salvation, that do not keep him 
 from Christ. The fact is, that greatness and lit- 
 tleness, few and many, have nothing to do with 
 this matter, in the way of making it more difficult, 
 or more easy, to obtain mercy. No man is pardon- 
 ed because his sins are fewer than others ; and 
 none is rejected because his sins are more. Great 
 sinners are as welcome as little ones ; for as the 
 skill of the physician is the more displayed in dan- 
 gerous and difficult cases, than in slight ones, so is 
 the grace of Christ the more illustriously manifested 
 in the pardon and sanctification of notorious sin- 
 ners than in the salvation of those who have not 
 gone so far astray. If God's mercy be infinite, it 
 must be as easy to him to pardon a million sins, as 
 one. Desponding sinner, dry up your tears, and 
 doubt no longer. The greatest sin you can com- 
 mit, is to disbelieve God's promise to forgive your 
 other sins. Unbelief is the most heinous of all 
 sins. " He that believeth not God, HATH MAHE 
 HIM A LIAR." 1 John v. 10. Yes-, you are giving 
 God the lie to his face, as often as you say your 
 sins are too great to be forgiven. Do you not 
 tremble at this ? Is there not abominable pride in
 
 132 PERPLEXITIES. 
 
 unbelief? Who and what arc you, that you should 
 suppose God has any object or interest in deceiv- 
 ing you, by a false promise ? Are you so consid* rable 
 a person, that he should think it worth his while to 
 falsify his word in order to draw you into false con- 
 fidence ? Believe then from this hour, that God is 
 more willing to forgive you the greatest of your sins, 
 than you imagine he is to blot out the least of them 
 4. Some are perplexed with the notion, that as 
 " the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to 
 God /" and as none of the works ofunregenerate 
 persons are acceptable to God, it is not right for 
 them to pray, since they are not yet believers in 
 Christ. With regard to the expression above al- 
 luded to, which speaks of the Sacrifice of the wick- 
 ed, it means the hypocritical religious services of 
 men, who are still living in the commission of 
 known sin, and impiously designing to make some 
 atonement for their iniquities by their sacrifices. 
 This is evident from the passage itself, where it 
 is also said, the way of the wicked is abomi 
 nation, i. e. his conduct; and because his con 
 duct is abominable, therefore his prayer is also abo- 
 minable. This passage is best expounded by a re- 
 ference to Isaiah i. 10 18. It applies to a totally 
 different case from yours. I acknowledge that 
 your prayers do not merit the divine blessing which 
 you are anxious to obtain, however frequently or 
 fervently they may be presented. You ought not 
 to pray with the idea that there is any worth in
 
 PERPLEXITIES. 133 
 
 your prayers to make any atonement for your sins ; 
 nor ought you to look for peace and comfort from 
 your prayers. I go a step farther, and remind you 
 that unless you pray in faith, your prayers are not 
 such as God has engaged to answer. You should 
 believe that God is willing and waiting to bestow 
 all spiritual blessings, for he has promised to do so, 
 and to doubt at the time you pray, whether God 
 will grant what he has promised, is sin; but to 
 doubt whether it is your duty to pray because you 
 do not yet know that you are accepted of God, is 
 unquestionably wrong. You may as well ques- 
 tion whether it is your duty to read the Bible, or 
 to go to public worship. Did not Peter tell Simon 
 Magus to pray ? " Repent now," said he, " ot 
 this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the 
 thought of thy heart may be forgiven ; for I per- 
 ceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and 
 bond of iniquity." Acts viii. 22, 23. And we 
 read of many instances in the Old Testament, of 
 persons praying, and being heard and answered, 
 who were not at the time truly converted to God. 
 As for example, Ahab, 1 Kings, xxi. 29. Ahaz, 
 2 Kings, xiii. 4, 5. So also the Ninevites prayed 
 and obtained favour of God. No prayers can be 
 acceptable to God that are insincere, and such 
 are the prayers of wicked men for salvation, for 
 they do not really desire to be saved from sin ; but 
 the prayers of the Enquirer after salvation are sin- 
 cere ; he really desires it. Still, however, I would 
 12
 
 134 PERPLEXITIES. 
 
 remind you, that as long as you pray in an uncon- 
 verted state, your prayers are only the operations of 
 self-love, which though not sinful, are not truly 
 holy ; they are but the cries of misery after relief, 
 the desire of the soul after happiness; and how- 
 ever frequently or fervently repeated, prefer no 
 claim on God for his blessing. The sin lies not 
 in praying, for if sincere, there is no sin in crying 
 to God for help, but in not believing. Instead 
 therefore of leaving off prayer, or harassing your 
 minds with doubts about the propriety of carrying 
 it on, continue instant in prayer, believing at the 
 same time the promise of mercy in Christ Jesus. 
 You are to add to your prayer, faith; and it is 
 doubtless your duty at once to believe ; but should 
 it not be, that your soul loses immediately its guilty 
 fears, still you are to go on praying for mercy, and 
 for faith to receive it. It cannot be wrong for a 
 soul to cry for mercy. With such light as you 
 have, although it may not be such as is necessary 
 to salvation, lift up your desire to God. Pray for 
 more knowledge, stronger faith, and firmer hope. 
 Prayer is your duty, and it is your privilege ; and 
 let no speculative difficulties have a moment's in- 
 fluence to induce you to suspend it. If you can- 
 not yet pray as a believer, cry for mercy as a sin- 
 ner. But do not remain in unbelief, supposing that 
 prayer can be a substitute for faith, for as I said be- 
 fore, so I repeat, God does not bind himself to an- 
 swer any prayers but those of faith.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 DISCOURAGEMENTS WHICH PRESENT THEMSELVES AT 
 THE COMMENCEMENT OF A RELIGIOUS COURSE. 
 
 THE word of God teaches us to expect these. 
 What means the straight gate but an entrance at- 
 tended with difficulty ? What means counting the 
 cost, but contemplating obstacles and preparing to 
 meet them? BUNYAN knew the course to heaven 
 when he placed the slough of despond in the first 
 stage of the journey. You are mistaken if you ex- 
 pect by one easy stride, to reach the firm and solid 
 ground beyond this dismal swamp. Sincerity will 
 diminish difficulties, and finally overcome them, 
 but it will not prevent them. Prepare then for dis- 
 couragement, for you will be sure to meet with it, 
 and it is both wise and merciful to forewarn you 
 of it, lest you should conclude that some strange 
 thing has happened to you. But observe, no part 
 of this discouragement comes from God. HE in- 
 terposes no obstacle, raises no difficulties, presents 
 no objection. A doubt of His willingness to save, 
 a well-founded suspicion of His mercy, would be 
 fatal to all your hopes. But all is clear ground, so
 
 136 DISCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 far as he is concerned. Dwell on this thought, it 
 is a blissful one ; ponder here, before you go an- 
 other step ; arm yourselves to meet every discour- 
 agement, come from what quarter it may, with 
 this conviction, that God waits to be gracious ; yes, 
 like the Father in the parable of the Prodigal Son, 
 he is out looking for you, his infinite mercy is in 
 motion towards you, he runs towards you faster 
 than you go to him. What then is your discour- 
 agement ? 
 
 1. The cold indifference, the repulsive shyness, 
 of professing Christians. You thought that the 
 very look of anxiety ; the very countenance that 
 seemed to say to their eyes, if not to their ears, 
 "What shall 1 do to be saved?" would draw the 
 sympathies of many upon you ; instead of which, 
 you are left without a friend to commiserate, to 
 guide, to soothe you, and are compelled in the 
 agony of your soul to say, even to the multitude 
 that go up to Zion, " Is it nothing to you all ye that 
 pass by, come see if there be any sorrow like unto 
 mine. Will no man care for my soul ?" Ah, my 
 friend, let me tell you in the beginning of your ca- 
 reer, that you cannot expect too little from man, 
 nor too much from God. It is the scandal of the 
 Church of Christ, and in measure also, of its mi- 
 nisters, that serious enquirers after salvation, 
 are shamefully neglected. But shall this dis- 
 courage you ? What, when all heaven is interest- 
 ed on your behalf? When Father, Son, and Holy
 
 DISCOURAGEMENTS. 137 
 
 Ghost, are concerned for you ? When the blessed 
 angels are rejoicing over you, and flying on wings 
 of love to minister to you, as an heir of salvation 1 
 Cast away your gloom, look to God, and if the neg- 
 lect of Christians should lead you to a more sim- 
 ple dependence upon Christ, you will be a gainer 
 in the end. Too many friends, and too much at- 
 tention, might do you injury, by leading you to de- 
 pend too much upon an arm of flesh. 
 
 2. Many are discouraged by witnessing the low 
 state of religion among professors. They see 
 no counterpart to their anxiety among those who 
 have long borne the Christian name. While they 
 themselves are crying " what shall I do to be 
 saved," they hear little from the lips of many of 
 the members and deacons of our churches, but, 
 what shall we eat or drink ; wherewithal shall we 
 be clothed ; what is the news of the day, or what 
 is the state of trade ? They see so much worldly- 
 mindedness, so much imperfection of temper, so 
 many things unworthy of the Christian character, 
 that they can scarcely believe there is a reality in 
 religion, and are sometimes ready to give all up as 
 a mere name. Nay, from some of these very pro- 
 fessors, they receive plain hints that they are too 
 anxious, too precise, too earnest and urgent. O ye 
 wicked professors, ye child murderers, for by what 
 softer name can I call you, in thus attempting to 
 strangle the children of God in the birth, I beseech 
 you to consider the mischief you are doing, and 
 12*
 
 138 DISCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 abandon this effort to extinguish the solicitude of 
 souls beginning to feel the energies of spiritual 
 life. And ye Enquirers after salvation, do not be 
 discouraged. If these men are living below their 
 profession, this is their business, not yours. Sal- 
 vation is necessary for you, whether they are sin- 
 cere and earnest in seeking it or not. It will be 
 no compensation for the loss of your soul, to think 
 that they lost theirs. If there were not yet one 
 real Christian, this would be no excuse for your 
 neglecting to become one. Look into the Bible, 
 rather than to the Church of Christ. Instead of 
 giving up the matter, you should gather this Infer- 
 ence from what you see, that it is no easy thing to 
 be a Christian. Should the bad tempers, the un- 
 worthy conduct of professors, induce you to relin- 
 quish the pursuit of salvation, it will be poor con- 
 solation in the bottomless pit, to look back upon 
 the cause of your ruin. 
 
 3. You are perhaps discouraged by the prospect 
 of opposition from your nearest friends. You 
 see them all worldly, and plainly perceive that 
 your real conversion to God, will place you in di- 
 rect opposition to them: that your becoming a 
 Christian, and acting as such, will bring into your 
 house the scene described by our Lord. Matt. x. 
 34 38. " O," say you, " how fearful is the pros- 
 pect before me, my piety will sound a note of dis- 
 cord in a family where all has been peace till now, 
 although a peace founded on a common disregard
 
 DISCOURAGEMENTS. 139 
 
 of religion, and will introduce confusion and strife 
 where all has been union and harmony." " I must 
 brave the anger of my husband," says the wife, 
 " and perhaps alienate that heart on which my 
 spirit has hitherto reposed with such delight." 
 Or says the child, " I must seem to be disobedien 
 to a parent, whom I have hitherto found it to be 
 my duty and bliss to obey. O, can I do it? Is 
 there no other way to heaven, are there no milder 
 terms of submission to the authority of Christ 7" 
 None, none, whatever. I do not conceal that it is 
 an awful alternative. I should be destitute of all 
 sympathy, my friend, if I did not feel for you. 
 But I dare not withdraw the cross. My soul 
 would perish with yours, if I successfully attempt- 
 ed to persuade you that in your circumstances, re- 
 pentance, faith, the love of God, and all the other 
 graces and virtues included in decided spiritual re- 
 ligion, could be dispensed with. God will not, 
 cannot relax His demands, and I dare not Hus- 
 band and wife ; parent and child ; houses and 
 lands ; worldly reputation and the applause of 
 men, must all give place to HIM. He demands the 
 heart, and He has infinite compensation to make 
 for all you sacrifice for Him. He will make the 
 crown infinitely more valuable than the cross is 
 terrible. You may be, you ought to be, discreet 
 in your profession ; you must avoid all unnecessa- 
 ry opposition to the wishes of unconverted rela- 
 tives ; you should, if possible, be ten times more
 
 140 DISCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 obliging, more devoted, more sweetly kind in all 
 other matters ; you should return good for evil ; 
 you should exhibit the most undisturbed meek- 
 ness ; you should try to conquer violence by pa- 
 tience, but, you must not, you dare not, give up 
 your convictions ; you must be willing to die of a 
 broken heart, and by the wrongs of persecution, 
 rather than give up your pursuit of salvation. Trust 
 in God, HE will support you. If he call you to 
 be a martyr in this way, he will first give you a 
 martyr's faith, and then a martyr's crown. Let 
 the following impressive fact be read by you with 
 solemn awe. " An accomplished and amiable 
 
 young woman, in the town of , had been 
 
 deeply afflicted by a sense of her spiritual danger. 
 She was the only child of a fond and affectionate 
 parent. The deep impressions which accompa- 
 nied her discovery of guilt and depravity, awaken 
 ed all the jealousies of the father. He dreaded 
 the loss of that sprightliness and vivacity which 
 constituted the life of his domestic circle. He 
 was startled by the answers which his questions 
 elicited ; while he foresaw, or thought he foresaw, 
 an encroachment on the hitherto unbroken tran- 
 quillity of a deceived heart. Efforts were made to 
 remove the cause of disquietude ; but they were 
 such efforts as unsanctified wisdom directed. The 
 Bible at last O how little may a parent know the 
 far-reaching of the deed, when he snatches the 
 word of life from the hand of a child ! the Bible,
 
 DISCOURAGEiUENTS. 141 
 
 and other books of religion, were removed from 
 her possession, and their place was supplied by 
 works of fiction. An excursion of pleasure was 
 proposed and declined ; an offer of gayer amuse- 
 ment shared the same fate; promises, remon- 
 strances, and threatenings, followed. But the fa- 
 ther's infatuated perseverance at last brought com- 
 pliance. Alas, how little may a parent be aware 
 that he is adorning his offspring with the fillets of 
 death, and leading to the sacrifice like a follower 
 of Moloch. The end was accomplished ; all 
 thoughts of piety, and all concern for the immortal 
 future, vanished together. But, O, how, in less 
 than a year, was the gaudy deception exploded ! 
 The fascinating and gay L-- M , was pros- 
 trated by a^ fever, that bade defiance to medical 
 skill. The approach of death was unequivocal, 
 and the countenance of every attendant fell, as if 
 they had heard the flight of his arrow. I see, even 
 now, that look directed to the father, by the dying 
 martyr of folly. The glazing eye was dim in hope- 
 lessness ; and yet there seemed a something in its 
 expiring rays, that told reproof, and tenderness, and 
 terror, in the same glance. And that voice its 
 tone was decided, but sepulchral still. 'My fa 
 ther ! Last year I would have sought the Redeem- 
 er. Fath er your child is.' Eternity heard the 
 remainder of the sentence ; for it was not uttered 
 in time."* In connexion with this striking factj 
 * "Letters to a Friend."
 
 142 DISCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 read the following portions of scripture. Matthew 
 v. 1012. x. 2139. 1 Cor. iv. 913. 2 Tim. 
 ii. 1013. Heb. x. 2339. Heb. xi. 1 Pet. 'i. 
 69. iv. 1219. 2 Pet. ii. 20, 22. Rev. vii. 9 
 17. 
 
 4. The discouragements of others lie nearer 
 home still, they find them all in their own hearts. 
 The feeling with many is, that they make no pro- 
 gress ; their views gain nothing in clearness, their 
 convictions in depth, nor their heart in peace. 
 They are neither more convinced, nor more com- 
 forted ; neither more spiritual nor more decided 
 than they were ; and they are sometimes seized 
 with fits of hopeless despondency, and are ready to 
 give up the whole matter. Such a state of mind 
 is very common and a very perilous one, and af- 
 fords ground for real alarm. Your duty and safety 
 lie in considering that the fault is in yourself and 
 not in God ; you, you are to blame ; you are per- 
 haps halting between two opinions ; you are still 
 probably endeavouring to compromise between 
 religion and the world : you are not giving that 
 fixed devoted attention to the subject which it 
 demands. You must therefore go afresh to the 
 work. You must feel just like a man who has 
 been swimming in a tide that is bearing him fur- 
 ther from the shore, and who feels that it is ne- 
 cessary to make more vigorous efforts, or ha is 
 inevitably lost. Give up ! ! No, any thing but 
 that. To perish now, would be to perish terribly
 
 DISCOURAGEMENTS. 143 
 
 While you are carrying on these heartless efforts, 
 you may die, and in what a state ! But perhaps 
 your complaints are the result of that deep anxiety, 
 which makes you think there is no advance till 
 you are really established in the full knowledge 
 of faith and hope of the gospel. To this es- 
 tablished state you ought to come, and to come 
 without delay, and nothing hinders you from 
 coming to it, but an evil heart of unbelief, and to 
 this point I press you to come. But should not 
 your knowledge grow as rapidly, nor your peace 
 increase as solidly as you expected or desired ; 
 should you feel yourself slow of growth in all that 
 appertains to Christian and happy experience, do 
 not sink into a heartless and wretched frame; a 
 kind of desponding pursuit of salvation, as of an 
 object you were, never likely to obtain. What you 
 should do is immediately to repent, and believe the 
 gospel as your next business ; you cannot come to 
 enlarged views and to settled peace without this. 
 Going back, or giving up, is just the last thing you 
 should think of. To turn back now, would be to 
 turn back when near the cross. Look up, sinner, 
 the stupendous object is before you, close by you ; 
 look up at the Crucified One. It is further back to 
 your former state of indifference than to the place 
 of refuge. Just as you are, Avith no more know- 
 ledge, no more religious feeling, no more comfort, 
 believe. Look up, I say, again, at the cross ; it is 
 distinctly visible to the eye of faith from every
 
 144 DISCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 point of the road along which you are journeying, 
 and may be viewed any moment by him Avho will 
 look that \vay. It is the sight of that dear object 
 that will present every other in a right light, and 
 invigorate every grace that belongs to true re- 
 ligion. 
 
 But may it not be that your obstructions to a 
 more rapid growth, arise from some specific cause ? 
 Is not some sin indulged, some corruption che- 
 rished ? Is there not some sacrifice which you are 
 "unwilling to make, something which you are un- 
 willing to surrender, although your judgment tells 
 you the surrender ought to be made, and your con- 
 science demands it ? You must give up the for- 
 bidden thing, or your growth in grace is impossible : 
 that one sin will, like a concealed worm at the 
 root of a flower, eat out the very life of your re- 
 ligion, and cause it to droop, wither, and die. Is it 
 a companion from whom you are unwilling to 
 separate, but whose society is hindering your pro 
 gress ? And will you sacrifice your soul's salvation, 
 heaven, and eternal glory, all that is dear to you 
 as an immortal creature, and deliberately choose 
 everlasting perdition, for that sin, or that friend ? 
 Take your choice between heaven and sacrifice, 
 hell and present gratification. Immortal man ! 
 Pause and ponder : canst thou hesitate ? There 
 is both awful guilt and imminent peril in every 
 moment's delay. What if God should, as he justly 
 may, send forth the command, " He is tied to idols ;
 
 DISCOURAGEMENTS. 145 
 
 let him alone." Decide then," decide at once. The 
 moment in which thou readest this page may de- 
 cide it ; for if thqu art unwilling to give up thy 
 sinful practice, or sinful companion, God may 
 from this moment give up thee. 
 
 But, perhaps, the slowness of your growth iri 
 knowledge and in grace, may arise from another 
 cause, I mean your neglect of the promised in- 
 fluence and help of the Holy Spirit. You have 
 been too self-confide at, and are now feeling the 
 consequence of it. At one time, perhaps, your im- ' 
 pressions were deep, your convictions strong, your , 
 frame lively, and your feelings much excited ; and 
 you have suffered yourself to be seduced by Satan, 
 who took advantage of these things, into a spirit 
 of self-confidence and self-dependence. You have 
 forgotten that in you there is no good thing ; and 
 have forsaken the fountain of living waters* You 
 have never doubted the necessity of the Spirit's 
 influence, but you have neglected 'it. You have 
 grieved the Holy Ghost, and he has suspended 
 that gracious aid which you so little valued. You 
 have striven, but it has been in your own strength : 
 and now you find that strength to be weakness 
 itself. Now then, profit by your error, and com- 
 mit your soul, not only into the hands of Christ 
 for pardon, but into the hands of the Spirit fo 
 sanctification. Now lean upon that Divine power, 
 which worketh in us both to will and to do. Live 
 in the Spirit ; walk in the Spirit ; pray in the 
 13
 
 144 DISCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 Spirit j strive in the Spirit. Open your heart to 
 his gracious influence ; and let it be a feeling, as 
 well as a conviction, that your spiritual life has no 
 existence separate from his indwelling and in- 
 working in you. 
 
 It may be, however, that this discouragement 
 and complaint of a slow growth in religion, are 
 altogether unfounded, and are the result of disap- 
 pointment operating upon an humble or a sanguine 
 mind. You may have expected at once to emerge 
 from the thick darkness of an unconverted state, 
 into the very noontide brightness of a full establish- 
 ment in faith, hope, and love. You expected, 
 probably, by one stride, or rather bound, to reach 
 the position of experienced Christians. But, re- 
 member, that both in nature and in grace, the 
 works of God come gradually to maturity. There 
 is first the babe ; then the young man ; then the 
 adult : and what a feeble glimmering spark of life 
 is there sometimes in a new-born child ; it is dim- 
 cult to determine whether it is alive or dead ; and 
 even when unequivocal signs of life appear, what 
 vigilant care is necessary, to preserve the spark 
 from being extinguished. Such has been the un- 
 promising condition in which many a strong and 
 long lived man has commenced his existence. How 
 analogous to this is the work of grace in the soul. 
 So again with the growth of corn, there is first the 
 blade ; then the stalk ; then the ear : and as it is 
 in the field of nature, so is the growth of religion
 
 DISCOURAGEMENTS. 147 
 
 in the heart of man. We must not despise the 
 day of small things, either in ourselves or others, 
 for God does not. It is said of our Divine Re- 
 deemer, he shall feed his flock like a shepherd ; 
 and in his flock there are lambs which can neither 
 travel fast nor far ; and what will he do with 
 them ? He shall gather them with his arms, and 
 lay them in his bosom ; not on his shoulder, the 
 emblem of strength, but in his bosom, the image 
 of tender love ; and he shall gently lead those that 
 are with young ; those that are burdened with 
 many fears, and painful apprehensions. How 
 kindly did he forbear with the dulness, and infirm- 
 ities, and mistakes of his disciples ; how gently 
 did he correct the errors, and sustain the minds of 
 the two friends on their sad and gloomy walk to 
 Emmaus, and kept alive the last glimmering spark 
 of hope just when it was ready to expire in their 
 bosom. How graciously in his addresses to the 
 seven churches in Asia, did he mention all the 
 good he could find among them, not overlooking 
 even the " little strength," that was left in that of 
 Philadelphia. Think of this, disheartened En- 
 quirer. Thy dawn of knowledge shall shine 
 brighter and brighter unto the perfect day ; thy 
 infantine strength will grow to manly power ; thy 
 tender blade of piety shall become the full corn in 
 the ear. Thou art looking to a Saviour, who 
 " will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the 
 smoking flax." Weak grace is real grace, and is
 
 
 148 DISCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 in connexion with an infinite source in his fulness, 
 who is the God of all grace, and who giveth more 
 grace. It is well to be humble, and to think mean- 
 ly of your attainments, but remember, trees are not 
 dead because they are not laden at once with fruit ; 
 their roots may be striking deeper in the soil, when 
 their branches are not making vigorous shoots into 
 the air. I say not these things to paralyze your 
 exertions after greater attainments, for he who is 
 satisfied with the grace he has, has in reality none ; 
 but to check despondency, and prevent that dis- 
 heartening sense of deficiency, which benumbs ex- 
 ertion, by extinguishing hope. 
 
 5. Great discouragement has been experienced 
 by others, on account of relapses and backslidings 
 into actual sins. 
 
 It is, I admit, a grievous aggravation of sin to 
 fall into it after men have been awakened and con- 
 vinced : and as there is much danger of this, the 
 word of God contains many awful warnings against 
 it, which have been already referred to. We 
 pught, therefore, to use the greatest watchfulness, 
 and to present the most fervent prayer to be kept 
 from these sins ; and our vigilance should be 
 doubled, in regard to those temptations to which 
 we are most exposed from the peculiarity of our 
 constitution, situation, or any other circumstances. 
 Yet sometimes even they who have sincerely and 
 earnestly engaged in the pursuit of salvation, have 
 been, through a want of watchfulness, betrayed
 
 DISCOURAGEMENTS. 149 
 
 again into those sins, from which they had been 
 delivered. In such cases the backslider, under the 
 united influence of remorse and despondency, is 
 apt to give up all for lost, and under the idea that 
 he shall never gain salvation, renounce the further 
 pursuit of it. Now I would say to you, that while 
 you cannot be too deeply humbled for such re- 
 lapses, you ought not to think that your case is 
 desperate. If such sins could not be pardoned, 
 and such sinners could not be restored, who then 
 could be saved ? " But it is not so much a doubt 
 of pardon for the past," you say, " that discour- 
 ages you, as a fear of preservation for the future." 
 You find your hearts so treacherous, your purposes 
 so frail, your corruptions so strong, and your temp- 
 tations so great ; you have been so often victorious, 
 and then again so often conquered, that you quite 
 despair of success. What mean those desponding 
 expressions ? They seem to say, either there is 
 no help for you but in yourselves, or that God, who 
 must be your helper, is not able to deliver you. 
 Both are false. There is no help at all in you, 
 but there is all-sufficient help in God. Courage, 
 sinner, take courage, God is Almighty. Humble 
 yourself under his mighty hand for the past, and 
 then rise up and lean upon his mighty arm for the 
 future. The blood of Christ can cleanse the con 
 science from the guilt of past sin, and the grace o 
 the Holy Spirit can preserve you from the com- 
 mission of future sin ; the backsliding can be for- 
 13*
 
 150 DISCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 given, and the backslider himself restored, strength- 
 ened, confirmed, and made more than conqueror, 
 as thousands already have been.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CAUTIONS. 
 
 1. Do not seek to relieve your solicitude, or set- 
 tle your religious peace, by joining yourself to 
 the church, and receiving the sacrament. 
 
 This is done by many persons, who, after having 
 remained for a long time in unrelieved solicitude, 
 and after having tried all methods but the right 
 one, for gaining peace, determine to enter into 
 church fellowship, and to receive the Lord's Sup- 
 per, with the hope of obtaining that comfort, which 
 they have hitherto sought in vain. But does not 
 this look like a self-righteous dependence upon du- 
 ties ? In what way can the sacrament give relief 
 to a burdened conscience ? Is there any thing 
 more meritorious in that ordinance than in any 
 other ? Perhaps you say, that the emblems of the 
 body and blood of our Lord will more deeply and 
 powerfully impress the mind through the medium 
 of the senses. So they will ; .but then the mind 
 must be in a slate of knowledge and faith to re- 
 ceive the impression : but I am now supposing that 
 you are not yet in that state, that you have never
 
 162 CAUTIONS. 
 
 yet committed your soul into the hands of Christ 
 for a full and free salvation ; and in such a state 
 of mind, to go to the sacrament or the church for 
 peace, is to expect that they can do that for you, 
 which the work of Christ cannot do. Is not the 
 blood of Christ able to take away your sins ? Is 
 any thing necessary to be added to the righteous- 
 ness of the Saviour for your justification ? What 
 can the sacrament do for you, if this be insufficient 
 to save you? The sinner that seeks to lose his 
 burden of guilt any where, whether it be in the 
 prayer meeting, or the sacramental table, besides the 
 cross of Christ, is in delusion. It is possible, nay 
 probable, that by going to the Lord's supper, you 
 may feel for the time an abatement of your solici- 
 tude ; your imagination may be excited ; your feel- 
 ings moved ; and mistaking this for faith, you may 
 have peace ; but it will be a false or a transient 
 one. Either you will fall asleep in self deception, 
 or your anxiety will soon return, increased by an 
 apprehension that you have added sin to sin, by 
 receiving the Lord's supper in an unprepared state 
 of mind. This institute is intended, not to give 
 peace to sinners, but consolation and edification to 
 believers ; not to bring us into a state of faith, but 
 to be received in faith ; not to remove the burden 
 of sin from the conscience, but to keep in remem- 
 brance that great sacrifice by which the burden is 
 removed. True it is, that God may reveal himself 
 to the sinner in the breaking of bread ; but the
 
 CAUTIONS. 163 
 
 question is not what he may do, but what he may 
 be expected to do ; and even in this case what is 
 it that relieves the conscience of its burden, and 
 gives peace to the mind ? Surely not the sacra- 
 ment itself, but the great truth of Christ's sacri- 
 fice for sin, as set forth by it. I do not intend by 
 these remarks to insist on the necessity of a full 
 assurance of hope, as a necessary qualification for 
 a right reception of the Lord's Supper ; but cer- 
 tainly there ought to be real, even if it be but 
 weak, faith ; for how else can we discern the 
 Lord's body 1 Nothing, no, nothing, can give the 
 guilty conscience peace, or take away our sins, but 
 the atoning blood of Christ ; and to pass by the 
 cross of the Redeemer, without peace of mind, in 
 the hope of finding it in the sacrament, is unques- 
 tionably to depend for acceptance with God upon 
 our own religious duties, instead of the work of the 
 Saviour. The frame of mind in which we should 
 receive the memorials of redeeming love, is that of 
 a humble, thankful, and peaceful reliance upon the 
 mediation of our Divine Lord for pardon and eter 
 nal life. 
 
 2. It is of great consequence, that in the early 
 stages of your religious experience, you should ab- 
 stain as much as possible from a spirit of con- 
 troversy. 
 
 Your great concern is to find out the path of 
 eternal happiness, and enter upon it. Salvation is 
 your great object, or rather the way of obtaining it.
 
 154 CAUTIONS. 
 
 Your cry is, " life, eternal life ;" and your course 
 should be direct to the cross of the Redeemer. 
 Nothing but what relates immediately to your re- 
 conciliation with God, should be allowed to en- 
 gage your attention. Sufler not your mind then to 
 be diverted from such subjects, as the " new 
 birth," or the justification of your soul before God, 
 to the thorny controversies of baptism, church 
 government, or even of the doctrines of theology. 
 Take up nothing controversially. The subjects of 
 disputation are strong meat for adults, which will 
 choke and destroy the babe in Christ ; and even 
 the former cannot feed much upon it, without 
 having their spiritual health impaired, and their 
 soul filled with rank and unhealthy humours. Or, 
 to change the metaphor, the man locked up in the 
 condemned cell, under sentence of death, but who 
 has hope of pardon and is taking steps to obtain it, 
 suffers not his mind to be drawn aside from his 
 condition, by the questions which may be very pro- 
 perly discussed by the citizen and the patriot. If 
 any one were to carry him a newspaper, and en- 
 deavour to engage him as a partizan in some 
 political strife, he would reply, with a look of as- 
 tonishment that such topics should be obtruded on 
 his notice, " What are these matters to a man con- 
 demned to die ? Assist me in gaining a pardon, 
 and you will do me some service ; but do not en- 
 gage for such matters a moment of that time which 
 should be devoted to save me from death. When
 
 CAUTIONS. 155 
 
 I am restored to liberty, I can think of politics, but 
 not now." So let the Enquirer act and say, in re- 
 ference to these proselyting but injudicious zealots, 
 who by controversy would meet and turn away 
 the solicitude which is seeking the way of salva- 
 tion. You can study these topics hereafter, but at 
 present, " Stand in the ways, and see and ask for 
 the old paths, where is the good way, and walk 
 therein ; and ye shall find rest for your souls." 
 Jer. vi. 16. Read your Bible and plain practical 
 books, rather than controversial ones ; be much in 
 prayer, and silent meditation ; preserve a tranquil 
 and unruffled mind, for it is in the stillness of devo- 
 tional feeling, and the peace of holy recollection, 
 and the quiet of untroubled thoughts, that the true 
 light shineth into the soul, and the small still voice 
 of the Spirit of Peace is heard. Many, adopting a 
 different course, have plunged into the depths of 
 controversy as soon as they became concerned 
 about religion, and have lost charity in the pro- 
 fessed pursuit after truth, and instead of becoming 
 humble, holy, peaceful Christians, have turned out 
 conceited, stormy, and restless polemics ; in an 
 early stage of their career the penitent was lost in 
 the zealot ; in their subsequent progress they took 
 up with a religion of opinions, instead of pious 
 feelings ; and finished their course, it may be feared, 
 not amidst the light and love of heaven, but in that 
 world of unsanctified knowledge, where the devils 
 believe and tremble.
 
 156. C ACTIONS. 
 
 3. It is necessary to caution you against a spirit 
 of curiosity as well as controversy. 
 
 You ought to seek after knowledge, as I have 
 already stated. The scripture abounds in admo- 
 nitions on this head, and in reproofs to those who 
 repose in indolence upon the lap of ignorance. 
 Diligence in endeavours to grow in knowledge, 
 has the promise of success. " Then shall ye 
 know if ye follow on to know the Lord." Hosea 
 vi. 3. But this is altogether distinct from a spirit 
 of unhallowed curiosity. The temper which I am 
 anxious to guard you against, showsitself in various 
 ways; sometimes in rambling about from place 
 to place of public worship. In some cases this 
 arises from that restlessness and uneasiness of 
 mind, which is common to persons in their first re- 
 ligious experience. Like Noah's raven they wan 
 der about seeking rest, but find none ; or rather 
 like a person in a fever, forgetting that the cause 
 of disquietude is in themselves, they continually 
 change their place in the vain hope of obtaining 
 that rest, which can never come till their condi- 
 tion is altered. Finding no comfort under one 
 preacher, they impute the blame to his sermons, 
 and ramble off to another, under whose ministry 
 they gain a little ease for awhile ; but merely by 
 having their attention drawn away for a season 
 from its usual track of thought. The novelty soon 
 ceases, and he is forsaken for another, till they 
 have gone the whole round of places within their
 
 CAUTIONS. 167 
 
 reach, and they leave the last as far from peace as 
 they were when they left the first. Guard against 
 this error, and learn that it is in Christ, and Christ 
 alone, and not in any particular place, or worship, 
 or under any particular ministry, that you can find 
 rest and peace. It is the glorious doctrine of a 
 free, full, and present salvation in Christ, that 
 must be the pillow of your poor aching and restless 
 head, and not any particular manner or method of 
 representing that doctrine. 
 
 But this rambling spirit is sometimes the mere 
 itch of curiosity. Some young converts are ever 
 to be seen in any place, where any thing out of the 
 ordinary course is going on ; they are to be seen at 
 all times, all places, and all occasions, when and 
 where a popular preacher is to be heard, or any of 
 the stimulating varieties which abound in the reli- 
 gious world are to be found. This habit, however, 
 is not friendly to the growth of religious feeling, 
 or the progress of a work of grace in the soul. 
 Even the public meetings of our religious insti- 
 tutions are not altogether the best atmosphere for 
 infant piety to breathe. There is a tenderness, a 
 delicacy, and a pensiveness, in the feelings of a 
 mind recently awakened to a state of religious con- 
 cern, which finds little that is congenial in the 
 comparatively secular aspect of those assemblies. 
 Eloquence and anecdote, as they are usually em- 
 ployed on such occasions, have but little that is 
 calculated to deepen conviction or relieve anxiety, 
 14
 
 158 CAUTIONS. 
 
 I 
 
 but often much to diminish the one, and divert the 
 other. If, indeed, our anniversaries were, or could 
 be, conducted with that solemnity and seriousness 
 which their object seems to require, then might 
 Enquirers after salvation attend them as one of 
 the means of grace ; but perhaps this can hardly 
 be looked for, and therefore do I deliberately say 
 to them, do not at present trust yourselves much 
 at such meetings ; you ought rather to court retire- 
 ment, to nurse reflection, to seek to grow in deeper 
 seriousness, and to surrender yourselves to the 
 dominion of conscience, and the teaching of God 
 the Holy Spirit. Your present business, is your 
 own salvation, and when you have found that, and 
 as one of the evidences of having found it, you 
 must feel anxious for the salvation of others, and 
 unite with your fellow-christians in the various 
 schemes of benevolent enterprise. 
 
 But curiosity may be indulged in another way ; I 
 mean a disposition to pry into the deep mysteries, 
 the hidden things, the unrevealed secrets of God. 
 Even the most established Christians, yea, the pro- 
 foundest and most philosophic divines, may and 
 do sometimes push their enquiries too far, and pre- 
 sumptuously put forth their hand to draw aside 
 the veil of the Holy of Holies. But you espe- 
 cially should abstain from this; such questions 
 as the origin of moral evil ; the reconcilableness 
 of God's foreknowledge with the freedom of man; 
 the divine decrees ; the symbolical and unfulfilled
 
 CAUTIONS. 159 
 
 prophecies, with other subjects of equal difficulty, 
 are most unsuitable for you in your present state 
 of mind. What you have to do with is the sim- 
 plest and plainest truths of the gospel. Your con- 
 cern is to obtain pardon, peace, and hope ; and to 
 do this you must not raise mists and clouds of meta- 
 physics around the cross, but look at it as it is pre- 
 sented in the word of God ; and as it there appears, 
 clearly, simply and alone. It has been said, that 
 in the scripture, there are depths' in which an ele- 
 phant may swim, and shallows which a lamb may 
 ford ; your business is at present with the shallows, 
 and to venture into the depths is a perilous attempt, 
 which I would not advise you to make. 
 
 4. You should beware of setting up other stan- 
 dards of personal religion, than the word of 
 God, and making the religious experience of 
 other Christians a test of the truth and reality 
 of your own. 
 
 The Bible, and the Bible alone, is the true stand- 
 ard of godliness, and provided your views, feelings, 
 and conduct, are conformed to this, it is of no con- 
 sequence that they do not harmonize exactly, with 
 what others experience. Not that there is any ra- 
 dical disagreement in the real piety of genuine 
 Christians ; but with substantial agreement, there 
 may be circumstantial differences; there may be 
 unity of genus, yet variety of species. All true 
 Christians love God, hate sin, feel Christ pre- 
 cious, addict themselves to prayer, live holy \ but
 
 180 CAUTIONS. 
 
 they may not have been brought to this state by 
 the same methods, nor carry it forward to the same 
 degree of perfection. In reading religious biogra- 
 phy, you will see great dissimilarity in the expe- 
 rience of God's people, and will be sometimes in 
 danger of sinking into great distress, because you 
 do not feel in all points as the saints did, whose 
 lives are before you. When you meet with in- 
 stances of more than usual elevation of personal 
 religion, of nearer approaches than common to 
 perfection, do not conclude that you have no piety 
 because you do not equal them, but rather see 
 what you may become ; be humbled that you are 
 no more like them, and let their examples stimu- 
 late your energies, but not extinguish your hopes, 
 nor paralyse your efforts. 
 
 5. I caution you not to allow your convictions 
 to be shaken, nor your minds to be staggered by 
 those instances of backsliding or apostacy which 
 sometimes occur among professors of religion, 
 and even such as were once accounted eminent 
 professors. 
 
 It does indeed often give an awful shock to the 
 feelings and the steadfastness of Enquirers, to wit- 
 ness the falls of those who once stood high in the 
 affection of the church, and the esteem of the 
 world. Not a few, it is to be feared, have from 
 that time gone back, and walked the ways of God 
 no more. But how irrational, how guilty is such 
 conduct ! Did not Christ forewarn us to expect
 
 CAUTIONS. 161 
 
 such instances, when he said, " Wo to the world, 
 because of offences ; it must needs be that offences 
 will come, but wo to that man by whom they 
 come." Matthew xviii. 7. Such cases, therefore, 
 are but the accomplishment of a prophecy, and 
 prove, like other fulfilled predictions, the inspira- 
 tion of him, by whom they were delivered. And 
 they prove in another way also, the divine origin 
 of the Christian religion ; for if it had not been of 
 God, it must have been destroyed long since by 
 the misconduct of its professed friends, from which 
 it has stood in far greater danger, than from the 
 enmity of its avowed enemies. Counterfeits are 
 a presumptive proof of the excellence of that 
 which they profess to imitate, for who is at the 
 trouble of imitating what is worthless ? Do not, 
 then, permit your mind to be affected by the con- 
 duct of false professors, at least in any other way 
 than that of deep grief, that such things should oc- 
 cur to them ; and of anxious prayerful care, that 
 they may never be repeated in you. Be this your 
 supplication, 
 
 Lord, let not all my hopes be vain, 
 Create my heart entirely new, 
 Which hypocrites could ne'er attain, 
 Which false apostates never knew. 
 
 14*
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ENCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 AMONG all the objects of human desire and pur- 
 suit, there is not one, which we have so much en- 
 couragement to seek, or to hope for ; there is not 
 one, in reference to which, despondency is so much 
 out of place ; there is not one, to which indubitable 
 certainty so surely belongs as the salvation of the 
 soul, if it be sincerely desired, and scripturally 
 sought for. The whole Bible is one vast encour- 
 agement to seek for eternal life the death of 
 Christ is another and the existence and history of 
 the church of God upon earth is a third. Men 
 may despond of gaining wealth, or fame, or rank, 
 or health but no man out of hell need despond of 
 gaining salvation. It is nearer to us, and more 
 within our reach, than any other blessing that we 
 can name or think of. Our feelings in regard to 
 earthly possessions can never rise higher than 
 hope, but in regard to salvation, they may take 
 the character of certainty, provided we use the 
 proper means. 
 
 1. It is one great source of encouragement that
 
 ENCOURAGEMENTS, 163 
 
 whatever difficulties lie in our way, all centre in 
 ourselves. 
 
 God will not, and Satan and the world cannot^ 
 hinder our salvation. There is no obstacle which 
 is in itself insurmountable ; no enemy invincible 
 no objection unanswerable. If a man had any 
 other object in view, for the attainment of which 
 there existed no difficulty out of himself, he would 
 feel greatly encouraged, and be ready to congratu- 
 late himself as tolerably certain of success. Read- 
 er, the only difficulty in the way of thy salvation, 
 is in thyself. True it is, there are many and 
 great ones there, the least of which thine own 
 strength is too weak to surmount, but the Lord 
 God Omnipotent has engaged to thee his power, 
 if thou art willing to be helped ; and therefore in 
 this view of the case, even thine own weakness is 
 no insurmountable obstacle. The only question. 
 is, " Art thou sincerely willing and anxious to be 
 saved ?" Once made truly willing, what is to hin- 
 der thy salvation? Dwell again and again on 
 this simple idea, for it is full of encouragement, 
 " The only difficulty in my way to heaven, is that 
 which exists in my own heart, and God is willing 
 to remove that." 
 
 2. It is a great encouragement, that God's 
 mind is so full of good will towards us, and that 
 his heart is so set upon our salvation. 
 
 If we had reason to suppose that He was un- 
 friendlv towards us ; that he was reluctant to save
 
 164 ENCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 us j that His mind was upon the balance between 
 friendship and hostility ; that it needed much im- 
 portunity to entreat him to be merciful, and that 
 he granted us salvation unwillingly and grudging- 
 ly this would indeed be discouraging, and might 
 induce a fear that we should not succeed. But the 
 contrary is the fact. " God is love." " He is gra- 
 cious and full of compassion," " is rich in mercy r 
 and plenteous in mercy." He even " delighteth 
 in mercy." " He is not willing that any should 
 perish, but that all should come to repentance.'* 
 " He delighteth not in the death of a sinner, but 
 would rather that he should turn from his wicked- 
 ness and live." Yea, he confirms it by an oath, 
 " As I live," saith the Lord, " I have no pleasure 
 in the death of the wicked." Ezek. xxxiii. 11. 
 Yea, it is said that the salvation of sinners is so 
 much his delight, that he has engaged it shall be 
 carried on; " The pleasure of the Lord shall pros- 
 per in his hands." Now by the pleasure of the 
 Lord we are to understand the salvation of sin- 
 ners. Nor is this all, for it is affirmed, " That the 
 Lord taketh pleasure in them that hope in his 
 mercy." Psalm cxlvii. 11. We cannot please 
 him better, than by asking him to save us, and by 
 expecting salvation at his hands. Now, Enquirer, 
 take this delightful view of God's disposition to- 
 wards you ; for this is the right one. He is love } 
 he has an infinite propensity to bless ; an infinite 
 delight to make his creatures happy. It is true his
 
 ENCOUftAGEMENTS. 165 
 
 love is a holy love, and therefore the more to be 
 depended upon. Having made provision in the 
 gift and mediation of Christ for saving you in a 
 way consistent with his truth, and holiness, and 
 justice, and thus removed every obstacle out of 
 the way of the flowing forth of his love towards 
 you, he is infinitely intent on saving and blessing 
 you. All your dark desponding thoughts of him 
 are unjust and injurious to his mercy. To con- 
 ceive of him as unwilling to save you, is a slander 
 upon his love ; a calumny false and foul upon his 
 grace. If he were with difficulty persuaded to 
 save you, why did he give his Son to die for you ? 
 The salvation of your soul, the salvation of mil- 
 lions of souls ; the salvation of the whole world, is 
 not so great an act of love, as the gift of Jesus 
 Christ. After this you need not wonder at any 
 thing, nor doubt any thing. " He that spared not 
 his own (proper) son, but gave him up for us all, how 
 shall he not with him also freely give us all things ?" 
 Rom. viii. 32. You have God's mind, and heart, 
 and purpose, and attributes, all on the side of your 
 salvation, and is not this encouragement enough? 
 
 3. Consider the mind, character, and work of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 He came on purpose to save sinners; he has 
 done every thing necessary for their salvation; he 
 is able to save to the uttermost j he has invited all 
 to him for salvation; he has promised to save 
 them : and will he now fail ? Think of the glory
 
 166 ENCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 j 
 
 of his person, God manifest in the flesh ; think of 
 the design of his incarnation, sufferings, and death ; 
 think of the perfection of his work in satisfying di- 
 vine justice, magnify ing the law, sustaining the mo- 
 ral government of God in all its purity, dignity, and 
 effectiveness; think of the love of his heart, the pow- 
 er of his arm, and the connexion between his me- 
 diatorial renown and the salvation of sinners ; 
 think of his universal dominion over angels, devils, 
 men, nature, providence j think of his continued 
 and prevailing intercession, at the right hand of 
 God ; think of his universal invitations, and his 
 absolute promises ; what topics these, what sources 
 of encouragement ! How much is his heart fixed 
 upon the salvation of sinners ; this was the joy 
 that was set before him, and for which he endured 
 the cross, despising the shame ; this is the travail 
 of his soul, and by which its ineffable longings 
 will be satisfied. Your salvation is his business, 
 and the accomplishment of which will be his re- 
 ward. If he could be conceived to be indifferent 
 to your salvation, will he be indifferent to his own 
 glory 7 Will he belie his own name, and destroy 
 his own work, and falsify his own promises, and 
 throw away his own reward, and terminate his 
 own renown as a Saviour, by refusing to save you? 
 Is it probable ? Is it possible ? Even unbelief it- 
 self must say, No, 
 
 4. Dwell upon the infinite and all-sufficient re- 
 sources of the Holy Ghost.
 
 ENCOURAGEMENTS. 167 
 
 This Divine Agent is as omnipotent to sanctify 
 as the power of God was in the beginning to create 
 the heavens and the earth. If you were cast upon 
 your own resources, you might well exclaim, 
 " Who is sufficient for these things ?" and aban- 
 don the hope of salvation for fixed and impervious 
 despair. But the economy of redemption provides 
 no less for the effectual application of its benefits 
 by the work of the Holy Ghost, than it does for 
 the procurement of them by the mediation of 
 Christ ; and the claims of the Godhead were not 
 more completely foreseen and provided for by the 
 latter, than all the weaknesses, and wants, and 
 wickednesses of the human heart, were foreseen 
 and provided for also by the former. There is a 
 glorious completeness in the scheme of redemption ; 
 even the suspicious eye of unbelief, and the search- 
 ing look of a troubled and anxious conscience, can 
 find out no defect. The blindness of your judg- 
 ment ; the hardness and deceitfulness of your 
 heart ; the perversity of your will ; the deadness 
 of your conscience ; the wildness of your imagi- 
 nation ; the disorder of your passions ; your back- 
 wardness to good ; your proneness to evil ; your 
 reluctance to determine ; your irresoluteness ; your 
 timidity ; your fickleness ; all, all have been fore- 
 seen and provided for in the inexhaustible riches 
 of grace in the Blessed Spirit of God. On those 
 riches you are encouraged to rely and to draw, 
 without measure and without end. You are not
 
 168 ENCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 required to act, to speak, to will, to feel, to think, 
 but in dependance on that Divine Agent. You 
 are commanded to look to him for every variety of 
 operation, and for every degree of influence, and 
 for every timely putting forth of his power and 
 wisdom, that the exigency of your circumstances 
 may require. Read, especially the following pas- 
 sages of scripture, and ask if there be not encour- 
 agement enough here ? Luke xi. 9 13. Rom. 
 riii. 1016. James v. 5, 6. Gal. v. 22. John 
 xvi. 715. 2 Cor. xii. 9, 10. 
 
 5. Dwell upon the general complexion of the 
 word of God as so largely made up of commands 
 to seek salvation, invitations to accept of it, promi- 
 ses to ensure it, and descriptions, setting forth its 
 blessings in their vastness, variety, suitableness, 
 and certainty. 
 
 If the whole Bible were to be summed up in one 
 short, comprehensive sentence, it would be this, 
 
 " IT IS A FAITHFUL SAYING AND WORTHY OF ALL AC- 
 CEPTATION, THAT JESUS CHRIST CAME INTO THE 
 
 WORLD TO SAVE SINNERS, EVEN THE CHIEF." Or, 
 
 reducing it still more, it should all be contained 
 in that one word, of immense, infinite, and eternal 
 import, SALVATION. Every thing in the Bible tends 
 to this as its centre : here all the lines of history 
 and prophecy ; the old testament and the new ; the 
 law and gospel, meet. Salvation glimmers amidst 
 the clouds and shadows of the Levitical Economy, 
 and shines forth in all its glory from the facts of
 
 ENCOURAGEMENTS. 169 
 
 the Christian dispensation. It was the subject 
 that dropped in sweet but mystic accents from the 
 lips of mercy on the despairing minds of our first 
 parents ; it was the subject which came in the 
 softer tones of the ceremonial law, when the thun- 
 ders of the decalogue had ceased to terrify the 
 affrighted Israelites at Sinai ; it was the subject to 
 which the prophet struck his harp, and came forth 
 in the Psalms of David, and the rapt ecstacies of 
 Isaiah ; it was the subject which angels chose as 
 the theme of their song on the night of the nativi- 
 ty ; it was the subject which evangelists recorded 
 in their histories, and apostles described in their 
 epistles ; and Avhich even the awful visions of the 
 apocalypse seemed designed to magnify and illus- 
 trate, by representing it as the point of harmony 
 between heaven and earth, and the link that con- 
 nects the events of time with the glories of eter- 
 nity. The Bible, then, Enquirer, presents salvation 
 to your attention, and employs all its fulness to 
 attract, all its authority to command, all its gra- 
 ciousness to invite you to the pursuit of this vast 
 possession and even uses its threatenings and its 
 thunders for the merciful purpose of driving you 
 for refuge to the hope set before you in the gospel. 
 Is not this encouragement? 
 
 6. The unchangeableness of God's nature and 
 covenant, are a source of boundless hope. 
 
 He has invited, he has commanded, he has pro- 
 mised ; and he is not man that he should lie, nor 
 15
 
 170 ENCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 the son of man that he should repent ; but he ig 
 the Father of lights, with whom there is no varia- 
 bleness nor shadow of a change. Immutable in 
 his nature, he is equally so in his purpose, and in 
 his promise. Whom he loveth, he loveth to the 
 end. Could you examine the secret lists of his 
 friends, you would find neither blots nor erasures 
 there. " All things work together for good to 
 them that love God, who are the called according 
 to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow he 
 also did predestinate to be conformed to the image 
 of his Son. Moreover whom Jie did predestinate, 
 them he also called ; and whom he called them 
 he also justified ; and whom he justified them he 
 also glorified. What shall we then say to these 
 things 1 If God be for us who can be against us. 
 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? 
 Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or 
 famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ? Nay, in 
 all these things we are more than conquerors, 
 through him that loved us. For I am persuaded 
 that neither life nor death ; nor angels, nor prin- 
 cipalities, nor powers ; nor things present, nor 
 things to come ; nor height, nor depth, nor any 
 other creature, shall be able to separate us from the 
 love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 Romans viii. 28 39. Sublime language ! Tri- 
 umphant boast ! Inspired and inspiring exultation ! 
 Heaven heard it and approved ; hell heard it and 
 trembled ; and let saints on earth hear it and re-
 
 E N C U A G E M E N T S 171 
 
 joice. Enquirer, be comforted, where a good work 
 is begun in the heart, it shall be carried on until 
 the day of Jesus Christ. Phil. i. 6. The Spirit 
 that builds for himself a temple in the soul of man, 
 will not leave it unfinished, nor suffer it to sink to 
 ruins after he has finished it. Though enemies 
 without may oppose and ridicule ; and though 
 enemies within may stir up occasional insurrection 
 and interruption, the work shall go on till the top 
 stone shall be brought forth amidst the shouts of 
 " Grace, Grace." The purpose of God must stand, 
 in spite of all the force or fraud, the power and ma- 
 lice of earth and hell combined. Is not this en- 
 couragement ? 
 
 7. Consider the sympathies and prayers of the 
 Church. 
 
 Discouraged as you may have been by the in- 
 difference and lukewarmness of some, let it com- 
 fort you to know, that all are not thus. There 
 are myriads of holy ministers of Christ, and mil- 
 lions of pious men and women, from age to age 
 pouring out their fervent supplications to God, for 
 those who are enquiring the way to Zion with 
 their faces thitherward. Have you not heard your 
 case borne with tenderness, and minuteness, and 
 earnestness, upon the hearts of your friends at the 
 meetings of social prayer, and by your ministers 
 when leading the devotions of the great congre- 
 gation ? Have you not thus found the feelings of 
 the assembly poured in a full tide of sympathy
 
 172 ENCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 into your heart ? Yes, and not only do the " Spirit 
 and the Bride say come," in this public manner; 
 not only does the voice of united prayer commend 
 you to God, but in thousands of closets of praying 
 men, you are commended to God, and divine grace 
 is implored on your souls. In those sad and 
 solemn moments, when you are disheartened, and 
 ready to faint; when instead of prayer, you can 
 send forth nothing but groanings which cannot be 
 uttered, then think with pleasure and with hope, 
 upon the many intercessors that are praying for 
 you, and " thank God and take courage." 
 
 8. Take encouragement from the consideration 
 of the ministry of angels for are they not all 
 ministering spirits unto the heirs of salvation 1 
 What offices they perform we know not, perhaps 
 because it is not safe for us to know ; why they 
 are employed we know not ; or what is the extent 
 of our obligation we know not ; but the bare fact 
 that such instruments are employed about you ; 
 such attendants are engaged upon your interests ; 
 such spectators are witnessing you ; such friends 
 are sympathising with you, is a sweetly pleasing 
 and encouraging idea. They have already re 
 joiced over your conversion, if indeed you are con- 
 verted ; and have had you consigned to their care, 
 to minister to your welfare. You may be despised 
 by men, but you are respected by angels ; you may 
 be neglected by men, but you are attended by an- 
 gels ; you may be dismissed by men, but you are
 
 ENCOURAGEMENTS. 173 
 
 associated with angels ; you may be opposed and 
 persecuted by men, but angels " are ministering 
 spirits sent forth to minister unto your salvation." 
 Is not this encouragement ? 
 
 9. Consider how many who were once tried, dis- 
 heartened, weak as younow are, have been carried 
 in safety through all their difficulties, and are now 
 before the throne of God in glory everlasting. 
 
 The apostle John seems to have set all the doors 
 of the heavenly temple ajar, and the windows a 
 little open, that the sights within may just beam 
 upon our eyes, and the sounds just undulate on 
 our ears. " After this I beheld, and lo ! a great 
 multitude, which no man could number, of all 
 nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, 
 stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, 
 clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands ; 
 and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to 
 our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto 
 the Lamb." Rev. vii. 9, 10. And who are they 
 that send forth such strains ? They that " went 
 out of great tribulation, and washed their robes 
 and made them white and clean in the blood of 
 the Lamb." They were once upon earth ; once 
 men of like passions with yourselves ; once be- 
 ginning their religious course as you now are ; 
 
 " Once they were mourning here below, 
 
 And wet their couch with tears ; 
 They wrestled hard, as we do now, 
 
 With sins, and doubts, and fears." 
 15*
 
 174 ENCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 There is not a burden that oppresses your heart, 
 but what oppressed theirs ; there is not a fear that 
 agitates your mind, but what agitated theirs ; there 
 is not a temptation that assails you, but what as- 
 sailed them ; there is not an obstacle that terrifies 
 you, but what terrified them ; they were once as 
 ignorant, as weak, as sinful, as timid, as discour- 
 aged, as you ; there is not a sorrow, a perplexity, 
 or a danger with which you are painfully familiar, 
 but they passed through before you. But there 
 they are in heaven, more than conquerors over all 
 these things through Him that loved them. He 
 that saved them has engaged to save you ; nor is 
 his ear heavy, or his arm shortened. " Wherefore 
 seeing we also are compassed about with so great 
 a cloud of witnesses, let us lay asile every weight 
 and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let 
 us run with patience the race that is set before us, 
 looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our 
 faith." Heb. xii. 1. 
 
 10. Let the magnitude of the blessing you are 
 seeking, and the prospect of its consummation in 
 eternal glory, encourage you. 
 
 You are seeking SALVATION, a word which none 
 but the mind of God can comprehend, for it in- 
 cludes, as I have already said, what is infinite and 
 eternal. It will bless you for both worlds, this and 
 the next. In the present life, it will bestow upon 
 you the pardon of all your sins ; the justification of 
 your persons ; the renewal and sanctification of
 
 ENCOURAGEMENTS. 176 
 
 your nature ; adoption into the family of God ; the 
 spirit of adoption ; a guardian of your reputation ; 
 a protector of your property ; an auxiliary to your 
 health ; a spring of comfort in the dreariest situa- 
 tion ; a light in the darkest scene of distress ; a 
 companion in the deepest solitude ; a counsellor 
 in every perplexity ; a help in weakness ; a check 
 in temptation ; it will associate you with the re- 
 deemed and holy people of God ; conduct you in 
 honour through the changing scenes of life j attend 
 you to the verge of eternity ; soften your dying 
 pillow ; assuage the agony of separation ; and 
 cheer you amidst the agonies of death, with the 
 hopes of immortality. And all this is but the pre- 
 lude, the earnest, and the foretaste of what awaits 
 you beyond the grave. What that is, should be 
 told only in the words of the Spirit of God ; for, 
 " eye hath not seen, nor has ear heard, nor has it 
 ever entered into the heart of man to conceive, the 
 things which God hath prepared for them that love 
 him." " Father," said our Lord, " I will that 
 they whom thou hast given me, be with me where 
 I am, that they may behold my glory." " So shall 
 we be ever with the Lord." " He that believeth 
 on the Son hath everlasting life." " To them 
 who by patient continuance in well doing, seek 
 for glory, honour, immortality, and eternal life." 
 " Our light affliction which is but for a moment, 
 worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
 tveight of glory ; for the things which are not seen
 
 176 ENCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 are eternal." " Who hath begotten us to an in- 
 heritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth 
 not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are 
 kept by the power of God through faith unto sal- 
 vation, ready to be revealed in the last time." " It 
 doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we 
 know that when he shall appear, we shall be like 
 him, for we shall see him as he is." " After this, 
 I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no man 
 could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and 
 people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and 
 before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and 
 palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, 
 saying, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon 
 the throne, and unto the Lamb. Therefore are 
 they before the throne of God, and serve him day 
 and night in his temple ; and he that sitteth on the 
 throne, shall dwell among them. They shall hun- 
 ger no more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall 
 the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the 
 Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed 
 them, and shall lead them to living fountains of 
 waters ; and God shall wipe away all tears from 
 their eyes." 
 
 Anxious Enquirer after salvation, take courage, 
 look upward to heaven, and onward to eternal 
 glory and see what thou art seeking, and what 
 thou art encouraged to expect. 
 
 FINIS.
 
 
 
 

 
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