


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



■^rf 




'Time, It sepHX'aLt's, bnl il /<■//;-/< wfiJ .so. It i.iiccs 
iruniy ive [(.urlvnt it tukes us A' ;is jiiiuiv Ave 'Jove" 



Tuy^:::. 



^^A'®'^^^^^ 



^ m % 



414 



BY REV. WILLIAM KEVINS, D. D. 
Late Pastor of a Church in Baltimore. 



r 




PUBLISHED BY THE 

AMEniCAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU-STREET, NEVv'-YOIlK. 



D. Faoehaw, Friute* . 



.Vf5^.:> 






Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1836, by 
KuFDs L. Nevins, in the Clerk's Office of the District Coujt 
of the Southern District of NewYorlu 



^/•/V 



3 

C p. T. 



CONTENTS. 



Ho. Page, 

1. Do you Pray in Secret 1 7 

2. Do you Pray in your Family % - • - 13 

3. I must Pray more, * - - - - - 18 

4. I must Pray differently, 24 

5. Why Prayer is not heard, - - - - - 30 

6. I must Praise more, 38 

7. Do you remember Christ '? - - - - - 42 

8. I don't like Professions, 48 

9. Are you a Sabbath School Teacher *? - - - 53 

10. Do you attend the Monthly Concert 1 - • 61 

11. Why all Christians should attend the Monthly 

Concert, QQ 

12. Will any Christian be absent from the next 

Monthly Concert 1 71 

13. How came it to pass 1 - - - - - - 74 

14. Why the World is not Converted 1 - - 78 

15. The Conversion of the Church, - - - - 84 

16. Inquiring Saints, - 89 

17. Do you pay for a Religious Newspaper 1 - - 92 

18. Detached Thoughts, 95 

19. The late Mr. Wirt, 99 

20. Traveling on the Sabbath, - - - . 104 

21. Apologies for Travelling on the Sabbath, - - 111 

22. I have done giving, 118 

23. I will give liberally, ... - . 121 

24. The calls are so many, - . - - - 125 

25. I can't afford it, - - 129 

26. An example of Liberality, .... 134 

27. Another example of Liberality, - - - - 140 

28. More about Liberality, - - - - - 144 



4 CONTENTS. 

^<'' Page. 

29. A Tract Effort, - - 14cj 

30. Why the World should have the Bible, - - 153 

31. Mrs. M. L. Nevins, I57 

32. What strange beings we are, - - - - Igl 

33. What very strange beings we are, ... lOg 

34. Should it be according to thy mind *? - . 170 

35. How inconsistent we are, I75 

36. The Pity of the Lord, ..... I79 

37. Five Negatives, ----... I85 

38. How to dispose of care, - - ... I87 

39. Do you enjoy Religion 1 ..... j(^2 

40. Lovest thou me ? 19g 

41. The light of the World, 203 

42. The Salt of the Earth, 209 

43. The Distance of Death, - - - . . 013 

44. Why so loth to die 1 - - - . . ojq 

45. Heaven's Attractions, 225 

46. The Heavenly Recognition, - - . - 229 



The following pages consist of miscellaneous articles 
published by the lamented author within the year 1834 and 
the months of January and February, 1835, chiefly in the 
New-York Observer, with the signature "M. S." the finals 
of his name. They were written after the insidious disease 
by which God Avas pleased to transplant him to a higher 
sphere of labor had so affected his voice as in a great de- 
gree to disable him from his stated public ministrations. 
This discipline was evidently blessed in his rajud sanctifi- 
cation ; his obtaining uncommonly clear views of truth and 
duty; and his ardent desire to do something to rouse Chris- 
tians to greater attainments in personal holiness, and through 
their efforts and prayers to bless the world. His mind acted 
with unwonted vigor; he panted to speak to multitudes for 
God and eternity, and adopted the only means then remain- 
ing to him— his. pen. When about two-thirds of the articles 
were v/ritten, he w^as called suddenly to part with his bo- 
loved wife; and the hallowed influence of the affliction is 
most apparent in the subsequent articles, the last of which, 
*' Heaven's Attractions," with the additional fragment, 
seemed almost prophetic of the event which "was soon to 
follow. 

It was hoped that the substance of these articles might be 
embodied in a volume under the author's own supervision ; 
but his strength was inadequate to the task. They are now 
published in accordance with a few general suggestions 
made by him a little before his death, and in the form sul?? 
stantially in whicli they at fet appeeir?^. 



^^^^w^^^^ ^m^w^m^s^ 



1. Do you Pray in Secret? 

I know not how it is with the reader, but I know 
that many persons are not in the habit of secret pray- 
er. They have no closet, no place of retirement to 
which they daily resort, and where, when they have 
shut the door, they pray to their Father which is in 
secret, and in solitude seek the society of God. I am 
acquainted with one who for many years neglected 
this duty, which all religions recognize, and which 
even nature teaches. Sometimes he read the Bible, 
and no part of it oftener than the sermon on the 
mount. Of course he must have frequently read 
those words of the great Teacher, in w^hich, taking 
it for granted that his hearer prays, he tells him what 
he should do when he prays : *' But thou, when thou 
prayest, enter into thy closet ;" (the person is sup- 
posed to have some place called his closet, to which 
he is accustomed to retire for prayer;) " and when 
thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which 
is in secret ; and thy Father which seeth in secret 
shall reward thee openly." He read this, but he gave 
no heed to it. During all this period he asked no* 
thing, though he received much. God did not neg- 
lect him, though be neglected God ; and as he pray* 



8 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

ed none, so lie praised none. Sometimes, indeed, be 
said, " Thank God !" but it Avas said in so much 
thoughtlessness, that it was set down profaneness 
rather than praise. It is true, at that time he would 
never allow that he was ungrateful ; but he was, and 
now he sees that he was. He lived, and moved, and 
had his being in God, and yet was without God in 
the world. Many and precious were the thoughts 
of God towards him, but in all his thoughts God was 
not. Not even when he was in trouble did he ask, 
" Where is God my maker ?" 1 wonder the Lord 
had not become weary of bestowing his bounty on 
such an one. It is because he is the Lord and chan- 
ges not. But for that, the person of whom I speak 
would have been consumed long ago. There is no- 
thing he admires more than the long-suffering of 
God towards him, and he hopes to spend eternity in 
admiring it, and exchanging thoughts with his fel- 
low-redeemed on this and kindred subjects. 

He supposes that he is not the only one who has 
neglected secret prayer. He fears that this neglect 
is even now the habit of many. They are sliy of 
God. I know not why they should be. He is doing 
every thing to woo and win them, and to secure their 
confidence. So much has he done, that he asks (and 
I cannot answer) what he could have done more, 
He waits on his throne of grace to be, gracious to 
them, but they come not near to him. He even calls 
to ih^m t9 cpme tP him, using- tog the languajge of 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS, \) 

most affectionate address : " Son, my son ;" but they 
respond not, *' Abba, Father." It is strange they 
should treat this Father so. They treat no other fa- 
ther so. What child does not, in the morning, salute 
his father ? and what father does not expect the sa- 
lutation of each child as they come into his presence? 
Oh, yes, we love our father who is on earth ; and we 
remember with gratitude the favors he does us. And 
does the Father of our spirits, the giver of evtrp good 
gift, deserve no daily notice from us, no affectionate 
salutation, no grateful recognition of indebtedness to 
him ? I am certain he expects it, for he says, " A 
son honoreth his father : if then I be a Father, where 
is mine honor ?" He claims to be a Father; and 
O, how well he has established that claim ! Truly 
he is a Father, and " like as a father pitieth his 
children, so the Lord pitieth" his. And to the com- 
passion of the father he adds the tender care and un- 
tiring mindfulness of the mother. " Can a woman," 
he asks, " forget her sucking child ?" She may, he 
says, but He will not. How strange it is that men 
will not go to the closet to meet and to pray to such 
a Father ! 

Surely it is not for want of encouragement. If 
they have it not in his very nature, yet in his invita- 
tions, his promises, and his past acts of unsolicited 
kindness, they have all they could desire. Nor is 
it that they have no need of God. Never one of the 
prayerless will say that. They all know what would 



10 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

become of them but for that overlooking eye, and 
that supplying hand, and that supporting arm. And 
do they not know that God has a heart too — that he 
can love with all the fervor of a friend ? And can 
they not imagine that in the interchange of affection 
between God and the soul of man there may, and 
indeed must be, ineffable delight ? And who that 
looks but a little way forward, does not perceive an 
exigency when, in the utter inadequacy of earthly 
and human resources for comfort, he will want " the 
consolations of God ?" 

Ah, it is a sad as well as strange thing, that so 
many enter no closet! seek daily no retirement, either 
in their houses or elsewhere, where they may be a 
little while alone with God : where they may look 
up and meet the light of his countenance as he looks 
down on them ; where they may confess their sins, 
and receive assurance of his pardoning* love; where 
they may thank him for mercies past, and humbly 
ask for more ; where they may take counsel of him ; 
tell him of their griefs, and have their tears wiped 
away, and with him leave the weighty burden of 
their cares. 

I know not whether this excites more my grief 
or my wonder. I am not so much surprised that 
men should neglect a manifest duty, but when I think 
what a prurilegc it is, what a happiness, what an 
honor, to be on terms of intimacy, and in habits of 
intercourse with God, it amazes me that they should 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 11 

forego it. How will such reflect upon themselves here- 
after — how execrate their folly ! How will they won- 
der that they could have deliberately done their souls 
such a wrong ! Then it will be too late to redress 
the wrong. They sought not the Lord while he 
might be found — they called not upon him while he 
was near. Yea, though he called, they refused. Now 
they may call, but he will not answer. If any one 
who is living in the neglect of secret prayer shall 
read this, will he not be persuaded to commence the 
practice the very day he reads it, aye, that same hour, 
if it be possible ? If it be not convenient, let him make 
it convenient. Let other things give way for this, 
rather than this for any thing. Can he think his 
heart right in the sight of God, or his condition safe 
in prospect of eternity, while he neglects prayer ? 
How dare he live without prayer? Without it can 
he have courage to die? At the mercy-seat of God 
we may decline to appear, but before his judgment- 
seat we MUST all stand. How a frequent access to 
the first would prepare us for final arraignment at 
the other ! How it would familiarize us with the 
presence of God ! How it would serve to break the 
shock of the entrance into eternity ! 

Does any one, who is not in the habitual and daily 
practice of secret devotion, pretend to be a Christian ? 
It is but pretence. He may believe the creed of the 
Christian, but certainly he does not pursue the 'prac- 
tice nor possess the spirit of the Christian. Breath- 



12 PRACTICAL THOtJGHTS. 

ing is essential to living, and prayer is the Chris- 
tian's vital brealii. Does he walk with God who 
never converses with him ? 

Some spiritualize the direction of Christ, making 
the closet to mean the heatt, and the duty of private 
devotion to be discharged in mere mental prayer. 
But Christ did not so trifle. His closet was not his 
heart : he could not have meant that ours should be. 
He selected the still morning, and sought out the 
solitary place for prayer. May we be less attentive to 
the circumstances of time and place ? Shall we talk 
about entering into ourselves and there iJmiking 
prayer ? Jesus, even in his most retired intercourse 
with his Father, used his voice. That prayer, " Let 
this cup pass from me," was vocal — and that peti- 
tion, " God be merciful to me a sinner," was express- 
ed in words. Shall we reserve the voice exclusively 
for our intercourse with men, and not with it also 
supplicate and bless God ? 

Is any one inquiring after truth? What place 
more appropriate for asking " What is truth," than 
the closet? Who so likely to be taught of God as 
they who ask of God ? Some men carry that ques- 
tion to the Bible, and press it there, as indeed they 
should ; but they carry it not to the throne of grace, 
and press it there also. They read to know what 
truth is, but do not ^irraij to know it. 

Oh, how an hour in the morning, spent with God, 
prepares us pleasantly and profitably to pass the. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS: 13 

Other hours of the day with men ; and at night, what 
so composing as communion with God ! In resign- 
ing ourselves into the arms of sleep — that image of 
death, what security like that of prayer 1 It engages 
Him who never slumbers nor sleeps, to watch 
over us. 

Has any one become remiss in secret devotion ? 
What ! tired of God ? weary of communion with 
him ? How sad the state of such a soul ! 



Ji. »a srou Pifay In your Family t 

There are families that call not on the name of 
the Lord. Nor is it a new thing. There were such 
so long ago as when Jeremiah lived. He takes no- 
tice of them. He has a prayer about them. It seems 
he was divinely inspired to calF down the indigna- 
tion of the Lord upon such families. " Pour out thy 
fury," he says, " upon the families that call not on 
thy name." I would not like to have been a mem- 
ber of one of those families ; and much less the head 
of one of them. It must have been very offensive to 
the Lord that there were families in which he Was 
not acknowledged and worshiped. And if there 
were such families among v the heathen nations that 

offended him, how^ much more must it have dis* 
o 



14 fRACTICAL THOUGHTS. * 

pleaded him that there should be such farriilies even 
among his people Israel ! families that did not in 
the family capacity invoke him! I do not know 
why it should be less offensive now. I do not be- 
lieve it is. Famines are now under as great obliga- 
tion^ to God as ever they were. 

Some persons ask why we insist on family prayer 
as a duty. They say we cannot produce any precept 
enjoining it. That is true enough. But I wonder if 
that is not a duty, the omission of which is the sub- 
ject of prophetic denunciation. I wonder if that is 
not by iiTaplication commanded, the neglect of which 
brings down the wrath of God on those guilty of 
the neglect. There are some things so manifestly 
reasonable, and of such self-evident obligation, that 
they need no law expressly enjoining them. It is 
not necessary that they should be taught in so many 
toords. 

But if we have no express precept on the subject, 
we have pretty good examples in favor of it. I sus- 
pect Abraham, who was so careful to instruct his 
household in the way of the Lord, did not neglect 
to pray with them. And David, I am quite confi- 
dent, prayed in his family. It is said of him on one 
occasion, that "he returned to bless his household." 
No doubt there were both prayer and praise in that 
family. Certainly Joshua must have^'prayed in his 
house. How otherwise could he-liaTe fulfilled his 
resolution that his house as weli'as'hiinsolfshouUi 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 15 

serve the Lord ? What ! resolve that his house 
should serve the Lord, and not join with them in 
supplication for the grace to serve him ! That is 
not at all likely. 

Now I would ask if it is not proper and right that 
every head of a family should adopt the resolution 
of him who said, " as for me and my house, wc will 
serve the Lord?'' But can there be religion in a 
house without prayer? Is there not inconsistency 
in saying, " I and my family will serve God, but we 
will have no family altar nor offering ?" Is not prayer 
an essential part of the service of God ? I wonder if 
any one ever lived who supposed that family prayer 
was not more pleasing to God thanr the omission of 
it. I wonder if any one ever omitted it for fear of 
being guilty of will- worship, or through dread that 
it might for some reason offend God? I wonder if 
the practice of family prayer ever distressed any con* 
science. The omission of it has troubled many. 

It is admitted, I believe, to be the will of God that 
we should pray to him socially. The Lord's prayer 
was constructed for social use* The disciples wer^ 
directed to use it when they should pray together ; 
and it is accordingly in the plural number : not my 
Father, but " our Father." Now, is God to be so- 
cially worshiped, and yet not worshiped in that 
first, most permanent, and most interesting form of 
society — the form of society instituted by God him- 
self—the family? Is that to be believed? But the 



16 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

Lord's prayer seems not only intended for social, but 
for daily use. '* Give us this day our daily bread'* 
is one of its petitions. It does not contemplate the 
morrow. It asks supplies but for one day. Now if, as 
it appears from this reasoning, social prayer should 
be daily, where but in the family, the society which 
is abiding, and which a single roof covers, can it 
with propriety be daily? Should there be public re- 
ligious services daily, or daily prayer-meetings for 
this purpose ? Then, how suitable it is that those 
who together share their daily bread, should together 
daily ask it. 

How reasonable and comely is household reli- 
gion — family wbrship ! Common blessings, such as 
families daily share, call for common thanksgivings. 
Common wants, such as families together feel, call 
for common supplications. Is it not fit that families, 
in retiring to rest at night, should together commit 
themselves to the divine keeping; and in the morn- 
ing unite in praising the Lord for having been their 
protector 1 It is a clear case, it seems to me. Besides, 
fathers are directed to bring up their children ** in 
the nurture and admonition of the Lord." But can 
they do this while they pray not with them and for 
them? I do not know how we are to comply with 
the apostolical exhortation to pray '* every where," 
unless we pray in the family, as well as under 
other circumstances. 

Is any one in doubt whether the practice or omis- 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 17 

sion of family prayer will be the more pleasing sub- 
ject of retrospect from the dying bed, or the eternal 
world? Parents should not forget, that presently 
will come the long deferred and greatly dreaded 
season cf taking the last look, and the last leave of 
those whom their decease is to make orphans. O 
then, what a sweet thought it will be to enter into 
the dying meditation, that they have been in the 
daily habit of bowing down Avith their children iu 
prayer, and commending them to the care and grace 
of their heavenly Father, and that they may now 
indulge the confident hope that he will infinitely 
more than supply the paternal place which they are 
to leave vacant. 

But Avhat need of more argument ? I suspect every 
body secretly admits the obligation of family prayer. 
I judge so from the trouble many are at to apologize 
for the neglect. It tries them not a little to satisfy 
even themselves with an excuse. The usual plea is 
inahility. They have not the gift, they say. What 
gift ? Can they not collect their family together night 
and morning ? Have they not so much authority in 
their own house as that ? And then can they not 
read a portion of Scripture to them ; and kneeling 
down, express their common desires to God. If they 
cannot frame a prayer at the moment, yet can they 
not use a form? It requires np great gift to read a 
prayer in an audible voice. But what if it be hard 
at first, it will soon be easy, if persevered in. The 
2* 



18 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

beginning of almost every good habit is difficult. 
The most of those who make this apology, presume 
on their inability. They say they cannot before they 
have tried. But until they have tried, they do not 
know whether they can or not. What if some have 
tried once and failed. One failure should not dis- 
hearten them, nor two, nor even twenty. Demos- 
thenes tried speaking many times before he became 
an orator. Besides, how do those who presume on 
their inability to conduct family worship, know what 
assistance they might receive from God, if they were 
to make an humble and faithful experiment. 

If any one shall condescend to read this, who does 
not pray in his family, I advise him to commence 
immediately. He knows that he will never be sorry 
for it, if he does ; but he is not so sure that he may 
not be sorry for it if he does not. If there were no 
other reason in favor of the practice, this alone would 
be sufficient. I think it is Jay who says that a fa- 
mily without prayer is like a house without a roof — 
it has no protection. Who would like to live in such 
a house ? 



3. I must Fray more. 

I habitually feel this necessity, but the other day 
the conviction came to my mind with strange power, 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS, 19 

and I said with greater emphasis than ever, / must 
jpray more. It struck me with indescribable wonder 
that so little time should be employed, and so little 
energy expended in prayer, even by those who are 
prompt to acknowledge its dignity as a privilege, and 
its efficacy as a means of obtaining good. It is not 
now as it was in patriarchal times. We do not pray 
as Jacob did. He wrestled until the breaking of the 
day. Yes, his praying was wrestling, and it lasted 
all night. We put forth no such power in prayer, and 
we do not allow the repose of our nights to be inter- 
rupted by it. It is not because our wants are all sup- 
plied that we are so feeble and brief in prayer — nor 
is it that God's bounty is exhausted. We are as 
poor as creatures ever were, and He as rich and mu- 
nificent as ever. His hand is not shortened, neither 
his ear heavy. 

Only think how small a portion of each succes* 
sive day is spent in prayer. I wonder if any Chris- 
tian ever thought of it without being so dissatisfied 
as to resolve that he would spend more time in pray- 
er the next day. Just add together the minutes you 
daily occupy in supplication, and the kindred exer- 
cises of devotion, scriptural reading and meditation, 
and see to what it will amount. Will the sum total 
be one hour? What ! less than an hour a day in de- 
votion T'—'not one twenty- fourth part of time ! And is 
this all which can be afforded ? Let us see. How 
much time has business 1 Could not a little be saved 



20 PRACfTICAL THOUGHTS. 

from business for prayer ? Do you not give an hour 
or two more to business every day than it absolutely 
requires ? Then how much time has sleep for the re- 
freshment of the body ? Might not some little time 
be redeemed from sleep and spent in prayer, with 
more profit to the whole man than if it were given 
to repose ? Would not the soul thereby obtain a rest, 
w^hich would most favorably react on the body? I 
do not believe that the Psalmist suffered any thing 
in the day for the hours of night he spent in com- 
muning on his bed with his own heart and with God. 
I do not believe that even " tired nature " had any 
reason to complain of that interruption of the repose 
due to her. I suspect he enjoyed as good health, 
and was as vigorous through the day as we, though 
he rose at midnight to give thanks unto God, and 
prevented the dawning of the morning with his pray- 
er. Such interruptions of sleep are no loss even to 
the body. I am sure, and I think no one can doubt, 
that considerably more time might be afforded for 
prayer than is actually given to it. If we take none 
from business and none from sleep, yet could not 
some be spared from the table, or conversation, w'hich 
is not always the most profitable ? Perhaps some 
of us spend more time in barely receiving the body's 
nourishment, than wq do in the entire care of the 
soul ! But not to dwell to tediousness on this topic. 
You have only to look back on a day, to perceive 
how much of it might have been spent in prayer and 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 21 

devotion without interfering with any thing which 
ought not to be interfered with. 

Seeing then that we can pray more — that time 
can be afforded for it, I am amazed that we do not 
pray more. If prayer was nothing but a duty, we 
ought to pray more. We do not pray enough to dis- 
charge the mere obligation of prayer. We are com- 
manded to pray more than we do, aye, to pray " with- 
out ceasing." But prayer, while it is a duty, is ra- 
ther to be viewed by us in the light of a privilege. 
And O it is such a privilege ! What a favor that 
we may petition God and ask of him eternal life, with 
the confidence that we shall not ask in vain ! How 
strange it is that we no more value and exercise this 
'privilege of prayer ! It is astonishing that the sense 
of want, or the desire of happiness, does not carry us 
oftener to the throne of grace, and that we should 
ever require to be incited to prayer by the stimulus 
of conscience. Oh I I wonder that we do not often- 
er go in unto the King, whose gracious sceptre is 
ever extended towards us — I wonder we have not 
more frequent and longer interviews with our hea- 
venly Father. It is strange we do not pray more, 
when prayer is the easiest way of obtaining good. 
What is so easy as to ask for what we want ? How 
could we receive blessings on cheaper terms ? Sure- 
ly it is easier than to labor, and less expensive than 
to buy. It may be hard to the spirit to ask of men. 
To beg of them you may be ashamed. But no such 



22 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

feeling" should keep you aloof from God. He givetH 
and upbraideth not. 

But prayer is not merely the easiest way of obtain- 
ing good. It is the only way of obtaining the great- 
est of all good. The subordinate necessaries^ of life 
we get by labor or purchase ; but the things we most 
need are given in answer to prayer. The one thing 
needful is a divine donation. We ^5^:, and receive it. 
Now we labor much. Why do we not pray more 1 
Do we seek a- prvfitable employment ? None is so 
profitable as prayer. No labor makes so large a re- 
turn. If you have an unoccupied hour — and you 
have many, or might have — by redeeming time, you 
cannot employ it in any wsij that shall tell so favorably 
on your interests as by filling it up with petitions to 
God. Yet when we have such an hour, how apt we 
are to spend it in unprofitable intercourse with our 
fellows, rather than in communion with God. It is 
wonderful that we talk so much, when " the talk of 
the lips tendeth only to penury," and pray so little, 
when prayer "brings a quick return of blessings in 
variety." 

Is there any thing attended by a purer pleasure 
than prayer ? One who knew, said, ** It is good for 
me to draw near to God " — and again, *' It is good 
to sing praises unto our God : for it is pleasant, and 
praise is comely." All the exercises of devotion are 
as full of pleasure as they are abundant in profit. 
But prayer is not only a means of getting good 



fRACtlCAL TAOU^nTfl. 23 

II is such a means of doiitg good, that I wonder our 
benevolence does not lead us to pray more. We are 
commanded, ** as we have opportunity," to do good 
unto all men. Now prayer affords us the opportu- 
nity of being universal benefactors. Through God 
we can reach all men. We can make ourselves felt 
by all the world, by moving the hand that moves it 
In no other way can we reach all. Prayer makes 
us, in a sense, omnipresent and omnipotent. It pre- 
vails with Him who is both. 

The world needs your intercessions. It lies in 
wickedness. Zio^ needs them. She languishes be- 
cause few pray for her peace ; few come to her so- 
lemn assemblies. Whose family needs not the pray- 
ers of its every member ? Who has not kindred that 
are out of Christ ? With such a call upon us for 
prayer so urgent, and from so many quarters, I won- 
der we pray no more. 

I must pray more, for then I shall do more — more 
for God, and more for myself; for I find that when I 
pray most, I accomplish more in the briefer intervals 
between my devotions, than when I give all my timo 
to labor or study. I am convinced there is nothing 
lost by prayer. I am sure nothing helps a student 
like prayer. His most felicitous hours — his hours 
of most successful application to study, are those 
which immediately follow his seasons of most fer- 
vent devotion. And no wonder. Shall the collision 
of created ihitids with each other produce in them a 



24 l^RAGTlCAt THOUGHTS. 

salutary excitement, and shall not the communion of 
those minds with the infinite Intelligence much more 
excite them, and make them capable of wider thought 
and loftier conceptions ? 

, I must pray more,, because other Christians, whose 
biography I haye read, have prayed more than I do. 

God is disposed to hear more prayers from me 
than I offer ; and Jesus, the Mediator, stands ready 
tQ present more for me, 

If I pray more, I shall sin less. 

I will pray more. The Lord help to fulfill this 
resolution. • • 



4. I mtist Pray dilTerently* 

Some time ago I felt strongly the necessity of 
praying more, and I expressed that impression in an 
article entitled, " I must pray more." Now I feel that 
I must not only pray more, but differently ; and that 
my praying more will not answer any good purpose, 
unless I also pray differently. I find that quality 
is to be considered in praying as well as quantity ; 
and, indeed, the former more than the latter. We 
learn frorti Isaiah, chapter 1, that it is possible to 
make many prayers, or to multiply prayer, as it is 
in the margin, and yet not be heard. The Scribes 



PkACTlCAL THOUGHTS. SS 

mid Pharisees made long prayers; but their much 
praying availed them nothing, while the single short 
petition of the publican was effectual to change his 
entire prospects for eternity. It was because it was 
prayer of the right kind. It is a great error to sup* 
pose that we shall be heard for our much speaking. 
Let me, however, say, that while length is not by it- 
self any recommendation of prayer, yet we have the 
highest and best authority for continuing a long time 
in prayer. We know who it was that, " rising up a 
great while before day," departed into a solitary place, 
•and there prayed ; and of whom it is recorded in an- 
other place, that he *' continued all night in prayer to 
God." Certainly they should spend a great deal of 
time in prayer, who are instructed to '* pray with- 
out ceasing." It is in the social and public worship 
of God that long prayers are out of place. 

But to return from this digression. I must pray 
differently; and I will tell you one thing which has 
led me to think so. I find that I do not pray efpc- 
tually. It may be the experience of others, as <^ci{ 
as of myself I do not obtain what I ask ; and that 
though I ask for the right sort of things. If I asked 
for temporal good, and did not receive it, I should 
know how to account for it. I should conclude that 
I was denied in m.ercy ; and that my prayer, though 
iiot answered in kind, was answered in better kind. 
But I pray for spiritual blessing— for what is inhe- 
rently and under all circumstances good, and do not 



26 PftACflCAL THOtTGHtS. 

obtain it. How is this ? There is no fault in thd 
hearer of prayer — no unfaithfulness in God. The 
fault must be in the offerer. I do not pray right. 
And since there is no use in asking without obtain- 
ing, the conclusion is that I must pray differently. 

I find, moreover, that I do not pray as they did in 
old time, whose prayers were so signally answered. 
When I compare my prayers with those of the Pa- 
triarchs, especially with that of Jacob-^and with the 
prayers of the prophets, those, for instance, of Eli- 
jah and Daniel ; when I compare my manner of 
making suit to the Savior, with the appeals made to 
him by the blind men, and by the woman of Canaan ; 
and above all, when I lay my prayers along side of 
His, who " offered up prayers and supplications with 
strong crying and tears," I perceive such a dissimi- 
larity, that I thence conclude I must pray differently. 

I find also that I do not urge my suits to God as 
I do those which I have sometimes occasion to make 
to men. I am wiser as a child of this world, than I 
am as one of the children of light. When I want 
to carry a point with a human power, I find that I 
take more pains, and am more intent upon it, and 
use greater vigilance and effort, than when I want to 
gain something of God. It is clear, then, that I must 
alter and reform my prayers. I must pray difierently. 

But in what respects ? How difierently I 

1. I must not speak to God at a distance. I must 
draw near to him. Nor that alone. I must stir my- 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 27 

self up to tahc hold of him. Isaiah, 61 : 7. Yea, 
I must take hold of his strength, that I may make 
peace with him. Isaiah, 27 : 5. I have been satisfied 
with approaching God. I must, as it were, appre- 
hend him. 

2. I must not only take hold of God in prayer, 
but 1 must hold fast to him, and not let him go, ex- 
cept he bless me. So Jacob did. There were two 
important ingredients in his prayer — faith and per- 
severance. By the one he took hold of God ; by 
the other he held fast to him till the blessing was 
obtained. 

3. I must be more affected by the subjects about 
which I pray. I must join tears to my prayers. 
Prayers and tears used to go together much more 
than they do now. Hosea says that Jacob " wept 
and made supplication." Hannah wept while she 
prayed. So did Nehemiah, and David, and Heze- 
kiah; and God, in granting the request of the last 
mentioned, uses this language : " I have heard thy 
prayer, I have seen thy tears." But a greater than 
all these is here. Jesus offered up prayers ** with 
strong crying and tears." Some think it unmanly 
to weep. I do not know how that may be ; but I 
know it is not unchristian. It is thought by some, 
that men must have been more addicted to tears then 
than they are now ; but it is my opinion that they 
felt more, and that is the reason they wept more. 
Now I must feel so as to weep ] not by constraint, 



28 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

but in spite of myself. I must be so affected, that 
God shall see my tears as well as hear my voice ; 
and in order to being so affected, I must meditate. 
It was while David mused that the fire burned ; and 
then he spake with his tongue in the language of 
prayer. And we know that w^hich melted his heart 
affected his eye, for in the same Psalm, the 39th, he 
says, " Hold not thy peace at my tears." 

4. There are other accompaniments of prayer 
which I must not omit. Nehemiah not only wept 
and prayed, but also mourned, and fasted, and made 
confesdon. Why should not I do the same ? 

5. I must plead as well as pray. My prayers must 
be more of the nature of arguments — and I must 
make greater use than I have ever done of certain 
pleas. There is one derived from the character of 
God. " For thy name! s sake pardon mine iniquity. 
Have mercy on me according to thy loving kiiid- 
nessJ^ Another is derived from ihe promises of God. 
" Hath he said, and shall he not do it; or hath he 
spoken, and shall he not make it good ?" Another 
is drawn from the past doings of God. " I will re- 
member the years of the right hand of the Most High, 
I will remember the works of the Lord ; surely I 
will remember thy wonders of old." I must also 
plead Christ more in my prayers. The argument 
is drawn out to our hands by Paul : " He that spared 
not his own Son .... how shall he not with him 
also freely give us all things?" 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 29 

6. But again : I must cry unto the Lord. Cry- 
ing expresses more than praying. It expresses earn- 
est, fervent prayer. This is what they all used to do. 
They cried to God. The Psalmist says : " I cried 
with my whole heart.^^ I must cry with my whole 
heart — yea mightily, ^s even the Ninevites did, else 
those heathen will rise up in the judgment and con- 
demn me. 

7. I must seek the Lord in prayer, feeling as did 
Job, when he said, " O, that I knew where I might 
find him, that I might come even to his seat !" And 
this I must do, as Judah is once said to have done, 
with my " whole desire." Yea, I must search for 
him with all my heart. I must even ])our out my 
heart before him, as the Psalmist, on one occasion, 
exhorts. I must " keep not silence, and give him 
no rest," as Isaiah directs ; " night and day praying 
exceedingly^'' as Paul says he did. 

8. And I must pray in the Holy Ghost, as Jude 
exhorts. We need the Spirit to help our infirmi- 
ties, and to make intercession for us. Nor should 
we be satisfied with any prayer in which we have 
not seemed to have his help. 

Finally, I must alter and alter my prayers, till I 
get them right ; and I must not think them right un- 
til I obtain the spiritual blessings which they ask. 
If I pray for more grace, and do not get it, I must 
pray differently for it, till I do obtain it. 

Oh, if Christians prayed differently, as well as 
3* 



30 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

more, what heavenly places our closets would be ! 
What interesting- meetings prayer-meetings would 
be ! What revivals of religion we should have ! how 
frequent, numerous, and pure ! What a multitude 
of souls would be converted ! What joyful tidings 
we should hear from our Missionary stations, and 
from the heathen world ! Oh, what times we should 
have ! The Millennium would be on us before we 
knew it. 

And because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truths 
the offering of a different kind of prayer for the Spi- 
rit, would do more to put down error than all other 
means which can be resorted to. The preachers of 
truth cannot put it down without the aid of the Spi- 
rit of truth. 

Let us then pray differently. Let us at least ^r^. 
I am sure it is worth the effort. Let every one who 
reads this resolve, " I will pray differently.'* 



5. Wliy Prayer is not Heard. 

There are some who are not at all interested in 
this inquiry. They offer no prayer. There is in 
their case nothing to be heard. They are content 
with the things which are to be had without asking. 
Such are in a bad way, and I suspect they some- 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 31 

times themselves think so. That dependent crea- 
tures should habitually and devoutly acknowledge 
their dependence before God ; and that needy crea- 
tures, whose necessities return every day, and in- 
deed recur with every moment, should ask God to 
supply them, is too reasonable a thing for men to neg- 
lect it, and yet be at perfect peace with themselves. 
But to pass from those who never make the expe- 
riment of prayer, we observe that some pray with- 
out any expectation or care to be heard. To obtain 
is not their object. Their end is accomplished in ask- 
ing. They hear and judge that prayer is a duty owed 
to God. They therefore pray, that they may dis- 
charge this duty ; and having prayed, and so done 
their duty, they are satisfied. Of course such per- 
sons obtain nothing. Why should they ? If a child 
of yours should come and ask you for any thing 
from a mere sense of duty, you would say, " Very 
well, you have done your duty, go;" but you would 
not give him the thing. He did not ask it with any 
wish to get it. He does not feel his want of it. He 
meant only to do his duty in asking. It makes very 
little difference with such what is the matter of their 
prayer — what petitions they offer. Any thing that 
is of the nature of supplication will do. It is true, 
they generally pray for the right things, because the 
prayers they have heard and read petitioned for 
^such, and they fall naturally into that style of prayer. 
Ask such persons if their prayers are heard, and you 



32 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

astonish them. That is what they never looked for. 
They never asked any thing with the hope of re- 
ceiving it — never prayed from a sense of want. I have 
sometimes thought, how many would never pray, if 
prayer was not a duty. They never pray except 
when urged to it by conscience. As a privilege, they 
set no value on it. Now the truth is, when a man is 
really engaged in prayer, he altogether forgets that 
it is a duly. He feels that he wants something which 
God alone can give, and therefore goes and asks it ; 
and feeling that he wants it very much, he is in 
earnest, asks and asks again, and waits and pleads 
for it, till he gets it. Does any one suppose that the 
publican smote on his breast, and cried, " God be 
merciful to me a sinner," from a sense of duty, and 
not rather from a conviction of sin, and a deep feel- 
ing of his need of mercy ? And yet how many ask 
for mercy from a mere sense of duty. They have 
their reward, but they do not obtain mercy. 

Some prayers proceed from a conviction of want, 
while there is no seiise of want. The persons judge 
that they need ihe things they ask for, but they do 
not feel their need of them. Now, prayers, which 
come from no deeper source than the understanding, 
are not heard. They must come from the heart. 
True prayer always originates in the heart. It is 
the heart's sincere desire. Or, as another has well 
described it, *' It is a sense of want, seeking relief 
from God." 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. oo 

But there may be a sense of want, and yet no real 
desire for that which is adapted to the supply of the 
want. In that case the prayer, not being sustained 
by a corresponding desire in the heart, is not heard. 
There is a conflict here. The lips pray one thing 
and the heart another. The request is perhaps to 
be delivered from all sin, but the desire is to be de- 
livered from all but one or two favorite sins. Now 
it would be strange if God should grant a man's re- 
quest to the disregard of his desire — that he should 
attend to the lips rather than the heart, and answer 
the prayer according to its terms rather than its 
meaning. 

But sometimes the desire for the thing requested 
is real, w^hile the mischief is, it is not far amount — 
It is not supreme. This is a common case. The 
prayer expresses what is desired, but not what is 
desired on the whole. Many really wish to be reli- 
gious, and they pray that they may be so, but they 
do not on the whole desire it. They have a strange 
wish to be something else which is incompatible 
with their being religious. Again, some sincerely 
desire the progress of the Gospel, and pray, " thy 
kingdom come," but they desire still more to take 
their ease, or to keep their money. Perhaps some of 
this description attend the Monthly Concert. But 
desire may be sincere and supreme, and yet not in- 
tense. Effectual prayer is the expression of intense 
desire. The examples of successful prayer recorded 



34 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

in the Bible evince this. The woman of Canaan sin- 
cerely, supremely, and intensely desired what she 
asked. Such was the character of Jacob's desire for 
a blessing, and of the publican's for mercy. Where 
the desire of spiritual blessings is not very strong, it 
shows that these blessings are not suitably estimated. 

A great deal depends on having a petition pro- 
perly presented. It is all-important to get it into the 
right hands. A petition frequently fails through in- 
attention to this. If the proper person had been en- 
gaged to present and urge it, it would have been 
granted. This holds true of suits to the throne of 
the heavenly grace. We must ask in the name of 
Christ. We must put our petitions into his hands, 
and engage the great Advocate to present and urge 
them. Him the Father always hears. Even the 
prayers of the eaints need an incense to be offered 
along with them to render them acceptable. That 
incense is Christ's intercession. 

To 'present a petition is one thing. To prosecute 
a suit is another. Most prayer answers to the former. 
But successful prayer corresponds to the latter. The 
children of this world are in this respect wise in 
their generation. When they have a petition to car- 
ry, they go with it to the seat of government, and 
having conveyed it by the proper channel to the 
power which is to decide upon it, they anxiously 
await the decision, in the meantime securing all the 
influence they can, and doing every thing possible 



PRACTICAL TTIOtTGHTS. 35 

to ensure a favorable result. So should the children 
of light do. But frequently they just lodge their pe- 
tition in the court of heaven, and there they let it lie. 
They do not press their suit. They do not employ 
other means of furthering it, beyond the simple pre- 
senting of it. They do not await the decision on it. 
The whole of prayer does not consist in taking hold 
of God. The main matter is holding on. How many 
are induced, by the slightest appearance of repulse, to 
let go, as Jacob did not ! I have been struck with 
the manner in which petitions are usually conclud- 
ed: '*And your petitioners will ever prayP So 
"men ought always to pray, (to God,) and never 
faint.'' Payson says : *' The promise of God is not 
to the act, but to the habit of prayer." 

Sometimes prayer is not heard, because not offered 
in faith. " He that cometh to God, must believe." 
Yea, he must "ask in faith, nothing wavering." 
Sometimes it is for want of a concomitant submission 
to the will of God. He who said, *' let this cup pass 
from me," added, " nevertheless, not as I will, but as 
thou wilt." Often prayer fails because the direction 
to pray every where is neglected. The petition pro- 
ceeds from the closet, but is not also offered in the fa- 
mily, in the social meeting, and in the solemn assem- 
bly. Sometimes a specific direction is given concern- 
ing something to be done in connection with prayer, 
which being neglected, the prayer by itself is una- 
railiflg. Thus, in order that we may not enter into 



36 PRACTICAL TliOtJGHTS. 

temptation, we are commanded to *' watch and pray.^* 
Vain is prayer to secure against temptation, if vigi-* 
lance be omitted. Prayer is sometimes ineffectual, 
because too general. When we ask many things, 
it commonly indicates that we are not in earnest for 
any thing. The heart is incapable of being at the 
same time the subject of many intense desires. The 
memorials of the children of this world are specific. 
They are rarely encumbered with more than one 
petition. Does any one suppose that when prayer 
was made of the church for Peter, being in prison, 
they prayed for every body and every thing first, 
and only brought in Peter's case at the close? 

Petitions have usually numerous signatures. So 
should there be union in prayer among Christians. 
Social supplication has particular value in the esti- 
mation of God. Special promises are made to it. 
Need I say that allowed sin vitiates prayer % " If I 
regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear 
me." 

There is a regard to the promises which ought to 
be had in prayer. Moreover, confession of sin out of 
a broken heart, and gratitude for good received, 
should accompany it. And there is a ** praying in 
the Holy Ghost," which we should aim to under- 
stand and realize. 

At an earlier stage of these remarks I might liave 
observed that some prayer is not heard, because it is 
sa/id rather than prayed. Now, prayer oitght to be 



PRACTICAL tHOUGHTS. S? 

prayed. The closet is not the place for recitation. 
What more common than this expression : " I must 
5^3^ my prayers?" Must you indeed? Is this the 
way you speak of it ? Is it a task to which you ar@ 
going reluctantly to apply yourself? and sap your 
prayers too 1 How this contrasts with the cheerful 
purpose of the Psalmist, " My voice shalt thou heat 
m the morning, O Lord ; in the morning will I di- 
rect my prayer unto thee, and will look up." 

Perhaps one brings his gift to the altar, and for* 
gets that his brother has aught against him ; or re* 
membering it, does not go first and seek reconcilia- 
tion with him, but proceeds to offer his gift, and that 
is the reason it is not accepted. 

Many a Christian hinders his prayer by indulg- 
ing in that species of unbelief, which surmises that 
what he asks is too great a thing for God to bestow- 
on one so unworthy as he is. He forgets that the 
greatest, aye the greatest gift, has already been con* 
ferred in God's own Son, and the foundation therein 
laid for the argument, '* how shall he not with him 
also freely give us all things ?" God, having begun 
his bounty in such a style of magnificence, consist- 
ency requires him now to go on, and do the greatest 
possible thing for the recipients of his Son, 



38 PRACTICAL THOUGHT*. 

6« I tnnst Praise more* 

The title of a recent article was, *' I must fray 
more ;" and in it I expressed wonder that we pray 
so little, and gave reasons why we should pray more. 
But it strikes me that we ought to praise more as 
well as pray more. I do not know how it is with 
others, hut I know that I have a great deal for 
which to be thankful and to praise God. I feel that 
it will not do for me to spend all my breath in pray- 
er. I should thus, it is true, acknowledge my de- 
pendence on God ; but where would be the acknow- 
ledgment of his benefits conferred upon me ? I must 
spend a part of my breath in praise. O ! to be ani- 
mated from above with that life, whose alternate 
breath is prayer and praise! God has been very 
good to me. Yes, he has exercised goodness towards 
me in all its various forms of pity, forbearance, care, 
bounty, grace and mercy ; or to express all in one 
word, " God is love," and he has been love to me. 
I do not know why he should have treated me so 
kindly. I have sought, but can find no reason out of 
himself I conclude it is because he '* delighteth in 
mercy." His nature being love, it is iiatural for him 
to love his creatures, and especially those whom he 
has called to be his children. O ! the goodness of 
God ! The thought of it sometimes comes over me 
with very great power, and I am overwhelmed in 
admiration. Nothing so easily breaks up the foun- 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 39 

tain of tears within me. Those drops, if I may jud^e 
from my own experience, were intended as much to 
express gratitude as grief I think I shall be able, 
Avithout weariness, to spend eternity on the topic of 
divine love and goodness. 

Reader, can you not adopt my language as your 
own ? Has not God been the same to you ? And shall 
we not praise him ? Shall all our devotion consist in 
prayer ? Shall we be always thinking of our wants, 
and never of his benefits — always dwelling on w^hat 
remains to be done, and never thinking of what has 
already been done for us — always uttering desire, and 
never expressing gratitude — expending all our voice 
in supplication, and none of' it in song ? Is this the 
way to treat a benefactor ? No, indeed. It is not just 
so to treat him ; neither is it wise. It is very bad 
policy to praise no more than Christians in genera] 
do. They would have much more success in pray- 
er, if one-half the time they now spend in it were 
spent in praise. I do not mean that they pray too 
much, but that they praise too little. I suspect the 
reason why the Lord did such great things for the 
Psalmist was, that, while he was not by any means 
deficient in prayer, he abounded in praise. The 
Lord heard his psalms, and while he sung of mercy 
shown, showed him more. And it would be just so 
with us, if we abounded more in praise and thanks- 
giving. It displeases God that we should be always 
dwelling on our wants, as if he had never supplied 



40 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

one of them. How do we know that God is not 
waiting for us to praise him for a benefit he has al- 
ready conferred, before he will confer on us that other 
which we may be now so earnestly desiring of him ? 
It is wonderful how much more prone we are to for- 
get the benefit received, than the benefit wanted — in 
other words^ how much more inclined we are to of- 
fer prayer than praise. For ont who olTers genuine 
praise, there may be found ten that pray. Ten lepers 
lifted up their voices together in the prayer, " Jesus, 
Master, have mercy on us," but only one of the ten 
" returned to give glory to God." The rest were sa- 
tisfied with the benefit — this one only thought grate- 
fully of the benefactor. His gratitude obtained for 
him, I doubt not, a greater blessing than ever his 
prayer had procured ; and praise has often, I believe, 
in the experience of the people of God, been found 
more effectual for obtaining blessings than prayer. 
A person, being once cast upon a desolate island, 
spent a day in fasting and prayer for his deliverance, 
but no help came. It occurred to him then to keep 
a day of thanksgiving and praise, and he had no 
sooner done it than relief was brought to him. You 
see, as soon as he began to sing of mercy exercised, 
the exercise of mercy was renewed to him. The 
Lord heard the voice of his praise. 

Christian reader, you complain perhaps that your 
prayer is not heard ; suppose you try the efficacy of 
praise. Peradventure you will find that the way to 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 41 

obtain new favors is to praise the Lord for favors re- 
ceived. Perhaps, if you consider his goodness, he 
will consider your wants. It may be you are a pa- 
rent, and one child is converted, but there is another 
concerning whom you say, " O that he might live 
before Thee !" Go now and bless the Lord for the 
conversion of 'the first, and it is very likely he will 
give thee occasion shortly to keep another day of 
thanksgiving for the salvation of the other. Some of 
us are sick. Perhaps it is because we did not praise 
the Lord for health. We forget that benefit. We 
do not forget our sickness. O no. Nor is there 
any lack of desire in us to get well. We pray for 
recovery. And so we should ; but it strikes me that 
we might get well sooner were we to dwell with less 
grief and despondency on our loss of health, and. to 
contemplate with cheerful and grateful admiration 
what God has done for our souls — the great love 
wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in 
sins; and how he spared not his own Son, that he 
might spare us ; and gives us now his Spirit, to be in 
us the earnest of heaven, our eternal home. If we 
were to think such thoughts, to the forgetfulness of 
our bodily aliments, I judge it would be better for 
the whole man, body and soul both, than any other 
course we can pursue. If the affliction should still 
continue, we should count it light, aye, should re- 
joice in it, because it is his will, and because he 
says he means to make it work our good. 
4* 



42 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

There is nothing glorifies God like praise. *' Who- 
so offereth praise, glorifieth me." Ps. 1 : 23. Prayer 
expresses dependence and desire ; but praise admi- 
ration and gratitude. By it men testify and tell all 
abroad that God is good, and thus others are persuad- 
ed to "taste and see that the Lord is good." Praise 
is altogether the superior exercise of the two. Pray- 
er may be purely selfish in its origin, but praise is in- 
genuous. Praise is the employment of heaven. An- 
gels praise. The spirits of the just made perfect 
praise. We shall not always pray, but we shall ever 
praise. Let us anticipate the employment of heaven. 
Let us exercise ourselves unto praise. Let us learn 
the song now, " O tbat men would praise the Lord 
for his goodness." But above all, " let the saints be 
joyful in glory : let them sing aloud upon their beds." 
I charge thee, my soul, to praise him, and he will 
never let thee want matter for praise. " While I live 
will I praise the Lord : I will sing praises unto my 
God while I have any being." 



7* Do yoii remcuiber Clvrlst? 

I know you cannot help thinldng of Christ some- 
times. His story is too extraordinary to be heard 
once and never attain remembered. There is also 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 43 

much which we daily see and hear to remind us of 
him. Doubtless you often involuntarily remember 
him ; but do you voluntarily, and of choice, remem- 
ber him ? Do you ever, by an exercise of volition, 
recall the memory of him 1 He is sometimes in- 
truded into the society of your thoughts, but do you 
ever invite him there ? Do you ever say, " Come 
now, let me think of Christ ?" I doubt not you do 
this also. You voluntarily remember — you call to 
mind his incarnation, his miracles of mercy, his 
doctrine, his example, his resurrection ; but do you 
particularly remember his death ? His death was 
the main circumstance in his history. Do your 
thoughts, passing from the manger along the track 
of his sorrowful story, fasten on the cross ? 

May I ask, moreover, with what you remember 
him ? Whether it is a mere intellectual operation, 
or one in which the heart is conjoined ? There are 
recollections which pass across the mind without 
ever stirring the most easily excited emotions of the 
heart. Is your recollection of Christ of this kind ? 
or do yon feel while you think of him? Do your 
affections move in the line of your thoughts, and 
collect about the same centre? Jesus ought to be 
remembered with the heart. We should feel when 
we think of him. You say, perhaps, " I do not only 
mentally, but cordially remember Christ." But do 
you remember him practically ? Do you do any 
thing in remembrance of him ? It is customary not 



44 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

only to remember, but to commemorate great bene- 
factors ; and that not merely by speaking of their 
benevolent exploits, but by some appropriate acts. 
Do you this with respect to Christ, that greatest, best 
of benefactors? 

Perhaps you answer : " I do many things out of 
regard to the memory of Christ. His precepts ge- 
nerally I endeavor to obey." That is all very well ; 
but do you that which he appointed, or requested to 
be done in remembrance of him, on that " same night 
in which he was betrayed ?" Some do not. Even 
some who profess respect, and indeed love for Christ, 
do not ! It is strange, but so it is. They remember 
Christ in their own way, but not in his way. They 
do some things in remembrance of him, but not that 
which he said " ^(?." I wonder they do not adopt 
his way. I cannot help suspecting their love when 
I see they do not. It always appeared to me that such 
a benefactor as Christ ought to be remembered in his 
own way — that he deserved to have the privilege of 
saying how he would be remembered ; and that sin- 
ners, whom he died to save, should remember him in 
that way, even though it should not seem to them 
the most appropriate and reasonable manner of com- 
memorating him. I do not know how it strikes 
others, but so it always struck me ; and I confess I 
take the bread and eat it, and I put the cup to my 
lips, primarily, because he said, " Do this." 

The question about the usefulness of visible me- 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 45 

morials, and the suitableness of these memorials, I 
am content that he should settle. I know very well 
that if there be no natural adaptation in these me- 
morials to do me good, he can connect a blessing* 
with them. It is my part to obey him. It is enough 
for me that my Savior inclined to this mode of be- 
ing remembered, and expressed such a wish : the 
least I can do is to comply with it. He did not ex- 
press a great many wishes. It is an easy yoke he 
calls us to take — a light burden to bear. I cannot 
help regarding it as unkind, that this one wish of Je- 
sus should not be complied with ; and especially when 
I consider what a friend he was — what a benefactor ! 
I use the word benefactor — but those who are ac- 
quainted with the etymology of the word, know it 
does not express all that Christ was. It implies do- 
ing out of good will to others ; but his benevolence 
was not satisfied with benefaction : he suffered — he 
died for others. Strong as death — stronger was liis 
love ! And consider, too, the circumstances under 
which this wish was expressed — when it was, and 
where. All his wishes, I think, should be complied 
with; but this was his last. He was- going to suf- 
fer — he was to die in a few hours : and such a death 
too ! and for them of whom he made the request, 
that they might die never. And the request was 
touching his death. He desired it might be com- 
memorated as he signified. Oh, to think that such 
a wish should not be complied with — the tender re- 



46 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

quest of the dying Redeemer not regarded ! Who 
would have believed it ? I wonder those words, 
" broken for you," do not break the heart of every 
one who refuses. 

Men treat no other being so. Out of their own 
mouths I will judge them. They know the sacred 
regard they pay to last wishes and dying injunctions ; 
and that, though they arc under no particular obli- 
gations to the persons expressing them, and though 
the things desired be often unreasonable, yet, be- 
cause they are last wishes — dying requests, the in- 
dividuals expressing them being about to make the 
awful transition to eternity, how solemnly they 
charge the memory with them ! how punctiliously 
they comply with them ! We feel as if persons in 
such circumstances had a right to command us. I 
never knew one such request, if it was practicable, 
and at all reasonable, that was not complied with. 1 
ought to say, I never knew hut one. The last request 
of Jesus Christ — his last solemn injunction on those 
whom he bled. to save, forms the solitary exception! 
Oh, it is too bad ! It were a neglect unpardonable, 
but for the mediation of the very being who is the 
object of it. Nothing but his blood can cleanse from 
the sin of putting away from us the offered emblem 
of it. I know not how to make any apology for it. 
Jesus pleaded for his murderers, that they knew not 
what they did. But those who disregard his dying 
injunction, know what they do. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS- 47 

Excuses, it is true, they make ; but to what do they 
amount ? Can any doubt that Christ said, " Do this ?" 
Can any doubt that he meant it to be done by all who 
believe on him ? What reason can be imagined why 
one redeemed sinner should partake of the emblems 
of the body and blood of Christ, which does not 
equally apply to every redeemed sinner ? Should 
not as many as the body was broken and the blood 
shed for, partake of the memorials of that transaction ? 
What propriety is there in limiting the command, 
*' Do this," and not the declaration, " This is my body 
broken for you ?-" If we put it on the ground of 
right to command, questions any one the right of 
Christ to issue mandates 1 What duti/ plainer — 
more peremptory ? Do some pay respect to this, 
who do not obey other commands of Christ ? What 
if it be so ? Is that a reason why you should add 
another to your acts of disobedience ? 

Do you refrain because it is a solemn transaction? 
Far more solemn are death, judgment, and eternity, 
from wliich, nevertheless, you cannot refrain. Do 
you feel yourself to be too unworthy ? But will this 
neglect make you less unworthy ? A sense of un- 
\vorthiness is a grand part of the qualification. Are 
you afraid of sinning, should you in this way remem- 
ber Christ ? But you are certain of sinning by not 
remembering him. Say you, '* I cannot trust my- 
self?" But can you not trust Christ? If there is 
danger that you Avill prove faithless, yet is there any 



48 PRACtlCAL THOUGHTS. 

danger that he will? It is because you. arc not to 
be trusted, that you should trust him who is able to 
keep that which is committed to him^ If you trust 
him for strength, you are as sure of being supplied 
as of being pardoned, if you trust him for that. 
Why should not you remember Christ 1 He remem- 
bers you — yes, practically remembers you ; nor one 
thing merely does in remembrance of you, but many. 
What if he should make excuses for not remember* 
ing you ? 

But perhaps you will cut short the interview by 
saying, " I am now quite unprepared for this act ; 
hereafter I mean to attend to it." Be it known to 
you, then, that there are greater things for Avhich 
you are unprepared, and they are things which you 
cannot evade or defer, as you can this ; and as to that 
hereafter on which you count, who art thou that 
boastest of to-morrow ? 



S» t tlou^t like frofc8sioudk 

This is the reason which many give for not ac* 
knowledging Christ. They say, when urged upon the 
pomt, that they "don't like professions." A strange 
reason this for not obeying the express command of 
the Divine Savior ! What if they do not like pro- 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 40 

fe&sions, do they equally dislike obeying- commands? 
If so, they had better say, " I don't like obedience to 
the commands of God." But they profess to be 
well disposed to obey : it is only to professing that 
they object. Well, then, let them obey all the pre* 
cepts which they find in the Bible, and we will not 
trouble them about a profession. Why should we? 
In that case they will obey the precept which enjoins 
a profession ; they will do the thing appointed in re- 
memhrance of Christ. 

But " I don't like professions." And who does 
like mere professions ? Who ever contended in favor 
of a man's professing <o have what he has not ? Pro* 
fessions are very different from mere professions* 
Suppose a person has what he professes to have, 
what then ? What is the objection to a profession in 
that case 1 I see none. If a man loves the»Lord Jesus, 
I can see no harm in his professing or declaring his 
attachment to him. It is very natural to declare it. 
We profess attachment to others — to relatives, friends, 
benefactors, pastors, civil rulers. Why not to Christ ? 
How does his being the subject of the profession con- 
stitute such an objection to it ? Is he the only being 
to Avhom we may not profess attachment ? 

"Don't like professions?" Why yes, they do. 
Professions of friendship, of patriotism, and of loyal- 
ty they like. Why not of religion ? Why should 
tiot religion be professed as well as other things 1 
Are attachment to the Gospel, love to Christ, regard 
5 



50 PRACTICAL TH0UGMT9. 

for the authority of Jehovah, and adherence to his 
government, the only things never to be professed 1 
I do not see any objection to professions, but I see 
propriety and utility in them, even if it were optional 
with us to make them or not. If it were left to our 
choice, it strikes me, we ought to choose to profess 
love and obedience to Christ. But suppose it is re- 
quired, does not that alter the case ? Will these per- 
sons say they do not like what God requires ? And 
does he not require a profession ? His inspired apos- 
tle twice exhorts Christians to hold fast their pro- 
fession. Does not that imply that it is made, and 
ought to be made ? How is a person to hold on to 
that of which he has never taken hold ? Is not the 
public confession of Christ required when it is made 
a condition of salvation? Rom. 10 : 9, " If thou 
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and 
shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised 
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Does not 
divine authority require it, when to the doing of it is 
made one of the most precious promises in the whole 
Bible ? " Whosoever therefore shall confess me be- 
fore men, him will I confess also before my Father 
which is in heaven." Is not that duty, against the 
omission of which such a threatening lies as this, 
" But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will 
I also deny before my Father which is in heaven ?" 
Matt. 10 : 32, 33. It is very plain that God requires 
professions, though some men do not like them. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 51 

" You don't like professions !" Then Joshua, a 
man that followed the Lord fully, falls under your 
censure, for he professed the service of God. " As 
for me and my house," said he, " we will serve the 
Lord." Are Ave to think the worse of him for this ? 
Some ask what is the use of a profession. If they 
will observe what followed Joshua's profession, they 
will see the use of it. They will see that it brought 
out all Israel. " We will also serve the Lord," said 
they, and they entered that day into a covenant to 
serve him. Nor did their practice belie their profes- 
sion, for it is recorded that " Israel served the Lord 
all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the Elders 
that overlived Joshua." So much for a profession. 
It is agreed on all hands that that professing gene- 
ration, in piety and devotion to God, surpassed any 
other during the national existence of Israel. 

We read in 1 Tim. 2 : 10, of certain things which 
are said to become '* women professing godliness." 
It would seem from this to be the duty of women to 
profess godliness. And if of women, of men also, I 
suppose. What case of real subjection to the Gospel 
of Christ do we read of, which Avas not also a case 
of " professed subjection" to it? Paul, in 2 Cor. 9 : 
13, speaks of some who glorified God for the " pro- 
fessed subjection" of others unto the Gospel of Christ. 
It appears then that God is glorified by these pro- 
fessions. And I should presume, from certain pas- 
sages in the Bible, that he is not glorified when a 



bZ PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

profession is withheld. There were in primitive 
times some who did not like professions. It is no 
new thing not to like professions. In John, 12 : 42, 
43, w^e read that " among the chief rulers many be- 
lieved on him, but" as they did not like professions, 
" because of the Pharisees they did not confess him — 
for they loved the praise of men more than the praise 
of God." It is no honorable mention which is in- 
tended to be made of another, of whom it is said that 
he was " a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of 
the Jew^s." John, 19 : 38. Fear made him decline 
a profession for a time ; but at length he came out 
openly on the side of Christ, and besought Pilate 
for the body of Jesus. 

If they who say they do not like professions, 
mean that they do not like false, or loud, or ostenta- 
tious, or barely verbal professions, let them say so, 
and we will agree with them ; but let them not mean 
this, and say, without qualification, they " don't like 
professions." 

It is truly strange, because some now, as in apos- 
tolic times, " profess that they know God, but in 
w^orks deny him," that others will never profess to 
know him. Because men have professed friend- 
ship, and have proved no friends, therefore they Avill 
not only not profess friendship, but they will abstain 
from certain acts and expressions of friendship, be- 
cause they involve a profession of it ! It is a pity 
that men who are going to give an account of them- 
selves to God, should reason and act thus. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 53 

Well, they must do as they please ; but of one thing 
I am sure. The hour is coming*, when, however 
they may now dislike professions, they will like 
them. They may not now like to confess Christ 
before men, but they will then like to have Christ 
confess them before his Father. They may not like 
to call him now the beloved of their souls, but they 
will like to have him call them, on that day, the 
blessed of his Father. 



9. Are yon a SabbatH School Teaclier? 

I am a little apprehensive that the title of this ar- 
ticle will be read by some who will give no hearing 
to the article itself There are those, who, being pro- 
fessors of religion, or at least well disposed thereto, 
are not Sabbath School teachers, and yet strongly 
suspect sometimes that they ought to be. Such are 
not fond of reading an enumeration of the reasons 
why they should engage in this benevolent employ- 
ment, because these reasons are apt to appear more 
cogent than their objections to it. After such a pe- 
rusal, they are very prone to feel as if they ought to 
take hold of this good work, and not being prepared 
to do that, it is rather more agreeable to them not to 
have the feeling that they ought. It is uncomforta- 

5* 



54 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

ble to carry about with one a sense of oblig-ation 
which he is not disposed to discharge. 

But I hope my apprehensions will be disappoint- 
ed :, so I proceed to the article. Are you a Sabbath 
School teacher ? If you are, you are engaged in a 
good work. Yes, it is good, both as acceptable to 
God, and as profitable to men. It is good in its di- 
rect operation, and good in its reflex action. It is not 
merely teaching the young idea how to shoot, but, 
what is still more important, it is teaching the young 
and tender affection what to fix upon, and where to 
entwine itself Nothing hallows the Sabbath more 
than the henevolent employment of the Sabbath 
School teacher. It is more than lawful to do such 
good on the Sabbath day. It has great reward. Con- 
tinue to be a Sabbath School teacher. Be not weary 
in this welhdoing. Do not think you have served 
long enough in the capacity of teacher, until you 
have served life out, or until there shall be no need 
of one saying to another, *' Know the Lord." What 
if it be laborious? It is the labor of love, in the 
very fatigue of which the soul finds refreshment. 

But perhaps you are not a Sabbath School teacher. 
" No, I am not," methinks I hear one say. " I am 
not a professor of religion. You cannot expect me 
to be a teacher." You ought to be both, and your 
not being the first is but a poor apology for declining 
to be the other. The neglect of one obligation is a 
slim excuse for the neglect of another. You seem 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 55 

to admit that if you professed religion, it would be 
your duty to teach in the Sabbath School. Now, 
whose- fault is it that you do not profess religion? 
But I see no valid objection to your teaching a class 
of boys or girls how to read the word of God, though 
you be not a professor of religion. I cannot think 
that any person, gets harm by thus doing good. Ex- 
perience has shown that the business of teaching in 
the Sabbath School is twice blessed — blessing the 
teacher as well as the taught. 

But you are " not good enough," you say. Then 
you need so much the more the reaction of such an 
occupation to make you better. The Avay to get good 
is to do it. " But I am not a young person." And 
what if you are not ? You need not be very young 
in order to be a useful Sabbath School teacher. We 
don't want mere novices in the Sabbath School. If 
you are not young, then you have so much more ex- 
perience to assist you in the w^ork. Do Sabbath 
School teachers become superannuated so much 
earlier in life than any other class of benefactors — 
so much sooner than ministers and parents ? There 
is a prevailing mistake on this subject. 

But you are married, you say. And what if you 
are? Because you have married a wife or a hus- 
band, is that any reason why you should not come 
into the Sabbath School 1 Many people think that 
as soon as they are married, they are released from 
the obligation of assisting in the Sabbath School. 



56 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

But I do not understand this to be one of the immu- 
nities of matrimony. As well might they plead that 
in discharge of the obligation to every species of 
good-doing. Such might, at least, postpone this 
apology till the cares of a family have come upon 
them. And even then, perhaps, the best disposition 
they could make of their children on the Sabbath, 
would be to take them to the school. I wonder how 
many hours of the Sabbath are devoted to the in- 
struction of their children by those parents who 
make the necessity of attending to the religious cul- 
ture of their families an apology for not entering 
the Sabbath School; and I wonder if their children 
could not be attended to in other hours than those 
usually occupied in Sabbath School instruction ; and 
thus, w^hile they are not neglected, other children, 
who have no parents that care for their soul, receive 
a portion of their attention. I think this not impos- 
sible. But perhaps the wife pleads that she is no 
longer her own, and that her husband's wishes are 
opposed to her continuing a teacher. But has she 
ceased to be her Lord's by becoming her husband's? 
Does the husband step into all the rights of a Sa- 
vior over his redeemed ? If such an objection is 
made, it is very clear that she has not regarded the 
direction to marry " only in the Lord." 

But perhaps you say, *' There are enough others 
to teach in the Sabbath School." There would net 
be enough — there would not be any, if all were like 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. l) i 

you. But it is a mistake; there are not enough 
others. You are wanted. Some five or six chilaren, 
of whom Christ has said, " Suffer them to come to 
me," will grow up without either learning or reli- 
gion, unless you become a teacher. Are all the 
children in the place where you live gathered into 
the Sabbath School ? Are there none that still wan- 
der on the Lord's day, illiterate and irreligious ? Is 
there a competent number of teachers in the exist- 
ing schools, so that more would rather be in the way 
than otherwise ? I do not know how it is where you 
live,but where I live, there are boys and girls enough, 
aye, too many, who go to no Sabbath School. It is 
only for a teacher to go out on the Sabbath, and he 
readily collects a class of children willing to attend ; 
and where I reside, there are not teachers enough 
for the scholars already collected. Some cliisses are 
without a teacher, and presently the children stay 
away, because, they say, they come to the school, 
and there is no one to attend to them. He who said, 
" Suffer the little children to come unto me, and for- 
bid them not," knows this ; and he knows w^ho of 
" his sacramental host" might take charge of these 
children, and do not. They say every communion 
season, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" and 
the Lord replies, " Suffer the little children to corns 
to me," and there the matter ends. 

I visited recently an interesting school, composed 
of colored adults and children. It is taught partly 



58 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

by white persons, and partly by intelligent colored 
persons. It is languishing* now for want of teach- 
ers. There were present some twenty-five or thirty 
females, and only two female teachers. I wondered 
to see no more than two there of those who were last 
at the cross and first at the sepulchre. I thought it 
a little out of character. One of these told me that 
often there had been forty present, but as two could 
not attend to them all, they had gradually become 
discouraged, and had dropped off one after another. 
They found they must give up learning to read, 
though they wanted very much to learn to read the 
Bible. Some large classes of fine looking boys sat 
there without any teacher. No man cared for them. 
I said it was a pity, but I thought it was a shame. 
The church with which this school is connected, 
abounds in able-bodied professors of religion, who 
could easily supply this want. But they don't do it. 
They s^y iiiey canH ; but the truth is, (hey wont. 
I know some have an antipathy to the colored ; but, 
as I suppose, they are comprehended in that " world '' 
of which we read, John, 3:16, that God loved it, 
and certainly in that " whole world," of which we 
read, 1st John, 2 : 2, as connected with Christ's pro- 
pitiation, I have none. As for those, however, who 
are so much more fastidious than their Lord, there 
are white children enough to employ them. 

But I hear one say, *• lioas once a teacher;" and 
do you not blush to own that you became weary in 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 59 

this species of well-doing? '* But I think I taught 
long enough." How long did you teach? Till 
there were no more to learn ? Till you could teach 
no longer 1 Are you dead ? If not, you are resting 
from your labors rather prematurely. This excuse 
resembles one Avhich I heard of, as from a lady of 
wealth, who, having for several years been a sub- 
scriber to the Bible Society, at length ordered her 
name to be striken off, alleging that she thought she 
had done her part towards disseminating the Bible ! 
The world was not supplied ; O no, not even the 
country ; and her means were not exhausted. But 
she had done her part. Had she done what she could? 
The woman whom Jesus commended had *' done 
what she could." But this is a digression. 

But one says, *' I want the Sabbath for myself— 
for rest and for improvement." And who does not? 
Are you busily employed all the week ? So are 
some of our most faithful teachers. You ought to 
be "diligent in business" during the days of the 
week. *' Six days shalt thou labor." " But is there 
any rest in Sabbath School teaching?" The soul 
finds some of its sweetest rest in the works of mercy, 
and often its richest improvement in the care to im- 
prove others. 

But perhaps you say, though with some diffi- 
dence you express this objection, that you belong to 
a circle in society whose members are not accus- 
tomed to teach in the Sabbath School. Do ^^ou mean 



60 PRACTICAL TMOUGHtS. 

that you are above the business ? You must be e^r- 
ceedingly elevated in life to be above the business of 
gratuitously communicating the knowledge of God 
to the young and ignorant. You must be exalted 
above the very throne of God itself, if you are above 
caring for poor children. " But I should have to 
mingle with those beneath me in rank." Ah, I sup- 
posed that Christianity has destroyed the distinction 
of rank, not indeed by depressing any, but by ele- 
vating all. Should Christians, all cleansed by the 
same blood and spirit, treat other Christians as 
common ? 

" But I am not qualified to teach." If you are 
not in reality, you should undertake teaching for the 
sake of learning. The best way to learn any things 
is to teach it. If you only think yourself not quali- 
fied, your very humility goes far towards qualify- 
ing you. 

*' O, it is too laborious. There is so much self- 
denial in it " And do I hear a disciple of Christ 
complaining of labor and self-denial, when these 
are among the very conditions of discipleship ? Is 
the disciple above his master? Caii you follov/ 
Christ without going where he went? And went 
he not about doing good? Pleased he himself? 

Ah, I know what is the reason of this deficiency 
of Sabbath School teachers, and I will speak it out. 
It is owing to a deplorable Avant of Christian bene- 
volence in them who profess to be Christ's follow* 



' PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 61 

rrs. They lack the love that is necessary to engage 
one in this labor of love. They have no heart for 
the work. 



10* Do yoJX attend the Montlily Concert! 

I would like to have this piece read, though I 
know very well that many of those I ask to read it^ 
could themselves write a better article on the same 
subject. I am a little afraid that some who do not 
attend the Monthly Concert, will read the heading 
of the article and then turn to something else, pre- 
sumed to be more interesting. As that, however, 
will look very much like a desire to evad§ the light, 
and an unwillingness to hear why we should at* 
tend the Concert, I hope they will, through dread 
of that imputation, conclude to read the whole ar- 
ticle. I cannot doubt they have their reasons for 
not attending, and I promise that if they will have 
them printed, I will carefully read them, provided 
they will read my reasons in favor of attendance. 

I put a question. I put it not to every body. I 
ask it not of the world, for the world is the object of 
the Concert, and cannot be expected therefore io 
join in it. I put it to the professor of religion — the 
reputed disciple of Christ* I ask him if he attend.^ 
6 



62 fRACTlCAt THOUGHTS. 

the Monthly Concert 1 He knows what I metn by 
that phrase — ^the meeting for prayer attended by 
Christians on the first Monday in each month» in 
which they ofier their social supplications for the 
success of missions, the spread of the Gospel, and 
the conversion of the world to God. All the mem- 
bers of the church do not attend it. The half do 
not. No. The Concert has not yet secured the 
majority/ of the church. Even "the sacramental 
host " are not as yet in favor of the conversion of 
the world, if attendance on the Monthly Concert 
may be made the test, as I think with the utmost 
propriety it may ; for surely he cannot have much 
of a desire for the world's conversion who will not 
meet once a month to express it in concert with other 
Christians. And this, I suppose, is the principal 
reason why the world is not converted, because the 
prayer-meetings of the church bear testimony that 
even she is not heartily in favor of it. O, when will 
the question, " Shall the world be converted ?" be 
put to the church, and carried in the a ffirviative ? 
There will be joy in heaven when that result is re- 
ported there ; and then the work of the world's con- 
version will go rapidly forward, and nations be born 
in a day. Now, do you join in the concert, or are 
you one of those who make discord ? 

Many professors can say they do attend. I am 
glad so many can say it. You attend, but let mc 
ask, do you love to attend? 01 if you leave your 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 63 

hearts at home, that is bad. We want the heart at 
the Monthly Concert. It spoils all if we have not 
the heart there to send up to heaven its sincere de- 
sires. "Prayer," you know, '*is the heart's sin- 
cere desire." You attend, but do you attend habitu- 
ally ; or is it only occasionally that you go ? Do 
you attend twelve times a year, if Providence inter- 
pose no obstacle ? It is a Monthly Concert. It is 
intended that Christians should meet and pray to- 
gether at least once a month. There are professors 
of religion who attend the Concert sometimes, per- 
haps on an average once in three months, and they 
think that is doing tolerably well. But what if 
others should do so ! Then it would be no Monthly 
Concert, but a Quarterly Concert ; and such it should 
be now to suit the practice of too many of the church. 
But I think once a month, or twelve times a year, is 
not too often for Christians to meet together to pray, 
•' Our Father thy kingdom come." As a Chris- 
tian, I feel that it is not too often, and I think, if I 
was a heathen, and knew all that is involved in be- 
ing a heathen, I should feel like being prayed for 
by Christians at least once a month. ! it is not 
too often, either for us Avho pray, or for those for 
-whom we pray. Then, fellow Christians, let us 
attend every month, bringing along with us each 
one a heart touched with gratitude, melted into pity, 
fervent with love, full of faith, and as sure as we 
live, we shall bless and be blessed, 



64 PRACTICAL THOUGHT^. 

" But they say it is not an interesting meeting.*' 
I don't know why it should be uninteresting to 
Christians. Is it because it is a prayer meeting ; 
or because it is a prayer meeting for others ? Does 
it lack interest because there is no preaching, and 
the very prayers are not for ourselves ? Will the 
disciple of Jesus make this confession % Will he 
acknowledge that it takes away the intereiDt of a 
meeting, when its character is so devotional, and its 
object so benevolent ? It has been asked, " How shall 
we contrive to make the Monthly Concert interest- 
ing to the people?" It is only the people them- 
selves that can make it interesting. Let them come 
to it. Let the members of the church appear in 
their places on that evening. Let conscience bring 
them, if inclination does not, and let him who is to 
preside in the meeting be cheered by the aspect of a 
full assembly, and the interest of the Monthly Con- 
cert is secured without the laying down of rules and 
observance of minute directions. Who ever found 
a well attended concert for prayer uninteresting ? 

But, one says, it sometimes rains, and I cannot at- 
tend. I know it sometimes rains, but do you never 
go out in the rain for any purpose ? O Christian, 
if for anything you ever go through the rain, go 
through the rain to the Monthly Concert. I sus- 
pect the rain does not hinder you from fulfilling an 
important engagement with a fellow creature. Now, 
I know that you have not specifically engaged to 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 65 

meet God at the Monthly Concert ; but there are 
vows on you which, I am sure, include this. Are 
you not one of those who say, " Lord, what Avilt thou 
have me to do ?" waiting for his answer ? His an- 
swer comprehends many things, and among them 
is this. Indeed, I think the duty of attending the 
Monthly Concert is included in the general obliga- 
tion to go " into all the world," and *' teach all na- 
tions ;" and you consented to it when you made the 
full surrender. Therefore let not trifles detain you 
at home on the evening of the church's concert of 
prayer for the world. But if by necessity detained— 
if you go not, because on such a night you would go 
out for no purpose whatever, you can spend the hour 
in the closet praying for the world. That you will 
not fail to do. The closet is accessible in all wea- 
ther. If you cannot go out to the prayer meeting, 
yet you can " enter into thy closet," and though your 
prayer will be a solo, it will be as grateful to God 
as the concert of others. 

But some professors of religion never attend the 
Monthly Concert ! What I propose to say to them 
I must reserve for another article. 



6» 



66 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 



li. ^Wh.y all Cliristiaiis should attend tike Montli- 
ly Concert. 

It is a fact well known and deeply deplored, that 
some professors of religion never attend the Monthly 
Concert. Perhaps they never attend any of the pray- 
er-meetings of the church. It is not for me to say 
that such persons have no religion, though I must 
go so far as to say that I do not see how they can 
have a great deal. Nor does their religion appear to 
be of the kind contemplated in the New Testament. 
They may be Christians, but I am certain they are 
not primitive Christians. I do not, for my part, se« 
how those who never meet with their fellow disciples 
for social prayer, can be acquitted of contemning that 
gracious promise of Christ, " If two of you shall 
agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall 
ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is 
in heaven." What an encouragement to concerts of 
prayer is conveyed in those words, " if two of you 
shall agree f' How can they be supposed to love the 
presence of the Savior, who are not desirous to meet 
him " where two or three are gathered together in his 
name!" If such disciples had existed at that time, of 
course they would not have attended the meetings 
for prayer which preceded the memorable day of 
Pentecost. They would not have gone to the " upper 
room." Perhaps they would have made some ex- 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 67 

cuse for their absence. Perhaps not. One might 
have said that he could not bear the air of a crowd- 
ed room. Another, that he did not see why he could 
not pray as well at home. There Avere no such de- 
spisers of the prayer meeting* among the primitive 
disciples. They all frequented the upper room, " and 
all continued with one accord in prayer and suppli- 
cation." O that it were so now ! Fellow disciples of 
the blessed Jesus, listen to a iev/ plain reasons why 
we should all attend the Monthly Concert. 

1. It is a meeting of Christians. Should you not 
meet with Christians ? God has made you social be- 
ings ; and Christians are the best company. Should 
you not cultivate that kind of society on earth, with 
which you are to be associated for ever in heaven ? 
The same class of personS' — they that feared the 
Lord — ^used to meet together in the days of Mala- 
chi; and the Lord noted it down. Come then to the 
Concert. 

2. It is a meeting of Christians for religious wor- 
ship. The Concert is a sacred assembly. It invites 
not merely to mutual intercourse, but to intercourse 
with God and heaven. In it we meet one with ano- 
ther, that we may together meet the Lord ; and if he 
kept a book of remembrance for them who feared 
him, and who met for conference with each other, 
will he not much more for those who meet for com^ 
tnunio7i with himself? 

3. It is the most interesting kind of religious meet- 



68 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

ing. It is a prayer meeting*. Its exercises consist in 
prayer interspersed with praise. The song of grati- 
tude and supplication of blessing ascend alternately. 

it is good to be there ! What Christian but loves 
the prayer meeting ! 

4. It is the most interesting of all prayer meetings. 

1 had rather be absent from any other than from this. 
Think how large a concert it is — how many voices 
join in it, and hearts still more ! From how many 
lands — in how many languages they pray, yet with 
one desire, and for a single object. Think of that 
object — its unity, its grandeur, its benevolence — a 
world lying in wickedness — the speedy conversion 
of |hat world to God ! In the Monthly Concert Chris- 
tians meet to express together to their God this one 
great benevolent desire. And ought not you to bo 
there ? 

But what gives the greatest interest to the Concert 
is, that Christ himself in substance established it. 
Yes, he has taught us so to pray. His disciples 
asked him how they should pray, and he answered 
that they should pray socially for the conversion of the 
world, viz. that they should meet under circumstan- 
ces which would justify the use of the plural num- 
ber, "Our Father," &c. and thus met, that they 
should pray together, " Thy kingdom come. Thy 
will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Now, is 
not this just what we do in the Monthly Concert? 
We put in practice that lesson of Christ on prayer 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 69 

That is the amount of it. The missionary cbneert 
has then the sanction of the Master, however some 
of his professed disciples may regard it. Is it so ^ 
Then I ask not, will you come to the Concert, but 
how can you stay away ? 

5. It is good to draw near to God in prayer for a 
guilty and dying world. Christians find it so. If 
they benefit no others, yet they benefit themselves. 
God bestows blessing on them while they implore 
blessing for others. 

6. It is kind to the poor heathen thus to meet once 
a month and pray that they may possess the same 
Gospel of the grace of God, which has brought sal- 
vation to us. If we were in their situation, and 
knew what it was to be in such a situation, we 
should wish Christians to pray for us. And shall 
not we, being Christians, pray for them? The gol- 
den rule requires it. The love of Christ constrains 
to it. How shall we not pray for them ? How shall 
I be able to answer for it, I say not to God, but to 
my poor pagan brother that I shall meet before the 
bar of our common Judge, if I let him go into eter- 
nity without even praying that the light of the Gos- 
pel may illuminate his dark mind ? How shall I be 
able to bear his reproachful recognition of me as a 
Christian ? I will take care not to lie under the ac- 
cusation. I will pray for him. 

7. Nothing so cheers the hearts of our mission- 
aries, and nothing: so encourages them in their work, 



70 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

as when they hear of well attended Concerts. So 
they tell us ; and they write back that nothing they 
meet with on the field of their labors depresses and 
discourages them so much as the intelligence they 
receive from home, that Christians neglect the Month- 
ly Concert, and few of the churches meet to pray for 
them. They know that they cannot succeed with- 
out God, and they know that it is prayer which en- 
gages God to work effectually with them. O, if we 
could but send them word by the next ships that go, 
that Christians in crowds come up to the missionary 
prayer meeting, and the place of the Monthly Con- 
cert is thronged; they would be able, I have no doubt, 
to send us word back, perhaps by those very ships 
returning, that the heathen in crowds gather around 
them inquiring the way of salvation, and that many 
have gone even unto Christ, and become partakers 
of his grace. But in vain shall we expect to hear 
very cheering intelligence from them, while the in- 
telligence they receive from us is no more cheering. 
O, it is base treatment of our missionary brethren and 
sisters, as well as gross dereliction of the duty im- 
posed by the Savior's last command, not to meet and 
pray for them. 

But why should I multiply reasons? Will you 
not attend henceforth ? If, after all, you will not, I 
can only say I am sorry — sorry on two accounts 
— sorry for the heathen, and sorry for you. 



PRACTICAL THOtJOHTS. 71 



13. Will tLtty Cliristian be absent from tho next 
Concert 1 

The Monthly Concert of prayer for the success of 
Missions and the salvation of the world. I wonder, 
indeed, that any Christian is ever voluntarily absent 
from that prayer meeting ; but, from that of Monday 
next, what Christian, that is a Christian, can of choice 
absent himself? Why ? What particular attraction 
will there be in the next Concert, that a Christian 
should attend that, if never another ? Do you ask ? 
Can you not imagine 1 Have you not heard the news 
brought by the last ship from eastern and southern 
Asia ? When came a ship so freighted with tidings ? 
Morrison is dead. What Christian will not go to 
the next Concert, if for no other reason, to offer praise ' 
to God that Morrison lived, and lived so long, and 
was enabled to accomplish the magnificent work of 
translating the word of God into the language read • 
and spoken by one third of human kind ? 

But that is not all the news the ship brought. ' It 
came fraught with heavy tidings. How many tears 
have already been shed at the recital, tears of grief 
for the dead, and tears of sympathy for the living — * 
the widows — and the mothers, for one, perhaps each, 
left a mother. Lyman and Munson, in the flower 
of their youth, and on the threshhold of their labors, 
have fallen, not the subject of nature's gradual decay, 
nor by some fell eastern disease, but the victims of 



72 PRACTICAL rnoVGHTS, 

violence, the food of cannibals ! This is something 
new. We have never before had intelligence like 
this from our missionary fields. We have never had 
so loud a call in Providence to the Concert. What 
Christian will not obey it, and go on Monday to weep 
as well as praise, and to mingle with tears and 
praises, prayer for those poor brutal men that did 
the deed, and for them whose hearts it has so deep- 
ly stricken? And what Christian, who properly es- 
timates his privileges, and duly regards his obliga- 
tions, will not, on that occasion, let fall some drops 
of sorrow for his past remissness in praying for Mis- 
sionaries ? 

I have said to myself since I heard of this outrage, 
"So much for not attending the Monthly Concert — 
so much for nbt praying more for Missionaries." I 
may be mistaken. The reader will judge. But so it 
has struck me. The church sent out these Mission* 
aries, and many more than half of her reputed chil- 
dren have never met to pray for them ! Whether the 
same remembered them in the closet and around the 
fireside I cannot say, but I fear they did not. 

There is one most touching part of the melancholy 
tale. It is related that one of the Missionaries, I hope 
we shall never know which it was, was killed and 
eaten first, the other being compelled to be a specta- 
tor of the whole savage ceremony, with the know- 
ledge that he was reserved for a similar fate. How 
he must have felt !. Poor dear brother, I fear we never 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 73 

prayed for thee as we ought. You could go from 
country, and home, and mother, to seek a spot in sa- 
vage Sumatra to plant the cross and preach Jesus, 
while we could not once a month leave our firesides 
long enough just to go and pray for you, that God 
would protect you and give you favor in the sight of 
the heathen. O this neglect of the Monthly Concert 
is a cruel thing ! This forgetfulness to pray for Mis- 
sionaries, how dwelleth the love of God in the same 
heart with it ? Perhaps this was one of the multitude 
of thoughts that passed through his mind while he 
waited to be sacrificed, and while he perceived that 
God, though .with him to support and to save him, 
was not with him to protect him from the fierceness 
of man. Perhaps he thought, "O if Christians had 
been more uniformly and earnestly mindful of us in 
the closet, the family, and the Concert, the hand that 
holds even the savage heart, might have turned it to 
pity, and spared us. But his will be done. Bitter as 
is the cup we drink, it is not so bitter as the cup that 
was drank for us." Let us all go to the coming Con- 
cert, and humble ourselves together ; and from his 
humiliation let each pray, " Deliver me from blood- 
guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation." 



74 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 



13. Hoiv Came it to Pass? 

That three thousand were converted on the day 
of Pentecost — how came it to pass ? The truth as 
it is in Jesus was preached, and the power of God 
accompanied and made the truth effectual. But had 
not the meeting for prayer, of which mention is made 
in Acts, 1 : 14, a close and influential connection 
with the glorious results of that day and that dis- 
course !■ Undoubtedly it had. But what was there 
in that meeting of the hundred and twenty disciples, to 
exert an influence to the conversion of three thousand 
individuals ? Whence had it that power ? I answer, 
it was a prayer meeting — professedly and mainly a 
prayer meeting. If it had been a meeting for preach- 
ing, it would not have exerted the influence it did, 
even though prayer had preceded and followed the 
sermon. It was a prayer meeting — a meeting of 
Christians to express their dependence on God ; 
unitedly to call on him for his blessing ; to plead 
the promise, and to wait for the fulfillment of it. 
Those are the efficient meetings, in which Chris- 
tians meet and agree to ask of God. I wonder they 
do not value them more. To the prayer meeting 
Christians come, to exercise the high privilege of in- 
tercession for others — to do good and to communi- 
cate — to act the " more blessed " part ; whereas, to 
meetings of another kind, they go for the less bene- 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 75 

volent purpose of receiving good. Yet Christians 
value no meetings so little as prayer meetings ! 
And, O shame, no prayer meeting do they value so 
little as that which Christ himself may be said to 
have established in saying, " When ye pray, say, 
Our Father which art in heaven ; hallowed be thy 
name; thy kingdom come" — the Monthly Concert. 
Though it occur but once a month, and though our 
Savior, in the prayer he has given us, has expressl}'' 
instructed us to ^pray socially for the conversion of 
the world, yet how attended ! I pity the heathen, 
that so few are disposed to meet to pray for them. 
For the church, I blush that it should be so. 

But the influence of that meeting of a hundred and 
twenty was not owing entirely to its being a prayer 
meeting. Many meetings for prayer are held, and 
no such effects follow. There must have been some- 
thing peculiar about that prayer meeting, to account 
for its efficacy. There was much by which it was 
distinguished from ordinary prayer meetings. The 
mention of some of these peculiarities may be of 
service. It may provoke imitation in some churches. 

1. All the church attended that prayer meeting. 
*' These all continued," &c. There were but a hun- 
dred and twenty disciples, and they were all present. 
Not a member of the church was absent, unless pro- 
videntially detained. How different is it now ! Now, 
if so many as a hundred and twenty can be collected 
in a pra\^er meeting, yet they represent perhaps a 



76 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

church of five or six hundred communicants, and all 
the rest are with one accord absent. They who 
meet may agree among themselves to ask for an 
outpouring of the Spirit, but it is, after all, but the 
agreement of a minority of the church. The majo- 
rity, by their absence, dissent from the request. 

2. As all attended, of course the men attended as 
well as the women. Yes, every male member of 
the church was present ; and I suppose the males 
were more than one half of the whole number. 
They did not leave it to the women to sustain the 
prayer meetings. That prayer meeting had not the 
aspect of many a modern prayer meeting, in which 
almost all are of the weaker sex. 

3. The most distinguished members of the church 
attended, as well as the most obscure. There were 
all the apostles, and " Mary the mother of Jesus,'* 
and " his brethren." None of them felt above being 
at a prayer meeting. How is it now? Let that 
question answer itself 

4. They were all agreed — "of one accord," as 
it is said. Not- merely agreed as touching what 
they should ask, viz. the fulfillment of " the promise 
of tlie Father," but of one mind generally — aye, and 
of one heart. They thought and felt alike. They 
all loved one another. They observed the new com- 
mandment. ' Such cordial union among Christians 
has great power with God. It does not always exist 
in our prayer meetings. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 77 

5. They persevered in prayer. " These all conti- 
nued in prayer." First they stirred themselves up to 
take hold on God, and then they said, " We will not 
let thee go, except thou bless us." They met often 
for prayer, and all met, and they lingered long at 
the throne of grace. There were not some who 
came to the meeting once for a wonder, or only occa- 
sionally. No ; " these all continued,''^ &c. It is not 
so now. But how long did they continue asking ? 
Until they obtained; and then they did but pass 
from the note of prayer to that of praise. They 
sought the Lord until he came. It is time we all 
should do it. They were together — holding meet- 
i7ig — when the Spirit descended. 

I think if all our church members would habitu- 
ally attend the prayer meetings, men as well as wo- 
men, rich as well as poor, and be " of one accord " 
in heart, as well as in judgment, and would continue 
in prayer, they would not wait in vain for " the pro- 
mise of the Father." O for such prayer meetings ! 
But now they are despised by many. How often 
we hear it said, It is nothing but a prayer meeting! 
Nothing but ! I should like, for my part, to know 
what surpasses a prayer meeting. And often on what 
unworthy conditions do those called Christians sus- 
pend their attendance. They must know who is to 
conduct the meeting, who will probably lead in 
prayer, and from whom a word of exhortation may 
be expected ; and if the meeting is not likely to be 
7* 



78 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

to their mind, they will not attend it. This thing 
ouffht not so to be. 



14. "Wliy tlie ^Vorld is not Conirerted. 

The world is not converted. The melancholy 
fact stares us in the face. Yet the world is to be 
converted. That delightful truth shines conspicu- 
ous on the pages of the Bible. Why is it not already 
converted ? It ought to have been converted ere this. 
Eighteen centuries ago it was well nigh converted. 
But now the world is far, very far from being con- 
verted. It "lieth in wickedness." What is the 
meaning of it ? Wh?/ is it not converted ? Whose is 
the faglt ? Look not up to heaven with the inquiry, 
as if the reason was to be found there, among the 
mysteries of the eternal Mind. Look elsewhere. The 
iact we deplore results not from any lack of benevo- 
lent disposition in God. No. " God so loved the 
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that who- 
soever believeth in him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life." What could he have felt or do7ie 
more? The object of his love, the world — its gift, 
his Son ! Could it have been more comprehensive, 
or more munificent ? Nor is the reason found iu 
any deficiency in the atonement made by Christ, for 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 79 

he is the propitiation "for the sins of the whole 
world,'' the Lamb of God who " taketh away the sin 
of the worldP Nor is it owing to any limitation in 
the commission of the Holy Spirit ; for of him it is 
testified, that when he should come, he should " re- 
prove the world of sin" : and the commission to the 
human agents of the work was as extensive, *' Go 
ye into all the world — preach the Gospel to every 
creature — teach all nationsP And the promise of 
the presence and power of Christ to be with them is 
also without restriction. See w^hat goes before, and 
what comes after that great commission. The words 
which precede it are, " All power is given unto me 
in heaven and in earth." The words w-hich follow, 
are, " And lo, I am with you always, even unto the 
end of the world." You must look some where else 
than upward for the reason why the world is not 
converted. Look beneath, around, within. 

I propose to assign a few reasons why the world 
is not converted. 

1. The world does not wish to be converted. 
That which is to be the subject of conversion, is a 
foe to it. It resists the influence that would convert 
it to God. What means that language, " My Spi- 
rit shall not always strive with man?" Striving im- 
plies opposition offered. The opposition is made by 
the icill. The universal will of man resists the 
work of the Spirit of God. And that thing, the will, 
is a tremendous obstacle opposed to conversion. It is 



80 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

more than a match for all the motives you can bring 
to bear upon it. It wont move for motives. The 
Lord alone can master it. O ! if the world had of 
itself been willing to be converted, it should long ere 
this have been brought back to God ! It is but to be 
willing and the thing is done. 

2. The devil, who in the Bible is called " the god 
of this world," is opposed to its conversion. Now, 
it must be very much in the way of the world's con- 
version, that not only itself but its god is opposed to 
it. The will is a powerful foe of itself, but when 
the will is in league with Satan, who is called the 
adversary, by way of eminence, what an enemy the 
combination must produce ! The devil and the heart, 
what a formidable alliance ! Satan is sincere in his 
opposition to the conversion of the world, i. e. he is 
really opposed to it. He does not merely pretend 
to be. And he is in earnest. His heart is in the 
work of opposing the world's conversion — and he 
does all he can to prevent it. The friends of the 
conversion of the world do not all they can to pro- 
mote it. Would that they did ! But Satan does all 
he can to prevent it. Ah, why cannot we do as 
much for Christ as his enemies do against him? 
Why don't Christians do all they can ? Satan does 
all he can — and that is a great deal, for he was one 
of those angels " that excel in strength," and though 
by his fall he lost all holiness, he lost no powe"^. He 
is as potent as ever — possessed of very great energy, 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 81 

and he exerts it all in the enterprise of opposing 
God in the conversion of the world. And he does 
not stand still and exert his power, but goeth "to 
and fro in the earth." Yea, " as a roaring lion, 
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." He 
does not wait for his prey, but hunts for it. Yet he 
has not always the lion look, for sometimes " Satan 
himself is transformed into an angel of light ;" nor 
does he always roar. He can let his voice down to 
the softest whisper, which the ear he breathes it into 
alone can hear ; and Satan does not act alone. He 
is assisted by myriads of kindred spirits. They 
were many, we are told, that possessed one man — 
yes, a legion. How many they must be in all ! and 
all engaged in the same opposition — aye, and mul- 
titudes of men are even now in league with them, 
engaged in the devils' work as heartily as if they 
were of that race. Is not this a strong reason why 
the world is not converted ? Have I not given two 
such reasons? But I have a stronger: 

3. The church is not heartily in favor of the world's 
conversion, And when I afBrm this of the church, 
I refer not to those who rest in the form of godli= 
ness, and have but a nominal life. No wonder the 
unconverted, though they may be members of the vi- 
sible church, should not be concerned for the con- 
version of others. But I mean that real Christians, 
who have themselves been converted, are not hear- 
tily in favor of it. Yes, the converted part of the 



82 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

world are not heartily in favor of the conversion of 
the great remainder ! And this is the principal rea- 
son why it is not converted. What if the world is 
not in favor of it, and Satan is not? It was never in- 
tended that the world should be converted by their 
instrumentality, but in spite of their opposition ! But 
that the church, to whom is given the commission, 
to whom is committed the instrumentality which 
God blesses for conversion, and to whom even Christ 
looks with expectation, should not enter into the 
work with all her soul and strength, how strange 
and how lamentable ! I know that Christians say 
they are in favor of it, and I will not question their 
sincerity, but I wish they gave such proof of being 
sincere and. in earnest as Satan and his allies do. 
Actions have a tongue, and they speak louder than 
words. Satan's actions declare unequivocally that 
he is a foe to the world's conversion. Do our actions 
proclaim as unequivocally that we are its friends ? 
We say we desire the world's conversion ; but what 
say our prayers, our contributions, our efforts, our 
conduct ? We talk as if we desired it, but do we 
pray, do we contribute, do we labor, do we live as 
if we desired it? In this matter our unsupported 
word will not be received as proof. 

Why, if we who love the Lord are heartily in fa- 
vor of the world's becoming his, are we so divided 
among ourselves ? The enemies of the world's con- 
version are united. Yes, they forget their private 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. bd 

differences when the cause of Jesus is to be attacked, 
and one heart animates the whole infernal host. But 
the friends of the great enterprise are divided, and 
much of their force is spent in skirmishes among 
themselves, while the common enemy in the mean- 
time is permitted to make an almost unresisted pro- 
gress. It is a pity, a great pity. It ought not to be 
so. The great aggressive enterprise of the world's 
conversion demands all our resources, and yet we 
are expending them in mutual assaults. When will 
it be otherwise ? When will Christians agree on a 
trwce among themselves, and march in one mighty 
phalanx against the world, to the service to which 
the Captain of salvation calls them ? When shall it 
once be ? I do not know, but I do know that when 
it takes place, the first of the thousand years will 
not be far off. 

Fellow-soldiers of the cross ! what are we about ? 
Let us form. Let us put on our complete armor. 
Some of us are not in full panoply. And let us 
sing together one of the songs of Zion, and to that 
music let us march on to the conquest of the world 
for Jesus. He is already in the field, let us hasten 
to his support. Let us go to his help against the 
mighty. Let us leave all, even our mutual dissen- 
sions, suspicions and jealousies, and follow him — 
and presently the world shall be converted. 



84 PRACTICAL THOtTGIITS. 



15, Tlie Con-version of tlie Cliurch. 

We hear a great deal now-a-days about the con- 
version of the world. It is in almost every Chris- 
tian's mouth ; and we cannot be too familiar with 
the phrase — we cannot be too diligent to promote 
the thing. It ought to have our daily thoughts, 
prayers, and efforts. It deserves our hearts. It is 
the great object of Christianity. But there is ano- 
ther community besides the world, which I think 
needs to undergo a measure of the same process 
that the world so much needs. It is the church. 
While the conversion of the world is made so pro- 
minent, I think we ought not to overlook the con- 
version of the church, especially since this comes 
first in order. 

Every thing, we know, begins at the house of 
God, both in judgment and mercy. But what do I 
mean by the conversion of the church ? Is not the 
church converted already? Suppose I admit that; 
may she not need a new conversion 1 Regeneration 
is but once, but conversion may be many times. 
Peter had been converted when Christ said to him, 
*' and when thou art converted, strengthen thy breth- 
ren." There is no doubt the church might be con- 
verted again, and that without any injury to her. 

But why do I think the church needs conversion ? 
I might give several reasons, but I will assign only 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS, bo 

one. It is founued on Matthew, 18:3: " Except ye 
be converted, and become as little children.^'' Here 
we see the effect of conversion is to make the sub- 
jects of it as little children, and hence St. John ad- 
dresses the primitive Christians as little children. 
Now my reason for thinking the church needs con- 
version is, that there does not seem to be much of 
the little child about the church of the present day. 
There is a great deal more of ** the old man " about 
it, I am afraid. I think if John were living now, he 
would not be apt to address the members of the 
church generally as " little children." No indeed. 
I question whether, if he were even addressing an 
assembly of the ministers and officers of many of 
our churches, he would not be apt to apply other 
terms than "little children" as a preface to his ex- 
hortation " love one another," which I am sure he 
would not forget. 

Little children are humble, but humility is not a 
remarkable characteristic of the church of the pre» 
sent day. I don't think the scholars of either of the 
schools have got the lesson of lowliness very per- 
fectly from their Master. I fear, if the Master were 
to come in upon us now, he would be likely to chide 
many in both the schools. Why two schools ? There 
is but one Master. 

How confiding little children are, and how ready 
to believe on the bare word of one in whom they 
have reason to feel confidence, and especially if he 



8b PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

be a father ! But not so the church. " Thus saith 
the Lord" does not satisfy her sons now. They 
must have better reasons for believing than that. 
They must hear first what he has to say, and then 
see if they can get a confirmation of it from any 
quarter before they will believe it. How unceremo- 
niously many of these children treat some of the 
things which their Father very evidently says, be- 
cause they do not strike them as in accordance with 
reason, justice, or common sense ! 

How docile the little child is ! Mary, who " sat at 
Jesus' feet and heard his word," was such a child. 
Never a why or a how asked she of him. I cannot 
say so much for the church of our day. Simplicity 
also characterizes little children. How open and art- 
less they are — how free from guile. Such was Na- 
thanael. Whether this trait of character be conspi- 
cuous in the church now, let the reader say. 

Little children are moreover characterized by love, 
and their charity " thinketh no evil." How unsus- 
picious they are ! But too much of the charity of 
the present day, so far from thinking no evil, think- 
eth no good. It suspects every body. It "hopeth" 
nothing. Indeed love, and her sister peace, which 
used to lead the graces, are become as wall-flowers 
with many; into such neglect they have fallen. 
They seem to be quite out of the question with 
many. Some good men appear to think that con- 
tending: for the faith is the end of the commandment 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 87 

and the fulfilling of the law. But it is not. It is a 
duty, an important duty — one too little regarded by 
many — one never to be sneered at as by some it is. 
I acknowledge some treat it as if it were nothing. 
/ only say it is not every thing. There is walking 
in love, dini. following peace, which, as well as con- 
tending for the faith, are unrepealed laws of Christ's 
house. I believe they can all be done, and that each 
is best done w^hen the others are not neglected. I 
am sure truth never lost any thing by being spoken 
in love. I am of opinion that a principal reason why 
we are not more of one mind, is that we are not 
more of one heart. How soon they who feel heart 
to heart, begin to see eye to eye ! The way to think 
alike is first to feel alike ; and if the feeling be love, 
the thought will be truth. I wish, therefore, for the 
sake of sound doctrine, that the brethren could love 
one another. What if we see error in each other to 
condemn, can we not find any thing amiable to love ? 
I would the experiment might be made. Let us not 
cease to contend for the faith — not merely for its own 
sake, but for love's sake, because " faith worketh by 
love." But, in the conflict, let us be careful to shield 
love. It is a victory for truth scarcely worth gain- 
ing, if charity be left bleeding on the field of battle. 
You see why I think the church wants convert- 
ing. It is to bring her back to humility, and simpli- 
city, and love. I wish she would attend to this mat- 
ter. She need not relax her efforts for the world. 



eb PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

She has time enough to turn a few reflex acts on 
herself. The object of the church is to make the 
world like herself But let her in the meantime 
make herself more like what the world ought to be. 
It is scarcely desirable that the world should be as 
the church in general now is. Let her become a 
better model for the world's imitation. Her voice is 
heard for Christ ; but let her " hold forth the word 
of life " in her conduct, as ^vell as by her voice. Let 
her light shine. Let her good works be manifest. 
Let her heaven-breathed spirit breathe abroad the 
same spirit. 

The work of the conversion of the world goes on 
slowly ; but it makes as much progress as the work 
of the conversion of the church does. No more sin- 
ners are converted, because no more Christians are 
converted. The world will continue to lie in wick- 
edness, while " the ways of Zion mourn " as they 
do. Does any one wonder that iniquity abounds, 
when the love of so many has waxed cold ? We are 
sending the light of truth abroad, when we have but 
little of the warmth of love at home. 

We are often asked what we are doing for the 
conversion of the world. We ought to be doing a 
great deal — all we can. But I would ask, what are 
we doing for the conversion of the church? What 
to promote holiness nearer home, among our fellow- 
Christians and in our own hearts ? Let us not forget 
the world, but at the same time let us remember Zion. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 89 



16. Inquiring Saints. 



I was asked the other day whether I had had any 
recent meeting for inquirers. I replied that I had not 
— that there were few inquiring sinners in the con- 
gregation, and I judged the reason to be, that there 
were few inquiring saints. " Inquiring saints ! that 
is a 7iew phrase. We always supposed that inquir- 
ing belonged exclusively to sinners." But it is not 
so. Do we not read in Ezekiel, 36 : 37, " Thus saith 
the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by 
the house of Israel to do it for them ?" By the house 
of Israel, that is, by his people — by the church. You 
see that God requires and expects his covenanted 
people to inquire. It is true that saints do not make 
the same inquiry that sinners do. The latter ask 
what they must do to be saved, whereas the inquiry 
of Christians is, "Wilt thou not revive us again?'' 
It is a blessed state of things when the people of God 
are inquiring. It is good for themselves, and it has a 
most benign influence on others. When the people 
of God inquire, presently the impenitent begin to in- 
quire. That question, '* Wilt thou not revive us ?" 
is soon followed by the other, " What must I do to 
be saved?" Yes, when saints become anxious, it is 
not long ere sinners become anxious. The inquiry of 
the three thousand on the day of Penteccst, " Men and 
brethren, what shall we do ?" was preceded by the 
8* 



90 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

inquiry of the one hundred and twenty, who "all 
continued with one accord in prayer and supplica- 
tion." Generally, I suppose, that is the order. First 
saints inquire, and then sinners. And whenever, in 
any congregation, religion does not flourish, one 
principal reason of it is that the saints are not in- 
quiring. They do not attend their inquiry meeting 
appointed for them. The saints' inquiry meeting is 
the prayer meeting. In that Christians meet to- 
gether to inquire of the Lord " to do it for them," 
that is, to fulfill the promise about the new heart 
and the new spirit, of which he had been speaking. 
Now, when this meeting is crowded and interesting 
— when the inquiry among Christians is general^ 
and earnest, and importunate, the sinners' inquiry 
meeting usually becomes crowded and interesting. 
O that I could make my voice to be heard by all 
the dear people of God in the land on this subject. 
I would say, " You wonder and lament that sinners 
do not inquire. But, are you inquiring ? You won- 
der that they do not feel. But do you feel ? Can you 
expect a heart of stone to feel, w^hen a heart oi flesh 
does not ? You are surprised that sinners can sleep. 
It is because you sleep along side of them. Do you 
but awake, and bestir yourselves, and look up and 
cry to God, and you will see how soon they will be- 
gin to be roused, and to look about them, and to ask 
the meaning of your solicitude." O that the saints 
would but inquire ! That is what I want to see. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 91 

We hear a good deal said about the anxious seat. 
Concerning the propriety of the thing signified by 
that not very elegant expression, we will not now 
dispute, especially since that seat is at present pretty 
much vacant every where. I only wish that the 
place where Christians sit were a more anxious seat 
than it is. 

Neither will I engage in pending controversy 
about measures, new and old. What I fear most 
from the controversy is that it will cause many to 
become no measure men. I do not know why we 
want so many measures, if we will only make good 
use of those we have. There are two measures, 
which, if generally adopted and faithfully applied, 
will, I think, answer every purpose. You may call 
them new or old. They are both. They are old, yet, 
like the new commandment and the new song of 
which we read in the Bible, ever new. The first is, 
the measure of plain evangelical preaching " in sea- 
son, out of season," and '* not with wisdom of words." 
The other is the measure of united and fervent pray- 
er, such as preceded the memorable events of the day 
of Pentecost. I am for these old, yet ever-new mea- 
sures. O that the brethren of every name would take 
fast Hold of these measures and hold on to them. I 
think then we should not want many more measures. 
Praying and 'preaching used to be " mighty, through 
God, to the pulling down of strong holds." I am sure 
they will never fail. Let us employ them. 



92 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

17. Do you Pay for a Religious Ne-virgpaper T 

I was going to ask the question in another form, 
" Do you read a religious newspaper '?" but then I 
reflected that many read a religious newspaper who 
do not themselves subscribe for one, they being in 
the habit of borrowing from their neighbors, and 
after sending and respectfully soliciting the loan of 
the paper before the family have read it, and not un- 
frequently keeping it a length of time greater than 
the golden rule will exactly justify. Then I had 
like to have thrown the question into this shape : 
" Do you subscribe for a religious newspaper?" but 
it struck me all at once, that some subscribe for a 
paper, but do not ])ay for it. I have heard this com- 
plaint made, and I have no doubt there is foundation 
enough for it. I, for my part, would advise such 
persons to take a moral newspaper, if they can find 
such a thing. That is the sort of paper they require. 
A religious newspaper is quite too far advanced for 
them. 1 don't know, and cannot conceive why these 
non-payers want to read a religious newspaper. I 
should suppose they would be satisfied with secular 
newspapers. I can imagine that they may desire, 
notwithstanding their delinquency, to know what is 
going on in the world, but why they should care to 
know how things go in the church, I cannot con- 
jecture. What do those who do not give any thing 
for value received, want to know about revivals, mis- 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 93 

sions, &/C. ? Here are persons who would starve 
editors, publishers, printers, and paper-makers — the 
whole concern — into a premature grave ! — who say, 
" Send me your paper," implying- of course that they 
will send the money in return, yet never send it ; 
and yet they want to know all about the progress 
that is making in converting souls to God, and what 
Is doing among the heathen. Is not this strange, that 
having never learned as yet to practice the first and 
easiest lesson of honesty, they should wish to read 
every thing about godliness and vital piety ! So I 
concluded to head the article, " Do you 'pay for a 
i^eligious newspaper ?" 

Do you, reader ? If you do, continue to take and 
read, and pay for it ; and be slow to withdraw your 
subscription. Give up many things before you give 
up your religious newspaper. If an}?- one that ought 
to take such a paper, does not, I hope that some one 
to whom the circumstance is known, will volunteer 
the loan of this to him, directing his attention par 
ticularly to this article. Who is he ? A professor of 
religion ? It cannot be. A professor of religion and 
not taking a religious newspaper ! A member of the 
visible church, and voluntarily without the means of 
information as to what is going on in that church ! 
A follower of Christ, praying daily, as taught by 
his Master, " Thy kingdom come," and yet not know- 
ing, nor caring to know, what progress that kingdom 
is makino^ ! Here is one of those to whom Christ 



94 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

said, " Go, teach all nations ;" he bears a part of the 
responsibility of the world's conversion, and yet, so 
far from doing any thing himself, he does not even 
know what others are doing in promoting this great 
enterprise I Ask him about missionary stations and 
operations, and he can tell you nothing. He does 
not read about them. I am afraid this professor of 
religion does not love " the gates of Zion more than 
all the dwellings of Jacob." Ah, he forgets thee, O 
Jerusalem! 

But I must not fail to ask if this person takes a 
secular newspaper. O, certainly he does. He must 
know what is going on in the world ; and how else 
is he to know it ? It is pretty clear then that he 
takes a deeper interest in the world than he does in 
the church ; and this being the case, it is not difficult 
to say where his heart is. He pays perhaps eight 
or ten dollars for a secular paper — a paper that tells 
him about the world, but for one that records Zion's 
conflicts and victories, he is unwilling to pay two 
or three ! How can a professor of religion answer 
for this discrimination in favor of the world ? how 
defend himself against the charge it involves ? He 
cannot do it ; and he had better not try, but go or 
write immediately and subscribe for some good reli- 
gious paper ; and to be certain of paying for it, let 
him pay in advance. There is a satisfaction when 
one is reading an interesting paper, to reflect that it 
is paid for. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 95 

But perhaps you take a paper, and are in arrears 
for it. Now suppose you was the publisher, and 
the publisher was one of your subscribers, and he 
was in arrears to you, what would you think he 
ought to do in that case ? I just ask the question. 
I don't care about an answer. 



18. Betaclied THouglits. 

It is not every broken heart which constitutes the 
sacrifice of God. It depends on what has broken 
it — whether the experience of misfortune, or the 
sense of sin — the sorrow of the world, or the sorrow 
of God. Both break the heart, but it is a different 
fracture in one case from what it is in the other. God 
values the latter ; and hearts so broken he mends and 
makes whole. 

Some sinners repent with an unhrokeii heart. 
They are sorry, and yet go on, as did Pilate and 
Herod. 

A sinner must come to himself, as did the prodi- 
gal, before ever he will come to Christ. 

The consummation of madness is to do what, at 
the time of doing it, we intend to be afterwards sorry 
for ; the deliberate and intentional making of work 
for repentance. 



96 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

When a Christian backslides, it is as if the pro- 
digal son had re-acted his folly, and left his father's 
house a second time. 

There is a mighty difference betwixt feeling " I 
have done wrong," and feeling " I have sinned 
against the Lord." 

Some sinners lay down their burden elsewhere 
than at the feet of Jesus. 

Ministers should aim in preaching to 'puncture 
the heart, rather than tickle the ear. 

He who waits for repentance, waits for what can- 
not be had so long as it is w\aited for. It is absurd 
for a man to wait for that which he has himself to do. 

Human friends can weep with us when we weep, 
but Jesus is a friend, who, when he has wept with 
us, can wipe away all our tears. And when the 
vale of tears terminates in the valley of the shadow 
of death, and other friends are compelled to retire 
and leave us to go alone, Jesus is the friend who can 
and will enter and go all the way through wath us. 

It is better for us that Christ should be in heaven 
than on earth. We need him more there than here. 
We want an advocate at court. 

When a family party are going home, it is com- 
mon for one to go before to make all ready for the 
rest, and to welcome them. " I go to prepare a place 
for you," says Christ to his disciples. 

Procrastination has been called a thief — the thief 
of time. I wish it were no worse than a thief It 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 9^ 

is a murderer ; and that which it kills is not time 
merely, but the immortal soul. 

Surely the subject of religion must be the most 
important of all subjects, since it is presently to be- 
come, and ever after to continue to be, the only and 
all-absorbing" subject. 

The obstacle in the way of the sinner's conver- 
sion possesses all the force and invincibleness of an 
inability, with all the freeness and criminality of an 
indisposition. 

In vain will sinners call upon the rocks and 
mountains to hide them. Nature will not interpose 
to screen the enemies of her God. 

What strange servants some Christians are ! — al- 
ways at work for themselves, and never doing any 
thing for Him whom they call their Master ! And 
what subjects ! — ever desiring to take the reins of 
government into their own hands ! 

It is one of the worst of errors, that there is an- 
other path of safety besides that of duty. 

The man who lives in vain, lives worse than in 
vain. He who lives to no purpose, lives to a bad 
purpose. 

The danger of the impenitent is regularly and 
rapidly increasing, as his who is in the midst of a 
burning building, or under the power of a fatal 
disease. 

How many indulge a hope which they dare not 
examine ! 

9 



98 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

If the mere delay of hope — hope deferred, makes 
the heart sick, what will the death of hope — its final 
and total disappointment — despair, do to it 1 

The brightest blaze of inttlligence is of incalcu- 
lably less value than the smallest spark of charity. 

The sublimest thoughts are conceived by the in- 
tellect when it is excited by pious emotion. 

There are many shining lights, which are not 
also burning lights. 

Those may hope to be saved at the eleventh hour, 
who, \\>hen called at that hour can plead, that it is 
their call ; jwho can say, when asked why they stand 
idle, "Because no man hath hired us." 

Some never begin to pray till God has ceased to 
hear. 

The Christian's feeling himself weak, makes him 
strong. 

Genuine benevolence is not stationary, but peripa- 
tetic. It goeth about doing good. 

Preparation for* meeting God ought to be made 
first, not only because it is most important, but be- 
cause it may be needed first. We may w^ant nothing 
so much as religion. It is the only thing that is ne- 
cessary, certainly, exceedingly, indispensably and 
immediately. 

Some things, which could not otherwise be read 
in the book of nature, are legible enough in it when 
the lamp of revelation is held up to it. 

It is easier to do a great deal of mischief than to 
accomplish a little good. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 99 

No man will ever fully find out what he is by a 
mere survey of himself He must explore, if he 
would know himself 

When a man wants nothing, he asks for every 
thing. 



19. The late Mr. Wirt. 

The distinguished man whose name introduces 
this article, and who for so long a time filled so large 
a place in the public eye and mind, has passed away 
from the admiring view of mortals. We shall never 
again behold on earth his noble figure, but his me- 
mory shall long, long be cherished in the choicest 
place of the heart. His history in part belongs to 
the nation. Let others, more competent to the task, 
write that, while I make a brief record of that por- 
tion of his earthly story which connects him with 
the church. Few names have ever been written on 
earth in larger and more brilliant letters ; but his 
name was written also in heaven — he had a record 
on high. Mr. Wirt was a Christian. He aspired 
to that "highest style" of humanity, and by divine 
grace he reached it. 

The writer of this was for many years familiar 
with the religious history of Mr. Y^^irt. From the 



100 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

first of his acquaintance with him, he always found 
him disposed to listen and learn on the subject of 
religion, even from those who were very far infe- 
rior to him in intellect and general information. I 
never knew a man more open, candid, docile, than 
he ; and yet, for every thing which he admitted, he 
required a reason. His faith was implicit towards 
God, when he had ascertained that it was to God he 
was listening ; but his understanding refused to bow 
to man. There was a time, when, it is believed, he 
had doubts in regard to the truth of the Christian 
religion ; but, inquiring and examining, his doubts 
departed, and his mind rested in the confident be- 
lief, for which he was ever ready to render a rea- 
son, that God had made a revelation to man, and that 
the Bible contains that revelation. Perhaps this 
work of conviction Avas not fully wrought in him 
until some years ago, when, with the greatest satis- 
faction and profit, as he has often said to the writer, 
he read *' Home's Introduction to the Critical Study 
of the Holy Scriptures," a work which many have 
read at his recommendation, and with like results. 

But Mr. Wirt was not satisfied while the faith of 
Christianity had possession of his intellect alone. 
He was aware that it equally deserved a place in his 
affections; and having long yielded to Christ the 
homage of his understanding, he at length opened 
to him that other department of the man, and re- 
ceived him into his heart. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 101 

It was in the summer of 1831, that, on a profes- 
sion of faith and repentance, he became connected 
with the First Presbyterian Church of Baltimore, 
of which he remained a consistent and exemplary 
member until his death. 

Shortly after his union to the church, the writer 
of this received from him a letter, from which he 
thinks it will be gratifying to the Christian public 
that he should make the following extracts. They 
show, among other things, what views this great 
man had been taught by the Spirit of God to en- 
tertain of the human character and heart. He writes 
from the Sweet Springs of Virginia. 

*' My mind has been too much occupied by the 
petty every-day cares of a residence at a public wa- 
tering-place, or traveling and tossing over rough 
roads, for that continuous and systematic medi- 
tation and cultivation of religious feelings which 
I know to be my duty, and which I think I 
should find a delightful duty; but perhaps I de- 
ceive myself in this, for I have no faith in the 
fair dealing of this heart of mine with myself. I 
feel the want of that supreme love of my God and 
Savior for which I pray. I feel the want of that 
warming, purifying, elevating love, that sanctifying 
and cheering spirit which supports the Christian in 
his warfare with the world, the flesh, and the great 
enemy of our souls. Yet let me not be ungrateful. 
I have some sweet moments. My affections do some- 
9* 



102 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

times take wing among these great works of God 
that surround me, and rise to their Creator, and I 
think with gratitude on that transcendantly greater 
work of his, the salvation of a guilty and fallen world 
by the death and mediation of his only Son. But 
indeed I am an exceedingly poor and weak Chris- 
tian ; and I often fear, too often for my peace, that 
there is at least nothing of the vitality of religion 
about me, and that I may have mistaken the burning 
of some of those vapors that fume from an ardent 
imagination, for that strong, steady and ever-during 
fire which animates the Christian, and bears him 
triumphant on his course. God only knows how 
this matter is. I think I am endeavoring to be sin- 
cere. But I may be mistaken, and it may turn out 
at last to be only one of those stratagems which the 
arch-enemy plays off upon us to our ruin. But even 
this apprehension again may be one of his strata- 
gems to make me despond, and thus defeat the ope- 
ration of the Spirit. 

Alas ! with how many enemies are we beset — 
treachery within and without. Nothing remains for 
us but to watch and to pray, lest we enter into temp- 
tation. God forbid that the public profession which 
I have made of religion should redound to the dis- 
honor of his cause. It is the fear of this which has 
so long held me back, and not the fear of man. I 
am grieved to learn that my having gone to the 
Lord's table has got into the papers. It is no fit 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 103 

subject for a paper. Of what consequence is it to 
the cause of Christ that such a poor reptile as my- 
self should have acknowledged him before other 
worms of the dust like myself I feel humbled and 
startled at such an annunciation. It will call the 
eyes of a hypercritical and malignant world upon 
me, and, I fear, tend more to tarnish than to advance 
the cause." 

In another part of the letter he writes : " I long 
for more fervor in prayer — for more of the love and 
Spirit of God shed abroad in my heart — for more 
of his presence throughout the day — for a firmer an- 
chorage in Christ, to keep this heart of mine and 
its affections from tossing to and fro on the waves of 
this world and the things of time and sense — for a 
brighter and a stronger faith — and some assurance 
of my Savior's acceptance and love. I feel as if he 
could not love me — that I am utterly unworthy of 
his love — that I have not one loveable point or qua- 
lity about me — but that, on the contrary, he must 
still regard me as an alien to his kingdom and a 
stranger to his love. But, with the blessing of God, 
I will persevere in seeking him, relying on his pro- 
mise, that if I come to him, he will in no wise cast 
me off." 

It may not be uninteresting to mention that the 
favorite religious authors of Mr. W. were Watts 
and Jay. More recently he became acquainted with 
the writings of Flavel, and the subject of the last 



104 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

conversation I had with him was Flavel's "Saint 
Indeed," which he had just been reading with great 
interest. 



30. Traveling^ on tlie Sabbath. 

How few men act from principle ! How few have 
any rule, by which they uniformly regulate their 
conduct ! Fewer still act from christian principle — 
regard a rule derived from revelation. It makes 
my very heart bleed to think how few, even of civi- 
lized and evangelized men, regard divine authority. 
And yet it is the disregard of this which constitutes 
the sinner and the rebel. Some disregard one ex- 
pression of it, and some another. He who, whatever 
respect he may profess for God, practically disre- 
gards any expression of divine authority, is a re- 
volter — a rebel ; is up in heart, if not in arms, 
against God; is engaged in a controversy with 
Jehovah. 

What has let me into this train of reflection, is the 
general disregard that I observe with respect to the 
sanctification of the Sabbath. He who made us, and 
who, by constantly preserving us, when otherwise 
we should relapse into non-existence, may be said to 
be continually renewing the creation of us, and has 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 105 

beyond all question a right to control us, did long 
ago, from Sinai, distinctly express his will with re- 
gard to the manner in which the seventh portion of 
time should be spent, and how it should be dis- 
tinguished from the other six portions. He remind- 
ed his creatures of it, and declared.it to be his will 
that it should be kept holy ; that six days we should 
labor, and therein do all our work, leaving none of 
it to be done on the seventh, because the seventh is 
the Sabbath of the Lord our God. It is his rest, 
and therefore should be ours also. In it he has sig- 
nified it to be his will that we should not do any 
work ; neither we, nor those who are subject to us 
as children or as servants, nor even those transiently 
domesticated with us, the strangers within our gates. 
Nor should man alone rest, but the beast also. Then 
he condescends to give a reason for this enactment, 
in which all mankind, whenever and wherever they 
live, are equally interested — a reason which was 
valid from the creation of the world, and will hold 
good as long as the world lasts ; " for in six days 
the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all 
that in them is, and rested the seventh day ; where- 
fore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hal- 
lowed it." 

Now, God has never revoked this expression of 
his will. He has never repealed this law. If he has, 
tohen did he it, and where is the record of its repeal? 
He has not taken off the blessing which he laid on 



106 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

the Sabbath. He has not obliterated the distinction 
which he put on the seventh portion of time. He 
has not said, " You need no longer remember the 
Sabbath to keep it holy — seven days you may labor 
—my example of six days of work, followed by one 
of cessation and rest, you may now cease to imitate." 
He has not said any thing like it. The law is in 
force therefore even until now. 

Well, here is the law of God, with the reason of 
it. Now for the practice of men. How poorly they 
compare ! There are indeed few who do not remem- 
ber the Sabbath day, and in some manner distinguish 
it from the other days of the week. But the law is, 
that they should remember it to keep it holy ; that 
they should distinguish it by hallowing it as a day 
of rest. This they do not. They keep it no more 
holy than any other day, though they do differently 
on that day from what they do on others. They do 
not the same work on that day which they do on 
the other days, but they do some work. Such as ne- 
cessity requires, and such as mercy dictates, they 
may do. The law of nature teaches that, and the 
example of the Lord of the Sabbath sanctions and 
confirms the lesson. But they do other work than 
such as these call them to. The Sabbath is with 
them as secular a day as any other, though the man- 
ner of their worldliness on that day may be unlike 
what it is on the other clays. What is more purely 
secujar than visiting and traveling, yet what more 



PRACTICAL THOtJGHTS. 107 

common on the day which the Lord has blessed and 
hallowed ? These, I know, are not considered as fall- 
ing- under the denomination of loork, but they do 
fall under it. They are as certainly included among 
' the things forbidden to be done on the Sabbath, as 
are ploughing and sowing. The former are no more 
sacred — no less secular than are the latter. 

I have been struck with the indiscriminate man- 
ner in which travelers use the seven days of the 
week. One would suppose that the law had made 
an exception • in favor of traveling — forbidding every 
other species of secular employment on the day of 
res^, but allowing men to journey on it. They that 
would not do any other labor on the Sabbath, will 
nevertheless without compunction travel on that day. 
The farmer, who would not toil in his field; the 
merchant, who would not sell an article out of his 
store ; the mechanic, who would not labor at his 
trade ; and the mistress of the family, who scrupu- 
lously avoids certain household occupations on the 
Sabbath, will yet all of them, without any relentings, 
travel on the Sabbath, and that whether the object 
of their journey be business or pleasure. It makes 
no difference. They would not on the Sabbath do 
other work appropriate to the six days. That would 
shock them. But to commence, continue, or finish a 
journey on the Sabbath, offends not their consciences 
^ in the least. I am acquainted with many persons 
^ who would not for the world travel to a place oft Sa- 



108 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

tuxday, accomplish their business, the object of their 
journey, on Sunday, and return on Monday; but 
these same persons will, for a very little of the world, 
and without any hesitation, go to the place on Fri- 
day, do their business on Saturday, and return on 
Sunday. Now I would do the one just as soon as I 
would the other, and should consider that I desecra- 
ted the Sabbath by traveling to or from the place of 
business on it, just as much as by accomplishing the 
object of the journey on it. 

I would ask the candid traveler if any thing can 
secularize the Sabbath more completely, if any thing 
can more effectually nullify it, than ordinary travel- 
ing ? If a man may lawfully travel on the Sabbath, 
except in a case of stern necessity, such as would 
justify any species of work, I know not what he may 
not lawfully do on that day. What is more absurd 
than that it should be lawful and proper to journey 
on the day set apart and sanctified for rest ? Surely 
journeying does not comport well with rest. But 
they say that traveling is not work, and therefore 
not included in the prohibition. I deny the fact. It 
is often hard and wearisome work. And what if it 
be not work to the passenger, is it not work to those 
who are employed in conveying him? If he does not 
labor, yet others must labor in order to enable him 
to travel, and is he not equally responsible for the 
work which he renders necessary on the Sabbath, 
as for that which he does with his own hands ? But 



X^RACtlCAL THOtJi&ttt«. 109 

what if no human being is employed to forward him 
on his journey, he deprives the beast of his day of 
rest. And is it nothing to withhold from the poor 
animal the privilege of the Sabbath— to compel him 
to work on the day on which God has directed that 
he should be permitted to rest ? 

According to this theory, that it is lawful to jour- 
ney on the Sabbath, a man may so arrange it as ne- 
ver to be under obligation to keep a Sabbath. He 
has only to set apart that day of the week for travel- 
ing ; he has only to keep in motion on the day of 
rest ; that is all. Moreover, he who gets his living 
by traveling, or by the journeying of others, has, on 
this supposition, a manifest advantage (if such it may 
be called) over his neighbors. He has seven days 
for profit, while they have only six. The day-laborer 
and the poor mechanic may not use the seventh day 
as they do the other days of the week. They must 
make a distinction between them. But those who 
travel for their pleasure, or whose business calls them 
abroad, and those who accommodate them with con- 
veyances, may use the seven days indiscriminately. 
Is this equal ? 

I think it must be evident to every unpreju- 
diced mind, that to travel on the Sabbath is to use it 
as any other day. It is to make no distinction be- 
tween it and Monday or Saturday. It disregards 
the peculiarity of the day altogether. Yet I suppose 
there is as much journeying on the Sabbath as there 
10 



110 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

is on any other day of the week. With very few 
exceptions, the steam-boats ply and the stages run 
as usual ; and both, I am informed, are as full, if not 
more crowded on the Sabbath than on any other day ; 
and private carriages are as numerous on the great 
thoroughfares, and in the vicinity of cities more so 
on the Sabbath. And the registers of the watering 
places show as many arrivals and departures on Sun- 
day as on Monday. Yes, men make as free with 
the Lord's day as they do with their own days. So 
little regard is paid to divine authority. So little do 
men care for God. And, they tell me, all sorts of 
men travel on the Sabbath— even many professors 
of religion. That I would suppose. I never heard 
ofany thing so bad that some professor of religion 
had not done it. It was one of the professors of re- 
ligion who bartered away and betrayed our blessed 
Lord and Savior. And some ministers of the Gospel, 
I am told, do the work of traveling on the Sabbath. 
Now we have some ministers who have farms. I 
suppose it would be accounted dreadful, should they 
plough or reap on the Sabbath. Yet these might 
plough as innocently as those may travel. But these 
breakers of the Sabbath, and indeed almost all of this 
class of transgressors, are the readiest persons I ever 
met with at making excuses for their conduct. I pro- 
pose in my next to consider some of their apologies. 
They will be found very curious. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. Ill 

^1. Apologies for Traveling on tli.e Sabbatli. 

Some of those who do the work of journeying on 
the Sabbath, do not condescend to make any apology 
for it. They care neither for the day, nor for Him 
who hallowed it. With these we have nothing to 
do. Oar business is with those who, admitting the 
general obligation of the Sabbath, and knowing or sus- 
pecting Sunday traveling to be a sin, offer apologies 
which they hope may justify the act in their case, 
or else go far toward extenuating the criminality of 
it. I propose to submit to the judgment of my read- 
ers some of the excuses for this sin, as I cannot help 
calling the breach of the fourth commandment, 
which from time to time I have heard alleged. 

I would premise that I know of no sin which 
men are so sorry for before it is done, and so ready 
to apologize for afterwards. I cannot tell how many 
persons, about to travel on the Sabbath, have an- 
swered me that they were very sorry to do it ; and 
yet they have immediately gone and done it. They 
have repented and then sinned — just like Herod, 
who was sorry to put John the Baptist to death, and 
then immediately sent an executioner to bring his 
head. It does not diminish the criminality of an act 
that it is perpetrated with some degree of regret — 
and yet the presence of such a regret is considered 
by many as quite a tolerable excuse. 

One gentleman, who was sorry to travel on the 



112 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS^. 

Sabbath, added, I recollect, that it was against his 
principles to make such a use of the day. I won- 
dered then that he should do it — ^that he should de- 
liberately practice in opposition to his principles, 
But I was still more surprised that he should think 
to excuse his practice by alleging" its contrariety to 
his principles. What are principles for but to regu- 
late practice; and if they have not fixedness and 
force enough for this, of what use are they? A 
man's principles may as well be in favor of Sabbath 
breaking as his practice ; and certainly it constitutes a 
better apology for a practice that it is in conformity to 
one's principles, than that it is at variance with them. 

Another gave pretty much the same reason for 
his conduct in different words : " It is not my ha,- 
bit,'^ said he, "to travel on the Sabbath." It was 
only his act. He did not uniformly do it. He only 
occasionally did it. A man must be at a loss for 
reasons who alleges an apology for traveling one 
Sabbath, that he does not travel other Sabbaths. The 
habit of obedience forms no excuse for the act of dis- 
obedience. 

An intelligent lady, who was intending to travel 
on the Sabbath, volunteered this exculpation of her- 
self She said she had traveled one Sabbath already 
since she left home, and she supposed it was no 
worse to travel on another. What then? are not 
two sins worse than one ? 

Another (and she was a lady too) said she could 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 113 

read good books by the way ; and you know, said 
she, that we can have as good thoughts in one place 
•as in another. I assented, but could not help think- 
ing that the persons employed in conveying her 
might not find their situation as favorable to devout 
reading and meditation. This, I suppose, did not 
occur to her. 

Another person said that he would never com- 
mence a journey on the Sabbath: but when once set 
out, he could see no harm in proceeding.. But I, 
for my part, could not see the mighty difference be- 
tween setting out on the Sabbath, and going on on 
the Sabbach. My perceptions were so obtuse that I 
could not discern the one to be traveling, and the 
other to be equivalent to rest. 

I heard, among other excuses, this : Sunday was 
the only day of the week on which the stage run to 
the place to which the person wished to go, and 
therefore he was compelled to travel on Sunday. 
Compelled ? Why go to the place at all ? Why not 
procure a private conveyance on another day of the 
week? What if it would be more expensive ? Doing 
right pays so well, that one can afford to be at some 
expense to do it. 

Again, I was frequently met with this apology 
for journeying on the Sabbath : " The stage was 
going on, and if I had laid by on the Sabbath, I 
should have lost my seat, and might have had to 
wait on the road, perhaps for a whole week, before I 
10* 



114 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

could regain it." This apology satisfied many. Th'ey 
thought it quite reasonable that the person should 
proceed under those circumstances. But it did not 
satisfy me. It occurred to me, that if he had honored 
the Sabbath, and committed his way to the Lord, 
he might not have been detained on the road be- 
yond the day of rest. But what if he had been ? are 
we under no obligation to obey a command of Goa, 
if we foresee that obedience to it may be attended 
with some inconvenience ? Better the detention of 
many days than the transgression of a precept of 
the decalogue. 

One person told me that he meant to start very 
early in the morning, for he wished to occupy as lit- 
tle of the Sabbath in traveling as possible. Another 
proposed to lie by all the middle of the day, and pro- 
ceed in the evening, and he was sure there could be 
no harm in that. Ah, thought I, and has not Sun- 
day a morning and an evening appropriate to itself 
as well as any other day of the week? Is the morn- 
ing of Sunday all one with Saturday, and the evening 
no more sacred than Monday ? Did God hallow 
only the middle of the day ? And is the day of rest 
shorter by several hours than any other day ? I 
never could see how one part* of the Sabbath shouid 
be entitled to more religious respect than another 
part. It seems to me a man may as properly travel 
on the noon of the Sabbath, as in the morning or 
evenino-. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 115 

One person was very particular to tell me what he 
meant to do after he had traveled a part of the Lord's 
day. He expected, by about 10 or 11 o'clock, to come 
across a church, and he intended to go in and wor- 
ship. That he supposed would set all right again. 

Another, a grave looking personage, was travel- 
ing on the Sabbath to reach an ecclesiastical meet- 
ing in season. Another, in order to fulfill an appoint- 
ment he had made to preach. These were ministers. 
They pleaded the necessity of the case ; but I could 
see no necessity in it. I thought the necessity of 
keeping God's commandments a much clearer and 
stronger case of necessity. The business of the 
meeting could go on without that clergyman, or it 
might have been deferred a day in waiting for him., 
or he might have left home a day earlier. The ap- 
pointment to preach should not have been made ; or 
if made, should have been broken. 

There was one apologist who had not heard from 
home for a good while, and he was anxious to learn 
about his family. Something in their circumstances 
might require his presence. I could not sustain even 
that apology, for I thought the Lord could take care 
of his family without him as well as with him, and 
I did not, believe they would be likely to suffer by 
his resting on the Sabbath out of respect to God's 
commandment, and spending the day in imploring 
the divine blessing on them. 

Another apologist chanced to reach on Saturday 



116 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

night an indifferent public house. He pleaded, 
therefore, that it was necessary for him to proceed 
on the next day until he should arrive at better ac 
commodations. But I could not help thinking that 
his being comfortably accommodated was not, on the 
whole, so important as obedience to the decalogue. 

One person thought he asked an unanswerable 
question, when he begged to know why it was not 
as well to be on the road, as to be lying by at a coun- 
try tavern. It occurred to me, that if his horses had 
possessed the faculty of Balaam's beast, they could 
have readily told him the difference, and why the 
latter part of the alternative was preferable. 

There was still another person who was sure his 
excuse would be sustained. He was one of a party, 
who were determined to proceed on the Sabbath in 
spite of his reluctance, and he had no choice but to go 
on with them. Ah, had he no choice ? would they 
have forced him to go on ? could he not have sepa- 
rated from such a party ? or might he not, if he had 
been determined, have prevailed on them to rest on 
the Lord's day? Suppose he had said, mildly yet 
firmly : " My conscience forbids me to journey on the 
Sabbath. You can go, but you must leave me. I am 
sorry to interfere with your wishes, but I cannot of- 
fend God." Is it not ten to one such a remonstrance 
would have been successful ? I cannot help suspect- 
ing that the person was willing to be compelled in 
this case. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 117 

But many said that this strict keeping of the Sab- 
bath was an old 'puritanical notion, and this seemed 
to ease their consciences somewhat. I remarked that 
I thought it older than puritanism. A Sinaitical no- 
tion I judged it to be, rather than puritanical. 

Many Sunday travelers I met with, begged me 
not tell their pious relatives that they had traveled 
on the Sabbath. They thought, if these knew it, they 
would not think so well of them, and they would be 
likely to hear of it again. No one asked me not to 
tell God. They did not seem to care how it affected 
them in his estimation. It never occurred to them 
that they might hear from the Lord of the Sabbath 
on the subject. 

I do not know any purpose which such apologies 
for Sabbath-breaking serve, since they satisfy neither 
God nor his people, but one, and that is not a very 
valuable one. They serve only, as far as I can see, 
to delude those who offer them. 

I love to be fair. I have been objecting lately 
against the Catholics, that they reduce the number of 
the commandments to nine. I here record my ac- 
knowledgment that some of us Protestants have 
really but nine. The Catholics omit the second ; some 
of our Protestants the fourth. 



118 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 



22, I Have Done Giving^. 

A gentleman of high respectability, and a mem- 
ber of the church, made this remark the other day, 
when informed that an application was about to be 
made to him in behalf of some charitable object. '* I 
have done giving," said he. When I heard of his 
remark it awakened in my mind a train of reflec- 
tion, which I have thought it might not be amiss to 
communicate. 

** Done giving !" Has he indeed ? Why ? Has he 
given all ? Has he nothing left to give ? Has this 
disciple done what his Master did ? Was he rich, and 
has he become poor for the sake of others, that they, 
through his poverty, might be rich ? O no ! he is 
rich still. He has the greatest abundance — more 
than enough to support him in elegance, and to en- 
able him to leave an ample inheritance to his chil- 
dren. What if he has a great deal ? He has not only 
not impoverished himself, but is probably richer now, 
through the favor of Providence, than he would have 
been had he never given any thing. Now if, by 
honoring the Lord with his substance, his barns, in- 
stead of being emptied, have been filled with plenty, 
he had better continue this mode of honoring him. 
He should rather increase than arrest his liberality. 

" Done giving !" Why ? Is there no more nee^l 
of giving ? Is every want abundantly supplied 1 la 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 119 

the whole population of our country furnished with 
the means of grace ? Is the world evangelized ? Have 
missionaries visited every shore ? Is the Bible translat- 
ed into every language and distributed in every land, 
a copy in every family, and every member of every 
family taught to read it ? Are the accommodations 
for widows and orphans as ample as they should be ? 
Is there a house of refuge for every class of the hu- 
man family that needs one ? Or have the poor ceased 
from the land ? O no ! There are no such good rea- 
sons as these for ceasing to give. Why then has he 
done giving? Is it because others do not give as 
they ought? But what is that to him? Will he 
make the practice of others his rule of conduct, ra- 
ther than the precept of Jesus Christ ? If others do 
not give, so much the more should he. Will he add 
another name to the list of niggards ? 

Does he feel worse for having given away so 
much ? Has it made him unhappy ? Is his experi- 
ence different from that of the Lord Jesus, who said, 
" It is more blessed to give than to receive ?'^ 

Has he, who thinks he will give no more, bten 
led to that conclusion by having found that what 
has been given hitherto has done no good ? And is 
it so, that no good has been done by all the Bibles 
published, and all the Tracts distributed, and all the 
missionaries sent abroad into our own land and into 
the world ; and all the schools established, and all the 
children taught to read, and all the civilization intro- 



120 l^RACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

duced, and all the asylums opened, and all the po* 
verty relieved?- Has no good been done ? Good, great 
good has been done by what has been given ; but 
still more will be done by what shall be given here- 
after. Bibles can now be printed at a cheaper rate 
than heretofore, and the conductors of our charitable 
operations have learned, by experience, that economy 
which can be learned in no other way. And yet at 
this time, when a dollar goes so far in doing good* 
here is a man who says, " I have done giving !" If I 
had his ear for a moment, I would ask him if he has 
done receiving — if God has done giving to him. I 
would ask him, moreover, if he has done spending, 
or done hoarding, or done wasting. Now, if he has 
not, he surely should not stop giving. When he 
ceases to waste, to hoard, and to spend, except for 
the merest necessaries, then he may stop giving, but 
never till then. 

" Done giving !" that is, done lending to the Lord ! 
Done sovvring and watering ! Done offering the sacri* 
fices with which God is well pleased ! Done mak- 
ing the widow's heart leap for joy, and bringing on 
himself the blessing of them that were ready to pe- 
rish ! Well, I am sorry — sorry for the sake of the 
poor, and the sick, and the orphan, and the ignorant, 
and the heathen. But no less sorry am I for the 
man's own sake. Poor man! poor with all his af- 
fluence, for there is really no one more poor than he, 
who, with the ability to give, has not the inclina- 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 121 

tion. He has it in his power to give, but not in his 
heart. He is enriched with abundance, but not with 
liberality. 

*' Done giving !'' well then, if he will not give his 
money, he must keep it. And yet how short the time 
he can keep it ! Had he not better freely give away 
some of it, than to wait for it all to be torn from him 1 
The thought that he has given, will be at least as 
agreeable a meditation in his dying moments, as the 
reflection that he spent, or that he laid up. 

I hope that gentleman who said " I have done 
giving,'* will recall his resolution, and taking re- 
venge on himself for having made it, give more 
liberally than ever. 



^3. " I WiU Give iJibferally.^* 

It is a good resolution, founded on good reasotig, 
some of which I will state, in the hope that others 
may be induced to come to a similar determination. 

I will give liberally, for the following reasons, viz. 

1. Because the objects for which I am called 
upon to give are great and noble. It is the cause 
of letters and religion, of man and God, for which 
my donations are wanted. The interests of time and 
eternity both are involved in it. Now, it is a shame 



122 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS* 

to give calculatingly and sparingly to such a cause, 
and for such objects. If one gives at all, he should 
give liberally. Nothing can justify a person's put- 
ting in only two mites, but its being all his living. 

2. Liberal donations are needed. The cause not 
only deserves them, but requires them. It takes a 
great deal to keep the present operations a going ; 
and we must every year extend the works. Do you 
not know that we have the world to go over, and the 
millennium is just at hand ? Look, the morning of 
that day is getting bright. We can almost see the 
sun peering above the horizon. 

3. My means either enable me now to give libe- 
rally, or, by economy and self-denial, may be so in- 
creased as to enable me to give liberally. I will give 
liberally so long as I do not resort to economy and 
self-denial ; and if I do resort to them, that will ena- 
ble me to give liberally. 

4. I will give liberally, because I have received 
liberally. God has given liberally. He has not only 
filled my cup, but made it run over. He has given 
me " good measure, pressed down, and shaken to- 
gether, and running over." I will imitate him in my 
gifts to others, and especially in my donations to 
his cause. 

5. I am liberal in my expenditures, and therefore 
I will be in my donations. Why should I spend 
much and give little ? It is not because spending is 
more blessed. No, it is giving that is said to be 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 123 

more blessed. The conduct of a man, whose expendi- 
tures are large and his donations small, is literally 
monstrous, I will not act so out of all proportion. 
If I must retrench, I will retrench from my expen- 
ditures, and not from my benefactions. 

6. The time for giving is short, and therefore I 
will give liberally while I have the opportunity of 
giving at all. Soon I shall be compelled to have 
done giving. 

7. A blessing is promised to liberal giving, and 
1 want it. The liberal soul shall be made fat. There- 
fore I will be liberal. " And he that watereth, shall be 
watered also himself" Then I will water. " There 
is that scattereth and yet increaseth." Therefore I 
will scatter ; and not sparingly, but bountifully ; for 
" he which soweth sparingly, shall reap also spa- 
ringly ; and he which soweth bountifully, shall reap 
also bountifully." 

8. I will give liberally, because it is not a clear 
gift, it is a loan. " He that has pity upon the poor 
lendeth unto the Lord ;" lendeth to the best of pay- 
masters, on the best security, and at the highest rate 
of interest ; for he renders double, aye, a hundredfold 
in this life, to say nothing of the life to come. I will 
lend him liberally. 

9. I will give liberally, because the times are hard 
where the Gospel is not. 

10. I will give liberally, because there are many 
who would, but cannot ; and many that can. but will 



124 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

not. It is so much the more necessary, therefore, 
that they should who are both able and inclined. I 
used to say, " I will not give liberally, because others 
do not. There is a richer man than I am, who does 
not give so much as I do." But now, from the same 
premises, I draw the opposite conclusion. Because 
others do not give liberally, I will. 

11. I have sometimes tried giving liberally, and I 
do not believe I have ever lost any thing by it. I 
have seen others try it, and they did not seem to lose 
any thing by it ; and, on the whole, I think a man is 
in no great danger of losing, who puts liberally into 
the treasury of the Lord and possessor of all things, 
and the giver of every good and perfect gift. 

12. And finally, when I ask myself if I shall ever 
be sorry for giving liberally, I hear from Avithin a 
prompt and most decided negative, " No, never." 

Wherefore I conclude that I will give liberally. 
It is a good resolution, I am certain ; and noAv I will 
take care that I do not spoil it all by putting an illi- 
beral construction on liberally. I will understand it 
as meaning freely, cheerfully, largely, whether the 
lexicographers say so or not: or, in other words, as 
meaning ivhat I ought to give, and a little more. I 
will tell you how I will do. An object being present- 
ed to me, Avhen I have ascertained what justice re- 
quires me to give, I will add something, lest, through 
insidious selfishness, I may have underrated my 
ability ; and that, if I err, I may be sure to err on the 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 125 

right side. Then I will add a little to my donation 
out of generosity. And when I have counted out 
what justice requires, and what generosity of her 
free will offers, then I will think of Him, who, though 
he was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we, 
through his poverty, might be rich ; and I say not 
that I will add a little more, but, how can I keep 
back any thing ? 

" Were the whole realm of nature mine, 
" That were a present far too small : 
" Love so amazing, so divine, 
" Demands my soul, my life, my all." 



%4:, The Calls are so Many. 

This is one of the most common complaints of 
those who are called upon to contribute to charitable 
objects : " The calls are so many," they say. Now, 
let us inquire into this matter. 

1. Are there really so many? Reckon them up. 
Perhaps they are not, after all, so many as you ima- 
gine. Any thing which annoys us, at intervals, is 
apt to be considered as coming oftener than it really 
does. When a man has rent to pay, how frequently 
quarter day seems to come round ! But it is not so 

11* 



126 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

with him who is the receiver. The calls are not, in 
fact, so many as you imagine. I asked a wealthy 
lady once, who thought she gave a great deal away 
in charity, to keep an accurate account for one year 
of all she gave away, particularly to the religious 
charities ; (which are those that are most complain- 
ed of;) and I predicted that she would find, at the close 
of the year, that her donations had been less than she 
imagined. She did so, and at the end of the year 
came to me and said she was perfectly ashamed to 
find that she had spent so much and given so little. 
She found that the calls were not " so very many." 

2. If the calls are so many, yet do not make that 
a reason for refusing them all. I fear that some do. 
But surely that the calls are so many, is no reason 
that you should not comply with some of them. It 
is only a reason why you should not comply with 
all. Meet one-half of them generously, if you can- 
not meet them all. You acknowledge that there 
ought to be some calls, when you complain that they 
are so many. 

3. If the calls are many, are they more than the 
wants ? Ought they not to be as many ? Would 
you have the calls fewer than the wants? That 
would never do ; — then some wants would never be 
supplied. Besides, you should consider who makes 
or permits the wants — and therefore the calls — to bo 
so many, lest your complaint cast a reflection on 
God. If the calls are so many — too many, and we 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 127 

must dispense with some, which shall they be ? 
Widows and orphans, and the poor generally, you 
dare not, as you fear God, except from your chari- 
ties. Will you refuse the call of the Bible agent, or 
the Tract agent ? Will you withhold from Foreign 
Missions, or from Home Missions, or from both ? 
Or will you say, " We will contribute to send out 
and support missionaries both at home and abroad, 
but we will not aid in their education ? Let them 
get that as they can. Let them make their way 
through the academy, the college, and the theologi- 
cal seminary as they can. And let Sunday schools 
establish and support themselves ; and temperance 
agents see, since they are so much in favor of absti- 
nence, if they cannot get along without the staff of 
life." For my part, I do not know what calls to ex- 
cept, and therefore I judge the safer way to be to re- 
ceive none. 

4. If the calls are many, the expenditures are 
more ; and we not only spend, but waste, in more 
wajrs than we give. 

5. If the calls you receive are so many, suppose, 
in order to avoid them, that you make some. Turn 
agent for some society, and you shall see how much 
more pleasant it is to make calls than to receive 
them. We will excuse you from contributing, if you 
will solicit. But that you would not like at all. " You 
cannot bear begging. It is the most unpleasant thing 
in the world to apply to people for money." Very 



128 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

well ; if you decline this branch of the alternative, 
then do not complain of the other. If you will not 
turn out and make the calls, you must sit still and 
receive them. It is the easier part ; and you ought 
to be good natured when you receive one of these 
calls — aye, and even grateful to the man who comes 
to you, that he affords you another opportunity of 
offering one of the sacrifices with which God is well 
pleased, without going out of your way tp do it. 
Others must go about to do good, but you can sit 
still and do good. 

6. If the calls are so many, this importunity will 
not last long. Not more than seventy or eighty 
years does it ever continue. If it is an annoyance, 
you can bear it a few years. In eternity you will 
never receive these or any other calls. I knew se- 
veral rich men whose last calls were made on them 
in 1833. 

Do these calls pester you ? They bless others. 
Yonder is a poor woman reading the Bible which 
your money paid for. And there is another weep- 
ing over a Tract which she owes to your donation. 
And there is a third blessing the good people that 
support domestic missions : and there is a heathen 
mother, who perhaps would have immolated her 
child, if your contribution had not helped to send 
her the Gospel. Do you hear that young man ? 
How well he preaches ! You assisted to educate 
him. Dear friend, do not complain, but welcome 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 129 

every call ; treat all the agents with civility, and do 
as much as you any way can for the various benevo- 
lent objects ; for " the time is short," and all the re- 
gret which your liberality will occasion you I will 
consent to suffer. 



35. «I Can't Afford It." 

This is another of the common excuses for not 
giving. A person, being applied to in behalf of this 
or that good object, says, " I approve the object. It 
ought to be encouraged, and I am sorry I cannot 
aid it. But so it is. The calls on me are so many, 
and my means are so limited, I cannot afford it." 
Now it may be he is mistaken. Perhaps he can af- 
ford it. The heart is very deceitful. But admitting 
that he cannot afford it, as is often the case, yet does 
this excuse him ? Is the want of ability a sufficient 
apology? By no means. There is another thing to 
be considered — the cause of his inability. Why can 
he not afford it % We must go back one step, and in- 
quire how it comes to pass that he is so destitute of 
means as to be unable to give to this and that good 
object. What if he has not the ability, provided he 
might have it ? Now as it regards the cause of the 
inability. 



130 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

1. Perhaps he does not earn as much as he might. 
In that case, his not being able to afford it is no ex- 
cuse. All he has to do is to earn a little more, and 
then he can afford it. Let only his idle hours be 
fewer — let him but work a little longer, or a little 
harder, and there will be no difBculty. And why 
should not a man earn to give, as well as earn to 
eat, drink, and put on ? Are these last more blessed 
than giving ? Why should you not put forth a little 
extra effort, if it be necessary to enable you to pro- 
mote the <;ause of humanity and religion ? We see 
that this man is the author of his inability, and there- 
fore it is no excuse. He could afford it if he would 
but take certain simple and obvious measures to 
do so. 

2. Perhaps the case may be that he does not save 
as much as he might. He is not idle, but he is pro- 
digal. He earns enough, but he does not economi- 
cally use it. Now a penny saved is equal to a penny 
earned ; and it is all one to the treasury of charity 
whether that which it receives comes of economy 
or of industry. The person of whom I now speak, 
earns it, but he does not save it. Hence his inabil- 
ity. His income is more than sufficient for the com- 
fortable subsistence of himself and those dependent 
on him, yet he is so inconsiderate in his expenditures, 
wastes so much, that he has nothing left to give. 
Now, I would ask if it is not worth while to prac-" 
tice economy for the sake of being able to exercise 



1»RACTICAL tHOUGMTS. 131 

liberality ; to save for the sake of having something 
to give to the cause of the Lord 1 Is it not worth 
all the care which economy requires J 

3. But perhaps I have not suggested the true cause 
of the inability. If, however, the apologist will allow 
me the liberty of a little survey and criticism, I 
think I can ascertain why he cannot afford it. And 
first I will scan his person. O, I see why you can- 
not afford it ! You wear your money. You have 
got so much of your earnings or income on your 
person, that it is no wonder that you cannot afford 
to give* Why, there is one article worn over the 
shoulders, that cost one hundred dollars, or more. 
Now I do not say, take it off; but I do say, that while 
it is on, you have no right to plead, " I cannot afford 
it," for you wear a proof that you can afford it. Next 
I will enter the house. The size and situation of it 
is perhaps unnecessarily expensive ; and then the 
furniture ! Here the wonder ceases — the mystery 
is explained. I see plainly enough why you can- 
not afford it. 

Now, again I say, I am not one of those who 
would have you sell off your furniture and move 
out of the house you occupy, for God has given us 
*' richly all things to enjoy ;" but while you live in 
the manner you do, pray do not plead that you can- 
not afford it when one asks you to give to the cause 
of some charity. Now the table is set. The service 
is very fine. Distant China has contributed of its 



132 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

porcelain, and Potosi of the product of its mines to 
enrich it. What a display of silver ! I see why you 
cannot afford it. You have melted the dollars by 
which you could have afforded it, into plate. Now, 
either send that back to the mint again, or else do 
not send away the agent for that Christian institu- 
tion empty handed. The dinner is spread. Many 
and rich are the dishes. I do not complain. Only 
when you have such a table before you, dare not to 
say that you cannot afford the money which shall 
purchase and send a little of the bread of life to the 
destitute and perishing. Then follows the — • wines^ 
1 should say. Well, what is the harm ? Even the 
temperance pledge excepts wine. No harm. Only 
do not say again " I cannot afford it," to him who 
comes to plead before you the cause of the orphan, 
the ignorant, the un evangelized. Or, if you excuse 
yourself, tell the whole truth — say ; *' For my 2vine, I 
cannot afford it." There drives up a carriage. It 
is in fine style ; one servant on the box, and one be- 
hind — a noble span. Yet the gentleman and lady 
who ride in that carriage, when one comes and tells 
them of the poor heathen who are groping their way 
in the dark to eternity, haughtily, perhaps, reply 
that they have nothing to give. O no, they cannot 
give, for they must ride in state. But here is another 
who dresses and lives very plainly ; yet he cannot 
afford it. Why, what is the matter ? O, his money is 
in the stocks, and he cannot touch the principal ; 



PRACTICAL THOtJGMTS. 133 

and there are his children for whom he must make 
a liberal provision. 

Friend, hear me '. you can aiford it, if you wilL 
If you have not the ability, you can acquire it. You 
can earn more ; or you can save more. You can 
spend less. You can ajSTord it out of your furniture, 
your dress, your table, your equipage — or, perhaps, 
over and above it all. You can afford it, and you 
ought to afford it. You must afford it. Come, now, 
and resolve that you will. Say no more, " I cannot 
afford it," but " I will afford it." You can afford to 
indulge yourself when you wish — to take your plea- 
sure — to gratify your children. And can you not 
afford to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, and 
to send the balm of life abroad into a diseased and 
dying world 1 It is very strange ! Are you a Chris- 
tian ? As for me, " I cannot afford not to give "— 
there is so much gain in giving — so much loss in 
not giving, that if I cannot afford any thing else, I 
must afford this. Some say they are too poor to 
give, but I am too poor not to give ; and, moreover, 
I can no longer afford to give so little as heretofore 
I have given. Indeed, I must sow more bountifully, 
for I want to reap also bountifully. This parsimony 
In the use of seed money is poor policy. 



12 



134 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS- 



%6. AH Sljtample of lilbefality. 

I am going to give an example of liberality. But 
where do you think I am going to take it from, and 
what persons hold up as an example of liberality ? 
Not Christians, though there were in the apostolic 
age of Christianity notable examples of liberality, 
many disciples literally doing as did their Master, 
impoverishing themselves for his cause ; and though 
since that time there have been others, and are now 
not a few of a kindred spirit. The example I pro- 
pose to give is taken from the history of the Jews. 
Some will wonder that I go to the Jews for an ex- 
ample of liberality. But I wish, for my part, that 
Christians were only as generous as the Jews once 
were, whatever they may be now. 

The case to which I refer is related in Exodus, 
chapter 35. The tabernacle was to be erected and 
furnished ; and for this purpose various and very 
precious materials were requisite. He who gave 
his people bread and water by miracle, could have 
miraculously furnished all that was necessary for 
the tabernacle, just as he can now convert the hea- 
then without the help of men and means. But he 
did not choose to do it, as now he does not choose to 
save the world without employing human instrumen- 
tality. God does not every thing which he is able 
to do. Some people seem to think that the}^ are un- 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 135 

der no obligation to attempt any thing which God 
can do without them. 

The plan adopted for obtaining the materials was 
this. Moses, in a full assembly of the people, gave 
the following notice : *' This is the thing which the 
Lord commanded, saying, Take ye from among you 
an offering unto the Lord ; whosoever is of a willing 
heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord ; gold, 
and silver, and brass," &c. This was all the agency 
that was employed for the collection of all those 
costly materials. How in contrast stands this to our 
necessarily numerous, expensive, and laborious agen- 
cies ! Here was a simple notice given ; a bare state- 
ment made that such and such things were wanted. 
Nor were the people called on to give on the spot, 
or to pledge their donations. They were not taken 
unawares, and hurried into an exercise of liberality. 
Time was given them for consideration. After the 
notice the congregation was dismissed. Nor was it 
made the absolute duty of the people to give. A 
command was indeed issued on the subject, but indi- 
viduals were left free to give or :aot, as they pleased. 
*' Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it." 
And it appears from Exodus, 25 : 2, where the sub- 
ject is first introduced, that Moses was not to receive 
any offering that was not given willingly and cheer- 
fully. " Of every man that giveth it willingly with 
his heart, ye shall take my offering." 

By the way, may not this be a rule which should 



136 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

be regarded now — ^not to receive an offering into the 
Lord's treasury, if there be any evidence of its be- 
ing reluctantly given ? If nothing was to be re- 
ceived for the work of the tabernacle, but what was 
given with the heart, why should heartless donations 
be accepted for the edification and extension of the 
church ? It has occurred to me, that perhaps one 
reason why the means which our benevolent socie- 
ties employ effect no more — why our Bibles and 
Tracts, and the labors of our Missionaries, are not 
more extensively blessed, is, that these operations 
are not sustained and carried on by purely free-will 
offerings. A great deal that goes to sustain- them is 
grudgingly given. I know it may be said that if we 
reject all but free-will offerings, our means will not 
suffice. If that should be the case, yet I doubt not 
less money, cheerfully contributed, would accomplish 
more than a larger amount drawn out of the pockets 
of an unwilling and complaining people. But I do 
not believe that the sum total of receipts would be 
less. Was there any deficiency in the offerings con- 
tributed for the tabernacle ? So far from it, there was 
a superabundance. The artisans came and told Mo- 
ses, saying, '* The people bring much more than 
enough for the service of the work." Accordingly, 
Moses forbade any more offerings being brought. 
'- So the people were restrained from bringing, for 
the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to 
make it, and too muchP The liberality went far 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 137 

beyond the necessity. Christians give now no such 
examples of liberality for the church. Now much 
less than enough is received ; and that, though the 
notice is oft repeated — and though more than a mere 
notice is given — though warm and earnest appeals 
are made, and the greatest urgency used ; and though 
new arguments are employed, such as could not 
have been used with these Jews. What a founda- 
tion for argument and appeal is laid in the love and 
death of Christ ! What convincing force — what per- 
suasive efficacy ought there not to be to the mind and 
heart of every follower of Jesus, in the logic of that 
passage which Paul used so successfully with the 
Corinthians ! *' Ye know the grace of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your 
sakes he became poor, that ye, through his poverty, 
might be rich." The Jews did not know that. Yet 
how liberally they gave ! — more than enough ! But 
now, with all our knowledge, less than enough is 
received ; and that, though after the public applica- 
tion and appeal are made, the people are waited on, 
and the application and appeal are renewed in pri- 
vate. Moses sent no one round, from tent to tent, to 
gather the contributions of the people. No. These 
Jews brought them. But, ah, how» little do Chris- 
tians now bring to the treasury of the Lord ! How 
small a proportion of the money used for the work 
of the Lord is brought ! No. It has to be sent after. 
The benevolence of the church now complies. It 
12* 



138 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

does not offer. It does, to be sure, stand still and 
do some good ; but it does not go about doing good. 
All the labor and trouble connected with giving is 
declined. It is considered now-a-days to be a very- 
good excuse for not giving to a well-known object 
of benevolence, if the person can say that he has 
not been called on to give. Not called on ! Did your 
Master wait to be called on ? Did his charity defer 
its action until application was made to it ? Formerly 
it was held that the disciple should be as his master. 
In other uays Christ was regarded as the model, and 
that Christianity was not thought any thing of which 
did not include an imitation of Christ. 

Would it not be considered as a very unwise pro- 
ceeding on the part of an agent now, should he, af- 
ter stating an object, immediately dismiss the people, 
and leave it entirely optional with them to give or 
not? Would he be likely to hear from all of them 
again ? But Moses did so. He dismissed them ; " and 
all the congregation of the children of Israel departed 
from the presence of Moses." But the very next 
verse says, " they came and brought the Lord's offer- 
ing." There was nothing lost to the cause by this 
arrangement. *' They came, both men and women, 
as many as were willing-hearted." They all did it 
cheerfully. 

But some may say, " It is no wonder they gave ; 
what use had they in the wilderness for their money 
and substance ?" But observe what articles they con- 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 139 

tributed. Gold, and silver, and precious stones, which 
men value, whether they have any particular use for 
them or not. Nor these only, but their personal or- 
naments, "bracelets, and ear-rings, and rings, and 
tablets, all jewels of gold." You see they gave things 
which are valued under all circumstances. Nor 
could it be said that they gave generously because 
they were in prosperous business. Some persons 
say they are always willing to give freely when they 
are making money. Now, the Israelites were not 
making money, nor were they passing through a 
gold country, yet they gave liberally — far beyond 
the liberality of prosperous Christians generally. 
Nor was it a single donation they made. We read 
in the 36th chapter, " and they brought yet unto him 
free offerings every mor?iingJ^ They kept it up from 
day to day ; and how long they would have gone 
on, if not restrained from giving more, no one can 
tell. I wonder when we shall have to restrain Chris- 
tians from giving. What a different state of things 
we find now ! We talk about " stubborn Jews, that 
unbelieving race;" but there was one generation of 
them, at least, that were not near as obstinate in 
holding on to their money and substance as the pre- 
sent race of Christians. 



140 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

97. Aiiotlier Bxample of lilberality. 

The first example was taken from the history of 
the Jews. The one I am now to give is taken from 
the records of Christianity. And yet it is not in any 
history of the modern church that I find it. They 
are not the Christians of the present day that I am 
going to hold up as a model of bountifulness. The 
reader will find the account in the eighth and ninth 
chapters of the second Epistle to the Corinthians. 
It relates to the Christians of Macedonia. Paul, 
wishing to excite the Corinthians to the exercise of 
liberality, tells them what their brethren of Macedo- 
nia had done — how liberally they had given. The 
account is very remarkable in several respects. 

1. These Macedonian Christians gave, though 
they weve very poor — in *' deep poverty," ch. 8, v. 2. 
They had the best of all excuses for not giving. They 
might, with the greatest propriety, have pleaded po- 
verty. I do not see, for my part, how they gave at 
all. But somehow or other they made out to give, 
and to give liberally. Their poverty does not seem 
to have stood in their way in the least. It is even 
said that " their deep poverty abounded unto the 
riches of their liberality." Now, if their deep poverty 
so abounded, it occurs to me to ask, what would not 
their great riches have done, had they been as 
wealthy as some Avierican Christians ? The truth 
is, as the proverb says, " when there is a will, there 



I>RACTICAL THOUGHTS, 141 

is always a way." Having it in their heart to give, 
they contrived by dint of some ingenuity, and not a 
little self-denial, to get it into their power to give. 
Such liberal souls had they, that it made their very 
poverty abound unto the riches of their liberality. 

2. They gave not only to the full extent of their 
ability, but even beyond it. " For to their power, (I 
bear record,) yea, and beyond their power," they 
gave. So testifies the apostle. The Christians of 
our day do not give more than they are able. I wish 
it could be said that they give according to their abil- 
ity. Now, the idea of giving as much as one any 
way can, is almost laughed at. But it was no joke 
in former times. But how did they contrive to give 
beyond their power, some one will ask. This looks a 
little contradictory. Well, I suppose it means that 
they gave beyond what, on the usual principles of 
computation, would have been judged to be their 
ability ; and that on the score of justice, and even of 
generosity, they might have been let off for less. 

" What improvident persons ! " some will say. 
" How they must have neglected their families ! Are 
we not told to provide for our own, and that he who 
does not, has denied the faith, and is worse than an 
infidel ?" Yes, we are told so. But for all that it 
does not appear that these Macedonians were cen- 
sured as worse than infidels. They were even com- 
mended as Christians, whose example was worthy 
of all imitation. 



142 PRACTICAL THOUGHXa. 

• 3. They gave willingly, verse 3. They did not 
give beyond their disposition, though they did be- 
yond their ability. They had it in their hearts to give 
even more. It was done, " not grudgingly or of ne- 
cessity," No one said, as is sometimes said now, 
*' well, I suppose I must give you something." Nor 
was their willingness the effect of any appeals made 
to them. They wer'e "willing of themselves,''^ the 
apostle testifies. It was entirely spontaneous. The 
apostles had not to entreat them to give; but they 
had earnestly to entreat the apostles to receive their 
gift. " Praying us with much entreaty that we would 
receive the gift." It is not so now. Now, the beg- 
ging is too much on the other side. 

4. They gave altogether beyond the apostles^ ex- 
pectations. " Not as we hoped," says Paul. Our 
agents are not often so agreeably disappointed. 
Their fears are more apt to be realized, than their 
hopes exceeded. 

5. But I see how it was they came to give so libe- 
rally. It was owing to " the grace of God bestowed " 
on them, as it is said in verse 1. That always makes 
people liberal. Grace is a generous principle. There 
is nothing opens the heart like it. Under the influ- 
ence of this grace the}'- " first gave their own selves 
to the Lord." Now when a man has given away 
himself, it is easy to give what only appertains to 
him. The great matter is to give the 'person. The 
property follows as a matter of course. Indeed it is 



1>RACTICAL THOUGHTS. 143 

mcluded in the first gift. I suppose the reason that 
some give no more property to the Lord's cause, is 
that they have not given themselves to him. They 
have not begun right. 

6. I suppose also that these Macedonians were in- 
fluenced to the exercise of liberality by the considera- 
tion which Paul uses with the Corinthians in verse 
9. " Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
that though he was rich," &c. They thought that 
the disciples ought to do like their Master. I con- 
clude, moreover, that they held the doctrine, that giv- 
ing is soloing, and that men reap in proportion to 
what they sow ; and since they wished to reap boun- 
tifully, they sowed bountifully. They knew too that 
God was able to make all grace abound toward 
them ; that they, always having all sufficiency in all 
things, might abound to every good work, ch. 9, 
verse 8. They were not at all concerned about the 
consequences of their liberality. 

It should not be forgotten that they gave for the 
benefit of people a great way off — the poor saints at 
Jerusalem. They might have said that they had ob- 
jects enough at home, and where was the necessity 
of going abroad for them. But it seems distance had 
not that weight with them that it has with some 
now. The wants of the poor saints at Jerusalem 
touched their hearts, and they contributed for their 
relief, though they were poor, very poor themselves. 
I don't know but I might have made it with propriety 



144 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS 

a distinct head, that they seem to have been etres 
poorer than those for whom they gave ; for theirs 
was deep poverty. When we give to evangelize poor 
souls in heathen lands, we don't give to those who 
are as well off as we are. We have no such objects 
at home as they are. Finally, what a noble example 
of liberality is here ! How worthy of imitation by 
American Christians ! We need much that the spi- 
rit of these men of Macedonia should come over and 
help us. 



^6. lit ore aboat Ijiberalit^^ 

In my opinion there is nothing which lays the 
(Church more open to infidel attack and contempt, 
than its parsimony to the cause of Christ. Profes- 
zoxs of religion, in general, give nothing in com- 
parison to Avhat they ought to give. Some literally 
give nothing, or somewhere in that immediate neigh- 
borhood. I shall not inquire whether such persons 
are really Christian men. One might almost ques- 
*ion whether they are human. 

I have used the word give ; I must correct my 
language. Deliver up, I ought to say, when speak- 
ing of Christians who have so often acknowledged 



iPnACTICAL THOUGHTS. 145 

themselves as not their own, but themselves and 
their' s to be the Lord's. Not a cent, or not much 
more, will some of these deliver up of all that their 
Lord has given them in trust. What stewards we 
Christians are ! We act as if we were undisputed 
owners and sovereign proprietors of all ; when we 
know, and if pressed, acknowledge, it is no such 
thing. The infidels know that we profess to be but 
stewards, and that, in our devotional hours, we write 
on every thing we have, " This is the Lord^s ;" and 
they naturally expect to see some correspondence 
between our profession and practice ; and when they 
perceive that in this instance it is but bare profession, 
and that we do not mean any thing by it, they are 
very apt to conclude that this is true of our religion 
generally. Moreover, these shrewd characters see 
common humanity constraining men of the world 
to greater liberality than the love of Christ con- 
strains his reputed disciples to exercise; and that, 
though they hear Christians continually saying that 
there is no principle which has such power to carry 
men out to deeds and sacrifices of benevolence as 
the love of Christ. What must they conclude from 
this ?, Either that there is no such principle, or that 
Christians do not feel the force of it. 

Again : Infidels hear us speak of giving, as lend- 
ing to the Lord. Now, they don't believe any such 
thing ; but since we do, they are astonished that we 
do not lend more liberally to such a paymaster, and 
13 



146 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

on such security. They are in the habit of lending 
liberally, and they wonder Christians do not. They 
hear us also repeating and admiring that sentiment, 

>" It is more blessed to give than to receive." Must 
they not think us insincere in our commendations 
of this sentiment, or else that we have very faint as- 
pirations after the more blessed part, when they look 
on and see with how much more complacency and 
good humor we receive a great deal, than give a little. 
But about the parsimony of Christians. I do not 
hesitate to say, having well considered the import of 
my words, that men are not so mean (I must use 
the word) to any cause as Christians, in general, 
are to Christ's cause. They give more sparingly to 
it than to any other. Just think of the American 
Bible Society receiving scarcely one hundred thou- 
sand dollars a-year from these United States, to give 
the Bible to the country and to the world. There is 
one fact for you. More is often given to carry a po- 
litical election in a single limited district ; and some 
professors of religion will give more to promote 
such an object than to help on the conversion of the 
world. I should not wonder if this article were read 
qy some who have done so this very year. 

Many persons never give until they have done 
every thing else; and when any pressure occurs, it 
is the first thing they stop doing. They go on spend- 

' ing, not only for necessaries and comforts, but even 
for luxuries, never minding the pressure. They only 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 147 

Stop giving ; commencing retrenchm.ent with their 
donations, and generally ending it with them. They 
are liberal still for every thing but charity. You 
could never suppose, to look at their dress, equipage, 
furniture, table, fee. that the times were any way 
hard. No, they forget that, till they are called on to 
give ; then they feel the pressure of the times. 

The manner in which some persons give is wor- 
thy of no very commendatory notice. They say, 
Vv^hen applied to, " Well, I suppose I must give you 
something.^' Mark the word must, where will ought 
to be ; and give, where contribute, or strictly speak- 
ing, yield up, should have been ; and you — give you. 
It is no such thing. The man is no beggar. He is 
not asking any thing for himself He has himself 
given to the same object ; and more than money — his 
time and thought, his cares and efforts. Nay, per- 
haps has given his own person to the service which 
he saks others to aid by their pecuniary contribu- 
tions. Christians, so called, talk of giving to sup- 
port missionaries, as if they laid the missionaries 
under some obligation to them. Preposterous ! How 
it sounds to hear a British Christian indulge such a 
remark in reference to the richly-gifted, and profound- 
ly learned Martyn, who, when he might have shone 
at home, went into the sickly East to hold up the 
light of life in those dark places ! To call men who 
give themselves to the work of the Lord, and to la- 
bor and die for their fellow-men, the protegees, ben- 



148 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

eficiaries, and obligated dependants of us who live 
and luxuriate at home, is really too bad ; men, who 
when the alternative is to go or send, consent to the 
weightier branch of the alternative, and go ; that they 
should be looked upon as inferior to us, who choose 
the lighter part of the alternative, and only send ! I 
say it is too bad. *' I must give you something !'' 
Really ! 

I do not wonder, for my part, that God does not 
give " the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness 
of the kingdom under the whole heaven," to the 
present generation of saints. Their souls are not suf- 
ficiently expanded to receive it. It will require a race 
of Christians of great hearts to take possession of 
the world in the name of Jesus — Christians who 
shall be constrained by his love, and who shall feel 
the full force of the consideration presented in 2 
Cor. 8 : 9. Many Christians now think they feel it ; 
but is it feeling the force of that consideration for a 
man, who has an income of some thousands a-year, 
to give a few surplus dollars annually to support 
missions, or to circulate the Bible? 1 do not say, 
that because Christ impoverished himself, therefore 
all his followers ought literally to do the same; but 
I say they ought to come nearer to it than they do. 
If, being rich, they should not become poor, as he 
did, yet surely they ought to be more free with their 
riches. If the master gave his whole principal, cer- 
tainly the disciples might give their interest. That 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 149 

would not be too closely imitating him. If he emp- 
tied himself, they at least might forego farther accu- 
mulation. They need not become poor ; but why 
should they be so solicitous to become more rich ? 
That is being as unlike the model as possible. 



^9. A Tract £:ifort. 

We had a meeting last night in one of our churches 
to raise the sum of one thousand dollars in aid of the 
American Tract Society's foreign operations. The 
notice was general in the churches ; and to many in- 
dividuals repeated in the shape of a printed request 
sent to them on the day of the meeting. The evening 
came, and it was one of the finest we ever have ; 
not a cloud, and the moon shining forth in her full- 
est splendor — emulating, to her utmost, the light of 
the orb of day. We had not, however, a very large 
meeting. 

Few, even of our church members, can be per- 
suaded to adopt that sentiment of the Savior, that " it 
is more blessed to give than to receive." Many are 
unable to conceal the sceptical smile, when it is 
gravely advanced and urged as an argument for li- 
berality. More blessed to give ! There is nothing in 

13* 



150 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

them that responds to that sentiment. Yet Jesus said 
it seriously. He meant what he said ; and some of 
his dear followers know in their hearts that it is so. 
They experience the superior blessedness of giving. 
Far more delightful to them is the feeling when 
they communicate, than the feeling when they re- 
ceive; and giving leaves an impression of pleasure 
on the soul which no other act does or can. To be 
capable of communicating ! What a privilege ! they 
exclaim. It is to be like God, who all things gives, 
but nought receives, save the gratitude and praise 
of his innumerable pensioners and dependants. 
These persons give now as they pray, almost for- 
getting it is a duty, so occupied are their souls with 
a feeling that it is a privilege. 

But we met to promote a foreign object ; and that 
made against us with some. The distance of the 
heathen from us was even pleaded by one as an ar- 
gument against contributing. They are so far off. 
So far off — my thoughts dwelt on these words — and 
I reflected thus : " They are not so far off from us, 
as angels are from men. Yet angels come over the 
distance to minister to men. No part of earth is so 
far from any other part, as earth from heaven ; yet, 
did not the benevolence of the Son of God bring him 
across that long interval of space 1 How have we 
his spirit, if our benevolence cannot carry us the 
length and breadth of this little continuous earth ? 
What if the object be foreign ? Earth was more fo- 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 151 

reign to heaven. The man that argues against mis- 
sions as foreign, is not aware perhaps that his argu- 
ment assails the mission of the Son of God, and would 
prove the incarnation to have been an unwise mea- 
sure. But is it foreign ? What ! one spot of earth 
foreign to another, and man an alien to man ! Chris- 
tianity teaches a different lesson — that earth is but 
one great habitation, and men but one extended bro- 
therhood. O shall we, who have been visited by a ben- 
efactor from the skies, think any part of earth too dis- 
tant for our charity to explore ! Jesus thought it not 
so when he said, " Go ye into all the world." If the 
argument of distai^ice had prevailed with others, we 
had never heard of Jesus. Was not Britian far off? 
Yet Christian missionaries visited it. I wonder that 
this circumstance should be forgotten. Was that a 
Quixotic enterprise which resulted in the conver- 
sion of our ancestors f If not, how is that Ciuixotic 
which undertakes the conversion of a nation now in 
heathenism ? Too distant ! There was something 
formidable in distance once. But what is distance 
now ? With the star, and the compass, and the sail, 
and the steam, and man's skill to construct, and 
courage to dare, and fortitude to endure, what, I ask, 
is distance ? Diminished almost to being annihilated. 
Whither has not man gone for his own objects? 
Whither shall he not go for Christ's ? Shall curiosi- 
ty, the love of science, the passion for adventure, the 
lust of gain, carry men farther than the love of Christ 



152 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

shall constrain them to go ? O never. There is no 
force in the objection. 

It was, notwithstanding all, a good meeting. 
Those who were present gave liberally, and with the 
help of the ladies we shall more than make up the 
sum we proposed. I know some think these women 
ought not to labor with us in the gospel. But why 
not these, as well as '* those women " which labored 
with Paul in the gospel, of whom he makes such 
respectful mention in his epistle to the Philippians ? 
Was it proper then to use their aid, and not now t 
May they not do what they can for Christ as well 
as their sister whom Christ commended for having 
done what she could ? Were they not women whom 
Christ sent on the first errand he wanted done after 
his resurrection ? " Go tell my brethren that they go 
into Galilee, and there shall they see me." May not 
such as went on that errand, go on that greater er- 
rand : *• Go ye and teach all nations .'"' May they 
not at least promote the going of others ? What, are 
women the followers of Jesus Christ, and may they 
not, as their Master did, go about doing good ? 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 153 



30. Wliy tine World Slionld Hare ttaie Bible. 

There are a great many reasons why the world 
should have the Bible. The reasons are so nume- 
rous, substantial and urgent, that I wonder any should 
have doubts about it. And I w^onder that we who 
have the Bible, and think so much of it, and have 
such means of multiplying and circulating copies of 
it, do not resolve at once to attempt, within a reason- 
able period, to give it to the world, since the world 
can only have it by the gift of those in whose pos 
session it now is. If it is time that they had it — high 
time, as I suppose no one will deny, it is time we had 
at least resolved to try to let them have it. I wonder 
the great national Societies hesitate to resolve to try 
to fill the world with Bibles w^ithin a given period. 
No individual or society knows what it can do till a 
trial is made ; we can never foresee our ability to ac- 
complish a great enterprise. They must always be 
undertaken in faith. I consider it quite as hazardous 
to predict that the world God has created and up- 
holds cannot be put in possession of his Word in some 
twenty or thirty years, as to predict that it can. This 
may seem a short time for us to fill the world with 
Bibles, bat it is a long time for them to be without 
Bibles. I think it is always best to resolve on that 
which ought to be done, and which greatly needs to 
be done, especially when one knows that the thing 



154 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

is to be done within some period, and when the re- 
solution is but to make the attempt, and even that is 
done only in reliance on divine help. A man may- 
resolve on a great deal, when he is authorized to 
rely, and does actually rely on God to aid him in 
executing it. He may take on him a great weight of 
responsibility when he has such support. One can 
do all things through Christ strengthening him ; and 
cannot some hundreds of thousands of Christians fill 
the world with Bibles through the same ? 

Why should not the efforts of the friends of Christ 
extend as far as do those of the foes of Christ? 
There is Satan and his associates. They go for the 
whole w^orld. When the Lord asked Satan whence 
he came, he answered, " From going to and fro in 
the earth, and from walking up and down in it." 
He had been over the whole ground. And shall not 
we go over the whole ground ? Shall we not go as 
far seeking whom we may save, as he " seeking 
whom he may devour ?" I know that he is a very 
powerful being, and we are weak ; but he is not al- 
mighty, whereas, though we are not, our glorious 
Ally is. 

I know too that the foes of Christ are united, and 
herein have a great advantage ; while the friends of 
Christ are any thing but united. That desire which 
the Savior expressed, " that they all may be one," 
remains to be accomplished : and while that is the 
case, no wonder the world does not believe that Cod 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 155 

has sent him. John 17 : 21. Christ does not seem to 
have expected that the world would believe, until 
his disciples were one. Noiv, they are not one, nor 
even two, but many. These friends have so many 
disputes to settle among themselves, that I do not 
know when they will be ready to proceed against 
the common foe. No other being ever had such di- 
vided friends as Christ. I do not say that all their 
controversies are unimportant, but I say they are 
none of them as important as the Lord's controversy 
with the earth. 

But there is another more touching reason why 
the whole world should have the Bible as soon as 
possible. My mind has recently laid great stress 
upon it, and it Avas for the sake of presenting it that I 
undertook this article. Every part of earth is a vale 
of tears, and man is universally a mourner. Afflic- 
tion is, or is to be, the lot of all. " Man is born to 
trouble," and no one can alienate this birthright. 
Now the Bible is the mourner's own and only book. 
There is nothing will do for him but this. Other 
books have been tried and found wanting. They do 
not go to the heart like God's. They don't wipe 
away a tear. But the Bible tells us of a hand that 
wipes away all tears from our eyes. And it is the 
very hand that made us. What a picture the Bible 
presents ! One everlasting arm underneath a man to 
support him, and the hand of the other wiping away 
his tears as they flow ! Was ever any thing like it ? 



156 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

That picture ought to be exhibited every where. I 
have read what Howe, and Watts, and Flavel, and 
Baxter and Cecil, and I do not know how many others, 
have written for mourners, and it is all very well ; 
but what is it all to what I have read in the La- 
mentations of Jeremiah, " he doth not afflict 
WILLINGLY ?" Ah, there is more than half the hu* 
man race that think he does afflict willingly. The 
cholera is regarded by the Hindoos as the cruel 
sport of one of their goddesses. O how it would 
lighten the sorrows of these mourners, did they but 
know that it is no one of a plurality of gods, but the 
Lord that afflicts them, and that he does it not wil- 
lingly ! Can we not in a quarter of a century give 
them this information ? But this is only one of I 
know not how many similar passages. There is 
another that goes even beyond this ? *' In all their 
afflictions He was afflicted !" Here is sympathy for 
you — divine sympathy. Dost thou feel ? He feels 
too. Does not the pitier always suffer as well as the 
pitied ? Well, " like as a father pitieth his children, 
so the Lord pitieth." Such ideas as these never 
crossed a pagan mind. It never even occurred to 
him that God is a father. 

I have thought how one of us in our affliction 
would like to be without the Bible, and what we 
would not give under such circumstances to obtain 
it ; whether we would not give more to have it for 
ourselves, than we now give that the other members 



PRACTICAL THOL-GIITS. 157 

of the great family of mourners may have it. I 
think we should increase our subscription to the Bi- 
ble Society. We v/ould not like to go along the vale 
of tears, and through the valley of the shadow of 
death, into which the former sometimes so suddenly 
sinks, without the 23d Psalm in our possession. 



31. Mrs. M. I4. Kerins. 

Will you allow a friend, in his affliction, to oc- 
cupy a little space in your valuable paper, with a 
subject deeply interesting to himself and to a few of 
your readers. Other readers can pass it by as des- 
titute of general interest, and when their turn of be* 
reavement comes, let them be indulged the like pri- 
vilege of consecrating their private griefs on the 
public page. 

The following notice was inserted in the secular 
newspapers of Baltimore, of November 12. 

*' Died, on Saturday, November 8, 1834, after a 
short illness, Mrs. Mary Lloyd, wife of the Rev. W. 
Nevins, aged 33 years. Though she fell a victim 
to the dreadful pestilence, yet she suffered no pain, 
and felt no terror, but with sweet submission to the 
divine will — with perfect confidence in the merits of 
14 



158 PRACTICAL THCniGHTS. 

her Redeemer, and in humble hope of eternal life 
through his atonement, she gently breathed her spirit 
out to God, and left her body to sleep in Jesus until 
the morning of the resurrection." 

For the secular newspaper that sufficed. But as 
one object of your publication is to record the doings 
of divine grace, a more extended memorial of what 
that grace did for the subject of this notice, espe- 
cially in her last brief illness, cannot be out of place 
in its columns. 

Mrs. Nevins was the daughter of the late Philip 
Barton Key, Esq. and was born in Georgetown, 
D. C. the 27th of August, A. D. 1801. For several 
years it was her privilege to enjoy the public minis- 
try, and to receive the pastoral attentions of the Rev. 
C. P. Mcllvaine, then rector of an Episcopal church 
in that place, and now bishop of the diocess of Ohio. 
For her soul he felt the tenderest concern. His pray- 
ers, his vigilance, and his^ efforts for its salvation 
were unremitted and untiring. Nor did he labor in 
vain. By the blessing of God on his fidelity, it is 
believed she became, in 1821, a subject of divine 
grace, and gave up the world for Christ. In one of 
her last conversations she spoke of this beloved ma'A 
in terms of such affection as can be felt alone to- 
wards those who have been the instruments, in the 
hand of God, of winning souls to Christ. She felt 
that under God she owed every thing to him. 
In November, 1822, she became the wife of the 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 159 

Bev. W. Nevins, and removed to Baltimore, the 
scene of his ministry, Avhere she continued to reside 
until her death. Of her devotedness as a wife, a 
daughter, a sister, a mother, a friend, the writer of 
this could speak in terms of unmeasured eulogy ; 
but it is enough that her record in this respect is 
engraven indelibly on many hearts. Her attach- 
ment to the cause of Christ was intelligent, sincere, 
and uniform. 

Up to the evening of the 7th of. November, she 
was, with an exception, aeemed scarcely w^orthy of 
notice, in the possession of perfect health. It has 
been said of the cholera that it begins where other 
diseases end — with death. Almost literally true was 
this in her case, In a few hours after she was at- 
tacked, it became evident to those around her, and to 
herself, that the mortal blow had been struck. She 
needed no one to tell hor of it ; she felt within her- 
self that life was fast ebbing away, and said of the 
weariness upon her, that it must be the weariness of 
death. When a friend,- who stood by her, expressed 
her sorrow that she should take such a view of her 
case, she said, " Remember who hath said all things 
shall work together for our good. I submit to his 
will, and desire that he may do with me as seemeth 
to him good ; though it is very painful to be separa- 
ted from my dear husband and my sweet children. 
But I commit them all into the hands of the Savior. 
It will be a short separation, and then we shall meet 



160 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

to part no more." Being asked if she felt afraid to 
die, she replied, *' No : I had always expected that 
the prospect of death would almost frighten me out 
of existence ; but now it has no terrors. I rely en 
Jesus, and feel I shall be happy when I die. It is 
better to depart and be with him, where I shall te 
completely freed from sin." To the friend already 
referred to, she said, " M. our intercourse here will 
soon be over. We have had many sweet and pleasant 
hours together ; now I am going from you to my 
precious Jesus. Precious Jesus ! Whom have I in 
heaven but thee ?" Seeing her friend agitated and 
weeping, she said, " You must not do so. I am 
happy, very happy ; and you must all pray that my 
eyes may be fixed 07i the glories of crucified love to 
the last.^^ 

Once, with a sweet expression of countenance, 
she said, " How much is implied in those words: 
The peace of God which passeth all understanding !" 
She was asked if she relied on Jesus. She answer- 
ed, "Entirely." Often she was interrogated as to 
his presence with her, and her replies were uni- 
formly satisfactory. On one occasion, appearing to 
be engaged in deep thought, she was asked what 
she was thinking of She said, " Mercy." Jesus 
and mercy — those are what the dying should think 
of Much on her lips, and more in her thoughts was 
that name — name above every name — Jesus ! " O, 
Lord Jesus, place underneath me thy everlasting 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 161 

arms ! Jesus, receive my spirit ! O, Lord Jesus, re- 
ceive me on the other side of Jordan !" were among 
her prayers to him. Nor did her heart spend its 
emotions in prayer alone ; it was attuned to praise. 
She said, " I want a hymn sung." What hymn? it 
Avas asked. " The hymn about crossing over Jordan," 
she said ; and it was sung ; and soon after she cross- 
ed the stream — the narrow stream of death. Nor 
did Jesus wait for her on Canaan's bright side of 
the stream, but he came over to earth's dark shore 
of it, and himself took her across. That stream must 
be narrow, it was so soon passed ; and all was so 
calm, there could not have been a ripple on its sur- 
face. O death, where was thy sting 1 O grave ! A 
feeble, fearful female, with only a few hours to arm 
herself for the conflict, and to tak^ leave of her babes, 
met thee, and was more than victor through Him 
who gave her the victory ! 

" Is that a death-bed where a Christian lies 1 
!* Yes ; but not his — 'tis death, itself, there dies.' 



33. AVHat Strangle Beings TTe Are! 

How unreasonable ! How inconsistent with our- 
selves ! Even we, who are Christians. God does the 
very thing we ask him to do ; and yet we complain 
14* 



162 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

of him, or grieve immoderately, and almost incon- 
solably, because he does it ! We ask that his will 
may be done ; which implies, that our will, if it be 
in contrariety to his, should not be done ; and this 
we sometimes in so many words express : " Not as 
we will, but as thou wilt." Well, God does his will, 
the very thing we wanted him to do ; and yet we 
complain that he does not our will, the thing we de- 
precated his doing. We complain that he hears our 
prayer and grants us the desire of our heart. Was 
ever complaint so unreasonable ? If, when we asked 
him to do his will, he had done ours, there would 
have been some semblance of reason for our com- 
plaint. Will we say that we never meant, in our 
hearts, what the terms of our petition expressed — that 
we never really desired his will should be done? 
Will any one acknowledge that he has. uniformly 
been a hypocrite in the use of the Lord's prayer ? 
Certainly, then, he ought not to complain that God 
has detected and chastised his hypocrisy. But, if he 
was sincere — if he desired what he asked for, then 
if he complains, he complains that God has gratified 
his desire. How perverse it is in a creature lo say 
to God, time after time, when craving good, or de- 
precating evil, *' Nevertheless, not as I will, but as 
thou wilt ;" and then, because it is as God wills, and 
not as he wills, to think hard of God ! 

Every one who prays " Thy will be done," is 
aware that the will of God does not always coincide 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. IG3 

with the inclinations of his creatures. It were won- 
derful if it should — wonderful indeed, if the will of 
an omniscient and infinitely perfect being should 
uniformly fall in with the capricious desires and in- 
clinations of those who are finite, fallible, and sinful. 
Our own inclinations do not agree with each other. 
We are the subjects of conflicting desires : the will 
of God could not coincide with our inclinations with- 
out coinciding with contraries. Well, the prayer 
" Thy will be done," which we all consent to use, 
recognizing this want of coincidence, begs that in 
all such cases God will cause his will to be done 
rather than ours. It is a most reasonable request ; 
no wonder God should comply with it. And yet we 
complain that in such cases of disagreement he does 
not carry out our inclinations instead of his own will. 
It is well, in view of such perverseness, that we have 
to do with a God of infinite patience. How very 
slow to anger our God is ! 

But I have not stated the case yet in all its strength. 
Complaint against God would be altogether unrea- 
sonable, if he caused only his will to be done. But 
while he causes his own, he causes our will also to 
be done ; for it is our will, as we have told him, over 
and over again, that his will should be done. Why 
should he not gratify the inclination of ours, that his 
will should be done, as well as any other inclination 
which we have ; for example, the inclination to re- 
tain a certain earthly enjoyment ? He cannot gratify 



164 PRACTICAL TOUGHTS. 

our every inclination, for the gratification of one 
would be the denial of another. He must make a 
•election. It is not his fault that we have warring 
inclinations. He did not make us so ; it is one of the 
inventions we have sought out. It belongs to us as 
marred by ourselves. Will it be said that God se- 
lects the less worthy inclination to gratify ? I think 
not. What worthier inclination can we have, than 
that God's will should be done? 

Is it the pain of having an inclination crossed, of 
which we complain ? But let us complain of our- 
selves, that We have inclinations which need to be 
crossed. And, besides, would it give us no pain were 
we to discover, that in a particular instance, God 
submitted his own will to our inclination, and suf- 
fered us to be gratified in a certain respect, when his 
judgment was against it ? 

Fellow-Christians, we must give up the use of 
that petition, " Thy will be done,'^ or else act more 
consistently. It will not do to be daily asking a thing, 
and daily lamenting that the thing is granted. If wo 
would have our will done, let us alter the petition, 
and say, '* Our will be done." Let us be sincere, if 
we are nothing else. Let us tell the Lord the very 
desires we have, however wrong they may be. That 
is better, certainly, than to have such desires, and 
tell him the contrary. 

But I would by no means advise the aheration. I 
think we had much better keep to the old form, and 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 1 G3 

pray as the Lord taught his disciples. Yes, let us 
go on to say, " Thy will be done." It is our hea- 
venly Father whom we address. Surely his children 
need not fear to have his w^ill done. Let us consent 
with our whole heart that his will should be done, 
and towards us as well as towards others; and not 
merely in some things, but in all things ; for why 
should not ^/Z his will be done, as well as any part 
of it ? If we do so, by and by we shall have no incli- 
nations contrary to his will. We shall be incapable 
of cross or disappointment. Every thing being as he 
would have it, would be also as we would have it. 
If now a part of his will be hidden, until events 
disclose it, yet in other respects it is already revealed. 
We know, for instance, that it is our Father's good 
^pleasure to give us the kingdom ; and that it is our 
divine Savior's will that we should be with him 
where he is, that we may behold his glory. For the 
present let this suffice us. We shall be satisfied, when 
we awake in his likeness. In this expectation wo 
should be satisfied now. Let us suffer God to reign, 
and let us not aspire to be his counselors. He taketh 
no counsel of any. 



166 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 



33. AVliat very Strange Beings wc are. 

Yes ! What very strange beings we are ! We, 
who are sinners, expect to be treated with more de- 
ference than the innocent and holy. Their will is 
not done ; nor do they desire it should be. We, w^ho 
are of earth, expect privileges, as we in our igno- 
rance account them, which they of heaven never 
think of claiming- — the privilege, if not of holding 
the reins of government, yet of directing how they 
should be held ; and of having things move on ac- 
cording to our inclinations. But should men, who 
are ** of yesterday, and know nothing," rule, when 
angels, of an intellectual growth of thousands of 
years, cast their crowns at Jehovah's feet, and de- 
cline every thing but the most entire subjection? 

But this is not all. We, who are the sons of God 
but by adoption, expect to be treated better than even 
God's only-begotten Son. Did not he suffer? And 
is it a mystery that we should ? Was he " acquaint- 
ed with grief," and shall we deem it strange and in- 
explicable that we should have experience of the 
same ? Why should we marvel that the cup we de- 
precate does not pass from our lips, when a far 
more bitter cup did not pass from him ? Shall we 
conclude that God is not a hearer of prayer, because 
a prayer of ours is not answered in kind, when he 
whom the Father always hears, prayed " let this cup 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 167 

pass from me," and it Avas not done ? Ah, you say, 
what a dark and mysterious Providence this is ! But 
that was darker and more mysterious, which left the 
Son of God to be betrayed and crucified by his ene- 
mies. And what if his sufferings were to accom- 
plish an immensely important object ; how few, it 
may be supposed, of the intelligent mind that looked 
on, were aware of that 1 Besides, mai/ not your suf- 
ferings be intended to accomplish an important ob- 
ject 1 Are they not certainly so meant 1 Do we not 
read of chastening, that *' it yieldeth the peaceable 
fruit of righteousness, unto them who are exercised 
thereby ;" and of affliction, that it ** worketh for us a 
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory ?" 
Doubtless our sufferings are in their place as indis- 
pensable as were those of Christ. 

Again, how reasonable and fit it is that the follow- 
ers of a suffering Savior should themselves suffer — 
that they should drink of the cup of which he drank, 
and be baptized with the baptism wherewith he was 
baptized ! How could we be like him without suffer- 
ing ! The Master was made " perfect through suffer- 
ings." How suitable that the disciples should not be 
made perfect, until after they "have suffered awhile!" 
He went through suffering to his dominion and glo- 
ry. Why should we expect to reign with him, ex- 
cept we also suffer with him ? Have we not always 
known that the cross is the condition of the crown ? 
** If we suffer, we shall also reign with him." Jesus 



168 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

was never known to smile on earth. But we reckon 
it strange and quite unaccountable, if we may not 
smile perpetually. He wept, while we regard each 
tear we shed as a mystery. What bereavement have 
any of God's adopted children ever suffered, the 
sense of which was so keen as that under which the 
only-begotten Son cried out, " My God, my God, 
why hast thou forsaken me ?" 

V/e wonder that God does not hear every prayer 
we offer to him for every sort of thing, for health, for 
success in worldly matters, for exemption from b*^,- 
reavement, &c. never reflecting that if he did so, he 
would cease to be the governor of the world, except 
in name. He would be but our agent. He would 
reign in subordination to us. We should rule all 
things by the sway of our prayers. And where would 
be the difference between being on the throne our- 
selves, and directing him who occupies it? Who 
would care to hold the reins of government, if he 
might by the expression of his desire control the 
being in whose hands they are ? What a world this 
would soon become, if every prayer, every expres- 
sion of desire offered to God even by his own children, 
were answered according to the term of it ! The 
voices of them in heaven who say, '• Alleluia : for 
the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth," would be hush- 
ed at once. O, shall God be infinitely wise and intel- 
ligent, and not employ his boundless wisdom and 
knowledge in managing the affairs of his creatures ? 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 169 

Shall his omniscience of all things in all periods ex- 
ert no influence on his determinations ? Shall he, to 
gratify us, hear a prayer which we would never of- 
fer if we saw what he sees, or what we ourselves 
may discover in the progress of a few short years ? 
What strange beings we are to expect or desire such 
a thing ! 

Are we the only persons whose happiness is to be 
regarded by God in his dispensations? What if an 
event affect us w^ith sorrow ? The same event may 
afTect others with joy, and God may be receiving 
their praises, while he hears our complaints. Are 
we alone to be considered, and not they ? We grieve, 
perhaps, because one very dear to us has been taken 
from earth to heaven. We prayed importunately 
that it might be otherwise, but we were not heard. 
We know not what to make of it, and are on the point 
of murmuring. But was not thy friend's happiness to 
be taken into the account, as well as thine ? Is the 
event so very mournful a one in the aspect of it which 
he contemplates 1 Does he grieve that he has made 
the exchange ? If thy loss were equivalent to his 
gain, it would be unkind to complain of the dispen- 
sation. But what is the loss to thee in comparison 
with the gain to him ? Is not thy friend satisfied 
with what God has done ? And shall you indulge 
discontent ? If you cannot but grieve, yet you should 
be willing to shed many tears for the sake of having 
all his waped a way. Can a soul too soon cease from 

15 



170 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS!. 

sin and sorrow? Can heaven be entered premature- 
ly ? Do you not read, and believe that it is better, 
far better, to depart and be with Christ 1 

How very inconsistent we are ! If God, wearied 
with our discontent and complainings, should say, 
** Well, since you desire it, be it according to your 
mind," is there one Christian who w^ould not instant- 
ly respond, " Nay, rather be it according to thine ?" 
Who would exercise the fearful privilege of order- 
ing a single event which is to affect him ? And shall 
we contend for a privilege which we would not ex* 
<3rcise if we had it ? Shall Ave claim to choose in a 
case in wdiich, if the right of choice were given us, 
we should immediately give it back into the hands 
of God? 



34. Shoulil it be according^ to thy Mind I 

This question Elihu asked of Job. Things were 
not according to the mind of Job ; and he complained, 
and was unhappy that they were not. He wanted 
them to be according to his mind. Perhaps it is so 
with you. But should it be according to thy mind, 
when there is another mind in the universe which 
is exercised and employed about the affairs of mor- 
tals : and that mind infmite, while yours is finite — 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. . 171 

mfallible, while yours is liable to a thousand errors 
and mistakes, in which you have often been detect- 
ed even by yourself — possessed of all knowledge too, 
while you *' are of yesterday, and know nothing?" 
Should it not be rather according to his mind ? 
Should the inferior mind dispose and direct things ? 

If there were but one such mind the demand would 
not be quite so unreasonable. But should it be ac- 
cording to thy mind, when upon the same principle it 
should be according to the mind of others, your fel- 
low-creatures, as wise and good as you, as much en- 
titled and as well qualified to govern as you, w^hose 
minds nevertheless are in opposition to yours, so that 
it could not be according to theirs and yours also 7 
Many of your views and wishes are at w^ar with 
theirs. The gratification of your desires would often 
be incompatible with the gratification of theirs. Now 
should one creature rule all other creatures, and the 
creator too ? Is it not better to let the supreme mind 
direct for all? when, moreover, this creature, who 
would rule all others, does not and cannot rule his 
own spirit ? Methinks he who aspires to command 
and control others, should begin with commanding 
and controling himself 

But Avhat still more unfits him to order things, is 
that his mind not only is at variance with other 
minds, but does not agree with itself Sometimes it 
inclines to one thing, and again it inclines to the op- 
posite. Nothing, not even the inconstant wind, is 



172 PRACTICAL TIIOUailTS. 

SO changeable as this mind, which would have 
things to be according to it. Should such a change- 
able mind rule, rather than he who is " in one mind,'' 
and whom none can turn — " the Father of lights, 
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of 
turning ?" 

But not only does this mind disagree with itself 
at different times, but often at the very same moment 
it is at war with itself; forming plans and cherishing 
inclinations which are opposite to each other; so 
that it could not accomplish one of its purposes with- 
out defeating another ; and could not gratify itself 
in one respect without denying itself in another. 
Should it be according to a mind, according to 
w^hich it could not be ? We often have a mind to an 
end, when we have no mind to the means necessa- 
ry to secure that end. Who has not a mind to be 
saved 1 But many have no mind to the way of being 
saved. Self-gratification is the thing men plead for, 
which implies that they have no mind to self-denial ; 
and yet, if they w^ouldbe saved, they must deny them- 
selves. In order to have things according to their 
mind hereafter, they must consent that they should 
not be according to their mind now. Things cannot 
be according to their mind in time and in eternity 
both. How merciful it is in God not to let things be 
to our mind in this piesent brief life ! 

Should it be according to thy mind, when thou 
dost not always know thy own mind? In such u 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 173 

case would you not have another to choose for you 1 
Should one who has to hesitate and debate matters 
with himself, before he decides, have the direction of 
affairs in his hands 1 How long it sometimes takes 
you to make up your mind ! What shall be done in 
the mean time ? Must the course of nature and Pro- 
vidence be arrested, and the whole current of events 
stand still, till you have concluded what is best to 
be done ? 

Have you not sometimes had things according to 
your mind, and afterwards regretted that they were 
so ? And would you run the risk of similar re- 
grets hereafter ? Have you not sometimes also had 
things contrary to your mind, and subsequently re- 
joiced that they were so ? Have you never found 
crosses to be blessings in disguise ? May not the 
present cross cover a blessing ? And will you com- 
plain of a blessing, in whatever garb it may come? 

Let God be heard before he is condemned. We 
concede this privilege to men. We consent to hear 
their reasons, before we censure their acts. God has 
appointed a day for the explanation of all things ; 
and he may reveal the reasons of his conduct to- 
wards us even before the day of the revelation of his 
righteous judgment. It is uncertain whether we 
shall justify men, after we have heard their reasons ; 
but do you not believe that if you knew the reasons 
of all God's proceedings in Providence, you would 
approve and sanction them all, and that your mind 

1 c# 
i.0 



174 PRACTICAL THOLGinS. 

would be in accordance with his? Why then not 
acquiesce in it now ? Other beings, better and great- 
er than you, do so. They decline having things ac- 
cording to their mind. And should not you? JEli 
said, *' It is the Lord ; let him do what seemeth him 
good." And even Christ would not have it accord- 
ing to his mind. *' Not as I will, but as thou wilt," 
was his conclusion, when the bitterest of all cups 
was at his lips» 

Are you one of those who love God ? Surely then 
it ought to satisfy you, when God assures you that 
under his government " all things work together for 
good to them that love him." Will you not let him 
choose what the things shall be, when he pledges 
himself that the result of them all shall be your 
good ? Is it certain, if the things to befall you were 
chosen by you, that they would all conduce to your 
good ? He says that he will withhold no good thing 
from them that walk uprightly. Is not this guaran- 
tee enough? "How shall he not," says one of his 
inspired apostles, with Christ *' also freely give us 
all things ?" " All things are yours." And will you 
complain that death is in the catalogue ? or that 
tribulation and distress are among the things, in all 
which " we are more than conquerors through him 
that loved us ?" 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 175 



35. How Inconsiistcnt We are I 

How many examples of inconsistency one may 
give, without going beyond the pale of the church, 
into the wide domain of the world ! We Christians 
consecrate ourselves to God for his use, and glory. 
Who is a Christian that has not done this ? and what 
Christian has not done it often, and perhaps recorded 
the solemn act of self-consecration? Well, having 
done it repeatedly, and not by constraint, but will- 
ingly; and having thus not only acknowledged God's 
right to use us, and to glorify himself in and by us, 
but asked him to do it, we afterwards complain that 
he does it. We object to the use to which he puts 
us, though we never stipulated any particular use to 
Avhich he should put us, but left him free to use us 
as should seem good to him. Yet now, when we see 
what he is going to do with us, though, in consent- 
ing that he should do with us according to his plea- 
sure, we consented to that very thing, we demur, and 
would dictate what use he should make of us, and 
how glorify himself by us ! Do I not justly denomi- 
nate this inconsistency? May not God do what he 
will with his own, when it is his own on so many 
accounts, and by so perfect a right — his own, not 
only by creation, by preservation, and by purchase, 
but by our consent and covenant with him, and oft 
expressed desire that it should be his; and when 



176 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

moreover he engages that in using us accoi;ding to 
his will and for his glory, he will not fail to secure 
our highest interests, our best good, our eternal 
well-being ? We do what we will with our own, 
though it be our own in a very subordinate sense, 
and though we use it exclusively for our pleasure or 
profit ; and we concede the same right to our fellow- 
creatures. What if we were to say to a fellow-man, 
" this is yours ; you made it ; you daily renew your 
labor on it, to keep it in repair ; you also paid a price 
for it. I surrender it up to you. I desire it should 
be yours. You are much better qualified to use it 
properly than I am," and then afterwards object to 
his using it as his own ? How unreasonable it would 
be in us ! How we should contradict ourselves. 
And is it not as unreasonable to hold similar lan- 
guage to God, and then complain of him ? 

We also consecrate to God our families — wife 
and children, and all. We say " These also are thine, 
Lord. Use them likewise for thy glory. We con- 
secrate them to thee." Well, being consecrated, he 
uses them as sacred to him ; and presently, having 
no farther use for one of them on earth, and wanting 
him in heaven to fill a place there, he takes the per- 
son thither — changes his residence and society — 
promotes him — brings him nearer to court. Having 
sometime before justified and begun to sanctify the 
individual, he at once perfects the work of holiness 
in him, and beatifies, ^lori(i»;s him — frees him from 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 177 

all sin, sorrow, pain and dread ; and wipes away his 
last tear. The subject of all this is in an ecstacy of 
joy and gratitude for what has been done to him, 
and would not for worlds leave the choice spot which 
he now occupies. Well, and what then ? Why, we 
object, and complain, and think it hard, and almost 
weep dry the fountain of tears, and refuse to be com- 
forted ! and that though it was God who took that 
member of the family ; and though he took but his 
own, and took it to himself; and though we are so 
soon ourselves to follow to the same abode ; and 
though it was always understood and agreed upon 
that God should take each just when he pleased. It 
was one of the articles of the covenant we entered 
into with him. He claimed and we conceded the 
right. We received that creature with the express 
understanding that we were to give him up, when 
called for. We always knew it was not a gift out- 
right, but a loan. And now shall we complain of 
the recall of the loan ? 

Oh how easy it is to convince the judgment — to 
silence the mind ! But the heart — the unmanageable 
heart, feels on as before. Our arguments go not 
down to that deep seat of emotion. There is still 
the void, the tumult, the ache, the longing. Only 
God can reason with the heart. At no bidding but 
his, will it ever be still and satisfied. 

Again, we consecrate our fro'perty to God We 
say, " We being thine, all ours is also thine. Thine 



178 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

be it. Take and use it." But let God touch it, to 
take any part of it away, and how distressed, and 
well nigh desperate it makes some who profess to be 
Christians ! and how unlike a thing sacred, and by 
our act made sacred to God, we use it. " Floliness 
to the Lord " we inscribe on all our property, and 
then utterly disregarding the label, we use it exclu- 
sively for ourselves. 

So also we devote life to God. But he must not 
on any account take it. How we tremble when we 
apprehend that he is going to receive what we offer 
to him ! O death, can it be that thou hast lost thy 
sting ? Blessed Jesus, how reluctant thy disciples 
are to have thee come and take them to thyself! 
Forgive us — we know not what we do. 

Once more, what strange, inconsistent beings we 
are ! If it be one characteristic of the righteous man, 
that he " sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth 
not," how much more essential to rectitude must it 
not be to comply with the terms of the oath, which 
we have sworn, not to man, but to God ; and when 
the tendency of the oath is not our hurt, but our 
greatest, and most lasting good ! As Christians, we 
have sworn to God. We have taken the sacrament 
— and that often, and not without deliberation. Many 
oaths are on us. And now shall we change ? Shall 
we draw back ? Shall Ave refuse to perform, or, as 
the case may be, to submit, because of some trifling 
inconvenience, some transient evil, which God can 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 179 

and will make to conduce to our ultimate and eter- 
nal good? 



3G. Tlie Pity of tlie liOid. 

There is a great deal of the Bible which seems 
not to be believed even by those who profess and 
suppose that they believe it all. And this is true, if I 
mistake not, of what some would call the best parts 
of the Bible — those parts, for example, which speak 
of the kind feelings of God towards his creatures, 
and especially towards those of them who fear him. 
I suspect that even Christians read them with a sort 
of incredulity. They seem to them almost too good 
to be true. But why should not God feel towards 
us as he says he does ? Is he not our Father ? Has 
he not nourished and brought us up as children ? 
Why should it be thought a thing incredible with 
us, that God should feel as a father does towards his 
children? I never read that 103d Psalm, but I stop 
at the 13th verse : *' Like as a father pitieth his chil- 
dren, so the Lord pitieth them- that fear him ;'*^ and 
I read it a second time, and 1 find myself asking, 
not merely in admiration, but Avith some degree of 
unbelief: " Can it be that the Lord pities us, and pi- 



180 I*RACT1CAL tUOVGUtS. 

ties lis like as a father his children ? I know the 
Lord is good to all. Flow can he, who is love, be 
other than benevolent ? It were contrary to his na- 
ture not to be. But pity expresses more than good- 
ness — more than benevolence. There is an un- 
movedness in mere goodness. But in pity the heart 
rnelts, and the eye weeps, and the Avhole soul is 
moved as from its seat. And this is especially true 
of a parent's pity. Can it be possible that God pities 
after that manner?" O yes, it is possible; and it 
has passed out of the limits of possibilities into the 
circle of facts. The Lord pitieth them that fear 
him — pitieth, as a father, yo7i,. if you fear him. His 
feelings towards you are fully up to those which 
you can conceive, or from experience know to be 
those of the most tender parent towards his children. 
Yes, God pities you. That nature which is love, 
feels and exercises compassion towards you in ^^our 
sorrows and trials. That great heart is affected by 
your misery and gi'iefs, as our hearts are, when at 
the sight of suffering we weep. Yes, Christian, 
God is sorry for you. Oh what a thought this for 
an hour of trial ! What a sentiment this to bear suf- 
fering with ! What if thou dost suffer ? Is it not 
enough that God pities thee ? We should be willing, 
to suffer, if he will sympathise. We should never 
know what divine sympathy is, if we did not suffer. 
This one consideration — that God pities, is worth 
more than all philosophy. 



1 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 181 

There is much that is interesting and lovely in 
pity, whoever be the object of it. There is, however, 
a peculiar tenderness, which belongs to the pity felt 
for suffering children. Nothing goes so keenly to 
the heart as the child's tear and tale of sorrow. And 
is the pity of the Lord like this ? Yes. It is not said 
that he pities, as man pities man ; or as one pities 
children ; or even as a parent pities children ; but as 
a father pities his children, so the Lord pities. " Like 
as a father." Like as one who most affectionately 
loves, pities the dear object of his love, his child, his 
own child, w^hen that child is sick, and he looks upon 
his altered countenance, and with a weeping eye 
watches over him day and night, and hears his 
moans, and is imploringly appealed to by him for 
relief, which it is not in his power to give ; like as 
he pities, so the Lord pities. So inexpressibly feels 
he towards them that fear him. Such deep and un- 
definable emotions as a parent's heart is occupied 
with, when he says " my poor child." So the Lord 
pities. Can it be ? It is even so. Well then, come 
want, come sickness, come sorrow, if such pity may 
come with it. The relief exceeds the suffering. The 
support is greater than the burden. It not only bears 
up, but lifts up the soul. 

But how does a father pity ? Does he pity so as 

never to chastise '2 Oh no. '♦ What son is he whom 

his father chasteneth not ?" He chastens out of pity. 

But he so pities that he is infinitely far from tak- 

16 



182 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

ing delight in the smallest sufferings of his children^ 
even when it becomes his duty for their good to in- 
flict them. It hurts him more to chastise, than them 
to be chastised. In all their affliction he is afflicted ; 
and more afflicted than they. Have you never correct- 
ed a child, and gone away and wept in pure pity for 
him ? Have you never denied him something, and 
found it a greater self-denial ? Is such your heart 
towards your children? Such is God's towards his. 
" He doth not afflict willingly." 

Again, a father so pities that he would spare or 
relieve his child, if he could ; that is, if he had the 
power; or having the power, it were proper he 
should exercise it. A parent sometimes has the power 
to relieve and does not exert it. The principle of 
benevolence within him Avhich proposes the greatest 
good of his child for the longest period, forbids that 
he should yield to the impulse of compassion, which 
calls for the rendering of immediate relief He pities 
his child too much to relieve him. So the Lord pi- 
ties. He has always the power to relieve. And of- 
ten he exerts it. He always would, if it were, in 
view of all considerations, proper and benevolent 
that he should. He, who for thee spared not his own 
Son, would spare thee every sorrow thou hast, and 
would relieve thine every pain, but " whom the Lord 
loveth, he chasteneth." 

A father so pities his children that he would, it 
he could, even suffer in their stead. More than one 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 183 

father has said, ** Would God I had died for thee, 
my son, my son !" And is the pity of the Lord like 
a father's in this particular too ? Yes. So the Lord 
pities. So he has pitied. He could suffer in the 
stead of those he pitied — and he did, *' Surely he 
hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." He 
has even died for us. O what pity ! 

A father so pities his children, that to promote 
their comfort and happiness, he will spare no pains 
and no expense. How freely the most avaricious 
parent will spend, if the necessities of a child require 
it ! The wants and sorrows of his child can open 
even his heart. Such is the pity of the Lord. He 
spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us 
all. Having one Son, his only-begotten, he gave 
even him for us. 

Let the child of God derive from these considera- 
tions inexpressible consolation. O think that he, 
in all thy sorrows, pities thee. Yes, thy God feels 
for thee. Thy sufferings go to his heart. * There is 
one in heaven who, from that exaltation, looks down 
upon thee ; and the eye that watches over you, wept 
for you once, and would, if it had tears, weep for you 
again. He knoweth your frame. He remembereth 
that you are dust. He will not break the bruised 
reed, nor quench the smoking flax. It was he who, 
when his disciples had nothing to say for them- 
selves, made that kind apology for them, " The spirit 
is willing, but the flesh is weak." He can be touched 



184 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

with the feeling of all your infirmities. You may 
cast all your cares on him, for he careth for you. 
All through this vale of tears you may rest assured 
of his sympathy ; and when the vale of tears de- 
elines into the valley of the shadow of death, not his 
sympathy only will you have, hut his inspiriting 
presence, and his timely succor. And after that, 
what will not his bounty be, whose pity has been 
so great ? When there is no longer any occasion 
for pity — when misery is no more, and sighing has 
ceased, and God's hand has for the last time passed 
across your weeping eyes, and wiped away the final 
tear, what then will be the riches of his munifi- 
cence ? What then will he not do for you, having so 
felt for you 1 You know a father feels a peculiar 
affection for a child that has been afilicted, and that 
has cost him a great deal. How will our compas- 
sionate Redeemer cherish and caress those who 
have come out of great tribulation, and for whom he 
went through so much more himself ! What must 
be the glory of that place to which he will take them, 
after he shall have made them perfect through suf- 
ferings ! What exalted honors, what ecstatic joys 
must he not have in reserve for them, whom he 
came down here to weep with, and now takes up 
thither to rejoice with himself! And now that they 
have ceased to sin, and are perfectly conformed to 
his image, what will not be his com/placeiicy in them, 
when his pity towards them is so great in this im 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 185 

perfect state, in which their suffering is always 
mingled with sin ! 

Well then, since we are the objects of such pity, 
let us be its subjects too. Let us pity, as we are pi- 
tied. Cared for ourselves, let us care for others. Let 
their case reach our hearts, as ours reached God's. 
Let us, for whom so many tears have been shed, be 
not sparing of our tears for others' woes. Nor let 
us give to misery merely the tear, but speak the 
word of consolation, and reach out the hand of help. 



37. Five Negatives. 



It is known that two negatives in English are 
equivalent to an affirmative. They destroy each 
other. But it is not so in Greek. They strengthen 
the negation ; and a third negative makes it stronger 
still, and so a fourth, and a fifth. How strong five 
negatives must make a negation 1 But do five ever 
occur ? Whether they ever occur in the Greek 
classics, I do not know ; but in the Greek of the 
New Testament there is an instance of the kind. 
And what is that ? Are the five negatives used to 
strengthen any threatening ? No. They are con- 
nected with a promise, one of the " exceeding great 
and precious promises," which are given unto us. 
16* 



186 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

The case occurs in Heb. 13: 5, "for He hath said, 
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." There 
five negatives are employed. We translate but two 
of them ; but there they all are, as any one may see 
who looks into his Greek Testament. Now, they 
need not all have been there. They are not all 
necessary to express the simple idea that God will 
never forsake his people. There must have been 
design in multiplying negatives so. I do not believe 
the phraseology was accidental, and I think it not 
difficult to guess the design. God meant to be be- 
lieved in that thing. He would secure the confidence 
of his children in that particular. He knew how 
prone they were to doubt his constancy — how 
strongly inclined to that form of unbelief — and how 
liable to be harassed by the dread of being forsaken, 
by him ; and he would therefore make assurance 
more than doubly sure. So, instead o^ saying simply, 
*' I will not leave thee," which alone would have 
been enough, he adds, "nor forsake thee;" and in- 
stead of leaving it thus, *' I will not leave thee, I will 
not forsake thee," he uses language equivalent to the 
following : '* I will not, I will not leave thee ; I Avill 
never, never, never forsake thee." There is a stanza, 
which very faithfully, as well as beautifully, expresses 
it — 

" The soul that on Jesus hath leaii'd for repose, 

" I wiU not, I will not desert to his foes ; 

*' That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, ^ 

" I'll never — no never— no never forsake," 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 187 

How in earnest God appears to be in this matter ! 
How unworthy it is in his children, after such an as- 
surance as thisj to suspect that he will forsake them ! 
He cannot. It is impossible for God to lie. Here 
one who was never known to break his word, assures 
his people, each of them individually, and five times 
over in a single sentence, of his continued presence 
with them. Under similar circumstances, what man 
of reputed veracity would be discredited ? and shall 
not the God of truth be believed in a like case ? 



3S. Ho\ir to Dispose of Care. 

There is such a thing as care. Who does not 
know it by experience ? Who has not felt it at his 
heart ? How heavily it presses there ! and it pierces 
too. It is a burden ; and it has also a sting. Nothing 
is more unfriendly to happiness than care. It is hard 
being happy with a load on the heart. The objects 
of care are almost innumerable. What shall I -eat; 
what shall I drink; and wherewithall shall I be 
clothed, are only a few of its anxious interrogations, 
and they are among the least important of them. 
These concern ourselves ; but care often forgets self 
in its solicitude for others. Parents, and especially 
mothers know what I mean by this. But I need 



188 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

not attempt to explain a word that expresses what we 
all feel. 

There is a care both for ourselves and others 
which God himself has cast upon us ; and of which 
it were sinful to attempt to make any other disposi* 
tion than he has made of it. But over and above 
this, there is a large amount of solicitude and anxiety 
which we lay upon ourselves, and which is unne- 
cessary, useless, injurious. This is the care that is 
unfavorable to happiness. The other is friendly to 
it. It is very desirable to get rid of it, since it does 
us harm, and does no one good. Nothing is more 
hostile to the successful care of the soul than the 
pressure and poignancy of the care of which I speak. 
" Careful and troubled about many things," we in- 
termit or entirely overlook the care of the "one thing 
needful." But what shall we do with it — how get 
rid of it, since to bear it is so painful to our feelings, 
and often so ruinous to our better interests ? Divide 
it with others we may to some little extent. There 
is such a thing as sympathy. There is such an 
operation as unburdening the mind to a fellow- 
creature. And I will not deny that there is some 
relief in it. Yet the very etymology of the word 
sympathy evinces that it is no remedy. It is, after 
all, a suffering together. A great deal of what con- 
stitutes sympathy is grief that we can but grieve — 
sorrow that we cannot succor. Mixing tears does 
indeed diminish their bitterness, but weeping with 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 189 

those that weep does not wipe away their tears. 
They weep on, and the only difference is that we 
weep with them, and our tears may be said to dilute 
theirs. 

There is a better way of disposing of care than to 
cast it on our fellow-creatures. Indeed, what fellow- 
creatures can we find who have not enough of their 
own to bear, without receiving an additional burden 
from us ? What friend has not himself surplus care 
to dispose of? 

There are some who cast off care without refer- 
ence to what becomes of it. They sing, *' Begone 
dull care." These are the reckless. Care may go 
at their bidding, but the worst of it is, it is sure to 
return again, and it comes back a heavier burden — 
duller than ever. This is not the way to dispose of 
care. Yet there is a way whereby all excess of 
anxiety may be effectually removed, and the heart 
be left with all its tender affection, and yet with no 
more solicitude than such as the blessed in heaven 
might feel without diminution of happiness. It is to 
cast care on God, That is the true and only effectual 
way to dispose of care. He can take the burden, 
however huge and heavy. You do not doubt that ; 
but you ask, *' Will he ? — may I cast it on him ? I, 
such a one as I, cast my cares, the whole multitude 
and burden of them, on such a being as God? I know 
the government of the mighty universe, and the pro- 
vidence which extends to the minute equally as to 



190 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

the magnificent — reaching low as to the fall of the 
sparrow, and the numbering of the hairs of the head, 
does not distract or burden him. I know he can take 
a larger charge and not feel it. But will he ? Willj 
such greatness stoop to such littleness ? — such holi- 
ness come down to such vileness ?'' Yes, it will, for 
condescension is one characteristic of greatness ; and 
" the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from 
all sin." But why do I reason ? Does not the Holy- 
Ghost say by David, "cast thy burden upon the Lord, 
and he shall sustain thee" — and by Peter, ** casting 
all your care upon him" — and by Paul, "be careful 
for nothing" — and does not Immanuel himself say, 
" Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest?" No longer ask if 
you may, but use your privilege. Here is your au- 
thority. The Lord says you may do it. Nay more, 
commands you to do it. It is your duty, as well as 
your privilege. So far is it from being presumption 
to cast your care on God, it is a sin not to do it. 

This is the way to dispose of care ; and it is no 
matter how much there is of it. God will take it all. 
It is no burden to him. Many have made this dis- 
position of their cares, and all testify how willingly 
he took and bore them ; and if at times they took 
back the burden, yet willingly he received it again, 
when again it was cast upon him. 

There is a reason given by Peter for casting care 
on God, that is inexpressibly touching. He says, 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 191 

"casting all your care on him," and then lOnows 
no flourish of rhetoric, no parade of reasons, but this 
— O how happily selected, I would say, but that he 
wrote by inspiration, which does every thing felici- 
tously — "for he careth for you." Why should you 
care for yourself, since God cares for you ? Ah, here 
is a topic not for the meditation of an hour merely, 
but of an eternity. He careth for you. Can it be ? 

why should he ? What a thought to carry through 
this vale of tears, and to go down with into the deep- 
er valley of death, that God cares for me ! He con- 
cerns himself about me. Let the scholar look at 
the original. The English is good enough, but the 
Greek is still more interesting. God has me on his 
heart. Some poor saints think nobody cares for 
them. But God does. Is not that enough ? He 
that regards the cry of the raven, and gives all the 
fowls of heaven their food, and decks the lilies of the 
field, doth much more care for you. He concerns 
himself for his creatures.v^iW he not much more for 
his children ? Are ye not of much more value, whom 
no less a price could redeem than the blood of his 
Son ? Let this suffice for you. 

I know not any thing that goes so soon and surely 
to my heart, as the sight of a poor sobbing, or sor- 
rowfully looking child, an orphan, or worse than 
parentless, whom no one seems to care for. But if 

1 weep at such a sight, it dries up my tears to think 
that there is, after all, one who cares for the poor 



192 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

child, even he who said, " Suffer little children to 
come unto me." O come, let us cast our care on 
God. Let us go to Jesus for rest. In him we sftall 
find sympathy such as man can feel, with support 
such as only God can afford. There we shall meet 
with such pity as at first weeps with the sufferer, 
and then wipes away his tears. Surely he who bare 
our sins will not refuse our cares. " Surely he 
hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." 



39. Do you enjoy Religion ? 

I do not ask you if you possess religion, but do 
you enjoy it ? Does it make you happy ? The ques- 
tion is not whether being, as you hope, a religious 
person, you are also happy; but is it your religion 
which makes you happy ? Are you happy, because 
religious ? A person may acknowledge God, and 
have joy, and yet not "joy in God." Perhaps you 
will say it helps to make you happy — that is, reli- 
gion and certain other things together make you 
happy. But this answer is not satisfactory. Reli- 
gion must more than help to make you happy. If 
it only helps, it does no more than many other 
things. They help. In that case religion might be 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 193 

needful to happiness, even as money is reckoned by- 
many to be ; but it could not be pronounced to be the 
one thing needful. Religion ought to make you 
happy without the aid of any thing else. You should 
enjoy it, though you had nothing else to enjoy. 
Habakkuk says, •' Although the fig-tree shall not 
blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines ; the la- 
bor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield 
no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and 
there shall be no herd in the stalls ; yet I will re- 
joice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my sal- 
vation." He regarded religion as able alone to make 
him happy. And are we not commanded to be 
happy in religion alone — to " rejoice in the Lord," 
and that " evermore ?" Should we be commanded 
to be happy in it, if it needed some assistance to 
make us happy ? 

Religion is both exactly adapted and entirely 
adequate to make its subjects happy. It supplies 
the soul with a portion ; and what does the soul 
want to make it happy but a suitable and sufficient 
portion ? This the religious man has. The Lord 
is his portion. Is not that a portion to make him 
happy'? Is it not good enough, and large enough ? 
If the world can make one happy, as some suppose, 
cannot much more the Maker of all worlds, and the 
owner of the universe T This portion is infinite, so 
that it can never be exhausted ; and it is eternal, so 
that it can never fail. And while religion gives 
17 



194 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

US a portion, what a protector, what a provider, what 
a comforter it affords us ! The best of fathers, and 
the friend that is more constant than a brother ! Then, 
what present good it yields, and what promises it 
makes of greater good to come ! What a prospect it 
holds out ! O what hopes it inspires ! The Chris- 
tian has all these to rejoice in — Christ Jesus, the 
" exceeding great and precious promises," the first 
fruits of the Spirit, and the hope of glory. Can any 
one say what is wanting in religion to make one 
happy? ^ ^ , 

Religion has made many happy. Peter, in his 
first general epistle, within the compass of only three 
verses, speaks of Christians as not only rejoicing, 
but rejoicing " greatly," yea, " with joy unspeakable 
and full of glory." He speaks of it not as a duty, 
or as a privilege, but as a fact. They did so. And 
what they so rejoiced in was Jesus Christ, and the 
prospect of the incorruptible inheritance, both which 
Christians have the same warrant to rejoice in now. 
Now, if religion made these happy, why should it 
not make others happy ? Why should one enjoy it, 
and another not enjoy it, if both possess it? It was 
intended to make all its subjects happy — very happy. 

I ask then, does it make you happy ? Do you en- 
joy religion ? Now, do not evade the question. What 
is to become of us, if religion does not make us 
happy? If we do not enjoy it here, how shall we 
enjoy it hereafter ? Barely to possess it hereafter 



I 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 195 

wtDuld not satisfy, even if such a thing could be. 
How can a religion which does not make us happy 
on earth, make us happy in heaven ? The religion 
of heaven is the same in kind with that of earth. 
The only difference is in degree. The religion of 
earth is communicated from heaven. It must be of 
the same nature with it. 

Besides, if our religion does not make us happy, 
how do we do our duty ? We are commanded to re- 
joice. It is a part of ^practical Christianity to be 
happy. It is obedience to a precept. It belongs to the 
character of the doer of the word. Moreover, how 
are we to have satisfactory evidence that we possess 
true religion, if we have not joy in it ? Suppose we 
had not love, would we be Christians then ? No, cer- 
tainly ; for without charity a man is nothing. But 
why can we not be Christians without love ? Be- 
cause it is the fruit of the Spirit. And is not joy also 
the fruit of the Spirit ? If love is the first named of 
the nine, joy is the second. " The fruit of the Spirit 
is love, joy, &c." Gal. 5 : 22, 23. And these are not 
said to be \h.Q fruits of the Spirit. It is not the 'plu- 
ral form that is used. They are not distinct produc- 
tions. They are all one cluster^' the fruit of the 
Spirit." Now, since we have not love, we conclude 
we have not the Spirit ; why should we not conclude 
the same if we have not joy ? I know it may be 
said that there are many things to interfere with 
Christian joy. But while these may and do dimi- 



196 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

nish it and interrupt it, they do not therefore anni- 
hilate it. There was much to interfere in the case 
of those to whom Peter wrote. They were " in hea- 
viness through manifold temptations." Nevertheless 
they rejoiced *' greatly." 

You see now why I ask you if you enjoy reli- 
gion. You perceive that it is no insignificant ques- 
tion. Many profess to have religion, but are con- 
scious that they do not enjoy it. They hope they are 
religious, but know they are not happy. They 
trust that God is their portion, but they have no joy 
in him. Indeed some are astonished that we should 
speak of religion as a thing to be enjoyed. They 
regard it rather as a thing to be endured — as a sort 
oi penance, a system oi privation. And in so far as 
it is not suffering, it is toil — a something composed 
q{ penance and task. When they betake themselves 
to any thing of a religious nature, they feel that they 
must. A sort of dire necessity constrains them. 
Such a religion may prepare a person for hell, but 
how it is to qualify him for heaven, I see not. And 
a religion which does not qualify a person for hea- 
ven, certainly does not answer the purpose. 

Many persons lament that their religion does not 
make them happy, and they wonder why it is. I sus- 
pect it is because they depend no more upon it to 
make them happy. They look for enjoyment too 
much to other sources. Perhaps, however, the rea- 
son they have so little enjoyment in religion is that 



I 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 197 

they have so little religion to enjoy. Now those who 
appear to have so little, should seriously inquire if 
they have any. 

But some may say, *' Religion sometimes make us 
happy." But why only sometimes — why not al- 
ways ? The command is, " Rejoice in the Lord al- 
ways ;" and the same reason exists for being happy 
in religion at all times, as at any time. If you re- 
joice in the world, no wonder if your joy is often 
interrupted ; but if God is your God, and he is 
evermore the same, why should you not rejoice 
in him evermore ? But does not the Lord sometimes 
call to sorrow ? True, but even then he does not 
caMfrom joy. Joy and sorrow are perfectly compa- 
tible. Were they not coincident in the experience 
of Paul? "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing," he 
says. If there exists causes of sorrow which operate, 
that does not annihilate the causes of joy. They 
should operate too. If you seem to have nothing 
else to rejoice in, yet there are your sorrows ; re- 
joice in them ; well may you, if they work for you 
*• a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." 
Did not Paul " glory in tribulations alsoV 

Let not the reader rest satisfied until he enjoys re- 
ligion. How are we to die by a religion which we 
do not enjoy ? What can one enjoy when the world 
is receding, if he cannot enjoy God ? 



198 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 



40. liOvest TIiou Mel 



We make a profession of Christianity, and go 
along from day to day, and perhaps from year to 
year, supposing that wq are Christians, and that all 
is well with us ; that we are equipped for th© en- 
counter of death, and prepared to meet our Judge^ 
and take our place in heaven, when it may be we 
are not able to answer till after long consideration, 
and then with not a littl^ doubt and misgiving, so 
simple a question in Christian experience, a« " Lovest 
thou me V^ Perad venture the utmost vre dare say, 
after all our reflection and self-research, is, *' I really 
do not know how it is. I hope I love him." This 
will never do. The question, " Lovest thou me," is 
one which every person, making any pretensions to 
Christianity, ought to be able to answer affirmatively 
at once. Indeed we ought not to give our Savior any 
occasion to ask the question. It is very much to our 
discredit — it should make us blush and be ashamed 
— that our manifestations of love to him are of so 
equivocal a character as to leave the very existence 
of the affection doubtful, and to render it necessary 
for him to interrogate us in reference to it. There 
are many less lovely beings than Christ that have 
not to ask us if we love them. We act in such a 
manner towards them that they cannot for a moment 
doubt the fact of their being dear and precious to us. 
They do not want our words to assure them. They 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 199 

have our uniform conduct and deportment making 
the silent yet most forcible declaration. Has your 
parent to ask you if you lov# him, or your child ? 
Have husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, and 
friends, to ask this question of each other T O no — 
none but Christ has to ask us if we lov# him ! And 
he has not only to ask the question, but to wait, 
sometimes a long while, for an answer. We have 
to consider and go into an examination, and call up 
our conduct to the bar of judgment, and dissect our 
very hearts, before we can venture an answer. This 
is strange. It is not so in other cases. If a relative 
or a friend, more for the gratification of a renewed 
expression of our love, than from any doubt of its ex- 
istence, ask us if we love him, do we keep him wait- 
ing for an answer ? Do we say, " Well, I must con- 
sider. I must examine myself I hope I do." No, 
indeed. We are ready with our affirmative. Nor is 
it a cold yes we return ; but we express our surprise 
at the question. " Love you !" And we assure the 
person in the most emphatic and ardent language 
that we love him, and all our manner shows him that 
we speak out of the abundance of the heart. But we 
do not express surprise that our Savior should ask 
us if we love him. We do not wonder at the question 
from him. We know too well how much reason we 
give him to doubt our affection. 

Why should there be such a difference in f%vof of 
the earthly objects of our love? Is not Christ as lovely 



200 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

as those other beings — as deserving of affection — as 
attractive of love? He is altogether lovely. Are they? 
He possesses infinite loveliness. Nor does that ex- 
press all. He is essential Love. Nor love at rest, 
but in motion ; nor far off, but near ; exerting infinite 
energy in action, exercising infinite fortitude in suf- 
fering ; earth the scene, and man the object. It is 
he who asks, " Lovest thou me?" And he of 
whom he asks it is this man, the intelligent spec- 
tator of all this love ; aye, its chosen and cherished 
object. . 

If Christ was not nearly related to us, as those 
other beings are, that might be the reason of the dif- 
ference in their favor. But who is so closely related 
to us, so intimately joined to us, as Christ? He formed 
us, and in him we live, move, and have our being. 
Does not that imply nearness ? Is he divine, while 
we are human ? He is human as well as divine — 
one of the brotherhood of flesh and blood. He came 
down to earth to take our nature on him, nor went 
up to heaven again without it. There it is — our 
humanity allied to divinity, divinity radiant through 
it, on the throne. Is he not related to us ? He says 
of every one who does the will of his Father, *' the 
same is my brother, and sister and mother." That 
alone relates us to him more than all humaii ties. 
But that is not all. Christ is the husband of the 
church. He is one with it. If we are his disciples, 
he is the vine and we the branches — he the head 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 201 

and we the members. Yea, *' Ave are members of 
his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." Does not 
this express a near and intimate relation ? Now it 
is one so near to us, so joined to us, who asks, 
** Lovest thou me ?" 

Have our friends, whom we are so conscious of 
loving, done more for us than Christ, or made greater 
sacrifices for us ? Are we under greater personal 
obligations to them? 

" Which of all our friends, to save us, 
" Could or would have shed his blood? 

" But this Savior died to have us 
" Reconciled, in him, to God." 

And yet we know we love those friends, but this 
friend ! we know not whether we love him or not — 
we only hope we do ! 

Do other beings find such difficulty in loving 
Christ ? and are they at such a loss to know when 
they do love him ? O no. His Father testifies, " This 
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 
And he is called also his well-beloved, his dear Son. 
All the angels of God love and worship him, and 
delight to ascribe infinite worthiness to him. It is 
only men who find any difficulty in loving Christ. 
It is only the human heart that hesitates and hangs 
back. Is there any reason for this — any reason why 
men should be the last to love Christ, and why they 
should love him least of all who behold his loveli- 



202 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

ness ? I see none, but I think I see reasons many, 
and strong, and tender, why we should be first, and 
most forward, and warmest in our affection to him. 
How many worlds he passed to alight on this ! How 
many created natures he rejected, when from all of 
them he chose the human to be united to divinity ! 
Others have sinned, yet not their sins bare he, but 
ours. It may be said of other creatures, " He loved 
them ;" but of men only can it be added, " and gave 
himself for them." And yet who is so backward to 
love him as redeemed man? Not tardy merely. 
O how parsimonious of his love — loving him so lit- 
tle, that often he cannot ascertain if he loves at 
all ! Shame, where is thy blush ; and sorrow, where 
thy tear ? 

O how different Christ's love to us from ours to 
him ! We have not to ask him if he loves us. If any 
one should ever ask that question of Jesus, he would 
say, " Behold my hands and my feet." He bears on 
his very body the marks of his love to us. But what 
have we to point to as proofs of our love to him ? 
What has it done for him ? What svffered ? O, the 
contrast ! His love, so strong ! Ours, so weak ! His, 
so ardent ! Ours, so cold ! His, so constant ! Ours, 
so fickle! His, so active ! Ours, so indolent! So high, 
so deep, so long, so broad his love, its dimensions 
cannot be comprehended, it passeth knowledge ; 
while ours is so limited, and so minute, it eludes 
research ! 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 203 

" Dear Lord ! and thall we ever live 

" At this poor dying rate 1 
" Our love so faint, so cold to thee, 

" And thine to us so great 1" 



41. The lilsbt of the World. 

How are we to know whether, being nominally 
Christians, we are also really Christians ? It is im- 
portant to know if we possess the thing signified by 
Christianity. The mere name and fame of the thing 
will be of little use to us. 

Now the Bible tells us what Christians are. If 
then, we are what the book says Christians are, we 
are Christians. Every body admits this — that a 
scriptural Christian is without doubt a real one. 
But some seem to hesitate about admitting the con- 
* verse of the proposition, that if we are not what the 
Bible says Christians are, we are not Christians. 
The reason they hesitate can only be that they per- 
ceive or fear the latter conclusion makes against 
themselves ; for the one is as clearly and certainly 
true as the other. What use could there be in state- 
ments declaring what Christians are, if mdividuals 
may be Christians without being what Christians 
are thus declared to be? Indeed, w^hat truth would 
there be in such statements ? That is no character- 



204 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

istic of a class, which does not belong to all the in- 
dividuals of the class. The declaration, " If any 
man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature," is 
neither useful nor true, if some are in Christ who 
are not new creatures. The same may be said of 
the assertion, " There is therefore now no condem- 
nation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk 
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit," if a solitary 
individual is pardoned and freed from condemnation 
who still walks after the flesh. There is neither sense 
nor sincerity in it; nor in this other passage, " They 
that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the 
affections and lusts," if some are Christ's who have 
never put the flesh and its lusts to that kind of death. 

It must be admitted that if we are not what the 
Bible says Christians are, we are not Christians in 
fact. We may as well admit it first as last. Christ 
says we are to be judged by his word ; not by any 
favorite author of ours, Blair or Paley, or Avhoever 
he may be ; not by any sermon we may have heard 
from this or that minister ; not by the standard that 
may have been set up in some conversation with an 
eminent divine ; not by the opinion entertained in 
the circle in which we move ; nor by what seems 
to stand to our reason. There will be no spreading 
out of these, when the Judge shall sit. The Bible 
will be the only book of law and authority opened 
then. 

I know very well there is nothing new in what I 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 205 

aai saying. Any body can say it, and say it as 
well. Every body knows it already. But it is one 
of the old things that we need to be often reminded 
of I know nothing we are more prone to forget 
than these common-place truths. It is what we know 
best, and most firmly believe, that we fail most to 
consider and lay to heart. The most familiar truths 
have always been the truths by men most disre- 
garded. 

But let us hear what the Bible says Christians 
are, for I did not intend so long an introduction. 
Well, the Bible says, among other things, that they 
are the light of the world. The blessed Jesus him- 
self is the speaker, and he is addressing his disciples, 
and he says to them " Ye are the light of the 
world." Observe, he does not say, " Ye maT/ be, if 
you are careful to live up to your privileges ;" or 
*' Ye ought to be — it is your duty ;" or " Ye shall be 
— by and by, when you have have made greater 
progress in religion ;" but he speaks of it as a pre- 
sent matter of fact, " Ye are the light of the world." 
— So it seems that Christians shine. We talk of a 
shining Christian, meaning to distinguish such a 
one from Christians in general. But there is no 
Christian who is not a shining one. Every Chris- 
tian emits light. Paul testifies of the Christians of 
Philippi that they shone as lights in the world. 
They were what Christ said his disciples were. And 
must not Christians of our cities and villages be the 

same 7 

18 



•206 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

It also appears that Christians are not merely re- 
ceivers. They give out — they communicate. That 
is their character. They do not live merely or 
mainly for themselves. A candle is not lighted for 
its own convenience, but for the benefit of others, 
that it may give light unto all that are in the house. 
Some people think it is enough if they personally 
enjoy religion. But that is not the case. No vian . 
liveth to himself — much more does no Christiayi. 

There are two objects for which Christians shine. 
One is tQ discover themselves, that the world may 
know what Christians are, and so be led to emulate \ 
the character. This oiir Savior contemplates when , 
he says, " Let your light so shine before men, that : 
they may see your good works and glorify your Fa- • 
ther which is in heaven." We are to emit light for • 
others to see by ; and it is that they may see our • 
good works. All Christians perform good works. 
They are all of them doers. They are the most: 
practical men in the world, though regarded by 
many as visionaries. There are, to be sure, specu- 
lators and theorists enough in the church, but real I 
Christians are working men. But what is the use ■ 
in our good works being seen I Why is it not '. 
enough that they be done. Does not humility dic- 
tate that they should be concealed, rather than ex- 
posed ? The thing is impracticable. " A city that 
is set on a hill cannot be hid." Were the thing pos- 
sible the attempt at conceal men!: might be proper 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 207 

enough, if there were no others to be influenced by 
the sight of our good works. Whether a candle in 
fin uninhabited house be on a candlestick or under 
a bushel, is a matter of little consequence ; but not so 
if there be people in the house. The Christian's 
good works are to be visible ; not that he may be 
applauded for them, but that men may thence be led 
to glorify God. Now, a question. Do we shine? 
And by the light which we evolve, do observers see 
our good works? Have we any good works for 
them to see ? And are they such good works as, 
they seeing, will instinctively refer to the grace of 
God as their cause, and so be led to* glorify him ? 
We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a 
holy nation, a peculiar people ; that we should shew 
forth the praises of him who hath called us out of 
darkness into his marvelous light. 

I would not have any one suppose that a Chris- 
tian is to make an effort to let his good works be 
seen — to be ostentatious of them. No, he is only to 
let his light shine. He is active in doing good 
works, but quite passive in shewing them. A lumi- 
nous body makes no effort in emitting light. Indeed 
it cannot help shining. A Christian has only in all 
his intercourse with men to act out the Christian 
spirit, and be governed by the fear of God, and the 
principles of his holy religion, and the thing is done. 
The light is emitted, and the good works are seen. 
And this is the way, under God, to commend truth 



208 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

to the conscience, to reach the hearts of men, and 
make converts to God. Yes, this is the way. " Hav- 
ing your conversation honest among the Gentiles :. 
that whereas they speak against you as evil doers, 
they may by your good works, which they shall he- 
hold, glorify God in the day of visitation." Another 
question. Is this what we are doing — shining so 
that men, knowing we profess the religion of Jesus, 
see, in looking at us, how pure, lovely, excellent, and 
divine a religion it is, and are led to say, " Verily, 
it must be from God, and we must embrace it too — 
we will be Christians ?" 

The other object for which Christians shine is to 
enlighten others. But on this I cannot now enlarge. 
Only this I would observe. See how/<zr Christians 
shine! They do not merely illumine some little 
sphere. They are the light of the world. Their in- 
fluence reaches to the ends of the earth. 

Would we make good our Savior's assertion with 
respect to ourselves — would we be the light of the 
world, let us first take heed that the light which is 
in us be not darkness : and let us next have a care 
that our light make discovery to others of good 
works. Let n^ do them. Then, as for those who 
see us, it is their fault, not ours, if they are not con- 
verted. And as for those who are too far off to see 
us, it only remains that we carry them the light, or 
send it to them. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 209 



4;^. Tlie Salt of tlie Bartli. 

Here is something else which Christians are. 
All that they are cannot be told in a single sentence. 
It requires many. Some content themselves with a 
partial representation of the Christian character. 
But the proper plan is to bring together all the Bi- 
ble has to say about it, and then aptly to arrange the 
parts so as to present a full and perfect delineation. 
Many seem to think that every definition of religion 
in the Bible is intended to exhaust the subject. It 
is a great mistake, and one which, I fear, is fatal to 
many. 

Christians are tlie light of the world, as has been 
already said. But this is not all they are ; they are 
also *' the salt of the earth ;" and the same individuals 
are both these ; they do not merely shine for the 
benefit of the world ; they act upon it in another, 
more immediate and more energetic manner ; they 
are not merely light to it, but salt to it also. They 
present it. 

Here let me remark, what a useful people Chris- 
tians are ! What are more useful, I may say indis- 
pensable, than light and salt ? How could we get 
along at all without them ? Well, Christians are 
these to the moral world. They enlighten it. They 
discover moral excellence to it. Yea, they preserve 
it from perishing. The world would not keep but for 
18* 



210 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

Christians. They are the salt of the earth. How soon 
Sodom was destroyed after Lot left it ! He was the 
salt of Sodom. That one good man saved the city 
while he remained in it ; and if there had been nine 
more, they might all have remained, and Sodom 
should have been spared. Well may I say, how use- 
ful Christians are to their fellow-creatures ! And I 
may add, how variously useful they are ! If they 
were merely light to the world, they could be very 
useful ; but they are also salt to it. 

Moreover, what a disinterested people Christians 
are ! It is not to themselves mainly that they are so 
useful, but to others. Not a man of them liveth to 
himself Light shines not for its own advantage ; 
and salt exists wholly for the benefit of other sub- 
stances ; and how completely it spends itself on them, 
and loses itself in them ! Such are Christians. They 
please not themselves. They seek not their own. 
This is what we are, if we are Christians. 

And now I have another grave reflection to make. 
How different Christians are from the residue of 
men ! How ^'gry unlike them ! Others are not the 
light of the world, and the salt of the earth. No, 
they are the world — the persons that require the 
light — the dark objects. They are the earth, which 
needs the salt for its preservation. They are the 
corrupt mass. Now, light is very unlike the objects 
it illumines, and salt very unlike the substance it 
preserves or seasons. If it were not, it would not 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 211 

at all answer the purpose intended by its application. 
Well, just as unlike other men, unregenerate men, 
the men of the world, are Christians — as unlike as 
are light and the world, or salt and the earth. But 
some may say, this is figurative language. What 
if it is ? Figures mean something. They mean as 
much as literal phraseology. And the meaning of 
figures is as easily gained as that of any other kind 
of language. But St. John speaks on this subject with- 
out a figure, and he employs one of the strongest and 
most striking expressions I have ever read. To 
many ears it does not sound at all charitable. He 
says, speaking in the name of Christians, " We know 
that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in 
wickedness;''^ or, to translate the original more literal- 
ly, and to make the contrast still more striking, in the 
wicked one. This is his account of the difference 
between Christians and others. Christians are of 
God. All other men are in the wicked one. Nor is 
it wonderful that Christians are so very different 
from others, when we consider that they become 
such by being created anew in Christ Jesus. Such 
a work of God upon them must needs make them 
very unlike those who are not the subjects of it. 
Creation makes a vast difference in things. The 
first creation did. The second does also. The new 
creature differs widely from the mere creature. The 
Christian is eminently distinguished from the man. 
Christians are exhorted not to be conformed to the 



212 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

world. It would seem impossible that real Chris- 
tians should be conformed to it. It would appear to 
be as contrary to their nature to be conformed to the 
world, as for light to resemble darkness, or salt any 
insipid or corrupt substance. 

But the world say they do not see the mighty dif- 
ference between Christians and other men. Perhaps 
it is because they do not look at the right persons. 
It is no wonder they do not see a mighty difference 
between some professors of religion and the rest of 
mankind, for no such difference exists. It is not to 
be seen. It is not every professor that is a true 
Christian. There are some that pass for Christians, 
of whom it may be said that the light which is in 
them is darkness. Such are not the lights of the 
world. They need themselves illumination more 
than any others, for the darkness which is in them 
is great. Again, there are those in whom, accord- 
ing to the case supposed by our Savior, the salt has 
lost its savor — its saline quality. Yes, there are in- 
sipid Christians. That such should not manifest the 
difference which exists between real Christians and 
others, is surely not to be wondered at. These differ 
from others rather in being worse than better than 
they. What is so Avorthless as salt which has lost 
its savor ? " It is thenceforth good for nothing, but 
to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." 
Just so it is with graceless professors of religion. 
They serve no good turn, but many an ill one. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 213 

But some are not entirely without the saline prin- 
ciple ; yet have it in great weakness. They are, if 
I may so speak, only a little brackish with it. Let 
such give diligence to grow in grace. And let us 
all see to it that we have salt in ourselves, that we 
may be in this respect also what Christ says his dis- 
ciples are, " the salt of the earth." 



4:3. Tlie Distance of Deatli. 

How far from any human being is death ? This 
is not equivalent to asking when he will actually die. 
That may not be for years to come. But all that 
time how far off is death from him ? Not far — only 
a step. " There is but a step between me and death." 
Death is always at just the same distance from every 
man, though all do not die at the same time, and 
some live to a much greater age than others. Death 
is as contiguous to childhood and youth, as it is to 
manhood and old age. Facts are every day proving 
it. From no subject of human life, and from no point 
or period of it, is death ever at a greater distance than 
may be measured by a step. David said what I have 
quoted, of himself It is just as true of all men, un- 
less some are protected, as Hezekiah was, by a pro- 
mise of God that he should live a number of years. 



214 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS, 

David said it in a moment of panic. He might have 
said it in his calmest hour. It is no piece of extra- 
vagance. It is a sober reality. It is plain matter of 
fact, that all we who live, live at precisely this little 
distance from death, and no more. David said it in 
view of a particular danger. But there are a thou- 
sand dangers besetting every man, any one of which 
could justify the language. We sometimes seem to 
be nearer death than at other times ; and we are ac- 
tually sometimes nearer dying. Every hour brings 
us nearer dying, but not nearer death, for that is 
never but ''a step^^ off. That is always close at our 
side — our companion through life. The whole course 
of life is in the closest proximity to death. We are 
not merely tending towards a brink, over which ul- 
timately we are to plunge, but we are all the time 
traveling on that brink. We are not journeying 
towards a precipice which may be more or less dis- 
tant from us, but our whole way winds along the 
frightful edge of the precipice. Our danger does not 
commence just before we actually die, but it attends 
us all the way of life. It is true, some escape it for 
a long time, but there is not a point in the path 
which has not been so dangerous as to prove fatal 
to some travelers. 

It is this, if I mistake not, which makes our con- 
dition here so fearful — this perpetual insecurity — 
this ever-present and imminent peril. It is not the 
certainty of the fact in regard to death that is so very 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 215 

appaling to the soul. It is the uncertainty of the 
time. It is not that ultimately we must die, but that 
presently we may. It is the thought of being neces- 
sarily always so near that great evil — always imme- 
diately adjacent to the judgment — always close upon 
the confines of eternity, and always within a little of 
our everlasting abode — the journey from every point 
of our path so short — a single stage, a single step ! 
Now here ; anon there — this hour with men ; the 
next with God — to-day only candidates for immor- 
tality; to-morrow its incumbents — to-day on trial 
for eternity ; to-morrow tried, and the case decided 
irreversibly and forever — on earth to-day ; to-morrow 
in heaven or in hell — nor yet the interval always so 
great as a day. I do not think the fearfulness of 
man's condition in view of these considerations is 
capable of being exaggerated. No language can 
overstate it. If the change awaiting us were gradu- 
ally brought about, it would not be so fearful. If 
one by one the mysterious ligaments of life were 
sundered, and one by one the objects of earth faded 
from our view, and the novelties of eternity were 
slowly and separately unfolded to our vision ; if the 
summons of death designated a distant day for our 
appearing at the bar of God, and our way thither 
was long and difficult, dying would not constitute so 
formidable a prospect as now it does. But the fact 
is, the change is as sudden as it is great. The fami- 
liar scenes of the one world all vanish at once, and 



216 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

the unimagined realities of the other all at once 
burst on the beholder. The summons requires im- 
mediate attendance, and the way is but a step. There 
is no doubt about this. There are not two minds on 
the subject. Every one, when asked what his life 
is, answers in similar language, " It is even a vapor, 
that appeareth for a little while, and then vanisheth 
away." No one contends for the power or right to 
boast of to-morrow. All see that the Son of man 
cometh at such an hour as men think not. The fre- 
quent sudden precipitation into the grave and the 
eternal world, of persons of all ages, and of every 
condition of body, evinces that between them and 
death there was but a step. And how should there 
be more between us and death ? The reasons which 
determine God in the dispensations of life and death 
are perhaps more inscrutable than those which 
govern any other part of his conduct. There is no 
class of facts out of which it is so perfectly impossible 
to construct a theory, as those which relate to human 
mortality. 

So then, death is but a step off, and we cannot 
move him farther from us. He will keep just at 
that distance, though he may long maintain it. He 
will be ever threatening us — his Aveapon ever up- 
lifted and over us, though he cannot strike until the 
word is given him from another. Is it so ? Is death 
but a step removed — so near as that ? Then, if there 
beany thing in death which requires preparation, (and 



A 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 217 

is there not?) how important that from the earliest 
dawn of reason it should be made ! so that we may- 
be ever prepared for that which is ever so near — 
always in panoply to meet an enemy always at hand ! 
How absurd to put off preparation for death, when 
one cannot put off death itself! Is the reader pre- 
pared to die ? He has entertained less momentous 
questions than this. Is he in readiness to take the 
step which separates him from all that is final and 
formidable in death ? Will he not seriously institute 
and faithfully prosecute this inquiry ? 

But if death is so near, there are other things even 
more formidable than death, which cannot be far off. 
Judgment is near, if death is. Yes, ** The Judge 
standeth before the door." How near to every ac- 
countable being is the place and period of his final 
reckoning ! To-morrow he may have to answer for 
the deeds of to-day ; or to-day, of yesterday's. How 
many accounts are closed every day — how many 
cases decided daily at that court of ultimate adjudi- 
cation ! And are we so near the awful interview — 
the tremendous audit ] And does it not affect us at 
all ? Are we so well prepared for it, or so careless 
of being prepared for it ? 

Retribution ensues immediately on judgment. 
That also is but the distance of "a step." Now, if 
that retribution were temporal and mutable, the 
thought would be alarming. But it is eternal and 
irreversible. Ah, then, if these things be so, how 
19 



218 PRACTICAL THOtJGHTgr, 

near to some is perdition ! It is the verge of that 
dark and fathomless abyss on which they so securely 
tread. What a risk they run ! The prize ought to 
be great which is sought at such a peril. So near 
to hell ! What a position to occupy ! But if the sin- 
ner will repent, and behold the Lamb of God, and 
yield his heart to the Lord, then he shall be as near 
to heaven. There shall be but a step between him 
and it. Some are as near as all that to heaven. It 
is not a day's journey there. It is but to take a step, 
and, follower of Jesus, thou art where no night is, 
and no sound of moaning is heard, and every tear is 
wiped away. So near to heaven ! How frequent then 
and fond should be your thoughts of it ! All so near I 
Then " what manner of persons ought we to be in 
all holy conversation and godliness I" How carefully 
and circumspectly ought they to walk whose path 
lies along such a brink ! 

And since the end of all our opportunities is as 
near as death, whatever our minds meditate, or our 
hands find to do, for our own souls, for the good of 
others, or for the glory of God, let us do it with our 
might. 



44. Why so Loth to Diet 

I find within me a strange reluctance to die ? and 
I perceive in others indications of a similar unwill- 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 219 

ingness. Indeed, it is rare to meet with one who does 
not participate in this general and great aversion to 
dying. Now I do not wonder that some are unwill- 
ing to die. Nature revolts at death. It is the object 
of her strongest antipathy. It is not strange, there- 
fore, that mere natural men should be averse to it. 
Some have nothing to die for. How can it be ex- 
pected that they should be willing to die? They 
have nothing beyond the grave to go to. Their pos- 
sessions all lie on this side of it. They have their 
portion in this life — their good things here. Do you 
wonder they are reluctant to leave them ? To such 
to die is loss. Death is not theirs, as it is the Chris- 
dan's ; but on the other hand, they are death's. Je- 
sus is not precious to them. How should they be 
" willing rather to be absent from the body and to be 
present with the Lord ?" What Paul esteemed " far 
etter " than life — dying in order to be with Christ 
— has for them no charm whatever. 

But that the spiritual man, the disciple and friend 
of Jesus, the child and heir of God, should be so 
strongly averse to death, deserves to be considered 
strange. We might indeed expect that there should 
remain some of the reluctance of nature to death, 
even in the subjects of grace, for Christianity does 
not destroy nature ; but that this reluctance should be 
so strong, and often so predominant, that grace 
should not create a desire for death stronger than 
nature's aversion to it, is what surprises us. 



220 , PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

I am sure it ought not to be as it is. Certainly 
every Christian ought to be able to say with Paul, 
*' having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which 
is far better." However averse to being " unclothed," 
he should yet be willing to be " clothed upon, that 
mortality might be swallowed up of life." Life re- 
quired an exercise of patience in the saints of old, 
which seems to have no existence now. Joh says, 
" all the days of my appointed time will I %vait, till 
my change come." Then Christian submission was 
exercised in living. Now, to be resigned to death is 
the desideratum. Grace had then to make its sub- 
jects willing to live. Now it has to make them will- 
ing to die. 

How shall we account for this reluctance ? What 
if nature in us be strong, is not grace stronger ? Has 
it subdued our sins, calmed our agitations, allayed 
our fears, and can it not master this one aversion ? 
Have we made experiment of what grace can do 
with the fear of death ? 

Is it because of the pain of dying that we shrink 
from it? But how know we that to die is so very 
painful? In half the cases of death at least, it does 
not appear to be so. How many sicknesses we are 
subject to, whose progress is attended with far more 
pain ! How many surgical operations which men 
readily submit to, are beyond all doubt productive of ' 
more suffering ! 

Is this world so bright and beautiful that we are 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 221 

loth to leave it on that account ? But is not heaven 
fairer and brighter far ? Here there is night ; but 
there none. Here deformity alternates with beauty ; 
but there all is loveliness. Here the alloy prevails ; 
there, there is no mixture — all is pure. Can it be 
possible that earth has charms and attractions equal 
to those of heaven — this earth, which the curse has 
lighted on, comparable in point of beauty and loveli- 
ness to that heaven where God manifests himself, 
and which Jesus has gone to prepare as the fit habita- 
tion and eternal home of his redeemed? Is it con- 
ceivable ? Even the saints who lived under a dark- 
er dispensation esteemed the heavenly a better coun- 
try. Is it the separations which death makes, that 
render us so averse to die ? True, it separates, but it 
unites also. It takes us, I know, from many we love, 
but it takes us /o as many we love. Leave we a fa- 
mily behind ? But do we not go to one larger, more 
harmonious, happier ? Are we parted from friends 
by death ? And are we not joined to friends by the 
same ? If we lose a father, do we not find a better 
father ; and if we leave a dear brother, do we not go 
to one who " is not ashamed to call us brethren ?'* 
More than half of some families have gone already 
to heaven. Why should we be so much more desir- 
ous of continuing with the part on earth, than of 
going to the portion in heaven ? Do those you part 
from need your care and services more than those 
to whom you go ? But is it not safe going, and leav- 
19* 



222 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

ing them in charge of God ? Is it not he now who 
cares for them, and watches over them, provides for 
them, and defends them? And will he not do it when 
you are dead and gone ? Ah, the parent clings to 
life, and looks imploringly on death, when he thinks 
of his loved little ones ! What will become of them 
he asks ? What would become of them now, if they 
had only you to care for them ? It is not your eye 
that keeps watch over them ; nor your arm that is put 
underneath and round about them ; nor your hand 
from whose opening palm their wants are supplied. 
It is God's. And what he does by you now, cannot 
he do without you ? Cannot he find other agents 
and instruments when you are laid aside ? Does he 
not say of the widows and fatherless children, " leave 
them to me?" And will he not be faithful to the 
trust which he solicits ? 

Do not children desire to see the face of their fa- 
ther ? And are not we children of God ? After so 
many years of daily converse and communion with 
him, and after receiving so many tokens of his pa- 
ternal regard, should you not be willing to go now 
and see him face to face, whose unseen hand has led, 
sustained and supplied you hitherto ? It is unnatural 
in us not to be willing to go to God. We readily 
go to those we love. 

Has home no charm ? What man is he, to whom 
it has not a charm ? Who has been long absent from 
it, and does not languish with desire to reach it ? 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 223 

But where is home — thy father's house ? It is not 
here. It is beyond the flood. Earth is not home. 
Heaven is home. Living is not being at home. Dy- 
ing is going home. We must die to reach our fa- 
ther's house. And yet we are reluctant to die ! 

Do you dread the way ? Do you tremble at the 
thought of the valley of the shadow of death ? What, 
when you are sure of such company as that of Je- 
sus? Will you fear with him at your side? Do 
not talk of the cold arms of death. Think rather of 
the warm embrace of Jesus. Does he not say he 
will come for you ? " If I go .... I will come again, 
and receive you unto myself" Angels may minister 
to the saints on common occasions, but when a 
Christian dies, Jesus himself attends. 

But death has a sting. You mean he had one. 
To those who believe in Jesus, no sting of death re- 
mains. 

Fear you the consequences of dying ? Does the 
thought of the presence into which you are to go 
appal you ? But you have often been into that pre- 
sence in prayer — you have appeared already before 
God on his mercy seat, and then you have wished 
the veil away. Why then so unwilling that death 
should withdraw it ? Were you not gladdened by 
those transient glimpses of his glory which you 
saw? And dread you now the full and fixed gaze 
of his glory ? Have you not often sighed for those 
brighter views, and those nearer and clearer disco- 
veries which death will afibrd you ? 



224 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

Surely it cannot be the judgment you fear. What, 
when you are '* accepted in the beloved !" If accept- 
ed in yourself, you should not fear. How much 
less, when accepted in him ! If God would honor 
your own righteousness, had you a righteousness of 
your own, will he not much more honor Christ's 
righteousness, now become yours? What if you 
cannot answer for yourself! Cannot he answer for 
you ? But who is the judge ? Is it not Jesus, your 
advocate ? Will your advocate condemn you ? Are 
you afraid to meet your Savior ? He that summons 
you to judgment, is the same that said " Come unto 
me, and I will give you rest." Would you live al- 
ways? I know you would not. But you would 
live longer, perhaps you say, for the sake of being 
useful to others. But who knows that you may not 
be more useful in heaven ? Who can say but your 
death may do more good than your life ? Besides, 
if God can dispense with your services, should you 
< not be willing to have them arrested ? 

Do you not desire to be freed from all sin ? But 
know you not that only he *' that is dead is freed 
from sin?" If you cannot be perfectly holy until 
you die, ought you to be so unwilling to die ? Is 
your desire of perfect holiness sincere, while you 
are so averse to the condition of it ? 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 225 

45. Heaven's Attractions. 

I have been thinking of the attractions of heaven — 
what there is in heaven to draw souls to it. 1 thought 
of the place. Heaven has place. Christ says to his 
disciples, *' I go to prepare a place for you." It is a 
part of the consolation with which he comforts them, 
that heaven is a place, and not a mere state. What 
a place it must be ! Selected out of all the locations 
of the universe — the chosen spot of space. We see, 
even on earth, places of great beauty, and we can 
conceive of spots far more delightful than any we 
see. But what comparison can these bear to hea- 
ven, where every thing exceeds whatever eye has 
seen or imagination conceived ? The earthly para- 
dise must have been a charming spot. But what 
that to the heavenly ? What the paradise assigned 
to the first Adam, who was of the earth, earthy, com- 
pared with that purchased by the second Adam, 
who is the Lord from heaven ? It is a " purchased 
possession." The price it cost the purchaser every 
one knows. Now, having purchased it, he has gone 
to prepare it — to set it in order — to lay out his skill 
upon it. O what a place Jesus will make — has al- 
ready made — heaven ! The place should attract us. 

Then I thought of the freedom of the place from 
the evils of earth. Not only w^hat is in heaven, 
should attract us to it, but what is not there. And 
what is not there ? There is no night there. Who 



226 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS, 

does not want to go where no night is ? No night — 
no natural night — none of its darkness, its damps, 
its dreariness — and no moral night — no ignorance — 
no error — no misery — ^no sin. These all belong to 
the night ; and there is no night in heaven. And 
why no night there ? What shines there so perpe- 
tually ? It is not any natural luminary. It is a mo- 
ral radiance that lights up heaven. " The glory of 
God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light 
thereof" No need have they there of other light. 
This shines every where and on all. All light is 
sweet, but no light is like this. 

And not only no night there, but *' no more curseP 
Christ redeemed them from the curse of the law, 
being made a curse for them. And *'no more 
deathP The last enemy is overcome at last. Each, 
as he enters the place, shouts victoriously, " O death 
— O grave !" *' Neither sorrow^ It is here. O yes. 
It is here — around, within. We hear it ; we see it ; 
and at length we feel it. But it is not there. " Nor 
crying " — no expression of grief " Neither shall 
there be any more pain : for the former things are 
passed away." And what becomes of tears ? Are 
they left to dry up ? Nay, God unpes them away. 
And this is a sure sign they will never return. 
What shall cause weeping, when he wipes away 
tears ? 

I have not said that there is no sin in heaven. I 
have not thought that necessary. If sin was there, 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 227 

night would be there, and the curse, and death, and 
all the other evils — the train of sin. These are not 
there. Therefore sin is not. No, '* we shall be like 
him ; for we shall see him as he is." 

What is there then, since these are not ? Day is 
there — and there is the Messing that maketh rich — 
and there is life^ immortality — and since no sorrow, 
joy — "fulness of joy — joy unspeakable " — and smiles 
where tears were — and there they rest, not from 
their labors only, but from cares, and doubts, and 
fears. And glory is there, an " exceeding and eter- 
nal weight." 

Then I thought of the society. It is composed of 
the Elite of the Universe. The various orders of 
angels who kept their first estate — as humble as 
they are high — not ashamed of men. Why should 
they be, when the Lord of angels is not ashamed to 
call us brethren ? The excellent of the earth also — 
all the choice spirits of every age and nation — the 
first man — ^the first martyr — ^the translated patriarch 
• — the survivor of the deluge — the friend of God, and 
his juniors, Isaac and Israel — Moses, the lawgiver, 
and Joshua the leader of the host — the pious kings — 
the prophets — the evangelists and apostles, Paul, 
John — the martyrs — the reformers — ^the Puritan fa- 
thers — ^the missionaries, Swartz, Brainerd, Martyn — 
Carey and Morrison have just gone up ; and the 
young brothers, who ascended from Sumatra — and 
another, connected with missions, Wisner^ has been 
suddenly sent for to heaven. 



228 PRACTICAL TttorGMTS. 

Is that all ? Where is he who used to lisp ** fa- 
ther, mother,"— thy child? Passing out of your 
hands, passed he not into those of Jesus ? Yes, you 
suffered him. If any other than Jesus had said, 
*' Suffer them to come to me," you would have said, 
No. Death does not quench those recently struck 
sparks of intelligence. Jesus is not going to lose one 
of those little brilliants. All shall be in his crown. 

Perhaps thou hast a brother, or a sister there; 
that should draw you towards heaven. Perhaps a 
mother^she whose eye wept while it watched over 
thee, until at length it grew dim, and closed. Took 
she not in her cold hand, thine, while yet her heart 
was warm, and said she not, " I am going to Jesus. 
Follow me there V^ Perhaps one nearer, dearer than 
child, than brother, than mother — the nearest, dear- 
est is there. Shall I say who ? Christian female, 
thy husbund. Christian father, the young mother of 
thy babes. He is not. She is not; for God took 
them. Has heaven no attractions ? 

Heaven is gaining in attractions every day. True, 
the principal attractions continue the same. But the 
lesser ones multiply. Some have attractions there 
now, which they had not but a few months ago. 
Earth is losing. How fast it has been losing of 
late ! But earth's losses are heaven's gains. They 
who have left so many dwelling places of earth de- 
solate, have gone to their Father's house in heaven. 
What if they shall not return to us ? We shall go 
to them. That is better. 



PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 229 

But the principal attractions I have not yet men- 
tioned. There is our Father — our heavenly Father, 
whom we have so often addressed as such in prayer. 
He that nourished and brought us up, and has borne 
us on — he that has watched over us with an eye 
that never sleeps, and provided for us with a hand 
that never tires ; and who can pity too. We have 
never seen our heavenly Father. But there he re- 
veals himself There he smiles ; and the nations of 
the saved walk in the light of his countenance. 

And there is he» to depart and be with whom 
Paul desired, as being "far better" than to live. 
There is his glorified humanity. If not having 
seen, we love him ; and in him, though now we see 
him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy un- 
speakable and full of glory, what will be the love 
and the joy when "we shall see him as he is?" 
There is he. 

Heaven has attractions — many, and strong — and 
yet who would think it ? How few feel and obey 
the heavenly attraction ! How much more power- 
fully earth acts upon us ! How unwilling we are to 
leave it even for heaven ! 



46. The Heavenly Recogiiitlon. 

The question is often asked, " Do you think we 
shall know each other in heaven ?" Some are very 
20 



230 PRACTICAL THOUGHTS. 

curious to be informed on this subject. It is a point 
they seem more anxious to know than some other 
more important points. I am afraid we shall not all 
know each other in heaven. I am afraid we shall 
not all be there to know and be known. Let us first 
try to get to heaven. It is more important that we 
should be there, than that we should know what 
other persons are there. Let us repent with a broken 
heart ; and believe in Christ for a title to heaven ; 
and " let us follow holiness " that we may be fur- 
nished with a fitness for heaven; and being our- 
selves "accepted in the Beloved," and sanctified 
through the Spirit, let us try to get as many others 
to heaven as we can ; and let us leave the subject of 
mutual recognition in heaven for subsequent consi- 
deration. By the time we have done what I recom- 
mend, we shall be close upon the celestial confinee — 
perhaps within heaven's limits * * * * 

[The article is unfinished. The beloved author 
here laid down his pen ; and instead of resuming it, 
was called, who can question, to realise the scenes 
he had been describing.] . 



THB END. 



