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Spring, Gardiner, 1785-1873 

Good hope through grace 



GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE ; 

OB 

DISTINGUISHING TRAITS 

OF 

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 



BY GARDINER SPRING, D. D. 



i] yao Kapdla gov ova Ictlv ev-&ela humov tov Qeov. 



A NEW EDITION. 



PUBLISHED BY THE 
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK. 



CONTENTS. 

Introduction 5 

1. Visible Morality 9 

2. Form of Religion - 15 

3. Speculative Knowledge 25 

4. Conviction of Sin - - - - 30 

5. Confidence in Good Estate 40 

6. Love to God - - 63 

7. Repentance - 82 

8. Faith - - 100 

9. Humility - - - 119 

10. Self-denial --- 137 

11. Spirit of Prayer - 151 

12. Love to the Brethren 164 

13. Non-conformity to the World - 172 

14. Growth in Grace - - - 185 

15. Practical Obedience 198 

Conclusion -' 212 



INTRODUCTION, 



There is a hope that is as an anchor to the 
soul ; and there is a hope that is as the spi- 
der's web. The former is built on the Eock 
of ages ; the latter on the sand. The one 
perisheth when God taketh away the sonl; 
the other is sure and steadfast, entering into 
that which is within the veil. 

The hope of the Christian is founded on 
evidence. The disciple of Jesus is ready to 
give an answer to every one that asketh him 
a reason of the hope that is in him. He is 
born of the incorruptible seed. His hope 
maketh not ashamed, because the love of 
God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy 
Ghost which is given unto him. 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

The hope of the self- deceived is founded 
on presumption. He is ^Tapt up in false 
secuiity. A deceived heart hath turned him 
aside. There is a lie in his right hand. He 
imagines he is right, while he is fatally 
wrong; he hopes he is going to heaven, 
while he is in the broad way to hell. 

It is no inconsiderable thing, therefore, to 
possess the spirit of real rehgion. Multitudes 
substitute the shadow for the substance, and 
rest satisfied with a mere name to live. It is 
indeed no inconsiderable thing to have ac- 
tually passed from death unto life. Multi- 
tudes cherish the hope of the di^T.ne favor, 
who ^ill at last be confounded with disap- 
pointment, and sunk dee^D in despair. Let 
the reader therefore sit dovm to the follow- 
ing pages with this solemn question before 
him : Am I the friend of God, or am I his 
enemy ? It will be too late to put this ques- 
tion by and by. Perhaj)s you fear that you 
are God's enemy. Perhaps you hope you 
are His friend. To aid you in deciding this 



INTRODUCTION. Y 

interesting point, is tlie design of the follow- 
ing pages. There are some things that are 
neither for nor against you ; there are others 
that are clecisively in your favor. The first 
five Essays will exhibit several traits of char- 
acter that cannot be relied on as conclusive 
evidence of genuine rehgion. The last ten 
will exhibit several that may be rehed on, 
without danger of deception. 

The importance of the subject constrains 
the Tsaiter to use great freedom and plain- 
ness. The plainness which he has used also 
constrains him to beg his readers to suspend 
their decision of the solemn question before 
them, until they shaU have taken a fiiU view 
of the subject. If any thing should be said 
that wounds them, let them remember it is 
the " wound of a friend." The honor of God, 
the value of the soul, the awful retributions 
of eternity, aU make me more solicitous to 
save you, than to please you. 

Searcher of hearts, send out thy light and 
thy truth, and let them lead me. Discover 



8 INTEODUCTION. 

their deception to the self-deceived, and make 
thy dear children strong in the gi-ace that is 
in Christ Jesus. 

New York, October 5, 1813. 



GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE, 



1. VISIBLE MORALITY. 

" Man looketh on the outward appearance." 
It is not by a few that visible morality is view- 
ed as the " narrow way which leadeth to life." 
It would be an impeachment of the under- 
standing of my readers, to say that mere 
morality is not conclusive evidence of Chris- 
tian character, were it not for the multitude 
of hopes that are built upon this crumbling 
basis. An unblemished moral character is 
in itself so amiable, that it not only com- 
mands the respect and esteem of others, bu^ 
secures the confidence of those who possess 
it. If a man is honest, industrious, and tem- 
perate ; faithfal to his promises, and punctual 
in his engagements ; if he possesses a friend- 
ly, humane, kind, generous, and noble spirit, 
he views himself, and is viewed by the world 
1* 



10 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GKACE. 

around him, to be a " good-liearted man," 
and in a fair way to heaven. If he is correct 
in his external demeanor; if he avoids all 
overt acts of immorahty; if he is innocent 
and harmless ; if his honor is nnsnUied and 
his name without reproach, though he may 
confess that he is not so good as he should 
be, yet he beheves he is much better than he 
is. He sees nothing to shake his hopes, or 
alarm his fears. Look abroad into the world, 
and see the thousands that rest here for eter- 
nity. Melancholy view! "The heart is" 
indeed " deceitful above all things," as well 
as " desperately wicked." 

The man who is merely moral is a stranger 
to the living God. "While he sustains an un- 
impeachcd character in the view of the world, 
he may neither beheve the principles of the 
gospel, nor practise the duties of piety. He 
may be invincibly averse to every species of 
immorahty on the one hand ; but he is equal- 
ly so to the exactness and spiiituahty of re- 
Hgion on the other. The infinitely important 
duties which he owes to God, he keeps en- 
tirely out of sight. Of loving and serving 
him, he Imows nothing. Whatever he does. 



VISIBLE MORALITY. 11 

or whatever lie leaves undone, he does noth- 
ing for God. He may be honest in his deal- 
ings with everybody except God. He robs 
none but God. He is thankless and faith- 
less to none but God. He speaks reproach- 
fully of none but God. A just view of the 
relation which he bears to God forms no 
part of his principles, and the duties which 
result from that relation form no part of his 
morality. He contents himself with mere 
external conformity to the duties of the second 
table. Like the young man in the gospel, he 
may not have committed murder, nor adul- 
tery, nor theft, nor perjury, from his youth 
up; while, hke him, he may have laid up 
treasures for himself, and not be rich toward 
God. He is earthly and sensual, rather than 
heavenly and spiritual. 

In the sight of God, such a character is 
radically defective. The moral man is Hke 
Israel of old — an empty vine, because he 
bringeth forth fruit to himself. He is no 
better than the unprofitable servant ; no bet- 
ter than a cumberer of the ground, who will 
at last be cut down and cast into the un- 
quenchable flame. 



12 GOOD HOPE THKOUGH GKACE. 

Let it not be forgotten, liowever, that no 
man lias the least claim to Cliristian charac- 
ter who is not what the world styles a moral 
man. Yital rehgion is an operative principle. 
The spirit of piety not only lives in the heart, 
but flows forth in the life. "A good tree 
cannot bring forth evil fruit." Whatever 
may be the pretensions of an immoral man, 
he is far from the kingdom of heaven. Still, 
mere moraUty falls far short of the rehgion 
of the cross. The grand defect is, mere 
morahty never aims at the heart, and would 
never touch it, if it should. The natural 
disjDosition may be very amiable, and the ex- 
ternal demeanor very blameless, while the 
" carnal mind is enmity against God." The 
gospel of Jesus Christ requires men to be 
moral ; and if this were all that it required, 
the moral man would be a Christian. But it 
requires them to be moral from holy princi- 
ples. The gospel of Jesus Christ requii-es 
men to be honest, sober, industrious, and 
munificent ; but it requires them to be hon- 
est, sober, industrious, and munificent fi'om 
evangehcal motives. "As a man thinketh 
in his heartf so is he." The moral quahty of 



VISIBLE MOEALITY. 13 

actions lies in the disposition of heart with 
which they are performed. A man may there- 
fore be very honest, very humane, and very 
munificent; but if the disposition of heart 
with which the acts of honesty, humanity, 
and munificence are performed be not such 
as God requires and approves, he has no lot 
nor part in the portion of God's people. 

There is a wide distinction betweeii moral 
virtues and Christian graces. Christian graces 
spring from Christian motives, or such mo- 
tives as are warranted by the gospel of Christ. 
They regard, in the first place, the glory of 
God and the interests of his kingdom ; and 
then regulate our intercourse with our fellow- 
men according to the principles of his word. 
Moral virtues spring from selfish motives. 
They have no regard for the glory of God 
and the interests of his kingdom. They go 
just so far as self-interest leads the way, and 
there they stop. Such are the virtues of men 
"dead in trespasses and sins;" such is the 
morahty of "philanthropists;" such is the 
morahty of the heathen ; such is the morality 
of infidels. Eeader, look into your Bible. 
Will such morality be of any avail in the 



14 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GEACE. 

solemn hour that tries the sj^irits of men? 
" To the laiv and to tJie testimony:''' every page 
will flash conviction on the conscience, that 
such spui'ious morality is of no account in 
the sight of God. I say, in the sigJit of God. 
The moral man has a higher claim upon the 
regard and confidence of his fellow-men than 
the immoral man. He is a better ruler and 
a better subject, a better parent and a better 
child, a better master and a better servant, 
than the immoral man. Other things being 
equal, he is less guilty in the sight of God 
than the immoral man. But after all, he 
wants the one thing needful. He is a child 
of Tsnrath. He is " ^dthout Christ ; an ahen 
from the commonwealth of Israel ; a stranger 
from the covenants of promise ;" and though 
he may cherish a delusive hoi^e, is without 
God in the world. 



FOBM OF RELIGION. 15 



2. FORM OF RELIGION. 

"Many," says an old writer, "take the 
press-money and wear the livery of Christ, 
that never stand to their colors, nor follow 
their leader." The character of the formal- 
ist ranks higher in the estimation of the 
world, than the character of the mere moral- 
ist. Formalists advance a step further than 
visible morahty, and maintain the form of 
religion. They are those who are not only 
decent in their external deportment among 
men, but strict in the observance of aU the 
duties of piety. They put on the appearance 
of real rehgion : but this is not conclusive 
e"VT.dence of their Christian character. 

We read of those who have the form of 
godliness, but who deny the power thereof. 
Men may maintain the form of godliness 
from a variety of motives, none of which 
spring from the operation of grace in the 
heart. Many persons do it for the sake of 
reputation. A due regard to the institutions 
of Christianity forms so essential a part of 



16 GOOD HOPE THEOUGH GKACE. 

the character of the good citizen, that among 
a virtuous people it is difficult to secure 
esteem and confidence without a becoming 
observance of the external duties of reHgion. 
Such is the homage which vice pays to virtue, 
that in Christian communities, it is a credit- 
able thing to put on the appearance of reHg- 
ion. To those who regard the good opinion 
of the world around them, there are not 
wanting multiphed motives to appear better 
than they really are. 

No small portion of those who maintain 
the mere form of rehgion, do it from the force 
of education. A religious education cannot 
fail to have a desirable influence, in a greater 
or less degTee, upon all, both in restraining 
them from the commission of crime, and in 
impelling them to the external performance 
of duty. It often does have this influence 
upon many during the whole course of their 
Hves. It is difficult to break over the re- 
straints which have been imposed by parental 
instruction and example, without singular 
boldness and the most brutish stupidity. 
Hence you find many who persevere in the 
usual forms of reHgion to the end of life, who 



FOEM OF RELIGION. It 

give you no satisfactory reason to believe 
tliat their hearts are right with God. The 
observance of the external services of piety 
has become a habit ; and they walk the cus- 
tomary round of duties, because it is a beaten 
path, rather than because it is a pleasant one. 
Perhaps a still greater number maintain 
the appearance of godliness for the sake of 
quieting the clamors of natural conscience. 
The inspiration of the Almighty has implant- 
ed a principle in the human breast which is 
capable of discerning the immutable differ- 
ence between right and wrong; of giving 
men a sense of moral obligation ; and of ap- 
proving what is right and condemning what 
is wrong in their moral conduct. There are 
seasons when the silent voice of that invisi- 
ble agent who is commissioned by God to 
record the sins of thought and action, whis- 
pers that "God is angry with the wicked 
every day." The implacable foe stings with 
anguish and convulses with agony. In these 
seasons of temorse, the carnal heart natu- 
rally flees to the covenant of w^orks. When 
the moral principle is awake, there can be 
nothing that looks hke a compromise betw^een 

Good Hope. 2 



18 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

the heart and the conscience, short of a hfe 
of external godliness. The conscience is so 
seriously affected with divine truth as often, 
and for a length of time, not to allow some of 
the worst of men in the omission of any of 
the external duties of religion. 

There are also those who maintain the 
form of religion for the sake of fostering the 
persuasion of their own good estate. We 
know that "there is a way which seemeth 
right to a man, but the end thereof are the 
ways of death." Men who are experimental- 
ly ignorant of the nature of real religion, 
easily substitute the shadow for the sub- 
stance. Externally the formaHst does not 
differ from a real saint. He performs all 
those overt acts of rehgion which he would 
perform if he were at heart a sincere follower 
of Christ. Hence the beauty of his exter- 
nal conduct induces him to imagine that he 
is so. Thus Paul felt before the law of God 
came home to his conscience, discovered his 
guilt, and swept away his carnal hopes. And 
thus the foolish virgins felt till the midnight 
cry was given. Behold, the bridegi'oom com- 
eth. Bather than give up their hope, formal- 



rOEM or EELIGION. 19 

ists continue to clierisli their deception by 
substituting the appearance for the reahtj, 
till their deception, their hope, and their irk- 
some forms vanish together, and leave them 
amid the wailings of the eternal pit. 

There are very many who, from some one 
of these causes, or all of them combined, 
carry the form of godliness to every possible 
extent, and are still nothing more than sound- 
ing brass or a tinkling cymbal. This was 
eminently the character of the Pharisees. 
They were what their name denotes them to 
have been, separatists, distinguished for their 
rigid manner of Hfe and great pretensions to 
sanctity. They fasted often, made long pray- 
ers, paid tithes with exactness, and distrib- 
uted alms with Hberahty. As a badge of 
distmction, they wore large rolls of parch- 
ment on their foreheads and T\Tists, on which 
were inscribed certain words of the law. As 
an exhibition of their ]3urity, they never en- 
tered theu' houses, or sat down at their tables, 
without washing their hands. They would 
not so much as touch a publican, or eat or 
drink or pray with a man that was "a sinner." 
But all this was corrupted by an evil heart 



20 GOOD HOPE THKOUGH GEACE. 

of iiubelief, and served only to flatter their 
pride and fill np tlie measure of tlieir iniqui- 
ty. All tins was consistent with "shutting 
up the kingdom of heaven ; and neither going 
in themselves, nor suffering them that were 
entering to go in." All this was denounced 
by one woe after another, as the hypocrisy 
of men who should therefore "receive the 
greater damnation." 

We need not go far to look for multiplied 
testimony that there are those in this age of 
the church who, like the Pharisees, " out- 
wardly appear righteous unto men, but within 
are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." It is not 
difficult "to make clean the outside of the 
cup and of the platter." Men may read and 
pray ; they may attend to the duties of the 
family and the sanctuary, and often to those 
of the closet ; they may profess to be on the 
Lord's side, give up their children to God in 
baptism, come themselves to the sacramen- 
tal table, and engage in the solemn act of 
commemorating the love of the Lord Jesus, 
and yet know no more of real, vital piety, 
than the prayerless and profane. Especially 
is this too often true of those who are bap- 



FORM OF RELIGION. 21 

tized in their infancy, and educated under 
the care of those churches who admit them 
into their communion, for no other reason 
and with no other evidence of their good 
estate, than that they have received the " in- 
itiating seal of the church." But their con- 
demnation is as sure as their guilt is great. 
To look for conclusive evidence of Christian 
character in the mere form of Christianity, is 
to expect the evidence of purity where there 
is nothing but the marks of pollution. The 
mere formahst is exceedingly sinful. No man 
has a right to be a formahst, whether his 
formality arises from hypocrisy or self-decep- 
tion, or both. He has no right to deceive 
himself, or to deceive others. Every species 
of mere formahty is viewed by God as no 
better than detestable. How did he express 
his displeasure towards his ancient people 
for this sin ! " This ]Deople," saith he, " draw- 
eth nigh unto me with their mouth, and hon- 
oreth me with their Hps, but their heart is 
far from me." God also demands of his peo- 
ple, "To what purpose is the multitude of 
your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord? 
When ye come to appear before me, who 



22 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

hatli required this at your liauds to tread my 
courts ? Bring no inore vain oblations ; in- 
cense is an abomination unto me ; the new 
moons and sabbaths, the calling of assem- 
bhes, I cannot away with : it is iniquity ^ even 
the solemn meeting." God sets the guilt ol 
formalists in the most striking light by the 
words of the prophet : " He that Idlleth an 
ox is as if he slew a man ; he that sacrificeth 
a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck ; he that 
offereth an oblation, as if he offered s^dne's 
blood; he that burnetii incense, as if he 
blessed an idol." Kilhng an ox in sacrifice 
was required, but kilhng a man was forbid- 
den; sacrificing a lamb was required, but 
sacrificing a dog was forbidden ; oblations 
were required, but swine's blood w^as forbid- 
den ; burning incense was required, but bless- 
ing or worshipping an idol forbidden. Hence, 
so far is the mere form of devotion from be- 
ing either acceptable to God, or evidence of 
our own good estate, that it is no better than 
if we slew a man or worshipped an idol. 

Be not deceived ; for God is not mocked. 
All are not Israel that are of Israel. He is 
not a Jew that is one outwardly. There are 



FORM OF RELIGION. 23 

many tliat are called by tlie name of Israel, 
which swear by the name of the Lord, and 
make mention of the God of Israel ; but not 
in truth, nor in righteousness. Like the 
Pharisees, you may pray long, and fast offc ; 
and like them, you may be " a generation of 
vipers," and never " escape the damnation of 
heU." 

" Their lifted eyes salute the skies, 
Their bended knees the ground ; 
But God abhors the sacrifice, 
Where not the heart is found." 

O how often is this picture presented in real 
life ! " God, I thank thee that I am not as 
other men, or even as this pubhcan." "Would 
that thou wert more hke him. Thy corrupt 
heart corrupts all the fair forms of thy devo- 
tion, and " thou art still in the gaU of bitter- 
ness, and the bonds of iniquity." The hope 
of formahsts is the offspring of a deceived 
and a wicked heart. It is an affront to the 
majesty of heaven ; it is a violation of the 
laws of his empire ; it gives the he to the 
author of eternal truth. Hence the state of 
formahsts is full of danger. They are singu- 
larly x3rone to cherish their deception. " They 



24 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

are taken in their own craftiness." Tliey 
flatter tliem selves in tlieii- own eyes, till 
their iniquity be found to be hateful. They 
rest in a hope that will at last " bite Hke a 
serpent, and sting like an adder." 



SPECULATIVE KNOWLEDGE. 25 



' 3. SPECULA^TIYE KNOAVLEDGE. 

Speculative knowledge is no less deficient 
in the testimony which it bears to Christian 
character, than visible morality or the form 
of rehgion. Neither is conclusive. 

Speculative knowledge is by no means to 
be undervalued. Ignorance, in most cases, 
is far from being venial ; error is always more 
or less sinful. It is of serious importance 
that the opinions of men be formed, and 
formed upon the principles of the unerring 
standard. There can be no spiritual know- 
ledge where there is no speculative know- 
ledge. God cannot be loved where he is not 
known ; sin cannot be detested where its na- 
ture is not discerned; Christ cannot be con- 
fided in when his character and sacrifices are 
not perceived; duty cannot be performed 
where the mind does not apprehend its na- 
ture and obligations. Truth is the natural 
ahment of all gracious affections. But 
though there can be no spiritual knowledge 
where there is no speculative knowledge, there 
may be much speculative knowledge where 
2 



20 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GEACE. 

there is no spiritual knowledge. Tlioiigh tlie 
want of speculative knowledge may be deci- 
sively against yon, the possession of it is not 
necessarily in your favor. 

We have only to open our eyes to discern 
the fact that very wicked men are sometimes 
orthodox in their sentiments. Wicked men 
as well as good men are endowed with per- 
ception, reason, and conscience. And they 
are as capable of applying these faculties in 
reflecting upon moral objects as upon natu- 
ral objects. They are not only capable of 
understanding the truth, but often do under- 
stand it with accuracy. How many have 
you seen who were thoroughly versed in the 
Scriptures ; who had correct theoretical views 
of the character of God, the character of man, 
the character and offices of Christ, of the 
necessity, nature, and cause of regeneration ; 
who comprehended a connected system of 
theology, and were distinguished champions 
for the faith ; who were, notwithstanding all 
this, strangers to the religion of the heart. 
" Thou behevest there is one God : thou doest 
well. The devils also believe and tremble." 
Satan himself was once an angel of light. 



SPECULATIVE KNOWLEDGE. 21 

There is no more studious observer of the 
character and designs of God than the great 
adversary of both. There is no greater profi- 
cient in theological truth than i\iQ father of lies. 
"There is no want of orthodoxy even in hell." 
For the existence of this fact we are not at 
a loss for satisfactory reasons. Speculative 
knowledge has its seat in the head ; vital re- 
ligion, in the heart. There is no moral good- 
ness in the simple assent of the understand- 
ing to truth. We receive and compound and 
compare ideas, whether we wish to do it or 
not. Wlien we see the evidence of a propo- 
sition to be clear, we cannot withhold our 
assent to it, while we may hate the truth we 
receive, and love the error we reject. Be- 
sides, there is nothing in the nature of spec- 
ulative knowledge to produce holy affection. 
The twiUght of reason and conscience, and 
the clear sunshine of the gospel, are in them- 
selves ahke unadapted to the causation of 
hohness. All the light of eternity breaking 
in upon the understanding of the natural man 
cannot create one spark of holy love. You 
may follow the natural man through every 
possible degTee of instruction ; and though his 



28 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

head will be better, his heart will be worse. 
It is irrational to snj^pose that a dear vieiv of 
an object that is hated will produce love to 
the object. If, when the character and truth 
of God are partially seen^ they are the ob- 
jects of hatred, when clearly seen they will 
become the objects of malignity. The un- 
derstanding therefore may be enhghtened, 
while the heart remains perfectly vitiated. 

Far be it from us, by these remarks, to 
exclude from our theology the doctrine of 
divine illumination. The scrij^tural view of 
this doctrine will go far towards enabling us 
to distinguish between those w^ho in truth 
know God, and those who glorify him not as 
God. In this great work, the heart, the 
moral disposition, is changed, and not the 
head. Without this sj)iritual illumination, 
the soul ^ill be for ever shrouded in dark- 
ness that may be felt. The souls of the sanc- 
tified had for ever remained " without form, 
and void," totally disordered, a mere moral 
chaos, merged in shades of thickest dark- 
ness, had not that "God who commanded 
the light to shine out of darkness, shincd 
into their hearts to give the light of the know- 



SPECULATIVE KNOWLEDGE. 29 

ledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus 
Christ. This is a kind of knowledge, how- 
ever, which is far above mere intellectual 
speculation. It is not immediately the ob- 
ject of intellectual speculation, but of gra- 
cious affections. This is a kind of knowledge 
which is both of divine original and divine 
nature. This is the knowledge that edifieth; 
all other puffeth up. The essential differ- 
ence between that knowledge which is, and 
that which is not conclusive evidence of Chris- 
tian character, hes in this : the object of the 
one is the agreement of the several parts of 
a theological proposition; the object of the 
other is moral beauty, the intrinsic loveliness 
of God and divine things. The sinner sees 
and hates ; the saint sees and loves. The 
prophecy of Esaias is fulfilled in the experi- 
ence of thousands: "Hearing they shall hear, 
and not understand; and seeing they shall 
see, and not perceive." Something more is 
necessary to make a man a Christian besides 
the enlightening of the natural understand- 
ing. Beware of the hope that is built on no 
firmer basis than a speculative view of the 
doctrines of the gospel. 



30 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 



4. CONVICTION OF SIN. 

It is not strange that natural men slionid 
sometimes be alarmed by a sense of their 
danger. When they see that the judgments 
which God has denounced against sin will 
sooner or later overtake them, that they are 
rapidly passing to the gates of death, and 
that they are unprepared for the solemn real- 
ities of the fiiture world, it is impossible for 
them to remain immoved. They begin to 
think seriously of the things that belong to 
their everlasting peace. They cease to make 
hght of that which is important, and to view 
as important that which is lighter than van- 
ity. They begin to see things as they are. 
The value of the soul, the indispensable ne- 
cessity of an interest in the blood of sprink- 
ling, heaven, heU — these are subjects which 
engage their most serious reflection, and ex- 
cite the most fearful alarm. But strange to 
ttill, how soon does their solemnity vanish ; 
how often is their alarm momcntar}'. Tlie 
lapse even of a few weeks ma}' convince you 



CONVICTION OF SIN. 31 

that all this is but the " morning cloud, and 
as the early dew that passeth away." 

A variety of considerations induce us to 
believe that no degi-ee of conviction for sin 
is conclusive evidence of Christian character. 
The simple conviction that I am a sinner is 
common to all men. That view of sin which 
arises from its hateful nature as committed 
against the holy God, is pecuHar to saints. 
There is a state of mind differing from both 
these — from the former in degTee, and from 
the latter in kind — which is designated by 
the phrase, conviction for sin. 

Impenitent sinners are often brought to 
see their own sinfulness. God gives them a 
just view of their character. They are favor- 
ed v/ith a discovery of the total corruption of 
their hearts. They see that they have not 
the love of God in them. They are made 
sensible that they are under the dominion of 
the "carnal mind that is enmity against God." 
The divine law, in all the reasonableness of 
its precept and all the equity of its sanction, 
comes home to the conscience with power, 
and brings with it the knowledge of sin and 
the sense of guilt. They see its extent and 



32 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

spirituality, as well as its righteousness. 
They feel as Paul felt : when the command- 
ment came, sin revived, and he died. Sin 
does actually revive. The law that binds 
theii' conscience excites the enmity of their 
hearts. The more clearly they discern its 
righteousness and sj)ii'ituality, the more vig- 
orously do they hate its divine author. They 
begin to learn what kind of hearts they cher- 
ish. They see that in them there " dwelleth 
no good thing." In vain do they search for 
the least hohness or a single duty in all that 
they have done. " Every imagination of the 
thoughts of their hearts is only evil continu- 
ally." All their words and all their actions, 
all their desires and all their prayers are in 
direct contrariety to the holy law of God. 
Now suffer me to ask, is there any religion 
in all this? There can be none surely in 
possessing a de]3raved heart, and there is 
none in merely being sensible that we pos- 
sess it. In the simple discovery that I am 
an atrocious sinner, there is no sense of the 
hateful nature of sin, no sorrow for sin, no 
desire to be delivered from its power. To 
see my aggravated sinfulness, and not be 



CONVICTION OF SIN. 33 

humbled on accoimt of it, is evidence of im- 
yielding enmity, rather than a cordial recon- 
ciliation. If a strong sense, or if you please, 
the strongest sense of personal sinfulness, 
were conclusive evidence of personal rehg- 
ion, every reprobate at the bar of judgment, 
and all the damned in hell, would be Chris- 
tians. A sense of their corruption forms no 
small part of their wretchedness. We know, 
from the unequivocal declaration of eternal 
truth, that when "the Lord cometh with ten 
thousand of his saints to execute judgment 
upon all," he v.dil " convince all tliat are un- 
godly among them of all their ungodly deeds 
which they have ungodly committed." How 
then can the conviction of ungodliness be the 
evidence of godliness ? 

In the minds of the unregenerate the sense 
of personal sinfulness is always accompanied 
with the apprehension of danger. It cannot 
be otherwise. Wlien a sense of sin is fasten- 
ed upon the conscience of the sinner, it can- 
not fail to throw him into distress. In many 
cases the distress is great. The "law work" 
is severe. The unhappy man sees the cor- 
ruption of his own heart, and therefore gives 



34 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

up all hope from liis o^ti rigliteoiisness. Ho 
sees the corruption of his own heart, and 
therefore gives up all hope from the prospect 
of amendment. The law which he has broken 
sweeps away at a stroke all his righteous- 
ness, and cuts up his hopes root and branch. 
All that is past is bad ; all that is to come is 
no better. He sees that with his present dis- 
position sin will only revive and increase ev- 
ery hour that he lives. He is wretched and 
forlorn. He knows that he is the prisoner of 
justice, and fears that he is akeady bound 
over to the curse. He looks around for help, 
but no kind arm will interpose. He ventures 
to make a struggle to shake off his bondage, 
but every effort evinces his weakness, every 
struggle binds him faster in his chains. " The 
arrows of the Almighty are within him, the 
poison whereof drinketh up his spirits." He 
sees that he is actually going to hell. He 
knows that nothing he shall ever do will pre- 
vent his going there. There is but a step 
between him and the eternal pit, while an 
invincibly obstinate heart cuts him off from 
every successful effort to escape it. He is 
beyond the reach of help on this side heaven. 



CONVICTION OF SIN. 35 

No means, no motives can afford him relief. 
He sees that he is in the hands of a sove- 
reign God, and that every thing without him 
and every thing within him is conspiring to 
increase his guilt and aggravate his condem- 
nation. And you will now ask. Is there no 
religion in this ? None. Does vital religion 
consist in the apprehension of danger, or in 
the fear that we shall never escape it? Where 
is the Jioliness of being afraid of hell? ^Tiat 
Christ-like affection is there either in the hor- 
ror of a guilty conscience, or the anticipation 
of the wrath to come ? " These are feeUngs 
which," as the learned Dr. Owen well re- 
marks, "belong not to the precept of the 
law, but to its curse; they are no part of 
what it requires, but of what it inflicts." 

In the mind of a convinced sinner, ^the 
sense of personal smfulness is also connected 
with the sense of ill desert. When a man 
has a clear view of his own sinfulness, he not 
only sees that he is exposed to the wrath of 
God, but that he is justly exposed to the 
wrath of God. He sees that he deserves the 
displeasure of the Almighty throughout in- 
terminable ages. He is stripped of all his 



3G GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

thin excuses, and is sensible that his sins are 
wholly nnjustifiable. As he has before beeu 
constrained to acknowledge the reasonable- 
ness of the precept of the divine law, now he 
is constrained to admit the justice of its pen- 
alty. He has Yoluntarily and perseveringiy 
disobeyed a law that is perfectly holy in 
itself, and clothed with the authority of the 
holy Grod; and he knows that it would be 
just, if the penalty should be executed upon 
him to the uttermost. He knows that the 
holy God, whose character he regards mth 
enmity, whose law he transgresses mth im- 
penitence, whose gospel he rejects with dis- 
dain, can })e under no obligation to save a 
"S\Tetch hke him. And you will ask again. Is 
there no rehgion in this? Again I answer, 
and the reply is bottomed upon the word of 
eternal truth, not a icldt. Is this no evidence 
that I have passed from death unto life ? I 
answer, it is not conclusive evidence ; and if 
this is all that you have experienced, it is 
none at aU. If 3'ou are not sensible that you 
are so vile as to deserve the everlasting dis- 
pleasiu'c of God, you are not even a con- 
vinced sinner ; but if you are sensible of this, 



CONVICTION OF SIN. 37 

yoii may not be a converted sinner. Yital 
religion does not consist in tlie approbation 
of the conscience to tlie condemning sentence 
of the law. Does not the conscience of every 
sinner, whether renewed or unrenewed, tell 
him that God would be just in abandoning 
him to misery without measure and without 
end? Do not the damned in hell feel that 
they are justly condemned? Was not the 
man without the wedding garment speech- 
less? Will not the whole world become 
guilty before God, at the last day ? 

If the view which we have given of this 
solemn subject will bear the test of God's 
word, then the reader has a right to the j)lain 
result, that no degTee of conviction for sin is 
conclusive evidence of Chiistian character. 
Look at the feelings of a convinced sinner, 
and find, if you can, one spark of genuine 
holiness ; find, if you can, one Christian 
grace ; find, if you can, any thing more than 
all those have felt who have gone down to 
the pit in their blood. 

But may not these be the feehngs of real 
Christians ? I answer, they may be ; but 
they are not the feelings which constitute 



38 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GEACE. 

the essential difference between real Chris- 
tians and impenitent sinners. All that have 
passed from death unto life have, in a greater 
or less degree, been convinced of their total 
corruption, alarmed at their danger, and 
made to acknowledge the justice of God in 
the penalty of his law. Indeed it may be 
said, that the gTeater part of real Christians 
have never been the subjects of conviction, 
in the degree which has been here exhibited. 
Still, every Christian has experienced some 
of it ; every Christian has felt the same con- 
^dction in kind. If therefore you are with- 
out any thing Hke this conviction, you may 
be sure that you are without religion. Still, 
it does not follow, that because you have this 
conviction, you therefore have real rehgion. 
It is true, that in the coui'se of God's provi- 
dence, conviction always precedes conver- 
sion ; l)ut it is not always true, that conver- 
sion follows conviction. There is no nec- 
essary connection between conviction and 
conversion. A sense of sin and danger does 
not slay the enmity of the heart. The con- 
science may be con^inced, while the heart 
is not renewed. The carnal mind not only 



CONVICTION OF SIN. 3& 

may, but does hate what the awakened con- 
science approves. It is no certain evidence, 
that because the conscience feels the weight 
of sin, the heart is humbled on account of it ; 
that because the conscience approves of the 
rectitude of divine justice, the heart bows to 
the divine sovereignty. The most powerful 
conviction of sin, therefore, is not conclusive 
evidence of Christian character. 



40 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 



5. CONFIDENCE IN GOOD ESTATE. 

It is easy for a hj^Docrite to deceive liim- 
self with "false liojDes and carnal presump- 
tions." Yon may be strongly persuaded that 
yon are a Christian ; bnt this persuasion does 
not make yon so. Yon may cherish the most 
unwavering confidence of your personal in- 
terest in the great salvation, while you have 
no part nor lot in this matter. 

The confidence of a man's own good estate 
is attained in different ways. Both the con- 
fidence itself and the mode of attaining it are 
often scrij)tural. A man may be persuaded 
that he is a Christian, because he has reason 
to believe that he possesses the Spirit of 
Christ. " Hereby know we, that we dweU in 
him, and he in us, because he hath given us 
of his Spirit." A man may be persuaded 
that he is a child of God, because he discerns 
in himself those graces that are peculiar to 
the childlike character. He may have "re- 
ceived the spirit of adoption, whereby he 
cries, Abba, Father." "The Spirit itself," 



CONFIDENCE IN GOOD ESTATE. 41 

saith tlie apostle, " beareth witness with our 
spirit, that we are the children of God." A 
persuasion arising from such evidence is 
well grounded. Such a persuasion cannot 
be too confident. It not only may, but ought 
to rise to the full assurance of hope. It did 
in Job. "I know," saith he, "that my Ee- 
deemer Hveth; and though after my skin 
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh 
shall I see God ; whom I shall see for my- 
self, and mine eyes shall behold, and not 
another." It did in the Psalmist : "As for 
me, I wiU behold thy face in righteousness ; 
I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy like- 
ness." - "Thou shalt guide me with thy coun- 
sel, and afterwards receive me to glory." It 
did in the apostle : " I am persuaded, that 
neither death, nor Hfe, nor angels, nor prin- 
cipahties, 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." The comfortable assur- 
ance of believers enables them both to glo- 
rify and enjoy the ever-blessed God. It is 
as honorable to God to trust in his grace, as 



42 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

to submit to liis autliority. "Wlien tlie hopes 
of believers are low and languisliing, tliey 
know not how deep the shade they cast on 
the lustre of divine forgiveness, how much 
they detract fi'om the glory of the cross. 
The want of a cheerful hope, an humble re- 
liance on the mercy of Ood, cannot fail to 
unman the most unwavering firmness, and 
unnerve the most vigorous exertion. For 
those who have the witness of their good 
estate within them, to sink down into a state 
of darkness that ends in the gloom of soh- 
tude and inactivity, is sin. Many a good 
man, by having unhappily imbibed mistaken 
views of this subject, has rendered himself a 
mere cipher in the church, and a stumbhng- 
block to those who are out of it. Real Chris- 
tians need not be afraid to cherish the full 
assurance of hope. There is something 
wrong in the state of that soul that refuses 
to be comforted. It is the duty of believers 
to make their calling and election sure. As- 
sui'ance ought always to exist, and to be 
supported by corresponding testimony. 

But this is not the vain confidence to which 
I allude in this essay. It bears no aUiance 



CONFIDENCE IN GOOD ESTATE. 43 

to the presumption of the hypocrite and the 
self-deceived. There is a confidence which is 
obtained without the aid of God's Spirit, and 
cherished without the evidence of his word. 

Some rest this presumption on an unwar- 
rantable notion which they entertain of the 
mercy of God. They are in the habit of 
viewing it as a general, indefinite, undistin- 
guishing attribute. They imagine that be- 
cause God is declared to be " no respecter of 
persons," he exercises his mercy indiscrim- 
inately. They view him as a being so fondly 
attached to the interest of his creatures, as 
to pardon them without reference to the 
terms of the gospel, and save them without 
regard either to their own moral character, 
to the honor of his law, or to the well-being 
of his kingdom. They rely on no promise ; 
they rest on no covenant ! They are satis- 
fied with the thought, that God is merciful ! 
They rest on the phantom, " uncovenanted 
mercy." Tell them that they are sinners, 
and they tell you that *' God is not strict to 
mark iniquity." Tell them that they have 
incurred the penalty of a righteous law, and 
deserve to die, and they tell you that they 



44 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

Lave never " clone any harm ;" and if tliey 
have, a merciful God will forgive them. God 
is too good to send them to hell ! It cannot 
be that he tvoU cast them off for ever. 

This is the subterfuge of thousands, the 
miserable hiding-place that must be over- 
flowed when the billows of divine wrath beat 
upon this falling world. It is the fatal rock 
on which thousands have spHt. How many 
impenitent, Christless sinners liave rested 
here for eternity ! How many have I seen on a 
dying-bed, who had not a spark of vital relig- 
ion, who still indulged the hope that God was 
too merciful to damn them. My heart bleeds 
when I think of it. Why do men forget that 
God is as just and as holy as he is gracious ? 
All his perfections must be glorified. We 
cannot be saved at the expense of one of 
them. God regards his own glory and the 
interests of his kingdom more than every 
thing else. To these every thing must bow. 
If he were not too holy, too just, nay, too 
good to admit a totally depraved* being into 
his Idngdom, that kingdom would fall. Un- 
holy men must be excluded from heaven 
because they arc not fit for it. To exclude 



CONFIDENCE IN GOOD ESTATE. 45 

them is a part of that beneyolent design 
which is to make, on the whole, the most 
happy universe. God has the same benevo- 
lent motive for excluding the unholy from 
the heavenly state, that he has for admitting 
the holy. Yes, we hesitate not to say that 
the benevolent God is too good to admit one 
unsanctified soul into the pure regions of the 
blessed. He has too great a regard for the 
honor of his character and for the excellence 
of his law ; he loves the angelic host too well ; 
he loves his people, he loves his Son too well 
ever to permit the song of the redeemed to 
feel the jar of one unhallowed tongue. The 
very thought is reproachful to his glory. No 
sin is there. The light of heaven shall never 
be darkened even by the shadow of death. 
The designs of injQnite benevolence shall 
never be frustrated by the introduction of 
one unholy being into the kingdom of God. 
Where, O where is the delusion of the mis- 
erable self-deceiver, when justice exacts the 
uttermost farthing ! 

Others attain this persuasion in a manner 
still different. They have been taught that 
mere reformation and morahty will not save 



46 GOOD HOPE THEOUGH GRACE. 

them, and they are equally conYinced that 
the form of religion will not save them. 
They see the necessity of possessing the real 
spirit of religion, and they begin to seek 
after it till they are weary of the search. 
They become awakened to a sense of their 
danger, convinced of their ill desert, and are 
thrown into some distress But at length, 
through the influence of their own imagina- 
tions or the artful devices of the old serpent, 
they are inspired with hope and filled with 
joy : some enrajoturing vision has discovered 
to their ^dew the Saviour extended on the 
cross ; some fancied messenger has announc- 
ed that their sins are forgiven, and that God 
is their reconciled Father ; some text of Scrip- 
ture, unsought, unexpected, and fatally mis- 
applied, has whispered peace to the troubled 
conscience, and their souls are filled with rap- 
tures of joy. They feel a kind of spurious 
sorrow that they have ever hated so gracious 
and merciful a being as God. They have 
been abandoned to the delusion that their 
opposition to so kind and gracious a being 
has been owing to some misapprehension of 
his character. Once they viewed liim as an 



CONFIDENCE IN GOOD ESTATE. 47 

" absolute God," as a God wlio was angry 
with the wicked and angry with them. They 
viewed him as their enemy, and dreaded the 
tokens of his dipleasure. But now they view 
his character in altogether a different Hght. 
They are persuaded that he loves them ; they 
are persuaded that he has pardoned their 
sins, and that it is his good pleasure to give 
them the kingdom. Now all their enmity is 
slain ; they feel reconciled to God because 
they believe God is reconciled to them. Un- 
der the influence of this pleasing deception 
they now begin to be happy. EeKgion ab- 
sorbs all their attention, and the rehgion of 
the heart is what they think they admire and 
love. They are full of gratitude^ full of peace 
and joy in beheving that Christ died for them 
in particular. 

All this is "rotten at the core." However 
closely it may resemble the holy gratitude of 
God's people, it is but the counterfeit of that 
heavenly grace. It is purely selfish. It is 
mere mercenary rehgion. The Spirit of God 
has nothing to do with the root of it, nor the 
law of God with its fruits. There is not per- 
haps any error more common and more fatal 



45 GOOD HOPE THEOUGH GRACE. 

among the serious part of mankind tlian this. 
This is the yery religion that is agTeeable to 
the feehngs of the carnal heart. This was 
the religion of the impenitent Israelites. At 
the time of their deliverance from the honse 
of bondage, and in view of the miracles both 
of mercy and judgment which had been 
wrought in their behalf, they sang the mem- 
orable " Song of Moses" on the banks of the 
Eed sea. But how soon do you find them 
murmuring at the waters of Marah and in 
the wilderness of Sin. The same scene, only 
in more awful colors, was again exhibited at 
the foot of Sinai. God appeared in all the 
greatness of his majesty. "And when the 
people saw the thunderings, and the light- 
nings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the 
mountain smoking, they removed and stood 
afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak 
thou with us, and we will hear ; but let not 
God speak with us, lest we die." Sad re- 
verse. Scarcely forty days had elapsed, than 
the very land that just beheld Jehovah de- 
scending in the cloud, and that trembled at 
the voice of his thunder, saw the golden calf 
an idol, and heard the heathenish acclama- 



CONFIDENCE IN GOOD ESTATE. 49 

tion, "These be thy gods, O Israel, that 
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." 
The same scene, though in more awful col- 
ors still, was exhibited in the streets of Jeru- 
salem. No sooner did the Jews behold the 
miracles and share in the favor of the prom- 
ised Messiah, than they overlooked all the 
humbhng circumstances of his birth, and 
were anxious to make him their king. They 
followed him with hosannas ; were impatient 
to see him enrobed with the badges of roy- 
alty and seated upon the throne of David his 
father. But their attachment was soon ^Dut 
to a test which discovered its selfishness. 
They early found that the kingdom of the 
Messiah was a spiritual, and not a temporal 
kingdom. They soon learned that he was 
not a Jew who was one outwardly ; and that 
if they would be the subjects of his kingdom, 
they must become new creatures, must reUn- 
quish their attachment to the world, must 
deny themselves and take up the cross, 
must become holy in heart and in life, not 
too proud to rehsh the hiimbling rehgion of 
a crucified Saviour, nor too righteous to sub- 
mit to the righteousness of God. Their hopes 



50 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

of indiyidual grandeur and national glory 
therefore withered in the bloom. The prom- 
ised Messiah became the object of neglect 
and malignity. No longer did they follow 
him Avith acclamations of jDraise, but with the 
hiss of derision and the finger of scorn. No 
longer did their zeal prompt the cry, "Ho- 
sanna to the Son of David!" but their disap- 
pointed and infuriate selfishness instigated 
the mahgnant shout, " Crucify, crucify !" 
Such is the religion of sinners. " Sinners," 
saith the Sa^dour, "love those who love 
them." "Ye seek me," said Christ, "not be- 
cause ye saw the miracles, but because ye 
did eat of the loaves, and were filled." 

Far be it from me to say or to beUeve that 
all those who inculcate this kind of religion 
are to be ranked among the hypocrite and 
the self-deceived. We beheve many of them 
to be Christians. The religion which they 
possess is better than that which they teach. 
Still we do not hesitate to say that those who 
have no other rehgion, have none at all that 
will stand the ordeal of the last day. "A 
deceived heart hath turned them aside." 

On what is such rehgion founded ? There 



CONFIDENCE IN GOOD ESTATE. 51 

is no supreme attachment to tlie excellency 
of the divine character, to the holiness of the 
divine law, or to the perfection of the divine 
government. There is no supreme dehght in 
the glory of the gospel for its own inherent 
excellence. On what then is such religion 
founded? Simply on the assumption, alike 
dishonorable to God and destructive to the 
souls of men, that there is and there can be 
no lovehness in the divine nature, no glory 
in the divine perfections, but what results 
from God's particular love to them and his 
designs to save them* A principle so re- 
proachful to the character of the Deity, so 
reproachful to the cross of Christ, and so de- 
structive to the souls of men, has made many 
a man an enthusiast and a hypocrite, but 
never yet made one a humble follower of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. After all the glosses that 
can be }3ut upon it, the amount of this prin- 
ciple is just this : Assure me of my salvation, 
and the God of heaven is amiable and glorious : 
deprive me of my salvation, and lie is stri^yped 
of his loveliness and disrobed of his glory. 
Eeader, does this look like taking your place 
in the dust, and exalting God on the throne? 



52 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GEACE. 

Is tliis being reconciled to the character of 
God, or being supremely in love mth yoiu*- 
seH? 

Though selfish piety is naturally bhnd to 
its own nature, yet the effect of this merce- 
nary scheme is unequivocal. The gTand sen- 
timent of the system is, that it is a mark of 
genuine holiness to be very anxious about 
your own welfare, but to care very Httle for 
the honor and glory of God. It is therefore 
a system that is perfectly compatible with 
supreme selfishness, and therefore perfectly 
compatible with total depravity. There is 
nothing in all this with which the carnal 
mind is at enmity. If ^dtal godliness consist 
in such a system of views and feelings, there 
is no need of a radical change of heart. Let 
the veriest sinner on earth be persuaded that 
God loved him with an everlasting love, and 
from eternity designed to make him an heir 
of the heavenly inheritance, and his enmity 
will subside without any change of nature, 
any alteration in the moral disposition of the 
soul. 

The presumption on which we have been 
animadverting is one which any unrenewed 



CONFIDENCE IN QOOD ESTATE. 53 

man may clierisli wlio is under tlie delusion 
of Satan. and liis own wicked heart. It is 
easy to say, "Pardon. is mine, grace is mine, 
Christ and all his blessings are mine ; God 
has freely loved me, Christ has graciously 
died for me, and the Holy Ghost will assur- 
edly sanctify me in the behef, the appropri- 
ating belief of these precious truths." It is 
no herculean task for a heated imagination 
and an unsanctified heart to make these dis- 
coveries. This is a kind of confidence which 
the subtle deceiver is interested to flatter 
and strengthen, till the unhappy subject has 
lost his hold, and the roaring lion is sure of 
his prey. And the joys and sorrows, the 
zeal and engagedness which spring from this 
delusion, form a kind of religion which the 
blindness and deceit, the self-flattery and the 
pride of the carnal heart very easily substi- 
tute for vital godHness. 

Others attain the confidence of their own 
good estate in a manner still different. This 
mode of attainment is purely mechanical. 
According to the views of those who main- 
tain this confidence, it seems to be "a strange 
kind of assurance, far different from other 



5-1 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

ordinary kinds. "We are constrained to be- 
lieve other things on the clear evidence that 
they are true, and wonld remain true, wheth- 
er we beheve them or no ; biit here onr assur- 
ance is not impressed on our thoughts by any 
evidence of the thing, but we must work it 
out in ourselves, by the assistance of the 
Spirit of God." The very existence of this 
persuasion seems to be the sole evidence of 
the truth of it ; and so the proposition to be 
believed, namely, "that God freely giveth 
Christ and his salvation to us in particular, 
is not true before we believe it, but becometh 
a certain truth when we believe it."" 

The amount of this is, that a persuasion of 
your own personal interest in the blessings 
of the great salvation constitutes the essence 
of evangelical faith ; that if you can only be- 
lieve that you will be saved, you are a believer 
in the gospel sense of the word ; that should 
you find any difficulty in doing this, you must 
*' work it out in yourselves by the assistance 
of the Spirit of God ; and according to your 
faith, so shall it be unto you."t The per- 
suasion therefore that you are a Christian, 

* >r:irKliall on Sanctification, p. 157. f Ibid, p. 157. 



CONFIDENCE IN GOOD ESTATE. 55 

makes you so; and the confidence that you 
will be saved, renders "yoiu- calling and elec- 
tion sure." 

It is hardly necessary to guard the mind 
against the influence of this delusion. Re- 
flecting men will not rest the hope of immor- 
taUty on so treacherous a foundation, unless 
they dehberately prefer the dreams of the 
self-deceived to the sober expectations of the 
real Christian. If there were no difference 
between being actually interested in the cov- 
enant of grace, and the persuasion of our 
own minds that we are thus interested, this 
scheme might be plausible. Men must he 
Christians before they can be rationally per- 
suaded that they are Christians. They must 
he the children of God before they can ration- 
ally cherish the confidence that they are so. 
It is not impossible, nor is it an unusual 
thing, for a man to be a Christian, and yet 
not to believe that he is a Christian. Nor is 
it less impossible and unusual for a man to 
believe that he is a Christian, and yet not be 
a Christian. It is to be feared that there 
will be many at the last day who will say, 
Lord, Lord ! unto whom the Bridegroom wiU 



50 GOOD HOPE THUOUGH GRACE. 

say, "I never knew jou; depart fi-om me, all 
ye workers of iniquity." There will be many 
in that day who have confidently believed 
that God freely gave Christ and his salvation 
to them in particular, who will not find that 
it became a certain truth when they behev- 
ed it. The error is too pal]3able to be en- 
snaring. 

Let not the import of these remarks be 
misunderstood. Far be it from me to dis- 
courage the followers of the Lord Jesus from 
placing the most implicit rehance on the 
"Author and Finisher of their faith." Every 
attribute of his character demands confidence 
the most prompt and unreserved. But real 
confidence in God is a thing widely different 
from a firm persuasion of your personal in- 
terest in his mercy. The former is your duty 
at all times. The latter is your duty in the 
same proportion in which you have evidence 
that the " love of God is shed abroad in your 
heart by the Holy Ghost." You have just 
as much evidence that you are interested in 
his pardoning mercy, as you have that you 
are the subject of his sanctifying grace. Sanc- 
tification is the onlv evidence of conversion. 



CONFIDENCE IN GOOD ESTATE. b1 

Tlie assurance of onr acceptance with God 
depends on the assurance of our possessing 
the character of those who are accepted. The 
scriptural mode of obtaining assurance is that 
pointed out by the apostle : " Giving all dili- 
gence, add to your faith virtue ; and to virtue, 
knowledge ; and to knowledge, temperance ; 
and to temperance, patience ; and to patience, 
godhness ; and to godliness, brotherly kind- 
ness ; and to brotherly kindness, charity. For 
if these things be in you and abound, they 
make you that ye shall neither be barren nor 
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. "Wherefore, brethren, give diligence 
to make your calling and election sure ; for 
if ye do these things, ye shall never fall." 
" The infallible assurance of faith," says our 
excellent Confession, '4s founded upon the 
divine truth of the promises of salvation, the 
inward evidence of those graces unto which 
these promises are made, the testimony of the 
Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits 
that we are the children of God, which Sphit 
is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby 
we are sealed to the day of redemption."^ 
^ Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian church, 



58 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

To clierisli tlie confidence of your otvti good 
estate when your graces are low and lan- 
guishing, and while you live in the habits of 
sin, savors more of presumption than of hu- 
mility. No man ought to Hve without some 
doubts of his own good estate, who does not 
cherish such an abiding sense of divine truth, 
and live in such prevaiHng exercise of divine 
grace, as to have the witness within him that 
he is born of God. It is in the exercise of 
grace alone that any one ought to expect or 
even desire to find evidence of his being 
" accepted in the Beloved." The e^ddence of 
our good estate rises in proportion to our 
love, to our repentance, to our humility, to 
our faith, to our self-denial, to our dehght in 
duty. Other evidence than this the Bible 
knows not — God has not given. 

Let the reader beware of these vain confi- 
dences. When men rest satisfied with these 
presumptions, they usually rest satisfied until 
it is too late to be dissatisfied. They see 
nothing, either within or without, to shake 
their hopes or alarm their fears. Notwith- 

chap. IS, pp. 85, 8G. Vide also Larger Catechism, pp. 
211, 212. 



CONFIDENCE IN GOOD ESTATE. 59 

standing there is a wide and essential differ- 
ence between these iinscriptural confidences 
and the faith of the gospel ; notwithstanding 
they have all the necessary means to know 
their true character, and could not mistake 
it if they would examine impartially; yet 
they sport themselves with their own deceiv- 
ings, and know not what manner of persons 
they are. You may easily imagine that you 
are safe, and while the deception lasts it may 
quiet your consciences and administer a short- 
lived consolation. But when the veil is dra^Ti 
aside, when the dreams of time give way to 
the realities of eternity, these pleasing decep- 
tions will vanish. There is less of this vain 
presumption in the hour of death than in the 
season of health and cheerfulness. There 
will be none of it at the left hand of the 
Judge ; there will be none of it in hell. 

The reader has now before him what the 
author designed to say in the first five essays. 
How solemnly do these things call upon every 
one to see whether his heart is right with 
God. If vital religion does not consist in 
visible morahty; if it does not consist in the 



60 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

form of religion, nor in specnlatiye knowledge, 
nor in mere conviction for sin, nor in the con- 
fidence of your own good estate, nor in tlie 
whole routine of enthusiastic experiences 
which that confidence inspires, nor in all 
these things combined, is it not time to look 
about you? In all that has hitherto been 
brought into view, there is not one holy 
exercise of heart, not one feeling that is in 
the least at war with supreme selfishness. 
There is not one fact therefore upon which 
I dare tell you that you may rely for eter- 
nity, as conclusive evidence of Christian char- 
acter. 

How many are there who are almost Chris- 
tians ! As then you review the preceding 
pages, look with ingenuousness into your 
OTVTi heart. Men may think they are Chris- 
tians, and 3'et be in the "gall of bitterness 
and in the bond of iniquity." You may be 
almost saved, and yet — perish. You may get 
very near to heaven, and yet — go to hell. 
You may advance to the very verge of the 
better world, and from the threshold of glory 
fall into the regions of mourning. 

It may be that remarks like these will 



CONFIDENCE IN GOOD ESTATE. 61 

wound some of the dear cliildren of God, 
while they leave the stupid hypocrite wrapt 
up in false secui^ity, and impenetrable by any 
thing but the arrows of the Eternal. If the 
humble child of Jesus is hereby involved in 
darkness for a moment, his light shall soon 
break forth as the morning. If for a moment 
his strength and courage languish, they shall 
" spring forth speedily ; his righteousness 
shall go before him, and the glory of the 
Lord shall be his rearward." The hypocrite 
will in all probabiHty still cherish his decep- 
tion; he wiU rest in carnal security till the 
awful moment when he lies gasping in the 
arms of death, and is just about to take his 
flight to the judgment-seat of Christ. Then 
his refuges of Hes shall be swept away, and 
his fancied security will only serve to render 
him the fairer mark of divine vengeance; 
then he will discover his fatal mistake ; then 
his heart will tremble; then his hopes will 
die within him : that which has been hidden 
shall be made known ; the mask will be torn 
off ; the secrets of the heart shall be unfold- 
ed; nothing shall remain unveiled. "There 
will be no darkness nor shadow of death 



62 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

where the workers of iniquity raay hide 
themselves." " The sinners in Zion shall be 
afraid; fearfulness shall surprise the hypo- 
crites. Who among us shall dwell with de- 
vouring fire? Who among us shall dwell 
with everlasting burnings?" 



LOVE TO GOD. 63 



6. LOVE TO OOD. 

In tlie preceding essays I have exhibited, 
as I proposed, a variety of views, feelings, 
and practices which cannot be rehed on with 
safety as conclusive evidence of Christian 
character. In the subsequent ones I propose 
to give a brief view of those which may be 
rehed on without the danger of deception. 

It is the excellence of the Christian relig- 
ion that it makes a claim upon the affections. 
" My son, give me thy heart." " Love is the 
fulfilling of the law." "Though I give aU 
my goods to feed the poor, and give my body 
to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth 
me nothing." 

At first view there appears to be some dif- 
ficulty in understanding with clearness what 
it is to love God. Men are in the habit of 
placing their affections upon beings that are 
the objects of sense. God is invisible. To 
profess to love a being that is not percepti- 
ble to our senses, appears to some to savor 
more of the ignorance and wildness of enthu- 



64 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GKACE. 

siasm than of tlie sober deductions of en- 
lightened and sanctified reason. But though 
no eye hath seen or can see the infinite and 
eternal Spiiit, yet "he hath not left himself 
without witness." There is a power in the 
human mind which enables it to form just 
notions of persons and things that cannot be 
perceived by sense. We need no other meth- 
od of ascertaining the nature of love to God 
than the nature of love to man. The mode 
of reflection is in both cases the same. The 
process of compounding, comparing, and ab- 
stracting is the same. Seriously considered, 
there is precisely the same difficulty in con- 
ceiving of the nature of love to man, that 
there is in conceiving of the nature of love to 
God. You know what it is to love your 
fiiend. And yet it is not the mere external 
form; it is not the animal, unanimated by 
the living, acting spirit, that you love. But 
this is all that is perceptible to your senses. 
You see the motion, you hear the voice of 
your friend; and from the nature of what 
you see and hear, you form the idea of his 
character. The soul, that which is charac- 
teristic both of the man and the friend, is 



LOVE TO GOD. 65 

invisible. Wliat you see and hear is not tliat 
which vou love, thoiigh it discovers to you 
something which is lovely. That which is 
the object of your senses suggests the exist- 
ence and character of that invisible, think- 
ing being which is the object of your affec- 
tions, and which you either love or hate, as 
it pleases or displeases you. 

You may as easily know what it is to love 
God therefore, as you may know what it is 
to love your friend. The sensible signs by 
which he has communicated, and is every 
hour communicating his character, are vastly 
more significant than*those which manifest 
the character of any other being in the uni- 
verse. God is everywhere. The Infinite 
Mind is ever active. It is the great agent 
throughout all worlds. "The heavens de- 
clare the glory of God, and the firmament 
showeth his handiwork. Day unto day utter- 
eth speech, and night unto night showeth 
knowledge. There is no speech nor language 
where their voice is not heard. Their line 
is gone out through all the earth, and their 
words to the end of the world." God has 
expressed his divine excellence in the work 

Good Hope. 5 



G6 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

of Jiis liancls, and lias exliibited the lustre of 
his glory in the word of his truth. Every 
act that he has performed, together with 
every word that he has spoken, is an une- 
quivocal declaration of his character. It is 
easy to conceive that this character must be 
loved or hated, and that the invisible Being 
which this character unfolds must be the 
object either of complacency or aversion, of 
benevolence or malignity. 

Love to God involves complacency in his 
character, benevolence towards his interest, 
and gratitude for his favors. 

It involves complacency in his character. 
You see something in the character of your 
fi'iend which to you appears pleasing and 
amiable. You* see something which is love- 
ly; and this lovehness is the foundation of 
your attachment. Thus the excellence of 
God is the foundation of all holy love. True 
love to God is a firm and steady principle, 
which draws its motive and its sanction from 
his own intrinsic loveliness. It is deUght in 
his excellence. Those who have " put on the 
new man, which after God is created in right- 
eousness and true holiness," love God be- 



LOVE TO GOD. 6*7 

cause lie is just such a God as lie is ; because 
liis power is irresistible, his wisdom unerr- 
ing, his purity spotless, his justice inflexible, 
his goodness universal, his grace infinite, his 
designs eternal and immutable. Here holy 
love begins. 

"Wicked men are apt to consider God "al- 
together such a one as themselves." They 
clothe the divine Being with such attributes, 
and such only, as suit their depraved taste; 
and then it is no difficult thing to fall down 
and worship him. But it is not God that 
they worship ; it is not God that they love. 
It is an image that bears no resemblance to 
that glorious Being whom all heaven adores ; 
it is a mere idol of their own imagination. 
Genuine complacency in God, therefore, is 
dehght in his true character. The love which 
arises from dehght in the character of a false 
god, is enmity towards the true God. The 
enemies of God may love him for what they 
imagine him to be ; none but the real friends 
of God love him for what he is. 

Supreme attachment to the character of 
God for his own inherent excellence, draws 
the Hne of distinction between that love 



68 GOOD HOPE THROUaH GEACE. 

wliicli is merely mercenary and that wliicli is 
disinterested. A man may be supremely self- 
ish in the exercise of a certain kind of love 
to God. In all his love he may have no nlti- 
mate regard except to his own happiness. 
He may delight in God for what he is to him, 
while he takes no delight in him for what he 
is in himself. Such is not the love of the 
new-born soul. The enmity of his heart 
towards God is slain. He is reconciled to 
the divine character as it is. God is the ob- 
ject of dehghtfid contemplation to his devout 
mind. In his most favored hours his views 
are diverted from himself As his eye glances 
at the varied excellence of the Deity, he does 
not stop to ask the question whether God is 
a being who will at all events regard his inter- 
est. It is enough for him that He will at all 
events regard His own glory. He beholds a 
dignity, a beauty in the divine character that 
fills his soul with high devotion. All things 
else are atoms, motes, dust, and vanity. The 
feehngs of the prophet are his: "The desire 
of my soul is to thy name, and to the remem- 
brance of thee." The nnchangeableness of 
the divine Being and the perfections of the 



LOVE TO GOD. 69 

cliyine nature, excite the noblest yiews and 
the most raised affections. The language of 
the psalmist is his : " Whom have I in heav- 
en but thee ? and there is none on earth that 
I desire besides thee." The soul is satisfied 
with God's perfect excellence, and does not 
cherish a wish that he should be different 
from Vv'liat he is. 

True love to God also imphes benevolence 
towards him and the interest of his kingdom. 
In the intrinsic excellence of his character, 
God is the " same yesterday, to-day, and for 
ever." The fulness of perfection is ahke 
necessary at all times to his very existence 
as God. It would therefore be arrogance in 
the worms of the dust to imagine that they 
may be profitable to God, as he that is wise 
may be profitable to himself; but it is pre- 
sumption for them to imagine that they love 
him without feeling a friendly interest in his 
designs, a sincere desire for the advancement 
of his cause and the glory of his name. Those 
who love the divine character necessarily 
deske to promote the divine glory. They 
regard the honor of God as comprehending 
every good and as concentrating every wish. 



70 GOOD HOPE THEOUGH GEACE. 

In tliis every lioly mind takes supreme de- 
light. It is the ardent desire, the highest 
wish of a sanctified heart, that in all his 
works, in all his plans, by all in heaven, by 
all on earth, and all in hell, God should be 
glorified. Those who have tasted and seen 
that the Lord is good, have found unspeak- 
able pleasure in beholding his glory, and 
therefore do sincerely and ardently desire to 
behold greater and brighter displays of it. 
This sublime spirit enters into the essence of 
all genuine love to God. The infinite Being, 
who is capable of enjoying an infinitely high- 
er degree of happiness than all created intel- 
Kgence besides, shares largely in the benevo- 
lent affections of every devout mind. 

Genuine love also involves the exercise of 
gratitude. Gratitude to God is the exercise 
of love to him for the favors which he has 
communicated to us. The f)i*iniary ground 
of love to God is the intrinsic excellence of 
his own character, without regard to any 
personal interest in his favor. The first exer- 
cise of love to God is, and must be, antece- 
dent to the persuasion that God takes com- 
placency in us. Still it is true, that no man 



LOYE TO GOD. Tl 

wlio loves God for tlie amiableness of His 
own character, can refrain from loving him 
for the favors which he has communicated to 
him in particular. The discovery of his per- 
sonal interest in the favor which God bears" 
to his own people, will excite the most ten- 
der and grateful emotions. He cannot con- 
template the care which has sustained him 
from year to year, the goodness which encir- 
cles him every hour that he lives, the word 
which instructs him, and the discipHne which 
is preparing him for better enjoyments, with- 
out some sensations of thankfulness. He 
cannot call to mind the promises that have 
supported him, the threatenings that have 
warned him, and the wonderful grace that 
has redeemed him, without admiration and 
love. He cannot look forward to scenes of 
temptation and sorrow, through which cove- 
nanted mercy has engaged to bear him to 
the hour of death and the joys of a future 
world, without a heart expanding with love 
to his heavenly Father. That God should 
show mercy to a wretch like him ! — angels 
have no such cause for gratitude as this. 
A distinguishing characteristic of true love 



72 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

to God is, that it is suiireme, " No man can 
serve two masters." There cannot be two 
objects of supreme regard. "He," saith oiu' 
Sayiour, " that loveth father or mother more 
than me, is not worthy of me." ^lien God 
promised to circumcise the heart of his peo- 
ple, it was that they might "love the Lord 
their God with all their heart and all their 
soul." God neither requires nor "^dll accept 
of a divided affection. He is a "jealous 
God." No rival may participate in that love 
which is due to him. Genuine love to his 
character is something more than languid 
esteem, a mere lukewarm affection; some- 
thing more than a vague, indescribable emo- 
tion that "j)lays round the head." It is the 
" ruHng passion," the governing motive. The 
love of God is j)aramount to every other 
principle. Every attachment is subordinate 
to deHglit in his excellence, every desire sub- 
servient to that of promoting his glory. To 
a mind that loves him, God is ahke the source 
and sum of good. 

" Of all thy gifts, thou art Thyself the cro^Mi ; 
Give what thou wilt, without theo we are poor, 
And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away." 



LOYE TO GOD. T3 

But while we say, that in every renewed 
heart the love of God is the predominant 
principle, we ought not to withhold the re- 
mark, that it exists in ygtj different degrees 
in different persons, and in the same persons 
at different times. While the people of God 
remain in this probationary state, they will 
be sinners. Their love to God will be very 
mieqnal at different seasons, and at some, 
very low and languishing. The best of men 
have their seasons of sin, as well as their 
seasons of darkness. Sometimes they are on 
the mount, and sometimes in the vale. They 
are prone to forsake God ; Hke Israel of old, 
they are "bent to backsHding from him." 
The glory of his character has httle effect 
upon their hearts, and less upon their con- 
duct. The honor of his nanie excites no 
ardent desire to promote it, no anxious con- 
cern to see it promoted. Other objects em- 
ploy so much of their time, and engage so 
much of their affections, that for a while 
they think more of things that are seen and 
temporal, than of those that are unseen and 
eternal. 

But there are seasons also when the child 
4 



74 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

of God, gradually excluding all other objects 
from his \iew, fixes his mind upon the divine 
character as the object of his chief dehght, 
and upon the divine glory as the great end 
of his being. There are seasons, seasons of 
inexj^ressible sweetness and dehght, when, 
like Ehjah on Carmel, Moses on Pisgah, and 
John in Patmos, he is lost in the contempla- 
tion of the ever blessed God, and borne aloft 
to catch a glimpse of that glory that fills the 
temple above. He beholds the Infinite One 
arrayed with majesty and excellence, and 
decked with hght as with a garment. He 
beholds the bright and brightening displays 
of His glory, while his bosom expands with 
holy fervor, and beats high vnth. pure devo- 
tion. 

It is not necessary to inquire w^hether the 
state of declension or of vigor be the more 
desirable ; nor which it is our duty to avoid, 
and which to cherish and maintain. Both 
the duty and blessedness of God's peoj)le 
point to that heavenly precept, " Be ye per- 
fect, even as your Father in heaven is per- 
fect." We do not ask the reader whether he 
possesses that degree of love which he ought 



LOVE TO GOD. 15 

to possess ; but whether lie possesses any that 
is genuine. "I love them," saith the voice 
of eternal Wisdom, " that love me." The holy 
God cannot love those who hate him. He 
cannot regard those with complacency who 
regard him with aversion. He cannot be 
reconciled to those who are irreconciled to 
him. He cannot be reconciled to those who 
hate him, and who justify their hatred to 
him. He retains his anger towards them, so 
long as they retain their opposition and 
enmity towards him. Hence none have a 
right to believe that God loves them, unless 
they love him. And none will beUeve it, 
without having been "given up to strong- 
delusion, that they should beheve a lie." A 
man must be conscious of his love to God, 
before he can have scriptural evidence of 
God's love to him. And the evidence which 
arises from this consciousness is conclusive. 
We have no more right to doubt of God's 
love to us, than we have a right to doubt of 
our love to him. As our love to God grows 
constant and vigorous, the evidence increases 
that we are friends to God, and that God is 
a friend to us. 



7G GOOD HOPE THROUGH'SrACE. 

Is then thy heart right with God? Are 
yon pleased Tvith the di^dne character ? Do 
you love every part of that character? Do 
you love God's hoHness as well as his grace ; 
his justice as Avell as his mercy? Do you 
love him because he is immutably disposed 
to hate sin and punish the sinner, or merely 
because he is disposed to forgive sin and 
save the sinner? Do you love him because 
he has a greater regard for his own glory 
than your happiness ; or because you appre- 
hend that he has a higher regard for your 
happiness than for his own glory ? There is 
a kind of love which flows from a very un- 
worthy principle. *' If ye love them that love 
you, what thank have ye ; for sinners also 
love those that love them." To love God 
from no higher motive than the persuasion 
that you are interested in his favor, is su- 
premely selfish. Those who love God from 
no higher principle, do not love him at all. 
This is the affection which might and does 
reign without opposition in the hearts of 
thousands who are far from righteousness, 
and who vnll finally be excluded from the 
kingdom of heaven. 



LOVE TO GOD. 7t 

Are YOU reconciled to that character of 
God which you see portrayed on every page 
of his word ? Ai'e you well pleased that God 
should not only possess that character, but 
are you well pleased that all his perfections 
should be under his own direction and con- 
trol ? Do you love God as a sovereign God ? 
How do you regard the manifestation of that 
character in the distinguishing dispensations 
of grace and justice ? Do you approve it, or 
do you oppose it ? Do you love it, or do you 
hate it ? Every thing which God does, every 
thing which he eternally designed to do, is 
an expression of what he is. Every thing 
that he does in fixing the eternal allotments 
of the righteous and the wicked, is a display 
of his true character. To be opposed to 
what he does therefore, or to be opposed to 
what he eternally designed to do, or to ob- 
ject to his designing from eternity to do any 
thing, is to oppose God, and to object to his 
divine excellence. Whenever any part of the 
divine character, clearly imderstood, is the 
object of opposition and hatred, rather than 
of acquiescence and delight, the opposition 
is the result of selfishness and mahgnity, and 



18 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

those wlio cherisli it have not tlie love of God 
in tliem. 

Is the cjJorij of God tlie great end of jour 
being? Do yon sincerely and ardently de- 
eu'e to see greater and brighter displays of 
fchat glory ? Do you rejoice that God is un- 
folding, and will for ever unfold, the excel- 
lence of his character ? Do you know noth- 
ing of this benevolent regard for God, and 
the interests of his kingdom? Do you find 
your happiness in yourself, or out of yourself? 
Do you rejoice merely in the hope of your 
personal interest in God's favor ; or do you 
rejoice in the hope of his glory? Can you 
unite your feehngs with his, your joys with 
the joys of his peojDle, and share in' the bless- 
edness which results from beholding the evei 
blessed God completely and for ever glori- 
fied? 

Wliat has your experience taught you of 
the love of gratitude to God? Do you be- 
hold God in all your mercies ? Do you feel 
that you Hve in God's world, that you breathe 
God's vital air, that you are upheld by God's 
powerful hand ? Do you delight to feel the 
sweet and tender obhgations that bind you 



LOVE TO GOD. Id 

to the Lord Jesiis Christ? Have yoti seen 
the seasons when the abundant goodness, 
the infinite grace of God towards yon, a 
polluted sinner, seemed enough for ever to 
fill your heart with love and your lips with 
praise ? 

Is your love to God supreme ? Does it rise 
superior to the attachments of flesh and 
sense ? What, whom do you love more than 
the everlasting God ? In whose character do 
you behold more beauty? Whose blessed- 
ness is an object of warmer desire or more 
vigorous exertion ? To whom are you more 
gratefal ? Do you love God more than " fa- 
ther or mother, wife or children, houses or 
lands ?" Do you love him better than yoicr- 
self? " If any man come to me, and hate not 
his father, and mother, and wife, and chil- 
dren, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and Ms 
own life also, he cannot be my disciple." 

There may be danger, but surely there can 
be no necessity of being deceived in a case 
so plain. Supreme love to God is decisive 
evidence of the renewed heart. Wlien the 
soul is ushered from the darkness of sin into 
God's marvellous Hght, it beholds God in an 



80 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

infinitely different light from what it ever 
beheld him before. Now God is everjrv'here. 
There is an inexpressible beauty, a mild glory 
in almost every object, because it is the work 
of his hand, and reflects the excellence of his 
nature. The language of those who love God 
is that of the rejoicing church, " I will greatly 
rejoice in the Lord ; my soul shall be joyful 
in my God." They think how excellent a 
being God is, and how exalted would be the 
happiness to enjoy him to perfection, and to 
be swallowed up in him for ever. To see and 
to love that which is infinitely lovely, to be- 
hold and to adore that which is supremely 
adorable, is the character and the blessed- 
ness of the heavenly world. The early dawn 
of this spiritual Hght, the first glow of this 
pure affection, is the ghmmering of that sa- 
cred fire which will burn with a purer and 
a brighter flame throughout interminable 



Does the reader then Jove God ? If so, the 
question as to his own good estate is at rest. 
If you are a friend to God, God will be an 
everlasting friend to you. Nothing shall sep- 
arate you from his love. "Neither angels, 



LOVE TO GOD. 81 

nor principalities, nor powers, nor things 
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor 
depth, nor any other creature, shall be able 
to separate yon from the love of God which 
is in Christ Jesus your Lord." 



Good Hope. 



82 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 



7. REPENTANCE. 

The fall of Adam involYed both himself 
and his posterity in sin and ruin. From the 
moment of the first transgression, sin chal- 
lenged imiversal empire. From that fatal 
hour it began to assume dominion, with the 
certain prospect of swaying its sceptre over 
every clime and every heart. But blessed be 
God, though its empire is universal, it is not 
in all its extent everlasting. There is One 
who "taketh the prey from the mighty." 
The conqueror is vanquished. Though " sin 
reigns unto death, grace reigns imto eternal 
life." 

A mere glance at the ruin and recovery of 
man is enough to convince us that of the 
religion of fallen beings repentance forms an 
essential part. It is ahke significant of the 
character, and indispensable to the haj)pi- 
ness of a converted sinner to be penitent. 

In the order of gracious exercises, repent- 
ance follows love to God. An affectionate 



REPENTANCE. 83 

view of God prepares the mind to take a just 
view of sin. As it is impossible to repent of 
having sinned against a God that we hate, 
so it is impossible not to repent of having 
sinned against a God that we love. When 
the heart has been renewed ; when the soul, 
enhghtened by the divine Sj)irit, sees the 
beauty, the loveliness of the divine charac- 
ter, it cannot seriously reflect upon a hfe of 
sin without unfeigned grief. " Godly sorrow 
worketh repentance to salvation, not to be 
repented of; but the sorrow of the world 
worketh death." 

Genuine repentance is that sorrow for sin 
which arises from a sense of its intrinsic tur- 
pitude. 

It is essential to the nature of godly sor- 
row that we possess a settled conviction of 
the evil of sin. It is not enough to have 
merely a transient view of our sinfulness ; we 
must possess a settled conviction of the great 
evil of sin. The real penitent, though he has 
reason to lament that he is never so deeply 
affected wdth the view of his sin as he should 
be — seldom so much so as he hoped to be — 
and very frequently not affected at all, yet at 



84 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GKACE. 

some favored seasons lie is enabled to view 
it in a measure as it is. He sees its detest- 
able nature. He is deeply impressed T\dtli a 
sense of its turpitude as a violation of law. 
This is the definition which the a23ostle has 
given of sin. It is (avofna) the transgression 
of law. The God who made all worlds, and 
who alone is quahfied to govern the worlds 
which he has made, has given a rule of ac- 
tion to his creatures which is the result of 
infinite wisdom and goodness. The precept 
and the sanction of this law are perfectly 
equitable. The highest authority has pro- 
nounced them to be holy, just, and good. 

To violate this law is an e^dl. To violate 
this law is nothing less than an attempt to 
sunder the bond that holds the moral world 
together. It is therefore a great evil. Every 
violation of this law is an effort to resist the 
salutary effects of a perfect rule of action. 
It is a virtual opposition to all the good 
which that rule of action, if obeyed, would 
eventually secure. Could the evil nature and 
tendency of sin, therefore, be fiilly expressed ; 
could this "enemy of all righteousness" be 
clothed with the energy of omnipotence, aU 



REPENTANCE. 85 

that is good, all tliat is liappy would be 
chased away, and the world that once smiled 
Tinder the beneficent hand of its Maker, 
wonld be left bare of the last vestige of bhss. 
The same accursed foe that huiied the an- 
gels fi'om the highest heavens; that drove 
our first parents from Paradise ; that deluged 
the world by a flood; that laid waste the 
cities of the plain; that has multiphed its 
trophies in slaughtered thousands; that has 
given death its sting and the law its curse ; 
that has crucified the Lord of glory — would 
not stay his ruthless hand until he had 
"rolled the volume of desolation " through the 
empire of the Eternal, and enjoyed the ma- 
lignant pleasure of brooding over the ruins 
of the desolated universe. 

In violating the law, sin also dishonors the 
Lawgiver. It aims the blow at God ; it rises 
in rebelhon against his rightful authority; it 
is contrary to every attribute of his nature ; 
it is the abominable thing which his soul 
hateth. To enhance its turpitude, think a 
moment against luliat a God sin is commit- 
ted. He is a great God, a God of infinite 
majesty. He is "decked with majesty and- 



86 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

excellence." The " everlasting mountains 
are scattered" at his approach; the "perpet- 
ual hills do bow" before him. He is a holy 
God ; so holy that the " heavens are not pure 
in his sight," and his " angels are charged 
with folly." He is a good God. He is love 
itself. He is a merciful God. " His mercy is 
everlasting;" it is "great unto the heavens." 
He is the Being vrhom we are under the 
greatest obligations to adore, because he is 
supremely adorable ; a Being whom we are 
under the greatest obHgations to love, be- 
cause he is infinitely lovely ; a Being whom 
we are under the greatest obhgations to obey, 
because his government is perfect. And yet 
we rebel. Creatures whose " foundation is in 
the dust" contend with their Maker! Crea- 
tiu'es who hang every hour u23on his boiuity, 
" forget his power, abuse his love !" Sinners 
who are upheld every moment by his mercy, 
tread that mercy under their feet! O how 
great an evil is sin! "If one man sin against 
another, the Judge shall judgp him ; but if a 
man sin against God, who shall entreat for 
him?" 

Thoughts in kind like these pass through 



REPENTANCE. 87 

the mind of the penitent as he calls to re- 
membrance his mnltiplied transgressions. 
No longer does he make hght of sin. He 
views it in an entirely different Hght from 
that in which it is viewed by a thoughtless 
world. To him it is odious ; it is vile ; it is 
utterly detestable ; nay, more, it is exceedingly 
sinful. 

In view of the intrinsic tui^pitude of sin, 
therefore, the penitent mourns. And his sor- 
row is 

Ingemtoiis : it is not a selfish sorrow. The 
object upon which the soul fixes her thoughts 
while indulging her grief, is sin, and not pun- 
ishment. It is for this that she mourns. This, 
in the hands of the divine Spirit, is the spring 
of all godly sorrow. 

The leading principle that makes repent- 
ance a duty is, that evil has been done, a 
crime has been committed. To the renovated 
heart this is also the leading motive to repent- 
ance. No truth is more clear than that sin- 
ners ought to be, and that saints are penitent 
for sin. The inherent odiousness of sin is the 
object of their sorrow ; and were this the only 
consideration that could be presented to the 



88 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

mind, this alone would be enough to clothe 
them with eternal mourning and bathe them 
in ceaseless tears. We cannot refrain from 
saying that neither the obligation nor the 
motive to repentance are founded in the hope 
of mercy or the actual exercise of it, though 
both are thereby strengthened. Notwith- 
standing both the obligation and the motives 
to repentance are vastly increased by the 
proclamation of mercy in the gospel, yet men 
must repent, and do repent because they have 
done wrong, and not because there is or is 
not a probabihty that they shall escape pun- 
ishment. The moment that our first father 
fell, before he heard the voice of God among 
the trees of the garden, while under the fear- 
ful apprehension, nay, the certain ex23ectancy 
of the rigid execution of the curse, he was 
under the immutable obHgation to repent. 
The fallen spirits in hell are now without ex- 
cuse for not humbHng themselves before God. 
Though bearing the punishment of their ini- 
quity, yet in view of the intrinsic turpitude 
of their sin, they ought to be overwhelmed 
with unfeigned sorrow. 

The reader will perceive that these remarks 



REPENTANCE. 89 

are made with tlie design of distinguishing 
between that "sorrow of the world which 
worketh death, and that godly sorrow which 
worketh repentance to salvation not to be 
repented of." In "the world that heth in 
wickedness," there is enough of that " sor- 
row which Avorketh death." There is the 
sorrow which arises merely from a sense of 
danger, and the fear of punishment. Such 
was the repentance of Ahithophel and Judas. 
But this is at an infinite remove from " that 
godly sorrow which worketh repentance not 
to be repented of." It is one thing to mourn 
for sin because it exposes us to hell, and 
another to mourn for it because it is an infi- 
nite evil. It is one thing to mourn for it 
because it is injurious to ourselves ; another, 
to mourn for it because it is offensive to God. 
It is one thing to be terrified ; another, to be 
humbled. A man may tremble at the ap- 
prehension of divine wrath, while he has 
no sense of the intrinsic turpitude of sin, 
and no true contrition of soul on account 
of it. 

There is also the sorrow which arises 
merely from the hope of forgiveness. Such 



90 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

is tlie mercenary repentance of tlie hypocrite 
and the self-deceived. Many, it is to be 
feared, have eagerly cherished the expecta- 
tion of eternal life, and here begun and ended 
their religion. Many, it is to be feared, 
have eagerly cherished the hope of mercy, 
and here begun their repentance, who have 
mourned at the last, and lain cloiun in sorroic. 
In all this there is nothing that is ingenuous ; 
no godly sorrow arising fi'om a sense of the 
intrinsic turpitude of sin. 

Eeal repentance is also deej? and thorough. 
It is bitter sorrow. It rends the heart. The 
penitent sees that he is a vile sinner. He 
sees that he has been his ovm. destroyer. 
The Spirit of God has taught him that sin is 
something more than a mere calamity. He 
feels that he deserves to be blamed rather 
than pitied. He views his sin as altogether 
criminal and inexcusable. Though the dic- 
tates of an evil heart have often prompted 
him to go astray, yet he knows they have 
never constrained him contrary to his own 
choice. That heart, though full of evil and 
desperately wicked, he has cherished. He 
sees, therefore, that lie himself is the only 



REPENTANCE. 91 

blamable cause of his sinfulness. Tlie great 
evil of sin is chargeable upon him. He has 
done it. 

And can the penitent see his own vileness, 
mthont bowing in the dust before God ? He 
is ashamed and confounded when he looks 
back upon his past hfe, and when he now 
looks into his own heart. He sees that he 
has broken God's holy law, and resisted the 
claim of his rightful Sovereign. The thought 
which most deeply affects him is, that he has 
sinned against God. In comparison with 
this, his other crimes vanish to nothing. 
The language of his heart is, " Against thee, 
thee only, have I sinned." If he had not 
sinned against a great and holy and good 
and merciful God, his sins would not appear 
so great. But Oh, he has sinned against the 
God who made him, the God who has pre- 
served and redeemed him. Creating good- 
ness, providential care, and redeeming love 
have been bestowed upon him almost in vain. 
This is the dart which wounds him. He ex- 
claims with David, " I have sinned against 
the Lord. I have committed this great 
wickedness." He sensibly feels that ho has 



92 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

sinned against tlie " God of all grace.'* " He 
beholds Him whom he has pierced ;" he looks 
away to the cross of Christ, and there sees 
what his sins have done ; and is gTieved to 
the inmost soul. 

The numher of his sins affects him no less 
severely than the aggravation of them. The 
penitent sees that he has not only sinned, 
but sinned in a thousand forms. He sees 
sin in a thousand things in which he never 
saw it before. It appears to mix itself with 
every thing. He gToans under the body of 
sin and death. At some periods, he goes 
bowed do^Ti to the earth all the day long. 
He feels that his " transgressions are multi- 
plied." Often is his "laughter turned into 
mourning, and his joy into heaviness." With 
what a melting, broken heart, does he He at 
the feet of his injured Saviour, and beg for 
mercy. He is abased before God. He is 
ready to cry with the humbled jisalmist, 
" My sin is ever before me ;" or with the 
mourning prophet, " O my God, I am asham- 
ed, and blush to Hft up my face to thee ; for 
mine iniquities are increased over my head, 
and my trespass is gro^^Ti up into the heav- 



REPENTANCE. 93 

ens." It is enough to break his heart, seri- 
ously to reflect upon his innumerable trans- 
gressions. He remembers his own ways, 
and his doings that w^ere not good, and 
loathes himself in his own sight for his ini- 
quities and abominations. 

True repentance is not only ingenuous and 
deep, it is attended with actual reformation. 
It exhibits itself in real hfe. The penitent 
feels the force of considerations which never 
fail to restrain fi'om sin. He is afraid of sin. 
He dreads its aggravated guilt. " How shall 
I commit this great wickedness and sin 
against God!" The thought is enough for 
ever to cut him off from all access to the 
accursed thing. He is a sinner still, but he 
cannot remain a sinner in the sense in which 
he was a sinner once. He manifests a desire 
to honor the God he has so long dishonored; 
to undo what he has done against the inter- 
ests of his kingdom, and repair the injury he 
has caused to the souls of men. There is no 
genuine repentance where there is no for- 
saking of sin. Still to go on in sin, to prac- 
tise iniquity with greediness, with constancy, 
and with perseverance, is incompatible with 



94 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

the nature of that sorrow which is unto sal- 
vation. 

With these plain principles in view, we 
think the reader may decide the point as to 
his own good estate. The preceding obser- 
vations will go far towards enabhng him to 
distinguish between the precious and the 
\i\e. 

If yours is godly sorrow, it is then ingenu- 
ous. It arises from a sense of the intrinsic 
turpitude of sin. Eetire into your own bosom, 
therefore, and ask yourself questions lilve 
these : Do I possess any settled conviction 
of the evil of sin? Does sm appear to me, 
as the " evil and bitter thing ?" Does a con- 
viction of the evil of it increase ? There are 
moments w^hen heaven and hell He out of 
sight : how does sin appear then ? Do you 
hate it merely because it is ruinous to yoiu- 
soul, or because it is offensive to God ? Do 
you hate it because it is sin ? Do you mourn 
over it because it is wrong ? 

In the sanctified heart, the hatred of sin is 
supreme. As there is nothing so bad as sm, 
so there is nothing the penitent hates so 
much. Is then your repentance deep and 



REPENTANCE. 95 

sincere? Is sin prevailingly your greatest 
grief? Seriously considered, would the de- 
liverance from any evil be a more joyful 
event than the deliverance from sin? If 
there could be no dehverance from sin but 
at the expense of the choicest comforts, 
would you cheerfuUy make the sacrifice? 
Do your misfortunes grieve you more than 
your sins ; or your sins more than your mis- 
fortunes ? 

Do your sins appear many and aggravated? 
Do you see sin in a thousand different forms, 
and new instances, in which you have not 
dreamed of it before? Do you mouin over 
the sins of the heart ? Do you abhor your- 
self for your innate depravity, as one that 
was "shaped in iniquity, and conceived in 
sin ?" Do you mourn over your vain thoughts 
and carnal affections ; over a life of sin, in- 
gratitude, and profligacy ; over your unprof- 
itableness and imfaithfulness ? Does it grieve 
you that you are worldly, proud, and selfish ; 
that you have lifted up your soul unto 
vanity, and panted after the dust of the 
earth? 

Does it grieve you to the heart, to caU to 



96 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

miiid that you have sinned against God? 
When your eyes " behold the King, the Lord 
of hosts," are you constrained to exclaim, 
Woe is me ? When you "look on Him whom 
you have pierced," are you constrained to 
cry out, / cim undone ? 

The degree of godly sorrow is by no means 
to be overlooked in your self-examination. 
"WTien God touches, he hreaJcs the heart. 
Where he pours out the Spirit of grace, they 
are not a few transient sighs that agitate the 
breast ; they are heart-rending pangs of sor- 
row. " And it shall come to pass," saith God, 
" that I will pour upon the house of David, 
and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the 
spirit of grace and of suj)plications ; and they 
shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, 
and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourn- 
eth for an only son, and shall be in bitterness 
for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his 
first-born. In that day shall there be a 
great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourn- 
ing of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megid- 
don. And the land shall mourn, every family 
apart ; the family of the house of David 
apart, and their wives apart; the family of 



KEPENTANCE. 97 

the house of Nathan apart, and their Tvdves 
apart ; the family of the house of Levi apart, 
and their wives apart ; the family of Shimei 
apart, and their wives apart; every family 
apart, and their wives apart." Thus have 
the Jews mourned, and thus will that de- 
voted nation mourn again, for crucifying the 
Lord of glory. Does the reader know any 
thing of such sorrow as tliis? Can no soli- 
tary hour, no lonely spot, bear testimony to 
the bitterness of his grief? What grieves 
you more, than that you have ten thousand 
times pierced the heart of redeeming love ? 

Do you ahhor sin ? Do you turn from it ? 
Do you cherish that regard for the law and 
character of God, that tender regard for the 
crucified Saviour which inspires you v/ith 
fixed aversion to all that, is polluting in the 
sins of the heart, and all that is injurious in 
the sins of the life ? Do you feel an increas- 
ing tenderness of conscience whenever you 
are tempted to go astray? Are you afraid 
of dishonoring God, and do you tremble lest 
you crucify his dear Son afresh ? 

Fellow-sinner, if you know any thing of all 
this, you are not a stranger to that " godly 

Good Hope. '7 



98 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

sorrow which worketh repentance to salva- 
tion not to be repented of." God has prom- 
ised to forgive the penitent. He has pledged 
his word that the act of forgiveness on his 
part shall follow the exercise of repentance 
on yours. Eeturning prodigal, pardoning 
mercy is thine. It is as sure as the sincerity 
of thy repentance. "Wlioso covereth his sins 
shall not prosper ; but whoso confesseth and 
forsaketh them, shall find mercy." His re- 
pentance shall not jDurchase it ; liis repent- 
ance does not deserve it. Eepentance has no 
intrinsic efficacy; it cannot entitle to pardon. 
It is not the Saviour, though without it we 
cannot be saved. God dehghts to forgive ; 
he does forgive, though it cost the blood of 
his Son. No sooner does the rebel loathe 
and abhor himself,, than God passes by his 
transgressions and ceases to retain his anger. 
" He rejoices over him with joy ; he rests in 
his love ; he will joy over him with singing." 
To forgive a hell-deserving sinner, to receive 
a rebel into favor, to wash away his dee])- 
stained guilt, and become the everlasting 
Friend of the friendless, is the highest exer- 
cise of perfect benevolence. O how gratify* 



EEPENTANCE. 09 

ing to tlie "benevolent heart of God to behold 
tlie returning prodigal, though a great tuay 
off. His compassions yearn over him ; he 
longs to receive him into his arms ; he is 
impatient to press him to his bosom. " He 
runs ; he falls upon his neck, and kisses 
him." 



100 GOOD HOPE THPtOUGH GEACE. 



8. FAITH. 

The first glimmering of liglit that daT\Tied 
upon the darkness of the fall was ushered in 
by an obscure revelation of the coyenant of 
gTace. This covenant was faintly exliibited 
to Adam and Eve in the denunciation of the 
curse upon the tempter. It was made known 
more clearly to Noah after the flood. It was 
renewed with Abraham after God had called 
him from XJr of the Chaldees, with Isaac in 
Gerar, -with Jacob at Bethel, and with the 
generation of Israel in the T^dlderness. The 
liglit of truth rose gradually, and the cove- 
nant of grace gradually unfolded its bless- 
ings, till the star of Bethlehem pointed to 
the Sun of righteousness, and the promise of 
the covenant was sealed by the blood of its 
Surety. 

The covenant of redemption was antece- 
dently necessary to the existence of the cov- 
enant of grace. It was the perfect accom- 
plishment of that arduous part which the 
Bedeemer engaged to bear in the covenant 



FAITH. 101 

of redemption, that laid tlie foundation for 
the covenant of gi'ace. It was this thsiijics- 
tifiecl God in entering into covenant with be- 
Hevers, and in engaging to save them through 
faith in the blood of Jesus. 

The covenant of redemption subsists be- 
tween the sacred persons of the ever-blessed 
Trinity, of which the atonement of Christ for 
the sins of the world is the stipulation, and 
the salvation of his chosen seed the promise. 
The covenant of grace subsists between God 
and behevers, of which faith in Christ is the 
stij)ulation, and the salvation of behevers the 
promise. 

The covenant of grace, therefore, in dis- 
tinction from the covenant of redemption, is 
nothing more nor less than the promise of 
God to save all those who beheve in Jesus 
Christ. The law of God is not now the rule 
of justification, though it is the rule of duty. 
We no longer hear the righteous demand of 
that broken covenant, "This do, and thou 
shalt hve," but the milder language of gra- 
cious economy, " Believe, and thou shalt be 
saved." Of this covenant, faith in Christ is 
that part which is fulfilled by the behever. 



102 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GEACE. 

He believes ; and upon the principles of tliis 
covenant, tlie first act of faitli gives him a 
humble claim to the promise. 

Every Christian grace is the effect of the 
immediate agency and the almighty power of 
God upon the heart. Faith is expressly de- 
clared by the apostle to be the gift of God, 
though it is at the same time the act of the 
creature. It is uniformly represented as of 
the operation of God. It is one of the fruits of 
the Spirit. " The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, 
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, /chY/l" 
"No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, hut 
by tJie Holy Ghosts It is expressly said of 
those who behoved on Christ in the days of 
his humanity, that they " were born, not of 
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the 
will of man, hut of God.'" It is also unequiv- 
ocally declared, that "whosoever beheveth 
that Jesus is the Christ, is horn of God'' 
Faith then is the exercise of the ncio heart. 

It is difficult to give a definition of faith 
that comprehends all its properties. In its 
most general character, it is reliance iqjon the 
testimony of God's word. It is Teceivin{j the 
truth in the love of it. The apostle Paul uses 



FAITH. 103 

the phrase, "received not the love of the 
truth," as s;)aioiiymous "with the phrase, "be- 
lieved not the truth." Faith, however, when 
viewed as that evangehcal grace which is the 
condition of the new covenant, possesses al- 
together a pecuhar character. Though the 
elementary principles of every evangelical 
grace are involved in that love which is the 
fulfilling of the law, yet every grace has a 
specific form. Faith, strictly speaking, is 
distinct from every other exercise of the re- 
newed heart. It is not love, nor repentance, 
nor humility, nor submission, nor seK-denial, 
nor hope. It is indeed the exercise of a heart 
that akeady loves God, and that is humbled 
on account of sin, but it is one which takes 
that view of the gospel of Jesus Christ which 
is taken by no other grace. 

One of the best definitions of faith will be 
found in the Shorter Catechism of the Assem- 
bly of Divines at Westminster. In answering 
the question, "What is faith in Jesus Christ?" 
they say, ^^ Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving 
grace, luhereby we receive and rest iijpon him 
alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the 
gospeV 



104 GOOD HOPE THEOUGH GRACE. 

Faith ill Jesus Christ is a complex act of 
the miiicl, and comprises several distinct 
things. One of its properties is a true know- 
ledge of Christ's character. It is impossible 
to "receive and rest upon" a being whose 
character we do not know, and whose char- 
acter we do not know to be worthy of confi- 
dence. "I know whom I have beheved," 
says the apostle. Faith views the Lord Jesus 
as he is ; it discerns the divine excellence and 
majesty of his character; it recognizes the 
child that was born in Bethlehem as "the 
mighty God, the everlasting Father." The 
proper divinity of the Saviour's character is 
one of those plain principles of the gospel 
that are essential to evangehcal faith. To 
make an all-sufficient atonement for sin, to 
soften the obdurate heart, to aid the behever 
in his trials and sufferings, to defend him 
fi'om the power and subtlety of his enemies, 
and to bring him off conqueror at last, would 
baffle the designs of all but eternal Wisdom, 
and mock the power of all but an almighty 
arm. Faith views the Saviour as truly di- 
vine. None other than the eteenal Woed 
MiYDE FLESH Can be the foundation of lioj^e, 



FAITH. 105 

for none other can be " miglity to save." It 
is of presumption to profess to know Christ, 
without acknowledging him as the second of 
the three coequal persons in the Godhead. 

As the behever discerns the Lord Jesus as 
he is, he also acknowledges him as a real and 
proper man. He views him as he is repre- 
sented by the apostle, to be " the one God 
and one Mediator between God and men, the 
man Christ Jesus." It is expressly said that 
Christ "took not on him the nature of an- 
gels, but the seed of Abraham." The ac- 
knowledgment of Christ as man as well as 
God cannot be separated from the true know- 
ledge of him as he is revealed in the Bible. 
There he is represented, and there he must 
be viewed as encircled with all the majesty 
of the self-existent God, and all the " milder 
glories" of the man Christ Jesus. 

The believer regards Christ in his whole 
mediatorial character. He sees the fulness, 
the perfection of his work, no less than the 
divine excellence of his person. He has re- 
spect to all the offices of Christ. He views 
him as the Peophet who came to pubHsli the 
Tvill of God and declare the way of salvation. 
5* 



106 GOOD IIorE THEOUGH GEACE. 

He views liim as the Peeest whom it became 
God to institute and sinners to possess, as the 
One " whom God hath set forth to be a pro- 
pitiation, through faith in his blood, to de- 
clare his righteousness for the remission of 
sins that are past, that God might be just, 
and the justifier of him that believeth in Je- 
sus." He ^dews him as " the King in Zion, 
the head oyer all things to his church," the 
LoED Jesus, the Loed that bought him. In 
Christ the behever discovers all that can 
qualify him to be a Saviour, and all that can 
encourage guilty, miserable man to trust in 
his grace. In him he beholds One that is 
eminently all-sufficient. One who is able, will- 
ing, and faithful " to save to the uttermost." 
He receives the record which God has given 
of his Son. 

Sincere love to the character of Christ is 
also essential to the nature of genuine faith. 
It is as impossible to "receive and rest upon" 
a being whom we hate, as it is to " receive 
and rest upon" one that we do not know. 
Eaith in Christ is not an exercise of the im- 
derstanding merely ; it is an affection of the 
heart. " With the heart man beheveth." "If 



FAITH. lot 

tlioii believest luitli all thy heart" said Philip 
to tlie euniicli, "thou ma jest be baptized." 
To those who believe, Christ is precious. The 
excellence which they see both in his person 
and in his work they love. All that they 
know of Christ they love. All the truth 
which is connected with the character and 
work of Christ they love. They possess spir- 
itual discernment of his divine excellence. 
They have the single eye that discovers his 
moral beauty. They see a lovehness in Christ 
and his gospel that captivates their hearts. 
When the wandering spouse was met by the 
watchmen that went about the city, and ac- 
costed with the unexpected inquiry, " What 
is thy beloved more than another beloved ?" 
the reply was at hand : " My beloved is the 
chief among ten thousands, he is altogether 
lovely." Abraham " rejoiced to see Christ's 
day, and he saw it, and was glad." The pious 
psalmist was enraptured with a view of his 
loveliness. " Thou art fairer," says he, "than 
the children of men ; grace is poured into thy 
hps, therefore God hath blessed thee for ever." 
The spirit of this language is not peculiar 
to Da^id or Abraham. In the dignity, puri- 



108 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

ty, and amiableness of Christ's character, in 
the design of his mission, and in the way of 
salvation by his cross, every believer sees 
enough to engage his sweetest and most ex- 
alted affections. 

With this acquaintance with the character, 
and this attachment to the person of the Ke- 
deemer, the believer "receives and rests upon 
him alone for salvation, as he is offered in the 
gospel." He makes an impHcit surrender of 
his immortal soul into his hands, as to one 
who is both able and faithful to save. The 
yielding up of the soul to the disposal of 
Christ, is an act of the mind which cannot be 
separated fi'om living faith. 

It is of some importance to bear in mind, 
that faith is the act of a lost sinner seeking 
dehverance from the power and punishment 
of sin towards a being who is exhibited in 
the character of a Deliverer, It cannot there- 
fore imply less than an application of the soul 
to him who is the dehvering character, the 
actual adventuring of this vast concern with 
him, together with confidence that with him it 
will be secure. Faith receives Christ; it rests 
upon Christ for salvation ; it rests upon him 



FAITH. 109 

alone for salvation as he is offered in tlie 
gospel. Sensible of his ill-desert and help- 
lessness, persuaded of the all-sufficiencj of 
the Redeemer, the believer therefore makes 
a voluntary surrender of himself into the 
hands of Christ, to be saved upon his own 
terms. He is convinced of the necessity of 
committing his cause to better hands than 
his own. He relinquishes his vain confiden- 
ces, and places all his hopes on Christ. He 
casts himself into his arms. " Lord, to whom 
shall I go but to thee ?" 

In the act of surrendering the soul into the 
hands of Christ, the behever takes a view of 
the great Deliverer which is as deep as his 
own wants, and as large as the provision that 
is made to supply them. He receives Christ 
as his Prophet, his Priest, and his King. 

Is he ignorant — exposed to wander from 
the path ? The great Prophet is his Teacher 
and his Guide. " The meek he will guide in 
judgment; the meek will he teach his way." 

Is he polluted with sin ? He looks to the 
blood of the spotless sacrifice to be cleansed 
from aU sin. Jesus Christ, he knows, gave 
himself for his church, that he might wash 



110 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GEACE. 

and cleanse it. He rests on Mm, and looks 
for "the sanctification of tlie Spiiit unto obe- 
dience tKrough the sprinkling of the blood of 
Jesus." 

Is he guilty and condemned? No longer 
does he trust to his own righteousness, but 
looks to Jesus as the " end of the law for 
righteousness to every one that believeth." 
He yields a condemned soul to him, to be 
arrayed mth a righteousness with which a 
just God has declared himseK to be ever 
" well pleased." He rests upon him as the 
sole ground of acceptance. "With all his nat- 
ural attachment to his own goodness, he 
counts it loss for Christ. "He counts it but 
dung, that he may wm Christ and be found 
in him, not having his own righteousness, 
which is of the law, but that which is through 
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which 
is of God by faith." This is his refuge, his 
crown of rejoicing. He looks to Jesus, rec- 
ognizing the high relation in which he stands 
to his people, and the endearing name by 
which he is called, "Jehovah our right- 
eousness." 

Is he weak and helpless ? He engages the 



FAITH. Ill 

grace of the Kecleemer as Lis consolation 
and strengtli. To Jesns does lie surrender 
himself as the head of all divine influences. 
"I live; yet not I, but Christ that livetli in 
me." This is the language of faith. The act 
of the soul in surrendering itseK into the 
hands of Christ, forms a connecting bond 
between him as the Yine and the soul as the 
branches, which communicates life, strength, 
nourishment, and beauty. In a word, with 
a just view of the character, and a supreme 
attachment to the person of Christ, the be- 
Hever yields himself into his hands as a full 
and complete Saviour. Him he receives ; 
upon him he rests, and rests for time and 
eternity. "With humble joy will he tell you, 
" Christ is my all. I want no more. To him 
do I look to be sanctified by his Spirit, to be 
governed by his laws, to be protected by his 
power, to be saved by his death, to be dis- 
posed of at his pleasure, and to be the means 
of promoting his glory." 

This is "to receive and rest upon Christ 
alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in 
the gospel." This is confidence in Jesus 
Christ as a divine Saviour. You cannot pos- 



112 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

sess tbese feelings without possessing sa^dng 
faith. This is the " substance of things 
hoped for," and the "evidence of things not 
seen." This is the grace which renders invis- 
ible things visible, future things present, and 
enstamps the permanent idea of reality uj)on 
every thing that rests upon the testimony of 
God. Tliis was the faith of Old Testament 
saints and New Testament saints. It is that 
trtist in the Lord of wliich we read so often 
in the Old Testament, which is nothing more 
nor less than the confidence of the new-born 
soul in God, as reconcilable through the 
Mediator. 

Thus have we seen that faith has proper- 
ties peculiar to itself. Its character is per- 
fectly distinct from every other grace. There 
is no exercise of the renewed heart that views 
the whole gospel jDlan as it is except this. 
Faith, from its essential nature, imphes the 
fallen state of man, while it recognizes the 
principles of the covenant of grace. It is 
itseK the condition of that covenant. It is a 
grace which is alike distinguishable from the 
love of angels and the faith of devils. It is 
pecuhar to the returning sinner. None but a 



FAITH. 113 

lost sinner needs, and none but a humbled 
sinner relishes, the grand sentiment of faith, 
that "gTace reigns through righteousness 
unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." 
Here then let the reader "examine him- 
self whether he be in the faith." He may 
possess the faith of devils. He may be fally 
persuaded that there was such a person as 
Jesus Christ; that he was "delivered for our 
offences, and rose again for our justification :" 
he may possess the vain confidence of the 
hypocrite, which neither "worketh by love," 
nor is "of the operation of God;" he may 
cherish the pernicious hope of the self-de- 
ceived, while he remains blind to the excel- 
lence of the divine character, and while enmi- 
ty to the cross of Christ is the governing 
principle of his heart and his life. Every car- 
nal mind, whether sensible of it or not, main- 
tains the most decided aversion to the person 
of the Eedeemer, the benefits of his purchase, 
and the terms upon which those benefits are 
proffered. The whole character and work of 
Christ bear so intimate a relation to the un- 
behever; they so pointedly take the part of 
God against Mm; they so unequivocally con- 

Good Hope. 8 



114 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

demn his character and conduct; tliej will 
have such a damning efficacy upon Mm 
throughout eternal ages, that when clearly 
seen, they cannot fail to draw forth the latent 
enmity of his heart. 

If it be true, as it unquestionably is, that 
you may have intellectually some just view 
of the character of Christ, while you have no 
love to that character as infinitely deserving 
your affection, and while you make no sur- 
render of yourseK into his hands as to one 
who is supremely worthy of your confidence, 
it becomes you to inquire whether you love 
the Lord Jesus in sincerity and truth, and 
whether you trust in liim as your only foun- 
dation of hojDe. 

" Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ?" 
Apply the question. Do you love Christ? 
And why do you love him ? Do you love him 
merely because he died to save you, or be- 
cause he died to honor God in your salvation ? 
Do you love him because he descended fi-om 
heaven to take the part of God against man ; 
to show the world that in the contest between 
the creatures and the God that made them, 
God is right and man is wrong, and with his 



FAITH. 115 

own blood to set liis seal to the truth, that 
the soul that siuneth ought to die ? Or does 
he appear to jou on this account, " as a root 
out of a dry ground — as having no form nor 
comehness, no beauty that you should desire 
him?" The true behever loves the Lord 
Jesus because he effects his eternal salvation 
in a way that harmonizes with the glory of 
the divine character. To be saved in a way 
that is in the least reproachful to that glory, 
would rob heaven of its sweetness. It is for 
this that Jesus Christ is so precious to those 
that beheve; in this, that he is eminently 
" fairer than the sons of men." Do you love 
Jesus for the divine glories of his person, for 
the excellence of his hfe, for the benefits of 
his death, for the prevalence of his interces- 
sion, for his resurrection, his dominion over 
the world, and his office as the supreme and 
final Judge ? Are the feelings of your heart 
dra^TL out towards Christ as your chief joy? 
Can you sit down under his shadow with 
great dehght, and find his fruit sweet to your 
taste ? Wiien affected with a view of your 
lost state and guilty character, when bowed 
down under a sense of sin, does Christ ap- 



116 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

pear jrrecious? Is a view of liim refresh- 
ing? 

Do Yon receive the Lord Jesus and rest 
upon him alone for salvation ? Can you take 
the place of a lost and hell-deserving sinner, 
and vrith. a broken, contrite heart, make an 
implicit surrender of your immortal soul into 
his hands, to be saved upon his ovm. terms ? 
Beloved reader, this is a plain question. 
Every humbled heart, in the exercise of faith, 
knows how to answer it. Can you relinquish 
every other hope? Can you adventure this 
vast concern with him ? 

Can you receive and rest upon the Lord 
Jesus as he is offered in the gospel? Are 
you at heart reconciled to the terms of the 
gospel ? Are you at heart reconciled to the 
humbling doctrine of being justified by faith 
in the righteousness of Christ ? It is a doc- 
trine which, if correctly understood, wiU be 
seen to reduce the returning rebel to the 
lowest point of humiliation. To a heart that 
is invincibly attached to rebellion, it is hard 
to bow. To one who is naturally attached 
to his OT\Ti supposed goodness, it is hard to 
renounce it aU, and desire and receive mercy 



FAITH. in 

only for the sake of Clirist. To a man wlio 
loves himself supremely, and values himself 
supremely, who has cherished the most ex- 
travagant notions of his own importance fi^om 
the womb, it is hard to he down at the foot- 
stool of sovereign mercy. It is cutting in- 
deed to the pride of the human heart to be 
constrained to feel that we are guilty, and 
then forced to admit that there is no pardon 
for our crimes but through the merit of an- 
other. Say, reader, is thy heart bowed to 
the humbhng terms of the gospel ? Do you 
dehght to take your place at the foot of the 
cross, and while reaching forth the hand to 
receive the robe of the Saviour's righteous- 
ness, to shout, Grace, grace! "Not unto me, 
O Lord, not rmto me, but unto thy name be 
the glory, for thy mercy and ti'uth's sake?" 
If so, you beheve. If so, amid all your 
doubts and fears, you have that faith which 
is " the gift of God." If so, you may hum- 
bly claim the promise. Here is your conso- 
lation, "He that beheveth shall be saved." 
Yes, sliall he saved ! "What more has God to 
bestow; what more can the creatiu'e enjoy? 
Here are blessings as gTeat as the capacity 



118 GOOD HOPE THEOUGH GRACE. 

of the immortal soul, as eternal as tlie God 
that engages to bestow them. In the com- 
prehensive promise of that covenant to which 
faith makes you a party, the mysteries of 
eternity lie concealed. Life and death, earth 
and heaven, things present and to come, joys 
high, immeasurable, and immortal — what 
shall I say? "All are yours; and ye are 
Christ's, and Christ is God's." 



HUMILITY. 119 



9. HUMILITY. 

" In the school of Christ," says the devout 
Archbishop Leighton, " the first lesson of all 
is humility ; yea, it is written above the door 
as the rule of entry or admission. Learn of 
me, for I am meek and lowly of hearth Hu- 
mility is a grace that is nearly allied to 
repentance. Repentance respects the nature 
and aggravation of sin ; humility respects the 
person and charaoter of the sinner. Humil- 
ity consists in a just view of our own charac- 
ter, and in the disposition to abase ourselves 
as low as the vileness of our <iharacter re- 
ciuires. 

A just view of our own character is a view 
of it as it actually is. The pride of the hu- 
man heart naturally casts a veil over the 
character of man, and aims to conceal his 
worthlessness as a creature, and his deform- 
ity as a sinner. Tlie humihty of the gospel 
natui'ally throws aside the veil, and discovers 
that native worthlessness which ought to 
sink the creature in the dust, and that moral 



120 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

deformity whicli oiiglit to cover the sinner 
with confusion. Genuine hnmihty is insep- 
arably connected Tvdth a sense of our depend- 
ence, of our imworthiness, and of oiu' ill- 
desert. 

Although dependence, absolute and uni- 
versal, is necessarily attached to the very 
being of creatures, yet a sense of this depend- 
ence is a most unwelcome visitant to the un- 
humbled heart. The spirit of the carnal 
mind is an independent spirit. It is a S2:)irit 
in which the pride of man glories. Though 
men are creatures of yesterda}^, and know 
nothing ; though they are upheld by the vis- 
itation of God's arm, and supplied by the 
beneficence of his hand, they have no appre- 
hension that they actually "live and move 
and have their being in him." An abiding 
sense of his universal presence is what they 
cannot bear to cherish. 

But a sense of perfect dependence is a 
grateful guest to the broken and contrite 
heart. To a humbled sinner, it is sweet to 
feel that he is absolutely dependent on God 
for all that he is and all that he has. He is 
sensible that he is nothing — that he is "a 



HUMILITY. 121 

worm, and no man." He realizes that God 
is eyeryTv^hiere, and tliat worms and seraphs 
are ahke at his disposal. He feels with Panl, 
that " he is not sufficient of himself to think 
any thing as of himself, but his sufficiency is 
of God." Does he enjoy signal favors? he 
calls to mind that he enjoys nothing that he 
has not received. Life, health, as well as the 
blessings of both, he sees flowing through a 
thousand channels from the same exuberant 
source. As the child hangs upon the kind- 
ness of its parent, or as the abject poor de- 
pend on the daily bounty of their fellow-men, 
so do the poor in spirit, conscious of their 
helplessness, wait only upon God, for their 
expectation is from him. 

With a sense of their dependence, the hum- 
ble unite a conviction of their unworthiness. 
They are unworthy ; and they feel that they 
are so. They are sensible that they are sin- 
ners. They have seen the plague of their 
own hearts. They know at best they are 
unprofitable servants ; and at best ought to 
be for ever overwhelmed with a sense of theii; 
imworthiness. Merit they have none. De- 
sert of good is not in all their thoughts. 
6 



122 GOOD HOPE THEODGH GEACE. 

"Who am I," exclaimed the king of Israel, 
"AVho am I, O Lord God, and what is my 
father's house, that thou hast bronght me 
hitherto ? I am not worthy," said the hum- 
ble patriarch, " I am not worthy of the least 
of all the mercies, and of all the truth which 
thou hast showed unto thy servant." The 
people of God need not be told that they 
have forfeited every favor. Much as they 
need the divine compassion, they are sensi- 
ble that they do not, and cannot deserve it. 
Often as they seek the divine face and favor, 
they do not seek them as the reward of per- 
sonal worthiness. They turn their thoughts 
inward, and see and feel that they are " less 
than the least of all saints." They are mere 
pensioners upon sovereign mercy. There 
was no distinguishing excellence in them, 
that made them the objects of favor ; there 
was not the shadow of difference in charac- 
ter, which operated as a reason why God 
should regard them with the sjoecial tokens 
of his love, rather than the most abandoned 
Avretch that ever lived. " Behold, I am vile ! 
Grace hath made me to differ." When they 
seek the presence of God, they do it with the 



HUMILITY. 123 

humble spirit of tlie centurion : " Lord, I am 
not tfortJiy that thou shouldest come under 
my roof." When they cast themselves upon 
the care of their heavenly Father, it is mth 
the spirit of the prodigal: "Father, I have 
sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and 
am no more ivortliy to be called thy son." 

In the humble heart, a sense of depend- 
ence and unworthiness is also connected 
with a sense of ill-desert. Humility holds up 
to view the bright mirror of God's holy law. 
From this faithful glass, the character of 
man is reflected in all its native deformity. 
Here there is no deception. The merit and 
demerit of character are determinately fixed 
by this impartial standard. Here God has 
exhibited his right and our obligation, his 
righteousness and our ill-desert. Weighed 
in this unerring balance, the character of 
man is found wanting. It is the character 
of a transgressor. It is the character of a 
rebel against the King of heaven ; a charac- 
ter which is condemned and cursed, and in 
its own detestable nature deserving everlast- 
ing wrath. 

Unfeigned humility prompts a man to view 



124 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

his cliaracter as base, and liimself as ill-de- 
serving, as the law of God views them. The 
humbled heart knows that " the law is holj, 
and the commandment holy, just, and good." 
He not only feels that " the wages of sin is 
death," but approves the law which threat- 
ens him with death for every transgression. 
He not only sees that sin and gTiilt are insep- 
arably connected, but approves of the Law- 
giver for hating and punishing sin according 
to its desert. He prostrates himself in the 
dust, and exalts God on the throne. He 
takes his proper place at the footstool of 
God's amiable and awful sovereignty. He 
knows that he ought to lie as low as vindic- 
tive justice can reduce him. He feels that 
" it is of the Lord's mercies that he is not 
consumed." Such is his sense of ill-desert, 
that he not only feels that he is justly con- 
demned, but magnifies the justice that con- 
demns him, while he adores the grace that 
rescues him from the condemnation. 

Such is the view which the humble man 
takes of his own character. This is to " think 
soberly of himself, and as he ought to think." 
This is to have just views of his otvti charac- 



HUMILITY. 125 

ter, and voluntarily to abase liimseK as low 
as the vileness of his character requires him 
to He. This is the disposition with which he 
renounces his own righteousness, and rehes 
on the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Once the humble man thought little of his 
own vileness ; now, a sense of his vileness 
covers him with shame. Once he thought 
himself " rich and increased with goods, and 
in need of nothing ;" now, he sees and feels 
that he is "wretched, and miserable, and 
poor, and blind, and naked." Once he was 
too proud to become a beggar ; now, he begs 
for mere?/— begs with hope and with joy in 
the name of Jesus. 

This is the disposition that is interwoven 
with his experience and his conduct. It 
manifests itself both towards God, and tow- 
ards man. Especially does it manifest itself 
towards God. When thinking of God, when 
beholding his glorious perfections, when re- 
joicing in the perfection of his government, 
and in the excellence of his designs, the 
humble heart adopts the language of Job : 
" I have heard of thee by the hearing of the 
ear, but now mine eye seeth thee ; where- 



126 GOOD HOPE THBOUGII GRACE. 

fore I ablior myself, and repent in dust and 
asLes." "^Mien thinking of God, lie feels the 
weight of obhgation to love and serve him 
with all the heart. Hence he is borne down 
under a sense of his inexcusable deficiencies. 
A view of his corruption keeps him near to 
the earth. He is ashamed that he is no 
more holy. How often is he constrained to 
exclaim, " wretched man that I am ! Can 
it be that one who knows no more of the love 
of God, who is no more conformed to his 
image, is in truth his own dear child?" He 
desires to divest himself of all his pride ; to 
empty himself ; to feel as nothing, and be as 
nothing and vanity. 

In the more immediate presence of God, 
the humble Christian remembers that he is a 
redeemed sinner. When approaching the 
mercy-seat, he takes the place of a broken- 
hearted beggar. He goes to the God of all 
grace hke a man who knows that he deserves 
to sink into hell. He is ready to bow low 
before Christ; to "wash his feet with his 
tears, and to wipe them with the hair of his, 
head." Like the woman of Canaan, he begs 
for the crumbs of divine mercy. He does 



HUMILITY. 12*T 

not desire to plead his own merit, but mtli 
a bosom bleeding for sin, and an eje cast 
down to tlie earth, makes mention of the 
name of Jesus. Though at times he is 
ashamed to approach the throne — though he 
hardly dare approach — yet hke the pubh- 
can, standing afar off and not so much as lift- 
ing up his eyes to heaven, he " smites upon 
his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a 
sinner." His most favored moments are 
those in which he is enabled to He low be- 
fore a holy God, and in which he has increas- 
ing desires to be kept humble to the end of 
his days. 

This humble temper of mind also naturally 
flows forth in his intercoiu"se with his fellow- 
men. It is true, that some good men have 
vastly more native haughtiness, vastly more 
of the overbearing spiiit of the carnal man 
to struggle with, than others. Notwithstand- 
ing this, real Christians are humble, and their 
humihty vnR necessarily express itself in the 
modesty and meekness of their habitual de- 
portment. "Let nothing," says the apostle, 
" be done through strife or vain-glory, but in 
lowliness of mind let each esteem other bet- 



128 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

ter than themselves." The spirit of Chris- 
tianity is congenial vnth. its precepts, though 
it is not in the present life perfectly con- 
formed to them. There is such a thing as 
"in honor preferrmg one another," though 
we may sometimes be led to imagine that 
there is not much of it visible. There is 
such a spiiit, and however those who indulge 
the hope of theii' good estate may be dis- 
posed to shrink fi^om the test, such is the 
spuit of all Christians. 

" Charity," saith the apostle, " vaunteth 
not itself, is not j)uffed up, doth not be- 
have itself unseemly." "With a humble frame 
of mind, a man will set a due value upon his 
own attainments. He will not be apt to 
think highly of his o^\ti virtues, nor consider 
himself injured if he is not highly esteemed 
by others. It is difficult for an unhumbled, 
seK-righteous man not to betray his hypocri- 
sy by being proud of his supposed self-abase- 
ment. He has much to say of his frames 
and experiences ; much to boast of the abas- 
ing views which he has had of himself, and 
the wonderful discoveries in divine things 
mth which he has been favored. But the 



HUMILITY. 129 

truly Immble soul desires more to be humble, 
tlian to appear humble. It is no part of his 
character to make great pretences to humil- 
ity. There are indeed seasons when he is 
favored with unusual manifestations of the 
divine glory, and abasing views of his own 
vileness. And he sometimes speaks of them. 
With modesty he may speak of them. He is 
not freed from the duty, nor dej)rived of the 
privilege of teUing what the Lord has done 
for his soul, merely because the world may 
brand him with the name of Pharisee. But 
when he does it, it is that he may strengthen 
the weak, refresh the weary, cheer the de- 
sponding, and give honor to divine grace. 
He does it not boastingly, not with the lan- 
guage, " God, I thank thee that I am not as 
other men !" but with the spirit that esteems 
others better than himself. He knows that 
he has nothing to be proud of; and that if 
he is made to differ from others, it becomes 
him to adopt the language of the Psalmist 
rather than that of the Pharisee : " Not imto 
me, O Lord, not unto me, but unto thy name 
give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's 
sake !" 

Good Hope. 9 



130 GOOD HOrE THROUGH GRACE. 

Sometliing like tliis is the spirit of the gos- 
pel. A sense of dependence, of tinwortliiness, 
and of Ul-desert, manifesting itself both tow- 
ards God and towards man, is the spirit of 
humihty. When the Christian, " as the elect 
of God, pnts on bowels of mercies, kindness, 
humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffer- 
ing," then he exhibits the power and sweet- 
ness of vital rehgion. Seated in the lowest 
place, and clothed with humility, he exhibits 
some degTee of the amiableness of his divine 
]\Iaster. Well may we call humility a heav- 
en-born grace. She is indeed the daughter 
of the skies, the " meek-eyed child of Jesus," 
and dwells only with him who, Like herself, 
is born from above. 

Here then you have a rule of trial. The 
spirit of humihty is conclusive evidence of 
vital godliness. It enters into the essence of 
rehgion. Here the new nature eminently 
discovers itself. The humble spirit is that 
child-hke, Christ-like temper, which is exclu- 
sively the effect of the almighty power of 
God upon the heart. 

Can the reader lay his hand upon his heart, 
and say that he is conscious of this heavenly 



HUMILITY. 131 

temper of mind ? Can he in tlie sincerity of 
his soul, say that he is conscious of this spirit 
of voluntary self-abasement? Did he ever, 
and does he still, take a just view of his own 
character ; and does he possess the dispo- 
sition voluntarily to abase himself as low as 
the vileness of his character requires him 
to lie,? 

Do you cherish a conviction of your de- 
pendence ; or do you hve " without God in 
the world?" Do you live from day to day, 
and from year to year, reahzing the relation 
which you bear to the great First Cause? 
Do you delight to feel that God sees you, 
and upholds you, and governs you ; or do 
you banish a sense of your perfect depend- 
ence upon him, and feel and act as though 
God had no concern with you, and you had 
no concern with him ? 

Do you cherish a sense of your great un- 
worthmess and ill-desert ? Do you feel your- 
self to be a vile and hateful sinner ? - "What 
if others should esteem you according to the 
vileness of your character, would you not 
view yourself injured ? If God should esteem 
you and treat you according to the vileness 



132 GOOD HOrE THROUGH GRACE. 

of your character, would yon not think it 
hard and unjust? Should you not murmur 
and complain ? 

Is the humble temper of the gospel inter- 
woven T\dth your religious experience? A 
savor of humility is diffused throughout all 
the Christian graces. " Christian affections," 
says the immortal Edwards, " Christian iiffec- 
tions are like Mary's precious ointment that 
she poured on Christ's head, that filled the 
whole house with a sweet odor. It was 
poured out of a hrol'en box ; till the box was 
broken, the ointment could not flow. So 
gracious affections flow out of a hroken heart. 
Gracious affections are also like those of 
Mary Magdalene, who also pours precious 
ointment on Christ out of a broken alabaster 
box, anointing therewith the feet of Jesus, 
when she had washed them with her tears, 
and wiped them with the hair of her head. 
AU gracious affections that are a sweet odor 
to Christ, and that fill the soul of a Christian 
with a heavenly sweetness and fragrancy, 
are broken-hearted affections. A truly Chris- 
tian love, either to God or men, is a humble, 
broken-hearted love. The desires of the 



HUMILITY. 133 

saints, however earnest, are Inimble desires. 
Their hope is a humble hope, and their joy, 
even when it is 'unspeakable and fall of 
glory,' is a humble, broken-hearted joy, and 
leaves the Christian more poor in spirit, and 
more like a Httle child, and more disposed 
to an universal lowhness of behavior."* 

Is the humble spiiit of the gospel also in- 
woven with your habitual deportment ? Are 
you habitually disposed to esteem others bet- 
ter than yourself ; or to esteem yourself bet- 
ter than others? Do you rejoice to see 
others of equal merit with yourself, as much 
beloved and honored as you are? And if 
their merit exceeds your own, are you wiUing 
to see them more beloved and honored than 
you are ? Or are you for ever restless and 
dissatisfied because you are not more be- 
loved and honored than everybody else ? Do 
you " love the praise of men more than the 
praise of God ?" " How can ye believe," saith 
■the meek and lowly Jesus, " How can ye be- 
heve, which receive honor one of another, and 
seek not the honor that cometh from God 
only?" 

* Edwards on the Afifections. 



134 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

In the character of a Christian, humility is 
the one tldng needful. Where this is wanting, 
all is wanting. A proud, haughty spirit is 
inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel. It 
is the genius of that gospel, it is one grand 
design of aU the dispensations of grace tow- 
ards fallen man, to exalt him to glory by 
first humbhng him in the dust. " He that 
exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that 
humbleth himself shall be exalted." 

Does the reader indulge the hope of hav- 
ing made his peace with God? Let him 
remember, that God is at peace with none, 
except the humble and contrite. " He hfteth 
up the meek, but casteth the wicked do^Ti 
to the ground." No matter what are your 
professions ; no matter how high your sup- 
posed attainments ; if you have never felt 
the contrition of a broken heart, you have 
never tasted that the Lord is gracious. Still, 
you are not to reject the ho23e of your good 
estate because you find much of the spirit of 
pride within you. Alas, how much of this 
detestable spii'it have the best of God's peo- 
ple ! With this enemy wiU be our longest 
and severest conflict. It possesses so much 



HUMILITY. 135 

of tlie cunning of tlie serpent, that it is per- 
haps less easily detected than any other form 
of depravity. When you have mortified it in 
one shape, you will find that it rises in an- 
other ; and when you fondly hope it is dead, 
you will find that it has been secretly gath- 
ering strength, to commence the attack with 
new vigor, fresh courage, and perhaps greater 
success. Pride will live until the Old Man 
is dead. It is the "ulcerated part of the 
body of sin and death." It is the main- 
si^ring to all the obstructions which impede 
our progress towards heaven. It is the se- 
cret avenue through which the tempter too 
often enters and leads the best of men astray. 
It is the " great inlet of the smoke from the 
bottomless pit," which darkens the mind, 
casts a gloom around their fairest prospects, 
and sometimes leaves them a while in the 
gloom of despondency. With this enemy 
will be your longest and severest conflict. 
Put on therefore the whole armor of God, 
and watch unto prayer. The clashings of 
pride and humihty should often drive the 
Christian to the throne of grace. " Who can 
understand his errors? Cleanse thou me 



136 GOOD HOTE THROUGH GRACE. 

from secret faults." Yon may have much 
pride ; but liave you any humility ? Be not 
deceived. "Seest thou a man wise in his 
own conceit ? There is more hope of a fool 
than of him." "Blessed are the poor in 
spirit ; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 



SELF-DENIAL. 13t 



10. SELF-DENIAL. 

Feom the formation of the first angel of 
light, clown to the period when the heavens 
shall pass away as a scroll, the Creator of 
the ends of the earth had his eye steadfastly 
fixed on the same grand object. As all things 
are of him, so all will be to him. He who 
made all things for himself, cannot fail to 
pursue the end for which he made them, and 
to obtain it at last. When the proceedings 
of the last day shall have been closed ; when 
the assembled worlds shall have entered upon 
the unvarying retributions of eternity ; when 
the heavens and the earth shall have passed 
away, and a new heaven and a new earth — 
the holy city, the new Jerusalem — shall have 
come down from God out of heaven, "He 
that sitteth upon the throne shall say. It is 
done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning 
and the end." In the winding up of the 
scene, it will appear that God himself is the 
first and the last; not merely the efficient, 



138 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

but tlie final cause of all things. The vast 
plan, which has for its object nothing less 
than the brightest manifestation of the di- 
vine glorj, has an inahenable right to the 
most unreserved devotedness of every intel- 
ligent being. To the advancement of this 
plan God therefore requires every intelligent 
being to be voluntarily subser\dent. All the 
strength and ardor of affection which we are 
capable of exercising must be concentrated 
here. Every faculty, every thought, every 
vohtion, every design, must be devoted to 
this great cause. The injunction is explicit : 
" Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or what- 
soever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 
Now the heart of depraved man is obsti- 
nately averse to such a course of feehngs and 
conduct. Instead of being supremely attach- 
ed to God and the good of his kingdom, men 
are by nature " lovers of their ovm selves." 
Hence there is a controversy between man 
and his Maker. God requires men to regard 
his glory as the great object of their affec- 
tions, and the ultimate end of their conduct ; 
but they disregard liis requisitions, and in all 
their feelings and conduct have respect ulti- 



SELF-DENIAL. 139 

mateljto themselves. This controversy draws 
the line of distinction between friends and 
foes. As the spirit of self-advancement is the 
root of all sin, so the spiiit of self-denial is 
the root of all holiness. 

Self-denial consists in the voluntary renun- 
ciation of every thing which is inconsistent 
with the glory of God and the highest good 
of our fellow-men. It does not imply the vol- 
untary renunciation of good or the voluntary 
toleration of evil as bemg desirable in them- 
selves considered, though it does imply both as 
being desirable, all things considered. There 
is no absurdity in the proposition that a thing 
may be very unpleasant in its own nature, 
but taking all things into view may be very 
desirable. It is perfectly consistent for men 
to desire to enjoy themselves, and yet desire 
to deny themselves ; to hate misery, and yet 
be wiUing to suffer it. Neither does it imply 
the renunciation of all regard to one's self. 
The desire of happiness and the aversion to 
misery are inseparable from human nature. 
The natural principle of self-love does not 
constitute the sin of selfishness. A man may 
have a due regard to his own happiness with- 



140 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

out being supremely selfish. There is no 
moral turpitude in being influenced by the 
anticipation of good or the apprehension of 
e^-il, provided I am not influenced by these 
considerations supremely. There is no sin 
in regarding my own interest, provided I do 
not put a higher estimate upon it than it vdU 
bear. The evil lies in -sdewing it of greater 
moment than it is ; in making every thing 
subservient to myself, and myself subservient 
to nothing. 

Self-denial is diametrically opposite to su- 
preme selfishness. " Selfishness," says Dr. 
Owen, "is the making a man's self his own 
centre, the beginning and end of all that he 
doeth." It is difficult, with the Bible in our 
hands, or upon the principles of sound phi- 
losophy, not to acknowledge the distinction 
between affections that are supremely selfish 
and truly disinterested to be both plain and 
important. There is no need of the aid of 
metaphysical discussion to establish the prop- 
osition that no man ought to regard his own 
happiness more than every thing else, and 
that the man who does possesses none of the 
spirit of the gospel. The affections of men 



SELF-DENIAL. 141 

must be placed on some one object that is 
paramount to every other. Two objects of 
supreme delight there cannot be. Two par- 
amount principles of action there cannot be. 
There is no intermediate object between God 
and self that can draw forth the highest and 
strongest affections of the soul. As there is 
"no such thing as a creature's going out of 
himself without rising as high as the glory 
of God," so there is no such thing as a crea- 
ture's going out of God without descending 
as low as himself. Other objects may be 
loved ; but if they are not loved merely as 
the means of self-gratification, they are not 
loved supremely. Affections that do not 
terminate on God, terminate on self. Men 
who do not " seek the things that are Jesus 
Christ's," seek their oivn. Inordinate self- 
love is the ruling passion of their hearts and 
the governing principle of their lives. They 
love themselves, not as they ought to love 
themselves, but supremely. They set up 
their own private good as the highest object 
of desire and pursuit. Their affections oper- 
ate in a very narrow circle. They have no 
ultimate regard but to themselves. They 



142 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

have but one interest, and that is tlieir own. 
A supreme regard to tlieir own liappiness is 
the mainspring of all that they do for God, 
of aU that they do for themselves, and all 
that they do for their fellow-men. 

It is needless to say that with this spirit 
Christian self-denial has no communion. The 
nature of this heavenly grace is expansive. 
It is the result of a supreme attachment to a 
higher interest than our own. It Hghts on 
self, but does not terminate on self. It stops 
at nothing short of the highest good ; and in 
pursuing that, terminates on an object large 
enough to gratify the strongest desires of the 
most benevolent mind. He who is not a 
stranger to the spirit of self-denial, has 
learned to make his own interest bend to the 
interest of God's kingdom, and that from su- 
preme regard to the interest of God's king- 
dom, and not from supreme regard to him- 
self. The glory of God is the great end of 
his conduct. It is his great concern that God 
should be glorified, that his laws should be 
obeyed, his gospel loved, and the highest in- 
terest of his infinitely extended kingdom pre- 
vail and triumph. Once he denied Christ for 



SELF-DENIAL. 143 

liimself, now he denies himself for Christ. 
Once he lived to himself, now he lives to 
God. No duty is so hard that he is not will- 
ing and resolved to perform, no sin so sweet 
that he is not willing and resolved to forsake. 
He takes np the cross at the hazard of ever}' 
thing. Nothing is too dear to give to Christ, 
nothing too great to be cheerfully sacrificed 
for the promotion of his glory. Such is the 
disposition of good men, that they place their 
happiness in the glory of God and the pros- 
perity of his kingdom. They delight in this, 
in itself considered. They love and pursue 
this for what it is in itself considered, and 
not merely for the happiness which will re- 
sult to them from pursuing it. And the S23irit 
of disinterestedness will irresistibly impel 
them to do so. The glory of God the Chris- 
tian must seek. Seeking this, he cannot be 
miserable; not seeking this, he cannot be 
happy. He knows he is but a point in the 
universe of God, "an atom in the sum of be- 
ing," a single member of Christ's mystical 
body, and is willing that God should hft him 
up or cast him down at his pleasure. His 
own advancement is as a feather, a nothing, 



144 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

when put iii the balance against the honor of 
Christ and the good of his kingdom. 

Such is the spirit of seK-denial. It is the 
result of a calm, dehberate, invincible attach- 
ment to the highest good, flov^-ing forth in the 
voluntary renunciation of every thing that is 
inconsistent mth the glory of God and the 
good of our fellow-men. 

That this is the scriptural idea of self-de- 
nial, it would be easy to illustrate by a mul- 
titude of examples. This is the elevated 
spirit that prompted the father of the faith- 
fal to offer up the son of -promise, that bore 
the three worthies of Babylon to the burning 
fiery furnace, and that led the apostles and 
martyrs to glory in tribulation. It has borne 
the test of ridicule and reproach, stood un- 
daunted before the scourge and the prison, 
triumphed amid the light of the fagot, and 
smiled at the point of the sword. This is the 
spirit which shone Tvdth such signal lustre in 
the sufferings and death of our blessed Lord. 
It was eminently the characteristic of this 
divine personage, that in all he did and suf- 
fered "he pleased not himself." He sought 
"not his own glory," but the glory of the 



SELF-DENIAL. 145 

Father who sent him. " Though he was rich, 
yet for our sahes he became poor, that we 
through his poverty might become rich." He 
often anticipated the day of his death, and in 
itself considered, earnestly desired to be de- 
livered from that fatal hour. He knew the 
malice of his enemies, and expected to feel 
the weight of it in his last sufferings. He 
foresaw all the circumstances that would add 
poignancy to his anguish, and foresaw them 
with distress and agony. But does he shrink 
from the dreadful undertaking? You see him 
steadfastly setting his face to go to Jerusa- 
lem ; you hear him teUing his disci^Dles that 
he must go, he must suffer, he must be killed ; 
but do you hear him complain ? Go to Geth- 
semane, and there behold the Son of God 
under the most clear and awful view of his 
approaching crucifixion, and learn what it is 
to deny yourself for the sake of advancing 
the Father's glory. Listen to the language 
of a heart already broken with grief : " I am 
poured out like water, and all my bones are 
out of joint : my heart is like wax ; it is melt- 
ed in the midst of my bowels. This body 
sweats as it were great drops of blood. The 

Good Hope. JQ 



146 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

hidings of my Fatlier's face are enough to 
bmy me in eternal darkness. The gnilt of 
this falling world will sink my feeble frame 
to the grave. O my Father, if it be possible, 
let this cup pass from me. But now is my 
soul troubled. The hour is come, and what 
shall I say ? Father, save me from this hour. 
But for this cause came I to this hour. Fa- 
ther, GLORIFY THY NAME !" This was carrying 
seK-denial to its highest pitch. So pure was 
the disinterestedness of the Saviour, that the 
sweetest feelings of his heart would have re- 
mained for ever ungratified without the priv- 
ilege of expiring on the cross. 

This too is the spirit which is no less 
strongly enforced by precept than example. 
How often are believers exhorted not to seek 
their own ; not to live unto themselves ; and 
whether they live, to live unto the Lord ; 
or whether they die, to die unto the Lord. 
That charity which the apostle represents as 
the distinguishing characteristic of behevers, 
is self-denjdng ; it " seeketh not her own." 
"If any man," saith the divine Saviour, "will 
come after me, let him deny himself, and take 
up the cross and follow me. Whosoever will 



SELF-DENIAL. 14*7 

save liis life, shall lose it; and whosoever 
shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it." 

One would think it difficult, after such an 
exphcation, to be long in doubt as to the na- 
ture of one of the most decisive evidences of 
real rehgion. We can hardly turn to a page 
in the Bible without being convinced that 
the grand distinction between true religion 
and false is, that the one is disinterested, the 
other is supremely selfish. " For whether we 
be beside ourselves," says the apostle to the 
Corinthians, " it is to God ; or whether we be 
sober, it is for your cause. For the love of 
Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, 
that if one died for all, then were all dead; 
and that He died for all, that they which Hve 
should not henceforth live unto themselves, 
but unto him which died for them and rose 
again." Those who are in the flesh, unbe- 
lievers, live unto themselves ; those who are 
in the Spirit, believers, live unto Christ. 
There are but two moral characters that are 
essentially different, and this is the radical 
difference between them. 

Here then you have another criterion of 
Christian character. It is not supposed that 



148 GOOD HOPE THEOUGH GRACE. 

in tlie present state we shall find seK-denial 
unaUoyed with selfishness. There is not a 
just man upon earth that doeth good and 
sinneth not. Still, in the affections and con- 
duct of every child of God the spirit of self- 
denial is the prominent feature. He who 
possesses most of this spirit, possesses most 
of the spii'it of his divine Master. In the 
same proportion in which the glory of God 
and the welfare of his kingdom take the place 
of personal advancement, does vital religion 
predominate in the soul. 

I wish I could press tliis point upon the 
conscience as closely as its importance de- 
mands. The end of the Christian in the 
exercise of gi'ace is the glory of God, and not 
merely his OTvn ]3resent or futui^e hapj)iness. 
The object at which he aims rises far above 
any thing that is confined within the limited 
circle of which his httle self is the centre. 
Let the reader call in his wandering thoughts, 
and inquire. Have I ever been taught to fix 
my heart on any thing infinitely more impor- 
tant than myself? Do all my rehgious affec- 
tions spring from some selfish motive? Is 
the desire of self-advancement, or the desire 



SELF-DENIAL. 149 

to advance the glory of God, the paramount 
principle of my feelings and conduct ? 

The monastery and the cloister are not the 
only e\T.dences that there is much of the show 
of self-denial where there is none of its spirit. 
"We must look dihgently into the nature of 
our religion, if we would not be deceived. 
Men may deny themselves in a thousand in- 
stances from no other motive than that they 
expect to be the gainers by it. "And no mar- 
vel ; for Satan himself is transformed into an 
angel of Hght." You cannot know whether 
your self-denial is genuine or whether it is 
spurious, without knowing whether it is found- 
ed upon a supreme attachment to the glory of 
God. To deny yourself from a supreme re- 
gard to a higher interest than your own, is to 
possess the spuit of the gospel. Is this then 
the principle which regulates your conduct 
both towards God and towards man ? "Which 
do you pursue most, your interest or your 
duty? Which do you think of most, your 
interest or your duty ? Can you sell all for 
the pearl of great price ? Can you renounce 
your ease, your profit, your honor, when they 
come in competition with your duty? Can 



150 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GEACE. 

7011 renounce every thing wliicli is inconsist- 
ent with the glory of God and the highest 
good of your fellow-men? Are these the nat- 
ural breathings of your heart, " Thy kingdom 
come; thy will be done?" Is the highest 
interest of this kingdom identified with the 
object of your highest vdsh. and your most 
vigorous exertion? Is the cause of Christ 
your concern, the dishonor of Christ your 
affliction, the cross of Christ your glory ? If 
so, you are not strangers to the sj^uit of self- 
denial. You are not without conclusive evi- 
dence that you are born from above. The 
more you forget yourselves in a sujDreme 
regard for God's glory, the more '^ill you 
advance your own interest both in this world 
and that which is to come. But the more 
you seek a selfish, private, separate interest 
in ojDposition to the glory of God, the more 
are you seeking an interest which God has 
determined to destroy. 



SPIRIT OF PRATER. 151 



11. SPIRIT OF PRAYER. 

Saul of Tarsus was once a hardened, ob- 
stinate sinner. He styled himseK the chief 
of sinners, a blasphemer, a persecutor, and 
injurious. But he was a chosen vessel. It 
pleased God, who separated him from his 
mother's womb, suddenly to arrest him in 
his career ; and near the spot where he had 
anticipated the success of a commission arm- 
ed with the most unrelenting virulence against 
the trembling Christians, to humble him to 
the dust. He had in all its strength and 
prominence borne the image of the earthly, 
but now he bears the image of the heavenly. 
" Behold," saith the testimony of the faithful 
and true witness, " behold, he prayeth." He 
is not now the persecuting Saul, but the heav- 
en-born, praying Paul. The proud Pharisee 
has become the humble supj)Uant; the stub- 
born rebel, the meek child of Jesus. "No 
sooner is the soul born, than it breathes ; no 
sooner is Paul converted, than behold, he 
prays." 



152 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

Wlien we say tliat the spirit of prayer is 
conclusiye eyidence of Christian character, 
we feel under obligation to point out wherein 
that spirit consists. We are not to forget 
that there is snch a thing as " drawing nigh 
unto God with the mouth, and honoring him 
with the hps, while the heart is far fi*om him." 
The hearts of men may be as stupid and un- 
feeling, as proud and as self-righteous — they 
may be in the exercise of as sensible opposi- 
tion to the character of the Most High, to the 
law and the gospel — while offering up the most 
solemn exj^ressions of homage, as they are 
when God is not in all their thoughts. But 
it is not so with the righteous. His prayer 
" goeth not forth out of feigned hps." With 
the spiritual worshipper the heart feels what 
the Hps express. 

The spirit of prayer is humble. It flows 
from a broken and contrite heart. The pub- 
lican " could not so much as lift up his eyes 
to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, 
God be merciful to me a sinner." Before 
Him who is so great that the nations are as 
the drop of the bucket in his presence, and 
so holy that the heavens are impure in his 



SPIEIT OF PEAYEB. 153 

sight, tlie suppliant feels as a man of unclean 
lips. Every sentiment of liis heart constrains 
him to make the affecting confession, " O my 
God, I am ashamed, and blush to lift up my 
face to thee, for my iniquities are increased 
over my head, and my trespass is grown up 
unto the heavens." Sometimes a sense of 
guilt so overwhelms the soul as to prevent 
its free access to the throne. " Mine iniqui- 
ties have taken hold upon me," says the 
psalmist, " so that I am not able to look up ; 
they are more than the hairs of my, head; 
therefore my heart faileth me." 

The spirit of prayer is also believing. Nu- 
merous and aggravated as his sins appear, 
much as they attempt to discourage the be- 
liever from duty, he does not yield to the dis- 
couragement. He has respect unto the sac- 
rifice of the Son of God. He beheves that 
God is, and that he is a rewarder of all 
who dihgently seek him. He looks to Jesus, 
the Mediator of the better covenant, as the 
way of access to the Father. The efficacy of 
his blood, the virtue of his righteousness is 
his only plea. He has an unshaken confi- 
dence that God can glorify himself by an- 



154 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

swering liis requests for Christ's sake, and 
he is therefore emboldened to press them in 
Christ's name. Though he has a lively sense 
of his own unworthiness, yet he knows that 
he has " a great High-priest that has passed 
into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, who 
is touched with a feeling of his infirmities," 
and he therefore " comes boldly to the throne 
of grace, that he may obtain mercy, and find 
grace to help in time of need." Until the 
work of redeeming grace shall cease, until 
the Farther shall forget the Son of his love, 
until the name of Christ shall cease to be 
precious, and his intercession shall be no 
longer prevaihng, faith in the blood of the 
spotless sacrifice will appertain to the nature 
of prayer. 

But the spirit of prayer is also submissive. 
The suppliant prefers God's will to his own. 
This was the disposition which our blessed 
Lord manifested in the garden. It was an 
awftd thought to him to die ; but it was a 
still more awful one, that his Father's ^yi\l 
should not be accomplished. Though Christ 
viewed the death of the cross as in its own 
nature dreadful, yet he viewed the will of his 



SPIBIT OF PRAYER. 155 

Fatlier delightftd. He cliose that his Fa- 
ther's will should be done rather than his 
own. " The cup which my Father hath given 
me, shall I not drink it?" His will y^sls ab- 
sorbed in the will of God. " O my Father, 
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me ; 
nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done " 
This, in a greater or less degree, is the spirit 
of every genuine suppliant. He pours forth 
the fulness of his heart in the affectionate 
language of a child, and the submissive lan- 
guage of a servant. He is prepared to be 
accepted or to be rejected in his petitions. 
He approaches the mercy-seat with the de- 
sire that God would exercise his wisdom and 
grace in granting or denying his requests. 

This is the spirit of prayer — sincere, hum- 
ble, beheving, submissive. Other prayer than 
this the Bible does not require — God will not 
accept. This is the spirit of genuine devo- 
tion — a spirit which you cannot be conscious 
of possessing, without the consciousness of 
3^our reconcihation to God. " Because ye are 
sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his 
Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." 
If you possess this Spirit, though it be in a 



156 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

very imperfect state, yon enjoy tlie liigh priv- 
ilege of being adopted into God's family, and 
of occupying the place, not of strangers, not 
of foreigners, not merely of servants, bnt of 
children, heirs of God, and joint heirs with 
Jesns Christ. "When "the Spirit bears wit- 
ness with onr spirits that we are the chil- 
dren of God," how high the pleasure to iitter 
our acknowledgments, to lisp our praise, to 
breathe forth our complaints towards heaven. 
What tongue can express the sweetness of 
these seasons of refreshing! How is the 
heart enlarged! "Where the Spirit of the 
Lord is, there is hberty." No slavish fear 
perplexes the mind ; no frown of divine dis- 
pleasure guards the throne of mercy. The 
children of the common Father come near, 
even to his seat. There they taste and see 
that the Lord is gracious ; there they are 
assimilated into the likeness of the Holy One ; 
there they see the clearest manifestations of 
the divine beauty ; and " beholding as in a 
glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into 
the same image, fi*om glory to glory, even as 
by the Spirit of the Lord." 

Does the reader possess the spirit of pray- 



SPIKIT OF PRAYER. 15T 

er? Is it liis meat and liis drink to liold 
communion witli God — throngh. Christ, to 
have access by one Spirit unto the Father ? 
Is it his greatest pleasure to be near to God, 
and his greatest grief to be far from him? 
If so, however great his fears, he may hope. 
His privilege is the privilege of sons; his 
consolations, those hidden joys mth which a 
stranger intermeddleth not ; his seasons of 
refreshing, foretastes of the river of life, v/hich 
flows from the throne of God and the Lamb. 

It may not be amiss, while we are upon 
this subject, to spend a few minutes in look- 
ing at the question. What evidence does the 
long continued practice of the external duty 
of prayer afford of the existence of vital re- 
ligion in the heart? "We do not mean, by 
this statement, necessarily to exclude the 
spirit from the form of prayer. If we did, 
the question would be at an end. Wliat evi- 
dence does the long continued practice of the 
external form afford of the existence of the 
internal spirit ? It is a question of moment. 

Men may pray much, and yet not be Chris- 
tians. They may pray in public, and in their 
families, and still not be Christians. Tliis 



158 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GEACE. 

tlaej may do to gratify tlieir pride ; to be 
seen of men ; to maintain tlie character of 
Christians in the yiew of the world. They 
may pray in secret and not be Christians : 
but whether men persevere in the habitual 
practice of secret prayer without good evi- 
dence of Christian character, is a question 
which I dare not answer in the negative. 
Neither would I venture to answer it unhes- 
itatingly in the affirmative. This much the 
Bible will surely warrant us to say : " Men 
who are not Christians will be exceedingly 
apt to neglect, and in the end, wholly to neg- 
lect the practice of secret prayer." Men do 
not act without motive. Now what motive 
can induce a man w^ho is dead in trespass- 
es and sins, whose carnal heart is enmity 
against God, to persevere in the habitual 
practice of secret prayer? Is it to silence 
the clamors of a guilty conscience? To do 
this, he Tvdll pray, and often pray in secret. 
But will he always call upon God ? The im- 
penitent are sometimes the subjects of much 
seriousness ; they are convinced of their duty, 
and alarmed at their danger ; and while they 
remain in this state, they are compelled to 



SPIEIT OF PRAYER. 159 

admit the truth and importance of religion, 
and dare not omit the duty of secret prayer. 
But when they lose their convictions and 
forget their danger, the duties of the closet 
gradually become irksome. At length they 
are a weariness. Conscience ceases to gov- 
ern, and almost to accuse. Her monitory 
voice is silenced; and it becomes less and 
less difficult to " cast off fear, and restrain 
prayer" before God. 

There is another motive which will induce 
the impenitent to maintain the practice of 
secret devotion for a considerable length of 
time. When once they have wrought them- 
selves into the persuasion that they are Chris- 
tians, and have cherished the hope that they 
are interested in the blessings of the gospel 
salvation, they relinquish the persuasion and 
abandon the hope with singular reluctance. 
They will do much to entertain and defend 
them. They are too selfish to omit a duty, 
the omission of which bears on its very face 
convincing evidence that they are hypocrites. 
They will rather practise the most self-deny- 
ing duties, even long after they have lost 
their borrowed sweetness, for the sake of the 



160 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

testimony which tliey derive from this source, 
that they are the children of God. This 
motive no doubt operates in many instances 
powerfully, and for some time ; but does it 
operate uniformly, and to the end of Hfe? 
With persons of this description, the omis- 
sion of secret -prajer is at first occasional; 
then more or less frequent, as other avoca- 
tions demand; till at length the cares of 
the world, the temptations of the Adversary, 
and the allurements of sin so far bhnd the 
•understanding and stupefy the conscience, 
that the most hp.rdened sinner still cherishes 
his vain confidence, while he closes his eyes 
upon the last ghmmering of evidence that 
that confidence is scriptural. 

But though men may pray, and pray some- 
times in secret, they will be exceedingly apt 
to neglect this duty if they are not Chris- 
tians. "Wherever you find the habitual per- 
formance of secret prayer for a long course 
of years, there is some reason to beheve you 
find the breathings of the new-born soul. 
There you may hope that there are hun- 
gerings and thirstings after righteousness. 
There you will usually discover a heart that 



SPIRIT OF PEAYER. 161 

is not in pursuit of hope merely, but grace ; 
not safety only, but holiness. There you v/ill 
usually, if not always, discover one, not mut- 
tering over a few unmeaning sentences as 
devoid of life as a loathsome carcass is of 
the life-giving spirit, but one whom the 
Spirit of God has taught to pray because he 
is weak and needs strength, because he is 
tempted and needs support, because he is in 
want and needs supply, because he is a sin- 
ner and needs mercy. 

If these remarks are just, it is not imperti- 
nent to ask the reader whether he practises 
the duty of secret prayer ? We do not ask 
whether he prays in secret now and then ; 
whether he performs this duty on the Sab- 
bath, or some occasional seasons of unusual 
alarm or solemnity? Is this his liahUual 
practice ? Has it been his habitual practice 
ever since he hoped he vras brought out of 
darkness into God's marvellous light? No 
matter how punctual you are in other duties ; 
no matter what evidence you have of your 
conversion from any other quarter; if you 
have not this, you may set all other down for 
naught. The want of this is decisive evi- 

Good Hope. 1 1 



162 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

dence against you, even if the possession of 
it is not decisive evidence in your favor. 
Prayer has been often styled the " Chris- 
tian's breath." It is eminently so. A pray- 
erless Christian ! No, it cannot be. It is a 
mark of the highest delusion, of the grossest 
stupidity, to cherish the hope of having made 
your peace with God, and at the same time 
to live in the neglect of secret prayer. Wlio 
that has the least pretension to rehgion, can 
presume to live without seeking the favor, 
without deprecating the wrath, and without 
reahzing the presence of Him in whom he 
lives and moves and has his being? To 
live without prayer, is emphatically to hve 
" \sdthout God in the world." 

Before I conclude this essay, I would give 
one caution to a certain class of readers. 
There are not wanting those who live in con- 
stant doubt and trembling, because they do 
not enjoy the constant presence of God, and 
the uniform fervency of affection in their re- 
tirement. Ileal Christians have seasons of 
coldness which chill the spirit of .devotion. 
Such is the power of indwelHng sin ; so great 
is the influence of the world, the flesh, and 



SPIRIT OF PEAYEE. 163 

the cTe^dl, that even God's own clear cliildren 
are sometimes carried too far down the cur- 
rent. Yes, to the shame and guilt of God's 
people, we are constrained to make this 
affecting acknovvdedgment. Still, this humil- 
iating truth does not militate against our 
general principle. Eeal Christians cannot 
live in the neglect of prayer ; nay, more, 
those who do not possess the spiiit, and who 
do not hve in the habitual performance of 
the duty, are " in the gall of bitterness, and 
in the bond of iniquity." The moment a man 
begins to live in the neglect of prayer, that 
moment he should take the alarm. 

May it then be said of you as it was of 
Saul of Tarsus, "Behold, he prayeth?" If 
so, then you Hke him may be a chosen ves- 
sel. Maintain a constant and uniform inti- 
macy with the throne of grace, and for the 
sake of our great High-priest, God " will put 
his fear into your hearts, that you shall not 
dex3art from him." Draw nigh unto God, 
and he wiD. draw nigh unto you. Keep near 
to the fountain-head, and luith joy shall you 
draiv water out of the luells of salvation. 



164 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 



12. LOVE TO THE BRETHREN. 

The eminent Dr. Owen, speaking of tlie 
primeval state of man, remarks, tliat "tlie 
whole beauty of the creation below consisted 
in man's lo^dng God above all, and all other 
things in him and for him, according as they 
did participate his glory and properties." 
That was a hopeless hour when the golden 
chain that boimd God to man, and man to 
God and to each other, was broken. "Adam, 
where art thon?" Adam heard, and was 
afraid. The earth was cnrsed, and refused 
to yield her strength. Sin polluted all the 
ioys of Paradise; apostate man became the 
heir of misery, and henceforth dwelt in dark- 
ness, cherishing the seeds of mahce and envy, 
hateful, and hating one another. 

Upon this dismal gloom not a ray has 
da^vned but from the cross of Clmst. It is 
the prerogative of the gospel of Jesus to pub- 
lish the "glad tidings of great joy ;" and while 
it proclaims, " Glory to God in the highest," 
to restore " peace on earth, and good will to 



LOVE TO THE BEETHEEN. 165 

men." This gospel breathes the spirit of 
love. Love is the falfilling of its precepts, 
the pledge of its joys, and the evidence of its 
power. "We know," saith the apostle, "that 
we have passed from death unto hfe, because 
we love the brethren." 

The love of the brotherhood is not one of 
the native affections of the carnal mind. This 
cold, degenerate soil bears no such heavenly 
fruit. The affection which Christians exer- 
cise towards each other as Christians, is the 
offspring of a brighter world. It is a princi- 
ple of celestial birth. " Love is of God; and 
every one that loveth is born of God and 
knoweth God." 

Brotherly love is an affection which is lim- 
ited to particular characters. There can be 
no doubt but the children of God are kindly 
affectioned towards all men. Christian be- 
nevolence runs parallel with rational being. 
Genuine love to our neighbor is extended to 
all, according to their character and circum- 
stances. It blesses those who curse us, and 
does good to those who hate us. This, how- 
ever, is not the distinguishing nature of broth- 
erly love. Brotherly love differs materially 



166 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

£i*om tlie love of beuevolence. It is tlie love 
of good men, and for tlieir goodness only. 
It extends only to the followers of Christ. 
It is an affection which is directed towards 
the excellence of religion. It is complacency 
in holiness. 

There is something in the character of ev- 
ery child of God that reflects the image of 
his heavenly Father. It is this that attracts 
the eye and wins the heart. There is some- 
thing which is amiable and lovely. And it is 
this loveliness that gives a spring to the affec- 
tions and draws forth the hearts of God's 
people towards each other, as they are drawn 
forth towards God himself. The children of 
God are partakers of the divine nature. From 
bearing the "image of the earthly," they now 
bear " the image of the heavenly." God has 
imparted to them a portion of his own love- 
Hness. He has formed them new creatures. 
Of his free and distinguishing grace he has 
made them, as they are styled by the wise 
man, " more excellent than their neighbor." 
Hence they are lovely; they are the excel- 
lent of the earth. God loves them, Christ 
loves them, the Holy Spirit loves them, an- 



LOVE TO THE BRETHREN. 16t 

gels love tliem, and tliey love each otlier. It 
is around them that the virtues cluster, from 
them that the graces of heaven are reflected, 
though shaded and very often darkened by 
the most debasing and reproachful sins. 

Love to the brethren is also an affection 
which rests upon the union which believers 
sustain with Christ. The Lord Jesus, to- 
gether with all true believers, forms one mys- 
tical body. Christ is the head, and they are 
the members. From him " the whole body, 
fitly joined together and compacted by that 
which every joint supplieth, according to the 
effectual working in the measure of every 
part, maketh increase of the body iinto tlie 
edifying of itself in love'' This union is rep- 
resented by the apostle not only as the foun- 
dation of that communion which believers 
maintain Vvdtli Christ, but of that which ex- 
ists between believers themselves. The same 
bond which unites believers to Christ, binds 
them to each other. The love which is exer- 
cised towards the Head extends to the mem- 
bers. The union itself necessarily involves 
a union of affection. Those who love Christ, 
love those who are hke him and those who 



168 GOOD HOPE THEOUGH GRACE. 

are beloved by liim. Here all distinctions 
vanish. Name and nation, rank and party 
are lost in the common character of believ- 
ers, the common name of Christian. Jew 
and Gentile, bond and free, rich and poor, 
are one in Christ Jesus. They have "one 
Lord, one faith, one baj)tism, one God and 
Father of all, who is above all, and through 
all, and in them all." Actuated by the same 
principles, cherishing the same hopes, ani- 
mated by the same prospects, laboring under 
the same discouragements, having the same 
enemies to encounter and the same tempta- 
tions to resist, the same hell to shun and the 
same heaven to enjoy, it is not strange that 
they should love one another sincerely, and 
often " with a pure heart fervently." There 
is a unity of design, a common interest in the 
objects of their pursuit, which lays the foun- 
dation for mutual fiiendship, and which can- 
not fail to excite the "harmony of souls." 
The glory of God is the grand object which 
commands their highest affections, and which 
necessarily makes the interest of the whole 
the interest of each part, and the interest of 
each part the interest of the whole. They 



LOVE TO THE BRETHREN. 169 

rejoice in each otlier's blessedness. There are 
no conflicting interests, and there need be no 
jarring passions. In a common cause, in a 
common cause which in point of importance 
takes the place of every other and all others, 
the affections of the sanctified heart are one. 
Love to the brethren, thongh in practice 
not always distinguished, yet in theory is 
easily distinguishable from all those affec- 
tions and attachments that are purely natu- 
ral. Men may love Christians merely because 
they imagine that Christians love them. This, 
like every other affection that is purely self- 
ish, is unworthy of the Christian name. They 
may love particular Christians, because they 
are of their party and imbibe their senti- 
ments. This too is nothing better than that 
friendship of the world which is enmity with 
God. They may esteem Christians merely 
from the force of education and habit. The 
people of God may not be the objects of con- 
tempt or aversion, and still they may not be 
the objects of complacency. Indeed our con- 
sciences may constrain us to respect them, the 
habits of early education may lead us often 
to associate with them, while we have no af- 



170 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

fectionate regard for tlie excellence of their 
character. 

That love T\iiich is excited towards Chris- 
tians as Christians is a constituted proof of 
saying grace. The reader will do well, there- 
fore, to examine his ovni heart, and see 
whether he is conscious of cherishing love 
towards the people of God because they are 
the 2^eople of God. Does he love thern because 
he discovers in them the amiableness of that 
divine religion which is altogether lovely? 
Does he love them not merely because they 
love him or have bestowed favors upon him ; 
not because they are of his party, but be- 
cause they bear the image of his heavenly 
Father ? Is his love active ? Is it a princi- 
ple that Hves, that manifests itself by all 
those methods whereby the good of the 
brotherhood may be advanced? Does it dis- 
cover itself in the dehght which it takes in 
the company and conversation of the Lord's 
people, and in every opportunity which he 
has to exchange the tokens and strengthen 
the bonds of mutual affection ? Can he from 
the heart adopt the resolution of Euth, 
" Whither thou goest, I will go ; and where 



LOVE TO THE BEETHREN. ITl 

thou locTgest, I will lodge ; thy people shall 
be my people, and thy God my God?" Tell 
me, do you feel towards the children of God 
as towards the children of one common Fa- 
ther and the brethren of one common fami- 
ly? Do you love them because they bear 
the image of the common Father ? And do 
you love them in proportion to the degree in 
which they bear the image? Can you bear 
and forbear with them ? Can you forget their 
infirmities, or do you rejoice to magnify them? 
Can you cast the mantle of charity over their 
sins, and pray for them, and watch over them, 
and pity and blame and love them still? And 
can you feel thus and act thus towards the 
poorest and most despised of the flock, and 
that because he is a Christian ? If so, here 
is your encouragement: "He that lovetli is 
born of God." Yours is the spirit of a better 
world. The Paradise you lost by Adam you 
shall regain by Christ. Allied to spirits born 
on high, you shall ascend to purer regions and 
breathe a purer air. Far from the tumult of 
this apostate earth, you shall yet rest beneath 
the peaceful ^shades of Eden, where blooms 
immortal amaranth " fast by the tree of Hfe." 



172 GOOD HOPE THIIOUGH GRACE. 



13. NON-CONFORMITY TO THE 
WORLD. 

Saints are expectants of glory. Tliey are 
born fi'om above, and bave no borne beneatb 
tbeu- native skies. Here tbej are strangers 
and pilgrims, and plainly declare tbat tbey 
seek a better country. It is tbeir avowed 
profession tbat tbeir bappiness and bopes 
are neitber in nor from tbe present world. 
Tbeir treasure is in beaven. Mucb as tbey 
are influenced by tbe spirit, governed by tbe 
maxims, awed by tbe frowns, and seduced by 
tbe flattery of tbe world, tbey are so far aloof 
from all its corrupting influence, tbat between 
tbem and tbe world tbere is a distinct line of 
demarcation. Perfectly aloof from tbe cor- 
ruptions of tbe world tbey are not, in tbe 
present bfe; but tbey are sufficiently so to 
make tbeir non-conformity a disting-uisbing 
trait in tbeir cbaracter. Tbey bave come 
out, and are separate. Tbey are on tbe 
Lord's side. Tbey are a city set on a bill ; 



NON-CONFOEMITY TO THE WOELD. 173 

SO far raised above the common level of tlie 
world that thej cannot be hid. They are 
not of this world, even as Christ was not of 
this world. Such is the excellence of their 
character and the purity of their conduct, 
that the world is constrained to " take know- 
ledge of them that they have been with 
Jesus." 

The spirit of the world is incompatible 
with the spirit of the gospel. It is the spirit 
of pride, and not of humility — of self-indul- 
gence, rather than of self-denial. Kiches, 
honors, and pleasure form the grand object 
of pursuit with the men of the world. World- 
ly men are solicitous to lay up treasures for 
themselves, and are not rich towards God. 
Their great inquiry is, "Who will show us 
any good? What shall we eat, what shall 
we drink, or wherewithal shall we be cloth- 
ed?" They are "sensual, not ha^dng the 
Spirit." Regardless of every thing but that 
which is calculated to gratify a carnal mind, 
they "lift up their souls unto vanity, and 
pant after the dust of the earth." Their 
thoughts and their affections are chained 
down to the things of time and sense. In 



114: GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

these they seem to be irrecoverably immers- 
ed. They seldom think but they think of the 
world; they seldom converse but they con- 
verse of the world. The world is the cause 
of their perplexity and the source of their 
enjoyment. The lust of the flesh, the lust of 
the eye, and the pride of life close every ave- 
nue of the soul to the exclusion of every holy 
desire, I had almost said, every serious reflec- 
tion. 

This spirit the Christian has mortified. 
" Now we," saith the apostle, " now we have 
not received the spiiit of the world, but the 
Spirit which is of God." The heavenly mind 
looks down on the things of the world as 
"lying vanities that cannot profit." The 
disciple of Jesus, as he has nobler affections 
than the worldhng, has a higher object and 
more elevated joys. "What things were 
gain to me, those I count loss for Christ ; yea, 
doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for 
the excellency of the knowledge of Christ 
Jesus my Lord ; for whom I am ready to suf- 
fer the loss of all things, and do count them 
but dung, that I may win Christ." "Wliile 
the wise man glories in his wisdom, while 



NON-CONFOEMITY TO THE WOR^D. Ho 

the mighty man glories in his might, and the 
rich man glories in his riches, it is his privi- 
lege to glory in the Lord^-to glory in noth- 
ing save "in the cross of onr Lord Jesns 
Christ, by whom the world is crucified to 
him, and he to the world." The character 
and cause of the blessed Eedeemer lie so 
near his heart, that in comparison with these 
every thing else vanishes to nothing. He 
views the world by the eye of faith. He 
sees it in a Hght that reflects its intrinsic 
importance, the hght of eternity. There the 
world shrinks to a point; the fashion of it 
passeth away. "All flesh is grass, and all 
the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the 
field." Compared with durable riches and 
righteousness, its highest enjoyments are 
trifles hght as aii\ "Yanity of vanities," 
saith the preacher, "vanity of vanities; all 
is vanity." 

As the spirit of the world is not the spirit 
of God's people, so the men of the world are 
not then- companions. The saints are a pe- 
culiar people. The church is uniformly rep- 
resented as a society that is distinct fi'om the 
world. " We know that we are of God," saith 



It6 G^OOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

tlie apostle, " and the T7liole world lietli in 
T^dckedness." Between tlie people of God 
and tlie men of the world there is an essen- 
tial difference of character. The views, the 
desires, and the designs of the children of 
God are diametrically opposite to the views, 
the desu'es, and the designs of the men of the 
world. The one loves what the other hates ; 
the one pursues what the other shuns. Saints 
are passing the narrow way which leads to 
life ; sinners, the broad way which leads to 
death. Hence there is no common bond 
between them. The dissimilarity of charac- 
ter, the diversity in the great objects of pur- 
suit, naturally draw them asunder. If there 
were no other ground for the expectation, 
therefore, than the common principles of hu- 
man nature, we might look for dissension 
rather than unity between the disciples of 
Christ and the men of the world. " How can 
two walk together, except they be agreed ? 
What fellowship hath light with darkness? 
or what concord hath Christ with Belial?" 
The same principles which prompt the men 
of the world not to select the people of 
God for their familiar companions, also in- 



NON-CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD, lit 

cluce tlie people of God to choose otlier com- 
panions tlian tlie men of the world. There 
is an irreconcilable spirit between them. 
" The fi'iendship of the world is enmity with 
God." Many as may be the mutual tokens 
of respect, civility, and kindness — and many 
there should be — bety/een Christians and the 
men of the world, they are notwithstanding 
two distinct classes of men. Much as Chris- 
tians esteem the men of the world as good 
members of civil society ; much as they re- 
gard their happiness, and endeavor to ad- 
vance it ; much as they compassionate their 
depra^dty, and deplore their prospects ; much 
as they are conversant with them in the ordi- 
nary calls of duty, still, they are not their 
chosen companions. They cannot court their 
friendship, because they are afraid of it. 
"Evil communications corrupt good man- 
ners." " He that walketh with wise men shall 
be wise; but a companion of fools shall be 
destroyed." 

Those who have mortified the spirit, and 
who stand at a distance from the men of the 
world, are also in some good degree above 
its corrupting influence. The claim which, 

Gooa Hope. 12 



178 GOOD HOPE THEOUGH GRACE. 

from tlieir numbers and strength, tlie world 
are apt to consider tliemselves as warranted 
to make upon the opmions and practices of 
God's people, is habitually resisted. Though 
good men may be often seduced by the smiles 
and awed by the fr^owns of the world, it is no 
part of their general character to conform 
either to its pleasure or displeasure. They 
act from higher motives, and maintain a 
more consistent character, than to give way 
to indulgences merely for the sake of pleas- 
ing the world, or to avoid duty merely through 
the fear of offending it. Wliile they regard 
the fear of God more than the fear of man, 
they will not dishonor God to please the 
world; and while they regard the favor of 
God more than the favor of man, they will 
not purchase the favor of man at the expense 
of the favor of God. An habitual regard to 
the will and the favor of God is an effectual 
secuiity against the smiles of the world. The 
gi'eat object of the Christian is duty ; his pre- 
dominant desire, to obey God. When he can 
please the world consistently with these, he 
will do so ; otherTN^se it is enough for him 
that God commands, and enough for them 



NON-CONFOEMITY TO THE WORLD. 179 

that lie cannot disobey. Tlie same spirit is 
also an effectual security against the frowns 
of the world. Eeal Christians cannot be 
more afraid of the' displeasure of the world 
than of the displeasure of God. While they 
dread to offend God, they cannot tamely bow 
to the frowns of men. " Whether it be right 
to hearken unto men, rather than unto God, 
judge ye." This was the spirit of the early 
disciples ; and this w^ill be the spirit of every 
disciple down to the latest period of time. 
So far as he manifests the spirit of Christ, 
wherever he is, whatever he does, the fear of 
God uniformly predominates over the fear of 
man ; and the love of God, rather than the 
love of the world, bears uncontrolled sway 
over his affections and conduct. 

There would be no difficulty in pointing 
out the path of duty upon this general sub- 
ject ; but there is some in saying how far 
men may swerve from this path, and yet be 
Christians. One thing is plain: Christians 
cannot be worldlings. They cannot be lovers 
of pleasure more than lovers of God. He who 
fixes his liighest affections on wealth, honor, 
business, sensual pleasures, gay amusements, 



180 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GEACE. 

and the varions pursuits of tlie present scene, 
cannot fix tliem supremely on God. "No 
man can serve two masters ; for either he will 
hate the one and love the other, or else he 
will hold to the one and despise the other. 
Ye cannot serve God and mammon." 

Nor is the character of the vast multitude 
who attempt to make a compromise between 
God and the world, better than that of the 
mere worldhng. " Ye are of your father the 
de^dl, and the lusts of your father ye will 
do." The mere fact that they are for ever 
balancing between a life of devotion and a 
life of pleasure, that they design now to }deld 
the empire to God and then to the world, 
decides the question against them. 

We must not deny that the children of 
God are sometimes guilty of awful defection 
from the standard of Christian character in 
their intercourse with the world. But after 
all, their prevailing feehngs and conduct are 
not those of conformity to the world, but of 
habitual non-conformity. The principles of 
the new man are at war with the principles 
of the world. True believers have " put off 
concerning the former conversation the old 



NON-CONFORMITY TO THE WOELD. 181 

man, wliicli is corrupt according to tlie de- 
ceitful lusts, and have put on tlie new man, 
wiiich after God is created in rigliteousness 
and true lioliness." " This I say then," saith 
the apostle, " walk in the Spirit, and ye shall 
not fulfil the lusts of the flesh." We cannot 
walk after the flesh y/hile we walk after the 
Spirit. While the love of God is the reign- 
ing affection of the heart, it will turn away 
with disgust from the allurements of the 
world. The spirit of Christians is a heaven- 
ly spmt. They " look not at the things that 
are seen, but at those that are unseen; for 
the things that are seen are temporal, but the 
things that are unseen are eternaL" They 
" set their affection on things above, and not 
on things on the earth." 

This subject presents a number of solemn 
questions to every one who is anxious to as- 
certain whether his heart is right in the sight 
of God. It is a great point with all of us to 
know whether we are spiiitually-minded or 
worldly-minded ; whether we are " conformed 
to this world," or "transformed by the renew- 
ing of our minds;" whether the objects of 
faith or of sense, things present or to come, 



182 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

liave the preclominating influence oyer our 
liearts. 

TVTiat shall we say of those, and of those 
professing Christians too, who exhibit to 
themselves and to others all the traits of 
character which belong to worldly men? 
"What of those who pursue worldly things 
with all that ardor, all that intemperate zeal 
which enters into the pursuits of worldly 
men ? Is there not reason to fear that they 
are supremely attached to earth, and are as 
yet aliens from the commonwealth of Israel? 

"\Miat shall we say of those who love the 
circles of fashion more than the associations 
for prayer, and who court the friendship of 
the rich, the gay, and the honorable, more 
than that of the humble discij)le of Jesus? 
"What of those " who send forth their little 
ones like a flock, and their children dance; 
who take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice 
at the sound of the organ?" Was Job un- 
charitable when he ranked persons of this 
character with those who "say unto God, 
Depart from us, for we desire not the know- 
ledge of thy ways ?" 

"Wliat shall we say of those who are for 



NON-CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 183 

ever varying from the path of duty, lest it 
should be unpopular ; who never hsp a sylla- 
ble or Hft a finger for the honor of God, lest 
they should displease the world ? What, but 
that " they love the praise of men more than 
the praise of God?" 

Conformity to the world is to be expected 
from the professed worldhng. It is the char- 
acter of the worldling. But is it to be ex- 
pected fr'om the professed disciple of Jesus ? 
Is it the result of the habitual determinations 
of a heavenly mind ? Is it the character of 
one who looks on things that are unseen and 
eternal, of a stranger and sojourner; of one 
who sets his affections on things above, and 
not on things on the earth ? How many, Hke 
the young man in the gospel, exhibit a de- 
cent and regular outward profession, who are 
wholly devoted to the world. Here their af- 
fections centre. From this polluted fountain 
all their joys flow. They had been Christians 
but for the world. But the world is the fatal 
snare. They have plunged down the preci- 
pice, and drifted almost beyond the hope of 
recovery. 

" If any man love the world, the love of the 



184 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

Fatlier is not in liim." The expression of tlie 
apostle is not too strong : " To be carnallj- 
minded is death.'" Show me the men who 
imbibe the spirit of the world; who choose 
the company of the world; who imitate the 
example of the world, conform to the maxims 
of the world, are swallowed up in the gajety, 
fashions, and amusements of the world — "be- 
hold, these are the nngodlj, who are brought 
into desolation as in a moment." " I have 
seen the wicked in great power, and spreading 
himself like a green bay-tree. Yet he j)assed 
away, and lo, he was not ; yea, I sought him, 
but he could not be found." " Surely thou 
didst set them in slippery places ; thou easi- 
est them down into destruction." 



GROWTH IN GRACE. 185 



14. GROWTH IN GRACE. 

How beautiful is tlie liglit of the morning! 
Behold it hovering over the distant edge of 
the horizon, and shedding its cheerful beams 
upon the hills. It is a "morning without 
clouds." But how soon is the prospect over- 
cast. The atmosphere is obscured by vapors, 
and the sun is darkened hj a cloud. Again 
the mists are fled, the clouds have passed 
over, and the sun is still advancing in his 
course. Thus he rises; now behind the cloud, 
now in all the gTeatness of his strength, shin- 
ing "brighter and brighter unto the perfect 
day." Such is the path of the just. In the 
present vv^orld good men are. very imperfect. 
The best of men have reason to complain bit- 
terly of the body of sin and death; and the 
best of men too have the most ardent desires 
that the body of sin and death may be " cru- 
cified with Christ." The highest point of 
Christian experience is to press forward. It 
is a distinguishing trait in the character of 
every good man, that he groivs in grace. 



186 GOOD HOrE THEOUGH GEACE. 

There are various similitudes used by tlie 
insj)ired Tviiters that are significantly ex- 
pressive of the advancement of Christians in 
knowledge and in piety. The young convert 
is Hkened unto one that is newly born. There 
is a point of time in which he begins to hve. 
At first he is a babe, then a chikl, till he 
finally attains unto the " measure of the stat- 
ure of the fulness of Christ." The kingdom 
of heaven is also compared to " seed which 
is cast into the ground." Fu'st cometh up 
the tender blade, then the thriving stalk, then 
the ear; after that the fuU corn in the ear, 
ripening for the harvest and preparing for 
the garner of the husbandman. It is also 
compared to a " well of water, sjDringing up 
into everlasting life." No imagery in nature 
can more fully illustrate the gi'owth of grace 
in the heart. " The righteous," said Job, 
"shall hold on his way, and he that hath 
clean hands shall wax stronger and stron- 
ger." This is the prominent feature in the 
character of the good man: he shall hold on 
Ms woTj. " The youth," saitli the evangelical 
prophet, " the youth shall faint and be weary, 
and the young men shall utterly faU ; but 



GKOWTH IN GEACE. 187 

tliey tliat wait Tipon the Lord shall renew 
their strength ; they shall mount up with 
wings as eagles, they shall run and not be 
weary, and they shall walk and not faiut." 
With inimitable beauty is the good man de- 
scribed by the psalmist: "And he shall be 
like a tree planted by the rivers of water, 
that bringeth forth his fruit .-in his season ; 
his leaf also shall not ^dther, and whatsoever 
he doeth shall prosper." Grace in the heart 
as certainly improves and advances, as a tree 
thrives in a kindly and well-watered soil. " It 
flourishes in immortal youth, and blooms for 
ever in unfading beauty." 

The certainty of the believer's progress, 
however, rests on a surer foundation than 
either the degree or the nature of his relig- 
ion. "We are not sufficient," says the apos- 
tle, " to think any thing as of ourselves, but 
our sufficiency is of God." That the people 
of God will grow in the divine life till they 
reach the stature of perfect men, and " are 
meet for the inheritance of the saints in 
light," is beyond all controversy. But the 
reason, and the sole reason of this is, that it 
is " God that worketh in them to will and to 



188 GOOD HOPE TnEOUGH GFlACE. 

do of Lis good pleasure." Covenanted grace 
is the support of the believer through every 
step of his pilgrimage. There is nothing in 
the nature of holiness that is incapable of 
corruption. Adam fell ; angels fell. And such 
is the awful depravity of the human heart, 
that left to himseK, the holiest saint on earth 
would draw back unto perdition. Still he 
shall progress in hohness throughout inter- 
minable ages. It is the economy of di^dne 
grace, where God has begun a good work, to 
carry it on; where he has given one holy 
exercise of heart, to give another and an- 
other, until the subject is ripened for glory. 
The hypocrite, when once he imagines him- 
self to be a Christian, views his work as done. 
He is satisfied. He " is rich, and increased 
in goods." But it is otherwise with the ti'ue 
Christian. Conversion is but his first step. 
His work is all before him. His graces are 
increasingly constant and increasingly vigor- 
ous. The more he loves God, the more he 
desires to love him. The more he knows of 
his character, the more does he contemplate 
the manifestations of his glory with rising 
dehght. " As the hart panteth after the wa- 



GROWTH IN GEACE. 189 

ter-brooks, so dotli Ms soul pant after God." 
Ha^vdng once "tasted tliat the Lord is gra- 
cious" is not enough to satisfy him. He will 
ever remain unsatisfied till he reaches the 
fountain-head, and drinks to the fall of " the 
river of hfe, which flows from the throne of 
God and the Lamb." The more he sees of 
the eYiL of sin, the more he desu-es to see. 
The more he hates it, the more he desires to 
hate it. The more he sees of himself, the 
more he abhors himself, and the more does 
he desire to abhor himself. The more he is 
emptied of himseK, the more does he desire 
to be emptied of himself, the more he de- 
sires to become poor in spirit, to feel that he 
is cut off from every hope, and to rest on 
Christ alone. The more he is engaged in 
duty, the more dehght he finds in performing 
it. The more severe his conflict with the en- 
emy, the harder he presses it, and the more 
vigorous his resolution to maintain it to the 
last. 

There are some things in which the in- 
crease of grace is more visible, both to the 
world and the subject, than others. Partic- 
ularly have the people of God less and less 



190 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

confidence in tliemselves. Tliey clierisli an 
increasing sense of tlieir dependence. Tliej 
have been so often disappointed in tlieir false 
confidences, tliat tliey have in some good 
measure become weaned from tliem. Tliey 
know by bitter experience tlie folly of trust- 
ing to themselves. They have learned that 
"the way of man is not in himself;" that "it 
is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." 
The independent, self-sufficient spirit of the 
carnal heart is broken down. They " walk 
by faith, and not by sight." They daily taste 
the sweetness of that heavenly precept, " In 
all thy ways acknowledge Him, and he shall 
direct thy paths. Cast all your care on the 
Lord, for he careth for you." 

They are more and more patient in suffer- 
ings. The more they are accustomed to the 
yoke, the less do they repine under the weight 
of it. 

They are also more and more charitable 
in theii- opinions of others. Young Chris- 
tians are too often uncharitable and censori- 
ous. They are more apt to take notice of 
the infirmities of their brethren than their 
graces, and the infirmities of others than 



GEOWTH IN GRACE. 191 

their own. Bnt tlie more they know of them- 
selves, the more reason do they see to exer- 
cise charity towards others. They fear to 
judge, lest they themselves should be also 
judged. They walk " with aU lowHness and 
meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one 
another in love." 

They have also the more full government 
of their passions. They are " slow to wrath." 

They are more and more punctual in the 
performance of the relative duties. Young 
Christians are apt to neglect them. They 
suffer the duties they owe immediately to 
God to swallow up those that belong to their 
neighbor. But as they advance in the divine 
hfe, they become more uniform in the exer- 
cise of grace, and more punctual in the dis- 
charge of all duty. They do not love God 
less, but they love their fellow-men more. 
As they grow more fervent and more con- 
stant in their devotional exercises, so they 
become more circumspect and unexception- 
able in their intercourse with the world. 

Perhaps there is no one point in which 
growth in grace is more visible, than in that 
harmony and consistency of character which 



192 GOOD HOPE THEOUGH GIIACE. 

are too often wanting in yonng Cliristians, 
but wliicli sliine with so much beauty in those 
who are advanced in the Christian course. 

In every thing that belongs to the excel- 
lence of real religion, the true believer is in 
a state of progression. He seeks and strives, 
he ^Testles and fights. He is ever aiming at 
the prize. View him in the early part of the 
divine life, follow him through the various 
stages of his progress, and you will find that, 
notTvdthstanding all his doubts and declen- 
sions, he makes a gradual advance. He does 
not feel, he does not act " as though he had 
abeady attained, either were abeady perfect ; 
but he follows after, if he may apprehend that 
for which also he is apprehended of Christ 
Jesus." 

" This one tldncj I do," says Paid : "forget- 
ting the things that are behind, and reach- 
ing forth to those that are before, I press 
towards the mark for the prize of the high 
calling of God in Christ Jesus." Where is 
the Christian that does not make the spirit 
of the apostle his own? Tell me, ye who 
have just begun the heavenly race ; tell me, 
ye who are verging towards the goal, was 



GROWTH IN GEACE. 193 

there ever a Christian that felt satisfied with 
present attainments? Is not the unvarying 
voice, both of early and long-tried piety, 
responsive to the language of Paul? Yes, 
it is both the highest point of Christian ex- 
perience, and the clearest evidence of Chris- 
tian character, to press forward. The disci- 
ple of Jesus desires to be perfect — to be more 
and more conformed to the image of Christ. 
He presses after this. It is his grand inqui- 
ry, how to be and how to live more Hke a 
chHd of God. 

" Mark the way of the upright." As you 
trace his steps through this dreary pilgrim- 
age, sometimes he wanders fi'om the path, 
sometimes he halts and tires. His progress 
is far from being uniformly rapid, and often 
far from being perceptible either by himself 
or others. Sometimes his motion is retro- 
grade. There are seasons when, instead of 
advancing, he is the subject of great defec- 
tion. Still it is true that on the whole he 
advances. If you compare his present state 
and character with what they were a consid- 
erable length of time past, you will find that 
he has made gradual progress. I know there 

Good Hope. 1 5 



194 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

are seasons, dark and gloomy seasons — sea- 
sons of gtdlt and declension — when tlie real 
Christian tstII make this comparison at the 
expense of his hopes. Be it so. Seasons 
of gnilt and declension ought to be seasons 
of darkness. I know too that there are sea- 
sons when he is liable to discouragement 
because he does not always experience that 
light and joy which crowned the day of his 
espousals. This is a serious error. There is 
a glow of affection, a flush of joy, which is 
felt by the young convert as he is just usher- 
ed into the world of gi'ace, which perhaps 
may not be felt at any future period of life. 
And you cannot from this di'aw the inference 
that he has made no advance. All this may 
be true, while there is a power of feeling, a 
strength of affection in the saint who has 
passed through the wilderness and knows the 
trials of the way, to which the young con- 
vert is a stranger. As he ascends the mount 
his eye is fixed, his step is more ^^igorous, 
and his path brighter and brighter. He 
remembers his devious steps, and how he 
traced them back with tears. But the trials 
of the way are forgotten. He is rising to that 



GROWTH IN GRACE. 195 

brightness of purity wliicli " sheds the histre 
of eternity" on his character, and aiming at 
the croTvn of righteousness which fadeth not 
away. 

Here then is another test of the genuine- 
ness of your rehgion. I am aware that it is 
a severe one ; but it is one which bears the 
seal of truth, and we must not shrink from it. 
Professing Christians are apt to place too 
much confidence on their past experience, 
and think httle of the present — to think much 
on what they imagine to have been their con- 
version, their first work, and then give up 
the business of self-examination, and allow 
themselves to droop and decline. But the 
question is. What is your irresent character ? 
" Grace is the evidence of grace." I know it 
is true, that he who is once a Christian is 
always a Christian; but it is also true, that 
he who is not noic a Christian, 7iever teas a 
Christian. Examine yourself therefore, and see 
ichether you he in the faith. The best evidence 
in the world that you are is that you grow 
in grace. 

Now apply the principle. Have you on the 
whole, since you fii^st began to hope that you 



196 GOOD HOPE THEOUGH GRACE. 

were united to the Lord Jesus Christ, been 
growing in grace? The question is plain 
and decisive. 

Do you never "hunger and thirst after 
righteousness?" Do you never see the sea- 
sons when you are conscious of the most sen- 
sible desii'es after increasing conformity to 
God? 

Do you never feel the burden of remaining 
corruption, and ardently desire to be dehv- 
ered from its power? Do you never find 
your heart drawn out in fervent supplication 
for sanctifying grace as well as pardoning 
mercy ? 

Do you now desire to press forward, to 
renounce every thing, and to take God for all 
your portion ? Do you strive to live nearer 
to him, and are you resolved to persevere to 
the end in a hfe of faith in Him "who loved 
you and gave himself for you ?" 

If you can ingenuously answer these ques- 
tions in the affirmative, you are not destitute 
of evidence that you "have passed from death 
unto life." But if you know nothing of all 
this, cast away your vain confidence. No 
man living in spiritual sloth, and making no 



GROWTH IN GRACE. 197 

new advances, ouglit to flatter himself tliat 
lie is interested in the blessings of the great 
salvation. The man who is satisfied because 
he thinks he is safe, who feels that he has 
rehgion enough because he thinks he has 
enough to save him from hell, is as ignorant 
of the power as he is a stranger to the con- 
solation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 



198 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 



15. PRACTICAL OBEDIENCE. 

You have no right to call me, "Lord, 
Lord," saith the Sa^vionr, " unless you do the 
things which I say. If ye keep mj com- 
mandments, ye shall abide in my love, even 
as I have kept my Father's commandments, 
and abide in his love." Yon cannot claim 
the character, you cannot share the privi- 
leges of my people, without yielding a cor- 
dial, an habitual, and persevering obedience 
to the divine commandments. 

After all that can be said of the nature of 
the Christian graces, after every effort to dis- 
criminate between true religion and false, the 
spirit of obedience to the divine commands 
is the grand test of the genuineness of our 
faith. "By their fruits ye shall know them." 
The plain and decisive question wliich should 
be often pressed upon the conscience is this : 
Is the spirit of the gospel expressed in my 
habitual deportment ? 

There is a wide difference between that 
obedience which the gospel requires, and that 



PEACTICAL OBEDIENCE. 199 

which is practised by the most advanced 
Christian that ever lived. That obedience 
which, through the grace of God, the behev- 
er is enabled to attain in the present Hfe, 
and which may be viewed as conclusive evi- 
dence of Christian character is. 

In the first place, cordial. It flows from 
the heart. " God be thanked," says the apos- 
tle to the Romans, "that ye were the ser- 
vants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the 
heart that form of doctrine which was deliv- 
ered you." Evangelical obedience expresses 
not merely the form, but the power of godli- 
ness. Every thing short of that obedience 
w^hich proceeds from the heart is disobedi- 
ence. God neither requires nor will accept 
of obedience which does not spontaneously 
flow from supreme love to himself. The 
moral quality of all actions lies in the dispo- 
sition of heart with which they are perform- 
ed. Actions that are apparently good may 
flow from a very bad heart, and in the sight 
of God are as corrupt as the heart from 
which they flow. 

"We read of those who followed our Lord 
with great zeal for a time, but who at length 



200 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

" went back and walked no more with liim." 
And what was the reason ? " The love of 
God was not in them." Their hearts, like 
that of the young man in the gospel, did not 
enter into the spiiit of the duties which they 
practised. They did not love the duties 
themselves, nor desire to glorify God in them. 
Men may practise the duties of piety from 
some mercenary end. Ealse motives entwine 
themselves into all the external duties of the 
hypocrite. Not so the obedience of the true 
Christian. That is deep and thorough. It 
proceeds from the inmost soul. There is a 
purity of design in all. " This is the love of 
God, that we keep his commandments ; and 
his commandments are not grievous.^'' It is no 
task to the Christian to obey the command- 
ments of God. It is his highest pleasure. 
He delights in being devoted to the ser\dce 
of a Being whom he supremely loves. "It 
is his meat and his drink to do the wiU of 
Him that sent him, and to finish His work." 
It is with heartfelt pleasure that he conse- 
crates his time, his talents, and his privile- 
ges to the dehghtful w^ork of glorifying God. 
The glory of God is the gi-eat end of his 



PRACTICAL OBEDIENCE. 201 

being. The lionor of liis name is a motive 
paramount to every other principle ; the pre- 
cepts of his law a guide paramount to every 
other rule of duty. The " love of Christ con- 
strains him." When he contemplates his 
duty, he feels the spirit of holy enterprise ; 
when he looks at the work which God has 
given him to do, he is animated with pious 
zeal, and is constrained to exclaim, "I de- 
light to do thy win, O God ; yea, thy law is 
within my heart.'''' He therefore who obeys 
God at aU, obeys him from the heart. He 
obeys internally as well as externally. His 
is cordial obedience. 

But the obedience of God's people is also 
habitual. There are some passages of Scrip- 
ture which at first view appear to inculcate 
the idea that the obedience of the new man 
is universal. Caleb and Joshua are said to 
have "ivholly followed the Lord." Job is 
caUed ^^s^ perfect and an upright man." Zach- 
arias and Anna are said to have been "right- 
eous before God, walking in all the command- 
ments and ordinances of the Lord hlameless.^^ 
"Whosoever abideth in Christ," saith John, 
^^sinneth not.'' And again, "Whosoever is 
9^ 



202 GOOD HOrE THROUGH GRACE. 

born of God doth not commit sin ; for liis seed 
remainetli in him, and lie cannot sin, because 
he is born of God." And thus our Saviour: 
"Ye are my friends, if ye do ivhatsoever I 
command you." But if we would make the 
Bible consistent with itself we must give 
these passages some latitude of meaning. 
The experience of the Avorld and the declara- 
tions of eternal truth assure us that "there 
is not a just man upon earth that sinneth 
not." We must not root out all religion from 
the earth because we do not find perfection 
in men. Moses sinned, Samuel sinned, Paul 
sinned, Peter sinned ; and yet they were all 
fervently pious. The melancholy fact is, that 
the best of men do sin greatly. They are 
sometimes the subjects of the most awfid 
defection. 

It is needless to conceal the truth, that the 
sins of good men are of an aggravated char- 
acter. It is in vain to say that they do not 
sin knoiuingly. They are indeed often sur- 
prised into the commission of sin ; but they 
often commit it with calmness and dehbera- 
tion. They often commit it in defiance to 
the sober dictates of reason, and in defiance 



PEACTICAL OBEDIENCE. 203 

to the most powerful conviction of their con- 
sciences. It is in vain to say that they do not 
sin voluntarily. No man was ever constrained 
to sin. Sin cannot be forced upon men con- 
trary to their own inclination. The children of 
God often complain that their hearts prompt 
them to sin, but their hearts never constrain 
them to act contrary to their inclination. 

The children of God do sin ; they sin know- 
ingly ; they sin voluntarily ; but they do not 
sin habitually. It is not the prevailing habit 
of their lives to disobey the commandments 
of God. This cannot be. " Sin does not 
reign in their mortal bodies, that they should 
obey it in the lusts thereof." Between the 
old man and the new, there is an unceas- 
ing conflict. " The flesh lusteth against the 
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh ; and 
these are contrary the one to the other, so 
that they cannot do the things that they 
would." StiU,. in the new-born soul, the 
flesh has not the ascendency. "The old 
man is crucified with Christ, that the body 
of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth 
we should not serve sin." This is most 
surely true of every behever. It is the pre- 



204 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

vailiug habit of liis life to obey the com- 
mands of God. He is solicitous to perform 
whatever God requires, and watchful to avoid 
whatever he forbids. No true Christian can be 
habitually more engaged in the service of the 
world and of sin, than in the service of God. 
His obedience, though not perfect, is habitual. 

It may also be added, that that conformity 
to the precepts of God's word upon which we 
may safely rely as a test of character, is per- 
severing. The disciple of Jesus Christ per- 
severes in his course to the end of life. He 
holds on his way. It is the characteristic, as 
weU as the blessedness of those who " trust in 
the Lord, that they are a-s Mount Zion which 
cannot be removed, but abideth for ever." 

The apostle John speaks of a class of pro- 
fessing Christians, that were somewhat mul- 
tiplied even in those early days of the Chris- 
tian church. He says, " They went out from 
us, but they were not of lis ; for if they had 
been of us, they would no doubt have con- 
tinued with us ; but they went out that they 
might be made manifest that they were not 
all of us." The true disciple " endures to the 
end." Though he foresees that his path is 



PEACTICAL OBEDIENCE. 205 

beset with obstructions on every side, still 
lie goes forward. Tliongli dangers may 
threaten and trials discourage him, leaning 
upon the Beloved, he goes forward. His 
most vigorous resolutions terminate upon his 
duty. He goes forward with a firm and Yig- 
orous step. No matter how rough the way, 
with an eye fixed on the " Author and Fin- 
isher of his faith," he goes forward with un- 
abated ardor, leaving the earth behind him, 
and animated with the prospect of heaven 
and glory before him. He is aiming at " the 
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Je- 
sus." No difficulties are so great, no fatigue 
so severe, as to divert him from his design. 
Perfection is his object. He cherishes no 
present intention to disobey at all. From 
the heart he desires and intends to yield a 
compliance, not merely to this or that requi- 
sition, but to all the divine requirements, 
without distinction, and without exception. 

Yfe have the highest warrant to believe 
that obedience thus cordial, habitual, and 
persevering, is conclusive evidence of our 
good estate. There are none but real Cluis- 
tians who thus persevere in the sincere and 



206 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

habitual practice of godliness. " The ways 
of the Lord are right, and the just shall 
walk in them, but the transgressors shall fall 
therein." The way of the Lord is a high 
way ; it is called " the way of hohness, and 
the unclean shall not pass over it." 

The Scriptures uniformly represent a hfe 
of practical godliness as a decisive test of 
Christian character. A holy life is the grand 
mark of distinction between the children of 
God and the children of the devil. " Li this 
the children of God are manifest, and the 
children of the devil : Whosoever doeth not 
righteousness is not of God." " Little chil- 
dren," saith the same apostle, "let no man 
deceive you : he that doeth righteousness is 
righteous ; he that committeth sin is of the 
devil." And again, " Hereby do we know 
that we know him, if we keep his command- 
ments." 

It is difficult to conceive how it can be 
otherwise. There is an inseparable connec- 
tion between a holy heart and a holy life. A 
holy life can no more proceed fi'om an unholy 
heart, than a pure stream can flow from an 
impure fountain. Wherever we find cordial, 



PKACTICAL OBEDIENCE. 20*1 

habitual, persevering obedience to tlie divine 
commands, there we have reason to believe 
the love of God dwells in the heart. Show 
me a man who makes the law of God the 
rule, and the glory of God the end of his 
conduct ; who is habitually devoted to the 
duties of piety and charity ; and I will show 
you one whose heart has been sanctified by 
the Spirit of grace. On the other hand, show 
me a man who, in the general course of his 
life, pays no regard either to the divine law or 
the divine glory ; who neither denies himself, 
nor exerts himself for the honor of God and 
the good of his fellow-men ; and I will show 
you a man who, notwithstanding all his hopes 
and his professions, has never felt the power, 
nor tasted the sweetness of genuine rehgion. 
The truth is, men sincerely and habitually 
act as they love to act. In forming a judg- 
ment concerning our own character, we have 
no right to view our practice better than our 
principles, nor our principles better than our 
practice. 

At the future judgment, there will be a 
pubhc trial of human character. The grand 
question then to be decided will be, Are you 



208 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

a child of God? Are you a believer in tlie 
Lord Jesus Christ? This question will be 
decided by evidence. And the evidence 
which the righteous Judge will view as con- 
clusive, will be a life of practical godliness. 
The Father, without respect of persons, will 
judge according to every man's tvorJc. When 
John, in the vision of Patmos, " saw the sea 
give up the dead which were in it, and death 
and hell give up the dead which were in them, 
they were judged every man according to his 
work." In looking forward to the process 
of that day, the reader may anticipate this 
grand rule of trial. If he leads a life of 
evangelical obedience, though that obedience 
is not the ground of his acceptance, it is evi- 
dence that he is accepted. And this is evi- 
dence that comes without looking for it. A 
life of humble, holy, Christ-hke obedience, 
carries hope and faith and comfort along 
with it. It is conclusive evidence that " the 
love of Christ constraineth you," and is not 
long maintained without filling the heart 
with Hght and joy. 

Come then and try your heart by the same 
rule whereby God tries it. God has given, 



PRACTICAL OBEDIENCE. 209 

or he will give you, a fair opportunity of 
proving your religion by bringing it into 
action. He proved Abraham, and the trial 
issued in the clearest evidence of Abraham's 
reHgion. He proved the young man in the 
gospel, and the result of the trial was, that 
he loved the world more than God. What 
is the issue of the trial in your case ? Frames 
and experiences and professions and hopes 
are nothing without Hves of practical godli- 
ness. "He that hath my commandments 
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." 

The plain question which was stated at 
the beginning of this essay, is a very impor- 
tant one. Does your religion express itself in 
your liahitual dejjortment — in prosperity, in 
adversity, in the family, in the world, among 
friends and foes ? Kemember, " he that hath 
the hope" of the gospel, "purifieth liimself 
even as Christ is pure." Does your love to 
God prompt you to a devout attendance upon 
all his institutions? Does it animate you 
with increasing attachment to his word and 
his service? Does your love to man lead 
you to " do justice and love mercy," to " live 
in peace with all men?" Does it make you 

Good Hope. 14 



210 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GEACE. 

tlie better husband, or the better wife ; the 
better parent, or the better child ; the better 
master, or the better servant; the better 
magistrate, or the better subject ; the better 
friend, or the better citizen ? 

The rehgion of Jesus Christ is not a sys- 
tem of empty speculations, designed to have 
no practical influence. It is not the offspring 
of ^ild enthusiasm, that exhausts all its force 
in feehng, and leaves none for action. "A 
good man out of the good treasure of the 
heart " necessarily " bringeth forth good 
things." Experience without practice is 
nothing ; and practice without experience is 
no more. Experimental rehgion consists in 
the reahty of the Christian graces, and in 
their due effect upon the life and conversa- 
tion. If you are an experienced Christian, 
you feel the power of rehgion in your heart, 
and exhibit it in your hfe. " The life of Jesus 
is made manifest" in some good degree "in 
your mortal flesh." You feel and act in some 
measure as Christ felt and acted. You dis- 
cover his Spirit; you imitate his example; 
you exhibit a firm and bold attachment to 
his cause. 



PEACTICAL OBEDIENCE. 211 

But with all tliy short-comings, "with all 
thy gross violations of duty, is such the ha- 
bitual course of thy hfe? Is thine a hfe of 
devotion, of meekness and humility; of su- 
jDreme attachment to heavenly and divine 
things; of self-denial, and of universal be- 
nevolence? Try your heart by your prac- 
tice, and your practice by your heart. If, 
after candid examination, you find reason to 
hope that you are one of God's dear chil- 
dren — washed with the blood, sanctified by 
the Spirit, clothed with the righteousness of 
the Well Beloved — cherish that hope as the 
gift of heaven. Dismiss your fears; bind 
yourself to be the Lord's in an everlasting 
covenant ; think less of yourself, and more 
and more of the name, the cross, the glory of 
your Kedeemer. Henceforth " let your light 
shine.'' " Seek ye first the kingdom of God 
and his righteousness, and all things shaU 
be added unto you." Or in other words, 
serve God, and God will take care of you. 
Submit to his will, trust in his grace, and 
resign yourseK uito his hands, mth the as- 
surance that " the Lord is tvell i^leased with 
those who liope in Ms mercy'' 



212 GOOD HOrE THROUGH GKACE. 



CONCLUSION. 

Let the reader review tlie preceding pages 
in tlie fear of God. The subject is of eternal 
moment. A mistake here is a mistake for 
eternity. Under a deep sense of his need of 
the searching influences of the divine Spirit, 
let him, as he reflects upon what he has read, 
adopt the language of the psalmist : "Search 
me, O God, and know my heart ; try me, and 
know my thoughts ; and see if there be any 
wicked way in me, and lead me in the way 
everlasting." 

" He that is not with me," saith the Sav- 
iour, "is against me." There is no principle 
within the whole compass of morals that 
admits of more strict demonstration than 
this, that there can be but two moral charac- 
ters that are essentially different. There 
must be necessarily in every intelligent being 
a conformity to the will of God, or the want 
of it. It is as impossible that a man should 
be neither right nor wi'ong, as it is that a 
portion of matter, at any given period, should 



CONCLUSION. 213 

be neitlier at rest nor in motion. It is ab- 
surd to suppose that he is neither a saint nor 
a sinner, neither penitent nor impenitent, 
neither a beHever nor an unbeliever. So 
long as men possess any moral character, 
they must view themselves, and be viewed by 
others, either for God or against him. In the 
great contest which enhsts the feelings and 
the power of three worlds, it is impossible 
that there should be a neutral. One side or 
the other will claim every intelligent being in 
heaven, on earth, and in heU. And it is right 
they should do so. If the Hue should now 
be drawn by the invisible hand of the great 
Searcher of hearts, on the one side would be 
the friends of God, on the other his enemies. 
Suffer me then, beloved reader, before I 
take leave of you, plainly, solemnly, and 
affectionately to ask the question. On ivliicli 
side do you stand ? K you possess nothing 
more than mere visible morahty, nothing 
more than the naked form of religion, noth- 
ing more than a speculative knowledge of the 
system of revealed truth, nothing more than 
simple conviction for sin, nothing more than 
a vain confidence of your own good estate, 



214 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE. 

connected witli some apparent zeal for tLe 
cause of God, and a few transient and spuri- 
ous affections, Low can you be one of tlie 
children of the everlasting Father? If you 
are a stranger to God, to repentance for sin, 
to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to evangel- 
ical humility, to genuine seK-denial, how can 
you cherish the hope that you are a Chris- 
tian? If you know nothing of the spirit of 
prayer, nothing of the love of the brother- 
hood, nothing of mortifying the spirit of the 
world, nothing of growth in grace, of cordial, 
habitual, persevering obedience to the divine 
commands, hoAV can it be that you have been 
"brought nigh by the blood of Christ?" If 
these things are so, " thou hast neither part 
nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not 
right in the sight of God." 

Does this agitate you? The ^mter of these 
pages takes no pleasiu'e in exciting needless 
alarm. But how can he raise the unhallowed 
cry, Peace, peace I when the eternal God saith, 
There is no p)^(^'Ce ? How can he raise the 
unhallowed cry, when every note of the syren 
song would only lull the hypocrite into a 
more death-hke security, and every sentence 



CONCLUSION. 215 

prove the blow to sink him deeper into the 
eternal pit ? Poor self-deceived man, who 
vainly imaginest that thou art in the w^ay to 
heaven, while tlion art in the way to hell, 
rather than amuse thee with tame, smooth, 
pretty things. Oh that I could raise a voice 
that would make thee " tremble, even in the 
grave " of trespasses and sins ! Be entreated 
to dismiss thy deceptions, to give up thy de- 
lusive confidence. Cast not the anchor of 
hope upon a shore so yielding that the final 
blast will break its hold. However hard the 
struggle, despair of mercy without being 
washed in the blood of Jesus. Cherish not 
a delusion which the king of terrors will tear 
from thy heart. 

But shall I presume that all my readers 
are hypocrites ? No ; many of them, I trust, 
are the dear people of God. Some of them 
may be weak in faith and weak in hope. 
Beloved Christian, I would not lisp a sylla- 
ble to rob thee of thy confidence. Though 
weak and trembling, there is every thing to 
encourage and strengthen thee. It cannot 
discourage you to examine closely whether 
the foundation of your hope be firm, whether 



216 GOOD HOPE THROUGH GEACE. 

your confidence is built upon tlie sand, or 
wlietlier it rest on the Rock of ages. Feeble 
Christians are called upon to mourn over 
their weakness. Their want of strength is 
their sin. Their graces may be well com- 
pared to the " dimly smoking flax." They 
emit Httle that warms and enhghtens. Theii* 
love is cold, their joys barren and poor. God 
hides his face, and they are troubled. Toss- 
ed like Peter on the tempestuous sea, they 
have hardly faith even to cry, " Lord, save, 
or I perish." Still they may rejoice. The 
Angel of the everlasting covenant lives. That 
precious covenant itself recognizes the heart- 
reviving principle, "Redemption through the 
blood of Jesus, forgiveness of sins according 
to the riches of his grace." Well then, be- 
liever, may est thou rejoice even in the midst 
of trembling. What though thou art bowed 
down under the weight of guilt ; what though 
poor in spirit, filled with apprehension, and 
almost hopeless; what though thou art like 
the "bruised reed" — frailty itself still more 
frail, ready to fall by the gentlest breeze : 
"A bruised reed shall he not break, and 
smoking flax shall he not quench." No, 



CONCLUSION. 217 

never. It shall not be broken, but support- 
ed, clierislied ; yea, by a hand that is omnip- 
otent transplanted to the garden of the Lord, 
and flourish in the courts of our God. The 
great Head will never disregard the feeblest 
members of his own body. 

There is a pecuHar adaptedness in the 
character of our Lord Jesus Christ to the 
weakness and fears of his people. Early was 
he designated as one who should "bear our 
griefs and carry our sorrows," commissioned 
to "bind up the broken-hearted" and to 
" comfort all that mourn." The man Christ 
Jesus is " touched with the feeling of our in- 
firmities ; he knoweth our frame ; he remem- 
bereth that we are dust." The Shepherd 
of Israel will " gather the lambs in his arms, 
and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead 
those that are with young." It is he that 
" giveth power to the faint ; and to them that 
have no might he increaseth strength." 

Oh behevers, that we aU might learn to 
fasten our affections, to rivet our hopes on 
the cross of Christ! Here is our comfort. 
We must tlihik much and make much of Christ. 
In him all fulness dwells. He is the Captain 
10 



218 GOOD HOPE TIIEOUGH GRACE. 

of jour salvation. He is a fountain for your 
uncleanness, and a light for jour waj. It is 
lie that is of God made unto his people wis- 
dom and righteousness and sanctiiication and 
complete redemj)tion. No matter how great 
jour guilt, rest on him, and he will be increas- 
inglj preciou.s — precious in life, precious in 
death, precious for ever. "While jour " Hfe is 
hid with Christ in God," however languid the 
throb, it shall never expire. 

Come then, "lift up the hands that hang 
down, and confirm the feeble knees." The 
heavens and the earth shall sooner crumble 
into their native nothing, than the feeblest 
lamb of the Shepherd's fold stumble and 
finallj fall. "Loose thjself," therefore, "fi'om 
the bands of thj neck, O captive daughter 
of Zion." If thou hast seasons of trial, be 
not alarmed ; if thou hast moments of de- 
spondencj and weakness, be not dismajed. 
" Fear not, thou w^orm Jacob, for thou shalt 
thrash the mountains and beat them small. 
Thj Kedeemer is the Holj One of IsraeL 
He will strengthen thee ; jea, he will help 
thee ; jea, he will uphold thee bj the right 
hand of his righteousness." Saj, is it not 



CONCLUSION. 219 

enougli ? " Thanks be imto God for liis un- 
speakable gift." 

I close then by beseecliing tlie reader to 
devote himself unreservedly to the Lord. 
"What, know y6 not that ye are not your 
own ? for ye are bought with a price ; where- 
fore glorify God in your body and your spir- 
it, which are his." "Eender unto God the 
things that are God's." What liigher delight, 
what greater privilege can you enjoy, than to 
consecrate all that you are and all that you 
possess to God? Come then and make a 
voluntary surrender of every thing to him, and 
choose his service as your highest delight. 

Henceforth let it be your greatest care to 
honor the Lord who has bought you. "As 
you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so 
walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and 
estabKshed in the faith, as you have been 
taught, abounding therein with thanksgiv- 
ing." Yes, blessed Eedeemer. " Other lords 
besides thee have had dominion over us ; but 
by thee only will we make mention of thy 
name." O thou eternal, incarnate God, I am 
thine, doubly thine, wholly thine — thine for 
ever. Amen. 



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AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

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